Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades.^[1]

The British label was renowned for its development of recording methods, while the American company developed the concept of cast albums in the musical genre. Both wings are now part of the Universal Music Group which is owned by Vivendi, a media conglomerate headquartered in France. The American Decca label was the foundation label which evolved into UMG.

Label name[link]

The name "Decca" dates back to a portable gramophone called the "Decca Dulcephone" patented in 1914 by musical instrument makers Barnett Samuel and Sons. That company was eventually renamed The Decca Gramophone Co. Ltd. and then sold to former stockbroker Edward Lewis in 1929. Within years, Decca Records Ltd. was the second largest record label in the world, calling itself "The Supreme Record Company". The name "Decca" was coined by Wilfred S. Samuel by merging the word "Mecca" with the initial D of their logo "Dulcet" or their trademark "Dulcephone."^[2] Samuel, a linguist, chose "Decca" as a brand name as it was easy to pronounce in most languages.

Decca bought the UK branch of Brunswick Records and continued to run it under that name.

In the 1950s the American Decca studios were located in the Pythian Temple in New York City.^[3]

Popular music[link]

US Decca label from 1934 (a late 1930s reissue label) featuring the band of trumpet star Henry Busse.

For a list of artists on the Decca label see List of Artists under the Decca Records label.

In Britain, Decca bought out the bankrupt UK branch of Brunswick Records in 1932, which added such stars as Bing Crosby and Al Jolson^[4] to its roster. Decca also bought out the Melotone and Edison Bell record companies. In late 1934, a United States branch of Decca was launched. In establishing the American unit, the founders bought the former Brunswick Records pressing plants in New York City and Muskegon, Michigan, which were shut down in 1931, from Warner Bros. in exchange for a financial interest in the new label.^[5] Decca became a major player in the depressed American record market thanks to its roster of popular artists, particularly Bing Crosby, the shrewd management of former US Brunswick General Manager Jack Kapp, and the decision to price Decca at 35 cents. The US label also brought back the discontinued Champion label (from Gennett), as well as a short-lived version of the Broadway label. The following year, the pressing and Canadian distribution of US Decca records was licensed to Compo Company Ltd. in Lachine, Quebec, a breakaway and rival of Berliner Gram-o-phone Co. of Montreal, Quebec. (Compo was acquired by Decca in 1951 although its Apex label continued in production for the next two decades.) By 1939, Decca and EMI were the only record companies in the UK. American Decca acquired Brunswick Records and its sublabel Vocalion Records in 1941 from Warner Bros., which had a financial interest in Decca.^[6][7]

In 1939, British Decca head Edward Lewis sold his interest in American Decca because of World War II. In 1942, stock in American Decca began trading on the New York Stock Exchange as Decca Records Inc.^[6] Therefore, the two Deccas became separate companies and remained so until American Decca's parent company bought British Decca's parent company in 1998. Artists signed to American Decca in the 1930s and 1940s included Louis Armstrong, Charlie Kunz, Count Basie, Jimmie Lunceford, Jane Froman, The Boswell Sisters, Billie Holiday, The Andrews Sisters, Ted Lewis, Judy Garland, The Mills Brothers, Billy Cotton, Guy Lombardo, Chick Webb, Louis Jordan (the #1 R&B artist of the 1940s), Bob Crosby, The Ink Spots, Dorsey Brothers (and subsequently Jimmy Dorsey after the brothers split), Connee Boswell and Jack Hylton, Victor Young, Earl Hines, Claude Hopkins, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the original 'soul sister' of recorded music.

In 1940, American Decca released the first album of songs from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. However, it was not a soundtrack album but a cover version featuring only Judy Garland from the film, with other roles taken by the Ken Darby Singers.

In 1942, American Decca released the first recording of "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby. He recorded another version of the song in 1947 for Decca; to this day, Crosby's recording of "White Christmas" for Decca remains the best-selling single worldwide of all time.^[8] In 1943, American Decca ushered in the age of the original cast album in the United States, when they released an album set of nearly all the songs from Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, performed by the same cast who appeared in the show on Broadway, and using the show's orchestra, conductor, chorus, and musical and vocal arrangements. The enormous success of this album was followed by original cast recordings of Carousel and Irving Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun, both featuring members of the original casts of the shows and utilising those shows' vocal and choral arrangements. Because of the technical restrictions of recording on 78 rpm records, none of these scores were recorded totally complete; they were shorter than cast albums made after LPs were introduced. But Decca had made history by recording Broadway musicals, and the influence of these releases in the recording of theatrical shows in the U.S continues to this day - in Decca's home country, the UK original cast albums had been a fixture for years. Columbia Records followed with musical theatre albums, starting with the 1946 revival of Show Boat. In 1947, RCA Victor released the original cast album of Brigadoon. By the 1950s, many recording companies were releasing Broadway show albums recorded by their original casts, and the recording of original cast albums had become standard practice whenever a new show opened.^[9]

Decca throughout the 1930s and early-to-mid 1940s was a leading label of blues and jump with such best selling artists as Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Louis Jordan (who was the best selling R&B artist of the 1940s). In 1954, American Decca released "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets. Produced by Milt Gabler, the recording was initially only moderately successful, but when it was used as the theme song for the 1955 film Blackboard Jungle, it became the first international rock and roll hit, and the first such recording to go to No. 1 on the American musical charts. According to the Guinness Book of Records, it went on to sell 25 million copies, returning to the US and UK charts several times between 1955 and 1974.

American Decca embraced the new post-war record formats adopting the LP in 1949 and the 45 rpm record around a year later while continuing to sell 78s.^[1] During the 1950s, American Decca released a number of soundtrack recordings of popular motion pictures, notably Mike Todd's production of Around the World in Eighty Days (1956) with the music of veteran film composer Victor Young. Since Decca had access to the stereophonic tracks of the Oscar-winning film, they quickly released a stereo version in 1958. Because American Decca bought Universal Pictures in 1952, many of these soundtrack albums were of films released by what was then called Universal-International Pictures.

In 1961, American Decca released the soundtrack album of Flower Drum Song, Universal Pictures's film version of the 1958 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. In a reversal of the usual situation, in which American Decca had released original Broadway cast albums of three Rodgers and Hammerstein shows, this was the only film soundtrack album of a Rodgers and Hammerstein show ever released by Decca, while the Broadway cast album had been released by Columbia Masterworks.

The American RCA label severed its longtime affiliation with EMI's His Master's Voice (HMV) label in 1957, which allowed British Decca to market and distribute Elvis Presley's recordings in the UK on the RCA label (later RCA Victor).^[10]

British Decca had several missed opportunities. In 1960, they refused to release "Tell Laura I Love Her" by Ray Peterson and even destroyed thousands of copies of the single. A cover version by Ricky Valance was released by EMI on the Columbia label, and it went to #1 on the British charts for three weeks.^[11] In 1962, British Decca executive Dick Rowe turned down a chance to record The Beatles in favour of local beat combo Brian Poole and the Tremeloes.^{[citation needed]} Dick Rowe, head of the pop division, famously told the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein: "We don’t like their sound, and ‘guitar music’ is on the way out" (see The Decca audition), a historic mistake. Other refusals of note include The Yardbirds and Manfred Mann. Decca had earlier accepted London-born pioneer rock'n'roll singer Terry Dene, who was later known as the British Elvis Presley, and another Merseyside singer, Billy Fury. Delia Derbyshire, an early pioneer of Electronic Music and one of the founders of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, was refused an interview for a sound engineer's job because Decca would not employ a woman in such a post.^{[citation needed]}

The turning down of The Beatles led indirectly to the signing of one of Decca's biggest 1960s artists, The Rolling Stones. Dick Rowe was judging a talent contest with George Harrison, and Harrison mentioned to him that he should take a look at the Stones, whom he had just seen live for the first time a couple of weeks earlier. Rowe saw the Stones, and quickly signed them to a contract.

Staff producer Hugh Mendl (1919–2008)^[12] worked for Decca for over 40 years and played a significant role in its success in the popular field from the 1950s to the late 1970s. His first major production credit was pianist Winifred Atwell. He produced "Rock Island Line", the breakthrough skiffle hit for Lonnie Donegan, and he is credited as the first executive to spot the potential of singer-actor Tommy Steele. Mendl's other productions included the first album by humorist Ivor Cutler, Who Tore Your Trousers? (1961), Frankie Howerd at The Establishment (1963), a series of recordings with Paddy Roberts (best known for "The Ballad of Bethnal Green"), numerous "original cast" and soundtrack albums including Oh! What a Lovely War and even an LP record of the 1966 Le Mans 24-hour race, inspired by his life-long passion for motor-racing. Mendl was a driving force in the establishment of Decca's progressive Deram label, most notably as the executive producer of The Moody Blues' groundbreaking 1967 LP Days of Future Passed. He is credited with battling against Decca's notorious parsimonious treatment of their artists, ensuring that the Moody Blues had the time and resources to develop beyond their beat group origins into progressive rock, and he also used profits for pop sales to cross-subsidise recordings by avant garde jazz artists like John Surman.

British Decca lost a key source for American records when Atlantic Records switched British distribution to Polydor Records in 1966 in order for Atlantic to gain access to British recording artists which they did not have under Decca distribution.^[13][14][15] The Rolling Stones left the label in 1970, and other artists followed. Decca's deals with numerous other record labels began to fall apart: RCA Records, for instance, abandoned Decca to set up its own UK office in 1971. The Moody Blues were the only international rock act that remained on the label. The company's fortunes declined slightly during the 1970s, and it had few major commercial successes; among those were Dana's 1970 two-million selling single, "All Kinds of Everything", issued on their subsidiary label, Rex Records.

Although Decca had set up the first of the British "progressive" labels, Deram Records, in 1966, with such stars as Cat Stevens and The Moody Blues, by the time the punk era set in 1977, Decca had pop success with such acts as John Miles, novelty creation Father Abraham and The Smurfs, and productions by longtime Decca associate Jonathan King. King had a hit, "Everyone's Gone to the Moon", on Decca, while he was an undergraduate at Trinity College, Cambridge, Sir Edward Lewis's alma mater; they became good friends and Lewis adopted King as his "mascot", allowing him to run the label in all but name twice for long periods of time.^[16] Decca became dependent on re-releases from its back catalogue. Contemporary signings, such as Slaughter & The Dogs and the pre-stardom Adam and the Ants (whose sole single with Decca, Young Parisians, would later be a UK Top 10 hit on the back of the band's success at CBS),^[17][18] were second division when compared to the likes of PolyGram, CBS, EMI, and newcomer Virgin's rosters of hitmakers.

Spoken word[link]

American Decca also released several notable spoken word albums, such as a recording of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol starring Ronald Colman as Scrooge, and a recording of the Christmas chapter from The Pickwick Papers read by Charles Laughton. These two separate 78-RPM albums were later combined onto one LP. Other spoken word albums included Lullaby of Christmas, narrated by Gregory Peck, a twenty minute version of Moby Dick, with Charles Laughton as Captain Ahab, and The Littlest Angel, narrated by Loretta Young. British Decca released on LP, in 1968, the most complete version of Man of La Mancha ever put on vinyl records, a 2-LP album featuring most of the dialogue and all of the songs, performed by the show's original London cast. Keith Michell starred as Don Quixote and Cervantes, and Joan Diener was Aldonza/Dulcinea.

Country music[link]

In 1934, Jack Kapp established a country & western line for the new Decca label by signing Frank Luther, Sons of the Pioneers, Stuart Hamblen, The Ranch Boys, and other popular acts based in both New York and Los Angeles. Louisiana singer/composer Jimmie Davis began recording for Decca the same year, joined by western vocalists Jimmy Wakely and Roy Rogers in 1940.^{[citation needed]} From the late 1940s on, the US arm of Decca had a sizable roster of Country artists, including Kitty Wells, Johnny Wright, Ernest Tubb, Webb Pierce, Wilburn Brothers, Bobbejaan Schoepen, and Red Foley. In the late 1950s, Patsy Cline was signed to the US Decca label from 4 Star Records. As part of a leasing deal, Patsy's contract was owned by 4 Star; though she recorded for Decca as part of this deal, she recorded an album but saw little money. In 1960, she signed with Decca outright and released two more albums and numerous singles while she was alive and several more albums and singles produced after her untimely death in a 1963 plane crash. The Wilburn Brothers were ultimately signed to a lifetime contract with Decca. Doyle Wilburn of the Wilburn Brothers obtained a recording contract for Loretta Lynn who signed to Decca in the early 1960s and remained with the label for the next several decades. Owen Bradley was the A&R man for all of these artists. Decca quickly became the main rival of RCA Records as the top label for American country music by the early 1950s and remained so for decades.

Decca's country music branch was revived in 1994, with Dawn Sears being the first act signed to the newly-reformed label.^[19] Other artists signed to the label would include Rhett Akins, Gary Allan, Mark Chesnutt, and Lee Ann Womack; of these, all but Sears would be shifted to the MCA Nashville roster after parent Universal Music absorbed PolyGram in 1998 and shut down Decca Nashville.

In 2008, the Decca country division was revived, with One Flew South becoming the first act signed to the newly re-established label.

Classical music[link]

In classical music, Decca had a long way to go from its modest beginnings to catch up with the established HMV and Columbia labels (later merged as EMI). Decca's emergence as a major classical label may be attributed to three concurrent events: the emphasis on technical innovation (first the development of the FFRR technique, then the early use of stereophonic recording), the introduction of the long-playing record, and the recruitment of John Culshaw to Decca's London office.

For many years, Decca's British classical recordings were issued in the US under the London Records label because British Decca was not allowed to use its name there, there already being an American Decca. When the MCA and PolyGram labels merged in 1999 and created Universal Music, the practice was eliminated.

Decca released the stereo recordings of Ernest Ansermet conducting L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, including, in 1959, the first stereo LP album of the complete Nutcracker, as well as Ansermet's only stereo version of Manuel de Falla's The Three-Cornered Hat, which the conductor had led at its first performance in 1919.

The pre-war classical repertoire on Decca was not extensive, but was select. The 3-disc 1929 recording of Delius's Sea Drift, arising from the Delius Festival that year, suffered by being crammed onto six sides and was withdrawn before 1936, probably as a result of the standardisation on 78 revolutions per minute. However, it won Decca the loyalty of the baritone Roy Henderson, who went on to record for them the first complete Dido and Aeneas of Purcell with Nancy Evans and the Boyd Neel ensemble (Purcell Club, 14 sides, pre-1936); and Henderson's famous pupil Kathleen Ferrier was recorded and issued by Decca through the period of transition from 78 to LP (1946–1952). Heinrich Schlusnus made important pre-war lieder recordings for Decca.

John Culshaw, who joined Decca in 1946 in a junior post, rapidly became a senior producer of classical recordings. He revolutionised recording – of opera, in particular. Hitherto, the practice had been to put microphones in front of the performers and simply record what they performed. Culshaw was determined to make recordings that would be ‘a theatre of the mind’, making the listener's experience at home not second best to being in the opera house, but a wholly different experience. To that end he got the singers to move about in the studio as they would onstage, used discreet sound effects and different acoustics, and recorded in long continuous takes. His skill, coupled with Decca engineering, took Decca into the first flight of recording companies. His pioneering recording (begun in 1958) of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen conducted by Georg Solti was a huge artistic and commercial success (to the chagrin of other companies). In the wake of Decca's lead, artists such as Herbert von Karajan, Joan Sutherland and later Luciano Pavarotti were keen to join the company's roster.

Until 1947, American Decca issued British Decca classical music recordings. Afterwards, British Decca took over distribution through its new American subsidiary London Records. American Decca actively re-entered the classical music field in 1950 with distribution deals from Deutsche Grammophon and Parlophone.^[20] American Decca began issuing its own classical music recordings in 1956 when Israel Horowitz joined Decca to head its classical music operations.^[21] Among the classical recordings released on Decca's "Gold Label" series^[22] were albums by Leroy Anderson, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by Max Rudolf and guitarist Andrés Segovia. American Decca shut down its classical music department in 1971.^[23] Today Decca makes fewer major classical recordings, but still has a full roster of stars including, Cecilia Bartoli and Renée Fleming. Its back catalogue remains one of the glories of classical music. The Solti Ring was voted best recording of all time by readers of the influential magazine The Gramophone^{[citation needed]} and Luciano Pavarotti remained an exclusive Decca artist throughout his recording career.

Technology developments[link]

ffrr[link]

ffrr (full frequency range recording) was a spin-off devised by Arthur Haddy^[24] of British Decca's development during the Second World War of a high fidelity hydrophone capable of detecting and cataloging individual German submarines by each one's signature engine noise, and enabled a greatly enhanced frequency range (high and low notes) to be captured on recordings.^[25] Critics regularly commented on the startling realism of the new Decca recordings. The frequency range of ffrr was 80–15000 Hz, with a signal-to-noise ratio of 60dB. While Decca's early ffrr releases on 78-rpm discs had some noticeable surface noise, which diminished the effects of the high fidelity sound, the introduction of long-playing records in 1949 made better use of the new technology and set an industry standard that was quickly imitated by Decca's competitors. Nonetheless titles first issued on 78rpm remained in that form in the Decca catalogues into the early 1950s. The ffrr technique became internationally accepted and considered a standard. The Ernest Ansermet recording of Stravinsky's Petrushka was key in the development of full frequency range records and alerting the listening public to high fidelity in 1946.^[26]

The LP[link]

The Long-Playing record was launched in the USA in 1948 by Columbia Records (not connected with the British company of the same name at the time). It enabled recordings to play for up to half an hour without a break, compared with the 3 to 5 minutes playing time of the existing records. The new records were made of vinyl (the old discs were made of brittle shellac), which enabled the ffrr recordings to be transferred to disc very realistically. In both the UK and the US Decca took up the LP promptly and enthusiastically, in 1949,^[27] giving the British arm an enormous advantage over EMI, which for some years tried to stick exclusively to the old format, thereby forfeiting competitive advantage to Decca, both artistically and financially.

British Decca recorded high fidelity versions of all the symphonies of Ralph Vaughan Williams except for the ninth, under the personal supervision of the composer, with Sir Adrian Boult and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Benjamin Britten conducted recordings of many of his compositions for Decca, from the 1940s through the 1970s; most of these recordings have been reissued on CD.

Stereo (ffss)[link]

The British Decca recording engineers Arthur Haddy, Roy Wallace and Kenneth Wilkinson developed in 1954 the famous Decca tree, a stereo microphone recording system for big orchestras. Decca started recording in stereo on 14–28 May 1954, in Victoria Hall in Geneva, the first European record company to do so, only three months after RCA Victor began recording in stereo in the U.S. Decca archives show that Ernest Ansermet and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande recorded Tamara by Mily Balakirev; the overture to Benvenuto Cellini by Hector Berlioz; Stenka Razin by Alexander Glazunov; and Anatoly Liadov's Baba-Yaga, Eight Russian Folksongs, and Kikimora. These performances were initially issued only in monaural sound; the stereo versions were finally issued in the 1960s as part of the "Stereo Treasury" series.^[28] The Decca Stereo format was called (in succession to ffrr), "ffss", i.e. "full frequency stereophonic sound". with most competitors not using stereo until 1957, the new technique was a distinctive feature of Decca's. Even after stereo became standard and into the 1970s, Decca boasted a special, spectacular sound quality, characterised by aggressive use of the highest and lowest frequencies, daring use of tape saturation and out-of-phase sound to convey a lively and impactful hall ambiance, plus considerable bar-to-bar rebalancing by the recording staff of orchestral voices, known as "spotlighting." In the 1960s and 1970s, the company developed its "Phase 4" process which produced even greater sonic impact through even more interventionist engineering techniques. Big-band leader Ted Heath was an early pioneer of the Decca "Phase 4" sound. Decca recorded some quadrophonic masters that were released in Sansui's quadraphonic system called QS Regular Matrix.

Digital recording & mastering[link]

Starting in the late 1970s, British Decca developed their own digital audio recorders used in-house for recording, mixing, editing, and mastering albums. Each recorder consisted of a modified IVC model 826P open-reel 1-inch VTR, connected to a custom codec unit with time code capability (using a proprietary time code developed by Decca), as well as outboard DAC and ADC units connected to the codec unit. The codec recorded audio to tape in 16 bits (although later versions of the system used 20 bits). With the exception of the IVC VTRs (which were modified to Decca's specifications by IVC's UK division in Reading), all the electronics for these systems were developed and manufactured in-house by Decca (and by contractors to them as well). These digital systems were used for mastering most of Decca's classical music releases to both LP and CD, and were used well into the late 1990s. After the start of the new century, Decca became actively involved in pioneering a new generation of high-resolution and multi-channel recordings, including "Super Audio CD" (SACD) and "DVD-Audio" (DVD-A) formats. Decca is now routinely mastering new recordings in these formats.

Decca Special Products[link]

Decca Special Products developed a number of products for the audio marketplace. These include:

• The Decca Ribbon Tweeter
• Decca London phonograph cartridges: The Decca phono cartridges were a unique design, with fixed magnets and coils. The stylus shaft was composed of the diamond tip, a short piece of soft iron, and an L-shaped cantilever made of non-magnetic steel. Since the iron was placed very close to the tip (within 1 mm), the motions of the tip could be tracked very accurately. Decca engineers called this "positive scanning". Vertical and lateral compliance was controlled by the shape and thickness of the cantilever. Decca cartridges had a reputation for being very musical; however, early versions required more tracking force than competitive designs - making record wear a concern
• The Decca International tone arm: The Decca International tone arms were fluid-damped unipivot designs. They were designed to complement the Decca phono cartridges. They would enjoy a brief renaissance in the 21st century as they were almost a drop-in replacement for the pick-up arms of Lenco GL75 record turntables from the 1970s. The arm damping was via a viscous silicon fluid held in a well, and magnetic repelling force supported the arm, and provided anti-skate (bias compensation). New Old Stock arms rapidly sold out by 2008 as vintage hifi enthusiasts sought them for refurbishment projects.
• The Decca Record Brush.

Decca Special Products was spun off, and is now known as London Decca.

The American branch of Decca also marketed its own line of home audio equipment.^[29]

Later history[link]

American Decca bought Universal-International in 1952, and eventually merged with MCA in 1962, becoming a subsidiary company under MCA. Dissatisfied with American Decca's promotion of British Decca recordings and because American Decca held the rights to the name Decca in the US and Canada, British Decca sold its records in the United States and Canada under the label London Records beginning in 1947. In Britain, London Records became a mighty catch-all licensing label for foreign recordings from the nascent post-WW II American independent and semi-major labels such as Cadence, ABC-Paramount, Atlantic, Imperial and Liberty. Conversely, British Decca retained a non-reciprocal right to license and issue American Decca recordings in the UK on their Brunswick Records (US Decca recordings) and Coral Records (US Brunswick and Coral recordings) labels; this arrangement continued through 1967 when a UK branch of MCA was established utilising the MCA Records label, with distribution fluctuating between British Decca and other English companies over time.

In Canada, the Compo Company was reorganised into MCA Records (Canada) in 1970.^[31] In Taiwan, PolyGram acquired 60% of Linfair Magnetic Sound (founded in 1961) in 1992, and renamed to Decca Records Taiwan. The name remains until 2002, when it decided to sell its 60 percent stake, and changed its name to Linfair Records, making the company independent from Universal Music. In addition to Decca label, Linfair Records also distribute V2 Records' releases, and some independent labels. However, Linfair Records' releases outside Taiwan will continue to be released internationally via Universal Music.

The Decca name was dropped by MCA in America in 1973 in favour of the MCA Records label. The first-run American Decca label went out with a big bang with its final release, "Drift Away" by Dobie Gray in 1973 (label #33057), reaching #5 on the Billboard chart and receiving gold record status.

PolyGram acquired the remains of Decca UK within days of Sir Edward Lewis's death in January 1980. British Decca's pop catalogue was taken over by Polydor Records. Ironically, PolyGram descended from British Decca's former Dutch distributor Hollandsche Decca Distributie.

In the mid-1990s, MCA Nashville Records revived Decca in the US as a country music label. The Decca label is currently in use by Universal Music Group worldwide; this is possible because Universal Studios (which officially dropped the MCA name after the Seagram buyout in 1997) acquired PolyGram, British Decca's parent company in 1998, thus consolidating Decca trademark ownership. In the US, the Decca country music label was shut down and the London classical label was renamed as it was able to use the Decca name for the first time because of the merger that created Universal Music. In 1999, Decca absorbed Philips Records to create the Decca Music Group (half of Universal Music Classics Group in the USA, with Deutsche Grammophon being the other half).

Today, Decca is a leading label for both classical music and Broadway scores although it is branching out into pop music from established recording stars: its most recent hit was Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA (2007) by Boyz II Men, which reached #27 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. In 2007 they won the race to sign English teen jazz sensation Victoria Hart and released her first album 'Whatever Happened to Romance' in July.^[32] In December 2007, it was announced that Morrissey would be joining the Decca roster. In August 2009, it was revealed that American Idol alum, Clay Aiken, had signed with Decca.^[33] It reentered the American country music scene in 2008. There are two Universal Music label groups now using the Decca name. The Decca Label Group is the US label whereas the London-based Decca Music Group runs the international classical and pop releases by such world famous performers as Andrea Bocelli and Hayley Westenra. The London Records pop label that was established in the UK in 1990, run by Roger Ames, and distributed by PolyGram became part of WEA in 2000 when he was hired to run that company.

It is also the distributing label of POINT Music, a joint venture between Universal and Philip Glass's Euphorbia Productions that folded shortly after the merger that created Universal Music. Ironically, the American Decca classical music catalogue is managed by sister Universal label Deutsche Grammophon. They include the recordings of guitarist Andrés Segovia.^[34] Before Deutsche Grammophon founded its own American branch in 1969, it had a distribution deal with American Decca until 1962 when distribution switched to MGM Records.^[35] Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre is a wholly owned subsidiary specialising in European classical music of the 15th to 19th centuries. American Decca's jazz catalogue is managed by GRP Records, an imprint of Verve Records. The American Decca rock/pop catalogue is managed by Geffen Records. The Decca Broadway imprint is used for both newly recorded musical theatre songs and Universal Music Group's vast catalogues of musical theatre recordings from record labels UMG and predecessor companies acquired over the years.

On January 10, 2011, Universal Music Group, which owns the masters to Decca Records, announced that it was donating 200,000 of its master recordings from the 1920s to the 1940s to the United States Library of Congress. The collection of master recordings will be cleaned and digitized. Included in this group are Bing Crosby's original recording of 'White Christmas' and thousands more by Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Judy Garland, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, the Andrews Sisters and other famous and lesser-known musicians who recorded during this time period. Because of this transaction, once the Library has organized and cleaned the collection, the public will eventually have some degree of access to thousands of recordings that have been commercially unavailable for decades. According to the Los Angeles Times, "[a]s part of the agreement between UMG and the library, Universal retains ownership of the recording copyrights and the right to exploit the cleaned-up and digitized files for commercial purposes."^[36]

See also[link]

• Decca Studios, London, England
• Category: Decca Records artists
• Category: Decca Records albums
• Category: Decca Records singles
• List of artists under the Decca Records label
• List of record labels
• The Decca audition by The Beatles in 1962
• Point Music
• Decca Broadway
• MCA Records

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Culshaw, John (1981). Putting the Record Straight:the autobiography of John Culshaw. London: Secker & Warburg: Secker & Warburg. ISBN 0-436-11802-5. 

• Lipman, Samuel (1984). The House of Music: Art in an Era of Institutions. ISBN 0-87923-475-X.  - See the chapter on "Getting on Record", pp. 62–75, about the early record industry and Fred Gaisberg and Walter Legge and ffrr (Full Frequency Range Recording).

• Shepherd, Marc (2001). "Explanation of the Word "Decca"". A Gilbert and Sullivan Discography. http://www.concentric.net/~oakapple/gasdisc/decca_meaning.htm. Retrieved 2006-03-28. 

External links[link]

• Decca - official site
• Decca Classics - official site
• Decca Label Group (US) official site
• Decca Broadway official site
• A page about Decca's digital audio recording system
• Decca's classical discography from 1951
• The Judy Garland Online Discography Decca Records Section

Keith Green
Background information
Birth name	Keith Gordon Green
Born	(1953-10-21)October 21, 1953 Sheepshead Bay, New York, U.S.
Died	July 29, 1982(1982-07-29) (aged 28), Garden Valley, Texas, U.S.
Genres	Gospel, CCM, Rock'n'Roll
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, musician, minister
Instruments	Piano, guitar, bass guitar, percussion
Labels	Pretty Good Records Sparrow Records Decca Records

Keith Gordon Green (October 21, 1953 – July 28, 1982) was an American gospel singer, songwriter, musician, and Contemporary Christian Music artist originally from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York.^[1] Beyond his music, Green is best known for his strong devotion to Christian evangelism and challenging others to the same. Often considered controversial for his frequently confrontational lyrics and spoken messages, he wrote some notable songs alone or with his wife, Melody Green, including "Your Love Broke Through", "You Put This Love in My Heart", and "Asleep in the Light". Green is also known for numerous popular modern hymns, including "O Lord, You're Beautiful" and "There is a Redeemer", written by his wife, Melody.

Early life[link]

Keith took to music at a young age, beginning with the ukulele at age three, the guitar at five, and the piano at seven years of age.^[2] His talents were noted by a major newspaper by the time he was only eight years old. Following a performance of Arthur Laurents' The Time of the Cuckoo, a local review by the Los Angeles Times wrote that "roguish-looking, eight-year-old Keith Green gave a winning [character] portrayal"^[3] as "the little Italian street urchin, Mauro";^[4] another review commented that he "stole the show". The show was Keith's first appearance in live theater, which was held in Chatsworth, California, in September 1962.^[2] According to the LA Times, Green had already "done a number of television commercials and...made a TV pilot."^[4]

At 10 years old, Green went on to play the role of "Kurt von Trapp" in a local community theatre production of The Sound of Music at the Valley Music Theater in Woodland Hills, California.^[2]

Keith Green's first disc release. The other side has the song The Way I Used To Be.

In February 1965, with forty original songs already written by him, Green and his father, Harvey, signed a five-year contract with Decca Records with Harvey as business manager. The first song released on disc was A Go-Go Getter in May 1965 (produced by Gary Usher),^[5] which he had earlier composed and published before signing on with Decca. Upon publication of this song, Green became the youngest person ever to sign with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).^[2]

Decca Records planned to make Green a teen idol, regularly getting the young pre-teenager featured in fanzines like Teen Scene and on popular television shows like The Jack Benny Show and The Steve Allen Show. Keith was a guest on the television game show I've Got a Secret on May 3, 1965. His secret was "I just signed a five-year contract as a rock-'n'-roll singer." The segment included a live performance of We'll Do a Lot of Things Together.

By the time Green was twelve, he had written ten more songs, and Time magazine ran a short piece about Green in an article about aspiring young rock-'n'-roll singers, referring to him as Decca Records' "prepubescent dreamboat".^[6] However, after national attention envisioned by Decca Records failed to materialize for Keith, Donny Osmond captured the attention of pre-teens and teenagers, eclipsing Keith's newfound stardom, and Keith was quickly forgotten by the public.^[7]

Spiritual experience[link]

Keith had a Jewish heritage and was raised in Christian Science. He grew up reading the New Testament and called the mixture of being Jewish and learning about Jesus "an odd combination" that left him open minded but deeply unsatisfied. He began doing drugs and became interested in eastern mysticism and "free love." After experiencing what Green described as a "bad trip," he abandoned drug use and became interested in philosophy and theology. "When Keith was 19 he met a fellow seeker/musician named Melody. They were inseparable and got married a year later -- now he had a partner as his spiritual quest continued."^[8] Green later stated, however, that in the midst of his skepticism, he had, "been lost in a fantasy, till [God's] love broke through."^[9] and he became a follower of Jesus, a Christian believer in Jesus the Messiah. Soon afterward, Keith's wife Melody, whom he had married in 1973 and was also Jewish, also became a Christian believer in Jesus. It was during this time that the newlyweds became involved with the Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Southern California.

Ministry[link]

In 1975, the Greens began an outreach program in the suburbs of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley. The ministry started when Keith invited close friend, Randy Stonehill, to stay with his wife and him at what would later be dubbed "The Greenhouse",^[10] Stonehill, who was struggling at the time, moved in with them. From that point, the Greens continued to invite guests into their home.^[11] They eventually ran out of space and, purchasing the home next door to their own and renting an additional five in the same neighborhood, Keith and Melody provided an environment of Christian teaching for a group of young adults, the majority of whom were of college age. Much to the consternation of neighbors, those living in the Green's homes included former drug addicts, the homeless and prostitutes, who had been referred to the Greens by other ministries and shelters. In 1977, the Greens outreach was officially named Last Days Ministries.^[12]

Keith Green's initial tone of ministry was largely influenced by Leonard Ravenhill, who pointed Keith to Charles Finney, a nineteenth century revivalist preacher who preached the law of God to provoke conviction in his hearers. During his concerts he would often exhort his listeners to repent and commit themselves more wholly to following Christ. Green later softened his approach, and this transition is evident in his music beginning with So You Wanna Go Back To Egypt in 1980. He described the changes he went through in his next-to-last article for the Last Days Magazine.^[13]

Recording[link]

Green was signed to Contemporary Christian music label Sparrow Records in 1976 and worked on the album Firewind (1976) with Christian artists 2nd Chapter of Acts, Terry Talbot, John Michael Talbot, and Barry McGuire. Prior to Keith's signing with Sparrow Records and two years before the release of "No Compromise", Tommy James (of Tommy James and the Shondells) released "Don't Wanna Fall Away From You" on his 1976 Fantasy album titled "In Touch".

His first solo project, For Him Who Has Ears to Hear, was released in 1977 and his second solo release, No Compromise, followed in 1978. In 1979, after negotiating a release from his contract with Sparrow, Green initiated a new policy of refusing to charge money for concerts or albums. Keith and Melody mortgaged their home to privately finance Green's next album, So You Wanna Go Back To Egypt. The album, which featured a guest appearance by Bob Dylan, was offered through mail-order and at concerts for a price determined by the purchaser. By May 1982, Green had shipped out more than 200,000 units of his album – 61,000 for free. Subsequent albums included The Keith Green Collection (1981) and Songs For The Shepherd (1982).

When his music was carried by Christian bookstores, a second cassette was included free of charge for every cassette purchased to give away to a friend to help spread the Gospel.

Last Days Ministries[link]

In 1978, Last Days Ministries (LDM) began publishing the Last Days Newsletter. Originally printed on a few pages of loose paper, the newsletter grew in content to eventually become a "small, colorful magazine" and was renamed in mid-1985 as the Last Days Magazine.^[14] The magazine featured articles by Green and his wife as well as contemporary Christian authors David Wilkerson, Leonard Ravenhill, and Winkie Pratney, all of whom lived in the area. The publication also later included the reprinted works of classic Christian authors such as Charles Finney, John Wesley, and William Booth and his wife Catherine. Most of the articles were reprinted as tracts. By the mid-1980s, the Last Days Magazine was sent out to over 500,000 people worldwide.^[15]

In 1979, the ministry relocated from the San Fernando Valley to a 40-acre (160,000 m²) plot of land in Garden Valley, Texas,^[16] a crossroads community about nine miles (14 km) west of Lindale, Texas. Within a few years, Last Days purchased additional land, bringing the total to 140 acres (0.6 km²).

Plane crash[link]

Gravesite at Garden Valley Cemetery

Along with eleven others, Keith Green died on July 28, 1982, when the Cessna 414 leased by Last Days Ministries crashed after takeoff from the private airstrip located on the LDM property. The small two-engine plane was carrying eleven passengers and the pilot, Don Burmeister for an aerial tour^[16] of the LDM property and the surrounding area. Green and two of his children, three year old Josiah and two year old Bethany, were on board the plane, along with visiting missionaries John and Dede Smalley and their six children.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the crash was caused by the pilot in command (PIC) allowing the aircraft to be loaded beyond its operating limitations. The required pre-flight weight and balance computations would have shown it was dangerously overloaded and also outside its weight and balance operating envelope. Don Alan Burmeister was a former United States Marine Corps aviator, but FAA records show he had very limited experience / training in flying conventional (vs. centerline thrust) twin engine aircraft. Records show it was only a short time prior to the accident (6/9/82) that he completed a check-ride to remove the "centerline thrust" restriction from his pilot's certificate. This check-ride should have fully evaluated his ability to fly a conventional multi-engine aircraft throughout its designed range of operations, but the flight examiner was decertified the next month (7/10/82) by the FAA due to a "history of incomplete or substandard check-rides". Additionally, the insurance carrier (Ideal Mutual Insurance Co.) required Burmeister to log 1,045 hrs of flying time, attend a Cessna ground and flight training course, as well as log 15 hours in a Cessna 414 (C-414) prior to acting as the PIC of the leased aircraft. The NTSB record shows he failed to accomplish all of these requirements, with disastrous results. With pilot and eleven passengers, the aircraft was overloaded by an estimated 445 pounds (202 kg), and the location of the center of gravity was found to be 4.5 inches (110 mm) beyond the maximum aft limit. Combined with an air temperature of 90 degrees, the C-414 could do little but struggle into the air, and once airborne was left virtually uncontrollable. These factors prevented the aircraft from ever attaining sufficient altitude, and it crashed into trees less than a mile from the airport. References: Ideal Mutual Insurance Co. vs. Last Days Evangelistic Association; U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit; 783 F.2d 1234 (1986); Goldberg; Circuit Judge.^[17] NTSB Brief of Accident: File No. 3323 (07/28/1982); FTW82AA299. NTSB Factual Aviation Report; NTSB ID: FTW82AA299.^[18]

Keith, Josiah, and Bethany Green are interred at Garden Valley Cemetery behind the Garden Valley Baptist Church,^[19] less than a half-mile from the LDM property. He was survived by his wife and two daughters, the youngest of whom was born after Green's death.

Legacy[link]

Two full albums of original Green songs were released posthumously: The Prodigal Son (1983) and Jesus Commands Us to Go! (1984). Another release, I Only Want to See You There (1983) contained mostly previously released material. A compilation of his recorded work, The Ministry Years, was released as a two-volume set in 1987 and 1988 and included five previously unreleased songs.

Another unreleased Christian song known to have been recorded by Green was "Born Again," which was finally released in 1999, 17 years after his death, on the First Love compilation video and CD. Both feature a two-song tribute to Green by other Christian artists.

In 2008, Last Days Ministries and Sparrow Records partnered together and released The Live Experience - Special Edition, a CD/DVD combination of 16 live recordings and 4 hours of DVD footage including video of live performances as well as details regarding Green's life and his passing.^[20] A "Greatest Hits" album was also released at the same time, including 17 of Green's most popular songs and one more previously unreleased Christian song, "Your Love Came Over Me".

On November 23, 2009, the EP Happy Birthday to You Jesus was released, containing a talk by Keith about Christmas and another previously unreleased song, "Happy Birthday to You Jesus".

A prolific personal journalist, Green's writings were published as excerpts in the books A Cry In The Wilderness (Sparrow, 1993), If You Love the Lord (Harvest House, 2000), and Make My Life a Prayer (Harvest House, 2001).

Tribute recordings[link]

In 1992, several artists joined together to re-record many of Green's best-known songs for a tribute album called No Compromise: Remembering the Music of Keith Green under the Sparrow Records label. Artists contributing to the recording include Petra, Charlie Peacock, Susan Ashton, Margaret Becker, Michael Card, GLAD, Rich Mullins, Steven Curtis Chapman, Steve Green, and Russ Taff.

In 2001, BEC Records released a second tribute record Start Right Here: Remembering the Life of Keith Green. Produced by Derri Daugherty, the album included performances by new contemporary Christian artists MxPx, Joy Electric, Starflyer 59, among others.

At the twentieth anniversary of Keith's death, Sparrow Records released another tribute album, Your Love Broke Through: The Worship Songs of Keith Green. The 2002 album contains re-recordings by Rebecca St. James, Michelle Tumes, Chris Tomlin, Twila Paris, Darlene Zschech, Jason Upton, Martin Smith, Charlie Hall, Joanne Hogg, Matt Redman, Paul Oakley, and Sarah Sadler. The album contains contemporary Christian and mainstream artist Michael W. Smith's version of the song There Is One, an unfinished work by Keith Green. Composition of the song was completed by Smith, along with British songwriter and Christian music artist Martin Smith.

Last Days Ministries property[link]

The LDM property was sold in 1996 and is now occupied by Teen Mania Ministries.^[21] Teen Mania has dedicated one of its dormitories, Green Hall, in memory of Keith. Melody Green continues to operate Last Days Ministries from Oceanside, California.

Honors[link]

On November 27, 2001, Keith Green was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.

On April 3, 2006, Green was honored with the ASCAP Crescendo Award at the 28th annual ASCAP Christian Music Awards presentation dinner.^[22] His widow, Melody Green, was present to receive the award for her late husband.

Movie[link]

On April 21, 2010, Melody Green announced on the Last Days Ministries website that a feature film about Keith's life is in development.^[23] On February 26, 2011 the producers who optioned the film rights failed to exercise their contract. All film rights reverted back to Melody Green, who is currently developing the film, and gathering a new production team.

Quotes[link]

"It's time to quit playing church and start being the Church (Matt. 18:20)" — Keith Green, as quoted by Melody Green in the introduction to A Cry in the Wilderness, Sparrow Press, 1993.

"I repent of ever having recorded one single song, and ever having performed one concert, if my music, and more importantly, my life has not provoked you into Godly jealousy or to sell out more completely to Jesus!" — Keith Green

"You shouldn't go to college unless God has definitely called you to go." — Keith Green, 'Why YOU should go to the mission field', 1982

"No Compromise is what the whole Gospel of Jesus is all about... 'For I tell you...no man can serve two masters...' (Matt. 6:24). In a day when believers seem to be trying to please both the world and the Lord (which is an impossible thing), when people are far more concerned about offending their friends than offending God, there is only one answer...Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him!" — Keith Green, No Compromise album, 1978.

"If your heart takes more pleasure in reading novels, or watching TV, or going to the movies, or talking to friends, rather than just sitting alone with God and embracing Him, sharing His cares and His burdens, weeping and rejoicing with Him, then how are you going to handle forever and ever in His presence? You’d be bored to tears in heaven, if you’re not ecstatic about God now!!" — Keith Green

"The only music minister to whom the Lord will say, "Well done, thy good and faithful servant," is the one whose life proves what their lyrics are saying, and to whom music is the least important part of their life. Glorifying the only worthy One has to be a minister's most important goal!!!" — Keith Green

"He, being dead, yet speaketh." — Leonard Ravenhill, Keith's mentor, borrowing from Hebrews 11:4 (KJV) in his 1990 2-page Memories of Keith tribute from a computer file, part of the Enhanced CD version of No Compromise by Melody Green with David Hazard.

Discography[link]

Career releases: 1965-1982[link]

Mainstream recordings[link]

Besides the first disc release in May 1965 (pictured above), two more Decca disc releases occurred before Donny Osmond took the spotlight.

Girl Don't Tell Me, Decca 31859, released October 1965. The other song was How To Be Your Guy.

Home Town Girls, Decca 31973, released July 1966. The B-Side song was You're What's Happening Baby.

-

Christian recordings[link]

• For Him Who Has Ears to Hear (May 20, 1977)
• No Compromise (November 9, 1978)
• So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt (May 7, 1980)
• The Keith Green Collection (August 11, 1981)
• Songs for the Shepherd (April 12, 1982)

Posthumous releases[link]

Christian recordings[link]

• I Only Want To See You There (March 21, 1983)
• The Prodigal Son (August 15, 1983)
• Jesus Commands Us to Go! (July 20, 1984)
• The Ministry Years, Volume One (1977-1979) (1987)
• The Ministry Years, Volume Two (1980-1982) (1988)
• The Early Years (1996)
• Best of Keith Green: Asleep in the Light (1996)
• Because of You: Songs of Testimony (1998)
• Here Am I, Send Me: Songs of Evangelism (1998)
• Make My Life a Prayer to You: Songs of Devotion (1998)
• Oh Lord, You're Beautiful: Songs of Worship (1998)
• The Ultimate Collection (DVD/CD Release) (2002)
• Live Experience (CD Release) (April 29, 2008)
• Live Experience Special Edition (CD/DVD Release) (April 29, 2008)
• Greatest Hits (April 29, 2008)
• Happy Birthday to You Jesus (Nov 23, 2009)

Mainstream recordings[link]

• Keith Green Live (His Incredible Youth) (1995)
• The Early Word (February 13, 2009)

Tribute albums[link]

• No Compromise: Remembering the Music of Keith Green (1993)
• Start Right Here: Remembering the Life of Keith Green (2001)
• Your Love Broke Through: The Worship Songs Of Keith Green (2002)

Bibliography[link]

(All released posthumously)

• No Compromise: The Life Story of Keith Green (1989)
• A Cry In The Wilderness: Twelve Bold Messages About Uncompromising Faith (1993)
• If You Love The Lord (2000)
• Make My Life A Prayer (2001)

References[link]

External links[link]

• KeithGreen.com
• Last Days Ministries
• Adorando Por Siempre Worship For Ever, A Spanish Website from Argentina, dedicated to the Music, Life and Ministry of Keith Green
• Keith Green's Music (Rhapsody Playlist)
• Index of Articles from the Last Days Newsletter
• Memories of Keith Green Yahoo! Group
• NTSB Report of Crash
• Aircraft Incident and Accident report (contains text of above NTSB report and a great deal more information)
• Famous People Who Died in Aviation Accidents, 1980s (This ties Keith Green to the Aircraft Registration Number in the NTSB report)
• Keith Green's Burial Site
• High Altitude Aerial Photo of Garden Valley, with a view of private runway inside the Last Days Ministries property (1995 satellite photo)
• The Keith Green Story, video documentary

The Mighty Hannibal
Hannibal at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival
Background information
Birth name	James Timothy Shaw[1]
Also known as	Hannibal, King Hannibal
Born	(1939-08-09) August 9, 1939 (age 72) Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Genres	R&B, soul, funk[2]
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, record producer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1954–present
Labels	Various
Associated acts	Johnny "Guitar" Watson

The Mighty Hannibal (born James Timothy Shaw, August 9, 1939, Atlanta, Georgia, United States) is an American R&B, soul and funk singer, songwriter and record producer.^[2][3] Known for his showmanship, and outlandish costumes often incorporating a pink turban, several of his songs carried social or political themes.^[3] His biggest hit was "Hymn No.5," a banned from radio comment on the effects on servicemen participating in the Vietnam War.^[2]

Biography[link]

Shaw was born to parents Corrie Belle and James Henry Shaw, and raised in the Vine City neighborhood of Atlanta.^[3] He started singing doo-wop as a teenager, and in 1954 he joined his first group, The Overalls. The outfit contained Shaw and Robert Butts plus Edward Patten and Merald "Bubba" Knight. The latter two later tasted success as part of Gladys Knight's backing group, The Pips.^[2] From that time, Shaw credited Grover Mitchell as his singing voice mentor. In 1958 Shaw moved to Los Angeles where, under the name of Jimmy Shaw, he recorded his debut solo single, "Big Chief Hug-Um An' Kiss-Um," a novelty song issued on the Concept label.^[3] This was followed by further releases including "The Biggest Cry," and "I Need a Woman ('Cause I'm a Man)."^[2]

Subsequently working as a singer with Johnny Otis, Shaw went on to sing in another group featuring H. B. Barnum and Jimmy Norman. At this time he befriended both Johnny "Guitar" Watson and Larry Williams, before in 1959, and at the suggestion of Aki Aleong, adopting the name 'Hannibal'. He then released a small number of singles on the Pan World label. In 1962 he joined King Records, who released four further singles, the biggest seller being "Baby, Please Change Your Mind". Between 1962 and 1965 Hannibal also worked as a pimp in Los Angeles, a lifestyle that saw him dropped by King.^[3]

He returned to Atlanta, and was recruited as the frontman by Dennis St. John and the Cardinals, who supported Tommy Roe at one gig.^[4] They ultimately backed Hannibal on most of his subsequent recordings with the Shurfine label, and played live engagements with Hannibal around Atlanta. Hannibal's first release with Shurfine was "Jerkin' the Dog," (1965) a modest success for a basic teen dance record. The similarly framed "Fishin' Pole" followed in 1966.^[3] The same year Hannibal adopted a more socially conscious stance. He stated "Me and my wife were watching the news and Walter Cronkite was talking about how all the soldiers were coming back from Vietnam addicted to opium." The couple penned "Hymn No. 5" in a short time space, and it duly became his best known recording, reaching # 21 on the Billboard R&B chart.^[2][4][5] The success the track brought however fueled a growing heroin addiction, and Hannibal spent eighteen months in prison for failing to pay a tax bill. Released from jail and free of drugs, he restarted his recording career in the early 1970s now billed as King Hannibal. He issued a number of singles and an album, Truth, (1973) on the Aware label.^[3] His singles included "I'm Coming Home," another social comment on the ongoing Vietnam situation, and the anti-drug song, "The Truth Shall Make You Free (St. John 8:32)," a # 37 R&B hit in 1973.^[2][5]

Finding a new direction with gospel based recordings, his songwriting nevertheless suffered in the late 1970s. Hannibal was employed as a cameo role actor, and on the staff as a record producer at Venture Records, before working on the Atlanta Voice newspaper.^[2] Hannibal recalled his odd blend of country, gospel and disco finding some success in the Netherlands with "Hoedown Disco" in the mid 1970s, but worse fortunes followed as Hannibal remained in relative obscurity until 1998. A CD album release, titled Who Told You That, gave his career some momentum, and in 2001 Norton Records released Hannibalism, a compilation album of songs written between 1958 and 1973.^[4] The cult film, Velvet Goldmine, also included fragments of his work.^[2]

Hannibal lost his eyesight in 2002 because of glaucoma. He was the subject of a documentary film, Showtime! (2009) directed by Ezra Bookstein.^[4] In December 2005, Hannibal was the Master of Ceremonies at Norton Records' New Year's Eve Rock N' Roll Show & Dance at Union Pool in Brooklyn. He continues to perform live, and enjoyed a seventieth birthday celebration on stage in 2009. He contributed the following year to Elton John and Leon Russell's first album together, The Union.

Family life[link]

Hannibal is the cousin of Vernon Jordan, and is married to fellow soul singer, Delia Gartrell.^[2][4]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Truth (1973)
• Who Told You That (1998)
• Hannibalism (2001) (compilation album)
• The Resurrection of the Mighty Hannibal (2007)^[6][7]

Chart singles[link]

• "Hymn No. 5" (1966) - US R&B chart #21
• "The Truth Shall Make You Free" (1973) - US R&B chart #37^[8]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Discography at Soulfulkindsmusic.net
• Discography at Koti.mbnet.fi
• Review of Hannibalism from The Tuscaloosa News at News.google.com

Clay Aiken
Clay Aiken during the Jukebox Tour in Merrillville, IN, August 23, 2005
Background information
Birth name	Clayton Holmes Grissom[1]
Born	(1978-11-30) November 30, 1978 (age 33) Raleigh, North Carolina, United States
Genres	Pop, pop rock
Occupations	Singer, actor
Years active	2003–present
Labels	RCA (2003–2008) Decca (2009–present)
Website	clayaiken.com

Clayton Holmes "Clay" Aiken (born November 30, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, producer and author who began his rise to fame on the second season of the television program American Idol in 2003. RCA Records offered him a recording contract, and his multi-platinum debut album Measure of a Man was released in October 2003. He released four more albums on the RCA label: Merry Christmas with Love (2004), A Thousand Different Ways (2006), and the Christmas EP, All is Well (2006).^[2][3] His fourth studio album (the first album of original material since 2003's Measure of a Man), On My Way Here was released on May 6, 2008.^[4]

After the release of On My Way Here, Aiken left RCA and later signed with Decca Records. His first album with Decca, Tried and True, was released June 1, 2010 and his second Steadfast, was released March 26, 2012.^[5][6]

In the years following his American Idol appearance, Aiken has launched ten tours, authored a New York Times best-selling book Learning to Sing: Hearing the Music in Your Life with Allison Glock, and was the executive producer for a 2004 televised Christmas special, A Clay Aiken Christmas and his televised live concert special in 2010 on PBS Tried & True Live!. He has been a frequent talk show guest, particularly on The Tonight Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live. He appeared as a guest star on Scrubs, Drop Dead Diva, 30 Rock and participated in comedy skits on numerous other shows.

Aiken created the National Inclusion Project (formerly the Bubel/Aiken Foundation) in 2003, accepted a UNICEF ambassadorship in 2004, and in 2006 was appointed for a two-year term to the Presidential Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities.^[7][8][9]

Aiken made his Broadway debut playing the role of Sir Robin in Monty Python's Spamalot in January 2008.^[10] His run ended in May but he rejoined the cast as Sir Robin in September and remained through January 4, 2009.^[11]

Early life[link]

Clay Aiken was born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina. As a young boy, Aiken sang in the Raleigh Boychoir, and as a teenager, he sang in school choirs, church choir, musicals and local theatre productions.^[12] After high school, he sang lead with a local band, Just By Chance, cohosting and performing with the band at "Just by Chance and Friends" shows in Dunn, North Carolina.^[13] He was also MC and performer at the Johnston Community College Country Showcase in Smithfield, and at the North Carolina Music Connection and Hometown Music Connection shows in Garner, and Benson. He performed the national anthem numerous times for the Raleigh IceCaps and the Carolina Hurricanes hockey teams,^[12] and performed it at the 2011 NHL All-Star Game at the RBC Center in Raleigh.

Three demo albums of Aiken's vocals were created before American Idol with the aid of studio time given as a birthday gift by his mother: a cassette called Look What Love Has Done (by Clayton Grissom), a cassette and CD entitled Redefined (by Clayton Aiken), and a CD that combined some songs from each of the previous demos: "Look What Love Has Done, Vol 2" (by Clay Aiken).^[14][15] Estranged from his birth father Vernon Grissom and with his mother's and grandfather Alvis Aiken's permission, at the age of 19 he legally changed his surname from Grissom to his mother Faye's maiden name, Aiken.^[1]

Aiken attended Raleigh's Leesville Road High School and took courses at Campbell University before enrolling at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He found his interest in special education while directing YMCA children's camps as a teenager, and at age 19, he served as a substitute teacher for a classroom of students with autism at Brentwood Elementary School in Raleigh. While attending college in Charlotte, he took a part-time job as an assistant to a boy with autism, and it was this child's mother, Diane Bubel, who urged him to audition for American Idol. Although his American Idol activities temporarily delayed his academic pursuits, Aiken completed his course work while on tour and graduated with a bachelor's degree in special education in December 2003.^[16]

Personal life[link]

On August 8, 2008, Aiken announced, on his personal blog, the birth of his son in North Carolina: "My dear friend, Jaymes, and I are so excited to announce the birth of Parker Foster Aiken."^[17] The child's mother, Jaymes Foster, is the sister of record producer David Foster and the executive producer of Aiken's last three albums on the RCA label. "The little man is healthy, happy, and as loud as his daddy," Aiken wrote. "Mama Jaymes is doing quite well also."^[18] Aiken said in his book, Learning to Sing: Hearing the Music in Your Life, that "It's a Southern tradition to be given your first name from your grandmama's maiden name."^[19] Aiken's middle name came from his paternal grandmother's maiden name; using instead the married surnames of their mothers, he and Foster followed that tradition in choosing their son's name.

After several years of public speculation, Aiken disclosed that he is gay in a September 2008 interview with People magazine.^[20] In April 2009, Aiken was honored by the Family Equality Council advocacy group at its annual benefit dinner in New York City.^[21]

On November 18, 2010, Aiken went to Washington, D.C. on behalf of GLSEN at a Capitol Hill briefing talking about anti-gay bullying.^[22]

Aiken has talked about having had a little liposuction under his chin while undergoing treatment for temporomandibular joint disorder.^[23]

[edit] American Idol

Aiken had filled out an application to participate in the reality show Amazing Race when a friend of his insisted that he try out for American Idol instead.^[24] Television viewers first glimpsed Aiken during the audition episodes at the beginning of American Idol's second season. The show's judges first saw Aiken as a nerdy type unlikely to be a typical pop idol, but after hearing him sing Heatwave's "Always and Forever" decided to advance him to the next round. The clip of the judges' surprise during this audition performance was replayed many times over the course of the competition.

Aiken made it to the round of 32 before being cut from the show, but he was invited to return for the "Wild Card" round; his performance of Elton John's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" sent him on to the final 12 as the viewer's choice. While noted for his performance of ballads, such as Neil Sedaka's "Solitaire", his upbeat performances, including The Foundations' "Build Me Up Buttercup", were also appreciated. Aiken received enough votes every week to keep him out of the bottom three. Part of his appeal was his "geek to chic" transformation in appearance. "I looked like Opie," Aiken said to People magazine regarding his appearance at his American Idol audition in 2002.^[25] He replaced his glasses with contact lenses and agreed to let the show's stylists change his hair style.^[26] With longer, flat ironed, spiky hair and a penchant for wearing striped shirts, Aiken had established a trademark look by the final American Idol season 2 show.

On May 21, 2003, Aiken came in a close second to Ruben Studdard, who won the contest by 134,000 votes out of more than 24,000,000 votes cast. The result was controversial, as some hypothesized that Idol's voting system was incapable of handling the number of attempted calls.^[27] In an interview prior to the start of the fifth season of American Idol, Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe revealed for the first time that Aiken had led the fan voting every week from the Wild Card week to the finale, when the possibly-random voting result gave Studdard the win.^[28] Though officially, Aiken was the show's "first runner-up," he has since gone on to be the second season's best-selling star.

Rolling Stone featured Aiken on the cover of its July 2003 issue. In the cover article Aiken said, "One thing I've found of people in the public eye, either you're a womanizer or you've got to be gay. Since I'm neither one of those, people are completely concerned about me."^[29] In subsequent interviews he expressed frustration over continued questions about his sexual orientation, telling People magazine in 2006, "It doesn't matter what I say. People are going to believe what they want."^[30]

Aiken made a surprise appearance on the final show of American Idol season 5, when failed auditioner Michael Sandecki returned to the show to receive a "Golden Idol" award for Best Impersonator for his Clay Aiken-like appearance. Aiken appeared without introduction in a well-tailored designer suit and longer, darker hair with bangs, looking so different that many did not recognize him until he began to sing "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me."^[31][32] The second season of the American Idol Rewind series (2007) was narrated by Aiken.^[33]

Clay is reportedly one of the top 10 earners of Idol, earning an estimated $1.5 million last year.^[34]

Music[link]

[edit] 2003-2004: Measure of a Man

On October 14, 2003, Aiken released his first solo album, Measure of a Man, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and was, with 613,000 copies sold in its first week, the highest-selling debut for a solo artist in 10 years, and to date the highest debut of any Idol.^[35] The album received RIAA Double Platinum certification on November 17, 2003 (a Double Platinum plaque was presented to Aiken by Clive Davis on October 22, 2003, during Good Morning America). The album spawned both the hit single "Invisible" and his first hit song, "This Is the Night" (both co-written by British songwriter Chris Braide). Later that year, Aiken won the Fan's Choice Award at the American Music Awards ceremony, and his CD single "This Is the Night/Bridge Over Troubled Water" won the Billboard award for the Best-Selling Single of 2003.

[edit] 2004-2006: Merry Christmas With Love

On November 16, 2004, Aiken released a holiday album titled Merry Christmas with Love, which set a new record for fastest-selling holiday album in the Soundscan era (since 1991).^[36] The album debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 and tied Céline Dion's record for the highest debut by a holiday album in the history of Billboard magazine. Merry Christmas with Love sold over 1,000,000 copies retail in six weeks and was the best-selling holiday album of 2004, receiving RIAA Platinum certification on Jan. 6, 2005.

[edit] 2006-2008: A Thousand Different Ways and All Is Well

Aiken's second studio album, A Thousand Different Ways, was released September 19, 2006.^[37] He worked on the album under the guidance of Canadian producer and A&R executive Jaymes Foster.^[38] The album contains ten cover songs and four new songs, one of which Aiken co-wrote. Clive Davis is credited with the cover concept.^[39] One additional song, "Lover All Alone", written by Aiken and David Foster, is included with the album on iTunes. Debuting at number two on the Billboard chart, A Thousand Different Ways made Aiken the fourth artist ever to have his first three albums debut in the Top 5 and scan over 200,000 in the first week.^[40]

Aiken's second Christmas album, All Is Well (an EP of four Christmas songs), was released exclusively to Walmart on November 28, 2006, and was released to iTunes as a digital download in December 2007.^[41]

[edit] 2008-2009: On My Way Here

Aiken stated in an April 2007 interview with People that he was planning a new album, and during his May 2007 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, he mentioned that he was in Los Angeles interviewing producers for the new album.^[42] Aiken found a song, "On My Way Here", written by OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder, that struck a chord with him and became the inspiration for the album's theme in addition to the album title. For a cohesive sound, Aiken chose Mark 'Kipper' Eldridge to produce the entire album. On My Way Here was released May 6, 2008, on the RCA label.^[43]

According to an article posted on Billboard, Aiken and RCA parted ways shortly after his On My Way Here album was released. Aiken's rep confirmed to People magazine that Aiken left RCA.^[44][45] Stated in the cited People article, "The buzz about Aiken's exit was fueled earlier this week when his picture disappeared online and Billboard, citing unnamed sources, reported Friday that Aiken, 30, had been dropped by the label. According to Billboard, Aiken’s 2008 album “On My Way Here” sold just 159,000 copies in the U.S., compared to his 2003 debut album, “Measure of a Man,” which sold 2.78 million copies".

A fifth album, The Very Best of Clay Aiken, was released at the end of March 2009 on Sony's Legacy Recordings Playlist Series.^[46] This album was a compilation of songs that had been included on the previous albums released by RCA. First week sales of 3000 copies placed Playlist: The Very Best of Clay Aiken at number 173 on the Billboard 200 chart and at number ten on the Top Internet Albums chart.^[47]

[edit] 2009-2011: Tried and True

On August 10, 2009, it was announced on Aiken's official website that he had signed with Decca Records and he would have new music out by early 2010.^[48] Performing the songs from his new album, Tried and True, Aiken held a one night only concert at the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium in Raleigh, North Carolina on March 12, 2010. The concert, filmed for PBS broadcast, included guest appearances by Ruben Studdard and Linda Eder.^[6][49] Eder joined Aiken on stage for their duet of "Crying", which they recorded for his album. The album was released on June 1, 2010 and features songs popular in the 1950s and 1960s, including two Aiken covered during his run on American Idol, "Mack the Knife" and "Unchained Melody".^[5] In conjunction with the PBS special a companion DVD, Tried & True Live!, was released on July 27, 2010. A tour to promote the album is planned for early 2011.

[edit] 2011-present: Steadfast

On December 20, 2011, Aiken released a new single, "Bring Back My Love" under the Decca Label. The single is his first original song since the release of his album On My Way Here in 2008. On March 27, 2012 Aiken released Steadfast, a new album of previous recordings and songs only sung in concerts. The album debuted at #120 on the Billboard 200 chart with sales of 4,000.^{[citation needed]}

Television[link]

Aiken has made many television appearances.^[50]

On Labor Day 2003, Aiken sang "Bridge Over Troubled Water" at the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon and received a standing ovation from the audience. Lewis compared Aiken with Frank Sinatra and marveled at the dedication of Aiken's fan base:

"We have someone here today from the smash hit show American Idol. We're thrilled to have him joining us today, because when it was made known that he would appear on this Telethon, the emails and the fan clubs that this young man has have sent us $30,000.00 just at the fact that he was here. And I can honestly say I have never, in all of my life, seen a theatrical groundswell that this kid has motivated, that it makes us all come right back to the bobby sox and Frank. And isn't it nice to live through that magnificence again? Here is Clay Aiken."^[51]

That same year, Aiken sang The Star-Spangled Banner on the opening night of the 2003 World Series and appeared in numerous television specials during the winter of 2003, including Disney's Christmas Day Parade and the Nick At Nite Holiday Special, where he sang the "Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth" with Bing Crosby via special effects.

Aiken starred in and executive produced his first TV special (December 2004), titled A Clay Aiken Christmas, with special guests Barry Manilow, Yolanda Adams, and Megan Mullally; the special was released on DVD later that month. On July 4, 2004, Aiken was one of the performers in the A Capitol Fourth concert in Washington, D.C. and performed in the Good Morning America Summer Concert Series in 2004 and 2005. He also sang "Isn't She Lovely" on the popular television show Scrubs.

Aiken was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live in 2004 and participated in several skits. He has appeared multiple times on The Tonight Show, interviewing with Jay Leno as a guest in addition to singing, and has become a regular guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live. The Kimmel appearances often feature skits: in one, Jimmy Kimmel's then girlfriend Sarah Silverman confessed to an affair with Aiken, and in another, Aiken expressed his distaste for Kimmel's jokes about him by beating him up. In May 2007, he spent the first half of his interview on horseback while talking about his recent UNICEF trip to Afghanistan. A few weeks later he appeared as a spokesperson for "Guillermo's Mustache" in Kimmel's fictional DVD informercial shown on the Dancing With the Stars finale. Aiken made his acting debut on Ed in early 2004, playing himself, and in 2005, he was interviewed by Erica Kane on All My Children. He played the role of cafeteria worker Kenny on the Scrubs episode "My Life in Four Cameras". In December 2006, he made an appearance as himself on Days of our Lives.

After hosting and performing in the American Idol Christmas special in 2003, Aiken has had several subsequent hosting jobs. He was a special correspondent for The Insider for the 2005 Emmy Awards, and on the sets of the sitcom Reba with Reba McEntire and Dancing With the Stars. He co-hosted The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet in 2006, and on November 17, 2006, filled in for Regis Philbin as guest host on Live with Regis and Kelly. During an interview, Aiken covered Kelly Ripa's mouth with his hand.^[52] The incident drew considerable media reaction after Ripa complained at length about the incident on her show the following Monday.^[53] Aiken made fun of the controversy on the 2006 American Music Awards the next night with Tori Spelling.^[54] On The Tyra Banks Show in 2006, filmed before the Ripa incident, Aiken mentioned wanting to have his own talk show someday, and Banks switched seats with him and let him interview her for one segment of the show. Aiken was a guest judge on the April 8, 2009 segment of Banks show America's Next Top Model; in what the show refers to as a teach, he worked with the remaining 8 contestants on their acting skills prior to the judging.

In November 2007, Aiken was a contestant on a celebrity edition of the game show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?.^[55] Playing for his charity, the Bubel/Aiken Foundation, he chose to drop out after the ninth question with $300,000, despite having a copy and a save at his disposal. If he had played the tenth question, he would have won $500,000; Aiken and the 5th grader playing with him both had the correct answer.

In May 2009, Aiken made a guest appearance on 30 Rock in the season 3 episode 'Kidney Now!'. It was revealed in this episode that he is the cousin of the show's character Kenneth.^[56]

In August, 2010, Aiken guest starred in an hour long episode of Disney Channel's Phineas and Ferb, called "Summer Belongs to You". Aiken sang an inspirational duet with Chaka Khan, to encourage those who did not believe that Phineas and Ferb could accomplish their goal of circling the globe faster than the sun, thus creating the longest summer day of all time.^[57]

On January 30, 2011, Aiken sang the United States' national anthem at the 2011 NHL All-Star game held in the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, home of the Carolina Hurricanes.

Recently, Aiken guest starred on the comedy drama series Drop Dead Diva.

Aiken was a contestant in the fifth season of The Celebrity Apprentice, losing in the finals to Arsenio Hall.

Broadway[link]

On January 18, 2008, Aiken made his Broadway debut when he joined the cast of Monty Python's Spamalot for a four-month run, ending on May 4, 2008. He played Sir Robin, in the Tony Award-winning musical directed by Mike Nichols. In addition to Sir Robin, Aiken played the 1st Guard and the Brother Maynard roles.^[58] On August 12, 2008, it was announced that Aiken would resume his role as Sir Robin beginning on September 19 and ending on January 4, 2009.^[11] On December 23, 2008, Aiken had his caricature unveiled at world famous Sardi's restaurant.^[59]

Tours[link]

From February through April 2004, Aiken and Kelly Clarkson embarked on the "Independent Tour" as co-headliners.^[60] Following this tour, he was scheduled for a few summer solo tour dates, but demand ultimately led to the booking of 50 dates across the United States, resulting in what many fans called the "Not-a-Tour". Disney (Buena Vista) was the exclusive sponsor of this unnamed summer tour, promoting their Aladdin Special Edition 2-Disc DVD with a preview of Aiken's rendition of "Proud of Your Boy", a song originally intended for the first release of the film but cut when the Aladdin storyline changed during production. A music video featuring Aiken is on the Aladdin Special Edition DVD.^[61] On this tour, he also performed a duet, "Without You," which was released on Kimberley Locke's 2004 debut album One Love.

In November 2004, Aiken launched his third tour of the year, which revolved around a Christmas theme. "The Joyful Noise Tour", sponsored by Ronald McDonald House Charities, featured a conductor and a 30-piece orchestra.^[62] In some cities, Aiken was supported by the local philharmonic or symphony, such as the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Local choirs from high schools and elementary schools also participated at each concert.^[63]

During the summer of 2005, Aiken, with a seven-piece band and three back-up singers, toured with the "Jukebox Tour", performing songs of the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, as well as a few favorites from Measure of a Man. He also performed a few new songs being considered for his next album.^[64]

In early November 2005, Aiken launched his second Christmas tour. The 2005 Joyful Noise tour featured a series of vignettes, written by Aiken,^[65] which told the story of an older woman who had lost the Christmas spirit and a young boy who helps her find it again. A cast of actors, dancers and back-up singers traveled with the tour, and members of local theater groups were added in each venue for smaller, non-speaking roles and crowd scenes. The tour opened in Vancouver, British Columbia, on November 2, and ended in Clearwater, Florida on December 30. According to Pollstar, Aiken's first five tours grossed $28 million.^[66][67]

In December 2006, Aiken began his third Christmas tour, comprising performances in 18 Midwest and East Coast cities. Aiken was supported by local orchestras, which also opened the concerts with a program of seasonal music.^[68]

A 23-date tour in support of his third album, A Thousand Different Ways, began on July 4, 2007, and ended in Orlando, Florida, on August 19. On this tour Aiken hired local symphonies to back him, along with tour regulars Jesse Vargas, pianist, conductor and arranger; Sean McDaniel, drummer; and Quiana Parler and Angela Fisher, backup singers. Three days into the tour, Aiken and a woman were involved in an in-flight altercation in which she allegedly shoved him. As a result of the scuffle, Aiken and the woman were later questioned by the FBI.^[69] Aiken told ET that he had been sleeping when the incident occurred.^[70]

His fourth annual Christmas tour, "Christmas in the Heartland," began on November 26, 2007, in Wichita, Kansas.^[71] That 21-date tour ended on December 22, 2007, in Merrillville, Indiana.

He has ended all of his Christmas tours with his signature Christmas song, "Don't Save It All for Christmas Day."

Aiken and Ruben Studdard brought their “Timeless” tour to cities in the US and Canada beginning in Asheville, North Carolina, on July 23, 2010, and ending in Biloxi, Mississippi, on August 14.^[49][72][73] Instead of a concert focusing on each singers recordings, Aiken and Studdard opted for a variety show format covering medleys of songs from the 1960s to the 1990s with a few solos and interspersed with comedy bits.^[74]

Aiken announced on July 30, 2010, that he will be touring in February and March 2011 in conjunction with PBS to support his album Tried and True and accompanying live DVD Clay Aiken: Tried and True - Live.^[75][76]

Faith and philosophy[link]

In 2004 Aiken made the New York Times Best Seller List, debuting at number two, with his memoir titled Learning to Sing: Hearing the Music in Your Life, written with Allison Glock, and published by Random House. Barely mentioning American Idol, in the book he instead turned his focus to the people who had the most influence in his life — his mother, grandparents, siblings, teachers, and friends — and to the importance of religion in his life.

While not self-identified as a Christian music artist, Aiken was featured in Christian Music Planet as an "American Idol Christian" in 2004, and in a cover story, "Clay Aiken's Balancing Act", in the January/February 2005 issue.^[77][78] His pre-Idol demo albums included several selections of contemporary Christian music (or CCM) and gospel songs. A performance of the Commodores' "Jesus is Love" at the American Music Awards in 2003 earned Aiken and Ruben Studdard a standing ovation. Aiken has sung a few CCM songs at his pop concerts, and has made Christmas albums, Christmas television specials and performances, and Christmas tours essential elements of his career.

He described himself in Learning to Sing as a proud Southern Baptist who had journeyed away from those roots in his late teens in search of a religion with more liberal social policies, and then returned to that church because of family and social ties although he remains at odds with the church on some issues.^[79] When asked in a PBS Kids interview to name his idols, he responded, "When people ask me what three people I’d like to have dinner with, living or dead, I say Jesus Christ, Mr. Rogers, and Jimmy Carter."^[80]

Aiken makes it clear that he is aware not everyone shares his religious beliefs and it is not his intention to press these beliefs on others. When he worked as a camp counselor at the YMCA, he challenged other camp faculty by insisting that singing "overtly Christian songs" was inappropriate, as some of the kids were Jewish. "I stood firm... no child is going to have a spiritual crisis on my watch."^[81] His public philosophy, geared towards inclusion and service to others, reflects his stance that decisions about religion should be made at home.^[82][83]

Activism[link]

Aiken has donated his time and his voice to multiple benefit events and concerts, including the 2004 Rosalynn Carter Benefit, the America's Promise Benefit, and Heather Headley's Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS benefit, "Home," where he sang a duet with Headley.^[84] He was one of the celebrity readers for the Arthur Celebrity Audiobook (Stories for Heroes Series), which benefits the Bubel/Aiken Foundation (now the National Inclusion Project) and other charities, and served as spokesperson for the series. He was also a spokesperson for the 2004 Toys for Tots drive, and acted as an ambassador for the Ronald McDonald House Charities. Aiken worked with the Make a Wish Foundation to make one little boy's dream of singing on stage with Clay Aiken come true.^[85]

In September 2006, Aiken was appointed to the Presidential Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities by President George W. Bush. Appointees serve a two-year term; Aiken was sworn in September 14, 2006, by HHS Assistant Secretary for Children and Families Wade F. Horn, Ph.D.^[9] In April 2008, Aiken told People Magazine that he was too busy to do as much as he would like, but "If there's something I can do remotely, I would've been happy to do it."^[86]

While appearing in Spamalot, Aiken used his free time and celebrity to help raise funds for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA) during their fund drives and auctions.^[87][88] In 2010, Aiken spoke out for gay rights at the Human Rights Campaign dinner in North Carolina.^[89] He also joined other celebrities in filming an educational video for Cyndi Lauper's web based Give a Damn campaign, a project of her True Colors Fund. In addition to UNICEF and his National Inclusion Project he is promoting GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network as one of his causes on his official website.^[90][91]

National Inclusion Project (formerly BAF)[link]

Aiken has been a dedicated advocate for education and for children's causes. His interest in autism issues led him, along with Diane Bubel (whose son Michael is diagnosed with autism and was tutored by Aiken), to found the National Inclusion Project (formerly the Bubel/Aiken Foundation), which supports the integration of children with disabilities into the life environment of their non-disabled peers.^[92] The Foundation runs summer camps which reflect its mission,and also presents Able to Serve awards to support the volunteer efforts of children with physical and mental disabilities.^[93][94] In July 2005, Raleigh's WRAL-TV reported on an internet campaign mounted by critics questioning how Aiken's foundation used its money. WRAL news hired an independent accountant who reported that program services totaled $920,000 in 2004—around 85 cents on every dollar donated—which is considered a solid percentage compared to other charities.^[95] CNN picked up the story, and Aiken appeared on Showbiz Tonight to provide details about the Foundation's programs.^[96] In late 2004, the Foundation was awarded a $500,000 grant by the US government to develop a K–12 model for inclusion in community service projects to be used in schools across the country. In addition, State Farm granted $1.5 million dollars to the Foundation to help develop a primary education curriculum focused on teaching social and life skills through service to children of all levels of ability.^[97]

On August 5, 2009, in an open letter from the founders, Clay Aiken and Diane Bubel stated "As we realized the impact the Foundation has already made, it became apparent that even bigger accomplishments could be on the horizon. To that end, we along with the rest of the Board decided that a new name for the Foundation would establish long-term credibility and stability. We sought a name that would signify the Foundation’s position as a national leader on inclusion as well as recognize the Foundation’s start and the efforts of its faithful supporters. After much thought and deliberation, we are proud to introduce the organization we co-founded as the National Inclusion Project."^[7]

UNICEF[link]

In November 2004, Aiken was appointed a U.S. Fund for UNICEF National Ambassador, with a mission to help ensure that children everywhere are afforded a primary education.^[8] After the tsunami at the end of 2004, he participated in the NBC4 telethon, which raised over $10 million, and recorded public service announcements in support of South Asian tsunami relief. He later recorded a video, featuring the song "Give a Little Bit", to be used as a public service announcement to raise money for tsunami victims. He was the 2005 spokesperson for the Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF drive.^[98]

In March 2005, UNICEF sent Aiken to the tsunami-stricken Banda Aceh area to raise awareness of the need to restore education quickly to the children who survived this disaster.^[99] UNICEF sent Aiken on another mission in May 2005, to northern Uganda, to witness the plight of children called "night commuters", who flee the villages each night to sleep in streets and shelters in hopes of avoiding being kidnapped by the Lord's Resistance Army. He was sent to Kabul and Bamyan, in Afghanistan in April 2007, where he was able to spend time with children in their classrooms; he also visited a health center for women and children where he administered oral polio vaccinations to babies. He observed that Afghani children, after being forbidden for so many years by the Taliban regime to attend school, are eager to return to school now that they are once again allowed to receive an education.^[100] Aiken spent his 2007 Christmas in Mexico with the children affected by the floods in the states of Chiapas and Tabasco.^[101][102] In late June and early July 2008, UNICEF sent Aiken to Somalia and Kenya.^[103][104]

Fans[link]

Aiken was voted the Favorite Reality Star of 2003 by TV Guide readers and “the most-loved reality star of all time” in a TV Guide poll conducted in the summer of 2005.^[105] In February 2006, People magazine readers voted Aiken their "Favorite American Idol".^[106]

While the origin of the term "Claymates" is unknown, Aiken trademarked the term.^[107] While in Los Angeles in September 2006 for a CD signing and appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Aiken talked with Jann Carl of Entertainment Tonight about the names various sub-groups have given themselves: "Claysians" (Asian fans), "Claynadians" (Canadian fans), "Clayropeans" (European fans) and "Claydawgs" (male fans). She then teased him about having his own "Clay Nation".^[108] At the CD signing, two young fans asked Clay to autograph their shoulderblades and then went to the local tattoo parlor to make them permanent; later that day on Jimmy Kimmel Live they were brought on stage to show the tattoos. Although some of his fans have been criticized at times by the media as being obsessive,^[109] he defends the group as a whole. When Kimmel said to Aiken that his fans were "crazy", Aiken stated that they were merely "enthusiastic". In 2003, in anticipation of the release of Measure of a Man, fans all over the country decided to get together and hold parties to celebrate the release of the CD and purchase copies at midnight. In 2006, for the release of A Thousand Different Ways, release parties were held in more than 80 cities in the United States, Canada, and Singapore.^{[110][111][112]}

Discography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

Professional[link]

American Music Awards

• 2003: Won - Fan's Choice Award
• 2003: Nominated - Favorite Male Artist - Pop or Rock

Billboard Awards

• 2003: Won - Best Selling Single of 2003 - "Bridge Over Troubled Water/This Is The Night"
• 2004: Won - Best Selling Christmas Album - Merry Christmas with Love
• 2004: Won - Best Selling Christian Album - Merry Christmas with Love
• 2005: Won - Best Selling Christian Album - Merry Christmas with Love

New Music Weekly Awards

• 2004: Won - Top 40 Male Artist of the Year

American Christian Music Awards

• 2005: Won - Outstanding Yule CD - Merry Christmas with Love

Achievement[link]

• 2005 Robert M. Barg Memorial Achievement Award^[113]
• 2006 UNC Charlotte Alumni Association Outstanding Young Alumnus Award^[114]
• 2007 National Center for Learning Disabilities' Children's Advocacy Award^[115]
• 2009 The Family Circle Award from the Family Equality Council^[116]

[edit] American Idol season 2 performances and results

Note 1: No one was eliminated that week due to the disqualification of Corey Clark.

See also[link]

• List of number-one hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
• List of UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors
• List of Decca Records artists

References[link]