Rufus King
Rufus King by Gilbert Stuart, 1819
United States Senator from New York
In office March 4, 1813 – March 4, 1825
Preceded by	John Smith
Succeeded by	Nathan Sanford
In office July 25, 1789 – May 23, 1796
Preceded by	None
Succeeded by	John Laurance
United States Minister to Great Britain
In office November 11, 1825 – May 10, 1826
Nominated by	John Quincy Adams
Preceded by	Richard Rush
Succeeded by	Albert Gallatin
In office July 26, 1796 – May 16, 1803
Nominated by	George Washington
Preceded by	Thomas Pinckney
Succeeded by	James Monroe
Personal details
Born	(1755-03-24)March 24, 1755 Scarborough, Massachusetts (now Maine)
Died	April 29, 1827(1827-04-29) (aged 72) Jamaica, Queens, New York
Political party	Federalist
Spouse(s)	Mary Alsop King
Children	James G. King John Alsop King Charles King Edward King Frederic Gore King
Profession	Lawyer
Signature

Rufus King (March 24, 1755 – April 29, 1827) was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat. He was a delegate for Massachusetts to the Continental Congress. He also attended the Constitutional Convention and was one of the signers of the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He represented New York in the United States Senate, served as Minister to Britain, and was the Federalist candidate for both Vice President (1804, 1808) and President of the United States (1816).

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

He was born on March 24, 1755 at Scarborough which was then a part of Massachusetts but is now in the state of Maine. He was a son of Sabilla Blagden and Richard King, a prosperous farmer-merchant, who had settled at Dunstan Landing in Scarborough, near Portland, Maine, and had made a modest fortune by 1755, the year Rufus was born.

His financial success aroused the jealousy of his neighbors, and when the Stamp Act 1765 was imposed, and rioting became almost respectable, a mob ransacked his house and destroyed most of the furniture. Nobody was punished, and the next year the mob burned down his barn. It was not surprising that Richard King became a loyalist. All of his sons, however, became patriots in the American War of Independence.^[1]

Career[link]

King attended Dummer Academy (now The Governor's Academy) and Harvard College, graduating in 1777. He began to read law under Theophilus Parsons, but his studies were interrupted in 1778 when King volunteered for militia duty in the American Revolutionary War. Appointed a major, he served as an aide to General Sullivan^[2] in the Battle of Rhode Island.^[3] After the campaign, King returned to his apprenticeship under Parsons.

He was admitted to the bar in 1780 and began a legal practice in Newburyport, Massachusetts.^[4] King was first elected to the Massachusetts state assembly in 1783, and returned there each year until 1785. Massachusetts sent him to the Confederation Congress from 1784 to 1787. He was one of the youngest at the conference.

Politics[link]

In 1787, King was sent to the Federal constitutional convention at Philadelphia where he worked closely with Alexander Hamilton on the Committee of Style and Arrangement to prepare the final draft. He returned home and went to work to get the Constitution ratified and to position himself to be named to the U.S. Senate. He was only partially successful. Massachusetts ratified the Constitution, but his efforts to be elected to the Senate failed. Rufus King was good friends with Benjamin Franklin.

At Hamilton's urging, he moved to New York City, and was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1789. When the United States Constitution took effect, the State Legislature disagreed on who should be chosen besides Philip Schuyler for U.S. Senator from New York. Alexander Hamilton endorsed Rufus King as a candidate, thwarting the plans of the prominent Livingston family, who had hoped to place one of their own, James Duane, on the seat. Governor George Clinton, looking to cause a rift between the Livingstons and the Schuyler family (Hamilton was Philip Schuyler's son-in-law), discreetly supported King, and as a result he was elected in 1789. He was re-elected in 1795 but resigned on May 23, 1796, having been appointed U. S. Minister to Great Britain.

Diplomat and national candidate[link]

King's nomination to be Minister to the UK (1825)

King played a major diplomatic role as Minister to the Court of St. James from 1796 to 1803, and again from 1825 to 1826. Although he was a leading Federalist, Thomas Jefferson kept him in office until King asked to be relieved. He successfully settled disputes that the Jay Treaty had opened for negotiation. His term was marked by friendship between the U.S. and Britain; it became hostile after 1805. While in Britain, he was in close personal contact with South American revolutionary Francisco de Miranda and facilitated Miranda's trip to the United States in search of support for his failed 1806 expedition to Venezuela.

He was the unsuccessful Federalist Party candidate for Vice President in 1804 and 1808.^[4] In 1813, he was elected again to the U.S. Senate, and served until March 4, 1819. In April 1816, he lost the election for Governor of New York to the incumbent Daniel D. Tompkins of the Democratic-Republican Party. Later that year, King was nominated by the Federalists in the United States presidential election, 1816, but lost again. King was the last presidential candidate to be nominated by the Federalists before their collapse at the end of the First Party System of the United States.

In 1819, he ran for re-election as a Federalist, but the party was already disbanding and had only a small minority in the New York State Legislature. Due to the split of the Democratic-Republicans, no successor was elected to the U.S. Senate, and the seat remained vacant until January 1820 when King was elected again. Trying to attract the former Federalist voters to their side at the next gubernatorial election in April 1820, both factions of the Democratic-Republican Party supported King, who served another term in the U.S. Senate until March 4, 1825.

Anti-slavery activity[link]

Oil painting of King by Charles Willson Peale (1818)

King had a long history of opposition to the expansion of slavery and the slave trade. This stand was a product of moral conviction which coincided with the political realities of New England federalism. While in Congress, he successfully added provisions to the 1785 Northwest Ordinance which barred the extension of slavery into the Northwest Territory.^[4] But he also said he was willing "to suffer the continuance of slaves until they can be gradually emancipated in states already overrun with them." He did not press the issue very hard at this time. At the Constitutional Convention, he indicated that his opposition to slavery was based upon the political and economic advantages it gave to the South, but he was willing to compromise for political reasons.

In 1817, he supported Senate action to abolish the domestic slave trade and, in 1819, spoke strongly for the antislavery amendment to the Missouri statehood bill. In 1819, his arguments were political, economic, and humanitarian; the extension of slavery would adversely affect the security of the principles of freedom and liberty. After the Missouri Compromise, he continued to support gradual emancipation in various ways.^[5]

Family[link]

Many of King's family were also involved in politics and he had a number of prominent descendants. His brother William King was the first governor of Maine and a prominent merchant, and his other brother, Cyrus King, was a U. S. Representative from Massachusetts.

His wife Mary Alsop was born in New York on October 17, 1769 and died in Jamaica, New York on June 5, 1819. She was the only daughter of John Alsop, a wealthy merchant, and a delegate for New York to the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1776. She was also a great niece of Governor John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. She married Mr. King in New York City on March 30, 1786, he being at that time a delegate from Massachusetts to the Continental Congress then sitting in that city.

Mrs. King was a lady of remarkable beauty, gentle and gracious manners, and well cultivated mind, and adorned the high station, both in England and at home, that her husband's official positions and their own social relations entitled them to occupy. The latter years of her life, except while in Washington, were passed in Jamaica, Long Island, New York.

King died on April 29, 1827 and his funeral was held at his farm in Jamaica, Queens. He is buried in the Grace Church Cemetery in Jamaica, Queens, New York.^[6] The home that King purchased in 1805 and expanded thereafter and some of his farm make up King Park in Queens. The home, called King Manor, is now a museum and is open to the public.

The Rufus King School, also known as P.S. 26, in Fresh Meadows, New York, was named after King, as was the Rufus King Hall on the CUNY Queens College campus and King Street^[7] in Madison, Wi. Rufus King High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin is named after his grandson, Rufus King, a general in the American Civil War.

Descendants[link]

Rufus King's descendants number in the thousands today. Some of his notable descendants include;

• Dr. C. Loring Brace IV, noted Biological anthropologist.
• Gerald Warner Brace, (1901–1978) was an American writer, educator, sailor and boat builder.
• Charles Loring Brace, (1826–1890) was a philanthropist and was most renowned for founding The Children's Aid Society.
• David Crosby, is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a founding member of three bands: The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash and CPR (band).
• Floyd Crosby, was an award winning American cinematographer.
• Wolcott Gibbs, was an American editor, humorist, theater critic, playwright and author of short stories.
• Archibald Gracie III, was a career United States Army officer, businessman, and a graduate of West Point. He is well known for being a Confederate brigadier general during the American Civil War and for his death during the Siege of Petersburg.
• Archibald Gracie IV, was an American writer, amateur historian, real estate investor, and survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic.
• Fleet Admiral William Frederick Halsey, Jr., USN,^[8] (called "Bill Halsey" and sometimes known as "Bull" Halsey), was a U.S. Naval officer and the commander of the United States Third Fleet during part of the Pacific War against Japan. Earlier, he had commanded the South Pacific Theater during desperate times.
• Isabella Beecher Hooker, (1822–1907) was a leader in the women's suffrage movement and an author.
• Charles King (academic), was an American academic, politician, newspaper editor and the ninth president of Columbia College (now Columbia University).
• Charles King, was a United States soldier and a distinguished writer.
• James G. King, was an American businessman and Whig Party politician who represented New Jersey's 5th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. His daughter, Frederika Gore King, married Bancroft Davis.
• John Alsop King, was an American politician who served as governor (1857–1859) of New York.
• Rufus King, was a newspaper editor, educator, U.S. diplomat, and a Union brigadier general in the American Civil War.
• Rufus King, Jr., was an artillery officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and a Medal of Honor recipient.
• Ellin Travers Mackay, 2nd wife of composer and lyricist, Irving Berlin.
• Alice Duer Miller, was an American writer and poet.
• Halsey Minor^[9] is a technology entrepreneur who founded CNET in 1993.
• Mary Alsop King Waddington, was an American author.
• Jane Wyatt, was an American actress perhaps best known for her role as the housewife and mother on the television series Father Knows Best and as Amanda Grayson, the human mother of Spock on the science fiction television show, Star Trek.

See also[link]

• List of United States political appointments that crossed party lines
• U.S. Constitution, ratification debates, judiciary debates

Notes[link]

Primary sources[link]

• King Charles R. The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, 4 vol 1893-97
• Ernst, Robert. Rufus King: American Federalist. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1968
• Arbena, Joseph L. "Politics or Principle? Rufus King and the Opposition to Slavery, 1785-1825." Essex Institute Historical Collections (1965) 101(1): 56-77. ISSN 0014-0953
• Perkins, Bradford ; The First Rapprochement: England and the United States, 1795-1805 1955.

External links[link]

• Rufus King at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• King Manor Museum
• Historic House Trust of New York, King Manor Museum
• A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825
• The members of the 1st United States Congress (took seat on July 25, 1789)
• The members of the 4th United States Congress (resigned on May 23, 1796)

v t e Signers of the United States Constitution Baldwin Bassett Bedford Blair Blount Brearley Broom Butler Carroll Clymer Dayton Dickinson Few Fitzsimons Franklin Gilman Gorham Hamilton Ingersoll Jackson Jenifer Johnson King Langdon Livingston Madison McHenry Mifflin G. Morris R. Morris Paterson C. C. Pinckney C. Pinckney Read Rutledge Sherman Spaight Washington Williamson Wilson

v t e United States Senators from New York Class 1 Schuyler Burr Schuyler Hobart North Watson Morris Bailey Armstrong Mitchill German Sanford Van Buren Dudley Tallmadge Dickinson Fish P. King Morgan Fenton Kernan Platt Miller Hiscock Murphy Depew O'Gorman Calder Copeland Mead Ives Keating Kennedy Goodell Buckley Moynihan H. Clinton Gillibrand Class 3 R. King Laurance Armstrong D. Clinton Armstrong Smith R. King Sanford Marcy Wright Foster Dix Seward Harris Conkling Lapham Evarts Hill Platt Root Wadsworth Wagner Dulles Lehman Javits D'Amato Schumer

v t e United States Ambassadors to the United Kingdom Ministers Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James's 1785–1811 John Adams 1785–1788 Thomas Pinckney 1792–1796 Rufus King 1796–1803 James Monroe 1803–1807 William Pinkney 1808–1811 Jonathan Russell (chargé d'affaires) 1811–1812 Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James's 1815–1893 John Quincy Adams 1815–1817 Richard Rush 1818–1825 Rufus King 1825–1826 Albert Gallatin 1826–1827 James Barbour 1828–1829 Louis McLane 1829–1831 Martin Van Buren 1831–1832 Aaron Vail (chargé d'affaires) 1832–1836 Andrew Stevenson 1836–1841 Edward Everett 1841–1845 Louis McLane 1845–1846 George Bancroft 1846–1849 Abbott Lawrence 1849–1852 Joseph R. Ingersoll 1852–1853 James Buchanan 1853–1856 George M. Dallas 1856–1861 Charles Adams, Sr. 1861–1868 Reverdy Johnson 1868–1869 John Lothrop Motley 1869–1870 Robert C. Schenck 1871–1876 Edwards Pierrepont 1876–1877 John Welsh 1877–1879 James Russell Lowell 1880–1885 Edward J. Phelps 1885–1889 Robert Todd Lincoln 1889–1893 Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James's 1893–present Thomas F. Bayard, Sr. 1893–1897 John Hay 1897–1898 Joseph Choate 1899–1905 Whitelaw Reid 1905–1912 Walter Page 1913-1918 John W. Davis 1918–1921 George Harvey 1921–1923 Frank B. Kellogg 1924–1925 Alanson B. Houghton 1925–1929 Charles G. Dawes 1929–1931 Andrew W. Mellon 1932–1933 Robert Bingham 1933–1937 Joseph P. Kennedy 1938–1940 John G. Winant 1941–1946 W. Averell Harriman 1946 Lewis W. Douglas 1947–1950 Walter S. Gifford 1950–1953 Winthrop W. Aldrich 1953–1957 John Hay Whitney 1957–1961 David K. E. Bruce 1961–1969 Walter H. Annenberg 1969–1974 Elliot L. Richardson 1975–1976 Anne Armstrong 1976–1977 Kingman Brewster, Jr. 1977–1981 John J. Louis, Jr. 1981–1983 Charles H. Price II 1983–1989 Henry E. Catto, Jr. 1989–1991 Raymond G. H. Seitz 1991–1994 William J. Crowe 1994–1997 Philip Lader 1997–2001 William Stamps Farish III 2001–2004 Robert H. Tuttle 2005–2009 Louis Susman 2009–

Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Background information
Birth name	Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor
Also known as	Mademoiselle EB
Born	(1979-04-10) 10 April 1979 (age 33)
Origin	Hounslow, London, England
Genres	Electropop, dance, disco, house, alternative, pop rock
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, model
Instruments	Guitar, piano, bass guitar, voice
Years active	1994–present
Labels	Polydor, Fascination
Associated acts	Theaudience, Manic Street Preachers, Spiller, The Freemasons,
Website	sophieellisbextor.net
Notable instruments
Guitar, piano

Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor (born 10 April 1979) is an English singer, songwriter, model and occasional DJ. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s, as the lead singer of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded, Ellis-Bextor went solo, achieving widespread success in the early 2000s. Her music is a mixture of mainstream pop, disco, nu-disco, and 1980s electronic influences.

Her solo debut album, Read My Lips, was released in September 2001. The album reached number two on the UK albums chart and was certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).^[1][2] The record experienced international success, selling more than 2 million copies worldwide.^[3] It produced four singles, three of which reached the top three in the UK.^[1] In 2003, Read My Lips won the Edison Award for "Best Dance Album".^[4] Ellis-Bextor's second album, Shoot from the Hip, was released in October 2003. The album reached number nineteen in the UK and produced two top ten singles.^[1] Trip the Light Fantastic, her third album, was released in May 2007 and reached number seven in the UK.^[1] The album produced three singles, one of which reached the top ten in the UK.^[1]

In 2009, Ellis-Bextor released the Freemasons collaboration "Heartbreak (Make Me a Dancer)" and her first extended play, Sophie Ellis-Bextor: iTunes Live in London. Her fourth studio album, Make a Scene, was released in April 2011.

History[link]

[edit] 1994–99: Early career and Theaudience

Ellis-Bextor appeared with her mother Janet Ellis along in a children's DVD compilation songs video entitled 'a day full of songs' which was released by retailer Marks & Spencer. She began her musical career in 1997, with an indie band called Theaudience. Ellis-Bextor sang the lead vocal in the band. While she was a band member, readers of Melody Maker elected her to the number-one position among the 'most sexy people in rock'. She recorded a duet with Manic Street Preachers—"Black Holes for the Young"—as a B-side for their 1998 single "The Everlasting". Several songs released by Theaudience are "I Got the Wherewithal", "If You Can't Do It When You're Young; When Can You Do It?", "I Know Enough (I Don't Get Enough)", and "A Pessimist Is Never Disappointed" (perhaps their best-known single). The band split in December 1998. In 1999, Ellis-Bextor made an appearance on the Departure Lounge album Out of Here.

[edit] 2000–03: Read My Lips

After Theaudience split, Ellis-Bextor took a year off from singing. In 2000, Ellis-Bextor collaborated with Italian DJ Spiller on adding vocals to his then-instrumental club track "Groovejet", her first recorded work since that with Theaudience. "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" entered the UK charts at number one, just beating former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham on her first solo outing to the top spot. Since then, the two have been described as rivals. Both women deny, however, that there is any rivalry between the two of them. "Groovejet" won several awards: No. 1, Pop Top 20; No. 1, ILR; No. 1, Radio 1; No. 8, top dance track of 2000 and single of the year in Melody Maker. In the Metro Newspaper, it received ninth place in the contest for the Greatest No. 1 of all time.^[5] In 2000, it was a finalist in The Record of the Year. In that same year, it won the awards for Best Single and Best Ibiza Tune at the Ericsson Muzik Awards.^[6]

In 2001, Ellis-Bextor released her debut album, Read My Lips. It reached number two on the UK charts and spawned four top-twenty hit singles. Her rework of Cher's "Take Me Home" reached number two, as did "Murder on the Dancefloor", which became Ellis-Bextor's biggest single and was on charts for twenty-three weeks.^[7] "Murder on the Dancefloor" became Europe's most played song of 2002. In 2002, Read My Lips was re-released with two new songs (and a live version of "Groovejet") and Ellis-Bextor won the Recording Artist Award at that year's Showbusiness Awards. Her third single, "Get Over You"/"Move This Mountain", was released in June 2002 and reached number three. The fourth single, "Music Gets the Best of Me", rose to number fourteen in December. At the beginning of 2002, Ellis-Bextor was nominated for the "British Female Solo Artist" BRIT Award, going on to be nominated for a further two consecutive years.^[8][9][10]

[edit] 2003–06: Shoot from the Hip

Her second album, Shoot from the Hip, was released in October 2003. Although it was not as commercially successful as her previous material, it held two further top-ten singles. The album reached no higher than number fourteen on the UK charts; its two singles were "Mixed Up World", which reached number seven, and "I Won't Change You", reaching number nine. Around this time, rivalry against Victoria Beckham was suggested again; Beckham's single "This Groove"/"Let Your Head Go" reached number three, a higher position in the charts than "I Won't Change You". During this time Ellis-Bextor became pregnant and plans for a third and fourth single from the album, as well as the Shoot from the Hip Tour, were scrapped. After that, Ellis-Bextor took a break from her musical career to take care of her first child.In early 2005, she performed on a track by the duo Busface, entitled "Circles (Just My Good Time)"; she was credited as "Mademoiselle E.B." to not have this be mistaken for a single from her next album.

In 2006, her track "Dear Jimmy" was released on the Popjustice compilation album 100% Solid Pop Music.

[edit] 2007–08: Trip the Light Fantastic

Her third album, Trip the Light Fantastic, was released in May 2007 and debuted at number seven on the UK Albums Chart. Fred Schneider of The B-52s, Richard Barone (formerly of The Bongos), Shelly Poole (formerly of Alisha's Attic), Cathy Dennis and Kerin Smith (formerly of Theaudience) contributed to produce an album of disco-pop music. Before the album, two singles were released: "Catch You", which charted in the UK at number eight, and "Me and My Imagination (number twenty-three). Trip the Light Fantastic was certified Gold in July 2008, for selling 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom.^[11] The third single, "Today the Sun's on Us", debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number sixty-four.

Ellis-Bextor supported George Michael on his UK tour leg in June 2007. Her own UK tour, the Trip the Light Fantastic Tour, was due to start in August 2007, but it was postponed after Ellis-Bextor was invited to be the "special guest" on Take That's Beautiful World Tour, which commenced in October 2007.^[12] Ellis-Bextor stated that her tour would be re-scheduled for March 2008, with all tickets purchased being valid for the rescheduled concerts. The tour was never re-scheduled, and Ellis-Bextor subsequently refused to discuss the issue in interviews.^[13] In September 2007, Ellis-Bextor took part in Sopot Festival 2007 in Poland, representing the UK.

The song "If I Can't Dance" was announced as a single but later retracted,^[12][14] as was "Love Is Here"; Ellis-Bextor was supposed to release a single in late November to promote a greatest hits album, but the release date was pushed back to March 2008, and subsequently cancelled. However, "If I Can't Dance" has appeared on several compilations in Spain such as Supermodelo 2008 CD and Disco Estrella 2008.^[15][16][17]

[edit] 2009–11: Make a Scene

According to Ellis-Bextor in April 2008, recording sessions for her scrapped greatest hits collection proved fruitful, so she decided to release a fourth studio album.^{[citation needed]} In October 2008, Ellis-Bextor covered the Dolly Parton song "Jolene"; the track was released on the soundtrack to the BBC2 sitcom Beautiful People. In early November 2008, Ellis-Bextor recorded a track with the French DJ Junior Caldera, "Can't Fight This Feeling", for his 2009 album Début. Released as a single in February 2010, it reached the top twenty in France.

In November 2008, Ellis-Bextor confirmed her next single would be "Sophia Loren", which was used in a Rimmel ad campaign in which she also starred, but a single release never materialised.^{[citation needed]} In August 2009, she released a five-track live EP from the 2009 iTunes Festival, during which she performed previous singles of hers and a new track, "Starlight" (not included on the EP). Freemasons worked with Ellis-Bextor for their album Shakedown 2 on "Heartbreak (Make Me a Dancer)", which was released as a single in June 2009 and peaked at number thirteen in the UK. Ellis-Bextor performed at Birmingham's Nightingale Club in January 2010.

Ellis-Bextor's fourth album, Make a Scene, was released in June 2011.^[18] She described it as "very much [a dance album]—more so than any of my other albums. What I'm planning next though is an album that's really different. I think I need to do something different now and move on from the dance stuff. I might come back to it, but I think this album is a good way to bow out of the dance sound for now. I think it's finishing on a high."^[19] She worked with Calvin Harris, Armin van Buuren,^[20] Richard X, Dimitri Tikovoi, Hannah Robinson, Metronomy,^[21] and Liam Howe from the Sneaker Pimps. The first single from the album, "Bittersweet" (co-written by Freemasons and Hannah Robinson^[22]), was released in May 2010 and reached number twenty-five on the UK Singles Chart. "Not Giving Up on Love" was released as the second single from the album, in August 2010 in Europe,^[23] followed by "Starlight" as the third single in May 2011. "Off & On" was the fourth and final single.

In May 2011, she revealed that she has already began work on her fifth album.^[24] She returned to the international tour scene in 2011, playing venues such as Jakarta's SoulNation festival, as well as returning to Australia by playing gigs in Sydney and Melbourne.^[25] Ellis-Bextor collaborated with French DJ Bob Sinclar on a track titled "F*** with You", which will be included on his upcoming album, Disco Crash, due for release in early 2012. ^[26][27]

Other projects[link]

In 2007, Ellis-Bextor appeared at Christmas in the Robbie the Reindeer episode, "Close Encounters of the Herd Kind". Ellis-Bextor was depicted as a female alien at the closure of the story, singing the song 'Supersonic', the last track on her third solo studio album Trip The Light Fantastic. In November of this year she also launched the npower Greener Schools Programme, which aims to give schools in the UK a 'green makeover' by providing free energy audits, implementing tailor-made energy efficiency measures to reduce their carbon footprint, and educating children on how to be greener^[28] She also launched Capital Radio's Capital 95.8 'Lights Out London' campaign, which asks Londoners to switch off their lights for one hour in a bid to save 750 MWh and send a message to the world on the importance of climate change.^[29]

In 2008 she features in the short musical film The Town that Boars Me by photographer Ben Charles Edwards. The film also features Jodie Harsh, Kelly Osbourne and Zandra Rhodes. The film is set to debut in late summer at the Portobello Film Festival and is produced by Glass Loves and Shoot to Kill Productions.^[30][31]

An advocate for animal rights, she posed for PETA's anti–fur clothing advertisement.^[32] She is also currently fronting a campaign for The Children's Society encouraging people to log onto the Hundreds and Thousands of Childhood Memories Website to donate their favourite childhood memory.^[33]

She auditioned for the 2001 movie Moulin Rouge! for the part of Satine.^[34]

In May 2008 Ellis-Bextor was hired by cosmetics brand Rimmel as one of their new faces. A new song performed by Ellis-Bextor is featured in one of the Rimmel London' spot for the line "Sexy Curves". Ellis-Bextor is appearing as an advocate for Verdi on BBC World News classical music programme Visionaries [2] in August 2008. Ellis-Bextor performed live at Manchester's Gay Pride, on 23 August 2008, having just arrived back from Moscow. On 24 August 2008, Ellis-Bextor performed a live cover version of Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better" outside Buckingham Palace as part of the Visa London 2012 Handover Party in the Mall.

Ellis-Bextor and her husband Richard Jones launched a DJ club project, called "Modern Love" in London.^[35]

Ellis-Bextor and her mother Janet Ellis appeared on Channel 4's game show The Million Pound Drop Live playing for charity. Despite losing on the final question, £5000 was donated to their chosen charity.

Ellis-Bextor has made a cameo appearance in the BBC2 sitcom, Life's Too Short, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, which centers on an angry entertainment agency boss who exploits his fellow dwarf clients. The sitcom premiered on the 10th November 2011.^[36]

Personal life[link]

Ellis-Bextor was born in London on 10 April 1979, the daughter of Robin Bextor and former Blue Peter presenter Janet Ellis who separated when she was four. ^[37] As a young girl, she appeared on several Blue Peter items, with no indication given on-screen that she was Ellis's daughter.

She attended St. Stephen's School and later Godolphin and Latymer School in Hammersmith. Among her earliest public performances were with the W11 Opera children's opera from the age of thirteen, and she is now a patron of the organisation.^[38]

In 2005, Ellis-Bextor married The Feeling bassist Richard Jones at Palazzo Terranova in Italy. Their first son Sonny was born in April 2004.^[39] Ellis-Bextor's second son Kit Jones was born on 7 February 2009 weighing 2 lb 10oz nine weeks premature. This was her second complicated birth; her first son was born eight weeks prematurely by emergency cesarean section in April 2004 after Ellis-Bextor developed pre-eclampsia. In October 2011, Ellis-Bextor announced she and Jones were expecting their third child.^[40] She gave birth to their third child also a son named Ray Holiday Jones on 25 April 2012.^[41]

Current band members[link]

• Drums: Jackson Ellis Leach
• Bass: James Ahwai
• Keyboards: Christian Gulino
• Guitar: Neil Jones

Tours[link]

• 2002–2003: "Read My Lips Tour" (United Kingdom and Europe)
• 2006: "25 Live" (Supporting George Michael on his tour leg around the United Kingdom and Ireland)
• 2007: "Beautiful World Live" (Supporting Take That on their tour in the United Kingdom and Ireland)
• 2009/2010: "Straight to the Heart 2010 Tour" (United Kingdom, Europe, Asia and USA)^[42]
• 2010: "The Pandemonium Tour" (Supporting Pet Shop Boys on their UK Leg]^[43]
• 2011: "Erasure Total Pop! Forest UK Tour" (Supporting Erasure)

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• 2001: Read My Lips
• 2003: Shoot From The Hip
• 2007: Trip the Light Fantastic
• 2011: Make a Scene

Extended plays[link]

• 2009: Sophie Ellis-Bextor: iTunes Live in London

DVD[link]

• 2002: Watch My Lips

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sophie Ellis-Bextor

• Ellis-Bextor's official website
• Sophie Ellis-Bextor at Allmusic
• Sophie Ellis-Bextor at the Internet Movie Database
• I am Sophie Ellis-Bextor... Heat World Interview (2009)

Mighty Sparrow or Birdie (born Slinger Francisco, July 9, 1935, in Grand Roy, Grenada, West Indies) is a calypso singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Known as the "Calypso King of the World," he is one of the most well-known and successful calypsonians. He has won Trinidad's Carnival Road March competition eight times and has been named "Calypso Monarch" eleven times.

Early life[link]

Sparrow was born in Grenada on July 9, 1935, but moved to Trinidad when he was one year old. His birth name is Slinger Francisco. He grew up in Port of Spain.^{[citation needed]}

He was first exposed to music through the choir in Catholic school, and became interested in calypso at 14 when he joined a steel band composed of neighborhood boys. He received his performing name "The Mighty Sparrow" during his early career:

Your calypso name is given to you by your peers, based on your style. In the old days they tried to emulate British royalty. There was Lord Kitchener, Lord Nelson, Duke. When I started singing, the bands were still using acoustic instruments and the singers would stand flat footed, making a point or accusing someone in the crowd with the pointing of a finger, but mostly they stood motionless. When I sing, I get excited and move around, much like James Brown, and this was new to them. The older singers said "Why don't you just sing instead of moving around like a little Sparrow." It was said as a joke, but the name stuck. -Mighty Sparrow ^[1]

Calypso Monarch[link]

In 1956, Sparrow won Trinidad's Carnival Road March and Calypso Monarch competitions with his most famous song, "Jean and Dinah". His prize for the latter was $40. In protest of the small sum, he wrote the song "Carnival Boycott" and attempted to organize other singers to boycott the competition. About half of the singers followed.^[1] Sparrow claims credit for succeeding improvements in the conditions of calypso and steelband musicians in Trinidad, as well as the formation of the Carnival Development Committee, a musicians' assistance organization.^[2] Sparrow refused to participate in the competition for the next three years, but he continued to perform unofficially, even winning another Road March title in 1958 with "P.A.Y.E."

Taking calypso abroad[link]

Calypso music enjoyed a brief period of popularity in other parts in the world during the 1950s. Trinidadian expatriate Lord Kitchener had helped popularize calypso in England, and Sparrow also found some success there. In the United States, interest in calypso was sparked largely by Harry Belafonte's 1956 album Calypso, the first LP to sell over one million copies.^[3] In January 1958, Sparrow, along with longtime rival Lord Melody, travelled to New York City seeking access to the American music audience.^[4] Sparrow had already been recording with Balisier and Cook Records, and with Belafonte's help^[5] he also began to record for RCA Victor. He did not achieve the success he had hoped for; he said in a 2001 interview, "When nothing happened for me, I went back to England and continued on with my career."^[5]

In 1960 Sparrow returned to the Calypso Monarch competition, winning his second Kingship and third Road March title with "Ten to One Is Murder" (an autobiographical song about an incident in which Sparrow allegedly shot a man^[6]) and "Mae Mae." He also began recording for his own label, National Recording.^[1] He continued to enjoy great popularity in Trinidad throughout the 1960s.

Soca[link]

As soca began to supplant calypso in popularity in Trinidad during the late 1970s and early 1980s,^[1] Sparrow embraced the hybrid of Calypso and cadence with the Local (Chutney) music. In 1984 he won his eighth Road March title with the soca-influenced "Doh Back Back." Also around this time, he began to spend at least half the year in New York City, finding an apartment in the West Indian neighborhoods in Jamaica, Queens.^[1] Sparrow continues to write, perform, and tour into the 21st century; in a 2001 interview he mentioned that he had been singing and performing a "Gospel-lypso" hybrid.^[5] In 2008, he released a song supporting Barack Obama's presidential campaign, "Barack the Magnificent".^[7] He also did a remake of his "Congo Man" song with fellow Trinidadian Machel Montano on the Flame on album.

Lyrics[link]

Sparrow's lyrics are famous for being witty, ironic, and ribald. He sings flirtatiously of the attractions of Hispanic women in "Magarita," and of East Indian women in "Marajhin." He tells some outrageously frank tales of sexuality in "Mae Mae," "The Lizard" and "Big Bamboo." And there is humorous commentary on West Indian culture to be found in "Obeah Wedding" and "Witch Doctor." Robert Christgau called his controversial song "Congo Man" "a wildly perverse piss-take on African roots, interracial revenge, interracial sex, male-female relations, and cannibalism."^[8] The 1965 song was criticized for its attitudes toward women and Africans, and banned from radio airplay until 1989.^[9]

Sparrow also frequently comments on social and political issues in his songs. During his early career he was a supporter of Eric Williams and his People's National Movement (PNM),^[6] which formed in 1955 and led Trinidad and Tobago to independence in 1962; songs such as "Leave The Damn Doctor Alone" and "William the Conqueror" mentioned Williams directly, while others such as "Federation" (blaming Jamaica for the breakup of the short-lived West Indies Federation), "Our Model Nation" (celebrating Trinidadian independence), and "PAYE" (supporting the PNM's pay-as-you-earn tax system) echoed PNM positions. Sparrow did express discontent in 1957's "No, Doctor, No," but it was comparatively mild, and aimed at holding PNM politicians to their promises rather than replacing them. Sparrow cleverly combined political criticism with sexual innuendo in his mid-1960s song "BG Plantain", which decried the ban levied by PM Williams on imported plantain from British Guiana (BG); plantain, a large banana-shaped vegetable, is a staple of West Indian cuisine, and Sparrow praised the BG plantain as larger, sweeter, and superior to the home-grown Trinidadian variety.

Sparrow's mid-1960s hit "Sir Garfield Sobers," celebrating the great Barbadian all-rounder cricketer, who starred for West Indies teams, anticipated by a decade the knighthood which Garfield Sobers would actually receive in 1975. Sobers is generally regarded as the greatest all-rounder in cricket history. This song's first verse:

"Who's the greatest cricketer on Earth or Mars?

Anyone can tell you, it's the great Sir Garfield Sobers!

This handsome Barbadian lad really knows his work.

Batting or bowling, he's the cricket King, no joke!

Three cheers for Captain Sobers!"

In more recent times Sparrow continues to incorporate social issues into his music. "Crown Heights Justice" is a plea for peace and understanding in the wake of the 1991 Crown Heights Riot in Sparrow's adopted home of New York City. The themes of peace, tolerance, and concern for the poor show up repeatedly in songs such as "Human Rights" (1981), "Capitalism Gone Mad" (1983), and "This Is Madness" (1995).

Sparrow still tours.

Selected discography[link]

• Calypso Kings and Pink Gin (Cook Records, 1957)
• King Sparrow's Calypso Carnival (Cook Records)
• Calypso Exposed (Cook, 1961)
• Sparrow in Hi-Fi (Cook, 1963)
• Hot and Sweet Pepper (Produced by Van Dyke Parks) - Warner Bros, 1974
• 16 Carnival Hits (with Lord Kitchener) - 1992
• Calypso Awakening from the Emory Cook Collection (Smithsonian Folkways, 2000)
• Mighty Sparrow Dance Party Gold 2000
• First Flight: Early Calypsos from the Emory Cook Collection (Smithsonian Folkways, 2005)
• Sparrow Hits on Karaoke - Islandstars Karaoke, 2005
• Mighty Sparrow Sparrowmania!: Wit, Wisdom and Soul from the King of Calypso 1960–1976 (Strut, 2012)

Major Awards and Honors[link]

Song sample[link]

	Mighty Sparrow's "No Money No Love" noicon One of Mighty Sparrow's more well-known songs
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Mighty Sparrow

• MightySparrow.com
• Sparrow Discography at Smithsonian Folkways
• Biography at allmusic.com
• Muriel's Treasure for recordings and video
• [1] [Sparrow 40years - complete vinyl listing]