Life and career

Fox founded Harbour Group Industries, a multi-billion dollar investment firm.

A major donor to the Republican Party, Fox was a Bush Pioneer in 2000 and a "Ranger" in 2004, categories for donors who recruit others to donate. Very late in the 2004 election campaign, on October 29, 2004, Fox also donated $50,000 Swift Boat Veterans For Truth ("SBVT"), a 527 group that opposed John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election by claiming that Kerry exaggerated his service record. The SBVT has since been widely dismissed as a political attack group failing to substantiate any of their claims.

Fox is the past chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition. Fox has also been involved in numerous philanthropic events; he has been chairman of the Greater St. Louis Boy Scouts and a member of the Board of Trustees at Washington University since 1989. He also endowed the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University, which includes the School of Art and the School of Architecture.

Additionally, President George W. Bush appointed Sam and Marilyn Fox to serve on the Honorary Delegation to accompany him to Jerusalem for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel in May 2008.

Ambassadorial nomination

Fox was nominated for the position of Ambassador in December 2006. During his February 2007 hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Fox faced lengthy questioning from the target of attacks by the 527 group he funded in 2004, Senator John Kerry. Kerry interrogated Fox for approximately 35 minutes, beginning with 20 minutes of questioning directly pertinent to the ambassadorial position for which Fox was nominated, such as the tensions over the U.S. Terrorist Finance Tracking Program which accessed transaction databases of the SWIFT network. Kerry continued with a series of questions related to Fox's financial support of a 527 group which had attacked Kerry's military record during the 2004 campaign. In response to the question from Kerry, "I assume that you believe the truth in public life is important," Fox answered, "Yes, sir." Kerry then followed with, "And might I ask you what your opinion is with respect to the state of American politics, as regards the politics of personal destruction?" to which Fox replied "I'm against 527s, I've always been against 527s....Senator Kerry, I very much respect your dedicated service to this country... Senator, you're a hero."

But in response to follow up questions from Kerry, Fox did not denounce or acknowledge any responsibility or regret for his own support of the attacks on Kerry's military record in 2004.

Recess Appointment

Reactions to the Recess Appointment

Senate / Democratic Reaction

Bush used his power to make recess appointments and gave Fox the job while lawmakers were on a one-day break. Recess appointments are generally made if Congress is out for a long time, such as a month-long summer vacation.

The letter, submitted by Democrats Chris Dodd of Connecticut, John Kerry of Massachusetts and Robert Casey of Pennsylvania, read: "We view the recess appointment of Mr. Fox as a clear abuse of the President's recess appointment power."

Dodd argued that the law that enables the president to make recess appointments was not created to get around the approval of the Senate.

"This is really now taking the recess appointment vehicle and abusing this beyond anyone's imagination," Dodd said, according to AP. "This is a travesty."

He said in a statement that what the President did was "deceptive at best and illegal at worst."

Administration / Republican Reaction

;Transcript of Rush Limbaugh Broadcast

RUSH: The recess appointment of Sam Fox. Sam Fox is from my home state, and I know of Sam Fox.

He was treated horribly by Senator Kerry and others on that committee, simply because he had made a political donation.

They essentially told him he did not have free speech in this country, and until he would apologize, 'til he would go up to Kerry and apologize for supporting the swift boats.

Now the president has recess appointed him (Ambassador to Belgium), and of course the Democrats say they're going to investigate this and going to look into this. This is the kind of move that garners a lot of support from the people in the country. This shows the administration willing to engage these people, and not allow them to get away with this kind of—well, my term, you don't have to accept it -- "Stalinist behavior".

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, you're dead on, Rush.

See also

References

External links

Category:1929 births Category:Living people Category:American financiers Category:American philanthropists Category:American Jews Category:Bush Pioneers Category:People from St. Louis, Missouri Category:Washington University in St. Louis alumni Category:United States ambassadors to Belgium Category:Recess appointments during the George W. Bush administration

Samantha Karen "Sam" Fox (born 15 April 1966) is an English dance-pop singer, actress, and former glamour model. In 1983, at the age of 16, she began her topless modeling career on Page Three of ''The Sun'', and went on to become an enormously popular pin-up girl. In 1986 she launched her pop music career with her debut single "Touch Me (I Want Your Body)," which became a Number 1 hit in five countries. She has since sold over 30 million albums worldwide. Fox has also appeared in a number of films and reality television shows, and has occasionally worked as a television presenter.

Background

She attended St Thomas More RC School, Haringey and took a keen interest in the theatre from an early age. She first appeared on a theatre stage at the age of three, and was enrolled in the Anna Scher Theatre School from the age of 5. Her first television appearance came in 1976, at the age of 10, in a BBC play entitled ''No Way Out''. Following on from this, she started at the Judi Dench Mountview Theatre School, near her home in Haringey, at the age of 11.

Interested in music from an early age, she formed her first band, with Richard Smart on guitar, Edward Gallagher on triangle and Bob Day on tambourine, at the age of 14. Her first record deal came a year later, with Lamborghini Records. However, both her theatre and music careers went on hold when her modelling career took off.

Modelling career

Fox's cockney background, bubbly-blonde looks, winning smile, and 36D bust made her an enormously popular Page Three model. After famously insuring her breasts for a quarter of a million pounds sterling, she won ''The Sun'''s Page Three Girl of the Year award for three consecutive years between 1984 and 1986. She also posed nude for several British men's magazines and was a UK Penthouse Pet, but very few full-frontal shots were ever published.

Fox retired from Page Three modelling in 1986, at the age of 20. In 1995, aged 29, she made a one-off appearance in ''The Sun'' to promote Page Three's 25th anniversary week. After receiving an overwhelmingly positive reader response, she appeared in the slot every day during the anniversary week, with Friday's final topless picture given away as an A3-sized poster. In 1996, aged 30, she appeared in the October issue of ''Playboy'' magazine.

In September 2008, readers of ''The Daily Star'' tabloid newspaper voted Fox as the top Page 3 pin-up girl of all time. At the age of 42, she posed topless for the tabloid, her first topless appearance in twelve years.

Music career

1980s

Within a year, Fox had released her second album, ''Samantha Fox'' (1987), again on Jive Records. The first single released from the album, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now", enabled her to achieve her third (and final) top ten hit in the UK (#8), though it only managed to peak at #80 on the US Billboard charts. The track was produced by the legendary production team Stock/Aitken/Waterman. The second single release, "I Surrender (To the Spirit of the Night)", failed to match the success of its predecessor in the UK and peaked at #25 in the UK. The next two releases, "I Promise You (Get Ready)" and "True Devotion", both failed altogether to make the UK Top 40 singles chart. "True Devotion" was a substantial radio hit in Canada. The fifth and final single, "Naughty Girls (Need Love Too)", turned the fortunes of the album around and managed to secure a top ten placing on the US Billboard charts (#3), becoming her biggest hit to date in the US and scoring Fox another Top 40 hit on the UK singles chart (#31). The track was a different sound for Fox, being produced by the US hip-hop producers Full Force. They would continue to work with Samantha on subsequent albums and achieve similar success with her stateside, whereas her changed sound did not fare as well for her with European listeners, who preferred the Euro-pop sound of her earlier music.

The following year, Fox released her third album, ''I Wanna Have Some Fun'' (1988), also on Jive Records. The album was produced by various producers covering the Euro-pop sound. Two tracks, "Next to Me" and the title track, reunited her for Full Force, where another reunion with Stock Aitken Waterman saw her record a cover of Dusty Springfield's "I Only Want to Be with You", and the SAW original "You Started Something". The first UK single released from the album was "Love House". The second single released in the UK, "I Only Wanna Be with You", managed to secure her her biggest hit in over a year, peaking in the Top 20 at #16. The first single release in the US fared even better. The title selection, "I Wanna Have Some Fun", produced by Full Force, managed to peak in the US Top Ten at #8 (although when released as the third single in the UK it only managed a #63 placing). The American release, as the follow-up, of "I Only Wanna Be with You" peaked inside the US Billboard Top 40 at #31. No further singles were released from the album.

1990s

In 1992, Jive released Samantha's first official compilation, ''Greatest Hits'', which featured three new tracks. Fox co-wrote and performed the track "Go for the Heart" for UK submission in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1995. It was performed as Sox featuring Cris Bonacci and Lorraine McIntosh. The song placed 4th in preliminary public voting and was therefore not selected as the representative track. "Go for the Heart" was a modest hit throughout some European territories.

In 1997, she released a new album, ''21st Century Fox''. It performed moderately throughout Europe and Scandinavia. Without a worldwide distribution deal the album suffered from little promotion and a staggered release schedule. Singles "The Reason Is You", "Deeper", "Let Me Be Free" and "Perhaps" made little chart impression (although "Let Me Be Free" was a Top 20 hit in The Netherlands) despite Fox making numerous television appearances to promote the album. In 1998, Fox released a single together with DJ Milano,"Santa Maria", which charted at #31 in the UK chart and was a TOP 10 hit in Austria and the Czech Republic. In 1999 Fox was cast in her first stage musical, Tayla Goodman's ''Virus'', but she had to withdraw when the backer pulled his money.

2000s

In September 2009, Fox was a guest vocalist on the track "Tomorrow" by Marc Mysterio and in October 2009 Fox's first three albums were reissued in the US with bonus tracks. In December 2009, her latest compilation was issued, ''Greatest Hits'', both in single CD and double CD formats.

2010s

On 10 August 2010, The Beatles Complete On Ukulele released her reimagining of The Beatles' "I Should Have Known Better" featuring ukulele.

Film and television

In the late 1980s, Fox appeared in television adverts for Leicestershire based car dealership network with the slogan "Follow the Fox to Swithland Motors".

In 1989, Fox co-presented the BRIT Awards with Mick Fleetwood, which became notorious for turning into a shambles; Fox has asserted in interviews since that the autocue did not work properly that night, leading to utter chaos during the show's live TV broadcast. She spent a year in New York presenting pop promo videos for MTV, and she made other attempts at TV presenting, including an interview with Rolf Harris, which was ill-fated even before it started as Fox referred to her interviewee as "Ralph" on several occasions, although he got his own back by resting his beard against her neck and tickling her with it.

She appeared on the sitcom ''Charles in Charge'' in 1990 where she played the role of Samantha Steele, a fictional rock star whose agent pushes her to romance Charles (Scott Baio) in order to get the paparazzi to print it in the tabloids. Fox featured in the ITV programme ''An Audience with... Ken Dodd'' (1994). Fox also featured in ''It's Been Real'', written and directed by Steve Varnom and starring John Altman, and ''The Match'', written and directed by Mick Davis and starring Pierce Brosnan, Ian Holm, Tom Sizemore, Neil Morrissey, David Hayman and Ilar Blair. In 2003, she appeared in a reality television show ''The Club'', competing against Richard Blackwood and Dean Gaffney by trying to run the most successful bar in ''The Club'', which was full of celebrity guests such as Katie "Jordan" Price.

In 2008, Fox and her partner, Myra, took part in ''Celebrity Wife Swap'', exchanging with Freddie Starr and his wife Donna. In November 2009, she took part in ITV's ''I'm a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here''. She was voted out on the 16th day. In July 2010, Fox took part in a celebrity episode of Come Dine With Me, appearing with Calum Best, Janice Dickinson & Jeff Brazier.. In early 2011, Fox presented her 50 favorite hits of the 1980s on VH-1 in the UK.

Personal life

In 1994, it was reported that Fox had become a born-again Christian. That year, she played at the Christian arts festival Greenbelt.

In the 1980s she dated Australian confidence trickster Peter Foster and became involved in promoting a diet tea product that was eventually revealed as a scam. She later became distant from Foster: "I'm old enough now to know that I'd never be taken in again by the likes of Peter Foster. But then, I was 22 and impressionable. My parents had split and here was a man who was clever, manipulative and domineering. I came close to marrying him because I was so vulnerable."

Rumours regarding Fox's sexual orientation began to surface in 1999 when she judged a lesbian beauty pageant, and rumours started to circulate that the woman she lived with at the time, Australian Cris Bonacci, formerly guitarist with Girlschool, was more than just her manager. In February 2003, she made a statement about her personal life: "I have slept with other women but I've not been in love before Myra Stratton. People say I'm gay... I don't know what I am. All I know is that I'm in love with Myra [Stratton, her manager]. I love her completely and want to spend the rest of my life with her."

She said that part of her reluctance to come out was due to fears of how some of her fans might react to her being in relationship with a woman, as she had already had to deal with obsessed fans and stalkers. In August 2009, Samantha Fox announced her plans to have a civil partnership with Stratton.

Charitable activity

In June 2011 she appeared as part of a campaign for LGBT charity the Albert Kennedy Trust, together with other gay and lesbian celebrities.

Discography

References

External links

Category:1966 births Category:Alumni of the Anna Scher Theatre School Category:English dance musicians Category:English female singers Category:English house musicians Category:English pop singers Category:Freestyle musicians Category:I'm a Celebrity…Get Me out of Here! contestants Category:Lesbian models Category:Lesbian musicians Category:LGBT Christians Category:LGBT musicians from the United Kingdom Category:LGBT people from England Category:Living people Category:Musicians from London Category:Page Three girls Category:People from Crouch End Category:People from Mile End

Music career

Resoort had his first hit with "Day Time", and later released "Take Me Away (Into the Night)", his second hit. They had some success, having been in record charts in several European countries and also Canada and Australia. Success in the United States has been limited and they have only charted on the U.S., Dance Radio Airplay, Hot Dance Singles Sales, and Rhythmic Top 40 chart. The ''Ultra.Trance 2007'' album went to number seven on the Top Electronic Albums chart. This album was compiled by DJ 4 Strings, but only one of the songs was by 4 Strings.

4 Strings currently consists of Resoort (who mostly creates the music) and De Vos (who mostly works on production and arrangement, and performs some songs) and various guest artists on vocals. In 2004, rumors surfaced of singer Vanessa van Hemert leaving the group, due to some newly released 4 Strings songs that did not feature her. Although Resoort originally denied the rumors, by the following year, van Hemert did leave the group. "Sunrise" was the last track van Hemert provided vocals for 4 Strings.

De Vos took up the name DJ 4 Strings and does all live performances.

Discography

Albums (as ''4 Strings'')

Singles (as ''4 Strings'')

Singles (as Carlo Resoort)

Singles (as Madelyne)

Remixes

Unofficial Remixes

Chart positions

{| width="0%" |- valign="top" | width="50%" | {|class="wikitable" !align="left"|Chart (2002) !align="center"|Peakposition |- |align="left"|UK Singles Chart |align="center"|#15 |- |align="left"|Belgian Singles Chart |align="center"|#16 |- |align="left"|German Singles Chart |align="center"|#22 |- |- |align="left"|Dutch Singles Chart |align="center"|#25 |- |align="left"|Austrian Singles Chart |align="center"|#69 |- |align="left"|Swiss Singles Chart |align="center"|#99 |- |align="left"|Australian Singles Chart |align="center"|#44 |- |align="left"|''Billboard'' Hot Dance Singles Sales |align="center"|#20 |- |}

"Diving"

{| width="0%" |- valign="top" | width="50%" | {|class="wikitable" !align="left"|Chart (2003) !align="center"|Peakposition |- |align="left"|Belgian Singles Chart |align="center"|#16 |- |align="left"|Dutch Singles Chart |align="center"|#29 |- |align="left"|Canadian Singles Chart |align="center"|#34 |- |align="left"|UK Singles Chart |align="center"|#38 |- |align="left"|German Singles Chart |align="center"|#73 |- |}

"Let it Rain"

"Turn it Around"

"Until You Love Me"

"Day Time"

"Curious" feat. Tina Cousins

"Silmarillia" (4 Strings radio edit)"

"Take Me Away" (Dave Darell Radio Edit)

Pseudonyms

Aliases

Collaborations

See also

References

External links

Category:1973 births Category:Club DJs Category:Dutch dance musicians Category:Living people Category:Dutch trance musicians