PJ

PJ may refer to:

People known by the initials

Fictional

See also

P. J. Soles

P.J. Soles (born Pamela Jayne Hardon; July 17, 1950) is an American film and television actress, known for her roles as Lynda van der Klok in Halloween, Riff Randell in Rock 'n' Roll High School, Norma Watson in Carrie and Bill Murray's military girlfriend Stella in Stripes.

Early life

Soles was born Pamela Jayne Hardon in Frankfurt, Germany, to an American mother from New Jersey and a Dutch father. At the time, her father was working for an international insurance company and the family moved all over the world. Soles lived in Casablanca, Morocco, and Maracaibo, Venezuela, where she learned to speak fluent Spanish, and then Brussels, Belgium, where she went to high school at the International School of Brussels. When she was at Briarcliff College, she wanted to become the first woman ambassador to the Soviet Union. This career goal changed when she visited the Actors Studio in New York City.

Career

Soles moved to Manhattan and began acting in commercials and modeling for fashion magazines. She was among the hundreds of actors auditioning for Brian De Palma and George Lucas in their joint casting session for Carrie (1976) and Star Wars (1977). She was injured during the filming of Carrie, when a blast from a fire hose during the prom scene ruptured her eardrum. After Carrie, she went to Georgia to film Our Winning Season (1978) and met actor Dennis Quaid. They were married in 1978 in Texas on a dude ranch.

High school

A high school (also secondary school, senior school, secondary college) is a school that provides adolescents with part or all of their secondary education. It may come after primary school or middle school and be followed by higher education or vocational training.

Terminology

The term "high school" originated in Scotland, with the world's oldest high school being Edinburgh's Royal High School from 1505. The Royal High School was used as a model for the first public high school in the United States, Boston Latin School founded in Boston, Massachusetts.

The precise stage of schooling provided by a high school differs from country to country, and may vary within the same jurisdiction. In all of New Zealand and Malaysia, along with most of Britain and parts of Australia, Bangladesh and Canada, high school means the same thing as secondary school, but instead of starting in 9th grade, these "secondary schools" begin at ages 11 or 12.

Country by country

Australia

In Australia, high school is a secondary school, from Year 7 or Year 8 through to Year 12, varying from state to state. High school immediately follows primary (elementary) school; therefore, a Year-7 Australian high-school student is sometimes as young as 12. In Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory, the term "high school" generally refers to Years 7–10, whereas the term "College" is used for Years 11–12. In Victoria the term "secondary college" has largely replaced the term "high school" following the reforms of the Labor Government in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Some schools have retained the name "high school" (such as Melbourne High School) and many have now dropped the "secondary" and are simply known as "college".

Rock and roll

Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll or rock 'n' roll) is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, from a combination of African-American genres such as blues, boogie woogie, jump blues, jazz, and gospel music, together with Western swing and country music. Though elements of rock and roll can be heard in blues records from the 1920s and in country records of the 1930s, the genre did not acquire its name until the 1950s.

"Rock and roll" can refer either to the first wave of music that originated in the US in the 1950s prior to its development into "rock music", or more broadly to rock music and culture. For the purpose of differentiation, this article deals with the first definition.

In the earliest rock and roll styles of the late 1940s and early 1950s, either the piano or saxophone was often the lead instrument, but these were generally replaced or supplemented by guitar in the middle to late 1950s. The beat is essentially a blues rhythm with an accentuated backbeat, the latter almost always provided by a snare drum. Classic rock and roll is usually played with one or two electric guitars (one lead, one rhythm), a string bass or (after the mid-1950s) an electric bass guitar, and a drum kit. Beyond simply a musical style, rock and roll, as seen in movies and on television, influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language. In addition, rock and roll may have contributed to the civil rights movement because both African-American and white American teens enjoyed the music. It went on to spawn various genres, often without the initially characteristic backbeat, that are now more commonly called simply "rock music" or "rock".

Rock 'n' Roll High School (song)

"Rock 'n' Roll High School" is a song by American punk rock group the Ramones, from the soundtrack album Rock 'n' Roll High School. The single did not chart in the U.S. but peaked at number 67 on the UK Singles Chart.

There are three versions of the song. The first was recorded in early 1979 by Ed Stasium and was intended for the Rock 'n' Roll High School soundtrack. This version opens with an extended drum beat first, with Joey eventually singing the opening line, "Rock, Rock, Rock, Rock, Rock 'n' Roll High School." This is also the version they usually performed live. This version was not issued until the 1988 compilation album Ramones Mania.

The second version is a slight remix of the Ed Stasium version by producer Phil Spector, who would go on to produce The Ramones' next album, End of the Century. This version features Spector's Wall of Sound mixing technique and was the version featured on the Rock 'n' Roll High School soundtrack album and accompanying 7" single.