Liquid Gold
Liquid Gold were an English disco group conisting of Ellie Hope (vocals), Syd Twynham (guitar), Ray Knott (bass) and Wally Rothe (drums). Ray Knott and Ellie Hope had met auditioning to play in Babe Ruth, a group that released four albums between 1972 and 1975. After the final album, Kid Stuff, they recruited Wally Rothe and Syd Twynham to form Dream Coupe; after a few shows they signed to Creole Records, a Polo Records subsidiary, and changed their name to Liquid Gold.
The Turbans
The Turbans were an African American doo-wop group, who were formed in Philadelphia in 1953. The original members were: Al Banks (lead tenor), Matthew Platt (second tenor), Charlie Williams (baritone), and Andrew "Chet" Jones (bass) and they came from Downtown Philadelphia (around Bainbridge and South Street). Herman Gillespie was their first manager. Around Christmas 1954, they won first prize in a talent contest singing their rendition of Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters’ "White Christmas".
Steve Cropper
Early life Cropper was born Stephen Lee Cropper on a farm outside Dora, Missouri. In 1950, his family moved to Memphis, Tennessee. At age ten, he strummed a guitar for the first time, his brother-in-law's Gibson. Cropper received his first guitar at age 14, and started playing with local musicians. His hero at the time was Lowman Pauling of the Winston-Salem, NC band, The Five Royales. The Stax years (1961-1970)
Jody Watley
She’s an innovative music maker, a style-forging pioneer: since the 80s, Grammy-winning multi-talented Jody Watley has led the way as an entrepreneur working in the independent music world as one of the few already-established female best-selling artists to produce, create and own her recordings. With an amazing 32 Top Ten Singles and 13 No. 1 Singles in the R&B, pop and dance music genres over the past three decades – including such classics as “Looking For A New Love...
Nicole Willis
Nicole Willis began her professional career in London in 1984, singing and writing with the Washington Week In Review alongside members of The Brand New Heavies. She then returned to New York the following year to work with Blue Period and the Hello Strangers, meeting up with Supa DJ Dmitry Brill. Soon after, she sang alongside Lady Miss Kier Kirby and Dmitry in the earliest line-up of Deee-Lite.
The James Hunter Six
The James Hunter Six are James Hunter, Lee Badau (baritone saxophone), Damian Hand (tenor saxophone), Jonathan Lee (drums), Jason Wilson (double bass), and Kyle Koehler and Andrew Kingslow sharing keyboard/piano duties. The Six have hung together through multiple albums and more than two decades of international touring, from small clubs to the Hollywood Bowl – developing a cohesion and intuitive knack for creating precisely the right arrangement and feel for James’ original songs.
Songs
Songs are a Sydney based band (featuring members of New Zealand's post-punk wailers This Night Creeps and Ela Stiles of sisterly-duo The Said Sos) that do only simple things. From their single-syllable handle to their hand-drawn artwork to their music itself; it all has to be simple. Born in mid-2007, Songs have only been playing to the public as of this year (2008). They have signed a deal with Sydney label Popfrenzy (home to other acts such as The Gossip, Black Mountain, Jeremy Jay, The Ruby Suns and a whole bunch more) and have since played shows with Deerhunter...
Gary Wilson
Hailing from Endicott, NY, Gary Wilson is an archetypal figure in the "outsider music" movement with other artists like The Shaggs and Jandek as its most notable members. Gary Wilson first came onto the scene in 1977 with "You Think You Really Know Me," which he recorded alone in his parents' basement. Using synthesizers and spinning disturbing tales of obsession with different women, Wilson's record had no effect on the mainstream but its cold detachment and electro-funk aesthetic was a hit with the college radio stations.
Leadbelly
Huddie Ledbetter (23 January 1888-6 December 1949) was a leading American blues singer and guitarist. His songbook contained a large number of standard folk tunes, most adapted from previous sources. Though many of his posthumous releases list him as "Leadbelly," he himself spelled it "Lead Belly." This is also the usage on most of his original records, tombstone, as well as of the Lead Belly Foundation.