P.M. Dawn
Prince Be and Doc.G
Background information
Origin	Jersey City, New Jersey, United States
Genres	R&B, hip hop, new jack swing
Years active	1988–present
Labels	Gee Street, V2, Island
Website	PMDawnLovesYou.com
Members
Prince Be Doc.G
Past members
DJ Minutemix

P.M. Dawn is an American hip hop/R&B musical ensemble, formed in 1988 by brothers Attrell Cordes (a.k.a. Prince Be, sometimes credited as Prince Be the Nocturnal, born May 15, 1970) and Jarrett Cordes (a.k.a. DJ Minutemix or J.C. the Eternal, born July 17, 1971) in Jersey City, New Jersey.^[1]

The Cordes brothers' father died of pneumonia when they were children. Further family tragedy saw their baby brother Duncan drown at the age of two. The two elder brothers were raised by their mother and their stepfather George Brown, a founding member of Kool & the Gang.^[1]

The duo is known for its smooth, artistic sound, which mixes hip-hop and classic soul with contemporary pop music.^[2]

Early history[link]

Prince Be began DJing parties and composing songs in ninth grade. Within a few years, he had determined to make a demo tape of some of those pieces with the $600 he had set aside from his after school job as a security guard at a homeless shelter. By then, he and his brother were putting in studio time as P.M. Dawn.^{[citation needed]}

They first approached Tommy Boy Records, the rap music subsidiary of Warner Brothers, with their demo, but they were told that they were too much like alternative hip-hoppers De La Soul, and not hardcore enough, and were turned away.^{[citation needed]} Eventually, Warlock, an independent record label, issued a debut single, "Ode to a Forgetful Mind", in 1989, but it went unnoticed.

The record label that released the single in the United Kingdom, Gee Street Records, found greater success. Gee Street mixed and marketed the song so that it earned considerable attention from music reviewers, and P.M. Dawn found themselves courted not just by Gee Street's head, John Baker, but also by most of the major UK record labels. Gee Street brought the brothers to London in 1990 to record tracks for an album, however, the label found itself facing bankruptcy during the recording. The entire Gee Street operation, along with P.M. Dawn's recording contract, was sold to the highest bidder, Island Records. Island issued a few more singles in the United Kingdom before releasing their debut album, Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross: The Utopian Experience.^[3]

"Set Adrift on Memory Bliss"[link]

Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross featured the international hit "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss", which sampled the Spandau Ballet song "True", and featured a cameo by Spandau Ballet singer Tony Hadley in the music video of the song.^[1] "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" hit #1 the week of November 30, 1991, and holds the distinction of being the first #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart following the introduction of Nielsen SoundScan to the chart. The song also reached #3 in the United Kingdom.^[1] "Paper Doll", which was one of the early singles Island released in the United Kingdom, was released in the U.S. as a follow-up to "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss," and peaked at #28 in early 1992.^[1] "Paper Doll" is said well over 100 times in the song, which makes it second only to MC Hammer's "Pray" which holds the record for the most times a title is repeated in an U.S. Top 40 hit (147).^[4]

With the success of their debut album, the band embarked on a world tour. During this world tour, a statement Prince Be made in Details magazine led Boogie Down Productions' KRS-One and his crew to storm the stage during a P.M. Dawn concert, forcing the group off the stage and performing three BDP classics. To warrant this reaction from KRS-One, Prince B had asked, "KRS-One wants to be a teacher, but a teacher of what?" Defending his motives to USA Today's James T. Jones IV, KRS-One remarked, "I answered his question. 'A teacher of what?' I'm a teacher of respect."^[5]

In 1992, PM Dawn appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation CD Red Hot + Dance, contributing a remix of "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss," "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss (Richie Rich Mix)." The album, featuring George Michael and Madonna among others, was meant to raise money and awareness in support of the AIDS epidemic.

[edit] The Bliss Album…?

Before releasing their follow-up album, The Bliss Album…? (Vibrations of Love and Anger and the Ponderance of Life and Existence), P.M. Dawn contributed the single "I'd Die Without You" to the 1992 Eddie Murphy comedy Boomerang and its soundtrack. The number one hit was also included on The Bliss Album…?, as was the Billboard Top 10 single "Looking Through Patient Eyes".^[1]

"Looking Through Patient Eyes" featured backing vocals by Cathy Dennis and sampled George Michael's hit "Father Figure". The music video for the song was shot in a church, and featured Christian images throughout — most notably, Prince Be wore a T-shirt with "Thank you, Jesus" written across it in black lettering.

The Bliss Album…? also featured the Boy George duet "More Than Likely" and a cover of The Beatles' "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)".^[1] On a less positive note, the album also included "So On and So On," which led to a 1999 sampling lawsuit. In the lawsuit Batiste v. Island Records, Inc., Paul and Michael Batiste claimed that P.M. Dawn's song "So On and So On" used unauthorized samples from David Batiste & The Gladiators' "Funky Soul". The fifth Circuit Federal Appellate Court found that the Batistes point to no evidence in the record demonstrating that consumers were confused or deceived by either the use of a digital sample of "Funky Soul" in "So On and So On", or the attribution to David Batiste as a co-author of the track. The Batistes' claim that Paul and Michael Batiste were improperly excluded from the liner notes accompanying the album also failed to suggest that consumers were confused, especially because the liner notes do credit the name of the band in which both Paul and Michael Batiste performed.^[6]

Film[link]

Prince Be appears in a Jersey based documentary film "Jerseyboy Hero" as an industry professional and close friend of the director/artist (Chris Vaughn).^[7]

[edit] Jesus Wept to present

P.M. Dawn contributed a cover of "You Got Me Floatin'" to the 1993 compilation album Stone Free: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix. Artists ranging from Pat Metheny to Eric Clapton to Ice T's Body Count were included.

Their 1995 album Jesus Wept was unable to attain the success of their first two albums. The album's highest charting single was "Downtown Venus", which contained a sample of Deep Purple's "Hush", and reached #48 on the Billboard chart.^[1] Also, in 1995, P.M. Dawn was credited with the remix of White Zombie's "Blood, Milk and Sky" (Miss September Mix) on the Supersexy Swingin' Sounds compilation album. In 1996, P.M. Dawn contributed "Non-Fiction Burning" to the AIDS-Benefit Album Red Hot + Rio produced by the Red Hot Organization. In 1998, Prince Be contributed the tracks "Perfect for You" and "Gotta Be...Movin' on Up" to the Marlon Wayans and David Spade comedy Senseless, followed later in the year by P.M. Dawn's fourth album, Dearest Christian, I'm So Very Sorry for Bringing You Here. Love, Dad. It was less successful again, with the album's single, "Being So Not For You (I Had No Right)" being only a minor chart hit. In 2000, they released the compilation, The Best of P.M. Dawn.

Prince Be suffered a massive stroke in early 2005 that left him paralyzed on the left side of his body. Undeterred, P.M. Dawn appeared on NBC's Hit Me, Baby, One More Time, performing "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss", and covered Puddle of Mudd's "Blurry". Despite the fact that Prince Be was still suffering the effects of this stroke, they beat Animotion, Missing Persons, Juice Newton and Shannon to claim the $20,000 charitable prize, which they contributed to the juvenile diabetes foundation, as Prince Be is a diabetic.

Following their appearance on Hit Me, Baby, One More Time, Minutemix decided to leave P.M. Dawn to pursue an interest in a solo career. This led to the introduction of The Doc Of The Dawn-Doc.G, also known as 'Dr.Giggles' or 'Blissboy #2', who is the Cordes brothers' paternal first cousin.^{[citation needed]}

In June 2006, P.M. Dawn commenced a summer tour called "Summer of Bliss, 2006", playing venues across the United States in an effort to promote a new album planned for release in 2007, with a live album also expected to be recorded that year. P.M. Dawn Greatest Hits Live was finally released in early 2010. The Doc Of The Dawn-Doc.G released a new single on May 20, 2011 called "99 Bottle (The Stripe & Goose Song)" on iTunes, Amazon, and other mp3 websites. On May 24, 2011 The Doc Of The Dawn-Doc.G released his first solo album titled The Purr-Script-Shun.^[8]

On February 12, 2009, Prince Be had a second stroke and suffered a gangrenous infection in his right leg. As a result of this infection, his leg had to be amputated below the kneecap in December 2009. With Prince Be's blessing, Doc.G continues to tour and perform P.M. Dawn classics and his new material. On May 15, 2010 (Prince Be's 40th birthday), Doc.g performed at the Mall of Asia concert series in Manila, receiving a standing ovation from 50,000 fans and dedicating the performance to the memories of Guru from Gangstarr and Francis M.^[9]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Compilation albums[link]

• 2000: The Best of P.M. Dawn (V2)
• 2008: Most Requested (Sheridan Square Records)
• 2010: P.M. Dawn: Greatest Hits Live! (Sbcmg)

Singles[link]

References[link]

^[1]

1. ^ About PM Dawn. PM Dawn Online.com. Retrieved on 2012-04-03.

External links[link]

• Official P.M. Dawn MySpace page
• P.M. Dawn Online (fan forum)
• Official The Doc of the Dawn-Doc.G website
• Official P.M. Dawn Twitter

Paul Walker
Born	Paul William Walker IV (1973-09-12) September 12, 1973 (age 38) Glendale, California
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1985–present
Website
paulwalker.com

Paul William Walker IV (born September 12, 1973) is an American actor with Albanian ancestry^[1]. He became well known in 1999 after his role in the hit film Varsity Blues. He is also known for starring in the surprise summer hit The Fast and the Furious. His other films include Joy Ride, Running Scared, Into the Blue and Eight Below. The films he has starred in have grossed more than $1.7 billion. He also appears in the National Geographic Channel series Expedition Great White..

Early life[link]

Walker was born in Glendale, California and raised in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles County, the son of Cheryl, a fashion model, and Paul Walker III, a sewer contractor.^[2][3] His paternal grandfather was a professional boxer.^[4] He is the oldest of five, having two brothers and two sisters.^[5] Walker was raised as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormon, church.^[2] He attended and graduated from Village Christian School.^[6][7] After high school, he attended several community colleges where he majored in marine biology.^[6]

Career[link]

Walker's small-screen career began as a toddler, when he starred in a television commercial for Pampers. He began modeling at the age of 2^[8] and began working on television shows in 1985, with roles in shows such as Highway to Heaven, Who's the Boss?, The Young and the Restless and Touched by an Angel'.

Walker's film career began in 1986, with the horror/comedy film Monster in the Closet. He and his sister Ashlie were contestants on a 1988 episode of the game show I'm Telling!, finishing in second place. He continued with roles in several other movies without much success: it was not until 1998 that Walker made his feature film debut in the comedy Meet the Deedles, which finally gained him fame. This subsequently led to supporting roles in the movies Pleasantville, Varsity Blues, She's All That, and The Skulls.

In 2001, Walker's breakthrough role arrived when he starred opposite actor Vin Diesel in the successful action film The Fast and the Furious. The film established Walker as a notable film star and leading man and led to his reprisal of the role in the 2003 sequel 2 Fast 2 Furious. He continued his career with leading roles in films such as Joy Ride, Into the Blue, and Timeline, and also had a supporting role in Clint Eastwood's 2006 adaptation of Flags of Our Fathers.

Walker then starred in the crime thriller Running Scared and Walt Disney Pictures' Eight Below, both released in 2006. Eight Below garnered critical-acclaim and opened in first place at the box office, grossing over US$20 million during its first weekend.^[9] During the filming of Running Scared, director Wayne Kramer stated that "[Walker] is that guy on some level"^[10] when comparing Walker with his character in the movie, Joey Gazelle. Kramer continued on to say that he "loved working with [Walker] because as a director he's completely supportive of my vision of what the film is. And even better, he's completely game for it."^[10]

Walker starred in the independent film The Lazarus Project, which was released on DVD on October 21, 2008. He subsequently returned to The Fast and the Furious franchise, reprising his role in Fast & Furious, which was released on April 3, 2009.^[11] Walker then appeared with T.I., Idris Elba, Chris Brown, Matt Dillon, and Hayden Christensen in the crime drama Takers, which began filming in early September 2008 and was released in August 2010.^[12]

The Coty Prestige fragrance brand Davidoff Cool Water for Men announced in January 2011 that Walker was going to be the new face of the brand as of July 2011.^[13] Also in 2011, he reprised his role in the fifth installment of The Fast and the Furious series, Fast Five.

Personal life[link]

Walker currently resides in Santa Barbara, California, with his dogs, one of which is a Chesapeake Bay Retriever.^[2][14] Paul and his then-girlfriend Rebecca have a daughter, Meadow^[15] (born on November 4, 1998), who has moved from Hawaii to California to be closer to Walker.^[16] He is an avid surfer and enjoys the beach. Walker holds a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Ricardo "Franjinha" Miller at Paragon Jiu-Jitsu.^[17]

Walker's first passion was marine biology, with his idol being Jacques Cousteau,^[18] and he joined the Board of Directors of The Billfish Foundation in 2006.^[19] He recently fulfilled a lifelong dream by starring in a National Geographic Channel series Expedition Great White, which premiered in June 2010.^[20][21] He spent 11 days as part of the crew, catching and tagging 7 great white sharks off the coast of Mexico.^[18] The expedition, led by Chris Fischer, founder and CEO of Fischer Productions, along with Captain Brett McBride and Dr. Michael Domeier of the Marine Conservation Science Institute take measurements, gather DNA samples, and fasten real-time satellite tags to the great white sharks. This will allow Dr. Michael Domeier to study migratory patterns especially those associated with mating and birthing over a 5-year period of time.^[22]

In March 2010, Walker went to Chile, specifically to Constitución, to offer his help and support to the people injured in the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck on February 27. He also flew with his REACH OUT team to Haiti to lend a helping hand to the 2010 Haiti earthquake victims.^[23] He is also an avid car enthusiast who currently competes in the Redline Time Attack racing series in which he races a M3 E92 and is on the AE Performance Team. His car is currently sponsored by Etnies, Brembo Brakes, Ohlins, Volk, OS Giken, Hankook, Gintani, and Reach Out Worldwide.^[24]

Filmography[link]

Awards[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Paul Walker

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Paul Walker

• Official website
• Paul Walker at AllRovi
• Paul Walker at the Internet Movie Database
• Paul Walker at Yahoo! Movies

Adi Cristian Colceru also known as David Deejay (born December 10, 1980), is a DJ, producer and composer from Bârlad, Romania.^[1] He studied violin in school, but dropped his studies and began writing songs with the aid of a computer. After moving to Bucharest, he worked with several local producers, and in 2007 started with the hit single "Sexy Thing".^[2][3] David Deejay released several singles in the last years. He has a long time collaboration with Dony (Cornel Donici from the band Refflex).^[4] He is currently a student at the Romanian-American University, Faculty of trade and domestic and international financial and banking.^[5]

Biography[link]

Studies and beginnings in music[link]

Born in Bârlad, Colceru studied violin at a special school.^[5] He abandoned these studies, however, and at the age of 16 years started to mix songs on the computer.^[1] In 2003 he moved to Bucharest, where he composed songs at MOF Records for Akcent, TNT, 3rei Sud Est and Hi-Q.^[5]

David Deejay project[link]

Besides time spent in the studio, Colceru appeared as DJ in clubs under the name DJ David, and in this period he composed his first single "Sexy Thing" where he collaborated with Cornel Donici from the band Refflex which had the nickname "Dony".^[3][6] Colceru wanted the project to remain anonymous so not to be accused of plagiarism.^[6][7] His single, "Sexy Thing" reached the number 1 spot and stationed for five weeks in the Romanian Top 100^[8] and number 37 in the Bulgarian Top 100 where it stationed two weeks.^[9] In December 2009 he entered the Dutch Top 40 with "Sexy Thing". In Holland he lifts on the succes of Eastern European acts like Inna and Edward Maya. "Sexy Thing" won the award for Best Dance Play at the MTV Romania Music Awards 2008, ceremony held at Iaşi.^[10] The second single released, "Nasty Dream", was also a collaboration with Dony; the song peaked at number 1 in the top Romanian Top 100.^[11] On April 30, 2009, Colceru released two songs simultaneously being the first Romanian artist to do so.^[12] "I Can Feel" premiered at Vibe FM, with Ela Rose being the lead vocals that worked for this single, and "So Bizarre" (in collaboration with Dony) was presented for the first time at Radio 21.^[12] The "So Bizarre" single reached number 1 in the Romanian Top 100.

Discography[link]

Album[link]

• Ylies pato'w (2010)^[13]

All songs featuring Dony.

Singles[link]

Awards[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• David Deejay at Last FM
• David Deejay at MusicMall.ro

Nino Ferrer (born Nino Agostino Arturo Maria Ferrari in Genoa, Italy, 15 August 1934, died in Quercy Blanc, Saint-Cyprien Lot, Montcuq, 13 August 1998) was a famous French – Italian singer, actor and jazz musician.

Biography[link]

From prehistory to jazz[link]

The son of bourgeois parents, an Italian father and a French mother, Nino declared having had a pleasant childhood in a cultivated art-loving family. He spent the first five years of his life in New Caledonia where his father, an engineer, worked in a nickel mine. On holiday in France in 1939, Nino and his mother were unable to leave Europe because of the World War II. While his father carried on working in New Caledonia, they spent difficult years stuck and penniless in Italy, where Nino’s mother was considered the wife of an enemy.

In 1947, the family, re-united and moved to France. Nino was sent to the best colleges in Paris and earned a degree in ethnology and prehistoric archaeology. As a student, much of his free time was spent on archaeological digs and his first job was at the Musée de l'Homme with André Leroi-Gourhan.

Alongside his passion for history, he developed numerous other interests. He became a keen painter, and remained so until his death. Above all, he learned to play several instruments (piano, guitar, clarinet, trombone and trumpet) and composed, wrote lyrics and became a fervent jazz lover.

When he finished his studies, his grandmother offered him a trip to New Caledonia, a gift he took advantage of by going round the world on a cargo ship and taking part in archaeological work on the Isle des Pins in Melanesia. On his return to Paris, he tried several jobs, but everything was uninteresting and poorly paid. Already thinking about a career in music, he finally took the plunge and began accompanying jazz musicians, first of all Richard Bennett and the Dixiecats, then Bill Coleman.

From jazz to rhythm ’n’ blues[link]

At the beginning of the 1960s, he worked for several years with American singer Nancy Holloway as her guitarist, continuing at the same time to write gospel-inspired songs which received only refusals from most of the record companies. Hearing Otis Redding, Sam Cooke and Sam and Dave for the first time was a musical revelation and transformed his writing style.

Although already spotted by the Barclay record label, he had to wait until 1963 to record his first release, "Pour oublier qu’on s’est aimé". He was 29, whereas most of the young stars of the time were hardly 20. It was a four-track EP, written in a fairly classical vein, and did not sell well in France. However, one of the tracks, "C'est Irréparable", was a hit in some European countries, in Japan and even in the Middle East, where he did a week of concerts in Beirut. The song was picked up by Italian Mina as "Un anno d'amore", hitting #1 of the Italian singles chart.^[1]

Having left Barclay for a small label, Bel Air, Nino was still unknown in France. In 1964, he started a gospel group, Reverend Nino and the Jubilees, but it broke up before recording anything worth being released. Nino went on to bring out several solo singles without success.

From "Mirza" to "Je veux être noir"[link]

After so many lean years, the big break came unexpectedly in 1965 when Nino returned to Barclay, who gave him the chance to record his new material. After a few unsuccessful trials, a new artistic director, Richard Bennett, gave Nino free rein to record his compositions as he wanted.

And so Nino Ferrer recorded "Mirza", an effective cocktail of rhythm ‘n’ blues and caustic lyrics. The song was immediately a huge hit. His record company called for more songs in the same vein. His records sold very well and overnight the young singer became an idol. Now the zany singer in vogue, he followed "Mirza" up with "Les Cornichons" and "Oh! Hé! Hein! Bon". Although he was now very popular, his success was founded on material with which he never felt really comfortable. Nevertheless, hit followed hit and he lived his new life as a star at breakneck rhythm. In 1966, he gave 195 live performances and made nearly thirty TV appearances. He soon grew tired of his deliberately blasé and provocative seducer image of which people compared to Jacques Dutronc.

In 1966 he released "le Téléfon", another hit which people are still dancing to years later. However, despite his success, Ferrer, a straightforward, uncomplicated with show business. Little disposed to compromise, he left Paris for Italy where, at the same time, his song "Je veux être noir", was a success of an entirely different kind.

A change of direction[link]

Smothered by his own success, Nino stayed about three years in Italy, from 1967 to 1970. In France, his releases continued to sell well. His lyrics became increasingly iconoclastic, even politicised, while remaining just as sarcastic or even cynical. In 1967, he brought out "Mao et Moa" and "Mon copain Bismarck" and in 1968, "le Roi d’Angleterre", with biting lyrics echoing his irritation with show business and society in general. Around this time, Nino hired a young organist from Cameroon, Manu Dibango, later to become famous as a saxophonist.

In Italy, Nino became notorious in 1969 as the presenter of the satirical TV variety show, "Io, Agata e tu" with Nino Taranto and Raffaella Carrà. Then, after a brief love affair with Brigitte Bardot, he decided to return to France in 1970.

Determined now to conduct his career as he alone saw fit, he took up residence in the Quercy region in the South West of France and began breeding horses. But music remained his first love and his meeting with Englishman Mickey Finn, a guitarist who had played with T.Rex, Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones, changed his attitude towards his work. With Finn, Nino launched into rock music and began to write darker, more personal lyrics.

Albums and hits[link]

1972 saw the release of the "Métronomie" album, considered by Ferrer to be his first ‘real’ album. Very much in the style of the time, the album was conceived as an ‘experience’, with the music accompanied by sound effects, but included a new version of his very first release, "Pour oublier qu’on s’est aimé". However, it was not the album which sold but one of its tracks, "la Maison près de la fontaine". Very different from the rest of the album, the single sold more than 500,000 copies. Yet again, the red carpet was unrolled for Nino which only redoubled his contempt for show business.

Ferrer continued to bring out almost an album per year. One hit track was enough to enable him to carry on doing more or less what he wanted, even if commercially the albums were seldom successful. In 1973, Nino started a part-time group with Mickey Finn and other musicians. Together, they recorded "Nino and Leggs", an entirely rock and roll album. The disc did not sell and Nino left the Barclay label for CBS. The following year, he released an album entirely in English, "Nino and Radiah". Radiah Frye is the young American singer on the album sleeve. Only one track was in French: "le Sud", one of Ferrer’s biggest hits. Now a standard of the French repertoire, "le Sud" is in fact only one version of a song originally written in English. When it was released, it was a huge hit, selling over a million copies. But Nino was not satisfied. Once again, the success of one track had overshadowed all the hard work on the rest of the album.

The following year, Nino Ferrer brought out a new album, "Suite en œuf", a commercial flop. The same was true of "Véritables vérités verdâtres, released in 1977 and which marked his departure from CBS.

Return and retirement[link]

The success of "le Sud" nevertheless enabled Ferrer to buy a house in the Quercy region. In 1976, he moved into a 15th century fortress at Lataillade, where he installed a recording studio and continued raising horses and painting. In 1978, he married Jacqueline Monestier, known as Kinou.

Now without a record company, Ferrer released each new album on a different label. In 1979, he brought out "Blanat" on a small independent label, Free Bird. A very gospel inspired, even jazz orientated, the album had both English and French lyrics, as often before. The same year, Ferrer met Jacques Higelin, and went on tour with him. The rock singer’s crazy imagination and powerful personality seduced Ferrer and encouraged him to perform live again, a practice he had abandoned a long time before. Following this tour, he played in Paris at the Bataclan with Paul Personne’s backing group.

The 1981 album, on the WEA label, "la Carmencita", was mostly made up of old material. In contrast, the following release, "Ex-Libris", was entirely new and written as a tribute to his father. 1981 was a year both of return and departure. Ferrer brought out another rock and roll album in the Leggs vein, "Rock ‘n’ roll cowboy", and sang at l’Olympia, the most prestigious of the Paris music venues. Yet, that same year, Ferrer slammed the door on show business definitively.

Nevertheless, he appeared the following year in a stage musical for children, "L’Arche de Noé", at the Théâtre de l’Unité in Paris. Composer of the music, he also played God in this moderately successful show. From the end of 1984 until 1986, Ferrer totally disappeared from the music scene. He retired to his castle where he painted, had several exhibitions and brought up his two sons, Pierre and Arthur. Nevertheless, he recorded an album in 1986, soberly entitled, "13ème album", and whose release went almost unnoticed.

Final chapter[link]

It was on the new FNAC label that Ferrer made his come-back in 1993. That year, he released an album of entirely original material, recorded for the most part at Lataillade and mixed in Toulouse. The sleeve and the lyrics were illustrated by the singer’s own paintings. Co-written with Mickey Finn, the album, as its title "La Désabusion" (a play on the words désabuser and illusion) suggests, marked only a half-hearted, morose return.

For around two years after "La Désabusion", Ferrer popped up in the news here and there. In 1994, he had an exhibition in Paris, published a collection of his writings and continued to promote the album. Then, from April to June 1995, he went on tour for the first time in years, with his faithful group, the Leggs. He was a guest at the Francofolies festival in la Rochelle in July. Also that year, he released a small ten-track album of original material recorded at home. A genuine family effort, recorded between 1987 and 1992, it includes versions of old hits such as "Mirza" and "le Sud", traditional folk songs ("Il pleut bergère", "Besame Mucho"), all of them sung by his wife Kinou, his son Arthur, Mickey Finn and numerous other musicians.

But after this media interlude, Ferrer was glad to return to his house, his animals, his family and his mother, Mounette, who had moved in with them. There followed another period of silence spent in the company of family and friends and helping Arthur, now a student like his brother, to prepare a début album. In July 1998, Mounette’s death left a vacuum in his life. A month later, on 13 August, Ferrer shot himself in the heart in the middle of a cornfield a few kilometres from his home, two days before his 64th birthday.

An unpredictable, moody character, Ferrer refused artistic compromise and therefore compromised his career. Nevertheless, with songs as different as "les Cornichons" and "le Sud", he left behind several indelible traces in French musical heritage, not forgetting numerous songs now hardly known.

Discography[link]

Album[link]

• 1970:Rats and rolls
• 1971:Métronomie
• 1972:Nino Ferrer and Leggs
• 1974:Nino and Radiah
• 1976:Suite en oeuf
• 1977:Véritables Variétés Verdâtres
• 1979:Blanat
• 1980:La Carmencita
• 1982:Ex-libris
• 1983:Rock'n'roll cow-boy
• 1986:13eme album
• 1989:Che fine ha fatto Nino Ferrer? – in Italy
• 1993:La dèsabusion
• 1996:Concert chez Harry – live

Great Italian success[link]

• 1967:La pelle nera
• 1967:Se mi vuoi sempre bene
• 1968:Il re d'Inghilterra
• 1968:Al telefono
• 1968:Agata
• 1968:La rua maduriera
• 1969:La mia vita per te
• 1969:Chiamatemi don Giovanni
• 1969:Donna Rosa
• 1969:Mr. Machin
• 1969:Viva la campagna
• 1970:Io, tu e il mare
• 1970:Re di cuori
• 1970:Palla di pelle di pollo
• 1970:Un giorno come un altro

References[link]

1. ^ ""Un anno d'amore"". hitparadeitalia.it. http://www.hitparadeitalia.it/schede/a/anno_damore.htm. Retrieved 22 November 2007. 

External links[link]

• Official site, in french language
• 82 Nino Ferrer french songs text
• Nino Ferrer at the Internet Movie Database

The Right Honourable Tony Blair
Blair at the World Economic Forum (2009)
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office 2 May 1997 – 27 June 2007
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Deputy	John Prescott
Preceded by	John Major
Succeeded by	Gordon Brown
Leader of the Opposition
In office 21 July 1994 – 2 May 1997
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	John Major
Preceded by	Margaret Beckett
Succeeded by	John Major
Leader of the Labour Party
In office 21 July 1994 – 24 June 2007
Deputy	John Prescott
Preceded by	Margaret Beckett
Succeeded by	Gordon Brown
Shadow Home Secretary
In office 24 July 1992 – 24 October 1994
Leader	John Smith
Preceded by	Roy Hattersley
Succeeded by	Jack Straw
Shadow Secretary of State for Employment
In office 2 November 1989 – 24 July 1992
Leader	Neil Kinnock
Preceded by	Michael Meacher
Succeeded by	Frank Dobson
Shadow Secretary of State for Energy
In office 7 June 1988 – 2 November 1989
Leader	Neil Kinnock
Preceded by	John Prescott
Succeeded by	Frank Dobson
Member of Parliament for Sedgefield
In office 9 June 1983 – 27 June 2007
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Phil Wilson
Majority	18,449 (44.5%)
Personal details
Born	Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (1953-05-06) 6 May 1953 (age 59) Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Cherie Booth (1980–present)
Children	Euan Nicky Kathryn Leo
Alma mater	St John's College, Oxford Inns of Court School of Law
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Signature
Website	Tony Blair Office

Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953)^[1] is a British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He resigned from all of these positions in June 2007.

Blair was elected Leader of the Labour Party in the leadership election of July 1994, following the sudden death of his predecessor, John Smith. Under his leadership, the party used the phrases "New Labour" and "New Socialism" to define its policy, and moved away from its support of state socialism since the 1960s and created a new version of the ethical socialism that was last pursued by Clement Attlee.^[2] Critics of Blair claim that "New Labour" did not adhere to socialism as claimed, and that it effectively advocated capitalism.^[3] Blair subsequently led Labour to a landslide victory in the 1997 general election. At 43 years old, he became the youngest Prime Minister since Lord Liverpool in 1812. In the first years of the New Labour government, Blair's government implemented a number of 1997 manifesto pledges, introducing the minimum wage, Human Rights Act and Freedom of Information Act, and carrying out devolution, establishing the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Blair's role as Prime Minister was particularly visible in foreign and security policy, including in Northern Ireland, where he was involved in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. From the start of the War on Terror in 2001, Blair strongly supported the foreign policy of US President George W. Bush, notably by participating in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and 2003 invasion of Iraq. Blair is the Labour Party's longest-serving Prime Minister, the only person to have led the Labour Party to three consecutive general election victories, and the only Labour Prime Minister to serve consecutive terms more than one of which was at least four years long.

He was succeeded as Leader of the Labour Party on 24 June 2007 and as Prime Minister on 27 June 2007 by Gordon Brown.^[4] On the day he resigned as Prime Minister, he was appointed the official Envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East. In May 2008, Blair launched his Tony Blair Faith Foundation.^[5] This was followed in July 2009 by the launching of the Faith and Globalisation Initiative with Yale University in the US, Durham University in the UK and the National University of Singapore in Asia to deliver a postgraduate programme in partnership with the Foundation.^[6][7]

Background and family life[link]

Blair was born in Edinburgh, Scotland^[8] on 6 May 1953,^[1] the second son of Leo and Hazel Blair (née Corscadden). Leo Blair, the illegitimate^[9] son of two English actors, had been adopted as a baby by Glasgow shipyard worker James Blair and his wife, Mary. Hazel Corscadden was the daughter of George Corscadden, a butcher and Orangeman who moved to Glasgow in 1916 but returned to (and later died in) Ballyshannon in 1923, where his wife, Sarah Margaret (née Lipsett), gave birth to Blair's mother, Hazel, above her family's grocery shop.^[10][11] George Corscadden was from a family of Protestant farmers in County Donegal, Ireland,^[12] who descended from Ulster-Scots settlers who took their family name from Garscadden,^{[citation needed]} now part of Glasgow.

Life as a child[link]

Blair has one elder brother, Sir William Blair, a High Court judge, and a younger sister, Sarah. Blair spent the first 19 months of his life at the family home in Paisley Terrace in the Willowbrae area of Edinburgh. During this period, his father worked as a junior tax inspector whilst also studying for a law degree from the University of Edinburgh.^[8] In the 1950s, his family spent three and a half years in Adelaide, Australia, where his father was a lecturer in law at the University of Adelaide.^[13] The Blairs lived close to the university, in the suburb of Dulwich. The family returned to the UK in the late 1950s, living for a time with Hazel Blair's stepfather, William McClay, and her mother at their home in Stepps, near Glasgow. He spent the remainder of his childhood in Durham, England, where his father lectured at Durham University.^{[citation needed]}

Education[link]

After attending The Chorister School in Durham from 1961 to 1966,^[14] Blair boarded at Fettes College, a prestigious independent school in Edinburgh, during which time he met Charlie Falconer (a pupil at the rival Edinburgh Academy), whom he later appointed Lord Chancellor. He reportedly modelled himself on Mick Jagger.^[15] His teachers were unimpressed with him, his biographer John Rentoul, reported that "All the teachers I spoke to when researching the book said he was a complete pain in the backside and they were very glad to see the back of him."^[16] Blair was arrested at Fettes, having been mistaken for a burglar as he climbed into his dormitory using a ladder after having been out late.^[17]

Tony Blair's wife, Cherie Booth, QC.

After Fettes, Blair spent a year in London, where he attempted to find fame as a rock music promoter before reading jurisprudence at St John's College, Oxford.^[18] As a student, he played guitar and sang in a rock band called Ugly Rumours. During this time, he dated future American Psycho director Mary Harron.^[19]

He was influenced by fellow student and Anglican priest Peter Thomson, who awakened within Blair a deep concern for religious faith and left-wing politics. While Blair was at Oxford, his mother Hazel died of cancer, which greatly affected him. After graduating from Oxford in 1975 with a Second Class Honours BA in Jurisprudence, Blair became a member of Lincoln's Inn, enrolled as a pupil barrister, and met his future wife, Cherie Booth (daughter of the actor Tony Booth) at the law chambers founded by Derry Irvine (who was to be Blair's first Lord Chancellor), 11 King's Bench Walk Chambers. He appears in a number of reported cases, for example as in Nethermere (St Neots) Ltd v Gardiner^[20] where he represented employers unsuccessfully in an attempt to deny female factory workers holiday pay.

Marriage and children[link]

Blair married Cherie Booth, a Roman Catholic and future Queen's Counsel, on 29 March 1980.^[21] They have four children: Euan, Nicholas, Kathryn, and Leo.^[22][23] Leo, delivered by the Royal Surgeon/Gynaecologist Marcus Setchell, was the first legitimate child born to a serving Prime Minister in over 150 years—since Francis Russell was born to Lord John Russell on 11 July 1849.^[24] Blair was criticised when it was discovered that one child had received private tuition from staff at Westminster School.^[25] All four children have Irish passports, by virtue of Blair's mother Hazel.^[26] The family's primary residence is in Connaught Square, and the Blairs own eight other residences.^[27]

Personal health[link]

Blair suffered from chest pains on Sunday 19 October 2003 and underwent a cardioversion at Hammersmith Hospital.^[28]

Religious faith[link]

In an interview with Michael Parkinson broadcast on ITV1 on 4 March 2006, Blair referred to the role of his Christian faith in his decision to go to war in Iraq, stating that he had prayed about the issue, and saying that God would judge him for his decision: "I think if you have faith about these things, you realise that judgement is made by other people ... and if you believe in God, it's made by God as well."^[29]

A longer exploration of his faith can be found in an interview with Third Way Magazine. There he says that "I was brought up as [a Christian], but I was not in any real sense a practising one until I went to Oxford. There was an Australian priest at the same college as me who got me interested again. In a sense, it was a rediscovery of religion as something living, that was about the world around me rather than some sort of special one-to-one relationship with a remote Being on high. Suddenly I began to see its social relevance. I began to make sense of the world".^[30]

At one point Alastair Campbell, Blair's director of strategy and communications, intervened in an interview, preventing the Prime Minister from answering a question about his Christianity, explaining, "We don't do God".^[31]

Cherie Blair's friend and "spiritual guru" Carole Caplin is credited with introducing her and her husband to various New Age symbols and beliefs, including "magic pendants" known as "BioElectric Shields".^[32] The most controversial of the Blairs' New Age practices occurred when on holiday in Mexico. The couple, wearing only bathing costumes, took part in a rebirthing procedure, which involved smearing mud and fruit over each others' bodies while sitting in a steam bath.^[33]

Later on, Blair questioned the Pope's attitude towards homosexuality, arguing that religious leaders must start "rethinking" the issue.^[34] He was later rebuked by Vincent Nichols, the new archbishop of Westminster, who said that Catholic thinking was 'rather different' from the kind promoted by the former prime minister.^[35]

On 22 December 2007, it was disclosed that Blair, who in 1996, had been reprimanded by Cardinal Basil Hume for receiving Holy Communion at Mass despite not being a Catholic, in contravention of canon law,^[36] had converted to the Catholic faith, and that it was "a private matter".^[37][38] He had informed Pope Benedict XVI on 23 June 2007 that he wanted to become a Catholic. The Pope and his advisors criticised some of Blair's political actions, but followed up with a reportedly unprecedented red-carpet welcome, which included Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, who would be responsible for Blair's Catholic instruction.^[39]

On 14 January 2009, Blair, upon a visit to the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., described, in the guest book, his home as being 'Jerusalem'.^[40] This was followed shortly after, on the occasion of his addressing of the National Prayer Breakfast, by his discussion of the issue of religion in the world and the Middle East peace process in his address and how he spends so much of his time in the Holy Land and in the Holy City. He reported his Palestinian guide as bemoaning the fate of his nation looking to heaven and saying “Moses, Jesus, Mohammed: why did they all have to come here?" For Blair the Holy City is "a good place to reflect on religion: a source of so much inspiration; an excuse for so much evil."^[41]

According to Alastair Campbell's diary, Blair often read the Bible before taking any important decisions. He states that Blair had a "wobble" and considered changing his mind on the eve of the bombing of Iraq in 1998.^[42]

Early political career[link]

Blair joined the Labour Party shortly after graduating from Oxford in 1975. During the early 1980s, he was involved in Labour politics in Hackney South and Shoreditch, where he aligned himself with the "soft left" of the party. In 1982 Blair was selected as the Labour candidate in the safe Conservative seat of Beaconsfield, where there was a forthcoming by-election. Although Blair lost the Beaconsfield by-election (the only election he lost in his 25-year political career) and he lost 10% of the vote, he acquired a profile within the party. In contrast to his later centrism, Blair made it clear in a letter he wrote to Labour leader Michael Foot in July 1982, that he had "come to Socialism through Marxism" and considered himself on the left. The letter was eventually published in June 2006.^[43]

In 1983, Blair found the newly created constituency of Sedgefield, a notionally safe Labour seat near where he had grown up in Durham. The branch had not made a nomination, and Blair visited them. Several sitting MPs displaced by boundary changes were interested in securing selection to fight the seat. With the crucial support of John Burton, Blair won their endorsement; at the last minute, he was added to the short list and won the selection over Les Huckfield. Burton later became Blair's agent and one of his most trusted and longest-standing allies.

Blair's election literature in the 1983 UK general election endorsed left-wing policies that Labour advocated in the early 1980s. He called for Britain to leave the EEC, though he had told his selection conference that he personally favoured continuing membership. He also supported unilateral nuclear disarmament as a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Blair was helped on the campaign trail by soap opera actress Pat Phoenix, his father-in-law's girlfriend. Blair was elected as MP for Sedgefield despite the party's landslide defeat in the general election.

In his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 6 July 1983, Blair stated, "I am a socialist not through reading a textbook that has caught my intellectual fancy, nor through unthinking tradition, but because I believe that, at its best, socialism corresponds most closely to an existence that is both rational and moral. It stands for cooperation, not confrontation; for fellowship, not fear. It stands for equality."^[44][45] The Labour Party is declared in its constitution to be a democratic socialist party^[46] rather than a social democratic party; Blair himself organised this declaration of Labour to be a socialist party when he dealt with the change to the party's Clause IV in their constitution.

Once elected, Blair's political ascent was rapid. He received his first front-bench appointment in 1984 as assistant Treasury spokesman. In May 1985, he appeared on BBC's Question Time, arguing that the Conservative Government's Public Order White Paper was a threat to civil liberties.^[47] Blair demanded an inquiry into the Bank of England's decision to rescue the collapsed Johnson Matthey Bank in October 1985 and embarrassed the government by finding a EEC report critical of British economic policy that had been countersigned by a member of the Conservative government.^{[citation needed]} By this time, Blair was aligned with the reforming tendencies in the party (headed by leader Neil Kinnock) and was promoted after the 1987 election to the shadow Trade and Industry team as spokesman on the City of London. In 1987, he stood for election to the Shadow Cabinet, receiving 71 votes.^[48]

Blair became Shadow Home Secretary under John Smith. John Smith died suddenly in 1994 of a heart attack. Blair beat John Prescott and Margaret Beckett in the subsequent leadership election and became Leader of the Opposition. As is customary for the holder of that office, Blair was appointed a Privy Councillor.

Leader of the Labour Party[link]

Blair announced at the end of his speech at the 1994 Labour Party conference that he intended to replace Clause IV of the party's constitution with a new statement of aims and values. This involved the deletion of the party's stated commitment to "the common ownership of the means of production and exchange", which was widely interpreted as referring to wholesale nationalisation.^[49] At a special conference in April 1995, the clause was replaced by a statement that the party is 'democratic socialist'.^[49]

He inherited the Labour leadership at a time when the party was ascendant over the Tories in the opinion polls since the Tory government's reputation for monetary excellence was left in tatters by the Black Wednesday economic disaster of September 1992. Blair's election as leader saw Labour support surge higher still^[50] in spite of the continuing economic recovery and fall in unemployment that the Conservative government (led by John Major) had overseen since the end of the 1990–92 recession.^[51]

At the 1996 Labour Party conference, Blair stated that his three top priorities on coming to office were "education, education, and education".^[52]

Aided by the unpopularity of John Major's Conservative government (itself deeply divided over the European Union), "New Labour" won a landslide victory in the 1997 general election, ending 18 years of Conservative Party government, with the heaviest Conservative defeat since 1832.^[53]

During Smith's leadership of the Labour Party, there were discussions with Paddy Ashdown, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, about forming a coalition government if the next general election resulted in a hung parliament. After Blair became leader, these talks continued – despite virtually every opinion poll since late 1992 having shown Labour with enough support to form a majority. However, the scale of the Labour victory meant that there was ultimately never any need for a coalition.^[54]

Prime Minister[link]

Blair became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 2 May 1997, serving concurrently as First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Labour Party. The 43-year old Blair became the youngest person to become Prime Minister since Lord Liverpool in 1812, at the age of 42.^[55] With victories in 1997, 2001, and 2005, Blair was the Labour Party's longest-serving prime minister, the only person to lead the party to three consecutive general election victories.

Northern Ireland[link]

Blair addressing a crowd in Armagh in 1998.

His contribution towards assisting the Northern Ireland Peace Process by helping to negotiate the Good Friday Agreement (after 30 years of conflict) was widely recognised.^[56][57] Following the Omagh Bombing on 15 August 1998, by members of the Real IRA opposed to the peace process, which killed 29 people and wounded hundreds, Blair visited the County Tyrone town and met with victims at Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.^[58]

Military intervention and the War on Terror[link]

In his first six years in office Blair ordered British troops into battle five times, more than any other prime minister in British history. This included Iraq in both 1998 and 2003; Kosovo (1999); Sierra Leone (2000) and Afghanistan (2001).^[59]

The Kosovo War, which Blair had advocated on moral grounds, was initially a failure when it relied soly on air strikes; the threat of a ground offensive would convince Serbia's Slobodan Milošević to withdraw. Blair had been a major advocate for a ground offensive, which Bill Clinton was reluctant to do, and would order that 50,000 soldiers - most of the available British Army - should be made ready for action.^[60] The following year, the limited Operation Palliser in Sierra Leone would swiftly swing the tide against the rebel forces; before deployment, the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone had been on the verge of collapse.^[61] Palliser had been intended as an evacuation mission but Brigadier David Richards (now General Sir) was able to convince Blair to allow him to expand the role; at the time, Richards' action was not known and Blair was assumed to be behind it.^[62] Blair also ordered Operation Barras, a highly successful SAS/Parachute Regiment strike to rescue hostages from a Sierra Leone rebel group.^[63] Historian Andrew Marr has argued that the success of ground attacks, real and threatened, over air strikes alone would be influential on how Blair planned the Iraq War, and that the success of the first three wars Blair fought "played to his sense of himself as a moral war leader".^[64] When asked in 2010 if the success of Palliser may have "embolden[ed] British politicians" to think of military action as a policy option, General Sir David Richards would admit there "might be something in that".^[62]

From the start of the War on Terror in 2001, Blair strongly supported the foreign policy of George W. Bush, participating in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and 2003 invasion of Iraq. The invasion of Iraq was particularly controversial, as it attracted widespread public opposition and 139 of Blair's MPs opposed it.^[65] As a result, he faced criticism over the policy itself and the circumstances in which it was decided upon. Alastair Campbell described Blair's statement that the intelligence on WMDs was "beyond doubt" as his "assessment of the assessment that was given to him."^[66] In 2009, Blair stated that he would have supported removing Saddam Hussein from power even in the face of proof that he had no such weapons.^[67] Playwright Harold Pinter and former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad accused Blair of war crimes.^[68][69] Testifying before the Iraq Inquiry on 29 January 2010, Blair said Saddam was a "monster and I believe he threatened not just the region but the world."^[70] Blair said that British and American attitude towards Saddam Hussein had "changed dramatically" after 11 September attacks. Blair denied that he would have supported the invasion of Iraq even if he had thought Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction. He said he believed the world was safer as a result of the invasion.^[71] He also said that there was "no real difference between wanting regime change and wanting Iraq to disarm: regime change was US policy because Iraq was in breach of its UN obligations."^[72]

Relationship with Parliament[link]

One of his first acts as Prime Minister was to replace the then twice-weekly 15-minute sessions of Prime Minister's Questions held on Tuesdays and Thursdays with a single 30-minute session on Wednesdays. In addition to PMQs, Blair held monthly press conferences at which he fielded questions from journalists^[73][74] and – from 2002 – broke precedent by agreeing to give evidence twice yearly before the most senior Commons select committee, The Liaison Committee.^[75] Blair was sometimes perceived as paying insufficient attention both to the views of his own Cabinet colleagues and to those of the House of Commons.^[76] His style was sometimes criticised as not that of a prime minister and head of government, which he was, but of a president and head of state—which he was not.^[77] Blair was accused of excessive reliance on spin.^[78] He is the first British Prime Minister to have been formally questioned by police, though not under caution, while still in office.^[79]

Events prior to resignation[link]

As the casualties of the Iraq War mounted, Blair was accused of misleading Parliament,^[80][81] and his popularity dropped dramatically.^[82][83] The Labour party's overall majority in the 2005 general election was reduced to 66. As a combined result of the Blair-Brown pact, Iraq war and low approval ratings, pressure built up within the Labour party for Blair to resign.^[84][85] On 7 September 2006, Blair publicly stated he would step down as party leader by the time of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) conference held 10–13 September 2007,^[86] having promised to serve a full term during the previous general election campaign. On 10 May 2007, during a speech at the Trimdon Labour Club, Blair announced his intention to resign as both Labour Party leader and Prime Minister. At a special party conference in Manchester on 24 June 2007, he formally handed over the leadership of the Labour Party to Gordon Brown, who had been Chancellor of the Exchequer.^[4] Blair tendered his resignation on 27 June 2007 and his successor, Gordon Brown assumed office the same afternoon. He also resigned his seat in the House of Commons in the traditional form of accepting the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds to which he was appointed by Gordon Brown in one of the latter's last acts as Chancellor of the Exchequer.^[87] The resulting Sedgefield by-election was won by Labour's candidate, Phil Wilson. Blair decided not to issue a list of Resignation Honours, making him the first Prime Minister of the modern era not to do so.^[88]

Policies[link]

In 2001, Blair said, "We are a left of centre party, pursuing economic prosperity and social justice as partners and not as opposites".^[89] Blair has rarely applied such labels to himself, but he promised before the 1997 election that New Labour would govern "from the radical centre", and according to one lifelong Labour Party member, has always described himself as a social democrat.^[90] However, Labour Party backbenchers and other left wing critics typically place Blair to the right of centre.^[91] A YouGov opinion poll in 2005 also found that a small majority of British voters, including many New Labour supporters, place Blair on the right of the political spectrum.^[92][93] The Financial Times on the other hand has argued that Blair is not conservative, but instead a populist.^[94] The new Clause IV of the Labour Party's constitution defines the party as "Democratic Socialist".

Critics and admirers tend to agree that Blair's electoral success was based on his ability to occupy the centre ground and appeal to voters across the political spectrum, to the extent that he has been fundamentally at odds with traditional Labour Party values.^[95] Some left wing critics have argued that Blair has overseen the final stage of a long term shift of the Labour Party to the right, and that very little now remains of a Labour Left.^[96][97] There is also evidence that Blair's long term dominance of the centre has forced his Conservative opponents to shift a long distance to the left, in order to challenge his hegemony there.^[98][99]

Blair has raised taxes (but did not increase income tax for high-earners^{[citation needed]}); introduced a minimum wage and some new employment rights (while keeping Margaret Thatcher's anti-trade union legislation^{[citation needed]}); introduced significant constitutional reforms; promoted new rights for gay people in the Civil Partnership Act 2004; and signed treaties integrating Britain more closely with the EU. He introduced substantial market-based reforms in the education and health sectors; introduced student tuition fees; sought to reduce certain categories of welfare payments, and introduced tough anti-terrorism and identity card legislation.^{[citation needed]} Under Blair's government the amount of new legislation increased^[100] which attracted criticism.^[101] Blair increased police powers by adding to the number of arrestable offences, compulsory DNA recording and the use of dispersal orders.^[102]

Environmental record[link]

Blair has criticised other governments for not doing enough to solve global climate change. In a 1997 visit to the United States, he made a comment on "great industrialised nations" that fail to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Again in 2003, Blair went before the United States Congress and said that climate change "cannot be ignored", insisting "we need to go beyond even Kyoto."^[103] His record at home tends to say something different. Blair and his party have promised a 20% reduction in carbon dioxide^[104] but during his term the emissions rose. The Labour Party also claimed that by 2010 10% of the energy would come from renewable resources but in fact only 3% currently does.^[105]

In 2000 Blair "flagged up" 100 million euros for green policies and urged environmentalists and businesses to work together.^[106]

Foreign policy[link]

Relationship with the United States[link]

Tony Blair and George W. Bush shake hands after their press conference in the East Room of the White House on 12 November 2004.

Along with enjoying a close relationship with Bill Clinton, Blair formed a strong political alliance with George W. Bush, particularly in the area of foreign policy. At one point, Nelson Mandela described Blair as "the U.S. foreign minister".^[107] Blair has also often openly been referred to as "Bush's poodle".^[108] Kendall Myers, a senior analyst at the State Department, reportedly said that he felt "a little ashamed" of Bush's treatment of the Prime Minister and that his attempts to influence US policy were typically ignored: "It was a done deal from the beginning, it was a one-sided relationship that was entered into with open eyes... There was nothing, no payback, no sense of reciprocity".^[109]

For his part, Bush lauded Blair and the UK. In his post-11 September speech, for example, he stated that "America has no truer friend than Great Britain".^[110]

The alliance between Bush and Blair seriously damaged Blair's standing in the eyes of many British people.^[111] Blair argued it is in Britain's interest to "protect and strengthen the bond" with the United States regardless of who is in the White House.^[112] However, a perception of one-sided compromising personal and political closeness led to serious discussion of the term "Poodle-ism" in the UK media, to describe the "Special Relationship" of the UK government and Prime Minister with the US White House and President.^[113] A revealing conversation between Bush and Blair, with the former addressing the latter as "Yo [or Yeah], Blair" was recorded when they did not know a microphone was live at the G8 conference in Russia in 2006.^[114]

Middle East policy and links with Israel[link]

According to comments in the book, Blair, written by Anthony Seldon, Blair had a deep feeling for Israel, born in part from his faith.^[115] Blair has been a long time member of the pro-Israel lobby group Labour Friends of Israel.^[116]

In 1994, Blair met Michael Levy, later Lord Levy, a pop music mogul and fundraiser.^[117] Blair and Levy became close friends and tennis partners.

During his first visit to Israel, Blair thought the Israelis bugged him in his car. He also went on to claim that the Israeli prime minister was merely an "armour-plated bullshitter".^[118]

Levy ran the Labour Leader's Office Fund to finance Blair's campaign before the 1997 General Election and raised £12m towards Labour’s landslide victory, Levy was rewarded with a peerage, and in 2002, Blair appointed Levy as his personal envoy to the Middle East. Levy praised Blair for his 'solid and committed support of the State of Israel'.^[119][120] Tam Dalyell, while Father of the House of Commons, suggested in 2003 that Blair's foreign policy decisions were unduly influenced by a cabal of Jewish advisers, including Levy and Peter Mandelson.^[121]

Blair, on coming to office, had been 'cool towards the right-wing Netanyahu government'.^[122] After the election in 1999 of Ehud Barak, with whom Blair forged a close relationship, he became much more sympathetic to Israel.^[122] From 2001 Blair also built up a relationship with Barak's successor, Ariel Sharon, and responded positively to Arafat, whom he had met thirteen times since becoming prime minister and regarded as essential to future negotiations.^[122] In 2004, 50 former diplomats, including ambassadors to Baghdad and Tel Aviv, stated they had 'watched with deepening concern' at Britain following the US into war in Iraq in 2003. They criticised Blair's support for the Road map for peace which included the retaining of Israeli settlements on the West Bank.^[123]

In 2006 Blair was criticised for his failure to immediately call for a ceasefire in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. The Observer newspaper claimed that at a cabinet meeting before Blair left for a summit with Bush on 28 July 2006, a significant number of ministers pressured Blair to publicly criticise Israel over the scale of deaths and destruction in Lebanon.^[124] Blair was criticised for his solid stance alongside US President George W. Bush on Middle East policy.^[125]

In March 2010 the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments revealed that 14 months after resigning as Prime Minister, Blair had served as a paid business consultant to an oil firm with interests in Iraq.^[126] The news raised concerns that he had profited financially from contacts he made during the Iraq war.^[127]

Relationship with media[link]

Rupert Murdoch[link]

Blair was reported to have been supported by Rupert Murdoch, the founder of the News Corporation organisation.^[128] In 1995, while leader of the Opposition, Blair disclosed in the Commons register of interests that he was a guest of Murdoch when he flew to meet him in Hayman Island.^[129] In 2011 Blair became Godfather to one of Rupert Murdoch's children. Apparently Blair was 'robed in white for the ceremony' ^[130]

Contacts with UK media proprietors[link]

A Cabinet Office freedom of information response, released the day after Blair handed over power to Gordon Brown, documents Blair having various official phone calls and meetings with Rupert Murdoch of News Corporation and Richard Desmond of Northern and Shell Media.^[131]

The response includes contacts "clearly of an official nature" in the specified period, but excludes contacts "not clearly of an official nature."^[132] No details were given of the subjects discussed. In the period between September 2002 and April 2005, Blair and Murdoch are documented speaking 6 times; three times in the 9 days before the Iraq war, including the eve of the 20 March US and UK invasion, and on 29 January, 25 April and 3 October 2004. Between January 2003 and February 2004, Blair had three meetings with Richard Desmond; on 29 January and 3 September 2003 and 23 February 2004.^[133][134]

The information was disclosed after a three and a half year battle by the Liberal Democrats' Lord Avebury.^[131] Lord Avebury's initial October 2003 information request was dismissed by then leader of the Lords, Baroness Amos.^[131] A following complaint was rejected, with Downing Street claiming the information compromised free and frank discussions, while Cabinet Office claimed releasing the timing of the PM's contacts with individuals is undesirable, as it might lead to the content of the discussions being disclosed.^[131] While awaiting a following appeal from Lord Avebury, the cabinet office announced that it would release the information. Lord Avebury said: "The public can now scrutinise the timing of his (Murdoch's) contacts with the former Prime Minister, to see whether they can be linked to events in the outside world."^[131]

Blair appeared before the Leveson Inquiry on Monday 28 May 2012.^[135] During his appearance, a Protester, later named as David Lawley-Wakelin, got into the court-room and claimed he was guilty of war crimes before being dragged out.^[136]

Media portrayal[link]

Blair is acknowledged by most^[who?] to be a highly skilful media performer who comes over as charismatic, informal, and articulate.^{[citation needed]} A few months after becoming Prime Minister he gave a tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales on the morning of her death in August 1997, in which he famously described her as "the People's Princess".^[137][138]

After taking office in 1997, Blair gave particular prominence to his press secretary, who became known as the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (the two roles have since been separated). Blair's first PMOS was Alastair Campbell, who served in that role from May 1997 to 8 June 2001, after which he served as the Prime Minister's Director of Communications and Strategy until his resignation on 29 August 2003 in the aftermath of the Hutton Inquiry.^{[citation needed]}

Relationship with Labour Party[link]

Blair's apparent refusal to set a date for his departure was criticised by the British press and Members of Parliament. It has been reported that a number of cabinet ministers believed that Blair's timely departure from office would be required to be able to win a fourth election.^[139] Some ministers viewed Blair's announcement of policy initiatives in September 2006 as an attempt to draw attention away from these issues.^[139]

Blair forged friendships with several conservative European leaders, including Silvio Berlusconi of Italy,^[140] Angela Merkel of Germany^[141] and more recently Nicolas Sarkozy of France.^[142]

Gordon Brown[link]

After the death of John Smith in 1994, Blair and his close colleague Gordon Brown (they shared an office at the House of Commons) were both seen as possible candidates for the party leadership. They agreed not to stand against each other, it is said, as part of a supposed Blair-Brown pact. Brown, who considered himself the senior of the two, understood that Blair would give way to him: opinion polls soon indicated, however, that Blair appeared to enjoy greater support among voters.^[143] Their relationship in power became so turbulent that (it was reported) the deputy prime minister, John Prescott, often had to act as "marriage guidance counsellor".^[144]