Bubblegum pop (also known as bubblegum rock, bubblegum music, or simply bubblegum) is a genre of pop music with an upbeat sound contrived and marketed to appeal to pre-teens and teenagers, produced in an assembly-line process, driven by producers, often using unknown singers. Bubblegum's classic period ran from 1967 to 1972.^[1] The second wave of bubblegum started two years later and ran until 1977 when disco took over and punk rock emerged (some critics have claimed bubblegum influenced punk).^[2]

The genre was predominantly a singles phenomenon rather than an album-oriented one, the presumption being that teenagers and pre-teens had less money to spend on records and were thus more likely to buy singles than albums. Also, because many acts were manufactured in the studio using session musicians, a large number of bubblegum songs were by one-hit wonders. Among the best-known acts of bubblegum's golden era are 1910 Fruitgum Company, The Ohio Express and The Archies,^[3] an animated group which had the most successful bubblegum song with "Sugar, Sugar", Billboard Magazine's No. 1 single for 1969. Singer Tommy Roe, arguably, had the most bubblegum hits of any artist during this period.

Characteristics[link]

The chief characteristics of the genre are that it is pop music contrived and marketed to appeal to pre-teens and teenagers, is produced in an assembly-line process, driven by producers, often using unknown singers and has an upbeat sound.^[1] The songs typically have singalong choruses, seemingly childlike themes and a contrived innocence, occasionally combined with an undercurrent of sexual double entendre.^[4] Bubblegum songs are also defined as having a catchy melody, simple chords, simple harmonies, dancy (but not necessarily danceable) beats, repetitive riffs or "hooks", use of solfege syllables and a vocally-multiplied refrain. Bubblegum rarely has guitar solos, usually features the organ, and often use a single handclap or double handclap as prominent percussion.

The song lyrics often concern romantic love, but many times are about just feeling good or being happy, with references to sunshine, loving one another, toys, colors, nonsense words, etc. They are also notable for their frequent reference to sugary food, including sugar, honey, butterscotch, jelly and marmalade.^[1] Cross-marketing with cereal and bubblegum manufacturers also strengthened the link between bubblegum songs and confectionery. Cardboard records by The Archies, The Banana Splits, The Jackson 5, The Monkees, Bobby Sherman, Josie and the Pussycats, H.R. Pufnstuf and other acts were included on the backs of cereal boxes in the late 1960s and early 1970s, while acts including The Brady Bunch had their own brands of chewing gum as a result of licensing deals with TV networks and record companies.^[1]

Etymology[link]

Producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeff Katz have claimed credit for coining the term bubblegum music, saying that when they discussed their target audience, they decided it was "teenagers, the young kids. And at the time we used to be chewing bubblegum and my partner and I used to look at it and laugh and say, 'Ah, this is like bubblegum music'." The term was seized upon by Buddah Records label executive Neil Bogart. Music writer and bubblegum historian Bill Pitzonka confirmed the claim, telling Goldmine magazine: "That's when bubblegum crystallized into an actual camp. Kasenetz and Katz really crystallized it when they came up with the term themselves and that nice little analogy. And Neil Bogart, being the marketing person he was, just crammed it down the throats of people. That's really the point at which bubblegum took off."^[4]

History[link]

The birth of bubblegum is generally dated from the success in 1968 of The Lemon Pipers' "Green Tambourine", 1910 Fruitgum Company's "Simon Says" and The Ohio Express' "Yummy Yummy Yummy", but music critics have identified novelty songs including The Dixie Cups' "Iko Iko" and Patti Page's "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?" as possible precursors.^[4]

A breeding ground for the genre has also been found in the field of 1960s garage rock, the songs of which shared an overriding simplicity with bubblegum. Garage and bubblegum groups were also both generally singles acts. Several garage punk bands, including Shadows of Knight, later recorded bubblegum tracks, while Ohio Express, one of the major 1960s bubblegum bands, began their recording career with punk-rooted tunes.^[4]

Between those two camps emerged Florida group The Royal Guardsmen, who scored a US No. 2 hit in 1966 with their novelty hit "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron", and The Fifth Estate, whose 1967 song "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead" reached No. 11 in the US.^[4]

Tommy James and the Shondells are also seen as a major influence, with such songs as 1964's "Hanky Panky", 1966's "It's Only Love", and 1967's "I Think We're Alone Now" and "Gettin Together", as is Tommy Roe, but critics are divided on one possible major bubblegum band prototype: The Monkees. Although the band began as a prefabricated, fictional rock group concocted to sell records and TV advertising time, the band later staged a coup and wrested creative control from their creators.^[4]

1960s and 1970s[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2010)

The success of The Lemon Pipers' "Green Tambourine" (US No. 1, February 1968, produced by Paul Leka) was followed by a wave of bubblegum delivered by the Super K Productions team of Kasenetz and Katz, who had scored their first hits in 1967 with the Music Explosion's "Little Bit o' Soul" (No. 2, May) and The Ohio Express's "Beg, Borrow and Steal" (No. 29, October).

In early 1968, the pair signed New Jersey band Jekyll and the Hydes, changed the band's name to 1910 Fruitgum Company, and released two singles that made the Billboard Hot 100 – "Simon Says" (No. 4, February 1968) and "May I Take a Giant Step (Into Your Heart)" (No. 63). In May 1968, The Ohio Express (who had also undergone an enforced name change under the Super K team's tutelage, from Sir Timothy and the Royals) also scored a No. 4 hit with "Yummy Yummy Yummy".

The latter, written by early twentysomething Joey Levine and accomplished songwriter Artie Resnick, was intended as a demo for Ohio Express to emulate, featuring vocals by non-band member Levine and backing by session musicians. The song was released as an Ohio Express single without Levine's knowledge. Two follow-ups, "Down at Lulu's" (No. 33, August 1968) and "Chewy Chewy" (No. 15, October 1968), also charted - both featuring vocals by Levine (who had never met the band), and neither featuring any members of Ohio Express. The real Ohio Express toured, supporting The Beach Boys, The Who and Herman's Hermits, with bassist Dean Kastran performing the vocals for the hits, emulating Levine's nasal-punk singing style.^[1]

Kasenetz and Katz developed a strong relationship with Buddah Records, releasing a series of hits by 1910 Fruitgum Company, Ohio Express and one-offs such as "Quick Joey Small" by The Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus, a Levine-fronted group of studio players. Kasenetz and Katz also scored on Bell Records in early 1969 with "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin" by another manufactured band, Crazy Elephant.

The dominance of the Kasenetz-Katz team was challenged in 1969 by music publisher Don Kirshner and "Hanky Panky"'s co-author, Brill Building writer/producer Jeff Barry. In early 1967, after almost a year of success directing the music team behind made-for-TV pop band The Monkees, the band rebelled against Kirshner's strict creative controls and after an acrimonious confrontation, involving lawyers and fisticuffs, wrested control of their career from Kirshner.

A battered and resentful Kirshner envisioned a manufactured group over which he could have permanent and total control: Filmation's cartoon band The Archies, based on the Archie Comics characters. He enlisted Barry and Andy Kim as songwriters, session musicians including Hugh McCracken, Gary Chester, Chuck Rainey and Ron Frangipane to provide the music and Ron Dante as vocalist.^[5] Dante, also of the Cuff Links, with whom he scored a No. 9 bubblegum hit, "Tracy" during the same period, would go on later to produce hits for Barry Manilow in the early 70s. The fictional band's "Sugar Sugar" (a song which Kirshner had originally intended for the Monkees to record) was the best-selling single of 1969, and the band would score five other Hot 100 singles, including "Bang Shang-a-Lang", "Jingle Jangle", and "Who's Your Baby?"

Numerous cartoon, costumed and even animal bands appeared during 1969-72 in response to the Archies' success. Cartoon producers Hanna-Barbera created The Banana Splits, for a Saturday morning cartoon show featuring costumed actors miming to pre-recorded tracks à la the early Monkees. Hanna-Barbera's Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! was originally developed as cartoon band show, but even after that idea was dropped, the 1970-1971 season included seven episodes that each used a different bubblegum song for extended chase scenes - each performed by Austin Roberts.^[6] Hanna-Barbera's Josie and the Pussycats became the studio's new cartoon band show.

Other animated acts featuring bubblegum music included Filmation's The Hardy Boys, and Groovie Goolies, Sugar Bears, and (in the UK) The Wombles. The all-simian bubblegum band Evolution Revolution appeared on ABC-TV's Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp from 1970 to 1972 featuring vocals by Steve Hoffman, and studio musicians from The Grass Roots providing backup.

Sesame Workshop, then called Children's Television Workshop, also jumped on the bubblegum bandwagon with a juvenile group called "The Short Circus" from its new series, The Electric Company, who would also double as kid cast members in various sketches in the show.

The initial era of bubblegum carried on into the early 1970s, with hits from The Cowsills, The Partridge Family (a made-for-TV group inspired by the real-life Cowsills, starring Shirley Jones and featuring David Cassidy), The Jackson 5, The Osmonds, The DeFranco Family featuring Tony DeFranco and others. Many British acts of the first glam rock era (approximately 1971-1975) also incorporated bubblegum influences,^[4] including Gary Glitter, Alvin Stardust, T. Rex, and such Nicky Chinn/Mike Chapman-produced acts as Sweet, Mud, and American expatriate Suzi Quatro. These acts had great success in the UK, Asia, Europe and Australia, charting many singles. They were less successful in the US, however.

Bubblegum had a resurgence however and maintained a minor presence on the US charts in the mid-to-late 1970s, particularly through Shaun Cassidy (David's half-brother) and Leif Garrett, both of whom also maintained television acting careers. The last big act of the 70s featuring obvious bubblegum elements was the Scottish band the Bay City Rollers, who charted from 1975 through 1978. Some of ABBA's material (e.g., "Take a Chance on Me") was arguably borderline bubblegum.

See also[link]

• Teenybopper
• Bubblegum dance
• Teen pop
• 1960s in music

References[link]

External links[link]

• Bubblegum University, a group blog dedicated to bubblegum scholarship
• The Classic Bubblegum Music Home Page, Bubblegum articles, interviews, history, lyrics, and reviews
• Billboard Top Kid Audio Chart

v t e Pop rock Arena rock · Baroque pop · Dream pop · Emo-pop · Glam metal · Glam punk · Glam rock · Manila Sound · Pop punk · Power pop · Soft rock · Sunshine pop Category:Rock music · Portal:Rock music

Bon Scott
Bon Scott (centre) pictured with guitarist Angus Young (left), performing at the Ulster Hall: August 1979.
Background information
Birth name	Ronald Belford Scott
Also known as	Bon Scott
Born	(1946-07-09)9 July 1946 Forfar, Scotland
Died	19 February 1980(1980-02-19) (aged 33) London, England
Genres	Rock and roll, blues rock, hard rock, heavy metal
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, drums, bagpipes, recorder
Years active	1964–1980
Associated acts	AC/DC, Fraternity, The Valentines, The Spektors

Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott (9 July 1946 – 19 February 1980) was a Scottish-born Australian rock musician, best known for being the lead singer and lyricist of Australian hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980.^[1] He was born in Forfar and brought up in Kirriemuir, Scotland, before moving to Melbourne, Australia with his family in 1952 at the age of six. The family lived in the suburb of Sunshine for 4 years before moving to Fremantle, Western Australia.

Scott formed his first band, The Spektors, in 1964 and became the band's drummer and occasional lead vocalist. He performed in several other bands including The Valentines and Fraternity before replacing Dave Evans as the lead singer of AC/DC in 1974.

In the July 2004 issue of Classic Rock, Scott was rated as number one in a list of the "100 Greatest Frontmen Of All Time" ahead of Freddie Mercury and Robert Plant.^[2] Hit Parader ranked Scott as fifth on their 2006 list of the 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Vocalists of all time.^[3]

AC/DC's popularity grew throughout the 1970s, initially in Australia, and then internationally. Their 1979 album Highway to Hell reached the top twenty in the United States, and the band seemed on the verge of a commercial breakthrough. However, on 19 February 1980, Scott died after a night out in London. AC/DC briefly considered disbanding, but the group quickly recruited vocalist Brian Johnson of the British glam rock band Geordie. AC/DC's subsequent album, Back in Black, was released only five months later, and was a tribute to Scott. It went on to become the third best-selling album in history.^[1][4]

Biography[link]

Youth[link]

Ronald Belford Scott was born on 9 July 1946 at the Fyfe Jamieson Maternity Hospital, Forfar, Scotland to Charles Belford ("Chick") and Isabelle ("Isa") Scott, and grew up in Kirriemuir. A younger brother Derek was born in 1949.^[1] The Scott family emigrated from Scotland to Australia in 1952 where they initially lived in the Melbourne suburb of Sunshine.^[1] It was at Sunshine Primary School that he received his nickname; there was already a classmate with the name Ronald and as he had recently arrived from Bonnie Scotland he was dubbed "Bon" and the name stuck. A second brother, Graeme, was born in 1953. Bon was the oldest of Derek, Graeme, and Valerie. Bon did have an older brother born before him named Sandy Scott, but he died shortly after birth.

In 1956, the family moved to Fremantle, Western Australia and Bon joined the associated Fremantle Scots Pipe Band, learning the drums.^[1] Scott attended John Curtin College of the Arts until he dropped out at the age of 15 and spent a short time in Fremantle Prison's assessment centre and nine months at the Riverbank Juvenile Institution relating to charges of giving a false name and address to the police, having escaped legal custody, having unlawful carnal knowledge and stealing twelve gallons of petrol.^[1] He attempted to join the Australian Army but was rejected for being deemed as "socially maladjusted."^[5]

Early career[link]

Scott's vocals were inspired by his idol, Little Richard.^[6] After working as a postman, bartender and truck packer, Scott started his first band, The Spektors, in 1964 as drummer and occasional lead singer.^[7] Two years later the Spektors merged with another local band, The Winstons, and formed The Valentines, in which Scott was co-lead singer with Vince Lovegrove. The Valentines recorded several songs written by George Young of The Easybeats including "Every Day I Have to Cry" which made the local top 5.^[1] In 1970, after gaining a place on the National Top 30 with their single "Juliette", the Valentines disbanded due to artistic differences after a much-publicised drug scandal.^[8]

Scott moved to Adelaide in 1970 and joined the progressive rock band Fraternity. Fraternity released the LPs Livestock and Flaming Galah before touring the UK in 1971, where they changed their name to "Fang". During this time they played support slots for Status Quo and Geordie, whose front man, Brian Johnson, became the lead singer of AC/DC after Scott's death.^[1]

In 1973, just after returning to Australia from another tour of the UK, Fraternity went on hiatus. Scott took a day job at the Wallaroo fertiliser plant and began singing with the Mount Lofty Rangers, a loose collective of musicians helmed by Peter Head (né Beagley) from Headband, who explains "Headband and Fraternity were in the same management stable and we both split about the same time so the logical thing was to take members from both bands and create a new one ... the purpose of the band was for songwriters to relate to each other and experiment with songs, so it was a hotbed of creativity".^[9] Other ex-Fraternity members also played with the band as did Glen Shorrock pre Little River Band. During this time, Head also helped Scott with his original compositions.

Vince Lovegrove said "Bon would go to Peter's home after a day shovelling shit, and show him musical ideas he had had during his day's work. Bon's knowledge of the guitar was limited, so Peter began teaching him how to bridge chords and construct a song. One of the songs from these sessions was a beautiful ballad called "Clarissa", about a local Adelaide girl. Another was the country-tinged Bin Up in the Hills Too Long, which for me was a sign of things to come with Bon's lyrics; simple, clever, sardonic, tongue-in-cheek ..."^[10]

In return, Scott recorded vocals for Head's "Round & Round & Round" and country ballad "Carey Gully".^[11] Head released these original recordings in 1996, also teaming up with producer Ted Yanni, another old friend of Scott's, to create an entirely new backing for Round & Round & Round that more accurately reflected the original intentions Head had. Long out of print, and massively bootlegged, this EP finally got an official digital release in June 2010. Unrecorded original compositions of Scott's, "Been Up In The Hills Too Long" and "Clarissa" have been recorded by Head on his Peter Head & The Mount Lofty Rangers album, also released in digital format only in 2010.

"About 11 p.m. on 3 May 1974, at the Old Lion Hotel in North Adelaide, during a rehearsal with the Mount Lofty Rangers, a very drunk, distressed and belligerent Bon Scott had a raging argument with a member of the band. Bon stormed out of the venue, threw a bottle of Jack Daniels on to the ground, then screamed off on his Suzuki 550 motorbike."^[10] Scott suffered serious injuries from the ensuing motorcycle accident, spending three days in a coma and a further 18 days in hospital. Vince Lovegrove and his wife, by then running a booking/management agency, gave Scott odd jobs, such as putting up posters and painting the office during his recovery, and shortly after introduced him to AC/DC who were on the lookout for a new lead singer.^[8]

"There was a young, dinky little glam band from Sydney that we both loved called AC/DC ... Before another AC/DC visit, George Young phoned me and said the band was looking for a new singer. I immediately told him that the best guy for the job was Bon. George responded by saying Bon's accident would not allow him to perform, and that maybe he was too old. Nevertheless I had a meeting with Malcolm and Angus, and suggested Bon as their new singer. They asked me to bring him out to the Pooraka Hotel that night, and to come backstage after the show. When he watched the band, Bon was impressed, and he immediately wanted to join them, but thought they may be a bit too inexperienced and too young. After the show, backstage, Bon expressed his doubts about them being "able to rock". The two Young brothers told Bon he was "too old to rock". The upshot was that they had a jam session that night in the home of Bon's former mentor, Bruce Howe, and at the end of the session, at dawn, it was obvious that AC/DC had found a new singer. And Bon had found a new band."^[10]

Like Scott, Malcolm Young and his younger brother Angus Young of AC/DC were born in Scotland before emigrating to Australia in their childhood with their family.

Fraternity later reformed and replaced Scott with Jimmy Barnes.

With AC/DC[link]

Bon Scott in Grenoble, 10 December 1979.

Scott replaced Dave Evans as the lead singer of AC/DC on 24 October 1974, when it became obvious the band and Evans were heading in different directions, with Evans having personal clashes with band members and management.^[12]

With the Young brothers as lead and rhythm guitarists, session drummer Tony Currenti (see AC/DC lineups) and George Young as a temporary bassist, AC/DC released High Voltage, their first LP in Australia in 1974 according to the official Australian AC/DC website. Within a few months Currenti was replaced by Phil Rudd and Mark Evans was hired as a permanent bassist,^{[citation needed]} and AC/DC began recording their second album T.N.T., which was released in Australia in December 1975. The first AC/DC album to gain international distribution however was a compilation of tracks from the first two albums, also entitled High Voltage, which was released in May 1976. Another studio album, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap was released in the same year, but only in Australia; the international version of the album was released in November 1976 in the UK and in March 1981 in the U.S., with a different track listing.

In the following years, AC/DC gained further success with their albums Let There Be Rock and Powerage. The 1978 release of Powerage marked the debut of bassist Cliff Williams (who had replaced Mark Evans), and with its harder riffs, followed the blueprint set by Let There Be Rock. The album was the last produced by Harry Vanda and George Young with Bon Scott on vocals and is claimed to be AC/DC's most underrated album.^[13] Only one single was released for Powerage – "Rock 'n' Roll Damnation" – and gave AC/DC their highest chart position at the time, reaching #24. An appearance at the Apollo Theatre in Glasgow during the Powerage tour was recorded and released as If You Want Blood You've Got It.^[14]

The band's sixth album, Highway To Hell, was produced by Robert "Mutt" Lange and was released in 1979. It became AC/DC's first LP to break the U.S. top 100, eventually reaching #17, and it propelled AC/DC into the top ranks of hard rock acts.^[15][16]

Death[link]

Bon Scott's grave.

67 Overhill Road, East Dulwich, London, the site of Bon Scott's death

After Highway to Hell, Bon Scott and company began developing a new album that was to eventually become Back in Black, but Scott would not be a part of its success. On 19 February 1980, Scott, 33 at the time, passed out after a night of heavy drinking in a London club called the Music Machine (currently known as the KOKO). He was left to sleep in a Renault 5 owned by an acquaintance named Alistair Kinnear, at 67 Overhill Road in East Dulwich, South London.^[17] The following afternoon, Kinnear found Scott lifeless, and alerted the authorities. Scott was rushed to King's College Hospital in Camberwell, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Pulmonary aspiration of vomit was the cause of Scott's death,^[18] and the official cause was listed as "acute alcohol poisoning" and "death by misadventure".^[19][20] Scott was cremated and his ashes were interred by his family at Fremantle Cemetery in Fremantle, Western Australia.^[21]

Inconsistencies in media accounts of Scott's death (incorrect spelling of Alistair Kinnear's first name, among others) have been cited in conspiracy theories, which suggest that Scott died of an alcohol poisoning, or was killed by exhaust fumes redirected into the car, or that Kinnear did not exist.^[19] Additionally, Scott was asthmatic, and the temperature was below freezing on the morning of his death.^[22]

Shortly after Scott's death, the remaining members of AC/DC briefly considered quitting. However, it was eventually decided that Scott would have wanted them to continue and, after the blessings of Bon's family, the band hired Brian Johnson as the new vocalist. Angus Young stated in an interview with VH1 that Scott's mother, whom all the band members personally knew, heartily approved of the band continuing, and felt that it was the only way to properly remember her son and their bandmate.^{[citation needed]}

Five months after Scott's death, AC/DC finished the work they began with Scott and released Back in Black as a tribute to him with two tracks from the album, "Hells Bells" and "Back in Black", dedicated to his memory. It is now the third best-selling album in history, behind Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and Michael Jackson's Thriller. The French rock band Trust wrote their hit song "Ton dernier acte" ("Your last act") in memory of Scott in 1980. German hard rock band Kingdom Come wrote and recorded a song titled "Bon Scott" for their album, Ain't Crying for the Moon, as a tribute to the former AC/DC frontman. It is a medium- to fast-paced song, that has a driving guitar riff during the verses that is very much in the style of AC/DC.

His grave site has become a cultural landmark; more than 28 years after Scott's death, the National Trust of Australia decreed his grave important enough to be included on the list of classified heritage places.^[21][23] It is reportedly the most visited grave in Australia.^[24] On 9 July 2006, the plaque was stolen from the site.^[25]

Posthumous events[link]

Statue of Bon Scott, Fremantle, Western Australia.

Bon Scott memorial, Kirriemuir, Scotland.

AC/DC released a box set named Bonfire as a tribute to Scott on 18 November 1997. It contains four albums; a remastered version of Back in Black; a "rarities" album with alternate takes, outtakes, and stray live cuts, Volts; and two live albums, Live from the Atlantic Studios and Let There Be Rock: The Movie.

Live from the Atlantic Studios was recorded on 7 December 1977 at the Atlantic Studios in New York City.

Let There Be Rock: The Movie is a double album which was recorded on 9 December 1979 at the Pavillon de Paris in Paris, and was the soundtrack of the motion picture, AC/DC: Let There Be Rock.^[26]

AC/DC was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.^[27] Members of Scott's family joined the band at the podium to accept the honour in his place.^{[citation needed]}

In 2003 Scott's final studio album with AC/DC, 1979's Highway to Hell ranked 199 on Rolling Stone's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

In 2004 the song "Highway to Hell" that Scott co-wrote with Malcolm and Angus Young ranked 254 on Rolling Stone's The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

In the July 2004 issue of UK magazine Classic Rock, Scott was rated as number one in a list of the "100 Greatest Frontmen," ahead of Freddie Mercury and Robert Plant.^[2]

On 6 May 2006, the town of Kirriemuir in Scotland held a service and unveiled a Caithness stone slab commemorating the singer.^[28] A message was read from long time friend and fellow member of The Valentines, Vince Lovegrove in which he said:

More recently a new street in Kirriemuir has been named after Scott.

A bronze statue of Scott was unveiled at Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour in Western Australia on 24 February 2008.^[30] The statue portrays Scott atop a Marshall amplifier.

A Screen Australia-backed film depicting Scott's life from 1974 until his death in 1980 was announced on 28 July 2011. The film will be directed by Eddie Martin and will be produced by Lizzie Atkins.^[31]

Notes[link]

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bon Scott

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Bon Scott

• Walker, Clinton (1994), Highway to Hell: The Life and Times of AC/DC Legend Bon Scott, Verse Chorus Press, ISBN 0-283-06263-0 .
• Stenning, Paul (2005), AC/DC – Two Sides to Every Glory, Chrome Dreams, ISBN 1-84240-308-7 .

External links[link]

Biography portal

• AC/DC official website
• AC/DC at the Open Directory Project
• Bon Scott at the Internet Movie Database
• Bon Scott at Find a Grave

Katy Perry
Katy Perry at the Logie Awards in 2011
Background information
Birth name	Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson
Also known as	Katy Hudson
Born	(1984-10-25) October 25, 1984 (age 27) Santa Barbara, California, U.S.
Genres	Pop, rock, dance, gospel
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, actress
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Red Hill, Island, Columbia, Capitol
Associated acts	The Matrix
Website	Katyperry.com

Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson^[1] (born October 25, 1984), known by her stage name Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Perry grew up with gospel music, and during her first year of high school she pursued a music career as Katy Hudson, releasing her first studio album called Katy Hudson which failed to chart. She recorded a solo album later, which was never released. After signing with Capitol Music Group in 2007, her fourth record label in seven years, she adopted the stage name Katy Perry.

She first gained recognition with the release of her first mainstream album, One of the Boys in 2008, which spawned three Billboard Hot 100 top-ten songs—"I Kissed A Girl", "Hot n Cold" and "Waking Up In Vegas". Perry supported the album with her Hello Katy Tour. In 2010, her third studio album, Teenage Dream (2010), which topped the Billboard 200 chart, and spawned five number one singles—"California Gurls", "Teenage Dream", "Firework", "E.T." and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)"—Teenage Dream was the only album (after Michael Jackson's Bad)—to do so, and the first female in history to achieve this milestone. She embarked on the California Dreams Tour, which grossed nearly $60 million worldwide.^[2] Perry re-released the album under the name of Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection on March 26, 2012, and the re-release has already spawned the number-one single "Part of Me".

Perry is the only artist to spend over 52 consecutive weeks in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100, and has since heightened this to 69 weeks.^[3] As of 2012, Perry has been nominated for eight Grammy Awards. She was named 2011's "Artist of the Year" by MTV.^[4] She has sold 37.6 million digital tracks in the United States and 11 million albums worldwide.^[5] Perry was a guest judge on the seventh series of The X Factor UK and the ninth season of American Idol. She has released fragrances "Purr" and "Meow". She ventured into film, voicing Smurfette in the 2011 film The Smurfs. Perry was married to British comedian Russell Brand from 2010 to 2012.

Early life[link]

Perry was born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson in Santa Barbara, California^[6] to Keith, a West Coast scenester in the 1960s,^[7] and Mary Hudson (née Perry), an evangelist who grew up in Southern California and had a "tempestuous" first marriage in Zimbabwe.^[7] Perry has Portuguese, German, Irish, and English ancestry.^[8][9][10] She is the second child of two pastors.^[11] She has an older sister named Angela Hudson and younger brother named David Hudson.^[12] Perry's mother's aunt and uncle were screenwriter Eleanor Perry and director Frank Perry.^[7] Perry was incorporated into her parents' ministry^[11] and sang in their church between the ages of 9 and 17.^[13] She grew up listening to gospel music,^[14] was not allowed to listen to what her mother called "secular music",^[13][15] and attended Christian schools and camps.^[11] As a child, Perry learned how to dance in a recreation building in Santa Barbara. She was taught by seasoned dancers and began with swing, Lindy Hop, and jitterbug.^[16] She took her GED after her first year at Dos Pueblos High School and decided to leave school in the pursuit of a career in music.^[17] Perry initially started singing "because [she] was at that point in [her] childhood where [she] was copycatting [her] sister and everything she [would do]."^[17] Her sister practiced with cassette tapes, while Perry took the tapes herself when her sister was not around. She rehearsed the songs and performed them in front of her parents, who suggested she take vocal coaching. She grabbed the opportunity and began taking lessons at the age of nine and continued until she was sixteen. She later enrolled in at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, and studied Italian opera for a short period of time.^[17]

Career[link]

1999–2006: Career beginnings[link]

Perry performing on her guitar, an instrument she learned to play when she was just starting her record career

When Perry was 15, her singing in church attracted the attention of rock veterans from Nashville, Tennessee, who brought her there to polish her writing skills.^[18] In Nashville, Perry started recording demos and was taught by country music veterans how to craft songs and play guitar.^[13][15] Perry signed to the Christian music label Red Hill, under which she recorded her first album at the age of 15.^[19] Performing as Katy Hudson, she released a self-titled gospel rock album in 2001.^[18] She supported this album with The Strangely Normal Tour, accompanied by Phil Joel, LaRue, Luna Halo, Earthsuit and V*Enna.^[20] The album was unsuccessful as the label ceased operations at the end of 2001.^[19] She later changed her surname to Perry, her mother's maiden name, because "Katy Hudson" was too close to film actress Kate Hudson.^[18][21]

Perry performs at the 2008 Warped Tour

At the age of 17, Perry left her home for Los Angeles, where she worked with Glen Ballard on an album for Island Records.^[22] Growing up listening to mostly gospel music, Perry had few references when she began recording songs.^[13] Asked by the producer with whom she would like to collaborate, Perry had no idea. That night, she went with her mother to a hotel. Inside, she turned on VH1 and saw producer Glen Ballard talking about Alanis Morissette;^[13] Ballard produced Morissette's Jagged Little Pill, which had a "huge influence" on Perry.^[18] She expressed interest in working with Ballard to her initial collaborator, who arranged a meeting for her with Ballard in Los Angeles. Perry presented one of her songs to Ballard. Ballard then helped Perry develop her songwriting over the next few years.^[13] The album was due for release in 2005,^[18][19] but Billboard reported it also went nowhere.^[19] Perry was dropped by The Island Def Jam Music Group.^[7] Some of Perry and Ballard's collaborations included "Box", "Diamonds" and "Long Shot", were posted on her official MySpace page. "Simple", one of the songs she recorded with Ballard, was released on the soundtrack to the 2005 film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.^[23][24] "Long Shot" and "I Do Not Hook Up" was later recorded by Kelly Clarkson for her 2009 album All I Ever Wanted.^[25]

Perry signed to Columbia Records in 2004. However, the label was not amenable with her vision, not putting her in the "driver's seat".^[19] Instead, one of Columbia's ideas was to pair Perry with the record production team The Matrix, who was working on an album, to serve as its female vocalist. Although the album was later shelved,^[26] she caught the attention of the music press: Her burgeoning music career led to her being named "The Next Big Thing" in October 2004 by Blender magazine.^[19] With no album project ongoing, Perry began recording her own. Eighty percent completed, however, Columbia decided not to finish it and dropped her from the label.^[19] While waiting to find another label, she worked in an independent A&R company called Taxi Music. In 2006, Perry was featured in the tail-end of the video to P.O.D.'s single "Goodbye for Now".^[27] She made a cameo appearance in Carbon Leaf's video, "Learn to Fly".

[edit] 2007–09: Commercial success with One of the Boys and MTV Unplugged

While in the process of being dropped by Columbia in 2006, the company's publicity executive Angelica Cob-Baehler enthusiastically recommended Perry to Virgin Records chairman Jason Flom.^[28] At the time Flom was leading a complete revival in fortunes at the label and looking to crown recent achievements by breaking a global pop act.^[28] Despite mixed reactions from fellow Virgin executives, Flom became convinced that Perry could be that breakthrough star, and at the start of 2007 extended discussions with Columbia resulted in Perry signing to the newly created Capitol Music Group, a merger between Virgin and Capitol. As part of the deal, the label secured the masters to the unfinished album, recorded while at Columbia, that would go on to form a significant part of her official mainstream debut album, One of the Boys.^[28]

The Columbia recordings were seen by Flom as being "very strong but lacking an undeniable smash or two that would work both at U.S. pop radio and internationally" and so one of the executive's first actions after completing the signing was to set up a collaboration between Perry and the writer-producer Dr. Luke.^[28] The results were the songs "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot n Cold". Establishing her image was one of the immediate concerns of her management.^[19] A campaign was started in November 2007 with the release of the video to "Ur So Gay", aimed at introducing her to the music market. A digital EP led by "Ur So Gay" was later released to create online buzz and press story.^[11][19][29] This was a successful move that resulted in bringing Perry to the attention of Madonna,^[19] who mentioned her on KISS FM and KRQ's JohnJay & Rich morning show in Arizona. On March 10, 2008, she appeared as herself on the ABC Family television series, Wildfire, on the episode "Life's Too Short".^[30]

Perry during Hello Katy Tour on March 27, 2009

In the next step of promoting the album, Perry undertook a two-month tour of radio stations. The album's official lead single, "I Kissed a Girl", was released on May 6, 2008. Perry's A&R, Chris Anokute, told HitQuarters the song and its controversial theme had met with strong resistance at the label: "People said, 'This is never going to get played on the radio. How do we sell this? How’s this going to be played in the bible belt?'"^[29] Anokute said that they needed the support of one of the label's radio promoters to convince people to believe in the record; otherwise, Perry would have likely been dropped again. Capitol's SVP of Promotions, Dennis Reese, saw the vision and helped push the single on national radio. The first station to pick it up and take a chance was The River in Nashville. After playing it for three days they were innundated with enthusiastic calls.^[29] With the song climbing atop the charts, Perry embarked on the annual Warped Tour music festival, which her management used to "establish her as a credible performer and make sure she wasn't seen as just a one-hit wonder."^[19] The single was a commercial success, peaking at number one for seven weeks on the Billboard Hot 100.^[19] It has since become a major worldwide hit, topping charts in 30 countries,^[26] including Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.^[31] On June 12, 2008, Perry appeared as herself on the daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless,^[30] posing for the cover to the June 2008 issue of the fictional magazine Restless Style.^[32] Perry also performed backing vocals on the song, "Another Night in the Hills" from Gavin Rossdale's 2008 solo album Wanderlust.^[33]

One of the Boys was released on June 17, 2008, to mixed critical reviews.^[34] The album has reached number nine on the Billboard 200,^[35] and has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.^[36] Perry released her second single, "Hot n Cold", which became her second top three single in dozens of countries around the world, including the United States where it reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100,^[19] as well as topping the charts in Germany, Canada, and Denmark. After Perry wrapped up her appearance at the Warped Tour, she went on tours in Europe. She later launched her first headlining tour, the Hello Katy Tour, in January 2009.^[19] "I Kissed a Girl" earned Perry a nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 2009 Grammy Awards.^[37] Perry was nominated in five categories at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, including Best New Artist and Best Female Video, but lost to Britney Spears.^[38] She won Best New Act at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards, which she co-hosted,^[39] and Best International Female Artist at the 2009 BRIT Awards.^[40] On February 9, 2009, both "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot n Cold" were certified three-time platinum by Recording Industry Association of America for individual digital sales of over three million.^[41] The Guinness Book of World Records recognized Perry in its 2010 version as the "Best Start on the US Digital Chart by a Female Artist," for having her first two singles sell over two million digital copies.^[42]