1.
West Hollywood, California
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West Hollywood, occasionally referred to locally as WeHo, is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip, as of the 2010 census, its population was 34,399. It is considered one of the most prominent gay villages in the United States, the citys irregular boundary is featured in its logo, it was largely formed from the unincorporated Los Angeles County area that had not become part of the surrounding cities. West Hollywood benefits from a dense, compact urban form with small lots, mixed land use. According to Walkscore, a website that ranks cities based on walkability, commercial corridors include the nightlife and dining focused on the Sunset Strip, along Santa Monica Boulevard, and the Avenues of Art & Design along Robertson, Melrose, and Beverly Boulevard. Major intersecting streets typically provide amenities within walking distance of adjacent neighborhoods, West Hollywood has a Subtropical-semi-arid climate with year-round warm weather. The record high temperature of 111 °F was recorded September 26,1963, snow is rare in West Hollywood, with the last accumulation occurring in 1949. Rainfall is sparse, and falls mainly during winter months, around 5,000 of the indigenous inhabitants from the Tongva Indian tribe canoed out to greet Juan Cabrillo. The Tongva tribe was a nation of hunter-gatherers known for their reverence of dance, by 1771, these native people had been severely ravaged by diseases brought in by the Europeans from across wide oceans. The Spanish mission system changed the name to Gabrielinos, in reference to the Mission de San Gabriel. The Gabrielinos are believed to have burned the pitch for fuel, by 1780, what became the Sunset Strip was the major connecting road for El Pueblo de Los Angeles, and all ranches westward to the Pacific Ocean. This land passed through the hands of owners during the next one hundred years. Most of this area was part of the Rancho La Brea, Sherman became the location of the railroads main shops, railroad yards, and car barns. Many working-class employees of the railroad settled in this town and it was during this time that the city began to earn its reputation as a loosely regulated, liquor-friendly place for eccentric people wary of government interference. Despite several annexation attempts, the town elected not to part of the City of Los Angeles. For many years, the area that is now the city of West Hollywood was an area in the midst of Los Angeles. Because gambling was illegal in the city of Los Angeles, but still legal in Los Angeles County and these businesses were immune from the sometimes heavy-handed law-enforcement of the L. A. Some people connected with movie-making were attracted to this area of the County
2.
Nightclub
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A nightclub is an entertainment venue and bar which serves alcoholic beverages that usually operates late into the night. Another distinction is that whereas many pubs and sports bars aim at a market, nightclubs typically aim at a niche market of music and dancing enthusiasts. The upmarket nature of nightclubs can be seen in the inclusion of VIP areas in some nightclubs, for celebrities, nightclubs are much more likely than pubs or sports bars to use bouncers to screen prospective clubgoers for entry. Some nightclub bouncers do not admit people with ripped jeans or other clothing or gang apparel as part of a dress code. The busiest nights for a nightclub are Friday and Saturday night, most clubs or club nights cater to certain music genres, such as house music or gothic rock. A nightclub may also be called a discothèque, disco, or dance club, from about 1900 to 1920, working class Americans would gather at honky tonks or juke joints to dance to music played on a piano or a jukebox. Webster Hall is credited as the first modern nightclub, being built in 1886 and starting off as a hall, originally functioning as a home for dance. During Prohibition in the United States, nightclubs went underground as illegal speakeasy bars, with Webster Hall staying open, with rumors circulating of Al Capones involvement and police bribery. With the repeal of Prohibition in February 1933, nightclubs were revived, such as New Yorks 21 Club, Copacabana, El Morocco, in Germany, possibly the first discothèque was Scotch-Club. These discothèques were also patronized by anti-Vichy youth called zazous, there were also underground discothèques in Nazi Germany patronized by anti-Nazi youth called the swing kids. In Harlem, Connies Inn and the Cotton Club were popular venues for white audiences, before 1953 and even some years thereafter, most bars and nightclubs used a jukebox or mostly live bands. The Whisky à Gogo set into place the elements of the modern post World War II discothèque-style nightclub. At the end of the 1950s, several of the bars in Soho introduced afternoon dancing. In the early 1960s, Mark Birley opened a members-only discothèque nightclub, Annabels, in Berkeley Square, in 1962, the Peppermint Lounge in New York City became popular and is the place where go-go dancing originated. However, the first rock and roll generation preferred rough and tumble bars and taverns to nightclubs, disco has its roots in the underground club scene. It brought together people from all walks of life and backgrounds and these clubs acted as safe havens for homosexual partygoers to dance in peace and away from public scrutiny. Disco allowed patrons to explore sexuality and push the envelope on the dance floor, disco clubs acted as an escape from such depressing environments and acted as the fantasy marginalized peoples could escape to forget oppression and racism. Disco clubs originally functioned as liberated party spaces and were seen as places of political statement, a smooth mix of long single records to keep people dancing all night long
3.
Rock and roll
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While elements of rock and roll can be heard in blues records from the 1920s and in country records of the 1930s, the genre did not acquire its name until the 1950s. For the purpose of differentiation, this deals with the first definition. The beat is essentially a blues rhythm with an accentuated backbeat, classic rock and roll is usually played with one or two electric guitars, a double bass or string bass or an electric bass guitar, and a drum kit. Beyond simply a style, rock and roll, as seen in movies and on television, influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes. In addition, rock and roll may have contributed to the civil rights movement because both African-American and white American teens enjoyed the music and it went on to spawn various genres, often without the initially characteristic backbeat, that are now more commonly called simply rock music or rock. The term rock and roll now has at least two different meanings, both in common usage, the American Heritage Dictionary and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary both define rock and roll as synonymous with rock music. Encyclopædia Britannica, on the hand, regards it as the music that originated in the mid-1950s. In 1934, the song Rock and Roll by the Boswell Sisters appeared in the film Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round, in 1942, Billboard magazine columnist Maurie Orodenker started to use the term rock-and-roll to describe upbeat recordings such as Rock Me by Sister Rosetta Tharpe. By 1943, the Rock and Roll Inn in South Merchantville, in 1951, Cleveland, Ohio disc jockey Alan Freed began playing this music style while popularizing the phrase to describe it. The origins of rock and roll have been debated by commentators. The migration of former slaves and their descendants to major urban centers such as St. The immediate roots of rock and roll lay in the rhythm and blues, then called race music, particularly significant influences were jazz, blues, gospel, country, and folk. The 1940s saw the use of blaring horns, shouted lyrics. In the same period, particularly on the West Coast and in the Midwest, similarly, country boogie and Chicago electric blues supplied many of the elements that would be seen as characteristic of rock and roll. Rock and roll arrived at a time of technological change, soon after the development of the electric guitar, amplifier and microphone. It was the realization that relatively affluent white teenagers were listening to music that led to the development of what was to be defined as rock. Because the development of rock and roll was a process, no single record can be identified as unambiguously the first rock. Other artists with rock and roll hits included Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis
4.
Steve Morse
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Steven J. Steve Morse is an American guitarist and composer, best known as the founder of the Dixie Dregs, and since 1994, the guitar player of Deep Purple. Morses career has encompassed rock, country, funk, jazz, classical, in addition to his successful solo career, he was briefly a member of Kansas in the mid-1980s. Most recently, Morse became a member of the supergroup Flying Colors alongside long-time bandmate Dave LaRue, Steve Morse was born in Hamilton, Ohio. His family soon moved to Tennessee, then Ypsilanti, Michigan, although familiar with piano and clarinet, Morse ultimately became interested in guitar. Morse worked briefly with his older brother Dave in a band called The Plague until the family moved to Augusta, in the late 1960s, he played in a band called Three with his older brother and a junior high schoolmate, William Gerald Wooten, who played keyboards. The three performed at a local youth club, The Green Onion, and at Legion Halls. This short-lived group covered bands such as Led Zeppelin and Cream, West and Morse continued to play as a duet billed as the Dixie Dregs until Morses expulsion from school in the 10th grade. This expulsion enabled his enrollment at the University of Miami School of Music, during the 1970s, the University of Miami played host to a number of future influential musicians, including Bruce Hornsby, Pat Metheny, and Jaco Pastorius. Andy West also enrolled at the University of Miami and, with Morse, drummer Bart Yarnold, keyboardist Frank Josephs and violinist Allen Sloan, in 1975, the group compiled a recording used for promotional efforts. This recording was released in 1997 as The Great Spectacular. From late 1987 to early 1988, Morse worked as a commercial airline co-pilot, upon Morses graduation from the University of Miami in 1975, he and West officially named their group Dixie Dregs. Their first effort for Capricorn, Free Fall, established Morse as an important newcomer to the fusion genre, although receiving positive reviews as a pivotal jazz fusion album, it sold poorly. What If was released in 1978, writing credits were more collaborative and the bands sound had matured into more than what was strictly considered fusion at the time. Southern rock, classical, folk and country elements were combined to form a cohesive, though supported by a tour, record sales remained flat, but gained Morse and the band an invitation to perform at Montreux Jazz Festival on 23 July 1978. The recorded performance was released the year on Night of the Living Dregs. Capricorn went bankrupt in late 1979, and the Dixie Dregs were left without a label, Arista Records signed the band in 1979 to record three albums. Production control was handed to Morse, and Dregs of the Earth was released in May 1980, All eight tracks were written by Morse, and the album peaked at number 27 on Billboards Jazz Album Chart. Arista became increasingly concerned about Dixie Dregs album sales and pressured the band to change their name to simply The Dregs in an attempt to increase the visibility in the public eye
5.
Strip club
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Strip clubs are venues that regularly provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease or other erotic or exotic dances. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or bar style, and can adopt a theatre or cabaret-style. As of 2005, the size of the strip club industry was estimated to be US$75 billion. In 2002, the size of the U. S. strip club industry was estimated to be US$3.1 billion, profitability of strip clubs, as with other service-oriented businesses, is largely driven by location and customer spending habits. The popularity of a club is an indicator of its quality. The strip club as an outlet for salacious entertainment is a recurrent theme in popular culture, in some media, these clubs are portrayed primarily as gathering places of vice and ill repute. Clubs themselves and various aspects of the business are highlighted in these references, popular Internet sites for strip club enthusiasts also have lists calculated from the inputs of site visitors. Strip clubs are frequent targets of litigation around the world, and the sex industry, some clubs have been linked to organized crime. The term striptease was first recorded in 1938, though stripping, in the sense of women removing clothing to sexually excite men, for example, in Thomas Otways comedy The Soldiers Fortune a character says, Be sure they be lewd, drunken, stripping whores. Its combination with music seems to be as old, the erotic dance of the bee, performed by a woman known as Kuchuk Hanem, was witnessed and described by the French novelist Gustave Flaubert. In this dance the performer disrobes as she searches for an imaginary bee trapped within her garments and it is likely that the women performing these dances did not do so in an indigenous context, but rather, responded to the commercial climate for this type of entertainment. In France during the late 19th century, Parisian shows such as the Moulin Rouge and Folies Bergère were featuring attractive, scantily clad, dancing women and tableaux vivants. This routine, Le coucher dYvette, inspired French acts in theaters and brothels in other parts of the world, the first public act of striptease in modern times is credited to Parisian theater in 1894. In 1905, Dutch dancer Mata Hari, later shot as a spy by the French authorities during World War I, was a success from the debut of her act at the Musée Guimet. The most celebrated segment of her act was her progressive shedding of clothing until she wore just a jeweled bra and some ornaments over her arms and head. Another landmark performance was the appearance at the Moulin Rouge in 1907 of an actress called Germaine Aymos who entered dressed only in three very small shells. In the 1930s, the famous Josephine Baker danced semi-nude in the danse sauvage at the Folies and these shows were notable for their sophisticated choreography and for often dressing the girls in glitzy sequins and feathers. By the 1960s fully nude shows were provided at such places as Le Crazy Horse Saloon, in Britain in the 1930s, Laura Henderson began presenting nude shows at the Windmill Theatre in London
6.
The Rocky Horror Show
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The Rocky Horror Show is a musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard OBrien. Various international productions have since spanned across six continents as well as West End and Broadway revivals, Actor Tim Curry, who originated the role of Dr Frank N. Furter in the original London production, became particularly associated with the musical. The musical was adapted into the 1975 film The Rocky Horror Picture Show, starring OBrien as Riff Raff, with Curry also reprising his role, in 2016 it was adapted into the television film The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Lets Do the Time Warp Again. The musical was ranked eighth in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the Nations Number One Essential Musicals, as an out-of-work actor in London in the early 1970s, Richard OBrien wrote The Rocky Horror Show to keep himself busy on winter evenings. A major theme running throughout the musical is transvestitism, which according to OBrien was not originally meant to be as prominent as it would end up being. OBrien conceived and wrote the set against the backdrop of the glam era that had manifested itself throughout British popular culture in the 1970s. Allowing his concept to come into being, OBrien states glam rock allowed me to be myself more, Sharman had received considerable local acclaim as the director of the original Australian productions of Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar. He went to London to direct the first British stage production of Superstar, during which he met OBrien, Sharman brought in fellow Australians Nell Campbell and long-time scenic designer partner Brian Thomson to the production. Star Tim Curry recalled his first encounter with the script, Id heard about the play because I lived on Paddington Street, off Baker Street, and there was an old gym a few doors away. I saw Richard OBrien in the street, and he said hed just been to the gym to see if he could find a muscleman who could sing, I said, Why do you need him to sing. And he told me that his musical was going to be done and he gave me the script, and I thought, Boy, if this works, its going to be a smash. The original creative team was rounded out by costume designer Sue Blane and musical director Richard Hartley. Michael White was also brought in to produce Rocky Horror, as the musical went into rehearsal, the working title for it became They Came from Denton High, but it was changed just before previews at the suggestion of Sharman to The Rocky Horror Show. After two previews, the show premiered – without an interval – at the Royal Courts 63-seat Theatre Upstairs on 19 June 1973, King was involved heavily in the initial promotion for the show as well as being the minority backer of it financially with White having a majority share. The impact at the Royal Court Upstairs allowed the production be transferred to the 230-seat Chelsea Classic Cinema nearby on Kings Road from 14 August 1973 to 20 October 1973. Rocky Horror found a quasi-permanent home at the 500-seat Kings Road Theatre even further down Kings Road from 3 November 1973, the show received critical praise and won the 1973 Evening Standard Award for Best Musical. Its run at the Kings Road Theatre ended on 31 March 1979 before transferring to the Comedy Theatre to begin performances on 6 April 1979. At the new venue, Rocky Horror required some restaging as it was the first theatre that the musical had played at with a proscenium arch stage
7.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
8.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
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The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a 1975 musical comedy horror film directed by Jim Sharman. The screenplay was written by Sharman and Richard OBrien based on the 1973 musical stage production The Rocky Horror Show, music, book, the production is a parody tribute to the science fiction and horror B movies of the 1930s through early 1970s. The film stars Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Richard OBrien himself, and Barry Bostwick along with cast members from the original Royal Court Theatre, Roxy Theatre, and Belasco Theatre productions. The story centres on a young engaged couple whose car breaks down in the rain near a castle where they seek a telephone to call for help, the castle is occupied by strangers in elaborate costumes celebrating an annual convention. They discover the head of the house is Frank N. Furter, the couple is seduced separately by the mad scientist and eventually released by the servants who take control. The film was shot in the United Kingdom at Bray Studios and on location at an old country estate named Oakley Court, a number of props and set pieces were reused from the Hammer horror films. Although the film is both a parody and tribute to many of the science fiction and horror films, costume designer Sue Blane conducted no research for her designs. Blane stated that costumes from the film have affected the development of punk rock fashion trends such as ripped fishnets. Although largely critically panned on release, it soon became known as a midnight movie when audiences began participating with the film at the Waverly Theater in New York City in 1976. Audience members returned to the cinemas frequently and talked back to the screen and began dressing as the characters, at almost the same time, fans in costume at the Kings Court Theater in Pittsburgh began performing alongside the film. This shadow cast mimed the actions on screen above and behind them, still in limited release four decades after its premiere, it is the longest-running theatrical release in film history. It is often close to Halloween. Today, the film has an international following. It was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2005, the films creative team also produced Shock Treatment in 1981, a standalone feature using the characters of Brad and Janet and featuring some of the same cast. Seeking a telephone, the walk to a nearby castle where they discover a group of strange. They are soon swept into the world of Dr. Frank N. Furter, the ensemble of convention attendees also includes servants Riff Raff, his sister Magenta, and a groupie named Columbia. In his lab, Frank claims to have discovered the secret to life itself and his creation, Rocky, is brought to life. The ensuing celebration is interrupted by Eddie who rides out of a deep freeze on a motorcycle
9.
Neil Young
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Neil Percival Young, OC OM, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, producer, director and screenwriter. Young began performing in a group covering Shadows instrumentals in Canada in 1960, in 1966, after a brief stint with the Rick James-fronted Mynah Birds, he moved to Los Angeles, where he formed Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and others. Young had released two albums by the time he joined Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1969, in addition to two as a member of Buffalo Springfield. From his early albums and those with his backing band Crazy Horse, Young has recorded a steady stream of studio and live albums. Youngs often-distorted electric guitar work, deeply personal lyrics and signature tenor singing voice transcend his long career, Young also plays piano and harmonica on many albums which frequently combine folk, rock, blues and other musical styles. Known to rip up live set lists, Young often plays acoustic versions of songs in one show and his gritty guitar work, especially with Crazy Horse, earned him the nickname Godfather of Grunge and led to his 1995 album Mirror Ball with Pearl Jam. More recently Young has been backed by Promise of the Real, Young directed films using the pseudonym Bernard Shakey, including Journey Through the Past, Rust Never Sleeps, Human Highway, Greendale, and CSNY/Déjà Vu. He also contributed to the soundtracks of the films Philadelphia and Dead Man, Young has received several Grammy and Juno awards. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducted him twice, as a solo artist in 1995, in 2000, Rolling Stone named Young the 34th greatest rock n roll artist. He has lived in California since the 1960s but retains Canadian citizenship and he was awarded the Order of Manitoba on July 14,2006, and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada on December 30,2009. Young was born on November 12,1945, in Toronto and his father, Scott Alexander Young, was a journalist and sportswriter who also wrote fiction. His mother, Edna Blow Ragland Rassy Young was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, although Canadian, his mother had American and French ancestry. Youngs parents married in 1940 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and their first son, shortly after Youngs birth in 1945, his family moved to rural Omemee, Ontario, which Young later described fondly as a sleepy little place. Young suffered from polio in 1951 during the last major outbreak of the disease in Ontario, after his recovery, the Young family vacationed in Florida. During that period, Young briefly attended Chisolm Elementary School in New Smyrna Beach, in 1952, upon returning to Canada, Young moved from Omemee to Winnipeg for a year, before relocating to Toronto and Pickering. Young became interested in music he heard on the radio. When Young was twelve, his father, who had several extramarital affairs and his mother asked for a divorce which was granted in 1960. Young went to live with his mother, who moved back to Winnipeg, during the mid-fifties, Young listened to rock n roll, rockabilly, doo-wop, R&B, country, and western pop
10.
Genesis (band)
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Genesis are an English rock band formed at Charterhouse School, Godalming, Surrey in 1967. The most commercially successful and long-lasting line-up includes keyboardist Tony Banks, bassist/guitarist Mike Rutherford, other important members were the original lead singer Peter Gabriel and guitarist Steve Hackett. The band underwent many changes in style over its career, from folk music to progressive rock in the 1970s. They have sold 21.5 million RIAA-certified albums in the US, after splitting with King, the group began touring professionally, signing with Charisma Records. The group were initially successful in Europe, before entering the UK charts with Foxtrot. They followed this with Selling England by the Pound and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway before Gabriel decided to leave the group, after an unsuccessful search for a replacement, Collins took over as lead singer, while the group gained popularity in the UK and the US. Following A Trick of the Tail and Wind & Wuthering, Hackett left the band, reducing it to a core of Banks, Rutherford and its title track reached number one in the US. After the follow up, We Cant Dance and related tour, Banks and Rutherford recruited Ray Wilson for Calling All Stations, but a lack of success in the US led to a group hiatus. Banks, Rutherford and Collins reunited for the Turn It On Again Tour in 2007 and their discography includes fifteen studio and six live albums, six of which topped the UK chart. In 2010, Genesis were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Banks and Gabriel arrived at the school in September 1963, Rutherford in September 1964, and Phillips in April 1965. The five recorded six songs, Dont Want You Back, Try a Little Sadness, Shes Beautiful, Thats Me, Listen on Five, and Patricia, a group friend gave the tape to King who was immediately enthusiastic. Under Kings direction, the group, aged between 15 and 17, signed a recording contract with Decca Records. In response Banks and Gabriel wrote The Silent Sun, a pastiche of the Bee Gees, one of Kings favourite bands, King chose The Silent Sun as their first single, with Thats Me on the B-side, released in February 1968. It achieved some airplay on BBC Radio One and Radio Caroline, a second single, A Winters Tale/One-Eyed Hound, followed in May 1968 which also sold little. Three months later, Stewart left the group to continue with his studies and he was replaced by fellow Charterhouse pupil John Silver. King felt the group would achieve success with an album. The result, From Genesis to Revelation, was produced at Regent Sound in ten days during their schools summer break in August 1968, Phillips was particularly upset about Greenslades additions. When Decca found an American band already named Genesis, King refused to change his groups name and he reached a compromise by removing their name from the album cover, resulting in a minimalist design with the album title printed on a plain black background
11.
Peter Gabriel
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After leaving Genesis in 1975, Gabriel launched a solo career with Solsbury Hill as his first single. His 1986 album, So, is his release and is certified triple platinum in the UK. The albums most successful single, Sledgehammer, won a record nine MTV Awards at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards, Gabriel has been a champion of world music for much of his career. He co-founded the WOMAD festival in 1982 and he has continued to focus on producing and promoting world music through his Real World Records label. He has also pioneered digital distribution methods for music, co-founding OD2, Gabriel has also been involved in numerous humanitarian efforts. In 1980, he released the anti-apartheid single Biko and he has participated in several human rights benefit concerts, including Amnesty Internationals Human Rights Now. Tour in 1988, and co-founded the Witness human rights organisation in 1992, Gabriel developed The Elders with Richard Branson, which was launched by Nelson Mandela in 2007. He was made a BMI Icon at the 57th annual BMI London Awards for his influence on generations of music makers, AllMusic has described Gabriel as one of rocks most ambitious, innovative musicians, as well as one of its most political. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis in 2010, in March 2015 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of South Australia in recognition of his achievements in music. Peter Brian Gabriel was born in Chobham, Surrey and his father, Ralph Parton Gabriel, was an electrical engineer, and his mother, Edith Irene, who was from a musical family, taught him to play the piano at an early age. His great-great-great-uncle, Sir Thomas Gabriel, 1st Baronet, served as Lord Mayor of London from 1866 to 1877, Gabriel attended Cable House, a private primary school in Woking, St. Andrews Prep School in Horsell, and Charterhouse School in Godalming from 1963. He played drums in his first rock bands, and Mike Rutherford commented in 1985 that Pete was—and still is, Gabriel founded Genesis in 1967 with fellow Charterhouse School pupils Tony Banks, Anthony Phillips, Mike Rutherford, and drummer Chris Stewart. The name of the band was suggested by fellow Charterhouse alumnus, the pop music impresario Jonathan King, Gabriel has said to be influenced by many different sources in his way of singing, such as Family lead singer Roger Chapman. In 1970, he played the flute on Cat Stevenss album, the concerts made extensive use of black light with the normal stage lighting subdued or off. Early Genesis concerts were hampered by a bad public address system made it difficult for audiences to understand what Gabriel was singing. According to Mike Rutherford, this drove Gabriel to find ways to impress his personality on the audience. In an episode of the 2007 British documentary series Seven Ages of Rock and it was the dress-wearing, fox-headed entity immortalised on the cover of Foxtrot. Hackett and the rest of the band had no inkling that Gabriel was going to do this and it was a success, encouraging Gabriel to continue wearing stage clothes while singing
12.
Paul Reubens
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Paul Reubens is an American actor, writer, film producer, game show host, and comedian, best known for his character Pee-wee Herman. Reubens joined the Los Angeles troupe The Groundlings in the 1970s and started his career as an improvisational comedian, in 1982, Reubens put up a show about a character he had been developing for years. The show was called The Pee-wee Herman Show and it ran for five months with HBO producing a successful special about it. Pee-wee became an instant cult figure and for the decade, Reubens would be completely committed to his character, doing all of his public appearances. In 1985 Pee-wees Big Adventure, directed by the then-unknown Tim Burton, was a financial and critical success, Big Top Pee-wee, 1988s sequel, was less successful than its predecessor. Between 1986 and 1990, Reubens starred as Pee-wee in the CBS Saturday-morning childrens program Pee-wees Playhouse, thereafter, Reubens decided to take a sabbatical from Pee-wee. In July 1991, Reubens was arrested for indecent exposure in a theater in Sarasota. The arrest set off a reaction of national media attention that changed the general publics view of Reubens. Since 2006, Reubens has been making cameos and guest appearances in numerous projects,30 Rock, Dirt, Pushing Daisies, and The Blacklist. Since the 1990s, he has worked on two possible Pee-wee films, one dark and adult, dubbed The Pee-wee Herman Story, and one a family-friendly epic adventure called Pee-wees Playhouse, in 2010, he starred on Broadway in The Pee-wee Herman Show. In 2016, Reubens helped write and star in the Netflix original movie, Reubens was born Paul Rubenfeld in Peekskill, New York, and grew up in Sarasota, Florida, where his parents, Judy and Milton Rubenfeld, owned a lamp store. Paul has two siblings, Luke, who is a dog trainer, and Abby, who is an attorney. Reubens spent a significant amount of his childhood in Oneonta, New York, as a child, Reubens frequented the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, whose winter headquarters was in Sarasota. The circuss atmosphere sparked Reubens interest in entertainment and influenced his later work, Reubens also loved to watch reruns of I Love Lucy, which made him want to make people laugh. At age five, Reubens asked his father to him a stage. Reubens attended Sarasota High School, where he was named president of the National Thespian Society and he was accepted into Northwestern Universitys summer program for gifted high-school students and also joined the local Asolo Theater and Players of Sarasota Theater, appearing in several plays. After graduation, he attended Boston University and began auditioning for acting schools and he soon joined the Los Angeles–based improvisational comedy team The Groundlings and remained a member for six years, working with Bob McClurg, John Paragon, Susan Barnes, and Phil Hartman. Hartman and Reubens became friends, often writing and working on material together, in 1980, he had a small part as a waiter in The Blues Brothers
