Operator Please
Operator Please in 2008. L - R: Henderson, McConnell, Wilkinson, Commandeur, Gardiner
Background information
Origin	Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Genres	Indie rock Indie pop Pop New Wave
Years active	2005–present
Labels	Virgin/EMI Brille
Website	operatorpleaseband.com
Members
Amandah Wilkinson Taylor Henderson Tim Commandeur Chris Holland Ashley McConnell
Past members
Sarah Gardiner Stephanie Joske Kieran Richards

Operator Please are an Australian pop band, originating on the Gold Coast of Queensland, in 2005. Their current lineup consists of vocalist and guitarist Amandah Wilkinson, drummer Tim Commandeur, keyboardist Chris Holland, Ashley McConnell on bass guitar, and violinist Taylor Henderson.

The original members met and formed Operator Please as students of Elanora State High School in order to compete in the school's "Battle of the Bands" competition.^[1] In 2007, Operator Please released the singles "Get What You Want", "Leave It Alone", "Just a Song About Ping Pong" and their debut studio album, Yes Yes Vindictive. "Just a Song About Ping Pong", their most successful single to date, was nominated for two ARIA Awards in 2007, winning one for Breakthrough Artist – Single.^[2]

History[link]

Operator Please was formed in early 2005 by lead singer Amandah Wilkinson in an attempt to compete in her high school's annual "Battle of the Bands" competition. After winning the contest, the five members, aged 17 to 19, started working on getting their name out through an independently produced EP, On the Prowl. Their second EP, Cement Cement, generated interest both locally and internationally, from a combination of word of mouth and exposure on the Australian youth radio network Triple J (which featured their first single, "Crash Tragic", taken from the EP, on high rotation for quite some time).^[3] Within months, and with the help of a record label sponsored showcase in NYC, they had agreed a deal with Virgin/EMI Records for Australia, and for the UK with indie label Brille Records.^[4]

"Just a Song About Ping Pong" was one of the most added songs at Australian commercial radio with the Hot 30 and Nova radio stations nationally leading the charge. The music video for the song was played on music programmes around Australia, UK, and Europe including MTV,^[5] Channel V,^[6] and ABC's rage.^[7] It was featured on the front page of MySpace and YouTube.^[8] Operator Please has since been labelled as "our favorite new band" and "the next big thing" by celebrity blogger Perez Hilton.^[9][10]

Since the announcement that the band were to play the Reading and Leeds Festivals in the UK in August, Operator Please continued to play industry showcases in the UK.^[11] The single "Just a Song About Ping Pong", released in Australia on 28 July 2007, was added to national UK radio station BBC Radio 1 and London station XFM, following an NME feature which named them one of EMI's buzz bands. The single debuted in the ARIA Singles Chart on 6 August 2007at #15, and topped out at #12.^[12] The single is nominated for two ARIA Awards in 2007: Best Pop Release and Breakthrough Artist – Single,^[13] and won the award for Breakthrough Artist – Single. Also, this was on the same night of their television performing debut performing that single.

The band recorded their debut studio album, titled Yes Yes Vindictive at The Groves, on the Central Coast, New South Wales, Australia,^[14] which was released on 10 November. It charted at number 28 on the ARIA Albums Chart on the week beginning 19 November.^[15] A track titled "Zero! Zero!" was heard on the Top Shelf program of Australian radio station Triple J on 2 October.^[16] The band also opened for Arctic Monkeys and Kaiser Chiefs on their Australian tours^[17] and then went on tour in the UK, Europe, and Asia.^[18][19] The band finally released Yes Yes Vindictive in the UK on 17 March 2008. The band toured as a support act for The Futureheads and Lightspeed Champion; and played many festivals across Europe including Glastonbury Festival. They have also covered two songs: "Push It" by Salt-n-Pepa and "Whip It" by Devo; videos of these can be seen on YouTube.

Operator Please spent most of 2009 composing their second album. They confirmed that two songs, "Logic" and "Back and Forth" will be in the album. The band stated that the new album will have a more electronic feel than Yes Yes Vindictive. A demo version of "Back and Forth" was used on a update video of their progress on album number 2^[20] which featured Wilkinson writing text onto paper and small slides of instruments, as well as shots of Commandeur and Wilkinson. On 15 January 2010, the band revealed their first single, "Logic", from the new album. "Logic" was released as a single on 8 February 2010. On the official website, Logic was available as a free download. Also on 8 February, the album title was revealed as Gloves, and fans could pre-order it signed. On 13 February, the video for "Logic" premiered on Video Hits.

Gloves was released on 23 April 2010 in Australia and 31 May 2010 in the rest of the world. Three more singles have been released from the album since its release: "Back and Forth", "Like Magic" and "Volcanic". All three have also had accompanying music videos. In June 2010, the band completed their first headlining tour since late 2008; supported by Perth band Tim & Jean and Sydney band Chaingang. Shortly afterwards, they would play a variety of festivals, including Splendour in the Grass and Canberra festival Stonefest. They also played the Australian leg of the 2011 Big Day Out festival. March and April 2011 will see the band tour Australia once again, this time as the main support for Sydney musician Sparkadia.

"Catapult" was recently announced as the fifth and final single from Gloves.

Discography[link]

Singles[link]

Operator Please's first single "Just a Song About Ping Pong" reached its peak of #12 on the ARIA Singles Chart (as of 27 August 2007)^[12] and has reached #10 on the UK Indie Chart.^[21] The next single "Get What You Want" debuted at #40 on 5 November. It has thus far peaked at #27.^[12] Their Australian album release Yes Yes Vindictive has so far charted at #9 on the UK Indie Album Chart.

Departed members[link]

There are three former official band members: Kieran Richards, Stephanie Jonske and Sarah Gardiner. Gardiner, an original member and co-writer on Yes Yes Vindictive, left the band in early 2008 after a two-month break from touring.^[22][23]

Performances[link]

Festivals[link]

Operator Please Performing at Valley Fiesta, Brisbane, Australia.

• Good Vibrations Festival (2007)
• Big Day Out (2007)
• Great Escape Festival (2007)
• Camden Crawl 2007
• Reading and Leeds Festivals (2007)
• Splendour in the Grass (2007)
• Homebake (2007)
• Coca-Cola Live 'n Local Up Close (2007)
• Falls Festival (2007)
• Big Day Out (2008)
• Saint Kilda Festival (2008)
• Hurricane Festival (2008)
• Glastonbury Festival (2008)
• Southside Festival (2008)
• Wakestock Festival (2008)
• Roxy Festival (2008)
• Slottsfjell Festival (2008)
• Melt Festival! (2008)
• Grazzhopper Festival (2008)
• Festival Of The Sun (2008)
• Fisher's Ghost Festival (2008)
• Valley Fiesta (2008)^[24]
• Dusty Days (Wagga Wagga) (2009)
• Clipsal 500 (2009)
• Northbeat (2009)
• Future Music Festival (2010)
• MySpace Secret Show (2010)
• Splendour in the Grass (2010)
• One Movement Festival (2010)
• Stonefest(2010)
• Pyramid Rock Festival (2010)
• Soundscape Festival (2011)
• Big Day Out (2011)

Television[link]

• 21st Annual ARIA Awards – 28 October 2007
• The Sideshow – 3 November 2007
• Rove – 18 November 2007
• Sunrise – 16 December 2007
• Later... with Jools Holland 2 May 2008
• Rove - 15 June 2008
• BBC Sound - 14 June 2008
• Virgin Blue commercial (featuring "Get What You Want"; 2007)
• Basement Sessions (2007)
• Hey Hey It's Saturday (2010)
• Eclipse Music TV (2010)
• rage guest programmer 22–23 May (2010)
• Good News Week (2010)
• Chuck "Chuck Versus the Fear of Death" (season 4, episode 8; featured "Zero, Zero"; 2010)

Awards and nominations[link]

ARIA Awards[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Operator Please

• Official website
• Operator Please on Myspace
• Operator Please on Twitter
• Operator Please (old account)'s channel on YouTube
• Operator Please (current account)'s channel on YouTube
• Interview with SUPERSWEET, October 2007
• Interview with FasterLouder, January 2008
• Collection of photographs of Operator Please in concert

Matt Dusk
Dusk in concert in July 2010
Background information
Born	(1978-11-19) November 19, 1978 (age 33) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Jazz
Years active	1999–present
Labels	Universal
Website	mattdusk.com

Matt Dusk (born November 19, 1978) is a Canadian jazz musician / vocalist. He currently has two certified gold albums: Two Shots and Good News, and three number one radio hits: "Back in Town," "All About Me", and "Good News."

Biography[link]

Matthew-Aaron Dusk was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on November 19, 1978. From an early age, Matt Dusk wanted to become a performer. At the age of seven, he was accepted into St. Michael's Choir School, where he remained for eleven years. Originally Dusk performed opera and classical music but after hearing Tony Bennett and Sarah Vaughan records at the age of 17 he began to change his musical style and direction. In 1998, he won the top spot in the Canadian National Exhibition Rising Star Competition, beating out 654 contestants. However, Dusk was on a path to take over the family business, and in 1998 went to Toronto's York University to study economics. After spending a year in the economics department, Dusk could not forget his passion for music and in 1999 changed programs to study for a BFA in music, where his emphasis was squarely on jazz and popular music. He studied jazz theory with John Gittins, jazz vocal with Bob Fenton, and attended masterclasses with Oscar Peterson. Dusk was also awarded the university’s Oscar Peterson Scholarship and in 2002 graduated with an honors degree in music.

Before Dusk secured a major record deal, he recorded four independent CDs (The Way It Is being the only one re-released thus far), and many of his songs became popular on MP3 websites. In March 2003, he signed a major record deal with Decca Records. In 2004 Dusk was invited to the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas to perform as in-house entertainer throughout the filming of Mark Burnett's reality TV show The Casino on FOX.

His debut album Two Shots was released on June 5, 2004 and went gold in Canada. The album produced the hit single, "Two Shots of Happy, One Shot of Sad", which was written by Bono and The Edge from the Irish rock band U2. This song was also the theme song to The Casino show. Dusk followed up his debut album with a holiday album entitled "Peace On Earth" which was released November 30, 2005.

In January 2006, Dusk traveled to Los Angeles to record his second album Back In Town at Capitol Records fabled Studio A. Here, Dusk recorded with a 58 piece orchestra. Back In Town features a mix of jazz standards and originals, and was released in June 2006. As a promotion, Matt included personally signed liner notes with every pre-ordered copy of this album.

In October 2007, the lead single Back In Town reached Number 1 on the Japanese pop radio charts. Matt Dusk is the first male jazz artist in Japanese history to reach Number one on the pop radio charts. This is his second number one hit, the first being 'All About Me' also from the record Back In Town which was achieved in Canada in late 2006.

In March 2008, Dusk announced the recording of a new album titled Good News. This album was released on October 27, 2009 in Poland and Canada and Holland (2010) and France (2011). The album features a new direction that vocally pays tribute to the style of swing/crooner jazz era (1940s-1960s) however is produced in a contemporary way. The album is a collection of original material and international #1 hits from around the world. In late 2009, Good News was certified 'gold' in Poland. In 2009 his track "Feels Good" was released as dance hit single remade and remixed by Toronto Electronic Production duo Stereo Martini. In September 2010, the title track Good News reached #1 on the charts of French radio station Europe 1.

In March 2010, Dusk recorded the soundtrack to the TV series Call Me Fitz featuring Jason Priestly. The series began airing in Canada on September 18, 2010 on HBO, followed by world releases soon after.

On August 25, 2010, Dusk shot a live DVD concert special for PBS which began to air across America December 2010, and across the world in 2011. The concert was recorded live at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada with a 17 piece big band. The DVD was also released as a double CD/DVD.

Dusk is currently working on his latest album which will be released in 2012.

Discography[link]

• The Way It Is (2001)
• Two Shots (2004)
• Peace on Earth (2005)
• Back in Town (2006)
• Good News (2009)
• Live from Las Vegas (2010)

See also[link]

• List of jazz musicians
• List of Canadian musicians

References[link]

• All Music Biography - last accessed on July 16, 2011

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Matt Dusk

• MattDusk.com – official website.
• Matt Dusk Interview on NotableInterviews.com
• myspace.com/MattDuskOnline – The official MySpace page of the MattDuskOnline Fansite!

Jools Holland
Holland at the British Academy Television Awards 2009
Background information
Birth name	Julian Miles Holland
Born	(1958-01-24) 24 January 1958 (age 54) Blackheath, London, England
Genres	Boogie-woogie, jazz, blues, R&B
Occupations	Musician, composer, television presenter, bandleader
Instruments	Piano, keyboard, guitar
Years active	1974–present
Associated acts	Squeeze Rhythm & Blues Orchestra
Website	Official site

Julian Miles "Jools" Holland OBE, DL (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer, and television presenter. He was a founder of the band Squeeze (1974-1980 & 1985-1990) and his work has involved him with many artists including Sting, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, David Gilmour, Magazine and Bono.

Holland is a published author and appears on television shows besides his own and contributes to radio shows. In 2004, he collaborated with Tom Jones on an album of traditional R&B music. He currently hosts Later... with Jools Holland, a music-based show aired on BBC2, on which his annual show Hootenanny, is based.^[1]

Life and career[link]

His great grandfather came from Ireland.^[2]

Holland played as a session musician before finding fame, and his first studio session was with Wayne County & the Electric Chairs in 1976 on their track "F*ck Off."^[3]

Holland was a founding member of the British pop band Squeeze, formed in March 1974, in which he played keyboards until 1981 and helped the band to achieve millions of record sales, before pursuing his solo career.^[3]

Holland began issuing solo records in 1978, his first EP being Boogie Woogie '78. He continued his solo career through the early 1980s, releasing an album and several singles between 1981 and 1984. He branched out into TV, co-presenting the Newcastle-based TV music show The Tube with Paula Yates. Holland achieved notoriety by inadvertently using the phrase "groovy fuckers" in a live, early evening TV trailer for the show, causing it to be suspended for six weeks.^[4] He referred to this in his sitcom "The Groovy Fellers" with Rowland Rivron.

Holland at the Tsunami Relief concert in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, 22 January 2005

In 1983 Holland played an extended piano solo on The The's re-recording of "Uncertain Smile" for the album Soul Mining. In 1985, Squeeze (which had continued in Holland's absence through to 1982) unexpectedly regrouped including Jools Holland as their keyboard player. Holland remained in the band until 1990, at which point, he again departed Squeeze on amicable terms to resume his solo career as a musician and a TV host.

In 1987, Holland formed The Jools Holland Big Band which consisted of himself and Gilson Lavis from Squeeze. This gradually became his 18-piece Rhythm & Blues Orchestra.^[3]

Between 1988 and 1990 he performed and co-hosted along with David Sanborn during the two seasons of the music performance program Sunday Night on NBC late-night television.^[5] Since 1992 he has presented the music program Later... with Jools Holland, plus an annual New Year's Eve Hootenanny.

In 1996, Holland signed a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records,^[3] and his records are now marketed through Rhino Records.

Holland has a touring band, The Rhythm And Blues Orchestra, which often includes singers Sam Brown and Ruby Turner. In January 2005 Holland and his band performed with Eric Clapton as the headline act of the Tsunami Relief Cardiff.

Personal[link]

Holland lives in the Westcombe Park area of Blackheath in South East London, where he had his studio, Helicon Mountain, built to his design, inspired by Portmeirion, the setting for the 1960s TV series The Prisoner.^[6] Holland owns costumes and props from the series and occasionally appears wearing the trademark brown-with-white-pipe blazer featured in the series. In 1987, Holland demonstrated his love of the series and starred in a spoof documentary, The Laughing Prisoner, with Stephen Fry, Terence Alexander and Hugh Laurie.^[6] Much of it was shot on location in Portmeirion, with archive footage of Patrick McGoohan, and featuring musical numbers from Siouxsie and the Banshees, Magnum and XTC. Holland performed a number towards the end of the program. His younger brother, Christopher, also plays organ in the Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, as well as being a singer-songwriter.

Holland was an interviewer for The Beatles Anthology TV project, and appeared in the 1997 film Spiceworld as a musical director.

He received an OBE in 2003 in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, for services to the British music industry as a television presenter and musician. In September 2006 Holland was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Kent.^[7] He is also known for his charity work: in June 2006 he performed in Southend for HIV/AIDS charity Mildmay,^[8] and in early 2007 he performed at Wells and Rochester Cathedrals to raise money for maintaining cathedral buildings.^[9] He is also patron of the Drake Music Project^[10] and has raised many thousands of pounds for the charity.

Holland was appointed an Honorary Fellow of Canterbury Christ Church University at a ceremony held at Canterbury Cathedral on 30 January 2009.^[11]

On 29 August 2005 Holland married Christabel McEwen, his girlfriend of 15 years (between 1983 and 1995 she had been married to Edward Lambton, 7th Earl of Durham, before they divorced). The wedding, at St James's Church, Cooling near Rochester, was attended by many celebrities, including Ringo Starr, Robbie Coltrane, Stephen Fry, Lenny Henry, Noel Gallagher, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.^[12]

Holland is also a patron for The Milton Rooms, an Arts centre in Malton, North Yorkshire, along with Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton and Kathy Burke.^[13]

Writing[link]

His 2007 biography, Barefaced Lies and Boogie Woogie Boasts was BBC Radio 4 "Book of the Week" in the week beginning 8 October 2007 and was read by Holland. He is the author or joint author of four other books.

Discography[link]

Albums that have charted and gained Certifications[link]

Releases[link]

• 1978 "Boogie Woogie '78" (EP)
• 1981 Jools Holland and His Millionaires
• 1984 Jools Holland Meets Rock 'A' Boogie Billy (U.S. release only)
• 1990 World Of His Own
• 1991 The Full Complement
• 1992 "Together Again" (single with Sam Brown)
• 1992 The A-Z Geographer's Guide To The Piano
• 1994 Solo Piano
• 1994 Live Performance
• 1996 " Jazz & Rock & Roll
• 1997 Lift The Lid
• 1998 Best Of
• 1999 Sunset Over London
• 2000 Hop The Wag
• 2001 Small World Big Band
• 2002 SWBB Volume Two: More Friends
• 2003 Jack O The Green (SWBB Friends 3)
• 2004 Tom Jones & Jools Holland
• 2005 Beatroute
• 2005 Swinging the Blues, Dancing the Ska
• 2006 Moving Out To The Country
• 2007 Best of Friends
• 2008 The Collection
• 2008 The Informer (With Ruby Turner)
• 2008 "The Informer" (single with Ruby Turner)
• 2009 "I Went By" (single with Louise Marshall)
• 2010 Rockinghorse

Film and television[link]

• 1981 Urgh! A Music War
• 1982 Police: Around the World
• 1982 - 1987 The Tube (Host for 121 editions)
• 1983 Rebellious Jukebox: Compere
• 1984 The Young Ones: Punk (Episode entitled "Summer Holiday")
• 1985 Walking To New Orleans (Jools Holland in New Orleans)
• 1987 Eat the Rich: Sun Reporter
• 1987 Filthy Rich & Catflap: Strip Show Pianist (Episode #1.3)
• 1987 The Laughing Prisoner: No. 7
• 1987 French and Saunders (Episode 1.5)
• 1988 Sunday Night: Host (unknown episodes)
• 1989 Juke Box Jury: Host (unknown episodes)
• 1989 The Groovy Fellers Himself, 6 episodes
• 1991 Mr Roadrunner (Jools Holland in Memphis)
• 1994 There's No Business: Pianist
• 1994 - 1995 Don't Forget Your Toothbrush
• 1995 The Beatles Anthology
• 1997 Spice World: Musical Director
• 1997 Name That Tune: Host and Pianist
• 2003 Jool's History of the Piano : Presenter
• 2006 Top Gear: Star in a reasonably priced car.
• 2007 Fairport@Forty: Interview
• 2009 Chop Shop Rover Concept: The Jet 1 Car : Customer

Current television programmes[link]

• 1992–present Later... with Jools Holland
• 1993–present Hootenanny

Books[link]

• "Rolling Stones": A Life on the Road, (with Dora Loewenstein), Viking/Allen Lane (1998), (ISBN 0-670-88051-5)
• Beat Route: Journeys Through Six Counties, Weidenfeld & Nicholson (1998), (ISBN 0-575-06700-4)
• Ray Charles: Man and Music, (with Michael Lydon), Payback Press (1999), (ISBN 0-86241-929-8)
• Hand That Changed Its Mind , International Music Publications (2007), (ISBN 1-84328-645-9)
• Barefaced Lies and Boogie-woogie Boasts , Michael Joseph Ltd (2007), (ISBN 0-7181-4915-7)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Jools Holland at the Internet Movie Database
• Jools Holland's Radio 2 show at BBC Programmes
• Later...with Jools Holland at BBC Online