The Music of THE CARPENTERS

The Carpenters were a vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of siblings Karen and Richard Carpenter. With their brand of melodic pop, they charted a record-breaking score of hit recordings on the American Top 40 and Adult Contemporary charts, becoming leading exponents of the soft rock and easy listening genres. The Carpenters had three #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, and fifteen #1 hits on the Adult Contemporary Charts. In addition, they had twelve top 10 hits (including their #1 hits). It has been estimated that the Carpenters' album and single sales total to more than 100 million units, easily putting them high on the list of best-selling music artists.

During their fourteen year career, the Carpenters had ten albums, five of which contained top 10 singles (Close to You, Carpenters, A Song for You, Now & Then and Horizon), thirty one singles, five television specials, and one television series. They had numerous tours internationally, in countries such as the United States, Great Britain, Japan, Australia, Holland and Belgium. That was all cut short on February 4, 1983 with the passing of Karen Anne Carpenter, who succumbed to a cardiac arrest from complications of anorexia nervosa.

Their great talents combined together created a revolutionary type of music in the early 1970s. During the period when rock and roll reigned supreme, Richard and Karen seemed to develop a soft, soothing type of music. Their revolutionary music made them one of the most distinctive soft pop groups of the 1970s.

The two Carpenter siblings, Richard and Karen Carpenter, were born in New Haven, Connecticut. Richard Lynn was born on October 15, 1946, and Karen Anne was born on March 2, 1950 (d. February 4, 1983). During their childhood, Richard was seemingly quiet, while sister Karen was very outgoing and friendly. According to neighbors in various interviews, Richard always stayed inside the house and listened to records or played the piano. Even though Karen did the same, she usually played sports outside. It is noted on the TV series "This Is Your Life" that Karen occasionally played pitcher in softball.

In June of 1963, the Carpenter family moved to the Los Angeles suburb of Downey, California. The reasons mentioned for the move were because Karen and father Harold disliked the cold winters of New England and because their parents wanted Richard to be closer to the music industry. Karen had a hard time moving from New Haven because all of her close friends lived there.

Soon after the move, Richard attended college at the California State University at Long Beach, where he met future songwriting partner John Bettis and other colleagues with whom he would collaborate during the years with Spectrum and the Carpenter Trio.

Karen was just entering high school after the move, and there she found a desire for playing the drums. Even though Karen was known for being athletic, she stated that she disliked physical education. In order to circumvent the class, she asked brother Richard to discuss with some teachers and transfer her from physical education to another class. It was then agreed that Karen would take band instead of physical education. When Karen was in the band, teacher Bruce Gifford assigned Karen a glockenspiel, which Karen didn't like. Shortly after, though, friend Frankie Chavez inspired Carpenter to play the drums. They would occasionally practice the drums. "She and Frankie Chavez must have worked down the rudiments, the cadences, and the press-rolls for hours," recalls Richard. "By the time she got those drums she could knock it all off. It was no novelty."
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The Music of GARTH BROOKS

Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American country music singer-songwriter. Successfully integrating rock elements into his recordings and live performances, Brooks soon began to dominate the country singles and country album charts and quickly crossed over into the mainstream pop arena, exposing country music to a larger audience than previously thought possible.

Brooks has enjoyed one of the most successful careers in popular music history, with over 70 hit singles and 15 charted albums to his credit and over 123 million albums sold in the United States alone. Throughout the 1990s he broke records for both sales and concert attendance. In 1999, looking to expand his career boundaries, Brooks began an artistically ambitious multimedia project involving a fictitious alter ego known as Chris Gaines.

Troubled by the conflicts between career and family, in 2001 Brooks officially retired from recording and performing. During this time he has sold millions of albums through an exclusive distribution deal with Wal-Mart and has sporadically released new singles.

On November 6th, 2007, The Ultimate Hits was released. He will be playing nine consecutive nights at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri in November.

Early life and career
Garth Brooks was born February 7, 1962 the youngest of six children in Yukon, Oklahoma. His father Troyal Brooks worked as a draftsman for an oil company, while his mother Colleen Carroll was a country music singer on the Capitol Records label in the 1950s and also a regular on the Red Foley Show. Even as a child, Brooks was interested in music, often singing in casual family settings, but his primary interest was athletics. In high school he played football and baseball and ran track. After graduation from high school, he attended Oklahoma State University in Stillwater on a track scholarship as a javelin thrower & defensive end. While at OSU, he was a member of Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity. Despite discontinuing his participation in the sport, he still graduated in 1984 with a degree in advertising.

Later that year, Brooks began his professional music career, singing and playing guitar in Oklahoma clubs and bars, particularly the Tumbleweed in Stillwater. After a failed 1985 24-hour trip to Nashville to gain a record contract, Brooks returned to Oklahoma and in 1986, married Sandy Mahl of Owasso, Oklahoma, whom he had met while working as a bouncer. The couple had three daughters: Taylor Mayne Pearl (b. 1992), August Anna (b. 1994) and Allie Colleen (b. 1996). The following year, the couple moved to Nashville, and Brooks was able to begin making contacts in the music industry.

While struggling to be noticed by industry executives, Brooks frequently recorded demo records for songwriter Kent Blazy. Blazy introduced Brooks to Trisha Yearwood, another aspiring country singer, in October 1987. The pair became friends and pledged to help each other in their careers. Brooks achieved success first, signing a recording contract with Capitol Records in 1988. Keeping his promise, in 1991, he invited Yearwood to be the opening act on his tour.

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The Music of SCORPIONS

Scorpions are a hard rock/heavy metal band from Sarstedt near Hanover, Germany, best known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and their singles "Wind of Change", "No One Like You", "Still Loving You", and "Send Me an Angel". The band has sold over 75 million albums worldwide.

Contrary to common usage, the band's name is "Scorpions" and not "The Scorpions."

History
Formation and early history (1965-1973)

Rudolf Schenker, the band's rhythm guitarist, set out to find a band in 1965. At first, the band was school-kind with beat influences and Schenker himself on vocals. Things began to come together in 1969 when Schenker's younger brother Michael and vocalist Klaus Meine joined the band. In 1972 the group recorded and released their debut album Lonesome Crow with Lothar Heimberg on bass and Wolfgang Dziony on drums. During the Lonesome Crow tour, Scorpions opened for upcoming British band UFO. At the end of the tour the members of UFO offered guitarist Michael Schenker the lead guitar job; an offer which he soon accepted. Uli Roth was then called in temporarily to finish off the tour.

The departure of Michael Schenker led to the break up of the Scorpions. In 1973, guitarist Uli Roth, a friend of the Schenker brothers, was in a band called Dawn Road. He had been offered the role as lead guitarist in Scorpions after Michael Schenker's departure but turned the band down. Rudolf decided that he wanted to work with Roth but did not want to resurrect the last Scorpions lineup.

Rudolf Schenker attended some of Dawn Road's rehearsals and ultimately decided to join the band, which consisted of Roth, Francis Buchholz (bass),Achim Kirschning (keyboards) and Jurgen Rosenthal (drums). Roth persuaded Rudolf Schenker to invite Klaus Meine to join, which he did soon after. While there were more members of Dawn Road than Scorpions in the band, they decided to use the Scorpions name because they had released an album and were known in the German hard rock scene.

Rise to popularity (1974-1978)
In 1974 the new line-up of Scorpions released Fly to the Rainbow. The album proved to be more successful than Lonesome Crow and songs such as "Speedy's Coming" and the title track began to establish the band's sound. Achim Kirschning decided to leave after the recordings but subsequently guested on keyboards for the next two albums. Soon after, Jürgen Rosenthal had to leave as he was being drafted into the army, and was replaced by a Belgian drummer, Rudy Lenners. He later joined German progressive rock band called Eloy in 1976 and recorded three albums with them. It wasn't until the following year that the band hit their stride with the release of In Trance. In Trance marked the beginning of Scorpions' long collaboration with German producer Dieter Dierks. The album was a huge step forward for Scorpions and firmly established their hard rock formula, while at the same time garnering a substantial fan base, both at home and abroad. Cuts such as "Dark Lady", "Robot Man" and the title track are still considered classics by fans today.

In 1976, Scorpions released Virgin Killer. The album's cover, which featured a fully nude prepubescent girl, brought the band considerable criticism and was ultimately pulled or replaced in several countries. In spite of the controversy - lead singer Klaus Meine even expressed shock - the album garnered significant praise from critics and fans alike. The following year, Rudy Lenners resigned due to health reasons and was replaced by Herman Rarebell.

The follow-up to Virgin Killer, Taken by Force, was the first Scorpions record to be aggressively promoted in the United States. RCA Records, the band's label, made a determined effort to promote the album in stores and on the radio. The album's single, "Steamrock Fever", was added to some of RCA's radio promotional records. RCA also supervised the album cover design avoiding any controversy by including introduction-type photographs that included the names of each member under individual photos. Roth was not happy with the label's efforts and the commercial direction the band was taking. Although he performed on the band's Japan tour, he departed to form his own band, Electric Sun prior to the release of the resultant double live album Tokyo Tapes. Tokyo Tapes was released in the US and Europe six months after its Japanese release. By that time in mid 1978, after auditioning around 140 guitarists, Scorpions recruited new guitarist Matthias Jabs.

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The Music of CAT STEVENS

Steven Demetre Georgiou, was born on 21 July 1948 in London, who was known as Cat Stevens from 1966 to 1978, is an English musician, singer-songwriter, educator, philanthropist and prominent convert to Islam.

Under the name "Cat Stevens", he has sold over 60 million albums around the world since the late 1960s. His albums Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat were both certified by the RIAA as having achieved Triple Platinum status in the United States (three million sales each); his album Catch Bull at Four sold half a million copies in the first two weeks of release and was Billboard's number-one LP for three consecutive weeks. His songwriting has also earned him two ASCAP songwriting awards (for "The First Cut Is the Deepest", which has been a hit single for four different artists.)

At the height of his fame, in 1977, Stevens converted to Islam. In 1978, he adopted the name Yusuf Islam, leaving his music career to devote himself to educational and philanthropic causes in the Muslim community. In 2006, he returned to pop music, with his first album of new pop songs in 28 years, entitled An Other Cup.

He has been given several awards for his work in promoting peace in the world, including the 2004 Man for Peace award and the 2007 Mediterranean Prize for Peace. He lives with his wife, Fauzia Mubarak Ali, and five children in Brondesbury Park, London, and spends part of each year in Dubai.

Early Life (1948-1965)
Steven Georgiou was the third child of a Greek-Cypriot father (Stavros Georgiou) and a Swedish mother (Ingrid Wickman). The family lived above Moulin Rouge, the restaurant that his parents operated on Shaftesbury Avenue, a few steps from Piccadilly Circus in the Soho area of London. His whole family worked in the restaurant.

Although his father was Greek Orthodox and his mother Baptist, Steven was sent to a Catholic school, St. Joseph Roman Catholic Primary School in Macklin Street.

When Steven was about eight years old, his parents divorced, but both continued to run the restaurant and live above it. At age 12, Steven, who already played the piano, began to play guitar and write songs. A few years later, his mother returned to Gävle, Sweden, taking Steven along, where he started developing his drawing skills, influenced by his uncle Hugo, a painter.

At age 16, he left school and was accepted by, then later dismissed from, Hammersmith Art School. Although he enjoyed art — his later record albums would feature his original artwork on the covers — Steven wanted to establish a musical career. It was during this period he was first influenced by folk music.

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The Music of JAMES TAYLOR

James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, born in Belmont, Massachusetts.

Taylor's career began in the mid-1960s, but he found his audience in the early 1970s, singing sensitive and gentle acoustic songs. He was part of a wave of singer-songwriters of the time that also included Joni Mitchell, Tom Rush, Cat Stevens, Carole King, John Denver, Jim Croce, Don McLean, Jackson Browne as well as Carly Simon, whom Taylor later married.

His 1976 album Greatest Hits was certified diamond and has sold more than 11 million copies. He has retained a large audience well into the 1990s and early 2000s, when some of his best-selling and most-awarded albums were released.

Early career
Taylor is a well known classic rock artist. Taylor first learned to play the cello as a child in Carrboro (near Chapel Hill), and switched to the guitar in 1960. His style on that instrument evolved from listening to hymns, carols, and Woody Guthrie. He attended Milton Academy, a prep school in Massachusetts, and summered with his family in Martha's Vineyard, where he met Danny Kortchmar. The two began playing folk music together. After dropping out of school, he formed a band called The Fabulous Corsairs with his brother, Alex. Later, he was committed to McLean Hospital for depression. He earned a high school diploma while in the hospital, and then left and formed a band called the Flying Machine with Kortchmar and Joel O'Brien in New York City. The band was signed to Rainy Day Records and released one single, "Brighten Your Night with My Day" (B-side: "Night Owl"). The single was not a success. (A UK band with the same name emerged in 1969 with the hit song "Smile a Little Smile for Me".)

While living in New York City, Taylor became addicted to heroin. One night, after receiving a desperate phone call, his father drove to New York and "rescued" him. Taylor later wrote a song called "Jump Up Behind Me" that paid tribute to his father's help during a time of desperate need. The song also reflects on Taylor's memories of the long drive from New York City back to his home in Chapel Hill.

In 1968, Taylor moved to London. He was signed to Apple Records after sending a demo tape to Peter Asher (of Peter & Gordon) and released his debut album, James Taylor. Despite the Beatles connection, and the presence of Paul McCartney and George Harrison on one track, the album did not sell very well, and Taylor's addiction worsened. Moving back to the United States, Taylor checked into a hospital to treat his drug problem in Western Massachusetts outside of Stockbridge (where he lives today). By 1969 he was well enough to perform live, and had a six-night stand at the Troubadour Club in Los Angeles. On July 20, 1969 he performed at the Newport Folk Festival. Shortly thereafter he broke both hands in a motorcycle accident on Martha's Vineyard and was forced to stop playing for several months.

1970s
Once recovered, Taylor signed to Warner Bros. Records and moved to California keeping Asher as his manager and record producer. His second album, Sweet Baby James, was a massive success, buoyed by the single "Fire and Rain", a song about his experience in an asylum and the suicide of his friend, Suzanne Schnerr. The success of this single and the album piqued interest in Taylor's first album, James Taylor and propelled the album and the single, "Carolina In My Mind", back into the charts.

Taylor worked with Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys on a film, Two-Lane Blacktop, but this was unsuccessful at the time. 1971 saw the release of Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon, another hit album. He won a Grammy Award for his version of Carole King's "You've Got a Friend".

In 1972, Taylor returned with One Man Dog and married fellow singer-songwriter Carly Simon on November 3. His next album, 1974's Walking Man, was a disappointment but the following one, Gorilla, was a success partially because of a successful single cover version of Marvin Gaye's "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)". This was followed by In the Pocket in 1976 and then a greatest hits album that included some re-recordings of Apple Records-era material. It became a huge hit and remains Taylor's best selling album.

Taylor signed with Columbia Records and released JT in 1977 winning another Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for his cover version of "Handy Man". The snazzy song "Traffic Jam" from the album has since become a favorite jingle for rush-hour radio traffic reports.

After collaborating with Art Garfunkel and briefly working on Broadway, Taylor took a two-year break, reappearing in 1979 with the cover-studded album Flag featuring a Top 40 version of Gerry Goffin and Carole King's "Up On The Roof." Taylor also performed at the No Nukes concert in Madison Square Garden and appeared on the album and the film from the concert.

1980s and 1990s
In the early 1980s Taylor's career was again beset by drug problems. Additionally, Taylor's wife, Carly Simon, was unhappy with his extended absences due to touring. After an ultimatum that he spend more time with their children, Taylor responded with the 1981 album Dad Loves His Work. He and Simon divorced in 1983.

He was quoted in various interviews that he was thinking of retiring after fulfilling his last contractual obligation, the Rock In Rio in 1985. However, he was surprised by the reception of the audience on Saturday, January 12 (there were 250,000 people, the biggest attendance of the 10-day festival), when he performed right before George Benson. Two days later, they were scheduled to perform in the same order, but because Taylor's extended performance had caused a delay to Benson's on Saturday, Benson proposed that they switch the order. Taylor ended up the finale in this second performance. Buoyed by the audience's reception, he decided to take back his life and his career. (Sixteen years later, on January 12, 2001, he played the very same site, at the opening night of the third Rock in Rio, whose organizer, Roberto Medina, described Taylor to the Brazilian press then as "his good luck charm".) The song "Only a Dream in Rio" was written in tribute to that night, with verses like "I was there that very day and my heart came back alive". The album, That's Why I'm Here, from which that song came, started a series of studio recordings that, while spaced further apart than his previous records, showed a more consistent level of quality and fewer covers.

In 1985, Taylor married his second wife, actress Kathryn Walker, who helped him through recovery of his substance addictions. According to Taylor, he remains clean and sober to this day.

In 1988 he released Never Die Young. He began touring regularly especially in amphitheaters on the oldies circuit. His later concerts feature songs from throughout his career and are marked by the musicianship of his band and backup singers. The 1993 two-disc (LIVE) album captures this well, with a highlight being Arnold McCuller's descants in the codas of "Shower the People" and "I Will Follow."

Taylor's two albums of original material from the 1990s were notably successful. His thirteenth album, New Moon Shine, went platinum in 1991 and he won the Grammy for Best Pop Album in 1998 for Hourglass.

2000s
In 2001 Taylor wed for the third time, marrying Caroline ("Kim") Smedvig. Part of their relationship was worked into the album October Road, on the song "On the 4th of July". The couple has twin boys, Rufus and Henry, born in 2001 to a surrogate mother via in vitro fertilization.

Flanked by two greatest hit releases, October Road appeared in 2002 to a receptive audience. It featured a number of quiet instrumental accompaniments and passages. The album appeared in two versions, a single-disc version and a "limited edition" two-disc version which contained three extra songs including a duet with Mark Knopfler, "Sailing to Philadelphia", which also appeared on Knopfler's Sailing to Philadelphia album. Also in 2002, Taylor teamed with bluegrass musician Alison Krauss in singing "The Boxer" at the Kennedy Center Honors Tribute to Paul Simon. They later recorded the Louvin Brothers duet, "How's the World Treating You?"

In 2004, after his Columbia/Sony record contract was not renewed, he released James Taylor: A Christmas Album with distribution through Hallmark Cards.

Always visibly active in environmental and progressive causes, in October 2004 Taylor joined the "Vote for Change" tour playing a series of concerts in American swing states. These concerts were organized by MoveOn.org with the goal of mobilizing people to vote for John Kerry and against George W. Bush in that year's Presidential campaign. Taylor's appearances were joint performances with the Dixie Chicks.

In December 2004, Taylor appeared as himself in an episode of The West Wing entitled "A Change Is Gonna Come". He sang Sam Cooke's classic "A Change Is Gonna Come" at an event honoring an artist played by Taylor's wife Caroline. Taylor's rendition was then released over the Internet.

In 2006, Taylor performed Randy Newman's song "Our Town" for the Disney animated film Cars. The song was nominated for the 2007 Academy Award for the best Original Song.

On January 1, 2007, Taylor headlined the inaugural concert at the Times Union Center in Albany, New York, honoring newly sworn in Governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer.

It was recently announced that Taylor's next album, issued in cd and dvd, "One man band" will be released in November on Starbucks' Hear Music Label, where he will join Paul McCartney and Joni Mitchell.

Taylor performed the National Anthem at Game 2 of the World Series in Boston, Mass. on October 25, 2007.

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The Music of MICHAEL FRANKS

Michael Franks (born 18 September 1944) is a smooth jazz singer and songwriter from the United States. He has recorded with a Who's Who of artists, such as Patti Austin, Brenda Russell, Art Garfunkel, and David Sanborn. His songs have been recorded by The Manhattan Transfer, Patti Labelle, Carmen McRae, Diana Krall, and The Carpenters.

Biography Michael Franks was born on 18 September 1944 in La Jolla, California.

In high school, he began singing folk-rock, accompanying himself on guitar. He never studied music in college or later, earned an M.A. from UCLA in Comparative Literature, and a PhD from the University of Oregon.

He was on records with Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee and recorded an eponymous album (later reissued as Previously Unavailable) before landing a contract with Warner Brothers Music in 1973. Since then, Franks has recorded over 15 more albums.

His best known works include "Popsicle Toes", "Monkey See, Monkey Do", "The Lady Wants to Know", "When the Cookie Jar is Empty", "Tiger in the Rain", "Rainy Night in Tokyo", and "Tell Me All About It". His biggest hit came in 1983 with "When Sly Calls (Don't Touch That Phone)", from the album Passionfruit. Radio hits include "Your Secret's Safe With Me" from the 1985 album Skin Dive, and "Island Life" from 1987's The Camera Never Lies.

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The Music of KENNY RANKIN

Kenny Rankin is an American pop and jazz singer and songwriter from the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City, New York.

Rankin appeared on The Tonight Show more than twenty times. Host Johnny Carson was so impressed by him that he wrote the liner notes to Rankin's 1967 debut album Mind Dusters.

When Paul McCartney and John Lennon were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987, McCartney asked Rankin to represent them at the ceremony based on the strength of his 1975 versions of McCartney's songs Blackbird and Penny Lane.

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The Music of KENNY LOGGINS

Kenny Loggins (born Kenneth Clark Loggins on January 7, 1948 in Everett, Washington) is an American singer and songwriter best known for a number of soft rock and adult contemporary hit singles beginning in the 1970s. Originally a part of the duo Loggins and Messina, he has also recorded as solo artist and written hit songs for other artists.

Biography
Loggins was born in Everett, Washington and raised in Alhambra, California. The early 70s found him in the band "Gator Creek" with Mike Deasy. An early version of "Danny's Song" (later recorded by Loggins and Messina) was included on this effort on Mercury Records. Two covers are featured as well, Jackson Browne's "These Days" and "Don't Try to Lay no Boogie Woogie on the King of Rock and Roll" which was made famous by Long John Baldry.

Loggins continued his career in the 1970s. After attracting the attention of fellow singer-songwriter Jim Messina, the two began a duo career as Loggins and Messina. It lasted until 1976. In 1977, Loggins went on to produce his first solo album, Celebrate Me Home, which included the hit "I Believe In Love". Nightwatch, a popular album released in 1978, included the hit "Whenever I Call You Friend", a duet with Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac. He followed this in 1979 with Keep the Fire, whose "This Is It" would be sampled by hip hop rapper Papoose for his 2005 track "Sharades." In 1982 he recorded the album "High Adventure" where he collaborated with Michael McDonald on "Heart to Heart" and also with Journey lead singer Steve Perry to record "Don't Fight It", both Billboard Top 20 hits that year.

Loggins also wrote the song "What a Fool Believes" with Michael McDonald of the Doobie Brothers. Furthermore, he penned "Danny's Song" and "A Love Song" for Anne Murray in the early 70's.

Over the next decade, Loggins recorded many hit songs for movie soundtracks. This began with "I'm Alright" from Caddyshack. Hits followed with "Footloose" and "I'm Free (Heaven Helps the Man)" from Footloose, "Meet Me Halfway" from Over the Top, "Danger Zone" and "Playin' With The Boys", from Top Gun. He also performed as a member of USA for Africa on the famine-relief fundraising single We Are the World.

In the 1990s, Loggins continued his album career, including the popular 1994 children's album, Return to Pooh Corner, which included the title single, a reworking of "House at Pooh Corner", his top 40 hit from 1969 with an added verse and backing vocals by Amy Grant. Some people criticized Loggins for changing the song, but it was well received by the public. Loggins also produced a song called "Forever", which would become an internationally recognized piece, translated into several languages. With the Sherman Brothers he also eventually wrote and then solo performed "Your Heart Will Lead You Home," a popular song for The Tigger Movie - part of the Winnie-the-Pooh series - in 2000.

In 1991, Loggins recorded and produced Leap of Faith, an important album in his career featuring the hit "Conviction of the Heart." Former Vice-President Al Gore billed this song as "the unofficial anthem of the environmental movement." On Earth Day in 1995, Loggins performed at The National Mall in Washington, D.C. for a live audience of 500,000.

Loggins was married to Julia Cooper in 1992 but they were divorced in 2004. They had two children together. Previously, Loggins had been married to Eva Ein (1978-1990) with whom he had three children.

In recent years, Loggins has continued to record and produce within the Adult Contemporary genre, and scored a #1 single on Billboard's AC chart in 1997 with "For The First Time."

In 2005, Loggins reconnected with Jim Messina. The two decided to hit the road again; the result was a successful nationwide tour that resulted in the CD and DVD, "Loggins and Messina Sittin' In Again".

After a gap of nearly four years, 2007 saw Loggins join start-up label 180 Music for the release of his "How About Now" album. It also saw him inducted into Hollywood’s Sunset Boulevard RockWalk.

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The Music of DANNY FOSTER

Danny Foster (b. May 3, 1979, London) was a member of the British pop group Hear'Say. Like the other members of the group, he won his part through the talent show Popstars. After the split of the band, Foster took a break from the public eye, and suffered from alcohol and drug problems.

Danny Foster appeared on Channel 4's programme The Games (2005), after which he sought help and went into recovery. Danny has since appeared on channel Five's, Trust Me - I'm A Beauty Therapist in October 2006.

Sir Elton John famously compared Foster to the cartoon ogre Shrek; "He's a dead ringer", claimed Elton John.

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The Music of EARL KLUGH

Earl Klugh (pronounced "Clue") (born September 16, 1953 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American smooth jazz/jazz fusion guitarist and composer. Klugh normally finger picks a nylon string classical guitar.

At the age of 13, Klugh was captivated by the guitar playing of Chet Atkins when he made an appearance on the Perry Como Show. He has since been a guest on several Atkins albums. Atkins, reciprocating as well, joined Earl on his Magic In Your Eyes album. Klugh was also influenced by Bob James, Ray Parker Jr, Wes Montgomery and Laurindo Almeida. His sound is a blend of these jazz, pop and rhythm and blues influences, forming a potpourri of sweet contemporary music original to only him.

Klugh became a guitar instructor at the young age of 15, and was eventually discovered by Yuseff Lateef. His career rapidly progressed to working with the likes of George Benson, George Shearing, Chick Corea, and many others. Like several other Detroit-bred entertainers, Klugh attended Mumford High School (Michigan).

For their album One on One, Klugh and Bob James received a Grammy award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance of 1981. He has since received 13 Grammy nods, millions of record and CD sales, and continues touring worldwide to this day.

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The Music of CHUCK MANGIONE

Charles Frank "Chuck" Mangione (born November 29, 1940) is a flugelhorn player and composer who achieved international success with his jazz-pop single, "Feels So Good" (1978) featuring guitarist Grant Geissman. Mangione has released more than 30 albums from the early 1960s to today. Born and raised in Rochester, New York, Mangione and his pianist brother Gap led the Jazz Brothers group which recorded three albums for Riverside Records. He attended the Eastman School of Music from 1958 to 1963, and afterwards joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, for which he filled the trumpet seat, previously held by greats such as Clifford Brown, Kenny Dorham, Bill Hardman, and Lee Morgan. Mangione served as director of the Eastman jazz ensemble from 1968 until 1972 and in 1970 he returned to recording with the album Friends and Love, recorded in concert with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and numerous guest performers. His quartet with saxophonist Gerry Niewood was a popular concert and recording act during the early 1970s. Mangione's "Chase the Clouds Away" was used in the 1976 Olympic Games and "Give It All You Got" was the theme to the Winter Olympic Games of 1980, held in Lake Placid, New York. He performed live at the closing ceremonies, which were televised globally. A 1980 issue of Current Biography called "Feels So Good" the most recognized tune since "Michelle" by The Beatles. Recently, smooth jazz stations throughout the United States have recognized Mangione's "Feels So Good" as their all-time number one song. He raised over $50,000 for St. John's Nursing Home at his 60th Birthday Bash Concert, held at the Eastman Theatre in Rochester.
In addition to music Chuck Mangione has had a recurring voice-acting role on the animated television series King of the Hill. In it he portrays himself as a celebrity spokesman for Mega Lo Mart. The first episode of King of the Hill featuring Mangione originally aired on Valentine's Day, 1997. The episode featured an original score specifically recorded for the occasion. He continued to appear in episodes until 2003. Chuck Mangione the character is also in a later episode entitled Lucky's Wedding Suit.

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The Music of STEELY DAN

Steely Dan is a Grammy-Award winning American jazz rock band centered on core members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. The band's peak of popularity was in the 1970s, when it released six albums that blended together elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop. Their music is characterized by complex jazz-influenced structures and harmonies, literate but sometimes obscure or ambiguous lyrics filled with dark sarcasm, and their adroit musicianship and studio perfectionism. The group toured from 1972 to 1974, but in 1975 became a purely studio-based act. They disbanded in 1981, but have since reunited. They had two reunion tours in the summers of 1993 and 1994 and new studio releases in 2000 Two Against Nature and follow-up, 2003's Everything Must Go, with accompanying tours. In the upcoming November issue of Guitar World, Walter Becker states that Steely Dan are recording once again.

Early years
Donald Fagen and Walter Becker met at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York in 1967 and began playing in local groups (one of these, The Bad Rock Group, included future comedy star Chevy Chase on drums).

After Fagen graduated in 1969, the two moved to Brooklyn and tried to peddle their tunes in the Brill Building in midtown Manhattan. Kenny Vance, a member of the pop group Jay and the Americans, who had a production office in the building, took an interest in their material that led to work on the soundtrack of the low-budget Richard Pryor film You've Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You'll Lose That Beat (1971) and jobs with the band's rhythm section. A series of demos made (supposedly) between 1968 and 1971 while under contract to Vance have been available on unofficial CDs and on various Steely Dan fan sites for some time. This collection features approximately twenty-five tracks, and are unique for two reasons. First, the stripped down production and decidedly "lo-fi" nature of these tracks (many songs are just Fagen and his piano) is completely contrary to known Steely Dan works. Second, although some of these songs (Caves of Altamira, Brooklyn, Barrytown, and a few others) eventually were recorded on a mass-produced album, the majority were never released formally.

Although they had a few notable successes—Barbra Streisand recorded their song "I Mean To Shine" on her 1971 "Barbra Joan Streisand" album—they made little significant headway until one of Vance's cronies, Gary Katz, moved to Los Angeles to become a staff producer for ABC Records. He hired Becker and Fagen as staff songwriters and they flew to Los Angeles. Katz would produce all their 1970s albums with a collaboration with engineer Roger Nichols.

After realizing their songs were too complex for other ABC artists, at Katz's suggestion they formed their own band with guitarists Denny Dias and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, drummer Jim Hodder and singer David Palmer, and Katz signed the band to ABC as recording artists. Being fans of Beat Generation literature, Fagen and Becker named the band for a dildo in the William Burroughs novel Naked Lunch. The addition of Palmer as a second lead vocalist was due to a combination of Fagen's resistance to singing in front of an audience and the label's feeling that his voice was not "commercial" enough. Fagen lacked confidence in his voice and was known to have suffered from occasional bouts of stage fright. Ironically, it would soon become obvious that Fagen's voice was ideally suited to their material.

In 1972, ABC sent out promotional copies of Steely Dan's first single, "Dallas" backed with "Sail the Waterway." It is unclear if "stock" copies were ever released to the general public, and if they were, the single sold so poorly that promotional copies are more abundant today (whereas the reverse is true for most releases). Neither song has ever been included on a compilation or album of any kind, or re-released in any form, with few exceptions: a 12" European EP titled "Plus Fours." - this 1978 EP features "Dallas," "Sail the Waterway," "Do It Again" and "Haitian Divorce." "The Probe Family Sampler" - released by Music for Pleasure in the UK - included "Dallas".

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The Music of NOEL POINTER

Violinist Noel Pointer, was born on 26th of December 1954 at Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A. He studied classical violin before he signed with Blue Note as a jazz musician in the early '70s.

His releases of light instrumental pop and fusion also included guest stints by vocalists. Pointer moved to United Artists in 1978, and his Hold On LP had Patti Austin as the featured singer. He later included contributions from the Jones Girls and Patrice Rushen on future releases for UA, and then moved to Liberty in 1981. Pointer recorded with Norman Connors and did sessions for several other artists. He resurfaced in 1993 on a Shanachie date Never Lose Your Heart. ~ Ron Wynn, All Music Guide

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The Music of SIMON and GARFUNKEL

The duo of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel are American popular musicians known collectively as Simon and Garfunkel. They met in elementary school in 1953, when they both appeared in the school play Alice in Wonderland (Simon as the White Rabbit, Garfunkel as the Cheshire Cat). They formed the group Tom and Jerry in 1957, and had their first taste of success with the minor hit "Hey Schoolgirl." As Simon and Garfunkel, the duo rose to fame in 1965 backed by the hit single "The Sound of Silence." Their music was featured on the landmark film The Graduate, propelling them further into the public consciousness. They are well known for their close harmonies and sometimes unstable relationship. Their last album, Bridge Over Troubled Water, was marked with several delays caused by artistic differences. Simon and Garfunkel were among the most popular recording artists of the 1960s, and are perhaps best known for their songs "The Sound of Silence," "Mrs. Robinson," "Bridge over Troubled Water" and "The Boxer." They have received several Grammys and are inductees of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Long Island Music Hall of Fame (2007). In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Simon and Garfunkel #40 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

They have reunited on several occasions since their 1970 break-up, most famously for 1981's The Concert in Central Park, which attracted 500,000 people.

Early history
Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel grew up in the same Forest Hills neighborhood just blocks away from one another and were classmates at Forest Hills High School in New York City. Close friends since childhood, they began performing together in their junior year as Tom and Jerry, with Simon as Jerry Landis (whose last name he borrowed from a girl he had been dating) and Garfunkel as Tom Graph (so called because he was fond of tracking ("graphing") hits on the pop charts). They began writing their own songs in 1955, and made their first professional recording, "Hey, Schoolgirl", for Sid Prosen of Big Records in 1957. Released on 45 and 78 rpm records, the song - with B side "Dancin' Wild" - sold 100,000 copies, hitting #49 on the Billboard charts. Both Simon and Garfunkel have acknowledged the tremendous impact of The Everly Brothers on their style, and many of their early songs (including "Hey, Schoolgirl") bear the mark of this influence.

They later performed their hit on American Bandstand, right after Jerry Lee Lewis's "Great Balls of Fire".

Subsequent efforts in 1958 did not reach near their initial success, and after high school the duo went to separate colleges, with Simon enrolling at Queens College and Garfunkel at Columbia University. While enrolled in college, they both joined the same fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi.

In 1963 they found prominence as part of the Greenwich Village folk music scene. Simon, who had finished college but dropped out of Brooklyn Law School, had — like Garfunkel — developed an interest in the folk scene. Simon showed Garfunkel a few songs that he had written in the folk style: "Sparrow", "Bleecker Street", and "He Was My Brother" — which was later dedicated to Andrew Goodman, a friend of both Simon and Garfunkel, and a classmate of Simon's at Queens College, who was one of three civil rights workers murdered in Neshoba County, Mississippi, on June 21, 1964.

These three efforts were among five original songs by Simon included on their first album for Columbia Records, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., which initially flopped upon its release on October 19, 1964.

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The Music of KENNY G

Kenneth Gorelick (born June 5, 1956), better known by his stage name Kenny G, is an American saxophonist whose fourth album, Duotones, brought him "breakthrough success" in 1986. Kenny's main instrument is the soprano saxophone, but he also plays the alto and tenor saxophone and the flute on occasion.

Early life
Kenny was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and first came into contact with a saxophone when he heard someone performing with one on The Ed Sullivan Show. He learned how to play by practicing along with records (mostly of Grover Washington, Jr.), trying to emulate the sounds that he was hearing. At Franklin High School he failed to get into the jazz band when he applied, although was accepted the following year when he tried again.[3] He also played for his high school golf team, a sport which he had loved ever since his older brother, Brian Gorelick, introduced it to him when he was ten years old.

Personal life
Kenny G is currently married to wife Lyndie Benson, with whom he has two children – Max (aged thirteen) and Noah (aged nine). They have expressed an interest in saxophone and piano respectively.

He plays golf regularly, and has a playing handicap of +0.6. He has participated in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am tournament seven times as of February 7, 2007, and Golf Digest awarded him the position of number one musician golfer in their December rankings of Top 100 in Music.

Kenny is also a pilot, and has been known to fly to many events.

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