Bad English

Bad English was an American/British rock "supergroup" formed in 1988, reuniting keyboardist Jonathan Cain with singer John Waite and bassist Ricky Phillips, his former bandmates in The Babys. Jonathan Cain and guitarist Neal Schon, who had enjoyed enormous success in Journey, joined with Waite after Journey disbanded.

The members decided on a name for the band while playing pool. John Waite missed a shot and Jonathan Cain made a comment on how bad his "english" was - referencing the spin a player puts on the cue ball - not poor English grammar.

The first album, simply titled Bad English, had three hit singles, including the number one hit "When I See You Smile", "Price of Love," and "Possession."

They released 6 albums including greatest hits compilations. Waite commented in interviews that he was uncomfortanle with their stadium-sized venues and "corporate rock" image. After the band split, he went solo and has remained a solo act ever since. Drummer Deen Castronovo went on to join the reformed Journey with singer Steve Augeri, Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain, and Ross Valory.

Backstreet Boys

The Backstreet Boys (sometimes referred to as BSB) are an American vocal group, formed in Orlando, Florida in 1993.

The band originally consisted of A. J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter and Kevin Richardson. Their original manager, Lou Pearlman, wanted to create a group similar to the popular New Kids on the Block. (The two groups eventually recorded an album together titled NKOTBSB.

He decided to call the group Backstreet Boys, naming it after Orlando's Backstreet Market where the guys used to hang out. The group had its very first performance at SeaWorld Orlando in May 1993.

They rose to fame with their debut international album, Backstreet Boys (1996). In the following year, they released their second international album, Backstreet's Back (1997) and their debut album in the United States which continued the group's success worldwide.


They rose to superstardom with their album Millennium (1999) and its follow-up album, Black & Blue (2000).

After a three-year hiatus, the band regrouped and released their comeback album: Never Gone (2005). They continue to tour and record.

The Backstreet Boys have sold over 130 million records worldwide, making them the best-selling boy band of all time.

According to Billboard, they are the first group since Sade to have their first seven albums reach the top 10 on the Billboard 200.


http://www.backstreetboys.com

Posh

The job of etymologists (not those buggy entomologists) in studying the history of words and their origins and how they have changed over time is not an easy one. Sometimes it seems almost impossible to nail down the definitive origin - as I have discovered in doing this blog.

One word origin I have seen multiple times is for the word, posh.

The story most often given for its origin comes from ship travel. When people went from Britain to India on ships in the early 1900s, it supposedly was an acronym of “Port Out, Starboard Home.” Someone who had a cabin on the port side on the outward trip, and the starboard side on the return trip, would have the sea breeze and be sheltered from the sun on the hottest part of the journey (Suez Canal and the Red Sea).

The posh people were obviously the wealthiest passengers who had POSH stamped on their ticket.

Researchers also point to an earlier reference in an 1892 novel, The Diary of a Nobody which includes a Posh character: “Frank called, but said he could not stop, as he had a friend waiting outside for him, named Murray Posh, adding he was quite a swell.

There's also the phrase from way back in the 16th century - pish posh. The Word Detective says it's just one form of a gentle dismissal. "Pish posh, who cares about word origins. Post something about bands!"

Spinal Tap

    

Spinal Tap is a parody fictional heavy metal band that first appeared on a failed 1979 ABC TV sketch comedy pilot called "The T.V. Show", starring Rob Reiner. The sketch, actually a mock promotional video for the song "Rock and Roll Nightmare", was written by Reiner and the band, and included songwriter/performer Loudon Wainwright III on keyboards.



Reiner later made the band the fictional subject of his 1984 rockumentary/mockumentary film This Is Spinal Tap with the band members being portrayed by Michael McKean (as David St. Hubbins), Christopher Guest (as Nigel Tufnel) and Harry Shearer (as Derek Smalls).

Though in the film they are supposed to all be from the United Kingdom, the actors (who are all also the actual musicians) are all Americans. (Technically, Christopher Guest is English/American - English father and American mother, dual citizenship, and a title of nobility, Baron Haden-Guest.)

The band of three went through many names and incarnations prior to Spinal Tap including (in approximate order) The Originals, the New Originals, the Thamesmen, the Rave Breakers, Hellcats, Flamin’ Daemons, Shiners, Mondos, the Doppel Gang, the Peoples, Loose Lips, Waffles, Hot Waffles, Love Bisquits, Bisquits, Silver Service, the Mud Below and the Tufnel-St. Hubbins Group, Anthem and the Cadburys.

The film's soundtrack album was also well received in its own right and the fictional band has taken to the road for real for several concert tours.

Guest, McKean, and Shearer toured in the U.S. in 2009[2] and performed as Spinal Tap in a "One Night Only World Tour" on 30 June 2009 at Wembley Arena in London.

The three performers have also played concerts and been on film as another fictitious band - the folk trio The Folksmen. This second fictitious group is an American folk music trio created in 1984 for a TV comedy sketch. The Folksmen had occasional appearances over the years that followed and then emerged again in the mockumentary film A Mighty Wind in 2003.

Spinal Tap and The Folksmen have even appeared on the same bills performing or in close time proximity.

Spinal Tap's official spelling is "Spın̈al Tap", with a "heavy metal umlaut" over the letter n and a dotless letter i.

Wikipedia Information on the Current Band Members

• David St. Hubbins (portrayed by Michael McKean) – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar (1964–present)
• Nigel Tufnel (portrayed by Christopher Guest) – lead guitar, backing & lead vocals, acoustic guitar, mandolin, violin, violin bow, harmonica, keyboards, piano (1964–1982, 1982–present)
• Derek Smalls (portrayed by Harry Shearer) – bass guitar, backing & lead vocals, acoustic bass guitar (1967–present)
• "Caucasian" Jeffery Vanston (portrayed by C. J. Vanston) – keyboards, backing vocals
• Gregg Bissonette (as himself) – drums, percussion

Return of Spinal Tap

 
Spinal Tap Intravenus De Milo Girls T-Shirt

Barenaked Ladies

         

Barenaked Ladies (often abbreviated BNL or occasionally BnL) is a Canadian alternative rock band. The band is currently composed of Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart.

Barenaked Ladies formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario, then a suburban municipality outside the City of Toronto. The band began as the duo of Ed Robertson and Steven Page who were schoolmates from an early age. Their musical friendship supposedly started after they ran into each other after attending a Peter Gabriel concert.

They found they had similar musical interests and while both of them were counselors at Scarborough Music Camp in Ontario, they would play music and harmonize. They also made up various fictional band names, one of which was "Barenaked Ladies".

There are a number of origin stories on music sites like AmIRight.com, but the most common story seems to be the following.

In 1988, Robertson had agreed to perform with his cover band in a battle of the bands, but the band broke up before the gig.  He had forgotten about the gig when he got a phone call a week before the show asking him to confirm the gig. He said that the name of the band had changed and pulled up "Barenaked Ladies" from the past.

He called Page and asked if he wanted to do the gig. Without rehearsals, the two played while the other bands set up, using every song they could think of that they both knew.

Surprisingly, the gig went well. They got another gig, failed to rehearse again, played and established a pattern for future improvisation.

Page and Robertson continued performing and began writing songs together. The band's first recordings, Buck Naked, were recorded on a four-track recorder in basements and bedrooms in 1989.

They are best known for their hit singles (click to hear samples): "One Week", "The Old Apartment", "Pinch Me", "If I Had $1,000,000", and "Brian Wilson" and for their light-hearted, comedic performance style with humorous banter between songs and improvised raps and songs.

          

Official website www.barenakedladies.com

Snack Time
All In Good Time
Stunt
Gordon
Maroon
Maybe You Should Drive
Rock Spectacle
Barenaked Ladies Are Men
Barenaked Ladies - Talk to the Hand - Live in Michigan [Blu-ray]