Name	Chuck D
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Carlton Douglas Ridenhour
Birth date	August 01, 1960
Alias	Carl Ryder (as a member of production team The Bomb Squad), Mistachuck, Chucky D, Chuck Dangerous, The Hard Rhymer, The Rhyme Animal,
Origin	Roosevelt, New York, U.S.
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Rapper, publisher, lecturer, activist, record producer
Years active	1986–present
Associated acts	Public Enemy, Confrontation Camp, Fine Arts Militia, Immortal Technique, Sonic Youth, Sister Souljah, KRS-One, Living Colour, Vanilla Ice, Ludacris
Website	http://www.publicenemy.com
Notable instruments	}}

Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), better known by his stage name, Chuck D, is an American rapper, author, and producer. He helped create politically and socially conscious rap music in the mid-1980s as the leader of the rap group Public Enemy.

Early life

Ridenhour was born in Queens, New York. After graduating from Roosevelt Junior-Senior High School, he went to Adelphi University on Long Island to study graphic design. He is the son of Lorenzo Ridenhour.

Career

Upon hearing Ridenhour's demo track "Public Enemy Number One", fledgling producer/upcoming music-mogul Rick Rubin insisted on signing him to his Def Jam label.

Their major label albums were: ''Yo! Bum Rush the Show'' (1987), ''It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back'' (1988), ''Fear of a Black Planet'' (1990), ''Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Black'' (1991), ''Greatest Misses'' (1992), and ''Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age'' (1994). They also released a full length album soundtrack for the film ''He Got Game'' in 1998. Ridenhour also contributed (as Chuck D) to several episodes of the PBS documentary series ''The Blues''. He has appeared as a featured artist on many other songs and albums, having collaborated with artists such as Janet Jackson, Kool Moe Dee, The Dope Poet Society, Run-DMC, Ice Cube, Rage Against The Machine, Anthrax, John Mellencamp and many others. In 1990, he appeared on "Kool Thing", a song by the alternative rock band Sonic Youth. In 1993, he executive produced ''Got 'Em Running Scared'', an album by Ichiban Records group Chief Groovy Loo and the Chosen Tribe.

Later career

In 1996, Ridenhour released ''Autobiography of Mistachuck'' on Mercury Records. Chuck D made a rare appearance at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards, presenting the Video Vanguard Award to the Beastie Boys, whilst commending their musicianship. In November 1998, he settled out of court with Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G." Wallace's estate over the latter's sampling of his voice in the song "Ten Crack Commandments". The specific sampling is Ridenhour counting off the numbers one to nine on the track "Shut 'Em Down".

In September 1999, he launched a multi-format "supersite" on the web site Rapstation.com. A home for the vast global hip hop community, the site boasts a TV and radio station with original programming, many of hip hop's most prominent DJs, celebrity interviews, free MP3 downloads (the first was contributed by multi-platinum rapper Coolio), downloadable ringtones by ToneThis, social commentary, current events, and regular features on turning rap careers into a viable living. Since 2000, he has been one of the most vocal supporters of peer-to-peer file sharing in the music industry.

He loaned his voice to ''Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'' as DJ Forth Right MC for the radio station Playback FM. In 2000, he collaborated with Public Enemy's Gary G-Whiz and MC Lyte on the theme music to the television show ''Dark Angel''. He appeared with Henry Rollins in a cover of Black Flag's "Rise Above" for the album ''Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three''. He was also featured on Z-Trip's album ''Shifting Gears'' on a track called "Shock and Awe"; a 12-inch of the track was released featuring artwork by Shepard Fairey. In 2008 he contributed a chapter to ''Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Music and Culture'' (The MIT Press, 2008) edited by Paul D. Miller a.k.a. DJ Spooky, and also turned up on The Go! Team's album ''Proof of Youth'' on the track "Flashlight Fight." He also fulfilled his childhood dreams of being a sports announcer by performing the play-by-play commentary in the video game ''NBA Ballers: Chosen One'' on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

In 2009, Ridenhour wrote the foreword to the book ''The Love Ethic: The Reason Why You Can't Find and Keep Beautiful Black Love'' by Kamau and Akilah Butler. He also appeared on Brother Ali's album, ''Us''.

In an interview on Conspiracy Worldwide Radio in late 2009, Chuck D spoke of his forthcoming projects and how he wanted to focus upon his label SlamJamz in 2010.

In a follow-up October 31, 2010 interview, Chuck discussed the importance of Public Enemy's tour in South Africa and his range of projects expected in 2011.

In March 2011, Chuck D re-recorded vocals with The Dillinger Escape Plan for a cover of "Fight the Power".

Chuck D duetted with Rock singer Meat Loaf on his 2011 album ''Hell In A Handbasket'' on the song "Mad Mad World/The Good God is a Woman and She Don't Like Ugly".

Rapping technique

Chuck D has noted that he often comes up with a title for a song first, in the books ''How to Rap'' and ''Check the Technique'' and that he writes on paper, though he sometimes edits using a computer. He also prefers to not punch in vocals, and he prefers to not overdub vocals. Chuck D is known for his powerful rapping voice - ''How to Rap'' says, “Chuck D of Public Enemy has a powerful, resonant voice that is often acclaimed as one of the most distinct and impressive in hip-hop”, and Chuck D says this was based on listening to Melle Mel and sportscasters such as Marv Albert.

Politics

Ridenhour is politically active; he co-hosted ''Unfiltered'' on Air America Radio, testified before Congress in support of peer-to-peer MP3 sharing, and was involved in a 2004 rap political convention. He continues to be an activist, publisher, lecturer, and producer. Addressing the negative views associated with rap music, he co-wrote the essay book ''Fight the Power: Rap, Race, and Reality'', along with Yusuf Jah (ISBN 0-385-31868-5). He argues that "music and art and culture is escapism, and escapism sometimes is healthy for people to get away from reality", but sometimes the distinction is blurred and that's when "things could lead a young mind in a direction." He also founded the record company Slam Jamz and acted as narrator in Kareem Adouard's short film ''Bling: Consequences and Repercussions'', which examines the role of conflict diamonds in bling fashion.

In an interview with ''Le Monde'' published January 29, 2008, Chuck D stated that rap is devolving so much into a commercial enterprise, that the relationship between the rapper and the record label is that of slave to a master. He believes that nothing has changed for African-Americans since the debut of Public Enemy and, although he thinks that an Obama-Clinton alliance is great, he does not feel that the establishment will allow anything of substance to be accomplished. He also stated that French President Sarkozy is like any other European elite: he has profited through the murder, rape, and pillaging of those less fortunate and he refuses to allow equal opportunity for those men and women from Africa. In this article, he also defended a comment made by Professor Griff in the past that he says was taken out of context by the media. The real statement was a critique of the Israeli government and its treatment of the Palestinian people. Chuck D stated that it is Public Enemy's belief that all human beings are equal.

In an interview with the magazine ''N'Digo'' published in late June 2008, he spoke of today's mainstream urban music seemingly relishing the addictive euphoria of materialism and sexism, perhaps being the primary cause of many people harboring resentment towards the genre and its future. However he has expressed hope for its resurrection, saying "It’s only going to be dead if it doesn’t talk about the messages of life as much as the messages of death and non-movement", citing artists such as NYOil, M.I.A. and the The Roots as socially conscious artists who push the envelope creatively. "A lot of cats are out there doing it, on the Web and all over. They’re just not placing their career in the hands of some major corporation."

Most recently Chuck D became involved in ''Let Freedom Sing: The Music of the Civil Rights'', a 3-CD box set from Time Life. He wrote the introduction to the liner notes and is visiting colleges across the nation discussing the significance of the set. He's also set to appear in a follow up movie called ''Let Freedom Sing: The Music That Inspired the Civil Rights Movement''.

In 2010, Chuck D released a track entitled "Tear Down That Wall". He said, “I talked about the wall not only just dividing the U.S. and Mexico but the states of California, New Mexico and Texas. But Arizona, it's like, come on. Now they're going to enforce a law that talks about basically racial profiling.”

He is on the board of the TransAfrica Forum a Pan African organization that works for the right of Africa, Caribbean and Latin American issues.

Personal life

Chuck D is married to Gaye Theresa Johnson, an assistant professor in the Department of Black Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Chuck is a vegetarian.

TV appearances

Narrated and appeared on-camera for the 2005 PBS documentary ''Harlem Globetrotters: The Team That Changed the World''.

Appeared on-camera for the PBS program ''Independent Lens: Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes''.

Appeared in an episode of ''NewsRadio'' as himself.

He appeared on ''The Henry Rollins Show''.

He was a featured panelist (with Lars Ulrich) on the May 12, 2000 episode of the ''Charlie Rose'' show. Host Charlie Rose was discussing the Internet, copyright infringement, Napster Inc., and the future of the music industry.

He appeared on an episode of ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' with Pat Boone. While there, Space Ghost tried (and failed) to show he was "hip" to rap, saying his favorite rapper was M. C. Escher.

He appeared on an episode of ''Johnny Bravo''.

He appeared via satellite to the UK, as a panelist on BBC's ''Newsnight'' on January 20, 2009, following Barack Obama's Inauguration.

He Appeared on ''VH1 Ultimate Albums Blood Sugar Sex Magik'' talking about the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Film appearances

He is the narrator of the 2006 documentary ''Quilombo Country'', directed by Leonard Abrams.

He is prominently featured in ''Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes'', a 2006 documentary by Byron Hurt.

He is prominently featured in the 2008 film ''The Black Candle'', directed by M.K. Asante, Jr. and narrated by Maya Angelou.

He is featured in a web mini-series called ''On The Real Off The Record'', produced by The Real News Network, June 1, 2009.

He played a bank robber named "Malcolm Y" in an unused plotline for the movie ''Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy'', which was eventually released straight-to-DVD as ''Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie''.

He appeared in ''An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn''.

He is featured in the 1997 documentary ''Rhyme & Reason'' about rap and hip hop.

Music appearances

In 2010, Chuck D made an appearance on the track "Transformação" (Portuguese for "Transformation") from Brazilian rapper MV Bill's album ''Causa E Efeito'' ('':pt:Causa e Efeito'', meaning ''Cause And Effect'').

In 1990, Chuck D appeared on the Sonic Youth song and video for "Kool Thing", from the album ''Goo''.

Discography

With Public Enemy

Chuck D

Studio Albums

1996: ''Autobiography of Mistachuck''

Compilation Albums

2010 (as Mistachuck): ''I Don't Rhyme for the Sake of Riddlin'''

References

External links

Public Enemy's official website

rapstation.com, Chuck D's official website

Entry on Chuck D at ''Rolling Stone'''s website

How To Stomp the Blues and Funk the World: Chuck D/Public Enemy at ''Fine Print Magazine'''s website

Category:1960 births Category:Living people Category:American talk radio hosts Category:African American rappers Category:Public Enemy members Category:People from Nassau County, New York Category:Adelphi University alumni Category:Musicians from New York Category:Rappers from Long Island Category:Pescetarians Category:African American Muslims

de:Chuck D es:Chuck D fr:Chuck D it:Chuck D sw:Chuck D nl:Chuck D no:Chuck D pl:Chuck D pt:Chuck D fi:Chuck D sv:Chuck D

Name	Flavor Flav
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	William Jonathan Drayton, Jr.
Alias	FlavMC DJ Flavor Flav.
Born	March 16, 1959
Origin	Roosevelt, Long Island, New York, United States
Instrument	Vocals, piano, guitar, bass, saxophone, clarinet, drums, triangle
Genre	Hip-hop
Occupation	Rapper, reality television star
Years active	1982–present
Associated acts	Public EnemyChuck DProfessor GriffDJ LordTerminator XSister SouljahS1W }}

William Jonathan Drayton, Jr. (born March 16, 1959), better known by his stage name Flavor Flav, is an American rapper and television personality who rose to prominence as a member of the rap group Public Enemy. He is also known for popularizing the role of the hype man and for yelling "Yeah boy!" and "Flavor Flav!" during performances.

After falling out of the public eye for a number of years, he reappeared as the star of several VH1 reality series, including ''The Surreal Life'', ''Strange Love'', and ''Flavor of Love''.

Early life

Drayton grew up in Freeport, Long Island. His father owned a greasy spoon called the Soul Diner. Flav began playing the piano at age five; he claims to be self-taught. A musical prodigy, he sang in the youth choir at his church and mastered the piano, drums, and guitar at an early age. He eventually became proficient in 15 instruments. He set a house on fire as a small child while playing with a lighter and, by the time he dropped out of school in the 11th grade, he had been in and out of jail for robbery and burglary.

He attended Adelphi University on Long Island where he met Carlton Ridenhour, who would become known as Chuck D. Flavor Flav took his stage name after his graffiti tag. They first collaborated on Chuck D's hip-hop college radio show, then began rapping together. The two worked for Chuck D's father's delivery service.

Career

Music

Flavor Flav came to prominence as a founding member of the rap group Public Enemy. In 1984, the group released a track, "Public Enemy #1", which brought them to the attention of Def Jam Records executive Rick Rubin. Rubin initially did not understand Flav's role in the act and wanted to sign Chuck D as a solo act; however Chuck D insisted that Flav be signed with them and the two were signed to Def Jam in 1986. The group's first album, ''Yo! Bum Rush the Show'', was released in 1987. Flav served as the comic foil to Chuck D's serious, politically charged style. The group gained much wider fame with their following release, 1988's ''It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back'', which went double platinum. By the time the political single "Fight the Power" was issued in 1989, the group had become mainstream superstars.

Along with Chuck D, the showman of the group and its promotional voice, Flav stood out among the members of Public Enemy as he often got the fans excited, appearing on stage and in public wearing big hats and glasses and a large clock dangling from his neck.

The first released track on which Flav rapped solo was "Life Of A Nigerian" on ''Goat Ju JU'', though the first hit on which he rapped solo would not come until the 1990s single "911 Is a Joke". During Public Enemy's first years of existence, Flav dealt with tensions with group-mate Professor Griff, who never liked Flav's flamboyant stance in what Griff felt to be a serious, politically-challenging group. In 1990, after allegedly making anti-Semitic comments, Professor Griff left Public Enemy.

In 2006, Flav put out his first solo album. It was released during the second season of ''Flavor of Love''.

Television

After a hiatus from the music scene, Flavor Flav was invited to participate on VH1 reality show ''The Surreal Life''. During this show, he developed a relationship with actress Brigitte Nielsen.

Following the conclusion of ''The Surreal Life'', VH1 gave Flav and Brigitte a show titled ''Strange Love'', which detailed their globetrotting adventure in love. At the end of ''Strange Love'' Brigitte decided to return to her fiancé, Mattia Dessi.

''Flavor of Love'', which aired for three seasons, is a reality show where Flavor Flav looks for love. The show's success led to spin-offs titled ''I Love New York'' and ''I Love Money''. It was revealed in the third season reunion show that Flav met a woman, not from the show, after taping had concluded. He proposed to her on air during the special. The two had a son together.

The Comedy Central roast of Flavor Flav aired on August 12, 2007. Guests appearing at the roast: Snoop Dogg, Brigitte Nielsen, Jimmy Kimmel, Carrot Top, Lisa Lampanelli, Ice T, Jeff Ross, Katt Williams, Patton Oswalt, Greg Giraldo, and Sommore.

Flav played Calvester Hill on the MyNetworkTV comedy ''Under One Roof (2008 TV series)'' starring along side Kelly Perine.

Restauranteur

In 2011, Flav partnered with Nick Cimino to open Flav’s Fried Chicken in Cimino's hometown of Clinton, Iowa. Flav met Cimino through his brother Peter, who runs Mama Cimino's in Las Vegas. After enjoying the rapper's homemade fried chicken, Peter Cimino began selling chicken wings using Flav's recipe. The founders hoped to start a national restaurant franchise. However, a mix of squabbling owners, bounced checks and bad business decisions led to Flavor Flav's Chicken shut down almost 4 months after it opened.

Flavor Flav's new restaurant opened on his birthday, Flavor Flav’s House of Flavor in Las Vegas.

Other TV and media appearances

In May 2005, Flav took part in the UK reality TV show The Farm on Channel 5.

On June 14, 2006, Flav's participation, with WEVR-MRC, in the ''Lisa Tolliver Show'' celebration of National Safety Month, earned kudos from Surgeon General of the United States Richard Carmona.

On November 18, 2009, Flav became a downloadable character in the PlayStation Network's video game ''PAIN''.

Flav stars in Deon Taylor's horror anthology ''Nite Tales'' and ''Dark Christmas''.

On May 10, 2010, Flav guest hosted the wrestling show ''WWE RAW''.

On August 14, 2011, Flav appeared as a host at the 12th annual Gathering of the Juggalos.

On January 10, 2012, Flav appeared with his longtime fiancée Liz on ABC's Celebrity Wife Swap. His fiancée traded places with Suzette, the wife of Twisted Sister front-man Dee Snider.

On February 5th, 2012, Flav appeared along with Sir Elton John in a Pepsi Co. ad during Super Bowl XLVI.

On February 11th, 2012, Flav appeared as an honorary member of the UNLV Rebellion during the UNLV Runnin' Rebels victory over San Diego State, 65-63.

Personal life

Flav dated Beverly Johnson, and by 2000, he lived in a small apartment in the Bronx with her and her two children from a previous marriage while making extra cash scalping baseball tickets.

Following his release from jail, Flav broke up with Johnson and moved in with his mother on Long Island. Chuck D became concerned about his friend's well-being and, towards the end of 2003, suggested Flav move to Los Angeles. He moved into his friend Princess' apartment and within months met Cris Abrego and Mark Cronin, the creators and executive producers of the reality television series ''The Surreal Life''. The pair sought him as soon as they heard he had moved to Los Angeles. Seeing that he had indeed remained free from his previous addictions, they wanted to cast him. Initially Flav refused, feeling the show was for celebrities past their fame. He was eventually convinced to join by previous participant MC Hammer.

Family

Flav has seven children: Shaniq, Dazyna, Quanah, William, Jasmine, Kayla, and Karma. Three of his children were with Karen Ross, three were with Angie Parker, and his current girlfriend Liz is the mother of his youngest, Karma. Currently Flavor Flav is living in Las Vegas, Nevada with his girlfriend, and her son Gibran. Flav is a cousin of Wu-affiliate 'Timbo King' and a distant cousin of the Wu's RZA.

Substance abuse and legal issues

By the time he dropped out of school in the 11th grade, Flav had been in and out of jail for robbery and burglary.

In 1991, Flav pled guilty to assaulting his then-girlfriend Karen Ross and served 30 days in jail, lost custody of his children, and sank deeper into addiction.

In 1993 Flav was charged with attempted murder and imprisoned for 90 days for shooting at his neighbor.

Flav was later charged with domestic violence, cocaine and marijuana charges; his family performed an intervention and he checked into the Betty Ford Center for an addiction to crack cocaine.

After Flav's father died of diabetes in 1997 he decided to re-enter rehabilitation, this time at the Long Island Center for Recovery. At one point, he broke both arms in a motorcycle crash.

In 2002, Flav spent nine weeks in Rikers Island jail for driving with a suspended license, numerous parking tickets and showing up late for appointments with his probation officer.

On May 2, 2011, Flav was arrested on four outstanding misdemeanor warrants for various driving offenses. Police said the rapper had two outstanding arrest warrants for driving without a license, one for driving without insurance and one related to a parking citation. Flav has since been released.

In June, 2011, Flav told Australian radio show ''The Kyle & Jackie O Show'' that when his drug problem was at its worst, he would spend up to US$2,600 a day on crack cocaine.

Discography

;With Public Enemy

''Yo! Bum Rush the Show'' (1987)

''It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back'' (1988)

''Fight the Power...Live!'' (video and album, 1989)

''Fear of a Black Planet'' (1990)

''Apocalypse '91...The Enemy Strikes Black'' (1991)

''Greatest Misses'' 1986-1992 (1992)

''Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age'' (1994)

''He Got Game'' (1998)

''BTN 2000'' (1999)

''There's A Poison Goin On'' (1999)

''Revolverlution'' (2002)

''There's A Poison Goin On'' (worldwide re-release) (2004)

''Son of a Bush'' (EP)

''New Whirl Odor'' (2005)

''Rebirth of a Nation'' (2006)

''How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul?'' (2007)

;Solo albums

''Flavor Flav'', also known ''Hollywood'' (2006)

;Guest appearances

Anthrax, "Bring The Noise" (w/Chuck D)

Barshem, "Where's My $5 At?"

Chad Muska, "Flavor Man"

Crime Mob, "I'll Beat Yo Azz"

De La Soul, "Come On Down"

DJ Hurricane, "Freeze The Frame" (w/Chuck D & Money Mark)

DJ Tomekk, "1, 2, 3,...Rhymes Galore" (w/Grandmaster Flash, MC Rene & Afrob)

George Clinton, "Paint The White House Black" (w/Chuck D, Ice Cube, MC Breed, Kam, Yo-Yo & Dr. Dre), "Tweakin" (w/Chuck D)

Heavy D, "You Can't See What I Can See"

Ice Cube, "I'm Only Out For One Thang"

Living Colour, "Funny Vibe" (w/Chuck D)

Material, "Burnin" (w/DXT)

Moby, "MKLVFKWR" (w/Chuck D)

Nigo, "From New York To Tokyo"

Paris, "Freedom (Remix)" (w/Chuck D & Dead Prez)

Prince Akeem, "Only We Can Do This"

Will Smith featuring Biz Markie and Slick Rick. "So Fresh" (Music Video)

Snoop Dogg, "Bad Bitch"

Various, "Self Destruction" (Public Enemy, Heavy D, Stetsasonic, MC Lyte, KRS-One, Kool Moe Dee, and others)

Wu-Tang Clan, "Soul Power"

P.Diddy, Music video for "P.E. 2000"

Taking Back Sunday, Music video for "You're So Last Summer"

Eric B & Rakim, music video for "I ain't no joke"

Melanie Amaro, Music Video for "Respect"

References

External links

Artist profile at VH1

Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:Adelphi University alumni Category:African American rappers Category:American burglars Category:American people convicted of assault Category:American robbers Category:People from Freeport, New York Category:People from Nassau County, New York Category:People self-identifying as substance abusers Category:Public Enemy members Category:Rappers from Long Island Category:The Surreal Life participants

da:Flavor Flav de:Flavor Flav es:Flavor Flav fr:Flavor Flav it:Flavor Flav he:פלייבור פלייב pl:Flava Flav pt:Flavor Flav simple:Flavor Flav fi:Flavor Flav sv:Flavor Flav

name	David Byrne
background	solo_singer
birth date	May 14, 1952
Birth place	Dumbarton, Scotland, UK
instrument	Vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, synthesizer, flute, clavinet, slide guitar, harmonica, autoharp, harmonium, violin, accordion buildings
genre	New Wave, experimental pop, worldbeat, alternative rock
occupation	Musician, songwriter, artist, singer, actor, director, film producer, record producer
years active	1974–present
label	Luaka Bop, Nonesuch Records, Thrill Jockey
associated acts	Talking Heads, Brian Eno, X-Press 2, Fatboy Slim, The BPA
website
notable instruments	Fender Duo-SonicFender Stratocaster }}

David Byrne (born May 14, 1952) is a musician and artist, best known as a founding member and principal songwriter of the American new wave band Talking Heads, which was active between 1975 and 1991. Since then, Byrne has released his own solo recordings and worked with various media including film, photography, opera, and non-fiction. He has received Grammy, Oscar, and Golden Globe awards and been inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Biography

Byrne was born in Dumbarton, Scotland, to Tom and Emma Byrne. He was the elder of two children. Two years later, his parents moved to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and then to Arbutus, Maryland, when he was 8 or 9 years old. His father worked as an electronics engineer. Before high school, David Byrne already knew how to play the guitar, accordion, and violin. He was rejected from his middle school’s choir because they claimed he was "off-key and too withdrawn." From a young age, Byrne had a strong interest in music. His parents say that he would constantly play his phonograph from age three and he learned how to play the harmonica at age five. In his journals he says, "I was a peculiar young man — borderline Asperger's, I would guess." As revealed by Tina Weymouth in the commentary for the concert film Stop Making Sense, Byrne is left handed but plays guitar right handed.

He graduated from Lansdowne High School in southwest Baltimore County. Byrne started his musical career in a high school duo named Bizadi with Mark Kehoe. Their repertoire consisted mostly of songs such as "April Showers," "96 Tears," "Dancing On The Ceiling," and Frank Sinatra songs. Byrne then attended the Rhode Island School of Design and the Maryland Institute College of Art before dropping out and forming a band called "The Artistics" with fellow RISD student Chris Frantz. The band dissolved within a year, and the two moved to New York together with Frantz's girlfriend Tina Weymouth. Unable to find a bass player in New York, Frantz and Byrne persuaded Weymouth to learn to play the bass guitar. She admits that the encouragement she received from Byrne, Frantz, and famed trumpet player Don Cherry (who lived in their building), was critical to her grasp of the instrument.

After some practice and playing together they founded the group Talking Heads which had its first gig in 1975. Multi-instrumentalist Jerry Harrison joined the group in 1977. During his time in the band, Byrne took on outside projects, collaborating with Brian Eno in 1981 on the album ''My Life in the Bush of Ghosts'', which attracted considerable critical acclaim due to its early use of analogue sampling and found sounds.

While working on the film ''True Stories'', Byrne met costume designer Adelle Lutz whom he married in 1987. They have a daughter, Malu Abeni Valentine Byrne, born in 1989. Byrne and Lutz divorced in 2004. Byrne began a relationship with the artist Cindy Sherman in 2007.

Although a resident of the United States since childhood, Byrne is a British citizen, and has never applied for U.S. citizenship. He lives in New York City.

Work in music and film

In 1981, Byrne partnered with choreographer Twyla Tharp, scoring music he wrote that appeared on his album, ''The Catherine Wheel'' for a ballet with the same name, prominently featuring unusual rhythms and lyrics. Productions of ''The Catherine Wheel'' appeared on Broadway that same year. ''In Spite of Wishing and Wanting'' is a soundscape David Byrne produced for the Belgian choreographer Wim Vandekeybus's dance company Ultima Vez.

His work has been extensively used in movie soundtracks, most notably in collaboration with Ryuichi Sakamoto and Cong Su on Bernardo Bertolucci's ''The Last Emperor'', which won an Academy Award for Best Original Score. In 2004, ''Lead Us Not Into Temptation (music from the film "Young Adam")'' included tracks and musical experiments from his score to ''Young Adam''. Byrne also wrote, directed, and starred in ''True Stories'', a musical collage of discordant Americana released in 1986, as well as producing most of the film's music. Byrne also directed the documentary ''Île Aiye'' and the concert film of his 1992 Latin-tinged tour titled ''Between the Teeth''. He was chiefly responsible for the stage design and choreography of ''Stop Making Sense'' in 1984. Byrne added "Loco de Amor" (Crazy for Love) with Celia Cruz to Jonathan Demme's 1986 film ''Something Wild''.

Byrne wrote the Dirty Dozen Brass Band-inspired score for Robert Wilson's Opera ''The Knee Plays'' from ''The Civil Wars: A Tree Is Best Measured When It Is Down''. Some of the music from Byrne's orchestral album ''The Forest'' was originally used in a Wilson-directed theatre piece with the same name. ''The Forest'' premiered at the Theater der Freien Volksbühne, Berlin in 1988. It received its New York premiere in December 1988 at BAM, the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The Forestry Maxi-single contained dance and industrial remixes of pieces from ''The Forest'' by Jack Dangers, Rudy Tambala, and Anthony Capel.

Byrne has contributed songs to five AIDS benefit compilation albums produced by the Red Hot Organization: ''Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute to Cole Porter'', ''Red Hot + Rio'', ''Silencio=Muerte: Red Hot + Latin'', ''Onda Sonora: Red Hot + Lisbon'', and ''Offbeat: A Red Hot Soundtrip''. Byrne appeared as a guest vocalist/guitarist for 10,000 Maniacs during their ''MTV Unplugged'' concert, though the songs in which he is featured were cut from their following album. One of them, "Let the Mystery Be", appeared as the fourth track on 10,000 Maniacs' CD single "Few and Far Between". Byrne worked with the "Queen of Tex-Mex", Tejano superstar Selena, writing, producing and singing a song ("God's Child (Baila Conmigo)"), included on Selena's last album, "Dreaming of You", before her death. Byrne was the host of ''Sessions at West 54th'' during its second of three seasons and collaborated with members of Devo and Morcheeba to record the album ''Feelings'' in 1997.

In 2008 Byrne collaborated with The Brighton Port Authority, composing the music and singing the lyrics for "Toe Jam".

In May 2011 Byrne contributed backing vocals to the Arcade Fire track "Speaking in Tongues" which appeared on the 2011 edition of their album ''The Suburbs''.

Byrne and Brian Eno provided the soundtrack for the film ''Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps''.

Other work

Byrne founded the world music record label Luaka Bop in 1990. It was originally created to release Latin American compilations, but it has grown to include music from Cuba, Africa, the Far East and beyond, releasing the work of artists such as Cornershop, Os Mutantes, Los De Abajo, Jim White, Zap Mama, Tom Zé, Los Amigos Invisibles and King Chango.

Byrne is also a visual artist whose work has been shown in contemporary art galleries and museums around the world since the 1990s. Represented by the Pace/MacGill Gallery in New York, he has also created public art installations, many of them anonymously. In 2010 his original art work is due to be featured in the exhibition ''The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl'' at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University.

Cycling

Byrne is known for his activism in support of increased cycling, and for having used a bike as his main means of transport for most of his life, especially cycling around New York. He has a regular cycling column in the ''New York Times''.

He says that he cycled when he was in high school and returned to it as an adult in the late 1970s. He likes the freedom and exhilarating feeling cycling gives him. He has written widely on cycling, including a 2009 book, ''Bicycle Diaries''. In August 2009, he auctioned his Montague folding bike in order to raise money for the London Cycling Campaign.

In 2008, Byrne designed a series of bicycle parking racks in the form of image outlines corresponding to the areas in which they were located, such as a dollar sign for Wall Street and an electric guitar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Byrne worked with a manufacturer that would construct the racks in exchange for the chance to sell them later as artworks, and the racks remained on the streets for about a year.

Musical activity since 2001

In 2001 a version of Byrne's single “Like Humans Do”, edited to remove its drug reference, was selected by Microsoft as the sample music for Windows XP to demonstrate Windows Media Player (not included in SP2 installs). The next year, he provided vocals for a track, "Lazy" by X-Press 2, which reached number 2 in the United Kingdom and number 1 on the U.S. Dance Charts. Byrne said in an interview in BBC Four Sessions's coverage of his Union Chapel performance that “Lazy” was number 1 in Syria.

In April 2003, Byrne appeared as himself in an episode of ''The Simpsons'', "Dude, Where's My Ranch?". Later in the year, Byrne released the book ''Envisioning Emotional Epistemological Information'' (ISBN 3-88243-907-6). together with a companion DVD. The work included artwork composed entirely in Microsoft PowerPoint. It includes one image that depicts, according to Byrne, "Dan Rather's profile. Expanded to the nth degree. Taken to infinity. Overlaid on the back of Patrick Stewart's head."

Byrne's solo album, ''Grown Backwards'', was released on March 16, 2004 by Nonesuch Records. This album used orchestral string arrangements, and includes two operatic arias. He also launched a North American and Australian tour with the Tosca Strings. This tour ended with Los Angeles, San Diego and New York shows in August 2005. The following year, his singing was featured on "The Heart's a Lonely Hunter" on ''The Cosmic Game'' by Thievery Corporation.

In 2005, Byrne initiated his own internet radio station, Radio David Byrne. Each month, Byrne posts a playlist of music he likes, linked by themes or genres. Byrne's playlists have included African popular music, country music classics, Vox Humana, classical opera, and film scores from Italian movies. Byrne also posts personal comments on the music and, occasionally, on the state of the recorded music industry. In July 2007, Byrne posted the following comment: }}

Returning to this work in the theatre, in late 2005 Byrne and Fatboy Slim began work on ''Here Lies Love'', a disco opera or song cycle about the life of Imelda Marcos, the controversial former First Lady of the Philippines. Some music from this piece was debuted at Adelaide Festival of Arts in Australia in February 2006 and the following year at Carnegie Hall on February 3, 2007.

Byrne and Eno's influential 1981 album ''My Life in the Bush of Ghosts'' was re-released for its 25th anniversary in early 2006, with new bonus tracks. In keeping with the spirit of the original album, two of the songs' component tracks were released under Creative Commons licenses and a remix contest site was launched. Later that same year, Byrne released ''Arboretum'', a sketchbook facsimile of his Tree Drawings, published by McSweeney's. He also had an exhibition of his chairs — drawings, photographs, sculptures, and embroideries — at Pace/MacGill Gallery, NYC. In 2007, David Byrne provided a cover of The Fiery Furnaces' song "Ex-Guru" for a compilation to celebrate the 15th birthday of Thrill Jockey, a Chicago-based label.

In April 2008, Byrne took part in the Paul Simon retrospective concert series at BAM performing "You Can Call Me Al" and "I Know What I Know" from Simon's ''Graceland'' album. In 2008, Byrne and his production team programmed the Battery Maritime Building, a 99-year-old ferry terminal in Manhattan, to play music. Essentially Byrne took the old New York City building, hooked the entire structure - pipes, heaters, pillars and all, electronically to an old pipe organ, and made a playable musical instrument of it, for a piece called "Playing the Building". This project was also installed in 2005 in Stockholm, Sweden, and at the London Roundhouse in 2009. It bears similarities to a series of installations performed by New Zealand and Detroit based artists Alastair Galbraith and Matt De Genaro, recorded on their 1998 record ''Wire Music'' and 2006 follow-up ''Long Wires in Dark Museums, Vol. 2''. Byrne says that the point in this project was to allow people to experience art first hand, by creating the music with the organ, rather than simply looking at it. Byrne and Eno reunited for 2008's ''Everything That Happens Will Happen Today'' and Byrne assembled a band to tour the album and other collaborations between the two through late 2008. He assembled a band to tour worldwide for the album for a six-month period from late 2008 through early 2009 on the Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno Tour. The day after that album was released, ''Big Love: Hymnal'' - his soundtrack to season two of ''Big Love'' was made available. These two albums constituted the first releases on his personal independent record label Todo Mundo. In the same year, Byrne performed at the Austin City Limits festival.

He is featured on the tracks "Money" and "The People Tree", on N.A.S.A.'s 2009 album ''The Spirit of Apollo''. Also in 2009, David Byrne appeared on HIV/AIDS charity album ''Dark Was the Night'' for Red Hot Organization. He collaborated with Dirty Projectors on the song "Knotty Pine". In the same year, Byrne performed at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. He also was a signator of a letter protesting the decision of the Toronto International Film Festival to choose Tel Aviv as the subject of its inaugural City-to-City Spotlight strand.

In 2010, David Byrne songs were featured on the soundtrack of Oliver Stone's Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.

Works by David Byrne

Selected discography

''My Life in the Bush of Ghosts'' (with Brian Eno) (1981)

''Rei Momo'' (1989)

''The Forest'' (1991)

''Uh-Oh'' (1992)

''David Byrne'' (1994)

''Feelings'' (1997)

''Look into the Eyeball'' (2001)

''Grown Backwards'' (2004)

''Everything That Happens Will Happen Today'' (with Brian Eno) (2008)

''Here Lies Love'' (with Fatboy Slim) (2010) (featuring 22 guest vocalists)

Books

''True Stories'' (1986)

''Strange Ritual, Chronicle Books'' (1995)

''Your Action World'' (1999)

''The New Sins (Los Nuevos Pecados)'' (2001)

''David Byrne Asks You: What Is It?'' Smart Art Press (2002)

''Envisioning Emotional Epistemological Information'' with DVD (2003)

''Arboretum'', (2006)

''Bicycle Diaries'' (2009)

Film

''Stop Making Sense'' - concert movie from Talking Heads tour (1984)

''True Stories'' (1986)

''Ile Aiye'' (''The house of life'') - Documentary (1989)

''Here Lies Love'' - concept album in collaboration with Norman Cook (released 2010)

''Ride, Rise, Roar'' - music documentary of his concert tour with Brian Eno (released 2010)

''This Must Be the Place'' - 2011

References

Further reading

Sytze Steenstra: ''Song and Circumstance. The Work of David Byrne from Talking Heads to the Present''. New York and London: Continuum Books, 2010.

John Howell: ''David Byrne''. (American Originals Series) New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 1992.

Ian Gittin: ''Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime: The Stories Behind Every Song''.

External links

Category:1952 births Category:Living people Category:Scottish expatriates in the United States Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners Category:Musicians from Maryland Category:People from Baltimore County, Maryland Category:People from Dumbarton Category:Musicians from New York City Category:Rhode Island School of Design alumni Category:Scottish bloggers Category:Scottish buskers Category:Scottish male singers Category:Scottish rock singers Category:Scottish songwriters Category:British emigrants to the United States Category:Talking Heads members Category:Luaka Bop artists Category:E.G. Records artists

cs:David Byrne da:David Byrne de:David Byrne (Musiker) es:David Byrne fr:David Byrne (musicien) io:David Byrne it:David Byrne (musicista) sw:David Byrne nl:David Byrne (muzikant) ja:デヴィッド・バーン oc:David Byrne pl:David Byrne pt:David Byrne ro:David Byrne ru:Бирн, Дэвид sc:David Byrne fi:David Byrne sv:David Byrne

Kevin Kerslake is an American music video director. He has directed videos for Stone Temple Pilots, Filter, R.E.M., 311, Faith No More, Green Day, The Used, 10 Years, Depeche Mode, The Smashing Pumpkins, Papa Roach, Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Rise Against, Insane Clown Posse, The Offspring, and Blue October, as well as several other bands.

His most recent work is directing the video for Rise Against's "Re-Education (Through Labor)" and "Savior" (both from the album ''Appeal to Reason''), and Blue October's "Dirt Room" (from their album ''Approaching Normal'').

Kerslake's directing has been praised by many. The Offspring guitarist Noodles has praised Kerslake's unique videos as very "off the wall."

References

External links

KevinKerslake.com

Sample of his work at Merge

Kevin Kerslake at the Music Video DataBase

Category:American music video directors Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

fa:کوین کرسلیک it:Kevin Kerslake no:Kevin Kerslake pl:Kevin Kerslake

Ice cubes are small, roughly cube-shaped pieces of ice, conventionally used to cool beverages. Ice cubes are sometimes preferred over crushed ice because they melt more slowly; they are standard in mixed drinks that call for ice, in which case the drink is said to be "on the rocks."

Ice cubes that are crushed or sheared into irregularly-shaped flakes may add an interesting aesthetic effect to some cocktails. Crushed ice is also used when faster cooling is desired, since the rate of cooling is governed by the number and average radius of the ice particles.

Melting ice cubes sometimes precipitate white flakes, commonly known as "floaties". This is calcium carbonate which is present in many water supplies and is completely harmless.

Origin

American physician and humanitarian John Gorrie built a refrigerator in 1844 with the purpose of cooling air. His refrigerator produced ice which he hung from the ceiling in a basin. Gorrie can be considered the creator of ice cubes, but his aim was not to cool drinks: he used the ice to lower the ambient room temperature. During his time, a dominant idea was that bad air quality caused disease. Therefore, in order to help treat sickness, he pushed for the draining of swamps and the cooling of sickrooms.

Methods of production

Ice cubes are produced domestically by filling an ice cube tray with water and placing it in a freezer. Many freezers also come equipped with an icemaker, which produces ice cubes automatically and stores them in a bin from which they can be dispensed directly into a glass.

Ice cube tray

Ice cube trays are designed to be filled with water, then placed in a freezer until the water freezes to ice, producing ice cubes. Trays are often flexible, so the frozen cubes can be easily removed by flexing the tray. Twist ice trays have a simple spring loaded mechanism with a lever that is used to turn the tray upside down and flex at the same time such that the cubes drop are collected in a removable tray below and return the ice cube tray to its upright position without removing it from the freezer which can save time and reduces accidents and mess, though the tray has to be removed to be collected and the ice cube tray still has to be removed to be refilled. An alternative system is an aluminum tray with a lever that raises the ice cubes, freeing them from the tray. A motorized version of this is found in most automatic ice-making freezers.

While the usual shape of the ice 'cube' is roughly cubical, there are trays that dispense hemispherical or cylindrical blocks. These are commonly referred to as ice tubes. Some novelty trays produce blocks of ice in seasonal, festive or other shapes.

The first rubber ice cube tray was invented by Lloyd Groff Copeman. One day in 1928, while walking through some woods collecting sap for maple syrup, Copeman noticed that slush and ice flaked off his rubber boots rather than adhering to them. Having recalled this incident over lunch with his patent attorney, he conducted experiments using rubber cups. Later, he set about designing and then patenting different types of tray: a metal tray with rubber separators, a metal tray with individual rubber cups, and a tray made completely of rubber.

The first flexible stainless steel, all-metal ice cube tray was created by Guy L. Tinkham in 1933. The tray bent sideways to remove the ice cubes.

Several companies now offer pre-filled disposable ice trays for home freezing, which they claim provide better taste and reduced risk of contamination.

Large-scale ice cube production

Dedicated ice-maker machines can be used to produce ice cubes for laboratories and academic use. Ice cubes are also produced commercially and sold in bulk; these ice cubes, despite their name, are often cylindrical, and may have holes through the center.

An interesting characteristic of commercially made ice cubes is that they are completely clear, lacking the clouding found in the center of domestically made ice cubes. Cloudy ice cubes result when water is frozen quickly, or when the water is high in dissolved solids. When water is cooled to its freezing point, and ice starts to form, dissolved gases can no longer stay in solution and come out as microscopic bubbles. However, as ice floats in water, once there is enough ice to form a layer on the surface, the ice layer traps all bubbles within the ice cube. Commercial ice-makers use a flowing source of purified water to make ice with cooling elements at the bottom, allowing the bubbles to be washed away from the top as the cube grows.

See also

Ice pack

Pagophagia

Refrigeration

Ice

References

External links

Hot water can freeze faster than cold water

Category:Water ice Category:Bartending equipment

ca:Glaçó da:Isterning de:Eiswürfel es:Cubito de hielo fr:Glaçon he:קוביית קרח nl:IJsblokje ja:クラッシュドアイス no:Isbit oc:Glaçon ru:Кубики льда simple:Ice cube fi:Jääpala sv:Isbit zh:冰塊