2 Years On is the Bee Gees' eighth album (the group's sixth international release) released in December 1970. The album reached #32 on the U.S. charts, and sold 375,000 copies worldwide (see 1970 in music). The album saw the return of Robin Gibb to the group after the earlier disagreement and subsequent split following Odessa. Its most famous track is Lonely Days. Released as the first single by the reunited brothers, it charted highly in the US (#3 in Billboard, #1 in rival chart Cashbox) but only peaked at #33 in the UK.

History[link]

Robin and Maurice returned to the studio after two months, though this time their purpose was more clear; the Bee Gees were back, with or without Barry's participation. A tape from some date in August has five songs of which nothing is known. The songs "Sincere Relation" and "Lay It On Me" were recorded on 13 June in Nova Studios, London without Barry's participation. On August 21, the three Bee Gees would reunite and record together.

Despite the album marking the musical reunion of the Bee Gees, only three songs credited all three Gibb brothers as composers - the single Lonely Days and its flip side Man For All Seasons and the rocker Back Home inspired by the recent airline hijackings.. Maurice is on all songs, but Barry and Robin are only on the ones they wrote or co-wrote.

This album marks the debut of drummer Geoff Bridgford who became a full-time member of The Bee Gees until 1972.

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	C−[2]

Track listing[link]

Alternate track listing[link]

• Some publicity material listed an alternate running order.

1. "2 Years On"
2. "Lonely Days"
3. "Lay It On Me"
4. "Portrait Of Louise"
5. "Man For All Seasons"
6. "The First Mistake I Made"
7. "I'm Weeping"
8. "Every Second, Every Minute"
9. "Sincere Relation"
10. "Back Home"
11. "Alone Again"
12. "Tell Me Why"

Outtakes[link]

• All songs written by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb except where noted.

1. "You Got To Lose It In The End"
2. "Little Red Train"
3. "Sweet Summer Rain"
4. "Melody Fair" (originally recorded in 1968 and released in 1969 from the album Odessa but was re-recorded for some reason.)
5. "Maybe Tomorrow"
6. "Lost"
7. "Fantasy"
8. "Don't Forget Me Ida" (Barry Gibb) - 3:34
9. "To Dance Again" - 2:08

Personnel[link]

• Barry Gibb - vocals, guitar
• Robin Gibb - vocals
• Maurice Gibb - vocals, bass, piano, guitar
• Geoff Bridgford - drums

Additional personnel

• John Stewart - engineer
• Gerry Shury - orchestral arrangement
• Bill Shepherd - orchestral arrangement

References[link]

Bruno Mars
Bruno Mars performing in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 19, 2010
Background information
Birth name	Peter Gene Hernandez
Born	(1985-10-08) October 8, 1985 (age 26)[1] Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Genres	Reggae fusion, pop, soul, R&B
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, record producer, model, dancer
Instruments	Vocals, drums, guitar, keyboard, bass, piano, harmonica
Years active	2005–present
Labels	Atlantic, Elektra
Associated acts	The Smeezingtons
Website	www.brunomars.com

Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), better known by his stage name Bruno Mars, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. Raised in Honolulu, Hawaii by a family of musicians, Mars began making music at a young age. He performed in various musical venues in his hometown throughout his childhood. He graduated from high school and then moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue a musical career. Mars produced songs for other artists, joining production team The Smeezingtons.

Mars had an unsuccessful stint with Motown Records, but then signed with Atlantic Records in 2009. He became recognized as a solo artist after lending his vocals and co-writing the hooks for the songs "Nothin' on You" by B.o.B, and "Billionaire" by Travie McCoy. He also co-wrote the hits "Right Round" by Flo Rida featuring Ke$ha, and "Wavin' Flag" by K'naan. In October 2010, he released his debut album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans. Anchored by the worldwide number-one singles "Just the Way You Are" and "Grenade", the album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200.^[2] Mars was nominated for seven Grammys at the 53rd Grammy Awards, winning Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "Just the Way You Are".

Mars' music is noted for displaying a wide variety of styles and influences, and contains elements of many musical genres. He has worked with an assortment of artists from various genres. Mars acknowledges the influences that his collaborations have had on his own music. As a child, he was highly influenced by artists such as Little Richard,^[3] Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson and would often impersonate these artists from a young age. Mars also incorporates reggae and Motown inspired sounds into his work. Jon Caramanica of The New York Times referred to Mars as "one of the most versatile and accessible singers in pop."^[4] Worldwide, Mars became the best-selling digital artist in 2011. He had three singles in the top ten, including first place with "Just The Way You Are," which sold 12.5 million copies.^[5] Mars won Best International Male Solo Artist at the BRIT Awards in 2012.^[6] Bruno Mars has sold 5 million albums and 36 million singles worldwide.^[7]

Early life[link]

Bruno Mars was born Peter Gene Hernandez on October 8th, 1985, and raised in the Waikiki neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaii, by parents Pete Hernandez, of Puerto Rican descent, and Bernadette "Bernie," a Filipina.^{[8][9][10][11]} His mother emigrated to Hawaii from the Philippines as a child and his father moved to the island from Brooklyn, New York.^[12] Mars' parents met while performing in a show, where his mother was a hula dancer and his father played percussion.^[12] At the age of two, he was nicknamed "Bruno" by his father, because of his resemblance to legendary professional wrestler Bruno Sammartino.^[13]

Mars was one of six children and came from a musical family who exposed him to a diverse mix of reggae, rock, hip hop, and R&B.^[14][15] In addition to being a dancer, his mother was a singer and his father used his musical ability to perform Little Richard rock n roll music.^[3] Mars' uncle was an Elvis impersonator. By the age of three his uncle had Mars up on the stage performing. He also performed songs by artists such as Michael Jackson, The Isley Brothers, and The Temptations.^[10] At age four, Mars began performing five days a week with his family's band, The Love Notes, in which he became known on the island for his impersonation of Presley.^[16]

In 1990, Mars was featured in MidWeek as "Little Elvis", going on to have a cameo in the film Honeymoon in Vegas in 1992.^[10][17] He later reflected on the influence Presley had on his music: "I watch the best. I'm a big fan of Elvis. I'm a big fan of 1950s Elvis when he would go on stage and scare people because he was a force and girls would go nuts! You can say the same thing for Prince or The Police. It's just guys who know that people are here to see a show, so I watch those guys and I love studying them because I'm a fan."^[18] In 2010, he also acknowledged his Hawaiian roots and musical family as an influence, explaining, "Growing up in Hawaii made me the man I am. I used to do a lot of shows in Hawaii with my father's band. Everybody in my family sings, everyone plays instruments...I've just been surrounded by it."^[19] In 2003, shortly after graduating from President Theodore Roosevelt High School at the age of seventeen, Mars moved to Los Angeles, California, to pursue a musical career.^[10][17] He adopted his stage name from the nickname his father gave him, adding "Mars" at the end because "I felt like I didn't have [any] pizzazz, and a lot of girls say I’m out of this world, so I was like I guess I'm from Mars."^[20]

Career[link]

[edit] 2004–10: Career beginnings and It's Better If You Don't Understand

Bruno Mars performing in Houston, Texas in November 2010.

Shortly after moving to Los Angeles, Mars signed to Motown Records in 2004, in a deal that "went nowhere".^[21] However, Mars' experience with Motown proved to be beneficial to his career when he met songwriter and producer Philip Lawrence, who was also signed to the label. Mars, Lawrence, and engineer Ari Levine began writing songs together, and formed the production team The Smeezingtons.^[21] In 2006, Lawrence introduced Mars to his future manager at Atlantic Records, Aaron Bay-Schuck.^[22] After hearing him play a couple of songs on the guitar, Bay-Schuck wanted to sign him immediately, but it took about three years for Atlantic records to finally sign Mars to the label.^[22] In the meantime, Bay-Schuck hired Mars and the Smeezingtons to write and produce songs for the label's artists.^[22] According to Bay-Schuck in an interview with HitQuarters, Mars had stated that although his ultimate goal was to be a solo artist, he was willing to write and produce for other artists, both to help improve his songwriting and help him discover the type of artist he ultimately wanted to be.^[22] Bay-Schuck credits this as a period of "self-discovery" that contributed significantly to Mars' later success.^[22]

Before becoming a successful solo artist, Hernandez was an acknowledged music producer, writing songs for Alexandra Burke, Travie McCoy, Adam Levine, Brandy, Sean Kingston, and Flo Rida.^[14][23] He also co-wrote the Sugababes' hit song "Get Sexy" and provided backing vocals on their album Sweet 7.^[24][25] His first musical appearance as a singer was in Far East Movement's second studio album Animal, featured on the track "3D".^[26] He was also featured on pastor and hip hop artist Jaeson Ma's debut single "Love" in August 2009.^[27][28] He reached prominence as a solo artist after being featured on and co-writing B.o.B's "Nothin' on You" and Travie McCoy's "Billionaire"; both songs peaked within the top ten of many charts worldwide.^{[29][30][31][32]} He said of them, "I think those songs weren't meant to be full-sung songs. If I'd sung all of "Nothin' on You", it might've sounded like some '90s R&B." Following this success, Mars released his debut extended play (EP), titled It's Better If You Don't Understand, on May 11, 2010.^[33] The EP peaked at the 99th position on the Billboard 200 and produced one single, "The Other Side", featuring singers Cee Lo Green and B.o.B.^[34][35] Mars collaborated with Green once more in August 2010 by co-writing his single "Fuck You!". He performed a medley of "Nothin' on You" and "Airplanes" with B.o.B and Hayley Williams at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010.^[36]

[edit] 2010–present: Doo-Wops & Hooligans

Bruno Mars' debut album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans, was released digitally on October 4, and saw its physical release on October 5, 2010.^[37][38] The lead single, "Just the Way You Are", was released on July 19, 2010,^[39] and has reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 as well as several other charts worldwide.^[40][41] The music video was released on September 8, 2010.^[42] The second single, "Grenade", was released September 28, 2010, and has also seen successful international chart performance.^[43][44] In the United States, Doo-Wops & Hooligans debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 for the week of October 13, 2010, selling 55,000 copies.^[2] The album also received generally positive reviews from critics. Entertainment Weekly's Leah Greenblatt praised Mars for his "instant-access melodies" and "sly snatches of dance-floor swagger", but noted weaknesses in songs deviant from his conventional pop and soul genres.^[45] He opened for Maroon 5 on the fall leg of the Hands All Over Tour starting October 6, 2010 and co-headlined with McCoy on a European tour starting October 18, 2010.^[38]

On September 19, 2010, Mars was arrested in Las Vegas for possession of cocaine.^[46] When talking to a police officer, Mars reportedly stated that what he did was "foolish" and that "he has never used drugs before".^[47][48] Mars pled guilty to felony drug possession, and in return for his plea, he was told that the charges would be erased from his criminal record as long as he stayed out of trouble for a year, paid a $2,000 fine, did 200 hours of community service and completed a drug counseling course.^[49]

On February 13, 2011, Mars won his first Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, having received six nominations; Best Rap Song and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Nothin' on You", Record of the Year for "Nothin' on You" and "Fuck You", Song of the Year for "Fuck You", and Producer of the Year, Non-Classical at the 53rd Grammy Awards.

On September 16, 2011, Bad Meets Evil released their single, "Lighters", which featured Mars in the song. The song was met with mixed reviews from critics and many criticized Mars for doing this type of song.^[50] On September 22, 2011, it was announced on Mars' website that his new song "It Will Rain" will appear on The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack which was released on November 8.^[51] On October 30, 2011, Mars gave an exclusive performance of "Runaway Baby" on the results show of The X Factor UK, the same day that Mars received six nominations for a Grammy Award; Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for Doo-Wops & Hooligans, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance for "Grenade", and Producer of the Year, Non-Classical at the 54th Grammy Awards. During the ceremony, Mars performed "Runaway Baby" but he did not win any awards as Adele won in all the categories he was nominated in and also lost to Paul Epworth for Producer of the Year.

Mars has confirmed on Twitter that his work on his second album has begun.^[52] On March 22, 2012, it was announced that Mars had signed a worldwide publishing deal with BMG Chrysalis US.^[53]

Musical style[link]

Mars performing on November 24, 2010. Mars plays several instruments including piano, guitar, bass and congas.^[54]

Mars' music has been noted for displaying a wide variety of styles and influences, including pop,^[55] rock,^[55] reggae,^[55] R&B,^[56] soul,^[45] and hip hop.^[57] His co-producer Philip Lawrence says, "What people don't know is there's a darker underbelly to Bruno Mars." Mars himself says, "I blame that on me singing to girls back in high school."^[58] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times called him "one of the most versatile and accessible singers in pop, with a light, soul-influenced voice that’s an easy fit in a range of styles, a universal donor."^[4] Mars was initially influenced by R&B artists such as Keith Sweat, Jodeci and R. Kelly, as well as 1950s rock 'n' roll and Motown.^[59] In high school, he began listening to classic rock groups such as The Police, Led Zeppelin, and the Beatles.^[59] All of these genres of music have influenced Mars' musical style; he observed that "It’s not easy to [create] songs with that mixture of rock and soul and hip-hop, and there’s only a handful of them."^[59] Mars also stated that he is a fan of Alicia Keys, Jessie J, Jack White and The Saturdays.^[60]

In addition, Mars claims that his work with other artists influenced his musical style, saying that "'Nothin' on You' had a Motown vibe, 'Billionaire' was a reggae acoustic guitar-driven song, though one of my favorites is the Cee-Lo [Green] song ['Fuck You']. I don't think anyone else could've sung that song. And there's 'Just the Way You Are.' If you know my story, you know I love all different genres of music."^[61] He cites doo-wop as a major influence on his music, referring to the genre as "just straightforward love songs – so charming and simple and romantic."^[61] In addition, Mars states that growing up in Hawaii influenced his music, giving the songs a reggae sound. He explains that "In Hawaii some of the biggest radio stations are reggae. The local bands are heavily influenced by Bob Marley. That music brings people together. It's not urban music or pop music. It's just songs. That's what makes it cross over so well. The song comes first."^[12] Lyrically, many of Mars' songs have been described as "feel-good", carefree, and optimistic,^[62] however, darker subjects are addressed in songs such as "Grenade", "Liquor Store Blues", and "Talking to the Moon", which detail failed relationships and self-destructive behavior.^[45][63]

Discography[link]

• Doo-Wops & Hooligans (2010)
• TBA (2012)

Tours[link]

• Doo-Wops & Hooligans tour (2010–2011)

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bruno Mars

• Official website
• Bruno Mars on Twitter
• Bruno Mars at the Internet Movie Database

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this article if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. (August 2011)

DJ Earworm in Sentosa in 2009.

Jordan Roseman (aka DJ Earworm) is a San Francisco-based mashup artist who has achieved recognition for his technically sophisticated, songwriting oriented music and video mashups.^[1][2] His annual “United State of Pop” mashups, short mixes featuring the top 25 songs of the year according to Billboard magazine, have reached the Top 100 for national radio play.^[3]

Biography[link]

Roseman was born into a big family of musicians and raised in eastern Iowa and Evanston, Illinois.^[2][4] In his early life, he played piano and produced original electronic music on a computer, later majoring in music theory and computer science at the University of Illinois. He began using ACID recreationally in 2003. After encouragement from DJ Adrian at Club Bootie, Roseman created the moniker DJ Earworm ("earworm" referencing a song that repeats uncontrollably in one's mind) and began releasing mashups via a website.^[5]

DJ Earworm has a unique mashup style that consists of a compositional, songwriting approach. He gradually layers samples on top of one another, matching keys and subtly altering melodies. His mashups often convey an entirely new meaning than the original material, such as a political message in “No More Gas”. He has been contrasted with mashup artist Girl Talk, who has a more DJ-oriented style.^[6]

He is the author of Audio Mashup Construction Kit (Wiley, 2006), a how-to manual for creating mashups.^[7]

At the 2008 IDEA conference, he revealed that he has made mashups using Ableton Live₨, and now DJs live with the same software.^[8]

"United State of Pop" series[link]

2007[link]

Earworm's 2007 mashup, "United State of Pop” consisted of the top 25 songs of 2007 according to Billboard.^[9] The song crossed beyond the online download market, reaching the Top 100 for national radio play in February 2008. Earworm is the first mashup artist to have a bootleg mashup enter Billboard’s charts.^[10] As of August 12, 2011, the song has surpassed 4.5 million views on YouTube, and it has peaked at number 71 on the CHR/Top 40 Mediabase radio chart.^{[citation needed]}

Mix Includes:

• "Irreplaceable" - Beyoncé
• " Umbrella" - Rihanna feat. Jay-z
• "The Sweet Escape" - Gwen Stefani feat. Akon
• "Big Girls Don't Cry" - Fergie
• "Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')" - T-Pain feat. Young Joc
• "Before He Cheats" - Carrie Underwood
• "Hey There Delilah" - Plain White T's
• " I Wanna Love You" - Akon feat. Snoop Dogg
• "Say It Right" - Nelly Furtado
• " Glamorous" - Fergie feat. Ludacris
• "Don't Matter" - Akon
• "Girlfriend" - Avril Lavigne
• "Makes Me Wonder" - Maroon 5
• "Party Like a Rockstar" - Shop Boyz
• "Smack That" - Akon feat. Eminem
• "This Is Why I'm Hot" - Mims
• "It's Not Over" - Daughtry
• "The Way I Are"- Timbaland feat. Keri Hilson
• "Fergalicious" - Fergie
• "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" - Soulja Boy Tell 'Em
• "Give It to Me" - Timbaland feat. Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado
• "What Goes Around... Comes Around" - Justin Timberlake
• "Cupid's Chokehold" - Gym Class Heroes feat. Patrick Stump
• "How to Save a Life" - The Fray
• "Home" - Daughtry

2008[link]

On December 25, 2008 he released another mashup called "United State of Pop 2008 (Viva la Pop)", prominently featuring Coldplay's song "Viva la Vida" as the backing track, and an intro by Natasha Bedingfield's Pocketful of Sunshine beat. The official YouTube video of the song had 200,000 views within the first two weeks of release. The mashup peaked at number 58 on Billboard's Pop Airplay chart, and entered the Pop 100 chart.^[11] As of December 13, 2011, the video has received over 9.5 million views on YouTube, and it has peaked at number 81 on the CHR/Top 40 Mediabase radio chart.^{[citation needed]}

Mix Includes:

• "Low" - Flo Rida feat. T-Pain
• "Bleeding Love" - Leona Lewis
• "No One" - Alicia Keys
• "Lollipop"- Lil Wayne feat. Static Major
• "Apologize" - One Republic feat. Timbaland
• "No Air" - Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown
• "Love Song" - Sara Bareilles
• "Love in This Club" - Usher feat.Young Jeezy
• "With You" - Chris Brown
• "Forever" - Chris Brown
• "Sexy Can I" - Ray J feat. Young Berg
• "Take a Bow" - Rihanna
• "Viva La Vida" - Coldplay
• "I Kissed a Girl" - Katy Perry
• "Whatever You Like" - T.I.
• "Disturbia" - Rihanna
• "Don't Stop the Music" - Rihanna
• "Pocketful of Sunshine" - Natasha Bedingfield
• "Kiss Kiss" - Chris Brown feat. T-pain
• " Closer" - Ne-Yo
• "Bubbly" - Colbie Caillat
• "Touch My Body" - Mariah Carey
• "4 Minutes" - Madonna feat. Justin Timberlake and Timbaland
• "So What" - Pink
• "Paralyzer" - Finger Eleven

2009[link]

On December 27, 2009 he released a third year-end mashup, "United State of Pop 2009 (Blame it on the Pop)" ^[12] The music video has reached over 40.2 million views as of December 13, 2011.

Mix Includes:

• "Boom Boom Pow" - The Black Eyed Peas
• "Poker Face" - Lady Gaga
• "Just Dance" - Lady Gaga feat.Colby O'Donis
• "I Gotta Feeling" - Black Eyed Peas
• "Love Story" - Taylor Swift
• "Right Round" - Flo Rida feat. Kesha
• "I'm Yours" - Jason Mraz
• "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" - Beyoncé
• " Heartless" - Kanye West
• "Gives You Hell" - All-American Rejects
• "You Belong with Me" - Taylor Swift
• "Dead and Gone" - T.I feat. Justin Timberlake
• "You Found Me" - The Fray
• "Use Somebody" - Kings of Leon
• "Knock You Down" - Keri Hilson feat. Kanye West & Ne-Yo
• "Blame It" - Jamie Foxx feat. T-Pain
• "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" - Pitbull
• "Live Your Life" - T.I feat. Rihanna
• "Kiss Me Thru the Phone" - Soulja Boy Tell 'Em feat. Sammie
• "Down" - Jay Sean feat. Lil Wayne
• "The Climb" - Miley Cyrus
• "Best I Ever Had" - Drake
• "My Life Would Suck Without You" - Kelly Clarkson
• " Halo" - Beyoncé
• "Hot n Cold" - Katy Perry

2010[link]

On December 28, 2010 he released the fourth year-end mashup, "United State of Pop 2010 (Don't Stop the Pop), which includes the top 25 singles of 2010. The music video has reached over 13.6 million views as of December 5, 2011.

Mix Includes:

• "Tik Tok" - Kesha
• "Need You Now" - Lady Antebellum
• "Hey, Soul Sister" - Train
• "California Gurls" - Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg
• " OMG" - Usher feat. Will.I.Am
• "Airplanes" - B.o.B feat. Hayley Williams
• "Love the Way You Lie" - Eminem feat. Rihanna
• "Bad Romance" - Lady Gaga
• "Dynamite" - Taio Cruz
• "Break Your Heart" - Taio Cruz feat. Ludacris
• "Nothin' on You" - B.o.B feat. Bruno Mars
• "I Like It" - Enrique Iglesias feat. Pitbull
• "BedRock" - Young Money Entertainment feat. Lloyd
• "In My Head" - Jason Derülo
• "Rude Boy" - Rihanna
• "Telephone" - Lady Gaga feat. Beyonce
• "Teenage Dream" - Katy Perry
• "Just The Way You Are" - Bruno Mars
• "Cooler Than Me" - Mike Posner
• "Imma Be" - The Black Eyed Peas
• "Empire State of Mind" - Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys
• "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" - Usher feat. Pitbull
• "Billionaire" - Travie McCoy feat. Bruno Mars
• "Not Afraid" - Eminem
• "Replay" - Iyaz

2011[link]

The fifth year-end mashup, "United State of Pop 2011 (World Go Boom)" was released on December 25 2011. This was the first time this was not based on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 chart, but on the weekly charts throughout the year, which "ensures that all the late-breaking hits are included in the 2011 mix".^[13] It used a combination of Rihanna's "We Found Love" , Katy Perry's Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) , Lady Gaga's Born This Way, and Britney Spears' "Till The World Ends" as the backing track. The music video for "United State of Pop 2011 (World Go Boom)"^[14] was viewed over 1.4 million times within the first day of release on YouTube.

The mashup included the following songs:

• "Rolling In The Deep" - Adele
• "Someone Like You" - Adele
• "Just Can't Get Enough" - Black Eyed Peas
• "Grenade" - Bruno Mars
• "The Lazy Song" - Bruno Mars
• "Till The World Ends" - Britney Spears
• "F*** You!" - Cee Lo Green
• "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" - Enrique Iglesias
• "Pumped Up Kicks" - Foster the People
• "On The Floor" - Jennifer Lopez
• "Down On Me" - Jeremih feat. 50 Cent
• "Firework" - Katy Perry
• "E.T." - Katy Perry
• "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" - Katy Perry
• "Born This Way" - Lady Gaga
• "Party Rock Anthem" - LMFAO
• "Sexy and I Know It" - LMFAO
• "The Show Goes On" - Lupe Fiasco
• "Moves Like Jagger" - Maroon 5
• "Super Bass" - Nicki Minaj
• "Good Life" - OneRepublic
• "Raise Your Glass" - Pink
• "Give Me Everything" - Pitbull
• "S&M" - Rihanna
• "We Found Love" - Rihanna

Earworm states that "It doesn't match Billboard's U.S. year-end list, since I'm basing it off of the weekly lists this year in order to more reflect what was actually popular during 2011. Because of the Billboard's early cut off date and their emphasis on chart longevity, songs that are released after August are either split between the two years tor moved to the next year. I also don't want a track appearing two years in a row just because it happened to be peaking right at the cutoff. From my perspective, a song for a aveyear-end mix belongs in the year it will be remembered from, not the year it ended its run. For instance, "We Found Love", which has been #1 for the last 8 weeks of the year, is nowhere to be seen in Billboard's Top 25, and may not make it next year either due to the bias of the cut-off date. As a bonus I am able to spend more time on the mixes and more fully realize them."

Official Mashups[link]

While most mashup artists must rely on bootleg samples and public releases to make mashups, Earworm has been contacted by prominent musicians to make mashups from their source material. DJ Earworm was given multitracks by Annie Lennox to create a unique mashup piece called "Backwards/Forwards," which contains nine of her songs.

On September 12, 2009, Earworm released an official Sean Kingston mashup called "A Beautiful Mashup."

Like OMG, Baby[link]

"Like OMG, Baby", released in the summer of 2010, was shown as part of a concert at Wembley Stadium in London for Capital FM's Summertime Ball, where all fifteen of the featured artists performed. The mashup is Earworm's fourth song to chart on the CHR/Top 40 Mediabase radio chart, where it peaked at number 83. As of August 8, 2011, the video has received 10.2 million views and counting on YouTube, making it by far his most popular non-United State of Pop mashup and surpassing the 2008 year-end video. In 2011 the song was honored with two Sony Radio Academy Awards.^[15] Here is the list of songs used:

1. Alexandra Burke - All Night Long
2. Cheryl Cole - Fight For This Love
3. Chipmunk feat. Esmee Denters - Until You Were Gone
4. Dizzee Rascal - Bonkers
5. Ellie Goulding - Starry Eyed
6. Jason Derulo - In My Head
7. JLS - One Shot
8. Justin Bieber - Baby
9. Ke$ha - Tik Tok
10. Pixie Lott - Mama Do (Uh Oh, Uh Oh)
11. Rihanna - Rude Boy
12. Scouting For Girls - This Ain't a Love Song
13. Tinie Tempah - Pass Out
14. Usher feat. Will.I.Am - OMG
15. The Wanted - All Time Low

Free At Night[link]

On December 10, 2010, Earworm released a Nelly Furtado mashup titled "Free At Night", composed of 13 songs from Furtado's recent greatest hits album, The Best of Nelly Furtado. The music video has over 541,000 views as of August 8, 2011. Here is the list of songs used:

1. I'm Like a Bird
2. Turn Off the Light
3. Powerless (Say What You Want)
4. Try
5. Força
6. Promiscuous
7. Maneater
8. Say It Right
9. All Good Things (Come To An End)
10. Girlfriend in This City
11. Night Is Young
12. Stars
13. Manos al Aire

The Only Time is Tonight[link]

To promote YouTube's Android app, Earworm released a mashup called "The Only Time is Tonight". The mashup heavily used Enrique Iglesias's "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" instrumental and vocals. It was released on May 31, 2011 on YouTube's official account.^[16] On August 22, 2011, the video reached over 1.5 million views. Recently the official video for "The Only Time is Tonight" has been made unavailable for viewing on YouTube and DJ Earworm's website, although the audio for the mashup is available for download on djearworm.com ^[17] and unofficial copies of the original video are still posted on YouTube. ^[18] Here is the list of songs used:

1. Avril Lavigne - What the Hell
2. Black Eyed Peas - The Time (Dirty Bit)
3. Chris Brown - Yeah 3x
4. Enrique Iglesias - Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)
5. Kesha - We R Who We R
6. Rihanna - Only Girl (In the World)
7. Willow Smith - Whip My Hair

Party on the Floor[link]

Following up the previous year's "Like OMG, Baby", Earworm released another UK-oriented summertime mashup on June 12, 2011. It is entitled, "Party On The Floor". As of March 17, 2012, the music video has reached over 7 million views. This mash up was used at the start of the Capital FM summertime ball 2011 at Wembley Stadium. Here are the songs used:

1. Jennifer Lopez feat. Pitbull - On the Floor
2. Jessie J - Do It Like A Dude
3. Jessie J feat. B.o.B.- Price Tag
4. LMFAO feat. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock - Party Rock Anthem
5. Nicole Scherzinger - Don't Hold Your Breath
6. Example - Changed the Way You Kiss Me
7. Mike Posner - Cooler Than Me
8. Ne-Yo - Beautiful Monster
9. The Wanted - Glad You Came
10. Far East Movement feat. The Cataracs & Dev - Like A G6
11. JLS feat. Tinie Tempah - Eyes Wide Shut
12. JLS - Love You More
13. Katy B - Katy on a Mission
14. Katy B feat. Ms. Dynamite - Lights On
15. Cee-Lo Green - Forget You
16. Cee-Lo Green feat. Wiz Khalifa - Bright Lights, Bigger City
17. Enrique Iglesias feat. Pitbull - I Like It
18. Wretch 32 - Traktor
19. Mann - Buzzin'

References[link]

External links[link]

• DJ Earworm Homepage

Rowan Atkinson
Atkinson at the Johnny English Reborn Premiere
Birth name	Rowan Sebastian Atkinson
Born	(1955-01-06) 6 January 1955 (age 57)[1][2] Consett, Durham, England, United Kingdom
Medium	Stand up, Television, Film
Years active	1978–present
Genres	Physical comedy, Satire, Black comedy
Influences	Peter Sellers, Charlie Chaplin, Jacques Tati[3]
Influenced	Steve Pemberton David Walliams
Spouse	Sunetra Sastry (m. 1990) «start: (1990)»"Marriage: Sunetra Sastry to Rowan Atkinson" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Rowan_Atkinson)
Notable works and roles	Not the Nine O'Clock News Blackadder Mr. Bean The Thin Blue Line Johnny English
BAFTA Awards Best Light Entertainment Performance 1981 Not the Nine O'Clock News 1990 Blackadder Goes Forth Laurence Olivier Awards Best Comedy Performance 1981 Rowan Atkinson in Revue

Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is a British actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is most famous for his work on the satirical sketch comedy show Not The Nine O'Clock News, and the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean and The Thin Blue Line. He has been listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest actors in British comedy,^[4] and amongst the top 50 comedians ever in a 2005 poll of fellow comedians.^[5] He has also had cinematic success with his performances in the Mr. Bean movie adaptations Bean and Mr. Bean's Holiday and in Johnny English and its sequel Johnny English Reborn. He also starred in the film Never Say Never Again (a spy film based on the James Bond novel Thunderball) in 1983.

Early life and education[link]

Atkinson, the youngest of four brothers, was born in Consett, County Durham, England.^[6] His parents were Eric Atkinson, a farmer and company director, and Ella May (née Bainbridge), who married on 29 June 1945.^[6] His three older brothers were Paul, who died as an infant, Rodney, a Eurosceptic economist who narrowly lost the United Kingdom Independence Party leadership election in 2000, and Rupert.^[7][8] Atkinson was brought up Anglican,^[9] and was educated at Durham Choristers School, St. Bees School, and Newcastle University.^[10] In 1975, he continued for the degree of MSc in Electrical Engineering at The Queen's College, Oxford, the same college his father matriculated at in 1935,^[11] which made Atkinson an Honorary Fellow in 2006.^[12] First achieving notice at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1976,^[10] while at Oxford, he also acted and performed early sketches for the Oxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS), the Oxford Revue and the Experimental Theatre Club (ETC), meeting writer Richard Curtis^[10] and composer Howard Goodall, with whom he would continue to collaborate during his career.

Career[link]

Radio[link]

Atkinson had starred in a series of comedy shows for BBC Radio 3 in 1978 called The Atkinson People. It consisted of a series of satirical interviews with fictional great men, who were played by Atkinson himself. The series was written by Atkinson and Richard Curtis, and produced by Griff Rhys Jones.^[13]

Television[link]

After university, Atkinson toured with Angus Deayton as his straight man in an act that was eventually filmed for a television show. After the success of the show, he did a one-off pilot for London Weekend Television in 1979 called Canned Laughter. Atkinson then went on to do Not the Nine O'Clock News for the BBC, produced by his friend John Lloyd. He starred on the show along with Pamela Stephenson, Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith, and was one of the main sketch writers.

The success of Not the Nine O'Clock News led to his starring in the medieval sitcom The Black Adder, which he also co-wrote with Richard Curtis, in 1983. After a three-year gap, in part due to budgetary concerns, a second series was written, this time by Curtis and Ben Elton, and first screened in 1986. Blackadder II followed the fortunes of one of the descendants of Atkinson's original character, this time in the Elizabethan era. The same pattern was repeated in the two sequels Blackadder the Third (1987) (set in the Regency era), and Blackadder Goes Forth (1989) (set in World War I). The Blackadder series went on to become one of the most successful BBC situation comedies of all time, spawning television specials including Blackadder's Christmas Carol (1988) and Blackadder: The Cavalier Years (1988).

Atkinson's other famous creation, the hapless Mr. Bean, first appeared on New Years Day in 1990 in a half-hour special for Thames Television. The character of Mr. Bean has been likened somewhat to a modern-day Buster Keaton.^[14] During this time, Atkinson appeared at the Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal in 1987 and 1989. Several sequels to Mr. Bean appeared on television in the 1990s, and it eventually made into a major motion picture in 1997. Entitled Bean, it was directed by Mel Smith, his former co-star from Not the Nine O'Clock News. A second movie was released in 2007 entitled Mr. Bean's Holiday. In 1995 and 1997, Atkinson portrayed Inspector Raymond Fowler in the popular The Thin Blue Line television series, written by Ben Elton, which takes place in a police station located in fictitious Gasforth.

Atkinson has fronted campaigns for Kronenbourg,^[15] Hitachi electrical goods,^{[citation needed]} Fujifilm, and Give Blood. Atkinson appeared as a hapless and error-prone espionage agent in a long-running series for Barclaycard, on which character his title role in Johnny English and Johnny English Reborn was based.

He also starred in a comedy spoof of Doctor Who as the Doctor, for a "Red Nose Day" benefit.

Atkinson has also starred as the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car in the motoring show, Top Gear in July 2011, where he recorded the second fastest lap in the Kia Cee'd with a time of 1:42.2.

Rowan Atkinson in 1997, promoting Bean

Film[link]

Atkinson's film career began in 1983 with a supporting part in the 'unofficial' James Bond movie Never Say Never Again and a leading role in Dead on Time with Nigel Hawthorne. He appeared in former Not the Nine O'Clock News co-star Mel Smith's directorial debut The Tall Guy in 1989. He also appeared alongside Anjelica Huston and Mai Zetterling in Roald Dahl's The Witches in 1990. In 1993 he played the part of Dexter Hayman in Hot Shots! Part Deux, a parody of Rambo III, starring Charlie Sheen.

Atkinson gained further recognition with his turn as a verbally bumbling vicar in the 1994 hit Four Weddings and a Funeral. That same year he was featured in Disney's The Lion King as the voice of Zazu the Red-billed Hornbill. Atkinson continued to appear in supporting roles in successful comedies, including Rat Race (2001), Scooby-Doo (2002), and Love Actually (2003).

In 2005, he acted in the crime/comedy Keeping Mum, which also starred Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith and Patrick Swayze.

In addition to his supporting roles, Atkinson has also had success as a leading man. His television character Mr. Bean debuted on the big screen in 1997 with Bean to international success. A sequel, Mr. Bean's Holiday, was released in March 2007 and this, as recently mentioned by Atkinson in 2011, was the last time he played the character.^[16] He has also starred in the James Bond parody Johnny English in 2003. Its sequel, Johnny English Reborn was released on 7 October 2011.

Theatre[link]

Rowan Atkinson did live on-stage skits – also appearing with members of Monty Python – in The Secret Policeman's Ball (1979).

Rowan Atkinson appeared in the 2009 revival of the West End musical Oliver! in the role of Fagin.^[17] The production was directed by Rupert Goold. A year prior he starred in a pre-West End run of the show in Oxford, directed by Jez Bond.

Comedic style[link]

Best known for his use of physical comedy in his trademark character of Mr. Bean, Atkinson's other characters rely more heavily on language. Atkinson often plays authority figures (especially priests or vicars) speaking absurd lines with a completely deadpan delivery.

One of his better-known trademark comic devices is over-articulation of the "B" sound, such as his pronunciation of "Bob" in a Blackadder episode. Atkinson suffers from stuttering,^[18] and the over-articulation is a technique to overcome problematic consonants.