Universal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group.

History[link]

Founded in 1995 as Rising Tide Records, the label would ultimately begin to thrive the following year when its name was changed to Universal Records to complement the branding overhaul of the Universal Studios structure since MCA Inc. was purchased from Matsushita Electric by The Seagram Company Ltd.. The label, which is actually the second incarnation (the first one was a short-lived underground imprint of MCA Records that existed from 1988 to 1989) was created by current Universal Music Group chairman Doug Morris and Daniel Glass, who became its president.

Universal Records had success in breaking new artists, including the multi-platinum debut of Erykah Badu, Billie Myers, Goldfinger, Akon and the Lost Boyz. Recognizing the changing landscape of the industry, Glass strategically aligned Universal Records with such independent record labels as Kedar Entertainment, home to Erykah Badu, and Mojo Records, home to platinum artist Reel Big Fish and the Cherry Poppin' Daddies.

As the 1990s ended and the 2000s began, the label had notable success with acts like 3 Doors Down, 98 Degrees, Chamillionaire, Godsmack, Jack Johnson, Juvenile, Nelly, Big Sha, Lil Wayne, and Mika. In 1999, Universal Records was pooled together with Motown Records and Republic Records to form Universal Motown Republic Group under which it operates today.

There have been unrelated Universal Records labels in Europe and the Philippines. Because of the unrelated label in the Philippines owning the rights to the Universal Records name in that country; parent company Universal Music Group does business there as MCA Music, Inc., using UMG's former name.

Affiliated labels[link]

Affiliated labels include Celtic Heartbeat Records,^[1] formerly affiliated with Atlantic Records, and Universal Motown Republic Group (UMRG). Bill Whelan's Riverdance was Celtic Heartbeat's first album to sell more than a million copies.^[1]

See also[link]

• Universal Records artists
• List of record labels

References[link]

Steve-O
Steve-O in August 2011
Born	Stephen Gilchrist Glover (1974-06-13) June 13, 1974 (age 38) London, England
Occupation	Stunt performer, radio personality
Years active	1999–present

Steve-O (born Stephen Gilchrist Glover; June 13, 1974) is an English-born American stunt performer and television personality. His entertainment career is mostly centered around his performance stunts on the American TV series, Jackass, and accompanying movies.

Early life[link]

Steve-O was born in London, England.^[1] His mother, Donna Gay (née Wauthier), was Canadian, and his father, Richard Glover, was American.^[2] His paternal grandfather was English and his maternal step-grandfather was voice-over announcer Wayne Howell.^[3] His family was based in England for many years due to his father's presidency of the South American division of Pepsi-Cola. During his childhood he lived in a number of countries, including Canada, Brazil, Venezuela, and Uganda, where he spent two years before returning to the United States.^[4]

His first hometown in the United States was Darien, Connecticut, at the age of four. He moved to Miami two years later. When he was nine his family returned to London where Steve-O attended the American School in London in St. John's Wood for four years of school. As a child, he was an avid Mötley Crüe fan. In 1987, Motley was playing at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Canada where his family was living in at the time. He phoned every hotel within and outside the vicinity until he found the name that the band usually checked in under, manager Doc McGhee. He did not speak to Doc, but rather his brother Scott, but McGhee was so impressed with the resolve of Steve O to meet Motley that he brought him out for their show, let him meet them, and hang with them backstage, as told in Tommy Lee's autobiography.^[5]

He attended the University of Miami but dropped out after one year due to poor grades and acts of disobedience in school. He then attended and graduated from the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College in 1997.^[6] After graduation he was not selected to join the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, but worked as a clown in a circus at the Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop flea market. He filmed his stunts, including his clown performances, throughout this period.^[4]

Career[link]

Jackass and tours (2000-2003)[link]

While performing in the flea market circus, Steve-O began sending videos of himself to Big Brother Magazine editor and future Jackass director Jeff Tremaine. Tremaine recruited Steve-O for MTV's television series Jackass, which became an instant hit.^[7] From this popularity, MTV decided to release four movies and one more to come based on the series: Jackass: The Movie (2002), Jackass Number Two (2006), direct-home release Jackass 2.5 (2007), Jackass 3D (2010), and Jackass 3.5. Both Jackass: The Movie and Jackass Number Two became box office hits. In 2001, he released Don't Try This at Home on DVD, which contained material MTV censored.^[8] It went on to sell 140,000 copies.^[9] He toured promoting the DVD doing stunts, which was filmed and released as Don't Try This at Home Volume 2: The Tour^[10]

On July 31, 2002, Steve-O was arrested on obscenity and assault charges for stapling his scrotum to his leg, and for being a principal to a second-degree battery, during a performance at a nightclub in Houma, Louisiana on July 11, 2002.^[11][12][13] After several delays, in March 2003 Steve-O made a deal with Louisiana prosecutors placing him on supervised probation for one year, requiring him to make a charitable donation of $5,000 to a shelter for battered women and children and forbidding him from ever performing in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana again.^[14]

In 2003, Steve-O toured Europe with Bam Margera, a friend of his. On May 22, 2003 Steve-O was arrested and jailed while in Sweden due to footage of himself swallowing a condom containing cannabis to get it past authorities while flying on a plane. He then regurgitated it live on stage, which he showed in his DVD Steve-O: Out on Bail (aka Don't Try This At Home - The Steve-O Video Vol. 3: Out on Bail) (2003). Steve-O reached a deal with the Swedish prosecutors and was released on May 27, 2003 after paying a 45,000 kronor (about 6,700 USD) fine. As part of the plea bargain Steve-O admitted to possessing one ecstasy tablet and five grams of marijuana, although he claimed he had no knowledge of where the ecstasy came from.^[15] The Swedish arrest was included in the third installment of the DVD series titled Steve-O: Out on Bail. Two months later on July 19, 2003, Steve-O was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct for urinating on potato chips in public during a Lollapalooza tour concert in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania. Steve-O claimed he was kicked off the tour by Lollapalooza producers because of the incident.^[16]

After Jackass (2004-2007)[link]

After the Jackass show ended, he co-starred with Chris Pontius on MTV's Wildboyz, which lasted four seasons until 2006. The two performed stunts and acts with animals, often putting themselves in situations for which they were not trained.

In mid 2005, he launched his own shoe company called Sneaux Shoes.^[17] Television commercials promoting the shoe company include such acts as Steve-O jumping into garbage, getting his foot bitten by an alligator (simulated) and drinking rotten milk. His slogan is "They're darn good shoes."

On March 27, 2006, he and Jackass co-star Chris Pontius visited The Dean Blundell Show, a morning show on Toronto radio station CFNY (102.1 The Edge), to promote their "Don't Try This At Home" tour. He urinated on the floor and performed a stunt called "Unwrapping the Mummy" all in front of a live studio audience. Hosts Dean Blundell, Jason Barr, and Todd Shapiro were suspended for the week following the appearance, after many complaints.^[18] In April 2006, Steve-O later sued manager Nick Dunlap and attorney Jason Berk, accusing them of lying to him to fund their lavish lifestyles.^[19]

On July 18, 2006, Steve-O became a late contestant on the British reality show Love Island broadcast on ITV from Fiji in an effort to boost ratings. Despite stating he had stopped drinking, he asked for beer while on the show. On July 19, 2006 he abruptly left Love Island because he was not allowed the beer and chocolate which he had requested.^[20]

In November 2006, he went on a drug binge after being misdiagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a serious heart condition.^[21] He was later examined by heart specialists who concluded he was in good health.^[21]

In 2007, Steve-O starred in his own television show called Dr. Steve-O on the USA Network. In the show, he helped make his guests cool and "de-wussify" them. That same year he appeared in Jackass 2.5, which mainly consisted of material that did not appear in the second Jackass movie. Additionally, he appeared with some Jackass alumni in National Lampoon's TV: The Movie.

On February 5, 2008, he appeared on The Howard Stern Show with Howard Stern, Robin Quivers and Artie Lange on Sirius Satellite radio to promote his upcoming rap album Hard As a Rock. Another mix-CD released by Steve-O is called The Dumbest Asshole In Hip Hop.^[22]

Psychiatric problems and rehab (2008)[link]

On February 23, 2008 Steve-O joined the rest of the Jackass crew for the Jackass MTV 24 Hour Takeover, which promoted JackassWorld.com. He participated in several stunts, and even debuted his rap music video, to which for the first time in years, Mike Judge brought back the duo of Beavis and Butt-head to criticize. Later, during the live broadcast Steve-O was kicked out of MTV studios on the request of executives for his behavior and intoxication.^[23] Eventually, he was allowed back in the MTV Studios.

On March 9, 2008, after receiving an e-mail from Steve-O that suggested his possible suicide, Steve-O's friends, including co-star Johnny Knoxville, became concerned he was a danger to himself and consulted with physician Dr. Drew Pinsky, who told them to get Steve-O to a hospital immediately. Steve-O was placed on a 72 hour psychiatric hold which was later lengthened to 14 days due to an alleged suicide attempt.^[24] In a mass e-mail addressed to his friends, Steve-O expressed that he previously had thought of his drug use and bipolarity as a "good thing," but that he now realizes that his drug use was apparently hurting those he loved most.^[25]

He also appeared in WWE with Chris Pontius.

On June 4, 2008, Steve-O pleaded guilty to felony possession of cocaine. He avoided jail by the successful completion of his treatment program.^[26] In July, after 115 days of sobriety, Steve-O announced he was "back in the loony bin".^[27] He returned to the mental institution, he said, because "I've had horrible mood swings and severe depression. My brain is fucked up from using so much cocaine, ketamine, PCP, nitrous oxide, and all sorts of other drugs."^[28]

Post-rehab, Jackass reprised and comedy tours (2009-2012)[link]

In March 2009, Steve-O was on the 8th season of Dancing with the Stars, paired with Lacey Schwimmer. After the first week, he complained of pinched nerves and back spasms and did not compete in the second week after injuring his back further by falling on his microphone pack during dress rehearsal. The judges based their scores on his performance at the dress rehearsal.^[29] He was eventually eliminated in the sixth week of the competition.

On May 3, 2009, MTV premiered a documentary titled Steve-O: Demise and Rise about how his life was affected by the use of drugs and alcohol.^[23] The show featured home-made video footage of Steve using drugs and vandalizing his apartment. In an August 2009 interview with Johnny Knoxville for The Times-Picayune, Knoxville on the topic of Steve-O's recovery and rehabilitation said "He's taking to sobriety like he took to drugs and alcohol, I'm very proud of him. I think we'll see him doing some stuff here really soon. As a matter of fact, I know we are."^[30] And later stated "Something's coming. We're pretty excited ... I think it'll be a big year next year, but I don't want to talk about it yet."^[30]

Steve-O later told Comedy Digital Radio station Barry that he's never seen the MTV documentary, "When I saw the footage of myself doing drugs I felt like I could see them, I could taste them. It made me crave them and as embarrassing as that footage is, that just seemed like another reason to get high. I couldn't watch it; I haven't watched it since then. The producers put it all together and finished it up without any input for me, it's better that way.”^[31] Then in January 2009, Steve-O announced on his website the release of a new DVD titled Steve-O: Pounding Out Randoms, of which only 1000 copies have been made.^[32]

Steve-O was part of Jackass 3D, the third installment of the Jackass series, released in October 2010.^[33] The movie was in 3D and began production on January 25, 2010,^[34] In late May 2010, Knoxville has stated that Steve-O's sobriety is at its best and “There is no beer on set this time around even if some of us wish there was”. He also said “And to be honest it's going great. Everyone has had different injuries throughout which is a good sign and Steve-O is probably getting the best footage out of everybody. He is really going for it. He wants to prove to everyone he can do these stunts sober. It's been two years since he had a drink now. Everyone has been real supportive of him.”.^[35] Steve-O is now a vegan for both health and compassionate reasons. After the Jackass 3D stunt involving a ram (during which he injured his hand), he has expressed some concern about doing stunts in the future that "mess with animals."^[5]

When Jackass 3D was released in 2010, the movie broke box office records.^[36] In promoting the movie, he appeared on The Howard Stern Show, lighting himself on fire causing Howard Stern to yell: "Put him out! Put his head out! Fucking maniac! Oh my god, you're a maniac! You're a goddamn maniac!"^[37]

In November 2010, Steve-O began touring the United States performing stand-up comedy on what he called "Steve-O's Entirely Too Much Information Tour". In early 2011, he announced a nine-month long American comedy tour.^[38] He appeared in Jackass 3.5, which was released in April 2011. In March 2011 Steve-O brought his Stand up comedy tour to Canada, where he ended each show by lighting his head on fire and having fellow stuntman Ryan Stock spit a mouth full of lamp oil at his head, resulting in a huge fireball.

On Sunday March 27, 2011, Steve-O was arrested by Canadian authorities at Calgary airport. Officers found an arrest warrant filed in 2003. Steve-O was accused of assault with a weapon. He was released after paying a caution of $10,000.^[39] Before his arrest, Steve-O spoke about "how he outran police after a fan was, according to authorities, beaten on stage eight years ago."^[40]

In May 2011, he brought his stand-up show to Australia, playing a show in all the major cities.^[41] In an interview with Comedy Digital Radio station Barry Steve-O explained the genesis of his comedy tour, "Someone invited me to a famous comedy club in Los Angeles and they asked that I get on stage and do something outrageous. When I got to that comedy club I looked around and it occurred to me that the craziest thing I could possibly do by far would be to try stand-up comedy. Like, that was genuinely the most terrifying, outlandish just crazy thing that I could do.”^[31]

In June 2011, Steve-O released an autobiography entitled Professional Idiot: A Memoir, co-written with David Peisner. He has stated that he follows only a strict vegan diet and is one of the many celebrities that got involved in the NOH8 project. In July, he received PETA's Nanci Alexander award for his "voice against cruelty."^[42][43]

On September 13, 2011, during a taping of the Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen, Steve-O joked, "The last time this many nobodies were at a roast, at least Great White was playing". Steve-O has since apologized for the comment and requested that it be removed from the broadcast of the roast.^[44] During the taping of the roast, Steve-O attempted to run into the fist of boxer Mike Tyson, but the first attempt didn't work. Later, at the end of the roast, Steve-O made another attempt and this time connected, resulting in Steve-O getting a broken nose.^[45] He also claimed to have been sober and clean for three and a half years.

It was announced on October 3, 2011 that Steve-O will be hosting truTV's new reality game show Killer Karaoke, the American version of the British competition show Sing If You Can. The show is slated to air in early 2012.^[46]

On March 14th, 2012 a remix of MGK's song wild boy was released with Steve-O providing the intro.

TV, film, book and releases[link]

TV

• Jackass (MTV, 2000–2002)
• Wildboyz (MTV, 2003–2006)
• The Bronx Bunny Show (one episode 2003)
• Totally Busted (Playboy TV, 2004–2006)
• Blind Date (One episode)
• Love Island (ITV, 2006)
• The O.C (One Episode, 2006)
• 24 Hours with... (ITV, 2006)
• Bam's Unholy Union (MTV)
• Dr. Steve-O (USA Network, 2007–2008)
• Jackassworld.com: 24 Hour Takeover (MTV Special, 2008)
• Dancing with the Stars (ABC, 2009)
• Nitro Circus (one episode, 2009)
• Steve-O: Demise and Rise (MTV Special, 2009)
• True Beauty (as The Milkman) (one episode 2009)
• Germany's Next Topmodel (German TV show, season 6, episode 12, 2011)
• Minute to Win It (NBC, 2011)
• The Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen (Comedy Central, 2011)

Movies

• Jackass: The Movie (2002)
• Blind Horizon (2003)
• Jackass Number Two (2006)
• Jackass 2.5 (2007)
• National Lampoon's TV: The Movie (2007)
• The Dudesons Movie (2008)
• Jackass 3D (2010)
• Jackass 3.5 (2011)
• Killer Karaoke (2012)

DVDs

• Don't Try This At Home - The Steve-O Video Vol. 1 (2001)
• Don't Try This At Home - The Steve-O Video Vol. 2: The Tour (2002)
• Steve-O: Out on Bail (aka Don't Try This At Home - The Steve-O Video Vol. 3: Out on Bail) (2003)
• Steve-O: The Early Years (2004)
• XYZ: Decade of Destruction (2005)
• Steve-O: Gross Misconduct (2005)
• Pinnernation (2007)
• Pounding Out Randoms (2009)

Music

• The Dumbest Asshole In Hip Hop (April 24, 2008, West Coast Madness Records)

Games

• A Character in Jackass: The Game
• Appeared in Tony Hawk's Underground 2 as a guest appearance
• A Celebrity in ESPN NFL 2K5

Book

• Stephen Glover and David Peisner, Professional Idiot: A Memoir (Hyperion June 7, 2011); ISBN 1-4013-2433-9

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Steve-O

• Official website.
• Steve-O at the Internet Movie Database
• Steve-O at MySpace (blog also syndicated on LiveJournal)

Rob Wells is a multi-platinum, award-winning producer/songwriter based in Toronto & Los Angeles.

Wells has worked with Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Adam Lambert, Nick Lachey, Miranda Cosgrove, Mika, Backstreet Boys, Paloma Faith, Cyndi Lauper, Olivia Newton John, Daisy Dares You, Boyzone, Matt Dusk, Marie-Mai, Shiloh, RyanDan, Ry Cuming & many others.^[1]

Rob's work has been featured on So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing With The Stars, One Tree Hill, The View, Late Show with David Letterman, Laguna Beach, House Of Carters, Degrassi: The Next Generation, Instant Star,^[2] & 20th Century Fox's Flicka.

In 2005, Wells (along with Christopher Ward) placed first in the International Songwriting Competition's Top40/Pop Category with the song "There's Us",^[3] which was later recorded by Alexz Johnson, Backstreet Boys and Jennifer Ewbank.

Wells received a SOCAN #1 award for Matt Dusk's "All About Me", having reached the top of the Canadian AC Radio Charts in August 2006.^[4]

In the summer and fall of 2008, Rob appeared on YTV's "The Next Star" as a music producer.^[5] He was also on an episode of E!'s "House Of Carters".^[6]

In the winter of 2011, his co-written song "Comme Avant" with Marie-Mai spent 11 weeks at #1 in Quebec.

He is the younger brother of writer/producer Greg Wells.^[7]

Selected discography[link]

• Stereos (Self Titled) by Stereos
• My World by Justin Bieber
• My Worlds Acoustic by Justin Bieber
• For Your Entertainment by Adam Lambert
• Kiss & Tell by Selena Gomez
• Unbreakable by Backstreet Boys
• What's Left Of Me by Nick Lachey
• Brother by Boyzone
• Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful? by Paloma Faith
• Duet by Ronan Keating
• Sparks Fly by Miranda Cosgrove
• Happy Ending by Mika
• Back In Town - by Matt Dusk
• Stereos by Stereos
• Picture Imperfect by Shiloh
• Somewhere Else by Eva Avila

References[link]

External links[link]

• Rob Wells on Myspace
• Rob Wells on Songwriters Association of Canada

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (September 2011)

Ferry Corsten
Ferry Corsten live in Toronto, Canada
Background information
Birth name	Ferry Corsten
Also known as	Ferr, System F, Moonman (more)
Born	(1973-12-04) 4 December 1973 (age 38)
Origin	Rotterdam, Netherlands
Genres	Trance
Occupations	DJ, Producer, Remixer
Years active	1989–present
Labels	Flashover
Associated acts	Gouryella, Vimana (more)
Website	www.ferrycorsten.com

Ferry Corsten, also known under the alias System F, (born 4 December 1973) is a Dutch producer of trance music, in addition to being a DJ and remixer. He also hosts his own weekly radio show, Corsten's Countdown. He routinely plays at events all over the world with crowds in excess of tens of thousands. In 2009 Ferry Corsten ranked #7 on DJ Magazine's annual Top 100 DJ Poll, dropping to #9 and #18 in subsequent years.^[1]

Life and career[link]

Before 1999: Early years[link]

Ferry Corsten was born in Rotterdam, Netherlands. He has produced and remixed under many aliases since the release of his first record at the age of sixteen,^[2] but he officially started to work as a musician when he was 17 years old. As a teenager he saved money to buy his first keyboard by washing cars, and selling mix tapes to kids in his neighbourhood. He later began to perform live performances with a friend and won his first award "De Grote Prijs van Nederland" at Holland in 1989.^[2] He eventually released a record with a couple of friends when he was just sixteen years old and later began releasing self-made productions while he grew up in Rotterdam in the 1990s, producing underground hardcore gabber tracks, later expanding into club-house and trance music. His first single to reach a chart position was "Don't Be Afraid" under the alias Moonman, which was only the start for becoming a composer as well. In 1997 Corsten and his partner Robert Smit established a dance label named Tsunami with the Dutch based dance company Purple Eye Entertainment b.v., this junction made the creation of another label possible; Polar State.^[3] Ferry Corsten was studying to become an Electrical Engineer, so he went to the Technical Training School and after that Higher Technical Education.^[4]

1999–2004: Rise to fame[link]

In February 1999 Corsten's second solo project, System F, was released on the Tsunami imprint along with the album Out of the Blue, including the same-named melodic tune that became a hit on dance floors all over the world, achieving a top twenty position in the United Kingdom single chart. The follow-up single was "Cry", produced together with Robert Smit which reached the UK Top 20.^[3]

His growing popularity in the late 1990s led to cooperation with many famous trance DJs and musicians like DJ Tiësto (Gouryella, Vimana), Vincent de Moor (Veracocha), and Robert Smit (Starparty). The track "Gouryella" by the act Gouryella was released in May, the single entered the UK Singles Top 75 at number fifteen and achieved various hit positions throughout the world. The next single was entitled "Walhalla" which entered the UK single chart at number twenty-seven. In 1999 Ferry was elected as producer of the year at the Ericsson Muzik Award in London.^[2] In September 2000 the third Gouryella single entitled "Tenshi" was released. In 2000, Corsten also remixed William Orbit's "Adagio for Strings" as well as "New Year's Day" for U2. His remix of Barber's "Adagio For Strings" was awarded at the Dancestar 2000 awards. The Ministry of Sound dance compilation series entitled Trance Nation became one of the best selling dance compilations in the UK and was awarded the platinum status.^[3] In 2000 in his home country Corsten got awarded the Silver Harp award for his numerous outstanding contributions made to Dutch dance music.^{[citation needed]}

In 2001 Ferry Performed and Produced the Dance Valley Anthem, the largest selling theme of Dance Valley and the largest event of The Netherlands (80.000 visitors)

In 2002 Ferry contributed to remix projects of tracks by Japanese superstar Ayumi Hamasaki. He went on to compose and arrange her heavily trance-based song "Connected," which was released in 2003, along with remixes, as a single in Germany which has sold 4 million copies, making this one of Ferry's most successful songs.^[2]

Ferry Corsten is the electronic dance music artist with the highest amount of dance singles in the UK charts^{[citation needed]}. He^[when?] has 10 gold singles, between those his 1999 remix of "Madagascar", "Out of the Blue" as his alias System F, both "Gouryella" and "Walhalla" in 2000, "Cry" and the "Dance Valley Theme" in 2001 with "Exhale" which is his latest as System F with Armin van Buuren; and his 2003–2004 singles "Punk" and "Rock Your Body Rock".^{[citation needed]}

In 2003 he launched his first album as Ferry Corsten, Right of Way, in Heineken Musical Hall with 4,500 clubbers at his eight-hour set.^[5] The music video of the song was nominated in the TMF Dutch MTV Awards in Netherlands. The album spawned three singles, "Punk" (UK #29), "Rock Your Body, Rock" (UK #11), and "It's Time" (UK #51). "Rock your body Rock" was voted biggest hit by BG Magazine in The Netherlands and reaches the top 10 in the UK.

In 2004, he produced and performed the single "Everything Goes" for the TMF Dutch Awards.

2005–2007: L.E.F.[link]

In 2005, Corsten founded his own record label, titled Flashover Recordings and released his 2nd artist album L.E.F., And he released his concept L.E.F. worldwide. In this year he was number 5 in the DJ MAG Top 100.

His track "Fire" was nominated in the best trance video category for the^[6] 2006 Trance Awards.In the DJ MAG Top 100 he was number 6 this year.

In 2006 Ferry Corsten performed at a concert in El Salvador in September and he did his Road to Voodoo Bus Tour: 20 states, 27 cities in 5 weeks.

The single "Junk" with vocals by Guru (Gangstarr) – top 20 charts Holland was released in 2006.

On 4 July 2007, Corsten debuted his new weekly radio show titled "Corsten's Countdown" which counts down a list of the highest voted trance tracks.

In 2007 Ferry released the single "Beautiful" – top 40 charts in Holland, and the single "The Race" (Brain Box) – top 20 charts in Holland. Also a New mix compilation Passport United States of America is released.

In 2007 was the successful 1st edition of Full on Ferry Concert Ahoy' Stadium Rotterdam (cap:12.000) and he produced the 1st official anthem for Bavaria City Racing in 2007 (F1 demonstration in the center of Rotterdam with more than 500.000 spectators. Official opening of the event by Ferry Corsten and the prime minister of The Netherlands, Jan Peter Balkenende).

He was dubbed the King of Crossover in an August 2007 interview on UK clubbing website HarderFaster.net, reflecting his recent L.E.F. (Loud Electronic Ferocious) style, which some^[who?] hail as a new direction in dance music. Corsten describes it as "everything from electro house, trance and techno".

2008–2009: Twice In A Blue Moon[link]

Ferry Corsten's third album, Twice In A Blue Moon, which made its debut at the 2nd edition of the Full On Ferry event at Ahoy in Rotterdam, was released on 1 November 2008. The first single from the album, Radio Crash, has been played by Tiësto, Armin van Buuren, Paul van Dyk, Above & Beyond and many other DJ's globally. The track has been a huge hit in clubs across the world and gave Ferry a good start in promoting his new album.^{[citation needed]} He also released the single "Into The Dark" ft. Howard Jones (March 2008).

In 2008, Ferry Corsten was the first DJ ever to be named Ambassador of Freedom by Dutch Liberation Day Comity.

2009–present: Twice In A Blue Moon (Remix Edition), Once Upon A Night Vol. 1 & 2 and WKND[link]

Ferry's album, Twice In A Blue Moon, consists of remixes of the previous album (Twice In A Blue Moon). It includes remixes by Rafael Frost, Lange, Ummet Ozcan, Markus Schulz and many more. The countries he visited during Twice In A Blue Moon: The Experience have included; Australia, the United States, Romania, Brazil, and Lebanon with debut show on May 29 in Mallaca, Malaysia.

This year also was the third edition Full on Ferry – The Masquerade in association with UDC on October 17, 2009, at Ahoy' Rotterdam.

In 2009 Ferry Corsten released two singles: "We Belong" from the album Twice in A Blue Moon (Date of release: May 25, 2009) and "Made of Love" from the album Twice In A Blue Moon – top 40 Ducht charts / Radio 538 Dance Smash / No.2 in UK Club Charts (Date of release: Valentine's Day 2009). And he released his DVD; Ferry Corsten – Backstage. Corsten reveals his concept Once Upon a Night, a mix compilation that immediately hit number 1 on iTunes in the US right after its release, and the supporting world tour.

Ferry's interactive radioshow Corsten's Countdown is available in more than 30 countries.

The DJ application Cue Play DJ set up a promotional partnership around Corsten's countdown 150st edition. Cue Play DJ is a mobile digital DJ application for the iPhone, with tracks from the Flashover label.

In 2010 Ferry Corsten has mixed the BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix and the album FC System F – Champions came out in February.

Ferry released Once Upon A Night in 2010. The album came out on March 30 and he started his tour: Once Upon A Night: The Experience.

After the release of Vol.1 Ferry released Once Upon A Night Vol.2 on October 1 and his world tour started on September 17. He's one of the best DJ in the world referring to the DJ Mag Top 100.

Ferry hosted a New Year's Eve event at the O2 Academy Brixton, London in 2011/2012 in which he delivered the midnight set and went on to perform back to back with other successful Trance DJ's/producers - Judge Jules, Sied Van Riel, Marcel Woods to name a few.

Pseudonyms[link]

Aliases[link]

A Jolly Good Fellow, Albion, Bypass, Cyber F, Eon, Exiter, Ferr, Firmly Underground, Free Inside, Kinky Toys, Lunalife, Moonman, Pulp Victim, Pulse, Raya Shaku, Riptide, Sidewalk, Sidewinder, Skywalker, System F, Tellurians, The Nutter.

Collaborations[link]

Discodroids (with Peter Nijborn), Gouryella (with Tiësto), Veracocha (with Vincent de Moor), Vimana (with Tiësto), FB (with Benny Benassi)

Discography[link]

Studio albums

Tours[link]

• Play Station Tour (2003)
• Right of Way World Album tour (2004)
• Heineken Tour (2004)
• Passport Compilation World Tour (2005)
• LEF World Album Tour (2006)
• Tour (2007)
• Tour (2008)
• Twice In A Blue Moon World Tour (2009)
• Once Upon A Night World Tour (2010)

Recognitions[link]

Selected remixes[link]

• Apoptygma Berzerk – Kathy's Song
• Armand Van Helden – Witch Doktor (Free Inside Remix)
• Art of Trance – Madagascar
• Ayumi Hamasaki – A Song for XX
• Ayumi Hamasaki – Kanariya
• Ayumi Hamasaki – WHATEVER
• Bobina – Invisible Touch (Ferry Corsten's Touch)
• BT - Force Of Gravity (Ferry Corsten Remix)
• BT – Suddenly (Ferry Corsten's Fix)
• Corderoy – Sweetest Dreams (Ferry Corsten Remix)
• Cosmic Gate – The Truth (Ferry Corsten Remix)
• Duran Duran – Reach Up For The Sunrise (Ferry Corsten Remix)
• Elles de Graaf – Show You My World
• Embrace – Embrace
• Every Little Thing – For The Moment
• Faithless feat. Boy George – Why Go (Ferry Corsten Remix)
• Faithless feat. Dido – Feelin Good (Ferry Corsten Fix)
• Gatecrasher Sheffield – mix compilation (Mixed by Ferry Corsten)
• Girl Next Door – Jōnetsu no Daishō
• Kai Tracid – Conscious (Ferry Corsten Remix)
• Kamaya Painters – Endless Wave (Albion Remix)
• The Killers – Human
• Klubbheads – Klubbhopping (A Jolly Good)
• Laidback Luke feat. Johanthan Mendelson – Till Tonight (Ferry Corsten)
• Marco Borsato – De Bestemming (Ferry Corsten Remix)
• Markus Schulz – Do You Dream (Ferry Corsten Remix)
• Matt Darey presents Mash Up – Liberation (Ferry Corsten Remix)
• Mind One – Hurt Of Intention (Ferry Corsten Fix)
• Moby – In My Heart
• Moby – Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad
• Nelly Furtado – Do It (Ferry Corsten Remix)
• Novastar – Because The Remix
• Oceanlab – Clear Blue Water
• Public Enemy – Bring the Noise
• Rafaël Frost – Red
• Ramin Djawadi – Prison Break Theme (Ferry Corsten Breakout Remix)
• Rank 1 – Awakening (Ferry Corsten Remix)
• Shiny Toy Guns – Le Disko (Ferry Corsten Remix)
• Solarstone-Late Summer Fields(Ferry Corsten Remix)
• Tiësto – Kaleidoscope (Ferry Corsten Remix)
• Tony Walker – Field of Joy
• U2 – New Year's Day
• William Orbit – Barber's Adagio for Strings
• William Orbit – Ravel's Pavane Pour Une Infante Défunte (Ferry Corsten Remix)
• William Orbit feat. Ferry Corsten – Clavier (Ferry Fix)
• Yoji Biomehanika – Theme From Bangin' Globe (System F Remix)

See also[link]

• Flashover Recordings
• Gouryella
• Veracocha

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ferry Corsten

• Official website
• Artist Site at Ultra Records
• (French) Interview Ferry Corsten - Actualites Electroniques
• (English) Interview Ferry Corsten - Actualites Electroniques
• Full On Ferry - Official Website
• (English) Full On Ferry - London NYE 2011/2012 Official Website
• http://deepmix.info Music with Ferry Corsten

Bootsy Collins
Bootsy Collins, 2009
Background information
Birth name	William Earl Collins
Born	(1951-10-26) October 26, 1951 (age 60)
Genres	Funk, psychedelic soul, rhythm and blues
Occupations	Musician, record producer
Instruments	Electric bass, guitar, drums, vocals
Years active	1970–present
Labels	Westbound, Ace, Warner Bros., Casablanca, Shout, Columbia, P-Vine
Associated acts	Parliament-Funkadelic, Bootsy's Rubber Band, James Brown, Axiom Funk, Praxis, Material, Fatboy Slim, Snoop Dogg, Deee-Lite, Buckethead
Website	www.bootsycollins.com

William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American funk bassist, singer, and songwriter.

Rising to prominence with James Brown in the late 1960s, and with Parliament-Funkadelic in the '70s, Collins's driving bass guitar and humorous vocals established him as one of the leading names in funk.^[1] Collins is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic.

Biography[link]

1960s-1970s[link]

With his elder brother Phelps "Catfish" Collins, and Kash Waddy and Philippé Wynne, Collins formed a funk band called The Pacemakers in 1968.

In March 1970, after most of the members of James Brown's band quit over a pay dispute, The Pacemakers were hired as Brown's backing band and they became known as The J.B.'s. (They are often referred to as the "original" J.B.'s to distinguish them from later line-ups that went by the same name.) Although they worked for Brown for only 11 months, the original J.B.'s played on some of Brown's most intense funk recordings, including "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine", "Super Bad", "Soul Power", and "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing".

After parting ways with James Brown, Bootsy returned to Cincinnati and formed House Guests with his brother Phelps Collins, Rufus Allen, Clayton "Chicken" Gunnels, Frank Waddy, Ronnie Greenaway and Robert McCullough. The House Guests released two singles on the House Guests label as well as a third as The Sound of Vision on the House Guests label.

Collins next moved to Detroit, following the advice of singer and future Parliament member Mallia Franklin. Franklin introduced both Collins brothers to George Clinton, and 1972 saw both of the Collins brothers, along with Waddy, join Funkadelic. Bootsy played bass on most of Funkadelic and Parliament's albums through 1980, garnering several songwriting credits as well.

In 1976 Bootsy, Catfish, Waddy, Joel Johnson, Gary "Mudbone" Cooper, Robert Johnson and The Horny Horns formed Bootsy's Rubber Band, a separate touring unit of Clinton's P-Funk collective. The group recorded four albums together, the first three of which are often considered to be among the quintessential P-Funk recordings. The group's 1978 album Bootsy? Player of the Year reached the top of the R&B album chart and spawned the #1 R&B single "Bootzilla".

Like Clinton, Bootsy took on several alter egos, from Casper the Funky Ghost to Bootzilla, "the world's only rhinestone rockstar monster of a doll", as parts of the evolving character of an alien rock star who grew gradually more bizarre as time went on (see P-Funk mythology). He also adopted his trademark "space bass" around this time.

Bootsy also released a 1980 album, Sweat Band, on George Clinton's Uncle Jam label with a group billed as Bootsy's Sweat Band.

1980s-1990s[link]

In 1984, Bootsy collaborated with Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads to produce "Five Minutes", a dance record sampled and edited from Ronald Reagan's infamous "Five Minutes" speech. The record was credited to "Bonzo goes to Washington" (also referenced in the 1985 Ramones song "Bonzo goes to Bitburg", derived from Reagan's starring role as Professor Peter Boyd in the 1951 comedy film Bedtime for Bonzo).

In 1990, Bootsy collaborated with Deee-Lite on their massive hit "Groove Is in the Heart" where he contributed additional vocals. Although he also appeared in the music video playing the bass, the bassline in the song is actually a sample of a Herbie Hancock song called "Bring Down the Birds". Bootsy's Rubber Band became the defacto backing musicians for Deee-Lite during a world tour.

In 1992, Bootsy joined with guitarist Stevie Salas and drummer Buddy Miles to form the funk-metal fusion group Hardware. The trio released one album, Third Eye Open, before disbanding.

Bootsy collaborated with bluegrass legends Del McCoury, Doc Watson and Mac Wiseman to form the GrooveGrass Boyz. They produced a fusion of bluegrass and funk.

In 1994, Bootsy contributed extensively to the Soup Dragons' last album, Hydroponic.^[2]

In 1995, Bootsy played in the remake of Jimi Hendrix's "If 6 Was 9," for Axiom Funk, a Funkadelic-like one-off supergroup produced by Bill Laswell and featuring (Funkadelic members) George Clinton, Bernie Worrell, Bootsy Collins, (the guitar of the late) Eddie Hazel, Gary Shider and Bill Laswell. The group released only one album, and the song also appeared in the soundtrack of the movie Stealing Beauty.

Bootsy has collaborated extensively with Bill Laswell and made appearances on two Fatboy Slim records, as well as reading a poem at the end of FatBoy Slims's release in the LateNightTales DJ mix series. Bootsy provided "vocal spice" on the TobyMac album Welcome to Diverse City. He also appears on Nicole C. Mullens' latest album, Everyday People. He has also worked with the Lo-Fidelity Allstars on the album Don't be Afraid of Love, with Praxis, and with Buckethead on several occasions, for example on Buckethead's first album, Bucketheadland. Bootsy was featured in the 2002 film Standing in the Shadows of Motown. In 2004 he appeared on Snoop Dogg's Rhythm & Gangsta album and on the cover of "The Joker" on the Fatboy Slim album Palookaville.^[3] He also performed a cover of "Power of Soul" on Power of Soul: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix'.

2000s[link]

In 2005, Bootsy Collins added vocals to fellow bassist Victor Wooten's album Soul Circus. He also served as "Heineken's Amsterjam 2005" curator and master of ceremonies on Randall's Island, New York, and appeared with Madonna, Iggy Pop, Little Richard, and The Roots' Questlove, in an American TV commercial for the Motorola ROKR phone.

In October 2005, Collins co-wrote a song celebrating the resurgence of his hometown team, the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League called "Fear Da Tiger" which features "raps" written and performed by several Bengals players, including defensive end Duane Clemons, offensive tackle Stacy Andrews, and center Ben Wilkerson. An edited version of the song was made into a music video which features cameos by many other Bengals players. It has garnered tremendous local airplay and is viewable on Bengals.com Additionally, Cincinnati Bell is offering "Fear Da Tiger" as a free ringtone for its wireless customers in both polyphonic and MP3 formats. Collins appeared with Little Richard, Bernie Worrell, and other notable musicians as the band playing with Hank Williams, Jr. for the Monday Night Football opening during for the 2006 season. Collins was the only all star to return with Williams for the 2007 season.

He also sings "Marshal Law", the theme song of the Cincinnati Marshals indoor football team. He debuted the song on April 29,^{[year missing]} at halftime of a Marshals home game against the West Palm Beach Phantoms.

In 2006, ABC Entertainment / A Charly Films Release released a DVD/CD from Bootsy Collins and the New Rubber Band's concert at the 1998 North Sea Jazz Festival. In the same year, Collins split from long-time friend and guitarist Odhran "The Bodhran" Rameriz, citing creative differences as the reason.

Also in 2006, Collins recorded music for the animated television series Loonatics Unleashed. Collins also voiced the character Bootes Belinda in the episode The Music Villain.^[4]

In April 2007, Bootsy announced plans to begin a restaurant/club with Cincinnati area restaurateur Jeff Ruby called "Bootsy's." The venue operated 2008-2010 before closing. It featured live musical acts, a museum dedicated to Bootsy's musical career and Spanish, Central and South American cuisine.

In June 2007, Bootsy Collins, along with Phelps Collins, Clyde Stubblefield, John "Jabo" Starks, and Bernie Worrell, participated in the recording of the soundtrack for the movie Superbad.

In July 2007, Bootsy also told Billboard magazine that he was working on a project by the name of Science Faxtion and an album called Living On Another Frequency in which he serves as bassist and co-producer along with his lead vocalist Greg Hampton. The band also features guitarist Buckethead and drummer Brain.^[5] The album was released in November 2008.^[6]

Bootsy Collins and Fatboy Slim, 2008

Collins promoted Rock the Vote for its 2008 campaign together with Buckethead.^[7]

Bootsy produced Junkyard Waltz by funk band Freekbass from Ohio, which was released in October 2008.

Bootsy has been mentioned in the song "Genius of Love" by Tom Tom Club in the line "Clinton's musicians such as Bootsy Collins raise expectation to a new intention", while "Got more bass than Bootsy Collins" is a line in the song "Rumble in the Jungle" by the Fugees. His influence in popular culture is seen in that he has been referenced by a number of television series. In The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air episode "Sooooooul Train", Geoffrey sneaks into the Soul Train tapings posing as Bootsy Collins, while in The Mighty Boosh episode "The Legend of Old Gregg" an alien creature named 'The Funk' lands on Bootsy's house, giving him his ability to play the bass guitar "like some kinda delirious funky priest", as well as the ability to see around corners. His song "I'd Rather Be With You" was featured in the movie Baby Boy and on January 26, 2007, Bootsy, a native of Cincinnati, gave the commencement address at the graduation ceremony at The Art Institute of Ohio - Cincinnati. Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, who cited Collins as one of his primary influences, appeared in unmistakably Bootsy-esque clothing in the video for RHCP's "Dani California", and Bootsy's "What's a Telephone Bill?" was sampled for 2Pac's "Str8 Ballin'" track off the THUG LIFE album.

In 2009 Collins collaborated with Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek on the track "Internet Connection".^[8]

In October 2010 Bootsy was awarded a Bass Player Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award at the Key Club in Los Angeles.

In March 2011 Bootsy and his wife visited Franklin L. Williams M.S #7's Little Kids Rock program.

On 15 April 2011, Bootsy appeared on Later... with Jools Holland, performing a memorable snippet of funk with Jools.

In June 2011 Bootsy played the 10th Annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, TN.

In the Fall of 2011, Bootsy began being featured in a TV commercial for Old Navy, in which he is making "boots", made by boots, made by Bootsy" to be sold at Old Navy.

Bass guitars[link]

Bootsy's original "Space Bass" and its replacement (before recovery from theft) was made in Warren, Michigan by Larry Pless of Gus Zoppi's music store. The first Space Bass had a mahogany body and maple neck, white finish, and mirror pick guard. (This is the Space Bass on the cover of 1976 album " Stretchin' Out in Bootsy's Rubber Band ")^[9]

Collins' current signature instrument is a custom-built star-shaped bass guitar he calls the "Space Bass", built for him by Manuel "Manny" Salvador of GuitarCraft in 1998. In 2006 Collins made an agreement with Traben to make a signature Bootsy Collins model bass called the "Bootzilla". During the 2010 NAMM Show, Collins' new signature bass guitar was released by Warwick, a customized Infinity Bass called "Bootsy Collins Black Star Signature Bass" or "Bootsy Collins Orange Star Signature Bass", depending on the color of the stars on it.

Bootsy Collins' Funk University[link]

In July 2010, Collins, in partnership with former child actor Cory Danziger,^[10] launched Funk University ("Funk U"), an online-only bass guitar school in which he also serves as curator and lead professor. Funk University offers an intense curriculum tailored for intermediate to advanced bass players as well as anyone interested in a deeper understanding of funk. The curriculum is based on bass theory, history of funk, and Collins' own musical history given by Collins himself, augmented by lessons and exercises in bass and rhythm from guest bassist professors such as Les Claypool, Meshelle Ndegeocello, John B (Williams) and Victor Wooten. Enrolled students gain access to the virtual campus which, in addition to the multimedia lectures, includes a comprehensive subject library containing audio and multimedia music files, tablatures, and articles. Students participate in interactive questionnaires, polls, competitions (including track submissions), and are subjected to regular reviews by faculty members, who have designated "office hours" during which students can ask questions. Students and faculty can post or reply in the university's online forum (the Cafeteria).^[11] Eventually, the curriculum will be expanded to include other instruments.^[12]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

Promotional videos[link]

• Party on Plastic (What's Bootsy Doin'?) (1988)
• Undacova Funk (feat. Snoop Dogg) (2002)
• Play With Bootsy (2002)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Bootsy's Funk University
• Bootsy bio on Allmusic
• Collins Looks To Future with Science Faction, Billboard, 2007.
• Rob Fitzpatrick, Bootsy Collins: 'The freak show never ended', The Guardian, April 14, 2011.
• Bootsy Collins RBMA lecture