Career
Miss Lou was a resident artiste from 1945 to 1946 with the “Caribbean Carnival”. She appeared in leading humorous roles in several Jamaican Pantomimes and television shows. She traveled throughout the World promoting the culture of Jamaica by lecturing and performing. Although her popularity was International, she enjoyed a celebrity status in her native Jamaica, Canada and the United Kingdom. Her Poetry has been published several times, most notably Jamaica Labrish-1966, Anancy and Miss Lou-1979.
Among her many recordings are: Jamaica Singing Games - 1953, Jamaican Folk Songs (Folkways Records, 1954), Children's Jamaican Songs and Games (Folkways, 1957) Miss Lou’s Views - 1967, Listen to Louise - 1968, Carifesta Ring Ding - 1976, The Honorable Miss Lou - 1981, Miss Lou Live-London - 1983 and Yes M' Dear -Island Records. She was married to Eric Winston Coverley on May 30, 1954 and has 1 adopted son Fabian Coverley.
In 1974, she was appointed to the Order of Jamaica. On Jamaica’s Independence Day 2001, the Honorable Mrs. Louise Bennett-Coverley was appointed as a Member of the Jamaican Order of Merit for her invaluable and distinguished contribution to the development of the Arts and Culture. She wrote her poems in the language of the people known as Jamaican Patois or Creole, and helped to put this language on the map and to have it recognised as a language in its own right, thus influencing many poets to do similar things.
In 1986, she appeared as Portia in the comedy film Club Paradise, starring Robin Williams, Jimmy Cliff and Peter O'Toole.
She died in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on July 26, 2006.
"Colonization in Reverse" (1966)
:"Wat a joyful news, Miss Mattie, :I feel like me heart gwine burs :Jamaica people colonizin :Englan in reverse. :By de hundred, by de tousan :From country and from town, :By de ship-load, by de plane-load :Jamaica is Englan boun. :Dem a pour out a Jamaica :Everybody future plan :Is fe get a big-time job :An settle in de mother lan. :What a islan! What a people! :Man an woman, old an young :Jus a pack dem bag an baggage :An tun history upside dung! :Some people doan like travel :But fe show dem loyalty :Dem all a open up cheap-fare- :To-Englan agency. :An week by week dem shippin off :Dem countryman like fire, :Fe immigrate an populate :De seat a de Empire. :Oonoo see how life is funny, :Oonoo see de tunabout? :Jamaica live fe box bread :Out a English people mout'. :For wen dem ketch a Englan, :An start play dem different role, :Some will settle down to work :An some will settle fe de dole. :Jane say de dole is not too bad :Because dey payin she :Two pounds a week fe seek a job :Dat suit her dignity. :Me say Jane will never fine work :At de rate how she dah look, :For all day she stay pon Aunt Fan couch :An read love-story book. :Wat a devilment a Englan! :Dem face war an brave de worse, :But me wonderin how dem gwine stan :Colonizin in reverse."
Cultural Significance
Louise Bennett's poem, “Colonization in Reverse” (1966), provides a historical context for many minorities living in the UK in post-colonial time. Her portrayal of the Jamaican experience of dislocation and racial inequality parallels that of South Asian people living in London. Additionally, in both cases issues of cultural specificity and identity are salient. Both Jamaican and South Asian people shared a similar experience in their move to England for employment and a better life while also implying the complexities of assimilation and dual identity.
Bennett pinpoints her concept of cultural disloyalty when she writes about Jamaicans on their quest for better job opportunities: “Dem a pour out a Jamaica/ Everybody future plan/ Is to get a big-time job/ An settle in de mother lan.”
External links
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| Coordinates | 43°35′07″N39°43′13″N |
|---|---|
| Name | Big Youth |
| Background | solo_singer |
| Birth name | Manley Augustus Buchanan |
| Born | |
| Died | |
| Origin | Kingston, Jamaica |
| Instrument | vocals |
| Genre | Reggae |
Manley Augustus Buchanan (born 19 April 1949, Trenchtown, Kingston, Jamaica), He started to perform at dances, initially influenced by U-Roy, and became a regular with Lord Tippertone's sound system by 1970, becoming the resident deejay, and attracting the attention of Kingston's record producers. His early singles for producers such as Jimmy Radway ("The Best Big Youth"), Lee Perry ("Moving Version") and Phil Pratt ("Tell It Black") were artistically and commercially unsuccessful.
In 1973 he released his first album entitled Screaming Target, produced by Gussie Clarke. The album is still considered as a classic of its genre, featuring rhythms from well-known hits by Gregory Isaacs, Leroy Smart, and Lloyd Parks, among others. Throughout 1974 and 1975 he continued to record for other producers, including Glen Brown ("Dubble Attack"), The Abyssinians ("I Pray Thee"/"Dreader than Dread"), Yabby You ("Yabby Youth" - later known as "Lightning Flash (Weak Heart Drop)"), Bunny Wailer ("Bide"/"Black on Black") and Joe Gibbs ("Medecine Doctor").
His next LP, Dread Locks Dread, was released on Klik Records in 1975. Although ostensibly a Big Youth LP produced by "Prince" Tony Robinson, it in fact only featured six vocal tracks, two of which - "Marcus Garvey Dread" (originally "Mosia Garvey" on Jack Ruby's Fox label) and "Lightning Flash" had been released as singles for other producers.
By this time he had begun releasing his own self-produced recordings on the Negusa Nagast and Augustus Buchanan labels in Jamaica, sometimes buying rhythms from producers for whom he had worked, but latterly using his own musicians, usually the Soul Syndicate band. Many of his singles, such as "Hot Stock", and "Battle of the Giants" (with U-Roy) were released on this imprint. His first self-produced LP was Reggae Phenomemnon in 1974. His self-productions continued with Natty Cultural Dread in 1976, followed later that year by Hit the Road Jack. Having recorded only deejaying records initially, by now Big Youth was developing more confidence as a singer; while his vocal range was never the greatest, his singing sides continued to improve in musical quality, and began to become as common as his DJ tunes. This was helpful, as new young DJs such as Trinity and Clint Eastwood were appearing on the scene, and Big Youth's chanting style was becoming less fashionable.
He signed to Virgin Records' Frontline label in 1977, his first release on the label being the Isaiah First Prophet of Old album, and he also appeared in the film Rockers. Virgin declined the chance to release his next three albums, however, and as the 1970s came to a close, Big Youth's popularity took a dip. By the early 1980s, events had combined to make reggae much less successful than it had been five years earlier. The rising tide of violence had driven many musicians and producers to leave Jamaica for the UK and U.S., reggae had not broken through to widespread commercial success, and, in the wake of Bob Marley's death a lot of major labels either dropped their Jamaican artists or spent little on promoting them, and the music returned to its insular roots. "Slackness" (sexually explicit lyrics) became far more fashionable than cultural Rastafari movement, and teenagers looked more towards the United States for their heroes. While his records continued to find a market, tunes like "Jah Jah Golden Jubilee", "A Luta Continua" and "Chanting" failed to capture the public imagination.
:"Yes, me come inna de music as Rasta, me a de original rastaman who enter it." –Big Youth, Italy, 2001
Category:Jamaican reggae musicians Category:Jamaican Rastafarians Category:1949 births Category:Living people Category:people from Kingston, Jamaica Category:Reachout International Records recording artists
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| Coordinates | 43°35′07″N39°43′13″N |
|---|---|
| Name | Mary Lou |
| Birthdate | March 15, 1992 |
| Birth place | California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Yearsactive | 2003–present |
| Notable role | Mary Ferry - Unfabulous |
Mary Lou (born March 15, 1992) is an American actress. She is known for playing Mary Ferry on the Nickelodeon television series Unfabulous.
Mary Lou’s show business career started at age six when she entertained as a member of Singing Solo (a children's singing group located in La Mesa, CA) at a local street fair with a rendition of The Good Ship Lollipop. After this performance, she chose acting as her career. Over the next few years, Lou went on to sing at over two dozen venues throughout Southern California, Texas and Tennessee, winning multiple local, state, regional, national and world championship titles.
Mary Lou also filmed a guest-starring role on Phil of the Future, as a math-nerd named Alex, in Good Phil Hunting. Mary also appeared on Future Girls: Adventures in Marine Biology and Bad Mother's Handbook and guest starred on What should you do?. More recently Mary was on Glee. She continues to audition daily for feature films, television and voiceover.
Today, Mary Lou is a featured artist at charity events with her live country-western show.
Category:1992 births Category:American child actors Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:Living people Category:Actors from California
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| Coordinates | 43°35′07″N39°43′13″N |
|---|---|
| Name | Lou Rawls |
| Background | solo_singer |
| Birth name | Louis Allen Rawls |
| Born | December 01, 1933Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Genre | R&B;, soul, jazz, blues |
| Occupation | Singer, actor, voice actor |
| Years active | 1950s–2006 |
Louis Allen "Lou" Rawls (December 1, 1933
Alongside Dick Clark as master of ceremonies, Rawls was recovered enough by 1959 to be able to perform at the Hollywood Bowl. He was signed to Capitol Records in 1962, the same year he sang the soulful background vocals on the Sam Cooke recording of "Bring it on Home to Me" and "That's where it's at," both written by Cooke. Rawls himself charted with a cover of "Bring it on home to me" in 1970 (with the title shortened to "Bring It On Home").
Rawls' first Capitol solo release was Stormy Monday (a.k.a. I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water), a jazz album, in 1962. On August 21, 1966, he opened for The Beatles at Crosley Field in Cincinnati.
Though his 1966 album Live! went gold, Rawls would not have a star-making hit until he made a proper soul album, appropriately named Soulin', later that same year. The album contained his first R&B; #1 single, "Love Is a Hurtin' Thing". In 1967 Rawls won his first Grammy Award for Best R&B; Vocal Performance, for the single "Dead End Street."
In 1969, the singer was co-host of NBC's summer replacement series for the Dean Martin Show along with Martin's daughter, singer Gail Martin.
After leaving Capitol in 1971, Rawls joined MGM, at which juncture he released his Grammy-winning single "Natural Man." He had a brief stint with Bell Records in 1974, where he recorded a cover of Hall & Oates' "She's Gone." In 1976, Rawls signed with Philadelphia International Records, where he had his greatest album success with the million-selling All Things in Time. The album produced his most successful single, "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine", which topped the R&B; and Adult Contemporary charts and went to number two on the pop side, becoming Rawls' only certified million-selling single in the process.
Subsequent albums, such as 1977's When You Hear Lou, You've Heard It All yielded such hit singles as "Lady Love". Other releases in the 1970s included the classic album Sit Down And Talk To Me.
Rawls' 1977 Grammy Awards performance of "You'll Never Find" was disrupted by a coughing fit.
In 1982, Rawls received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Sang the lyrics to WGN-TV's 1983 "Chicago's Very Own" ad campaign, a slogan that the station still uses to this day.
In 1989, he performed vocals for "The Music and Heroes of America" segment in the animated television miniseries This is America, Charlie Brown.
In January 2004, Rawls was honored by the United Negro College Fund for his more than 25 years of charity work with the organization. Instead of hosting and performing as he usually did, Rawls was given the seat of honor and celebrated by his performing colleagues, including Stevie Wonder, The O'Jays, Gerald Levert, Ashanti, and many others. His final television performance occurred during the 2005-2006 edition of the telethon, honoring Stevie Wonder in September 2005, just months before entering the hospital and after having been diagnosed with cancer earlier in the year. This program, aired in January, 2006, contains his final public television performance, where he performed two classics, "You Are the Sunshine of My Life," and a final ode to Frank Sinatra with, "It Was A Very Good Year."
At the time of Rawls' death, news and UNCF figures noted the significance of Rawls' final performance, "It Was a Very Good Year." The song is a retrospective of one's life and its lyrics include, "When I was seventeen, it was a very good year. It was a very good year for small town girls and soft summer nights...And now those days grow short, it is the autumn of years, and now I think about life as vintage wine from fine old kegs, from the brim to the dregs, it pours sweet and clear, it was a very good year."
Throughout Rawls' singing career, he had the opportunity to appear in many films, television shows, and commercials. He can be seen in such films as Leaving Las Vegas, Blues Brothers 2000, and Angel, Angel, Down We Go. He had a supporting role in the Baywatch spin-off, Baywatch Nights. He also appeared in the western television series, Big Valley, (starring legend Barbara Stanwyck, along with Lee Majors and Linda Evans) where he played a hired hand. Here, he delivered the memorable line: "Ain't a horse that can't be rode; ain't a man that can't be throwed".
Rawls lent his rich baritone voice to many cartoons, including Hey Arnold! as the voice of Harvey The Mailman, Garfield, and The Proud Family. For many of the Film Roman Garfield specials, Rawls would often compose songs for them, which he would then sing usually doing a duet with Desiree Goyette.
For many years, he was a spokesperson for the Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company, helping promote the brand on radio and TV to African-American markets much as Ed McMahon did for the white audience. He was also a spokesman for Budweiser. Budweiser was a key sponsor for the Rawls telethon and UNCF. There was no attempt to avoid the similarity between the title of the 1977 album When You've Heard Lou, You've Heard It All and his corporate sponsor's slogan "When You Say Budweiser, You've Said It All". A track on the 1978 album Lou Rawls Live, features Rawls singing the commercial slogan. Anheuser-Busch, the brewers of Budweiser, also suggested his telethon work to him.
Rawls was also a regular guest host on "Jazz Central", a program aired on the BET Jazz cable channel.
He appears as "Dr. Rawls" in a dream on an episode My Wife and Kids, where he breaks into a parody version of "You'll Never Find", which a frightened Damon Wayans is afraid of having a colonoscopy the following day. Rawls uses the scope as a microphone in the scene. Rawls appears as a commentator in the second half of both the rated and unrated versions of the commentary for DVD commentary track, despite having nothing to do with the film itself. During the track, he indulges the commentators' request, participating in a scatting contest with Will Ferrell.
Rawls also appeared in an episode of Bay Watch as a bookie.
Rawls was also a guest star during the second season of The Muppet Show. He also made a brief appearance on the series finale of Martin. He made an appearance on My Wife & Kids as a love doctor.
In December 2005, it was announced that Rawls was being treated for lung and brain cancer. The singer died on January 6, 2006 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from complications of the cancers, with his wife at his side. Besides his wife and youngest son, he left behind two adult daughters - Louanna Rawls, a wardrobe stylist and future Launch My Line contestant, and Kendra Smith, an adult son, Lou Rawls, Jr, and three granddaughters - Brianna, Katrina, and Chayil.
Category:1933 births Category:2006 deaths Category:African American musicians Category:American baritones Category:American jazz singers Category:American male singers Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:American voice actors Category:Deaths from brain cancer Category:Musicians from Chicago, Illinois Category:Former Scientologists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Deaths from lung cancer Category:People from Chicago, Illinois Category:Philadelphia International Records artists Category:American soul musicians Category:United States Army soldiers Category:Cancer deaths in California
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| Coordinates | 43°35′07″N39°43′13″N |
|---|---|
| Name | Ciara |
| Background | solo_singer |
| Birth name | Ciara Princess Harris |
| Born | October 25, 1985Austin, Texas, United States |
| Origin | Atlanta, Georgia, United States |
| Voice type | Contralto |
| Genre | R&B;, pop, hip hop, dance |
| Occupation | Singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer, actress, model |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Label | LaFace, Jive, Sho'nuff |
| Url |
Ciara Princess Harris (born October 25, 1985), who performs under the mononym Ciara, is an American recording artist, dancer, actress, and fashion model. Born in Austin, Texas, she travelled around the world during her childhood, only to land in Atlanta, Georgia where she met music producer, Jazze Pha. With his help, she was signed to LaFace Records, and went on to become a successful artist, selling more than seven million albums worldwide and having numerous top ten hits.
In 2004 Ciara released her debut album Goodies which spawned the number one hits "Goodies" and "1, 2 Step", selling over five million copies worldwide and certified triple platinum in the United States. The album earned her four nominations at the 2004 Grammy Awards. In 2006, she released her second album, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and included the hits "Get Up" and "Promise". Her third album Fantasy Ride released in May 2009, included the worldwide top ten hit single "Love Sex Magic" with Justin Timberlake which earned her a nomination at the 52nd Grammy Awards for "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals". Since making her musical debut in 2004, Ciara has attained five Billboard Hot 100 top ten singles including a number one. Prior to the release of her third album, Ciara has sold over seven million albums worldwide, Ciara said that watching Destiny's Child and Janet Jackson perform on a television program while staying home from school inspired her to pursue a career in music, and cites superstar siblings Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson as her biggest inspiration. Despite this setback, Ciara was still determined to reach her goal and signed a publishing deal as a songwriter. Her first success was the song "Got Me Waiting" for R&B; singer Fantasia Barrino's debut album, Free Yourself It was when she was writing songs that she met music producer, Jazze Pha, whom she called her "music soulmate". In 2002, the two recorded four demos, "1, 2 Step", "Thug Style", "Pick Up the Phone", and "Lookin' at You", which all appeared on her debut album which was released two years later. The former was the second single released from it and became a hit.
After graduating from Riverdale High School in Riverdale, Georgia in 2003, she was signed by LaFace Records executive, L.A. Reid, whom she was introduced to by Jazze Pha.
Following the success of the album, Ciara released a CD/DVD entitled in the United States on July 12, 2005 which featured remixes to "1, 2 Step" and "Oh", including two new songs. The release was certified platinum in the United States. Ciara also served as an opening act for Gwen Stefani's Harajuku Lovers Tour 2005 and went on tour with Chris Brown and Bow Wow on the Holiday Jam Tour in December 2005. She made a guest appearance on Missy Elliott's single "Lose Control" and also on Bow Wow's single "Like You", which both peaked at number three in the United States and obtained worldwide success. At the 48th Grammy Awards, Ciara received four nominations including a Grammy award for "Best New Artist", "Best Rap/Sung Collaboration" for "1, 2 Step", and "Best Rap Song" for "Lose Control" for Elliot's single. She won "Best Short Form Music Video" with Elliott for the single.
In 2009 Ciara signed a multi-million dollar deal with the modeling agency Wilhelmina Models. After signing the deal she has been in many magazine spreads. In addition to that, she also has her eyes set on beginning a new clothing line. In June 2008 she was in talks with the department store Steve & Barry's to create an affordable clothing line. On November 9, 2009 it was announced that Ciara would be modeling in the German edition of "Vogue". During that time, it was also announced that Ciara would be the new face of a major multimedia ad campaign for Verizon's smartphone the LG Chocolate Touch. Ciara filmed a commercial for the campaign, which features her dancing to her 2009 single "Work". In March 2010 it was officially confirmed and announced that Ciara was the spokesperson in the new ad campaign for Adidas Originals. A commercial for the campaign was released the same month, featuring numerous of other celebrities.
;Supporting act
Category:Ciara Category:1985 births Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Actors from Texas Category:American dance musicians Category:American dancers Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American music video directors Category:American pop singers Category:American record producers Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:English-language singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Hip hop singers Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Texas Category:Military brats Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia Category:People from Austin, Texas Category:Sony BMG artists Category:World Music Awards winners
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