Aaron Neville

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I love Soul music and R&B from the 60's and 70's you all know that especially if it's released on Motown records. However I also like other artists from that decade and Aaron Neville is one of those others that I like! Aaron Neville has had a career as a solo artist and as one of the Neville Brothers. Of mixed African American and Native American heritage, his music also features Cajun influence. Aaron is noted for his unusual vibrato singing style, which he says was inspired by Gene Autry's yodeling. With his solo career, Neville is best known for his Grammy-winning 1989 duets with Linda Ronstadt, "Don't Know Much" and "All My Life," as well as his first - and to date his biggest - hit, 1966's "Tell It Like It Is," which was covered by Heart in 1980. Neville was recording for the tiny Louisiana record label Par Lo when "Tell It Like It Is" hit #2 nationally. The strain of trying to distribute the hit bankrupted the label. His other hits have included "Everybody Plays The Fool," his successful 1991 cover of the 1972 Main Ingredient soul classic; "Don't Take Away My Heaven", "Hercules" and "Can't Stop My Heart From Loving You (The Rain Song)." Neville's biggest solo successes have been on the Adult Contemporary chart, where "Don't Know Much," "All My Life," and "Everybody Plays The Fool" all reached Number One. In August 2005 his home in Eastern New Orleans was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina; he evacuated to Memphis, Tennessee before the hurricane hit. He has yet to return to the city, causing the New Orleans Jazz Fest to change its tradition of having the Neville Brothers close the festival. Neville performed Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927" during NBC's A Concert for Hurricane Relief on September 2, 2005. Aaron signed to SonyBMG's new Burgundy Records label in late 2005 and recorded an album of great classic soul songs by Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Sam Cooke and others for Bring It on Home…The Soul Classics, released on September 19th, 2006. The album, produced by Stewart Levine, features collaborations between Aaron and Chaka Khan, Mavis Staples, Chris Botti, David Sanborn, Art Neville, and others. The album's first single was a remake of The Impressions' 1963 classic "It's All Right." Neville's career has included work for television, movies and sporting events. Neville sang the U.S. National Anthem in the movie The Fan starring Robert DeNiro and Wesley Snipes. He also sang the anthem at the WWF's SummerSlam 1993 and at WCW Spring Stampede in 1994. Neville sang the theme music to the children's TV series Fisher-Price Little People. He also sang a new version of "Cotton," for Cotton, Inc. which was introduced during the 1992 Summer Olympics, . In 1988 he recorded Mickey Mouse March for Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films, one of Various Artists. In 2006, Neville sang "The Star-Spangled Banner", alongside singer Aretha Franklin and Dr John on keyboard at Super Bowl XL in Detroit. Aaron made a guest appearance on an episode of the soap opera The Young and the Restless on October 27, 2006. He sang the classic hits "Stand By Me" and "Ain't No Sunshine", from his new album, Bring It on Home…The Soul Classics. Neville's son Ivan Neville is also a musician and released an album, If My Ancestors Could See Me Now, in 1988, which yielded a Top 40 hit with "Not Just Another Girl." Ivan has also performed with the Rolling Stones and Bonnie Raitt, and played bass for Keith Richard on his first solo tour.
Here's Aaron with one of my favorite songs ever!: "Tell it like it is!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jM5U_Q018s&mode=related&search

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Tyra Banks

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Ask any person to name one black model and they all will say..... Naomi Campbell!

I would say Tyra Banks. To me she's the most beautiful one of them all. Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973) is an Emmy Award-nominated American supermodel, television personality and a talk show hostess. She first emerged to prominence on the runways of Paris, Milan, London, Tokyo, and the U.S., but her work in the commercial world was her breakthrough. She is best known as hostess/judge of the reality television show America's Next Top Model, since its 2003 debut on UPN (later CW), and is currently hosting her own daytime Emmy Award-nominated talk show, The Tyra Banks Show. Banks is one of only four African Americans and seven women to have repeatedly ranked among the world's most influential people by Time magazine.

Modeling career
Within Banks's first week in Paris, other designers were so entranced by her presence on the runway that she was booked for an unprecedented 25 shows--a record in the business for a newcomer. She has done extensive print and runway work for fashion/advertising giants such as Cover Girl, Swatch, Pepsi, Nike, Inc., Victoria's Secret, XOXO, LensCrafters, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Dolce & Gabbana, Yves Saint-Laurent, Chanel, Escada, Anna Sui, Michael Kors, Liz Claiborne, Isaac Mizrahi, Got Milk?, and Richard Tyler. She was only the third African American to sign with a major cosmetics company. She has appeared on the covers of such magazines as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, and ELLE. Banks was the first African American woman on the covers of GQ and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. In 1997, she received the Michael Award for Supermodel of the Year. Also in '97, she was chosen for the cover of the Victoria's Secret catalog, making her the first African American to be so honored. Banks retired from modeling in May 2005 to concentrate on her television show. She walked the runway for the final time at the 2005 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. On numerous occasions, she has been sought after to appear in Playboy magazine; however, she has turned each request down.

Victoria's Secret fashionshow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb0W-aFEwdk

Television & film
Banks' television career began on the fourth season of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, in which she played lead character Will's ex-girlfriend Jackie Ames, and made eight appearances throughout the series. Other screen credits include Felicity, MADtv, Nick Cannon's Wild 'N Out (in which she was featured as special guest host and team captain), and The Price Is Right (guest-starring as a Barker's Beauty). Currently, Banks can be seen on television as the hostess, head judge, and executive producer of the UPN (now the CW) television show America's Next Top Model. In addition, she does double duty as the host of The Tyra Banks Show, a daytime talk show which premiered on September 12, 2005 and recently began its second season, drawing over 1.9 million viewers an episode. The show features stories about everyday people mixed in with celebrity interviews, much like the early format of The Oprah Winfrey Show. Under the slogan "Every woman has a story...and it happened to Tyra too", Banks promotes her show using emotional flashbacks to her own childhood and adolescence. Many of the episodes deal with issues facing women today.
On the big screen, Banks has had minor roles in a few movies. Her first big screen role came in 1995 when she co-starred in the critically acclaimed drama Higher Learning. She went on to co-star with Lindsay Lohan in the Disney film Life-Size, playing a doll named Eve who comes to life. Other notable roles include 1999's Love Stinks, 2000's Coyote Ugly, and 2002's Halloween: Resurrection – the eighth film in the Halloween franchise.

Music
Banks appeared in several music videos including Michael Jackson's "Black or White",Tina Turner's "Love Thing", and George Michael's "Too Funky" (with fellow supermodel Linda Evangelista). In 2004, she recorded her first single, "Shake Ya Body", which had a music video featuring the America's Next Top Model, Cycle 2 contestants.(Music Video) The video had its world premiere on UPN, but the single was a failure for Banks. She stated on Cycle 2 of Top Models that "Singing has been a passion of mine for a long, long time...6 years on the down low - been ducking in and out of studios cutting tracks," but on her talk show she stated, "I can't believe I wasted 6 years of doing something that I didn't finish...I was almost able to release my album 'T.Y.R.A' but since my music career hit rock bottom I quit." On her show, she commented to Carmen Electra, "Girl, that makes the two of us with music videos that people didn't like."

Shake ya booty: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlvYwVqjQcE

Weight Issues
Top models are also human... In the winter of 2006 media scrutinized Banks about her weight reportedly gaining 30lbs since being on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.Insulting terms were used like "America's Next Top Woddle" and "Tyra Porkchop". Tyra lashed out saying "Kiss my fat a--". Banks also appeared on People magazine sparking her widespread "SO WHAT" campaign. Though recently Banks has reportedly lost 30+lbs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ5unYaNd3c

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HOLLYWOOD CLASSIC # 9 "An American Werewolf in London"

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From time to time I love to see horror movies etc... It's always scary even though I know that it's fake. One of the better movies in its genre is "An American Werewolf in London".
"An American Werewolf in London" is a comedy/horror film released in 1981, written and directed by John Landis. It stars David Naughton, Griffin Dunne and Jenny Agutter. This movie won the 1981 "Saturn Award" for Best Horror Film. Although there are several straightforward horror elements to the plot, it is also knowingly funny and ironic, an example of a tongue-in-cheek humor. The film was one of three high-profile werewolf films released in 1981, alongside "The Howling" and "Wolfen", in fact "The Howling" was the first movie where they showed the transformation from man into werewolf. Over the years, the film has accumulated a cult following and has been referred to as a cult classic by some fans.
The film was followed by a 1997 semi-sequel, "An American Werewolf in Paris", which featured a completely different cast.

Intersting facts to know:
The credits congratulate Prince Charles and Diana Spencer for their wedding and contain the disclaimer "Any resemblance to any persons living, dead, or undead is coincidental"; a similar slogan appears during the ending credits of Michael Jackson's "Thriller", another horror-based movie directed by Landis.
At the end of the credits is a promo card for "Universal Studios" urging viewers to "Ask for Babs". This is a reference to Landis' 1978 film "National Lampoon's Animal House" where the credits list the future occupations of the students, including Babs, who became a tour guide at "Universal Studios". This same card appears in Landis' other films. Until the release of "Animal House" on VHS, asking for Babs at "Universal Studios" actually got people in for free.
The film was produced by "Lycanthrope Productions", a lycanthrope being a person with the power to turn themself into a wolf.
The film's ironically upbeat songs all refer in some way to the moon: Van Morrison's "Moondance", Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon Rising" and particularly "Blue Moon", which plays during the opening credits (Bobby Vinton's slow and soothing version), the film's signature agonizing wolf transformation (as a soft, bittersweet ballad by Sam Cooke) and over the end credits (The Marcels' doo-wop version, lying uneasily over the film's ending). Landis failed to get permission to use Cat Stevens's "Moonshadow" and Bob Dylan's "Moonshiner", both artists feeling the film to be inappropriate. It was stated on the DVD commentary by David Naughton and Griffin Dunne that they were not sure why Landis could not get the rights to Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London" — a song that was most appropriate for the film (perhaps Landis dismissed the song on the grounds that it didn't have the word "moon" in the title).
Landis' signature in-joke can be seen when the werewolf runs riot in Piccadilly Circus, where the porn cinema is playing "See You Next Wednesday", (a line also used in Michael Jackson's Thriller video done by Landis) and a poster for the fictitious film can also be seen in the tube station where Gerald Bringsley is attacked by the werewolf. Anyway, I'm still amazed every time I see the transformation from man into werewolf, don't you?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKgjUop81Tg

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Bad luck comes in three...

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Just recently I was in "De Efteling" to do some TV work to promote their newest ride "De Vliegende Hollander" or they're facing some serious problems with some of the rides. 1. At the beginning of the season they had a fire in "Droomvlucht" and the people on the ride couldn't get out of the cars. They were stuck inside! Nobody got injured! Then the day after we filmed on "De Vliegende Hollander" the ride broke down several times and people got stuck on the lift hill for several hours. If that isn't enough they again had a problem last weekend when a train of another rollercoaster got stuck but started to move on during the evacuation of the ride! A man nearly fell down from the ride! Look how this man jumps in one of the last cars with open shoulder harness, pulls it down, and continues the ride safely!

http://www.dumpert.nl/mediabase/22302/41fb5699/index.html

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Vaya Con Dios

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Vaya Con Dios is a Belgian musical group founded in 1986 by Dani Klein, Dirk Schoufs, and Willy Lambregt (the latter subsequently replaced by Jean-Michel Gielen). Their name is Spanish for "Go with God". They had some international success with the songs "Just a Friend of Mine" (a hit in France), "What's a Woman?" (a number 1 hit in the Netherlands in 1990), "Nah Neh Nah" (1990), "Don't Cry for Louie", "Puerto Rico", "Heading for a Fall", "Johnny", and "Don't Break My Heart". Dani Klein, the lead singer, and Willy Lambregt had previous success in the band Arbeid Adelt! and decided to form the band Vaya Con Dios together with contrabassist Dirk Schoufs, because they shared interests in gypsy music, jazz, and opera - genres that they felt were underappreciated in Brussels. Their first single, "Just a Friend of Mine", had a Latin feel and became a big hit in France, selling over 300,000 copies. Willy Lambregt left the group and was replaced by Jean-Michel Gielen. Even though Vaya Con Dios was successful in Latin countries, the band remained largely unknown in the Netherlands, partially due to being a Belgian band, but also because of their gypsy style. In the summer of 1990 they finally had their breakthrough in the Netherlands with "What's a Woman?" peaking at #1 for three weeks, making Vaya Con Dios the second Belgian artists to have a #1 hit in the Netherlands. The song is about the difficulties of men and women who on one hand need each other, yet sometimes find it hard to understand one other. In 1991, Dani Klein and Dirk Schoufs decided to go their separate ways, and from then on the group consisted of Klein playing with various musicians. On 24 May 1991, Schoufs died of an AIDS-related illness. (He had contracted HIV through his heroin addiction.) The third album, Time Flies, is much more melancholy than its predecessors. Even though the music and the composition of the band changed, Vaya Con Dios remained popular in much of Europe - especially France, Germany, and Scandinavia - until 1996, when Klein left the music business complaining of too much stress. She returned in 1999 as singer in the group Purple Prose, which released a debut album of the same name that year. Vaya Con Dios returned in 2004 with a new album titled The Promise, released on an independent label. In 2006, there is The Ultimate Collection, a greatest hits album, with a DVD of the acoustic concert of Brussels, and some bonus, such as an interview of Dani, some photos...Pauvre Diable was the first single. In total, Vaya Con Dios have sold more than 7 million albums and more than 3 million singles.

My favorite song by Vaya Con Dios is their biggest hit from 1990 "What's a woman?" I just love that song!

http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/vaya+con+dios/video/x7owb_vaya-con-dios-whats-a-woman-1990_music

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Thierry Mugler

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Thierry Mugler, born 1948 in Strasbourg, France is a fashion designer, photographer, and creator of a fashion design company of the same name. While he was trained as a ballet dancer, he also studied design and created garments for friends. He moved to Paris in 1970 and worked as a window-dresser, designing clothing as a side job. He founded his label for women in 1974, and began designing for men four years later.
Mugler's work over the next two decades had a unique style that was very much of its time: it was strong, angular, sometimes almost cruel. Shoulders were wide and padded; waists were wasp-like. Prints were banished: Mugler's clothes came in solid, dominating colours. Collars had exaggerated points, or flamelike cutouts. The insect kingdom was a constant influence, as were the ladies and gentlemen of film noir. In his most extreme runway garments, PVC was often used, as were space and robot themes.
Thierry Mugler's fashion house did not survive the 1990s, though vintage versions of his more wearable clothes are still popular on auction sites like eBay. Owned since 1997 by the French cosmetics and skincare company Clarins, Thierry Mugler is now mostly known for its perfume division. The couture division was closed in 2003 due to increasing losses, and all Thierry Mugler ready-to-wear is now produced under license agreements, as is a line of eyewear.
Mugler himself has turned to other artistic interests. He has published two books featuring his fashion designs and photography, Thierry Mugler (1988) and Fashion Fetish Fantasy (1998). He also dabbles in film and video - he directed the video for George Michael's "Too Funky," featuring a parade of Mugler fashions, including the famous motorcycle dress - and collaborated with Cirque du Soleil on its 2003 show "Zumanity" at the NYNY Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. It is the first 18+ show from the company.
In Spring 2007, the New York Times noted that new fashion collections by Balenciaga, Dolce and Gabbana and Alexander McQueen seemed highly influenced by the Mugler style. The article quoted Mugler as saying he was working on a capsule couture collection to be sold at a new boutique in Paris set to open in autumn 2007, and that he was at work on theatrical extravaganzas for the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and the Crazy Horse in Paris.


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"Lady sings the blues"

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Diana Ross, my idol has accomplished a lot in her life going from lead singer of the world's most famous girl group the Supremes to the world's most selling female artist of all time. To me and many other fans the high light of her career however is when she portrayed the life of legendary Jazz & Blues singer Billie Holiday in the film "Lady sings the blues". This was Diana's first film role and it was also the first time that Hollywood showed black people in leading roles instead of the type cast house maid or servant. The role of Billie Holiday earned Diana an Oscar nomination for best Actress which she lost to Liza Minelli in Cabaret. Here's Billie Holiday (Diana Ross) when she just started out as a night club singer.

http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/lady+sings+the+blues/video/x2e872_diana-ross-all-of-me_music

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A Tribute to....

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When three Major Stars bring a tribute to another Major Star you know that it will be special! This was exactly the case in 2001 when Usher, Maya and nobody else then Whitney Houston paid tribute to the one and only Mr. Michael Jackson @ the Michael Jackson tribute concert. And yes.............. they really were starting something.....




Take a look:
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/+motown/video/x1td61_usher-whitney-houstonwanna-be-start_music

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