This is madness -- https://www.facebook.com/reel/660819709350301
This is madness -- https://www.facebook.com/reel/660819709350301
~~~~~~yawn~~~~~~~
David Miller SPAMS the front page with a dozen posts. I SPAM each of those posts in return.
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Rick Astley
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Astley at Glastonbury Festival 2023
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| Born |
Richard Paul Astley
6 February 1966 Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, England
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| Occupations |
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| Years active |
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| Spouse |
Lene Bausager
(m. 2003) |
| Children | 1 |
| Musical career | |
| Genres |
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| Instrument(s) |
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| Discography | Rick Astley discography |
| Labels |
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| Website | rickastley |
Richard Paul Astley (born 6 February 1966) is an English singer who has been active in music for several decades. He gained worldwide fame in the 1980s, having multiple hits, including his signature songs "Never Gonna Give You Up", "Together Forever" and "Whenever You Need Somebody". He returned to music full-time in the 2000s after a 6-year hiatus. Outside his music career, Astley has occasionally worked as a radio DJ and a podcaster.[1]
Born and raised in Lancashire, Astley became a musician after leaving school, as the drummer for the soul band FBI. Three years later, he rose to fame through his association with the production trio Stock Aitken Waterman; releasing the 1987 album Whenever You Need Somebody, which sold 15.2 million copies worldwide. His debut single "Never Gonna Give You Up" was a number 1 hit single in 25 countries, winning the 1988 Brit Award for Best British Single.[2][3] His 1988 single "Together Forever" became his second single to top the US Billboard Hot 100, and was one of his eight songs to reach the top ten on the UK Singles Chart. The title track was a No 1 single in seven countries, and it reached No 3 in the UK. In 1988, Astley followed-up his debut album with Hold Me In Your Arms. The lead single "She Wants to Dance with Me" was Astley's first single that he wrote himself, and it became a worldwide top 10 hit.
In 1991, Astley left Stock Aitken Waterman and moved his musical direction away from dance-pop and towards soul, which he explored on his albums Free (1991) and Body and Soul (1993). His 1991 single "Cry for Help" was Astley's last single to reach the top 10 in either the US or UK. In 1993, Astley retired from music to focus on spending time with his partner and raising their daughter. He returned to the music industry in 2000, and released the single "Sleeping" and the album Keep It Turned On in 2001. Four years later, Astley released his covers album Portrait.
Astley became an Internet phenomenon in 2007 when the music video for his song "Never Gonna Give You Up" became integral to the Rickrolling meme,[4] and his performance career was revitalised by the meme's popularity. In 2010, Astley released the single "Lights Out" after touring with Peter Kay. Six years later, he released his album 50 to celebrate his 50th birthday, which debuted in the UK at No. 1.[5] He released his most recent studio album Beautiful Life in 2018, and released his greatest hits album The Best of Me in 2019. His most recent albums were recorded at his home studio in Surrey.[6]
By the time of his brief retirement, Astley had sold approximately 40 million records worldwide.[7][8] A year after the Rickrolling meme began, Astley was voted "Best Act Ever" by Internet users at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008.[9] His song "Never Gonna Give You Up" reached 1 billion views on YouTube in July 2021, becoming the fourth 1980s song to reach this milestone.[a]
Astley was born on 6 February 1966 in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, the fourth child of his family. His parents divorced when he was five and Astley was brought up by his father Horace Astley.[11] Astley remained in very close contact with his mother Cynthia Astley, who lived a few streets away from his father. After finding out that his father was the one who kicked his mother out of the house, Astley distanced himself from his father.[12] When he was 10 years old, Astley began singing in a local church choir, which began his love of music.[13]
During his schooldays, Astley formed and played the drums in a number of local bands, where he met guitarist David Morris.[3][14] After leaving school at sixteen, Astley was employed during the day as a driver in his father's market-gardening business and played drums on the Northern club circuit at night in bands such as Give Way – specialising in covering Beatles and Shadows songs – and FBI, which won several local talent competitions.[13]
In 1985, Astley was performing as a drummer with a soul band named FBI, with Morris on guitar. They were a well-known local band writing and performing their own music, gigging in pubs and clubs. When FBI's lead singer left the band, and Morris left to concentrate on his career in hairdressing,[14] Astley offered to be the lead vocalist. This was when he was noticed by the record producer Pete Waterman, who persuaded him to come to London to work at the Pete Waterman Limited (PWL) recording studio,[3] with RCA Records publishing his records. Under the tutelage of the production team of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman, known as Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW), Astley was taught about the recording process and groomed for his future career, supposedly starting off as the recording studio "tea boy". The reason for Astley to be hired as a "tape op" was to overcome his shyness.[15] SAW also hired most of FBI, including Morris as a guitarist/songwriter.[14]
His first single was "When You Gonna", released as a collaboration with Lisa Fabien, and was produced by Phil Harding and Ian Curnow. "We were at a stage early on with Rick, when no one knew quite what to do with him," recalled Harding. "The idea was to make him happen in the clubs... [but the song] opened up the doors for him at Capital Radio."[16] The song was released in May 1987, and with no promotion managed to chart at No. 17 in the Netherlands[17] and No. 20 in Belgium.[18]
Astley's first solo offering was "Never Gonna Give You Up", recorded on New Year's Day 1987, and released eight months later, in August.[19] Although his producers were initially unenthusiastic about the track,[20] Astley's distinctive rich, deep voice combined with dance-pop made the song an immediate success,[21] spending five weeks at the top of the British charts and becoming the year's highest-selling single. The song was also a worldwide number-one hit, topping the charts in 24 other countries, including the US, Australia, and West Germany. It was the first of 13 (worldwide) top 30 hit singles for him. "Never Gonna Give You Up" won Best British Single at the 1988 BPI awards (now called the BRIT Awards),[22] and he performed it in front of a global audience of 100 million.[3][23]
Astley's next single was "Whenever You Need Somebody", which was released in October. The single was a recycled Stock Aitken Waterman song, originally recorded by O'Chi Brown in 1985, which Stock says was resurrected in the rush to gather strong follow up material in the wake of Astley's unexpectedly huge global success.[24] It became a successful European hit, reaching No. 1 in seven countries, including West Germany and Sweden. It also reached No. 3 in the UK. It was not released in North America.[25]
In November 1987, the album Whenever You Need Somebody, containing four tracks written by Astley, reached number one in the UK and Australia and No. 10 in the US. It was certified 4× Platinum in the UK and Canada, and 2× Platinum in the US. Whenever You Need Somebody sold 15.2 million copies worldwide, making Astley the top-selling British act of the year.[3]
In December 1987, Astley released a cover version of the Nat King Cole classic "When I Fall in Love". This single is mainly remembered for a closely fought contest for UK Christmas Number 1. Rivals EMI, hoping to see their act the Pet Shop Boys reach No. 1, rereleased Cole's version.[26][27] This led to a slowdown of purchases of Astley's version, allowing the Pet Shop Boys to reach the coveted top spot with their cover version of Always on My Mind. Despite selling over 200,000 copies and gaining a Silver certification from the BPI,[28] Astley's "When I Fall in Love" peaked in the UK at No. 2 for two weeks. The rerelease of Cole's version reached No. 4. The B side for Astley was a dance number, "My Arms Keep Missing You", which was successful in mainland Europe but wasn't released on an album until the 2002 compilation Greatest Hits.
Astley's fourth single release was "Together Forever" (1988), reaching No. 2 in the UK. It was denied the top spot by Kylie Minogue's debut "I Should Be So Lucky", which reached No. 1 following her successful role as Charlene Robinson in Neighbours.[29] "Together Forever" was more successful in the US, topping the charts, making it his second and last US chart-topper. In 1989 Astley was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist but lost to Tracy Chapman.
His fifth and final release from his debut album was "It Would Take a Strong Strong Man". It was a more soulful song than his other releases, and was mainly intended for the North American market. It was not released in Britain. It was another hit, reaching No. 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 in Canada. During the period between his debut release and his fifth single, Astley outsold every other artist in the world.[30] In the UK, he was in the Top 40 every week for the first six months of his career.[3]
Production of the singer's follow up album with Stock Aitken Waterman got off to a rocky start, when a distressed Astley rejected the set's intended first single, "Nothing Can Divide Us" — a track the producers then gave to Jason Donovan.[31] Wishing to placate an unhappy Astley, producer Pete Waterman allowed him to start work with other writers and producers under the PWL umbrella,[32] but a fire in the PWL studios then destroyed much of Astley's new material,[3] causing a delay in the release of his second album.[32] Hold Me in Your Arms was released in January 1989, containing five singles, and reached No. 8 in the UK and No. 19 in the US, being certified platinum in the UK and gold in the US.
Astley's relationship with British media deteriorated significantly after the release of Hold Me in Your Arms, with the media calling him a "puppet" of Stock Aitken Waterman,[22] although Astley had written five of his new album's tracks. The negative press affected the sales of his singles.[33]
The first single from the album was "She Wants to Dance with Me", written by Astley. He composed the track in the style of Whitney Houston's hit, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" in an effort to win the confidence of Waterman, who was a huge fan of Houston's song.[32] It was another successful single, reaching No. 6 on both the UK and US charts.
"Take Me to Your Heart" was the next single to be released from the album. It was one of four songs written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman that were belatedly added to the album in order to help Astley make his release deadline following the fire.[32] These four tracks were written and produced in just two days, with writer Matt Aitken confirming "Take Me to Your Heart" was inspired by
This is madness -- https://www.facebook.com/reel/660819709350301
~~~~~~yawn~~~~~~~
David Miller SPAMS the front page with a dozen posts. I SPAM each of those posts in return.
|
Rick Astley
|
|
|---|---|
|
Astley at Glastonbury Festival 2023
|
|
| Born |
Richard Paul Astley
6 February 1966 Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, England
|
| Occupations |
|
| Years active |
|
| Spouse |
Lene Bausager
(m. 2003) |
| Children | 1 |
| Musical career | |
| Genres |
|
| Instrument(s) |
|
| Discography | Rick Astley discography |
| Labels |
|
| Website | rickastley |
Richard Paul Astley (born 6 February 1966) is an English singer who has been active in music for several decades. He gained worldwide fame in the 1980s, having multiple hits, including his signature songs "Never Gonna Give You Up", "Together Forever" and "Whenever You Need Somebody". He returned to music full-time in the 2000s after a 6-year hiatus. Outside his music career, Astley has occasionally worked as a radio DJ and a podcaster.[1]
Born and raised in Lancashire, Astley became a musician after leaving school, as the drummer for the soul band FBI. Three years later, he rose to fame through his association with the production trio Stock Aitken Waterman; releasing the 1987 album Whenever You Need Somebody, which sold 15.2 million copies worldwide. His debut single "Never Gonna Give You Up" was a number 1 hit single in 25 countries, winning the 1988 Brit Award for Best British Single.[2][3] His 1988 single "Together Forever" became his second single to top the US Billboard Hot 100, and was one of his eight songs to reach the top ten on the UK Singles Chart. The title track was a No 1 single in seven countries, and it reached No 3 in the UK. In 1988, Astley followed-up his debut album with Hold Me In Your Arms. The lead single "She Wants to Dance with Me" was Astley's first single that he wrote himself, and it became a worldwide top 10 hit.
In 1991, Astley left Stock Aitken Waterman and moved his musical direction away from dance-pop and towards soul, which he explored on his albums Free (1991) and Body and Soul (1993). His 1991 single "Cry for Help" was Astley's last single to reach the top 10 in either the US or UK. In 1993, Astley retired from music to focus on spending time with his partner and raising their daughter. He returned to the music industry in 2000, and released the single "Sleeping" and the album Keep It Turned On in 2001. Four years later, Astley released his covers album Portrait.
Astley became an Internet phenomenon in 2007 when the music video for his song "Never Gonna Give You Up" became integral to the Rickrolling meme,[4] and his performance career was revitalised by the meme's popularity. In 2010, Astley released the single "Lights Out" after touring with Peter Kay. Six years later, he released his album 50 to celebrate his 50th birthday, which debuted in the UK at No. 1.[5] He released his most recent studio album Beautiful Life in 2018, and released his greatest hits album The Best of Me in 2019. His most recent albums were recorded at his home studio in Surrey.[6]
By the time of his brief retirement, Astley had sold approximately 40 million records worldwide.[7][8] A year after the Rickrolling meme began, Astley was voted "Best Act Ever" by Internet users at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008.[9] His song "Never Gonna Give You Up" reached 1 billion views on YouTube in July 2021, becoming the fourth 1980s song to reach this milestone.[a]
Astley was born on 6 February 1966 in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, the fourth child of his family. His parents divorced when he was five and Astley was brought up by his father Horace Astley.[11] Astley remained in very close contact with his mother Cynthia Astley, who lived a few streets away from his father. After finding out that his father was the one who kicked his mother out of the house, Astley distanced himself from his father.[12] When he was 10 years old, Astley began singing in a local church choir, which began his love of music.[13]
During his schooldays, Astley formed and played the drums in a number of local bands, where he met guitarist David Morris.[3][14] After leaving school at sixteen, Astley was employed during the day as a driver in his father's market-gardening business and played drums on the Northern club circuit at night in bands such as Give Way – specialising in covering Beatles and Shadows songs – and FBI, which won several local talent competitions.[13]
In 1985, Astley was performing as a drummer with a soul band named FBI, with Morris on guitar. They were a well-known local band writing and performing their own music, gigging in pubs and clubs. When FBI's lead singer left the band, and Morris left to concentrate on his career in hairdressing,[14] Astley offered to be the lead vocalist. This was when he was noticed by the record producer Pete Waterman, who persuaded him to come to London to work at the Pete Waterman Limited (PWL) recording studio,[3] with RCA Records publishing his records. Under the tutelage of the production team of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman, known as Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW), Astley was taught about the recording process and groomed for his future career, supposedly starting
