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Guardians of the Flame is a long running series by author Joel Rosenberg and is arguably his best known work. The series is about a group of college students who participate in a fantasy role-playing game, and are magically transported to the world of the game by their gamemaster.

The first book, The Sleeping Dragon focuses on the former students struggling to survive in the world of the game. The series progresses with the students choosing to live in the 'game world' and forming their own community, which is in part based on opposition to the ubiquitous slave trade.

In the later books, the focus shifts from efforts to destroy the slave trade and on to various characters dealing with the changes in the fantasy world wrought by the former students (now mostly 40-somethings). The final three books shift focus to a new set of protagonists, relegating the 'Other Siders' to supporting cast and cameo appearances.

Novels[link]

1. The Sleeping Dragon (1983)
2. The Sword and the Chain (1984)
3. The Silver Crown (1985)
4. The Heir Apparent (1987)
5. The Warrior Lives (1988)
6. The Road to Ehvenor (1991)
7. The Road Home (1995)
8. Not Exactly the Three Musketeers (1999)
9. Not Quite Scaramouche (2001)
10. Not Really the Prisoner of Zenda (2003)

Characters[link]

Karl Cullinane is the leader of the students that come from our world (referred to in the series as the Other Side), gaining mighty fighting skills in the transition. After promising the Matriarch of the Healing Hand Society (the leader of the Hand cleric sect) to end slavery in This Side (the term for the world they find themselves in), he and the others build Home, the first semi-democratic settlement in the history of This Side. In The Silver Crown, he takes over the country of Bieme and defeats the nation they're at war with, Holtun, becoming the first Emperor of Holtun-Bieme. He is killed fighting a large number of slavers on the beaches of the island, Melawei, in The Heir Apparent.

Walter Slovotsky is one of the students. In transition, he gained expert thieving skills, including his often-used sneaking abilities. He has a trademark grin, described in many different ways, in general terms his "all-is-right-in-the-world-because-Walter-Slovotsky-is-in-it" grin. After Home is established, he becomes something like Karl's right hand man, generally using his knowledge as a former agriculture student to benefit whatever place he happens to be. Walter is still alive by book 10. He is a highly sexual guy, generally attempting to bed any woman he meets that's attractive.

Louis 'Lou' Riccetti is one of the students. Originally, after reaching This Side, he was a somewhat powerful wizard called Aristobulous. He gave up his wizardly powers to revive his comrade Ahira from death, promising to use his skills as an engineering student to technologically revolutionize This Side. He succeeds to an amazing degree, introducing things such as gunpowder and the telegraph. He is known as the Engineer and has begun to train students to go into the world and create. To date, he is still alive.

James Michael Finnegan (a.k.a. Ahira) is one of the students. He is one of the few of them that originally preferred it in the new world (in our world, he was crippled with muscular dystrophy, while there he is a powerful dwarf berserker). After the founding of Home, he begins as a Home warrior and eventually ends up as Mayor, though he is replaced by Lou Riccetti later on. He spends a brief time in Endell, a dwarf warren, with his best friend Walter Slovotsky before returning to Karl's service. To date, he is still alive.

Doria Perlstein is one of the students. She gained the abilities of cleric in transition. Halfway through the first book, she is gang raped by a group of slavers and enters a near-catatonic state shortly after. She is delivered to the Hand Tabernacle, the headquarters of the Healing Hand Society, and reappears in The Heir Apparent, where she has recovered. She gives up her powers in the end of the book to save Karl’s son, Jason, from death. She later takes up residence with the Cullinanes.

Andrea Andropolous Cullinane is one of the students. She became an amateur wizard in transition, eventually becoming a pretty powerful wizard. Originally Karl’s love interest, she (technically) married him in the second book after they discovered she was pregnant with his child. After the first book, she tends to take back seat, appearing only when Karl is either at Home or, later, in the Imperial Castle. She takes an important part in The Road to Ehvenor, where she is instrumental in sealing a breach between the Other Side and Faerie that was allowing monster back into the world, though it burned out her powers.

Ahrmin is a master in the Slavers Guild, primary antagonist for books 2 through 4, and Karl’s arch-enemy. Karl killed his father, Ohlmin, and he holds a deep desire for revenge. In at the end of the second book, he is hideously burned in Melawei by Karl, who thought he was dead, and he remains such until the end of book 4, when he returned to Melawei and was shot in the head by Karl’s son, Jason. The party he brought over managed to give him revenge from beyond the grave, as its attacks led to the death of Karl.

Jason Cullinane is the son of Karl and Andrea who first appears in The Silver Crown. He suffers from having to live under his fathers shadow and, after fleeing from his first battle as a Home warrior, feels that the only way he can redeem himself is to kill his father’s arch-enemy, Ahrmin of the Slavers Guild. He succeeds, though the events following led to the death of his father. He surrenders the crown his father left him and instead becomes a baron, though he still manages to get into trouble in one way or another.

Jason Parker (a.k.a. Einar Lightfingers), one of the Other Side students, transitioned as a one-handed thief named Einar Lightfingers. Shortly after their arrival (in the first book), he was the first of the students to die after attempting to pick the purse of the lordling of Lundeyll, who took extreme exception to the deed. Jason Cullinane was named in his memory.

Ellegon is one of the last dragons in the Eren regions (the area of the Other Side where the stories take place). He was captured and taken to Pandathaway, the closest thing to a main city the humans have, where he was forced to flame their waste in the sewer or else be buried by them. Karl freed him, and the dragon stayed with him out of gratitude, becoming an integral part of first Home and later the Empire. Ellegon, like all dragons, is not only a giant carnivore, but can also read and speak through minds.

Chak is a Home warrior and the first slave Karl ever freed. Originally introduced as a fighter in the Pandathaway Games who Karl defeated in the first book, he later returns as a Home warrior after being rescued by Karl and Walter. He is killed destroying gunpowder belonging to slavers in the third book.

Tennetty is a Home warrior/Karl’s personal bodyguard. She was one of the first slaves that Karl rescued, and she joined him as a warrior shortly after. She is a ferocious fighter, good enough for Karl to put her in charge of a raiding team. She is fanatical about killing slavers, particularly Ahrmin, who killed the man she was in love with. She died in The Road to Ehvenor.

Aeia Eriksen Cullinane is Karl’s adopted daughter and one of the first slaves he rescued. She was sexually abused by the time she was rescued (at age 11). When she grew up, she fell in love with Walter Slovotsky, though Holtish Baron Bren Adahan also tried for her hand.

Zherr Furnael was a Baron of Bieme. Starting with the second book, he acted as an ally for Karl's group. When it became clear that the Prince of Bieme had abandoned his barony, Zherr joined Walter Slovotsky in an attempt to usurp the throne. The Prince killed him with a hidden dagger, and Walter was forced to make Karl the Emperor.

Beralyn Furnael is the wife of Baron Zherr Furnael. She despises Karl for leading her son Rahff to his death and accidentally leading to her husbands death in a plan gone wrong. She eventually becomes Dowager-Baroness and, when her son Thomen becomes Emperor, a powerful figure in the Empire. She hates all the Other Siders and is paranoid to a nearly insane degree about Jason taking the throne back.

Thomen Furnael is the son of Baron Zherr Furnael. After his father dies in book 3, his mother becomes the Dowager-Baroness. During Book 4, he is Baron Furnael and a judge in the Biemestren court. Jason eventually abdicates the crown of Prince to him after realizing that he's not cut out for the job.

Rahff Furnael, the elder son of Thomen Furnael, was sent to Karl as an apprentice in order to gain a better chance for survival. However, Rahff was some time later killed in Melawei by a maddened slaver; his violent death scarred Karl for the rest of his life.

Bren Adahan is a Baron in the land of Holtun. He originally tried for Aeia’s hand, but gave up and married Walter Slovotsky’s former wife, Kirah. He has studied under the Engineer and has also described himself as a student of Karl Cullinane. To date, he is still alive.

Durine, Kethol, and Pirojil are three guards under Imperial employ, called the Three Musketeers by Walter Slovotsky. They are the focus of books 8 through 10. Over the course of the books, Durine is killed and Kethol is transformed into a Holtish nobleman, leaving Pirojil alone.

Arthur Simpson Deighton (a.k.a. Arta Myrdhyn) is originally introduced as a college professor and a gamemaster. It is eventually revealed that he is an insanely powerful (and possibly powerfully insane) wizard who wants to use the students to achieve his plan. In particular, he has left a sword that stops all spells for Karl’s son in an effort to kill his enemy, Wizards Grandmaster Lucius. He does seem to legitimately care for the students, displayed in particular when sobbing as he realizes that Karl Cullinane is dead.

Wizards Grandmaster Lucius is possibly the greatest wizard in the entirety of the Eren region. While he is never shown in the books, Lucius is mentioned several times. His most prominent contribution in the series has been the creation of the Waste of Elrood. It was formerly the Forest of Elrood until he had a duel with Arta Myrdhyn (a.k.a. Arthur Deighton).

Ohlmin was a vicious slaver and master swordsfighter who lost a swordsfight competition to Karl in Pandathaway (first book). In revenge he pursued Karl and his friends and captured them, and he and his gang proceeded raping Andrea and Doria. After freeing themselves, Karl and Walter went back to finish Ohlmin and succeeded in killing him and the rest of his band, but he was survived by a son, Ahrmin, who as a consequence sought revenge for his father's death on Karl.

The Flame[link]

Repeated references to the Flame are made in both the series title and at the end of many of the books. The Flame is the flame of freedom, as explicitly stated in most of the book endings, and the students act as the guardians of the concept that slavery is evil. Thus, they are the Guardians of the Flame.

Factions in Guardians of the Flame[link]

The Slavers Guild is based in the Slavers Guildhall in Pandathaway. While it is shown that not all of them are completely evil, members of the Slavers Guild make up a large portion of the antagonists. Their Guildmaster is Guildmaster Wryn. Member of the Guilds Council.

The Wizards Guild is based in Pandathaway, and as such is generally an ally of the Slavers Guild. However, they suffer something of a falling-out after Karl uses Arta Myrdhyn's sword to kill one of its members, and they become less eager to help out. Their Guildmaster is Grandmaster Lucius. Member of the Guilds Council.

Home is the semi-democratic nation that serves as the home base for the students as they attempt to destroy the Slavers Guild. It is on the borders of the elven nation of Therranj, which spends most of the third book trying to absorb it. After Karl becomes Emperor the base technically moves to the seat of the Empire, Biemestren, though Lou Riccetti remains in Home.

Pandathaway and the Guild Council are the greatest human city and its government. Pandathaway is a massive city, home to both the Slavers Guild and the Wizards Guild. As the name implies, the Guild Council is a collaboration by every one of the numerous guilds to form a government. Gradually throughout the series, Pandathaway's massive influence begins to shrink.

The Empire of Holtun-Bieme is a relatively new power in the world, even compared to Home. Holtun-Bieme was formed when Karl became Prince of Bieme after Walter assassinated the former Prince and turns around the ongoing war against Holtun, completely taking it over. Karl, during his life, was attempting to slowly move it from an empire to at least a very limited monarchy, bringing democratic elements in with him. It is currently ruled by Thomen Furnael, though his mother Dowager-Baroness Beralyn Furnael holds a significant amount of sway.

Faerie is another realm, ruled by the Faerie Queen Titania. They generally look down on the inhabitants of the Eren region and rarely interfere in the region. Titania helped Karl reach Melawei in an effort to ease her own boredom. At the end of The Road to Ehvenor, monsters escape from a rip into Faerie and begin to populate the world again.

There are various independent cities and powers in the Guardians of the Flame world, but these are the major ones.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Unofficial fan website^{[dead link]}
  • Slovotskys-laws.com on archive.org
• Bibliography on SciFan

The Flame could refer to:

• The Flame (Steve Lacy album), a 1982 album by American jazz saxophonist Steve Lacy
• The Flame (Annabel Lamb album), a 1984 album by British singer Annabel Lamb
• "The Flame" (Arcadia song), a 1986 song by British band Arcadia
• "The Flame" (Cheap Trick song), a 1988 song by American band Cheap Trick
• "The Flame", a 1996 song by British band Fine Young Cannibals
• "The Flame", the official song of the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics performed by Tina Arena
• The Flame (Dover album), a 2003 album by Spanish rock band Dover
• The Flame, a newspaper of the British National Front
• The Flame, a student newspaper of the University of Houston–Victoria
• The Flame (DHARMA Initiative), a fictional research project station featured in the American television series Lost
• Flame (comics), a fictional superhero character
• The Flame (wrestler), one of professional wrestler Jody Hamilton ring name
• The FLAME, a Seventh-day Adventist magazine

See also[link]

• Flacăra (disambiguation)
• Flame (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Virgin Steele
David DeFeis and Edward Pursino
Background information
Origin	Long Island, New York, USA
Genres	Hard rock (early), heavy metal, power metal, symphonic metal
Years active	1981–present
Labels	SPV/Steamhammer, Dockyard1, T&T/Noise Records
Website	www.virgin-steele.com
Members
David DeFeis Edward Pursino Frank Gilchriest Josh Block
Past members
Rob DeMartino Joey Ayvazian Joe "O"Reilly Jack Starr

Virgin Steele is a heavy metal band from New York, originally formed in 1981.

The band released a few career highlights albums (Noble Savage, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part I, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part II and Invictus). In recent years, they have enriched their sound with elements of musical theatre, progressive and symphonic metal, developing and writing projects such as the Metal Opera "The House of Atreus" (based on Oresteia and the Greek myth related to the Atreides) in 1999/2000 and the soundtrack for an imaginary movie Visions of Eden (A Barbaric Romantic Movie of the Mind) aka "The Lilith Project" (based on the Sumerian legend of Lilith) in 2006.

Barbaric Romanticism[link]

Barbaric Romantic Music[link]

Virgin Steele play what they call "barbaric romanticism" ^[1] which is a symphonic, romantic and bombastic music with many elements taken from classical music and fantasy/mythological lyrics based on real life events.

David DeFeis (all vocals, keyboards, orchestration, synth bass, swords and effects) about Virgin Steele's music: "From a whisper to a scream, barbaric, romantic, bombastic, yet subtle, grandiose, yet earthy. A call, a shout, an invocation to Freedom and the continual awakening to the awareness that every moment of life is lived to its fullest potential. It is a force, a sacred quest which drives Virgin Steele on".^[2]

Typically, during Virgin Steele's concerts a sword is burnt on stage.^[3]

In some special show they used to play a truly long live set called "Three hour extravaganza".^[4]

Fans consider "The Burning of Rome (Cry for Pompeii)" and "Emalaith" some of the most representative songs of the band.^[5]

Barbaric Romantic Synopsis[link]

Many Virgin Steele songs are mythological, often dealing with subjects from Greek and Christian mythology. Most of their albums are concept albums.

The later albums tend to be more epic and mythological while, on the early albums (up till Life Among the Ruins), many songs are more real-life based stories of love and sex.

According to David DeFeis, all the lyrics he writes are based on real life in some form or another.^[6]

Metal Opera & Theatre[link]

A Metal Opera is a mix between Rock opera, Broadway style and "Heavy metal adapted for theater's actors live performances".^[7]

According with German artists Walter Weyers ^[8] and Martina Krawulsky, with the name "Klytaimnestra": "The House of Atreus" Metal Opera (musically available on the Virgin Steele's albums The House of Atreus Act I, The House of Atreus Act II) was performed on stage in Germany theaters by Landestheater Production.^[9]
The result, very different from a heavy metal concert, is a metal based dark Broadway style musical really powerful and energetic with actors only.^[10]

The premiere of "Klytaimnestra" in Memmingen, the 5th June 1999,^[11] has been the first ever regular musical theatre show based on heavy metal concepts.

After "Klytaimnestra" success, David DeFeis & Landestheater Production extracted a second Metal Opera musical, named "The Rebels", from the previous Marriage of Heaven and Hell trilogy ("The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part I", "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part II", "Invictus").^[12]

In 2003, the same team released a third Metal Opera, named "Lilith", based on the material of album Visions of Eden. "Visons of Eden" was later on published in CD in 2006. In a different way to the previous two Operas, David DeFeis declared: "I don't think of it as a Metal Opera. What it really is, is the soundtrack for a major motion picture that has yet to be made! And by the hammer of Zeus, I will make this film one day. I call this work a Barbaric Romantic movie of the mind.".^[13]

Biography[link]

The origins[link]

At the beginning of the Eighties, Jack Starr (a guitarist of French origins) was looking for the right elements to form the ultimate heavy metal band. The first to answer his call was drummer Joey Ayvazian and together they started jamming and auditioning singers. They auditioned around 40 singers before David DeFeis was introduced to Jack by a friend of Joey.
With an astounding interpretation of "No Quarter" by Led Zeppelin, "Child in Time" by Deep Purple and "Catch the Rainbow" by Rainbow, David got the vacant role of singer, bringing with him bassist Joe O'Reilly.^[14] At the end of 1981 the first line-up was ready.

The debut[link]

Virgin Steele debuted in 1982 with "Children of the Storm" (a song loved by Metallica ^[14]), included in the compilation "U.S. Metal Vol. II".^[15] A bit later they issued their self-titled first album. Their style was and remains very original, a melding of American heavy metal and Rainbow's epic atmospheres. David, who also plays piano and keyboards, shows a particular liking for pompous and melodic arrangements, while Jack goes for a harder and more immediate assault.

Fan mail was becoming more interesting. Two letters in particular stand out, one from a young band, who were from Seattle. Their name was - Queensryche.^[14] The other, from California, also a band, who called themselves Metallica.^[14]

The second album[link]

The following year (1983) the second album Guardians Of The Flame was supported by a mini LP called Wait for the Night ("A Cry in the Night" in the European version).

After the album, Jack Starr started recording his first solo album, Out of the Darkness. Meanwhile DeFeis continued the band with Edward Purisno. As stated in the Virgin Steele's website "we never actually asked Edward to join the band, he just came down one day and never left".^[14]) After a lawsuit won by Starr over the name Virgin Steele, he sold it to DeFeis.

Noble Savage and Age Of Consent[link]

Supported by Pursino, whose style prefectly fit DeFeis' songwriting more than the Starr's one, Virgin Steele new lineup recorded Noble Savage, which melts classic and epic music. Today, this album is still considered one of the most important manifests of heavy and epic metal worldwide.^{[16][17][18][19][20]}

Between 1985 and 1986, some members of Virgin Steele strongly contributed to an album published under the name Exorcist called Nightmare Theatre ^[21] and to an album published under the name Piledriver called Stay Ugly.^[22] David DeFeis only produced and helped these albums even if some rumors said that he and Pursino were behind these bands.^[21]

Finally, the band managed to go to Europe, supporting Manowar on tour and gaining great approval from all quarters because of their live performances.^[23] When things started to come together, though, some inexplicable laws seemed to apply ^[14] and the following album, Age of Consent, got a very narrow distribution and ended up a complete commercial failure. At this point, Virgin Steele were in their darkest period: their label shut down and Joe O'Reilly decided to leave, forcing the band to stop playing for a while. During this break, David DeFeis graduated in piano and composition and played live with a semi-improvised band called "Smoke Stark Lightning", featuring some famous musicians like his old mate Jack Starr and drummer Bobby Rondinelli.^[24]

The come-back[link]

In 1993, Rob De Martino was chosen as the new bass player and Virgin Steele came back with Life Among the Ruins, an album of Whitesnake-influenced hard rock with a strong bluesy vein. The song "Last rose of Summer" is the highlight of the cd.^[25] Featuring none of the trademark epic and mythology-based elements of the band, Life Among the Ruins is probably the most atypical release in the Virgin Steele discography and disliked by many die-hard classic metal fans.^[25] Quite interesting is the fact the American version has got a different cover and a bonus-track called "Snakeskin Voodoo Man" (published as a stand-alone single too) while many video-clips, taken from this album, were included into the home-video "Tale Of The Snakeskin Voodoo Man".

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell[link]

One year later, the band returned to the original sound with The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part I, an album of epic metal full of melodic and symphonic influences, very progressive oriented. This work (a concept regarding the different side of human nature) includes, among the others, the song "Life Among the Ruins" which is not related to the previous album with the same title.
Virgin Steele went back to Europe supporting Manowar and Uriah Heep and at the end of 1995 released The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part II, following the concept and the style of the first one.

The band appeared also on the compilation A Tribute to Judas Priest: Legends of Metal - Volume II playing a raw cover of the song "Screaming for Vengeance". Another Judas Priest cover "Desert Plains" is included, as bonus-track, into the Age of Consent album reissue.

After another European tour (this time as headliner) in 1996, a new album was released in March 1998: the third and final chapter of the "Marriage" saga, titled Invictus. This was their heaviest album at the time and also very epic.^[26][27] Lyrically it is a concept album about humanity's rebellion against a pantheon of evil, uncaring gods.

The band played at the Wacken Open Air festival in 1997 and in 1998.

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell trilogy signs also the debut of drummer Frank Gilchriest.

Always in 1998, Virgin Steele headlined a real long new European tour with Mark Reale's Riot and Stigmata IV as supporting acts. This tour included the headliner performance at the Biker festival "Motorock" in Cremona (Italy).^[28]

The Metal Opera[link]

Between the years 1999 and 2000, the band released the never done before project of a Metal Opera, writing the albums The House of Atreus Act I and The House of Atreus Act II, intended to be played by actors in theaters. The subject of the Metal Opera was Oresteia and the Greek myths related by Aeschylus, very familiar to David DeFeis, because of his father's theaterical background.^[29] On the albums all vocals and orchestrations are managed by David DeFeis himself.

Just before The House of Atreus Act II, the single "Magick Fire Music" was published, with some Metal Opera outtakes. Inspired by Virgin Steele's Metal Opera, the German band Tobias Sammet's Avantasia wrote various albums using the same format. David DeFeis appears as special guest on the track: "The Final Sacrifice" included in the Avantasia's second album.

After the show at the Bang Your Head!!! festival in 2000 without a bass player, in 2001 Virgin Steele toured with HammerFall and Freedom Call with the new bass player Josh Block.

The 20th years anniversary[link]

In 2002, the band released two compilations to celebrate the 20th years anniversary. The Book of Burning consists of a mix of previously unreleased songs and new compositions created by David DeFeis in collaboration with original guitarist Jack Starr. The songs were written at the beginning of the 90's and previously unofficially appeared in the underground, with Starr at the guitar, with the name "Sacred Demos". The album contained also re-recordings of various songs from the first two albums with Josh Block, and not Jack Starr, supporting Pursino at the second guitar. Hymns to Victory instead is a best-of album covering the band's career from Noble Savage to their latest album The House of Atreus Act II.

The way to manage the reissues of the first two albums Virgin Steele and Guardians of the Flame, never published in cd before, created one more time problems between DeFeis and Starr so they decided to truncate any sort of relationship.^[30] DeFeis managed the reissues all by himself remastering the original albums and adding new bonus tracks. The EP A Cry in the Night was included into the Guardians of the Flame CD.

Rising unchained[link]

David DeFeis (keyboards and backing vocals) appears as special guest on the first two Immortally Committed albums in the tracks "Epic" and "Council in Hell".^[31] He, Edward Pursino, Josh Block and Exorcist's drummer Geoff Fontaine played some live dates with the New York cover band Carnival of Souls.^[32]

Between the years 2002 and 2005, the band headlined a large number of heavy metal festivals such as the "Agglutination Festival" (2003, Italy), the "Tradate Iron Fest" (2004, Italy), the "Keep It True V Festival" (2004, Germany) and the "Ragnarock Festival" (2005, Netherlands).

A Barbaric Romantic Movie Of The Mind[link]

David DeFeis also created his own recording studio called: "The Hammer of Zeus" (sometimes also called "The Wrecking Ball Of Thor").^[33]

In September 2006, after 6 years without an all-new studio album, the band released its 11th full-length Visions of Eden. The album revolves heavily around Gnostic beliefs and critically revisits the traditional Christian mythology with regards to the creation of the Earth and the Biblical accounts of Adam and Eve.^[34] An even darker, more melancholic drama than the House of Atreus saga, the story revolves around Lilith, the first wife of Adam and a symbol of female strength and independence. Representing the female side of the true, higher god, she suffers under the lusting, jealous Demiurge who represents the Christian god, and as an emancipated woman who could not get along with the dominant Adam stands in stark contrast to Eve. Adam's second wife is portrayed as a docile, subservient partner created by the demiurge at the request of Adam, who could not cope with an independent woman on equal footing with him.

Visions of Eden (A Barbaric Romantic Movie Of The Mind) aka "The Lilith Project" is based on the Sumerian legend of Lilith and it is intended as the soundtrack for an imaginary movie. The band is actually looking for a producer to bring this concept album story on-screen.^[35]

Recent activities[link]

In 2007, the band played at the Power Prog VIII Festival (Atlanta, Georgia) and at the Evolution Festival (Florence, Italy). David DeFeis and Josh Block appear on the Polish band Crystal Viper EP in the cover of Virgin Steele's song "Blood and Gasoline" from the The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part I album.

Between 2007 and 2008 the out of print albums Noble Savage, Age of Consent, Life Among the Ruins, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part I and The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part II were reissued (with bonus tracks) by the German label Dockyard1.

There are also rumors that a DVD live album is planned, a three hours show recorded at THE DOWNTOWN CLUB (Long Island, NY) in 2002 ^[4] and an acoustic concert played in 2000 in München should be part of it.^[36] In addition, the first ever Virgin Steele tribute album "By The Gods: A noble Tribute to Virgin Steele" is in the making.^[37] This album will feature true/power metal bands from all over the world and it's supported by Virgin Steele's frontman David DeFeis.

A new Virgin Steele album, entitled The Black Light Bacchanalia, was relelased at the end of October 2010 for the new label SPV/Steamhammer while, in 2011, the whole back-catalogue, from Noble Savage onwards, will be reissued again with faithfully restored covers and booklets, bonus tracks and linear notes.^[38]

Line-up[link]

• David DeFeis - all vocals, keyboards, orchestration, synth bass, swords & effects
• Edward Pursino - electric & acoustic guitars
• Frank Gilchriest - drums, chaos & pandemonium
• Josh Block - electric bass & additional rhythm guitar

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• 1982 - Virgin Steele
• 1983 - Guardians of the Flame
• 1986 - Noble Savage
• 1988 - Age of Consent
• 1993 - Life Among the Ruins
• 1994 - The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part I
• 1995 - The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part II
• 1998 - Invictus
• 1999 - The House of Atreus Act I
• 2000 - The House of Atreus Act II
• 2006 - Visions of Eden
• 2010 - The Black Light Bacchanalia

EPs[link]

• 1983 - Wait for the Night
• 2000 - Magick Fire Music

Compilations[link]

• 2002 - Hymns to Victory
• 2002 - The Book of Burning

Singles[link]

• 1992 - Snakeskin Voodoo Man
• 1998 - Through Blood And Fire

Videos/DVD[link]

• 1992 - Tale Of The Snakeskin Voodoo Man

References[link]

External links[link]

• Virgin Steele's Official Website
• Virgin Steele on Myspace
• ARMS OF MERCURY, Authorized Official Italian Site
• NOBLESAVAGES, Greek Official Fanclub of Virgin Steele

Tavis Smiley
Tavis Smiley, 2011
Born	(1964-09-13) September 13, 1964 (age 47) Gulfport, Mississippi United States
Education	Indiana University (B.A., public affairs, 2003)
Occupation	Talk show host Author Entrepreneur Advocate Philanthropist
Notable credit(s)	Tavis Smiley host (2004–present) The Tavis Smiley Show from PRI (radio) host (2005–present) "Smiley & West" co-host (2010–present) BET Tonight with Tavis Smiley host (1996–2001)
Religion	Christian
Website
http://www.tavistalks.com/

Tavis Smiley (pronounced /ˈtævɨs/; born September 13, 1964) is a talk show host, author, liberal political commentator, entrepreneur, advocate and philanthropist.^[1][2] Smiley was born in Gulfport, Mississippi, and grew up in Kokomo, Indiana. After attending Indiana University, he worked during the late 1980s as an aide to Tom Bradley, the mayor of Los Angeles. Smiley became a radio commentator in 1991, and starting in 1996, he hosted the talk show BET Talk (later renamed BET Tonight) on BET. Controversially, after Smiley sold an exclusive interview of Sara Jane Olson to ABC News in 2001, BET declined to renew Smiley's contract that year. Smiley then began hosting The Tavis Smiley Show on NPR from 2002 to 2004 and currently hosts Tavis Smiley on PBS on the weekdays and "The Tavis Smiley Show" from PRI. In 2010 Smiley and Dr. Cornel West have joined forces for their own radio talk show, Smiley & West. They were featured together interviewing musician Bill Withers in the 2009 documentary film Still Bill.^[3]

Early years[link]

Tavis Smiley was born in Gulfport, Mississippi, the son of Joyce Marie Roberts, a single mother who first became pregnant at age 18.^[4] On September 13, 1966, just shy of his second birthday, his mother married Emory Garnell Smiley, a non-commisioned officer in the U.S. Air Force.^[5] It would not be until a few years later that Tavis would learn the identity of his biological father, whom he identifies in his autobiography, What I Know For Sure: My Story of Growing Up in America only as "T."^[6]

His family soon moved to Indiana because his stepfather had been transferred to Grissom Air Force Base near Peru, Indiana. Upon arriving in Indiana, the Smiley family took up residence in a crowded mobile home in the small town of Bunker Hill, Indiana.^[7] Smiley's immediate family size was increased following the homicide of his aunt, whose death left five children with no stable home. Smiley's parents agreed to take in and raise their five orphaned nieces and nephews. Joyce and her husband also had eight children of their own over the years, resulting at one point in 13 children and Mr. and Mrs. Smiley all living in the trailer-home. Smiley's mother was a very religious person, and the family attended the local New Bethel Tabernacle Church, part of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World.^[8] The Smiley children were forbidden from listening to secular music at home and going to the movie theater and could watch television shows that their parents felt were family-friendly.^[9] When Tavis Smiley was in seventh grade, New Bethel pastor Elder Rufus Mills accused Tavis and his siblings of "running wild, disobeying their teacher, disrespecting their teacher, disrespecting the sanctity of this building, and mocking the holy message being taught" during Sunday School.^[10] According to Smiley's account of the incident, Smiley's Sunday School teacher became more confused as she was asking questions about the Book of John, and while other students "responded by giggling and acting a little unruly", he and his sister Phyllis "remained quiet".^[11] Garnell whipped Tavis and Phyllis with an extension cord, wounding the two children.^[12] The next day at school, administrators found out about the children's injuries.^[13] The local newspaper in Kokomo reported on the beating and the legal proceedings against Garnell, and Tavis and Phyllis were sent to foster care temporarily,^[14] Garnell told his children that the judge decided that he had "overreacted" and found he and Joyce as "concerned parents who were completely involved in our children's lives and well-being".^[15]

Smiley became interested in politics at age 13 after attending a fundraiser for U.S. Senator Birch Bayh.^[8] At Maconaquah High School in Bunker Hill, Indiana, a school that Smiley described as "98 percent white",^[16] Smiley was active in student council and the debate team, even though his parents were "skeptical of all non-church extracurricular activities".^[17]

College and political career[link]

In 1982, Smiley enrolled in Indiana University Bloomington (IU). Because Smiley's parents refused to complete financial aid papers, Smiley entered Indiana University with only $50 and a small suitcase.^[18] Administrators let Smiley complete the paperwork to become a full-time student.^[19] The summer after his freshman year, Smiley worked, attended summer classes, and lived off campus with Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball players, then being coached by Bob Knight.^[20] Smiley was accepted into the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity during his sophomore year and became business manager of his dormitory, a member of the student senate, and director of minority affairs.^[21] After his friend Denver Smith was killed by Indiana police officers who claimed to have acted in self-defense, Smiley helped lead protests to defend Smith, whom he believed had been wrongfully killed.^[22] Those protests led Smiley to a work-study internship at the office of Bloomington mayor Tomilea Allison. Being paid $5 an hour, Smiley wrote letters to local residents, researched for Mayor Allison, and helped write positions on local issues. Mayor Allison rebuked Smiley for padding his time sheets and had Smiley work off the extra hours without pay.^[23] During his first semester of junior year, Smiley was under academic probation and blamed his extracurricular activities for interfering with his studies.^[24] When Smiley visited Los Angeles to attend a national student leaders' convention, the cousin of his roommate introduced Smiley to football star Jim Brown. Brown introduced Smiley to fellow football player George Hughley, who worked for Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley and connected Smiley to Mayor Bradley's staff.^[25] Every week since meeting Bradley's staff, Smiley wrote a letter to the mayor's office asking for an internship and once personally flew to Los Angeles to appeal. However, by summertime he received a letter from the city stating that all internship positions were filled.^[26] Smiley then handwrote a letter to the mayor that he said represented his feeling "from the heart", and Bradley called Smiley to say that he had a position available for Smiley.^[27] As the internship was unpaid but counted for college credit, the Bloomington Community Progress Council funded Smiley with $5,000 for living expenses in Los Angeles, and Brown allowed Smiley to live as a houseguest during September 1985. Starting the next month, Smiley lived in the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity house in the University of Southern California. At City Hall, Smiley worked at the Office of Youth Development on the 22nd floor.^[28]

Twice, Smiley considered quitting college, first during junior year,^[29] and then after finishing his internship with Mayor Bradley. Bradley successfully convinced Smiley to return to college, and Smiley did.^[30] Smiley took the LSAT twice, as he was considering attending Harvard Law School.^[31] However, in his senior year, he failed a test in a computer class after being accused of copying another student's, so he failed that class and several others and lacked nine hours of credits and thus did not graduate from IU.^[32] Following a hiring freeze by the government of Los Angeles, Smiley served as an aide to Mayor Bradley until 1990.^[33] A 1988 article in the Los Angeles Times identified Smiley as "a Bradley administrative assistant who works in South Los Angeles".^[34] In 2003, Smiley officially received his degree from Indiana University in public affairs.^[35]

Radio and television career[link]

Campaigning for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council in 1991 against incumbent Ruth Galanter, Smiley finished fourth among 15 candidates. Smiley became a radio commentator, broadcasting one-minute daily radio segments called The Smiley Report on KGFJ radio.^[8] With Ruben Navarrette, Jr., Smiley co-hosted a local talk show in Los Angeles where his strongly held views on race and politics, combined with his arguments regarding the impact of institutional racism and substandard educational and economic opportunities for inner-city black youth, earned him attention on the Los Angeles Times. His commentaries focused on local and national current-affairs issues affecting the African-American community.^[36] For six months, Smiley worked on a community news program on a local cable network and spent six more months working on television in Montreal.^[37]

In 1996, Smiley became a frequent commentator on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, a nationally syndicated radio show broadcast on black and urban stations in the United States.^[38] He developed a friendship with host Joyner; together they began hosting annual town hall meetings beginning in 2000 called "The State of the Black Union", which were aired live on the C-SPAN cable television network. Each of these town hall meetings focused on a specific topic affecting the African-American community, featuring a panel of African-American leaders, educators, and professionals assembled before an audience to discuss problems related to the forum's topic, as well as potential solutions.^[39] Smiley also used his commentator status on Joyner's radio show to launch several advocacy campaigns to highlight discriminatory practices in the media and government and to rally support for causes such as the awarding of a Congressional Gold Medal to civil rights icon Rosa Parks. Smiley also began building a national reputation as a political commentator with numerous appearances on political discussion shows on MSNBC, ABC, and CNN.

Also in 1996, Smiley began hosting and executive producing BET Tonight (originally BET Talk when it first premiered), a public affairs discussion show on the Black Entertainment Television (BET) network. Smiley interviewed major political figures and celebrities and discussed topics ranging from racial profiling and police brutality to R&B music and Hollywood gossip. Smiley hosted BET Tonight until 2001, when in a controversial move, the network announced that Smiley's contract would not be renewed. This sparked an angry response from Joyner, who sought to rally his radio audience to protest BET's decision. Robert L. Johnson, founder of BET, defended the decision, stating that Smiley had been fired because he had sold an exclusive interview to ABC News without first offering the story to BET, even though Smiley's contract with BET did not require him to do so. Smiley countered with the assertion that he had offered the story — an interview with Sara Jane Olson, an alleged former member of the Symbionese Liberation Army — to CBS, which, along with BET, was owned by Viacom. Smiley ultimately sold the interview to rival network ABC, he said, only after CBS passed on the interview, and suggested that his firing was payback for the publicity he gained as a result of providing an exclusive interview to ABC.^[40] Ultimately BET and Viacom did not reverse their decision to terminate Smiley's contract.

Smiley was then offered a chance to host a radio talk show on National Public Radio. He served as host of The Tavis Smiley Show on NPR until December 2004 when he announced that he would be leaving his NPR show, citing the network's inability to reach a more diverse audience.^[41] Smiley launched a weekly version of his radio program The Tavis Smiley Show on April 29, 2005, distributed by NPR rival Public Radio International. On October 1, 2010, Tavis Smiley turned the second hour of his PRI program into Smiley & West co-hosted by his longtime collaborator Dr. Cornel West. Smiley also hosts Tavis Smiley, a late night talk show televised on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) network and produced in association with WNET in New York.^[42]

Smiley moderated two live presidential candidate forums in 2007: a Democratic forum on June 28 at Howard University in Washington, D.C.,^[43] and a Republican forum on September 27 at Morgan State University in Baltimore.^[44]

Smiley appears on the Democracy Now! show.^[45]

Controversy over Presidential Candidate Barack Obama[link]

On April 11, 2008, Tavis Smiley announced that he would resign in June 2008 as a commentator on the Tom Joyner Morning Show. He cited fatigue and a busy schedule in a personal call to Joyner. However, Joyner, referring to several commentaries in which Smiley was critical of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, indicated otherwise on his program, stating: "The real reason is that he can't take the hate he's been getting regarding the Barack issue—hate from the black people that he loves so much."^[46] Prior to the public controversy and being elected President, Obama had been on Smiley's PBS show six times.

In 2012, Smiley participated in a "Poverty Tour" with Princeton University professor Cornel West in promoting their book The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto. The stated aim of the tour was to highlight the plight of the impoverished population of the United States prior to the 2012 Presidential Election, whose candidates Smiley and West stated had ignored the plight of the poor.^{[47][48][49][50]}

[edit] The Covenant with Black America

In March 2006, The Smiley Group and Third World Press published The Covenant with Black America, a collection of essays by black scholars and professionals edited by Smiley. The book covered topics ranging from education to healthcare. The book was a New York Times Bestseller.^[51]

Awards and contributions[link]

Smiley was honored with the NAACP Image Award for best news, talk, or information series for three consecutive years (1997–99) for his work on BET Tonight with Tavis Smiley.

Smiley's advocacy efforts have earned him numerous awards and recognitions including the recipient of the Mickey Leland Humanitarian Award from the National Association of Minorities in Communications.

In 1999, he founded the Tavis Smiley Foundation, which funds programs that develop young leaders in the black community. Since its inception, more than 6,000 young people have participated in the foundation's Youth to Leaders Training workshops and conferences.

His communications company, The Smiley Group, Inc., serves as the holding company for various enterprises encompassing broadcast and print media, lecturers, symposiums, and the Internet.

In 1994, Time named Smiley one of America's 50 Most Promising Young Leaders.^[52] Time would later honor him in 2009 as one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World". In May 2007, Smiley gave a commencement speech at his alma mater, Indiana University at Bloomington, Indiana (the university recently honored Smiley by naming the atrium of its School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) building, The Tavis Smiley Atrium).

In May 2008, he gave the commencement address at Connecticut College, where he was awarded an honorary doctorate. In May 2009, Smiley was awarded an honorary doctorate at Langston University after giving the commencement address there.

On December 12, 2008, Smiley received the Du Bois Medal from Harvard University's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research.

He would also be awarded the 2009 Interdependence Day Prize from Demos in Istanbul, Turkey.

Smiley would be named No. 2 change agent in the field of media behind Oprah Winfrey in EBONY Magazine's POWER 150 list.

Bibliography[link]

• Just a Thought: The Smiley Report (ISBN 0-963-69523-1)
• Doing What's Right: How to Fight for What You Believe—And Make a Difference (ISBN 0-385-49931-0)
• Hard Left (ISBN 0-385-48404-6)
• Keeping the Faith: Stories of Love, Courage, Healing, and Hope from Black America (ISBN 0-385-72169-2)
• How to Make Black America Better: Leading African Americans Speak Out (ISBN 0-385-72087-4)
• On Air:The Best of Tavis Smiley on the Tom Joyner Morning Show (ISBN 1-890194-33-6)
• The Covenant with Black America (ISBN 0-88378-277-4)
• What I Know for Sure: My Story of Growing Up in America (ISBN 978-0-385-50516-1; ISBN 0-388-50516-7)
• Accountable: Making America As Good As Its Promise
• Fail Up (ISBN 1-401-93390-4)
• The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto (with Cornel West) (ISBN 1-401940-63-3)

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• LaRue, William. "Tavis Smiley: NPR Host Brings Latenight Talk to PBS". The Post-Standard (Syracuse, New York), 1 February 2004, STARS section, pp. 4–6.
• Slade, Scott. "Author Issues Wakeup Call". Kokomo Tribune (Indiana), 20 June 1996, p. 7.
• Smiley, Tavis (2006), What I Know For Sure: My Story of Growing Up in America, New York City, New York, United States: Doubleday, ISBN 0-385-50516-7, http://books.google.com/books?id=lBHwtgmBJ1IC </ref>

External links[link]

• Official website
• Tavis Smiley on Twitter
• Tavis Smiley on WNET/PBS
• Appearances on C-SPAN
  • Booknotes interview with Smiley on Doing What's Right, April 9, 2000.
  • C-SPAN Q&A interview with Smiley, October 29, 2006
• Tavis Smiley on Charlie Rose
• Tavis Smiley at NPR
• Works by or about Tavis Smiley in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Tavis Smiley: The State of the Black Union Interview
• Tavis Smiley on Rev. Martin Luther King and His Opposition to the Vietnam War - video by Democracy Now!