Roxette is a Swedish duo that is now cosidered to be one of the most successful ones in Europe and even the world. Their music is claimed to be retro since the greatest period of the band was from the 1980s till the begginig and the 1990s releasing three fascinating albums that were rated in the top charts in the world -the UK and the US charts for rock and pop music.

The members, Per Gissele and Marie Fredriksson, met in Hamstad, Sweden in the late 1970s but the duo started performing independantly from 1986 with their first solo albums. Prior to that, their singles were released in English and Swedish for different compilations and were quite famous among the pop fans especially since that was the strongest period for the pop music. In 1986 they released their album Pearls of Passion. It became a total hit in Sweden and the songs were quickly translated into several languages -primarily English. The albums enjoyed the love of the fans in Canada, Italy, Japan and the US where special cover artwork and bespoke packaging boxes transformed the original cover according to the trends in those countries.

Undoubtedly, the duo’s greatest success was the album “It must have been love”that was rated among the best albums ever in relation to sales and love of the fans. It became #1 album in the US from the period of his release (1987) and became one of the top productions in the UK and Europe as a whole. The band also made the soundtrack for the movie Pretty Woman with Richard Gere and Julia Roberts thus gaining even more success in the upcoming years.

The music of the band is quite cheerful and remarkable -their pop and rock mixed and unique style made them one of the most successful duos of all times.

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Jazz is an amazing music that is still enjoyed to this very day. With the emergence of hip hop and grunge it can be hard to see jazz as a major contributor of all types of music. Jazz originally began with slaves. When they were done with their day the slaves would get together and make amazing music. They had music that was full of complex rhythms that reminded them of home. After a while they got used to hearing music with instruments. They combined the music they made with the instruments and made jazz.

Later down the line jazz evolved. Ragtime is the first form of jazz that was ever recorded. Ragtime is usually a set of premeditated notes. There is no spontaneous notes. Everything is very planned and beautiful. Later Ragtime became not enough for people. They wanted more improv. They wanted for people to just be able to let lose and play whatever they felt. This is when Swing started. Swing let people express themselves like they had never been able to before. The beats and instruments made people want to move their feet. With this new music came new dancing. This thrilled people and inspired many to learn to play different instruments.

Eventually jazz evolved again and became mellow and dramatic. There was a heart to it. It drew people in and made them feel as though they were taken over by the music. They could feel the heartache and despair of the musician or the lightheartedness and love they felt. Still to this day there is not much that can compare to jazz. There are still new jazz musicians that come out and make you feel washed over by their music. Hopefully jazz will come full circle and will take over the radio waves once again, already you are beginning to hear it drifting out of the windows of Clapham flats and houses for rent, and long lost music halls or underground venues. Even some more popular radio stations are getting into the groove, after all these years and jazz is not lost, it kind of returns your hope for modern music.

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Jazz became popular during a time when speakeasies were the only place to get a drink. Alcohol was banned and music was coming alive. People were originally keeping Jazz under wraps but once it got out it took off. Louis Armstrong could play a trumpet that would make anyone want to get up out their chair and dance the night away. Jazz has the power to make young and old want to tap their feet. You can not sit still when Jazz is on. It is something that just takes you over body and soul. Young and old alike have learned to appreciate Jazz and Swing for the great music that they are. There are not many people who do not enjoy a great Jazz song.

Some think of Jazz as the music that was underground and originally thought to be immoral. It wasn’t originally played on the radio because it was thought to be bad. But it wasn’t. It made people feel alive. Gave them life they didn’t know they had in them. Jazz brings a raw, earthy feeling when you hear it. Makes you feel something deep down in your soul.

Swing did a similar thing. People weren’t able to control themselves when it came to swing. Dancing was being done like it had never been done before. People were having the time of their lives and getting to express themselves in ways that before was considered wrong. Swing had people competing in competitions all over the world and trying to developing new dance moves to stun their competition. Swing is thought to be a great contributor to the individualism that developed. People were no longer scared to try new things. The box step was out and swing was in. People were individuals and happy. They go to be themselves and be unique.

Before I run, I have great news, I have just gotten paid for the image work that I did on those banner stands last week for the big band gig up north. Turns out that Teresa was right, and the green was a major improvement on the yellow.

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It is almost fifty years ago to the day since the world lost one of its most talented Rock and Roll musicians. I was going through my self storage the other day and came across a stack of vinyls I forgot I had. I have to say, this man is legendary. Eddie Cochran was only twenty-one years old when he died. After playing a gig in Wiltshire, his car had a blowout and careered into a lamp post, causing him terrible head injuries. He may only have lived to be a young man, but he had recorded some brilliant tracks in the three short years of his career. His guitar style was instantly recognisable, his manner was incredibly likeable and his songs would go on to be a major influence on music for a good many years to come.

‘Summertime Blues’ has been voted as one of the greatest singles of all time. Its story of frustration and angst has appealed to generations of teenagers and just about everyone on Earth knows the foot-stomping tune. The song has been covered by a huge amount of bands since its release in 1958. There have been versions by The Rolling Stones, Motorhead, James Taylor, Jimi Hendrix, Deborah Harry, Bruce Springsteen and The Flaming Lips, to name but a few. In fact, it would be easier to compile a list of singers who have not recorded their own version of this classic fifties song.

The truth of it is that Eddie Cochran’s music will never cease to appeal to music lovers; it is fun, cool and irrefutably full of life. You can still play his records at a party today and everyone will dance along. Stuff like ‘C’mon Everybody’, ‘Jeanie, Jeanie, Jeanie’, ‘Three Steps to Heaven’, ‘Twenty Flight Rock’ and the sublime, ‘Somethin’ Else’ are all absolute classics with a totally timeless appeal. God Bless Eddie Cochran and long may his wonderful music live on!

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The Charleston is a dance that originated in the state of South Carolina, USA and the city of Charleston. The rhythm became mainstream in the early 1920s when it was viewed as a popular form of jazz dance. The dance form has attracted people from all over the globe with its elegant moves and soulful music, as well as creating a whole new movement in art and CD packaging.

Nowadays the The Charleston dance mixes well with jazz tunes and it has been successfully adapted into a lot of song and dance routines by the performers.

Many tap dancers have also uses moves from the Charleston as a base to their tapping moves and to enthrall audiences. The amalgamation of Charleston and tap dance was first illustrated by Leonard Reed in 1925. As a form of art, the Charleston gives dancers the freedom to experiment with the basis movements and freedom of expression. The freedom that the dancer experiences while performing the Charleston, makes it one of the most widely acclaimed jazz dance ever.

If you love jazz, there is a huge possibility that you will fall in love with this unique dancing style and keep doing it. The ShareThis

Satchmo is the most identifiable jazz player and he is renowned for his great music on trumpet solos and vocals. Louis Armstrong, the real name of Satchmo, was born on the 4th of August 1901. Armstrong was sent to a boy’s home when he was just twelve years old. He was with other boys firing a gun in the air. At the home under the guidance of Peter Davis the caretaker, Armstrong learned how to handle the cornet. In no time, he had started playing at picnics and also in many parades around town. Long after his boy’s home stay, Louis used to return every year to the home to play and to spread his own kind of joy. He always remembered Peter Davis and all kids at the boy’s home his mentor ahs helped and continue to help.

Armstrong started recording his “Hot Five” and “Hot Seven” sessions in the mid 1920’s, which became legendary in his later years. He recorded his first album under his own name, with a title of “My Heart” which was released in 1925 on November 12th. For about three years or so, Armstrong decided to stay in Chicago recording and composing a number of music albums that made him one of the most popular artists worldwide.

Later in It was from that day till the mid 1940’s, that Louis stuck to playing with a big band. He was then thought of as pop singer tag after he released a number of songs that topped the pop charts, compared to his other songs in other genres such blues or instrumental songs.

Louis Armstrong is considered as the first greatest soloist in trumpet in jazz music because of his attitude in doing what he loved to do the most, which also made people happy in sharing and feeling the true music from heart of a true musician.

Good news everyone, I’ve been paid for that last copywriting job that I did, you all know what that implies, it’s about time to hit the mall and pick up that new set of running clothing that I have been waiting to get. Steve, are you up for a treck into London this weekend?

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Jazz lovers would be familiar with Carnegie Hall, which has the distinction of hosting jazz greats for almost a century. Among those greats was Benjamin David Goodman, fondly known as Benny Goodman by jazz lovers. The American jazz musician, bandleader, and clarinetist, was aptly titled as ‘King of Swing’, by his followers. Goodman was able to break the barriers of poverty and with his clarinet went on to become the most successful jazz musicians in the Swing Era. Being one of the most popular jazz bands in America, Benny Goodman is responsible for launching the careers of several jazz greats. Most notably, the ‘King of Swing’ formed the first racially-integrated band at a time when color segregated most of America.

Born to poor Jewish immigrants in Chicago, Illinois, Benny was the ninth of the twelve children of David and Dora Goodman. From the age of 10, Benny’s father encouraged him and his older brothers to take music lessons at the Kehelah Jacob Synagogue. Soon, Benny was in a member of the boy’s club band at Jane Addams'Hull House, where he received lessons from James Sylvester, the director of Hull House. Franz Schoepp, a classically trained clarinetist also continued to instruct Goodman for two years. In his early years, Goodman was influenced by New Orleans jazz clarinetists that included Johnny Dodds and Jimmy Noone. Benny was good enough to turn pro at the age of 16 and joined the Ben Pollack Orchestra which led to his first recording sessions in 1926. This was the beginning of remarkable transformation of a child from the Jewish ghetto to the ‘King of Swing’.

Goodman is responsible for bringing jazz into the commercial mainstream. Lionel Hampton and Teddy Wilson were the first among Benny’s band members to break the color barrier. Moreover, Benny’s charisma and personality did wonders to hold them together as the band went from coast to coast gathering a large fan base. During the 1920s and 1930s Goodman played with bands led by Ben Selvin, and Red Nichols, among others. He got his own band together in 1934, where they played their first gig on an NBC radio program called LET’S DANCE. From then on, it was Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, the beginning of a never ending journey for the group. His 1938 performance at Carnegie Hall turned out to be the best-selling jazz albums of all time.

Benny Goodman’s secret of success can be attributed to his ability to play a popular dance-repertoire for a living and at the same time practice jazz improvisations and western classical music. This gave him a deep understanding of musical freedom, discipline, and a commercial appeal as well. The Swing era gave way to bebop, which saw a decline in big band as well. Benny still continued to weave magic with his clarinet and formed a number of big bands. Fletcher Henderson, Gene Krupa, Stan Getz, Peggy Lee, have all had the distinction of performing with the “King of Swing”. His love for the clarinet made him appear as a clarinet soloist in western classical ensembles in his later years, where he commissioned works from Bela Bartok, Paul Hindemith, and Aaron Copland. Goodman continued to tour in the 1960s and 1970s, until the early 1980s, before his death in New York on 13 June 1986. His music will always bring back sweet memories of a bygone era, and will continue to enthrall audiences young and old for many more decades.

Attention Holiday goers, I have finally been able to figure out what everyone is going to owe me for the Touring caravan insurance for our holiday this spring. Please try and get this to me by Wednesday so I can get it sorted out before we are ready to leave.

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Anyone who likes the music of the sixties will have at least one Donovan album in their record collection. He was at the forefront of the Hippy scene for a number of years and was popular with many different people. ‘Donovan’ is one of those names which will always go hand in hand with memories of the sixties scene.

But Donovan was not limited to writing music on one particular level. He could pen just as good a protest song as Bob Dylan or create something truly psychedelic. His talents spanned many different genres and he was quite at home making music with strong Jazz undertones or catchy Pop tunes.

His first achievement, that was to catch the attention of the masses, was his 1966 album, ‘Sunshine Superman’. If you have never listened to the music of Donovan then this is a great place to start off. ‘Sunshine Superman’ is a brilliant showcase of his song-writing skills and it has some beautiful tracks on it. For me, songs such as ‘Guinevere’, ‘Celeste’, Season of the Witch’ and the album’s title track are still amongst his best work. Other songs from his repertoire that are worth hunting down include; ‘Hurdy Gurdy Man’, ‘Catch the Wind’, ‘Mellow Yellow’ and ‘Lalena’.

He may now be 63 years old, but Donovan shows no signs of calling it a day. He still goes out on tour regularly and is involved in several different projects, both with other musicians and people such as David Lynch.

They do not make singer-songwriters like Donovan Leitch anymore. Whichever segment of his 46 year recording career you choose to look into you can be guaranteed to find some amazing and truly beautiful songs. Whoever it was that dubbed him as being ‘The Poor Man’s Dylan’ all those years ago was incredibly narrow minded and irrefutably tone deaf.

By the way, I just looked up this great business who agreed to give us a good discount on the Packaging Solutions for the new band. Whats the general opinion!

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In 1973, the world lost a wonderful singer-songwriter by the name of Jim Croce. He may have only been here for thirty years, but he managed to record six great studio albums and release eleven brilliant singles.

If he hadn’t of died then Jim Croce would have gone on to become a very successful musician. He will always be best remembered for wonderful tracks such as; ‘Time in a Bottle’, ‘Lover’s Cross’, ‘Bad, Bad Leroy Brown’ and ‘I Got a Name’.

Jim had turned his back on music several years before. He had become very disillusioned with the whole thing and had sold all of his guitars except for one. During this interim period he had taken a job as a truck driver and had also done some construction work. When he finally did get back into recording music again, many of his songs were written about the people with whom he had worked.

The ‘big time’ had been a very near thing for Jim Croce. His songs had got better and he was becoming better known all the time. When he boarded the doomed light aircraft with several of his companions he had been playing a concert less than an hour before. The plane crashed because it failed to gain enough altitude at the end of the runway; there was only one tree in the area and Jim’s plane found it.

Jim Croce may be gone but his music will always remain. He has been a big influence on musicians from all kinds of different genres; even Freddie Mercury wrote a song about him for Queen’s ‘Sheer Heart Attack’. His music still sounds just as good today as it did when he first wrote it. Jim Croce’s songs have got a timeless quality about them and his gentle voice is like that of an old friend.

Just a bit of news before I run, my slightly quirky boss is on this whole kick about a day of team building ideas london. Turns out in a couple of weeks time I will be expanding upon long-lasting work based relationships with all of the people that I go to the office with. Wish me luck everyone (at least I get a paid trip)!

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Before I begin, everyone check out this Enigin Scam blog, they are really great and need your support!

I don’t know how much I like the term ‘Retro’ when I think about music… The trouble is that it tends to make you feel a little bit old when it means stuff that you grew up with!

Even so, there is no denying that Retro music is a treasure chest that is full of all manner of gems. There are some great bands around today but the music of years past will always be very special. Songs such as; ‘ A Whiter Shade of Pale’, ‘Imagine’, ‘Unchained Melody’ and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ will never sound old. In fact, you can’t really envision anyone managing to write anything now that has the same timeless and immortal quality about it. Those kinds of songs were magical and everything at the time of their conception was in the right place. You cannot make yourself sit down and write something that is on par with ‘Bridge over Troubled Water’.

Be honest, when you think about the music of today can you really imagine it having the same amount of magic about it in another thirty years’ time? Coldplay, for example, are an excellent band; but even brilliant songs like, ‘Yellow’, ‘Clocks’, ‘The Scientist’ and ‘Fix You’ will not have the same class about them in years to come (no offence Chris Martin).

There will never be another Beatles; Elvis will not rise again and The Bee Gees cannot be replaced. When we refer to ‘Retro’ music we may as well be talking about ‘Magic’ music. The old Blues songs such as, ‘Smokestack Lightning’, ‘Mannish Boy’ and ‘I Put a Spell on You’ are snapshots of an Age that will never come about again.

You cannot recreate the Roman Empire, even if you want to.

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