LOUIS ARMSTRONG was born in New Orleans on Aug. 4, 1901. He was a prodigy, and a hard-working kid who helped support his mother and sister. At age 7, he bought his first real horn--a cornet. In 1912, a juvenile court sent Louis to the Jones Home for Colored Waifs for firing a pistol on New Year's Eve. While there, he had his first formal music lessons and played in the home's brass band. After his release, he supported himself as a musician, playing mostly in small clubs with his mentor Joe "King" Oliver. Oliver was one of a handful of musicians in New Orleans who were creating distinctive and widely popular new band music out of blues and ragtime. Sheet music publishers and record companies would label it "jazz", and musicians like Armstrong would make it a household name.

The early 1920s saw Armstrong's popularity explode with a move to Chicago to play with "King" Oliver. After a stint in New York with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, Louis returned to Chicago in 1926. Now a headliner on records and radio, he wowed audiences in clubs with the fearlessness and freedom of his groundbreaking trumpet solos. His "scat" singing transformed vocal tradition; Armstrong used his horn like a singer's voice, and his voice like a musical instrument.

In 1929, Armstrong took up residence in Queens, and began performing regularly in Harlem and on Broadway. During this period he recorded his first nationwide hits. Louis' nickname Satchmo also came about around this time as an abbreviation of "satchelmouth", a playful dig on the size of the mouth he used to masterfully play his instrument. Jazz was now becoming a worldwide phenomenon and Armstrong was its leader.

In the late 40s and 50s "Ambassador Satch" spread good will for America around the globe. He was especially well-received in the newly independent nations of Africa, marked by such events as a 1956 concert celebrating Ghana's independence, attended by more than 100,000 Louis Armstrong fans.

By the 1950s, Armstrong was an established international celebrity--an icon to musicians and lovers of jazz--and a genial, infectiously optimistic presence wherever he appeared. Armstrong rarely made public statements, but in 1957 he publicly condemned the violence that swept Little Rock over school integration and how it was handled. "Do you dig me when I say, 'I have a right to blow my top over injustice?'" he said. His comment made headlines.

His death on July 6, 1971, was front-page news around the world, and more than 25,000 mourners filed past his coffin as he lay in state at the New York National Guard Armory.

Armstrong summarized his philosophy in the spoken introduction to his 1970 recording It's A Wonderful World. "And all I'm saying is, see what a wonderful world it would be if only we would give it a chance. Love, baby, love. That's the secret. Yeah."

Louis Armstrong - http://www.satchmo.net/ and http://louis-armstrong.net/ and http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_armstrong_louis.htm

Louis Armstrong Performances on Video Here.
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=1093725386&fr=yfp-t-501 and
http://www.vodpod.com/pod/show_video/65730 and
http://www.vodpod.com/pod/show_video/37251 and
here.

WILLIAM 'COUNT' BASIE - William Basie was born on August 21, 1904 in Red Bank, New Jersey. As a child, Basie's mother and a German lady named Holloway took care of his music training. Originally, Basie wanted to play the drums. But competition at this instrument from his boyhood friend, Sonny Greer, helped him choose the piano.

In the 1920's, like many young jazz musicians of the time, Basie left New Jersey for Harlem, where jazz piano greats such as James P. Johnson, Lucky Roberts, and Willie "The Lion" Smith served as major influences. Harlem provided a perfect place to work and learn. From cabarets to theatres to saloons, there was always an opening somewhere for a person with talent to play. Basie cites his most important influence as Thomas "Fats" Waller. He first heard Waller playing the pipe organ at the Lincoln Theatre, on 135th St. Basie got to know Waller through his many visits to the theatre, and the young pianist was eventually asked to sit along side him at the console.

Around 1935, the Count Basie Band was formed. During a broadcast of one of their early shows, the announcer dubbed him "Count Basie", a clever way to put him in the league with other bandleaders such as Duke Ellington. The band began recording immediately, with Count Basie's record contract calling for twenty-four sides to be produced. No royalties were offered to Basie, and the contract bound him to the record company for three years. Basie's full payment for his efforts was seven hundred and fifty dollars; the sort of deal that was typical of the record industry's exploitation of jazz musicians at the time. The contract was eventually brought up to union standards, but Count Basie never received any royalties for such classics as "One O'clock Jump", "Swingin' the Blues" or "Jumpin' at the Woodside".

Count Basie and his band became highly acclaimed. Many current musicians consider still consider them to be the model for "ensemble rhythmic conception and tonal balance". Their lightness and precision set the tone for modern jazz accompanying style. Basie himself perfected a piano style called "comping" - his syncopated and highly precise style of playing chords. Along with the Count Basie band's contributions to the jazz style, the group also served to launch the careers of many noted jazz instrumentalists, including tenor saxophonist Lester Young, trumpeter Buck Clayton, trumpeter-composer Thad Jones, bassist Walter Page, drummer Jo Jones, and many others.

Count Basie moved to the new neighborhood of Addisleigh Park in St. Albans, Queens in 1946. In the 1950s, Basie formed a new band that incorporated the new sound of bebop along with more bluesy elements. In 1963 he enjoyed a Top Five album with Frank Sinatra, "Sinatra-Basie." He also recorded a string of Grammy winning and nominated LPs in the 1970. The world lost a one-of-kind artist and performer when Count Basie died on April 26, 1984 in Hollywood, Florida.

Count Basie - http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_basie_count.htm and
http://www.countbasie.com/

Count Basie Performances on Video Here.
http://www.vodpod.com/pod/show_video/142970 and
http://www.vodpod.com/pod/show_video/115654.

WALTER BECKER - was born in Queens , New York in 1950, and part of his youth was spent growing up in Forest Hills . He is the guitarist (and sometimes bassist) half of the duo who remain at the core of the jazz-rock band Steely Dan.

Becker began his musical career playing saxophone, but he soon switched to guitar and received instruction in blues technique from neighbor Randy Wolfe who, as Randy California, was soon to found the group, Spirit.

He met his long-time musical partner, the other half of Steely Dan, Donald Fagen, while attending Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson. After Fagen graduated in 1969, the two began writing songs in a Brooklyn apartment with the hopes of peddling them at the Brill Building . At this point in their youthful career they also did a stint with Jay and the Americans under pseudonyms, where they met fellow inductee Kenny Vance.

Walter and Donald were eventually encouraged to form their own group to serve as the vehicle for their original songs. An ad placed in a Nassau paper led them to Long Islanders Jim Hodder (drums) and Denny Dias (guitar), and they played with the musicians in various New York studio sessions, some of which were produced by Vance. They would soon form the nucleus of a group whose music - including a number of Top 40 hits - has been a staple of FM radio since the early 1970s.

Despite several personnel changes, they released seven highly successful LPs between 1973 and 1980 when 'Gaucho' yielded the radio-friendly (despite its somewhat risqué theme) hit "Hey Nineteen". Steely Dan's hiatus began in 1981, and Walter Becker moved to Hawaii. He began a career as a record producer, working with artists as diverse as Rickie Lee Jones, China Crisis and Michael Franks. He reunited with Fagen briefly to collaborate on the debut album of U.S. singer, former fashion model Rosie Vela. Their full-blown partnership resumed when they undertook a tour under the Steely Dan moniker in 1993, with Becker producing Fagen's solo album 'Kamakiriad' in that year as well. In turn, Fagen co-produced Becker's belated solo debut album, '11 Tracks of Whack' (1994).

Becker and Fagen reunited again in 2000 to release the first Steely Dan studio album in two decades, 'Two Against Nature', which won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. 'Everything Must Go' followed in 2003. Mr. Becker is currently working on another solo album in New York.

Walter Becker - http://www.walterbecker.com/

Walter Becker Performances on Video Here.
http://www.vodpod.com/pod/show_video/25859 and
http://www.vodpod.com/pod/show_video/64801 and
http://www.ifilm.com/video/2790150 and
http://www.vodpod.com/pod/show_video/104605.

PAT BENATAR - Known for her operatic voice and 'tough girl' attitude, Pat Benatar won four consecutive Grammy Awards for "Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female" from 1980 to 1983, and was nominated 4 additional times in 1985, 1986, 1988, and 1989.

Born Patricia Mae Andrzejewski in Brooklyn, NY, Pat grew up in Lindenhurst where she initially studied opera like her mother. She married Dennis Benatar in 1971, the source of the surname with which she became famous - though her actual career began after they had divorced. She was discovered at an amateur-night contest in the New York City comedy club "Catch a Rising Star" in 1977, and was signed to Chrysalis Records by its founder Terry Ellis.

The hits began with Benatar's very first single, "Heartbreaker", which was released in October 1979 and quickly climbed to #23 in the US. The follow-up LP, In the Heat of the Night reached #12, and established the Long Islander as a new force in rock. Two more hit singles followed before August 1980, when Benatar released her second LP, Crimes of Passion, featuring her signature song "Hit Me with Your Best Shot". The single was her first to break the US Top 10 and reach gold record status. The album reached #2 in early 1981, the same time the singer took the Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance of 1980. The album remained on the US album charts for 93 weeks.

Precious Time, released in August 1981, topped the charts in the U.S., and broke the Top 40 in the U.K. The album's lead single, "Fire and Ice", was another big hit, and would win Benatar her second Grammy Award, this time for Best Female Rock Performance of 1981.

In February 1982, Benatar married her lead guitarist Neil Giraldo. Later that year, Pat released the hit single "Shadows of the Night" earning her yet another Grammy, for Best Female Rock Performance of 1982. The follow-up LP, Get Nervous, released in January 1983, was also a success.

By 1983, Benatar had established a reputation for writing about 'tough' subject matter. The biggest hit of her career, "Love Is a Battlefield", released in December, kept the trend alive with great results. The single hit Top Ten in the U.S., and jumped into the UK and Australian Top 40. The song would also net Benatar her fourth consecutive Grammy Award, for Best Female Rock Performance of 1983. The live album, Live from Earth, from which "Love Is a Battlefield" was one of two studio recorded tracks, hit US #13.

Pat Benatar and Neil Geraldo continue to write and tour, playing to sell-out crowds. Audiences continue to be amazed by the power in the voice of Long Island's Pat Benatar, nearly 30 since she first hit us with her best shot.

Pat Benatar - http://www.benatar.com/ and
http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/benatar_pat/artist.jhtml and http://www.benatarfanclub.com/

Pat Benatar Performances on Video Here.
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=218889&fr=yfp-t-501 and
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=218888&fr=yfp-t-501 and
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=20005&fr=yfp-t-501.

BLUE ÖYSTER CULT - Blue Öyster Cult came together as Soft White Underbelly in 1967 at Stony Brook College through the efforts of students (and later rock critics) Sandy Pearlman and R. Meltzer. The original line-up consisted of Andy Winters (bass), Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser (guitar), John Wiesenthal - quickly replaced by Allen Lanier - (keyboards), and Albert Bouchard (drums), with Pearlman managing and writing songs with Meltzer. They soon added Les Braunstein on vocals.

This quintet was signed to Elektra Records, where they recorded an album that was never released. They soon dropped Braunstein and replaced him with their road manager, Eric Bloom - whom they had met at the Sam Ash Music store in Hempstead. The band's name was changed to Oaxaca and recorded a second Elektra album that went unreleased, though a single was issued under the name the Stalk-Forrest Group.

Cut loose by Elektra, they changed their name again, to Blue Öyster Cult, and signed to Columbia Records in late 1971, by which time Winters had been replaced by Albert Bouchard's brother Joe. "Blue Öyster Cult", their debut album, was released in January 1972 and made the charts, followed with BÖC's second album, "Tyranny & Mutation" in 1973. Their third album, "Secret Treaties", (1974) became the first to break into the Top 100, and eventually earned a gold record. A live double album, "On Your Feet or on Your Knees", kept the momentum going in 1975. In 1976, "Agents of Fortune", yielded the hit single '(Don't Fear) The Reaper' (featured in the classic John Carpenter horror film Halloween), which became their first platinum album. "Spectres" went gold in January 1978, and was followed by the million-selling live release "Some Enchanted Evening" and the studio album "Mirrors" in 1979. A year later, BÖC released "Cultosaurus Erectus". The gold "Fire of Unknown Origin" gave the band another top 40 hit with "Burnin' for You", in 1981.

In 1994, Blue Öyster Cult released "Cult Classic", an album of re-recorded favorites, in connection with the use of their music in the TV miniseries of horror novelist Stephen King's The Stand. Numerous lineup changes ensued throughout the '90s as the band continued to tour the world, and in 1995 the band was the subject of a double disc anthology, "Workshop of the Telescopes". BÖC signed with the CMC label in 1998, resulting in their first album of all-new studio material in ten years, 1998's "Heaven Forbid", followed three years later by "The Curse of the Hidden Mirror".

The group's music reached a whole new generation of hard rock fans when Metallica covered the BÖC classic 'Astronomy' for their best-selling "Garage Inc." album in 1998. And countless fans have discovered the band as a result of the Saturday Night Live sketch "More Cowbell" a fictional account of a (fictional version) of BOC's recording of the song "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" that featured guest host Christopher Walken as music producer Bruce Dickinson and Will Ferrell as fictional cowbell player Gene Frenkle.

Blue Öyster Cult - www.blueoystercult.com

Blue Oyster Cult Performances on Video Here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDuYlRs9_Do&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiHRm2DioMA&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V7KPZtcOVQ&mode=related&search=

BOB BUCHMANN - In the early 1970s, Bob Buchmann founded Half Hollow Hill's community radio station, and also built and AM station in his basement. After a knock on his parents' door from the FCC, Bob went legit, converting the pirate AM station into America's first mass-distributed cable only radio station, based in Commack. While at Ithaca College, he worked for several Upstate New York radio stations, and did part-time at three Long Island stations during summer breaks.

When Bob joined WBAB in 1979, the station was the fourth-ranked rock station in the market. By 1982, WBAB had evolved into the Long Island leader, and was not beaten by another rock music station (even those based in New York City) until the Summer of 2001, when it was beaten by Q104.3.

That's in part because Bob took the leap into America's largest market by accepting on-air and Program Director duties at Clear Channel's Q104.3, WAXQ, New York. The station rocketed in rank from 14th to become a top 5 player in Adults 25-54, and often is the top Male-targeted station in the market.

Bob is a board member of Friends of Karen, Special Olympics, the Long Island Music Hall of Fame and Charity Begins at Home, founded by long-time friend Billy Joel. He's also winner of the Harry Chapin Man-of-the-Year Award from Long Island Cares for his efforts to fight hunger. He lives in New York City and has 2 children: Katelyn and James.

MARIAH CAREY - Mariah Carey was born on March 27, 1970 in Huntington, New York. Her parents, father Alfred Roy Carey and mother Patricia Carey (who was an opera singer and vocal coach), named her after the song "They Called the Wind Mariah", from the musical Paint Your Wagon. Mariah attended Harborfields High School in Greenlawn. She moved into Manhattan in 1987 to pursue a career in music. While working as a backup singer for R&B singer Brenda K. Starr, she met her future husband, record mogul Tommy Mottola, who was instrumental in helping launch her career. (They were divorced in 1998.)

Carey began working on her debut album Mariah Carey (1990) when she was just 18. Four songs from that album went to number one, including 'Vision of Love', 'Love Takes Time', 'Someday', and 'I Don't Wanna Cry'. Her second album Emotions also produced a number one hit with its title track, thus making Carey the first person in the music business to have their first five singles hit number one. Her next album, Music Box (1993), also produced three number one hits, including 'Hero', a song dedicated to the victims of the Long Island Railroad shootings. Carey has continued to record new albums, including Merry Christmas (1994), Daydream (1995), Butterfly (1997), #1s (1998), Charmbracelet (2002) and the The Emancipation of Mimi (2005). She also pursues a career in acting.

Mariah Carey has had more number one hits than any other female artist. Only The Beatles (with 20 number one hits) and Elvis Presley (with 18) have had more than she. She has sold over 160 million albums worldwide and has also received five Grammy Awards.

Mariah Carey - http://www.mariahcarey.com/ http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/carey_mariah/artist.jhtml#bio http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/carey_mariah/bio.jhtml

Mariah Carey Performances on Video Here.
http://fernandosalas.vodpod.com/video/18658-mariah-carey-fantasy
http://nickmaxell.vodpod.com/video/170414-mariah-carey-hero
http://whitegurl.vodpod.com/video/223048-mariahcarey-we-belong-together
http://samira50492.vodpod.com/video/257653-always-be-my-babymariah-carey

AARON COPLAND is, for many, the dean of American classical music. It was his pioneering achievement to break free from European musical influence and create a concert music that is recognizably, characteristically American.

Born on November 14, 1900 in Brooklyn as the child of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania, he first learned to play the piano from his older sister. At the age of sixteen he went to Manhattan to study with Rubin Goldmark, who also taught George Gershwin.

In 1920, Copland set out for Paris, modernism's home in the years between the wars. Perhaps the central legacy of his stay in Paris was his association with his teacher and mentor Nadia Boulanger; who fed his growing interest in jazz and other popular idioms; and nurtured his idea that there was no American counterpart to the national styles being created by composers from France, Russia, and Spain. He became determined to create, in his words, "a naturally American strain of so-called serious music."

Upon his return to America in 1924, his career was launched when the Boston Symphony Orchestra performed his Organ Symphony, with Boulanger as soloist. Throughout the 1930s, 40s and 50s, Copland created such American masterworks as the ballets Billy the Kid and Rodeo, Lincoln Portrait, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Appalachian Spring for Martha Graham, Symphony No. 3, Fanfare for the Common Man, El Salon Mexico and the opera The Tender Land.

Copland never ceased to advocate for new music. He was a lecturer and writer about new music and presenter of concerts that brought many 20th Century European masterworks to U.S. audiences for the first time. For 25 years he was a leading member of the faculty at the Berkshire Music Center (Tanglewood) and was one of the most honored of American composers, including the 1979 Kennedy Center Honors and the National Medal of Arts in 1986. He took up conducting while in his fifties and continued until he was 83. In 1982, The Aaron Copland School of Music was established in his honor at Queens College of the City University of New York.

Copland died at the age of 90 in North Tarrytown, New York. Copland House, his home in Cortland Manor, is now an important institution that sponsors composers' residencies, the Music from Copland House chamber ensemble, community and educational programs, and various recording, broadcast, and Internet projects.

Aaron Copland - http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/copland_a.html and http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/audiointerviews/profilepages/coplanda1.shtml and http://www.coplandhouse.org/info.asp?pb=55&pg=1.

Read About Copland's Lincoln Portrait Here and Listen to an NPR Program About Appalachian Spring Here (scroll down the page for the podcast link).
http://www.npr.org/programs/pt/features/lincolnportrait.html and
http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/milestones/991027.motm.apspring.html.

NEIL DIAMOND - Neil Leslie Diamond was born January 24, 1941, in Brooklyn, the first of two sons born to Akeeba Diamond (known as Kieve), who operated and owned a series of dry goods stores, and Rose (Rapoport) Diamond. Except for two years in the mid-'40s that the family spent in Wyoming while Akeeba Diamond served in the military, Diamond grew up in Brooklyn, albeit in changing locations as his father moved from store to store; he later claimed to have attended nine different schools and to have suffered socially as a result. He showed an early interest in music and took up singing and playing the guitar after seeing Pete Seeger perform at a camp he was attending as a teenager.

In a career that began in the 1960's Neil Diamond became a major recording artist, an internationally successful touring act, and a songwriter whose compostions produced hits for himself and others. His earliest recognition, in fact, came as a songwriter associated with the Brill Building era of Tin Pan Alley in the early '60s. He soon branched out into recording and performing, and by the early '70s was topping the charts with the self-written singles "Cracklin' Rosie" and "Song Sung Blue." As he made a transition to more of an album artist, those albums began to earn gold and platinum certifications, and developed into a dynamic concert performer, as demonstrated on his 1972 album Hot August Night. At the same time, his music became generally softer, which broadened his appeal. His millions of fans flocked to his shows and bought his albums in big numbers until well into the 1980s. After that, while his concert tours continued to post high grosses, his record sales became more modest. Still, as of 2001, he claimed worldwide record sales of 115 million copies, and as of 2002 he was ranked third, behind only Elton John and Barbra Streisand, on the list of the most successful adult contemporary artists in the history of the Billboard chart. Meanwhile, having been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and given its lifetime achievement award, he could cite an amazingly broad range of pop, rock, R&B, folk, country, jazz, reggae, punk, heavy metal, alternative, easy listening, and new age performers who had recorded his songs, among them Altered Images, Chet Atkins, Harry Belafonte, the Box Tops, Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash, Petula Clark, Ray Conniff, Floyd Cramer, Bobby Darin, the Spencer Davis Group, Joey Dee & the Starliters, Deep Purple, the Drifters, David Essex, Percy Faith, José Feliciano, the Four Tops, Dizzy Gillespie, the Heptones, Julio Iglesias, Chris Isaak, Millie Jackson, Wanda Jackson, Jay & the Americans, Waylon Jennings, Tom Jones, Patti LaBelle, David Lanz, Peggy Lee, Liberace, Enoch Light, Mark Lindsay, Johnny Mathis, the Monkees, the Music Machine, Wayne Newton, Roy Orbison, Johnny Paycheck, Elvis Presley, Boots Randolph, Cliff Richard, Billy Joe Royal, Frank Sinatra, Smash Mouth, the Specials, Barbra Streisand, Third World, Tina Turner, UB40, Gary Puckett & the Union Gap, Urge Overkill, the Ventures, Bobby Vinton, Junior Walker & the All-Stars, Roger Whittaker, Andy Williams and Bobby Womack.

Neil Diamond - www.neildiamond.com

Neil Diamond Performances on Video Here. http://chuckbenjamin.vodpod.com/video/15734-neil-diamond-cherry-cherry
http://chuckbenjamin.vodpod.com/video/25635-neil-diamond-kentucky-woman
http://video.aol.com/video/music-neil-diamond-solitary-man-aol-sessions/1797559
http://video.aol.com/video/music-neil-diamond-sweet-caroline-aol-sessions/1797560

THE GOOD RATS - Peppi Marchello was born in Brooklyn, and moved to Long Island with his family when he was young. A baseball scholarship to St. John's University and biology as an academic strong suit could not trump the pull that rock and roll had once the music bug had bitten. Peppi joined a band doing Beatle covers in 1965 and soon became front man. Within a year found he had dropped out of school and brought his younger brother into the fold to share the stage on guitar. Producers who signed the band - originally called the U-Men - to Kapp Records wanted a name a bit more in tune with the times; a period dominated by bands like the Byrds, the Beatles, and the Monkees. Being from New York, the band chose The Rats. Concerned producers thought the name was a bit ... unpleasant, and tacked on the "Good" for good measure.

The Kapp single and album received positive reviews but didn't score a chart hit. The band underwent a series of personnel changes as Peppi tried to get a group together that could develop a following, and put his songs across as he believed they were meant to sound. Eventually, the "classic" line-up of the Marchello brothers, Lenny Kottke, Joe Franco and John "The Cat" Gatto came together. In 1974, the band was signed to Warner Brothers where they released the now-classic album "Tasty".

The Rats began gigging constantly, and developed a huge fan base while honing their skills. Over the years, their opening acts included The Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads. Cyndi Lauper, and The Cars. What differentiated them from many of their '70s contemporaries is that at the heart of everything they did the Rats were always just regular guys. Their shows didn't climax with lasers and explosions but with Peppi emptying a garbage can of rubber rats into the crowd and hunting them with a baseball bat. The jams were playful and lively, not bogged down or pretentious. And the blue collar, down home nature of the band was enhanced by Peppi's signature stage schtick - he'd yell at and abuse the audience viciously ... to their undying delight.

Despite the band's popularity as a live act, Warners didn't see the sales figures they wanted for "Tasty". For future releases the group decided to start their own label - and thus Rat City Records was born. The band released six successful albums on the label between 1975 and 1981, and also reissued a remixed "Tasty". And they never failed to draw huge crowds to their live shows.

Peppi Marchello is still rocking with a new version of the Good Rats that includes his sons Gene and Stefan. The band still plays the classic tunes from their early albums, along with music from recent Good Rats and solo releases. And though the group never made Billboard's Top 40, the loyalty and love of the band's fans at their live shows continue to prove that the Good Rats are a Rock & Roll success story.

The Good Rats - http://www.goodrats.com/goodrats.htm

ARLO GUTHRIE was born with a guitar in one hand and a harmonica in the other, in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York in 1947. He is the eldest son of singer/writer/philosopher Woody Guthrie and Marjorie Mazia Guthrie, a professional dancer with the Martha Graham Company.

He grew up surrounded by dancers and musicians: Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert, Fred Hellerman and Lee Hays (The Weavers), Leadbelly, Cisco Houston, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee, all of whom were significant influences on Arlo's musical career. Guthrie gave his first public performance at age 13 and quickly became involved in the music that was shaping the world during the 1960s.

Arlo practically lived in the most famous venues of the "Folk Boom" era, and watched as new singer-songwriters such as Bob Dylan, Jim Croce, Joan Baez, and Phil Ochs made their mark. He grooved with the beat poets like Allen Ginsburg and Lord Buckley, and picked with players like Bill Monroe and Doc Watson. He learned something from everyone and developed his own style, becoming a distinctive, expressive voice in a crowded community of singer-songwriters and political-social commentators.

Arlo Guthrie's career exploded in 1967 with the release of "Alice's Restaurant". The epic story-song song, premiered at the Newport Folk Festival, helped foster a new commitment among the '60s generation to social consciousness and activism. Arlo went on to star in the 1969 Hollywood film version of "Alice's Restaurant", directed by Arthur Penn.

Arlo's "Coming into Los Angeles" was banned from many radio stations, but it became an instant classic at the 1969 Woodstock Festival. His lovely rendition of Steve Goodman's "City of New Orleans" also helped to turn him into an artist of international stature.

Over the last four decades Guthrie has toured throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia winning a wide, popular following. In addition to his accomplishments as a musician - playing the piano, six and twelve-string guitar, harmonica and a dozen other instruments - Arlo is a natural-born storyteller, whose tales and anecdotes figure prominently in his performances.

Today Arlo spends nearly ten months of the year on the road, and is frequently accompanied by his son Abe. On special occasions, his daughter Sarah Lee and her husband Johnny Irion contribute acoustic guitar and supporting vocals.

Aside from his musical career, he and Alice May Brock of "Alice's Restaurant" fame co-wrote the award winning children's book "Mooses Come Walking". In 1991 Arlo purchased the old Trinity Church near Stockbridge, Massachussetts. It was on Thanksgiving 1965 that events took place at the church that inspired Arlo to write the song "Alice's Restaurant". Named for his parents, The Guthrie Center is a not-for-profit interfaith church foundation dedicated to providing a wide range of local and international services.

Arlo Guthrie - Audio Biography (2.9 MB); Related Links - http://www.arlo.net/ and http://www.guthriecenter.org/main.shtml and http://www.pbs.org/americanrootsmusic/pbs_arm_oralh_arloguthrie.html

Arlo Guthrie, Remembering Alice's Restaurant Here.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5028273.

Arlo Guthrie Performances on Video Here.
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=1076593411&fr=yfp-t-501.

MARVIN HAMLISCH - Hamlisch's life in music is notable for its great versatility as well as its substance.

As composer, Hamlisch has won every major award: three Oscars, four Grammys, four Emmys, one Tony and three Golden Globe awards. His groundbreaking show, A Chorus Line, even received the Pulitzer Prize.

Among the Broadway shows Hamlisch has composed are They're Playing Our Song, The Goodbye Girl, Sweet Smell of Success and Imaginary Friends. He is the composer of more than forty motion picture scores, including the Oscar-winning score and song for The Way We Were. Hamlisch's adaptation of Scott Joplin's music for The Sting also netted him an Oscar. The Entertainer, a Joplin piece pulled as a single from the soundtrack, reached number three on the Billboard charts in 1974. Marvin's prolific output of scores for films includes Sophie's Choice, Ordinary People, The Swimmer, Three Men and a Baby, Ice Castles, Take the Money and Run, Bananas and Save the Tiger.

Mr. Hamlisch has been a proud resident of Westhampton Beach for many years, and he serves on the honorary board of the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center. He currently holds the position of Principal Pops Conductor with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, as well as with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Hamlisch serves as Musical Director and arranger of Barbra Streisand's 1994 concert tour of the United States and England, as well as of the television special "Barbra Streisand: The Concert" (for which he received two of his Emmys). He served in the same capacities for her acclaimed Millennium concerts.

Hamlisch is a graduate of both Juilliard and Queens College (where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree). Believing in the power of music to bring people together, he says: "Music can make a difference. There is a global nature to music, which has the potential to bring all people together. Music is truly an international language, and I hope to contribute by expanding this communication as much as I can."

Marvin Hamlisch - http://www.scottstander.com/Personalities/marvin_hamlisch.html, http://www.marvinhamlisch.com/ and here

King and Goffin, who eventually married, began writing in the famed Brill Building, where they worked alongside the likes of Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. In 1961, the duo scored their first hit in a string of number ones with the Shirelles' chart-topping "Will You Love Me Tomorrow." Together, the couple wrote over 100 chart hits in a vast range of styles, including the Chiffons' "One Fine Day," the Monkees' "Pleasant Valley Sunday," the Drifters' "Up on the Roof," the Cookies' "Chains" (later covered by the Beatles), and Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel) Like a Natural Woman". King even scored a solo hit in 1962 with "It Might as Well Rain Until September."

Goffin and King divorced in 1968. Carole and second husband Charles Larkey formed a group called The City. The group's sole effort featured songs like "Wasn't Born to Follow", "Hi-De-Ho", and the classic "You've got Friend" - chart successes for The Byrds, Blood Sweat and Tears and James Taylor respectively.

James Taylor encouraged King to pursue a solo career. After her solo debut, "Writer", she released "Tapestry". The quiet, reflective work - a seminal album of the singer / songwriter genre - produced two hit singles; "So Far Away" and "It's Too Late". The LP entered the Billboard charts and remained for over six years, making it the best-selling album of the era. Her follow-up, 1971's "Music" also hit number one, and generated the hit "Sweet Seasons".

Carole King's live performances were fairly infrequent throughout the late 70s, but she continued to score chart singles. In the early 1980s, she moved to Idaho, where she became active in the environmental movement. She recorded only three albums between 1989 and 2004, but her latest release documents her intimate "Living Room Tour", a live show that found her revisiting songs from throughout her career with only her piano and acoustic guitars as accompaniment.

Carole King - Audio Biography; Related Links - http://www.caroleking.com/

Carole King Performances on Video Here.
http://www.vodpod.com/pod/show_video/125242 and
http://www.vodpod.com/pod/show_video/94238 and
http://www.vodpod.com/pod/show_video/125244.

LL COOL J - Hip-hop is notorious for short-lived careers, but LL Cool J - the stage name of James Todd Smith, and an acronym for "Ladies Love Cool James" - is the inevitable exception that proves the rule. He released his first hit, "I Can't Live Without My Radio," on Russell Simmons' and Rick Rubin's Def Jam Records in 1985, when he was just a 17 years old kid from St. Albans, Queens. The record sold over 100,000 copies, establishing both the label and the young rapper.

LL was initially a hard-hitting, streetwise kid who could rhyme with the best, having begun rapping at the age of nine. But he quickly developed an alternate style; a romantic lover/rapper, epitomized by his mainstream breakthrough single, "I Need Love." His first album, 'Radio' earned considerable praise for how it shaped raps into recognizable pop-song structures. The album went platinum in 1986 and, along with his second album 'Bigger and Deffer', made LL Cool J an international star.

On 1989's 'Walking with a Panther' LL's ballads and party raps offered an alternative to the political edge and gangsta style dominating rap during this period. But he showed a hard edge on the monstrously successful 1990 release 'Mama Said Knock You Out'. On the strength of a legendary live acoustic performance on MTV Unplugged, two Top Ten R&B singles (one of which reached #9 on the Pop charts), and the hit title track, "Mama Said" became his biggest-selling album, and established him as a pop star in addition to a rap superstar.

LL Cool J landed roles in the films 'The Hard Way' (1991) and 'Toys' (1992), and also performed at Bill Clinton's presidential inauguration in 1993. He returned to the charts that year with the gangsta-edged '14 Shots to the Dome'. LL took a starring role in the NBC sitcom 'In the House', but returned to recording in 1995 with the double-platinum 'Mr. Smith'. He released his greatest-hits album 'All World' in 1996. 'Phenomenon' appeared one year later. 'G.O.A.T. Featuring James T. Smith: The Greatest of All Time', topped the album charts in 2000, and 2002's '10' yielded the hit, "Luv U Better."

With the help of producer Timbaland, he unleashed the 'DEFinition' album in 2004 just as his James Todd Smith clothing line was hitting the malls. "Control Myself," a hit single featuring Jennifer Lopez, prefaced 2006's 'Todd Smith' album.

LL Cool J - http://www.defjam.com/site/artist_home.php?artist_id=202

LL Cool J Performances on Video Here.
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=1114540546&fr=yfp-t-501 and
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=1084582755&fr=yfp-t-501 and
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=19520&fr=yfp-t-501.

GUY LOMBARDO and His Royal Canadians was formed in Ontario in 1917, named in Cleveland in 1923, and labeled the makers of 'the sweetest music this side of Heaven,' by the Chicago Tribune in 1928. Gaetano Albert Lombardo was born in London, Ontario in 1902. He was the group's leader from its inception as the Lombardo Brothers' Orchestra and Concert Company, until his death in 1977. His longest time spent in any residence was here in Freeport, Long Island, where a major road bears his name.

Guy Lombardo's orchestra toured extensively during the end of the second decade of the last century. In 1924 Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians, took a two-year residency at a Cleveland nightclub, the Claremont Tent. There it was coached by owner Louis Bleet, who is credited with slowing the band's tempos and lowering its volume, and with introducing the idea of performing medleys of current hits. These innovations, together with the developing Lombardo sound, contributed greatly to the Royal Canadians' popularity.

Several elements characterized the Lombardo sound: the smooth vibrato of the saxophones, led by Guy's brother Carmen's alto; Carmen's emotive singing - often satirized for its marked tremolo and precise diction; and the quiet drumming style of George Gowans, who was usually barely audible save to the other musicians.

The group began a 33-year residency at Manhattan's Roosevelt Grill in 1929. The CBS broadcast of the Royal Canadians' annual New Year's Eve performance there became a traditional part of festivities throughout North America. Lombardo's midnight rendition of 'Auld Lang Syne' - a song that had been part of its repertoire since the days when it played in Scottish communities near London - was heard by millions of celebrants.

The orchestra toured extensively in the USA and Canada in the 60s, performing for both small community dances and in major city nightclubs. They played at the inaugural balls for every US president from F.D. Roosevelt to Dwight Eisenhower, and again for Ronald Reagan in 1985. They also played for several World Series' at Yankee Stadium.

With the participation of his brothers, Guy Lombardo began producing musical extravaganzas at the Jones Beach Marine Theater near his home in Freeport in 1951. He was active as a producer with the theatre for over 20 years, and helped to build its reputation as a world-class entertainment venue.

Guy Lombardo - http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2001/dec/lombardo/011231.lombardo.html and http://origin.www.cbc.ca/lifeandtimes/lombardo.htm

Guy Lombardo - 1957 Tips on Tables Story About His Band Leaving The Roosevelt Hotel Here .

EDDIE MONEYarrived in the late '70s at the height of album rock's popularity. His debut album showed a knack for good, old-fashioned rock & roll delivered with a polished, radio-friendly finesse. During the early MTV era he held onto his audience by filming a series of funny narrative videos for the new medium, something his AOR peers were reluctant to do.

Initially, Eddie Mahoney was going to follow in his father's footsteps and become a Brooklyn cop. He attended the New York Police Academy during the early '70s, but at night, he sang in rock bands under the name Eddie Money.

Born in Brooklyn, Eddie lived in Plainedge as a teenager, and he considers that time to be the most formative of his life. "Long Island was the breeding ground; it made me who I am,'' Money says. "Most of what I learned about my craft I learned in high school with (my band) The Grapes of Wrath.''

Eddie decided to pursue his music as a full-time career, so he quit the academy and moved to California. He became a regular at Bay Area clubs, where he eventually caught the attention of legendary promoter Bill Graham. Graham signed on as Eddie's manager, and secured him a contract with Columbia Records. Money released his eponymous debut in 1977. The album yielded the crossover Top 40 hits "Two Tickets to Paradise and "Baby Hold On". The hit single "Maybe I'm a Fool" soon followed. In the early '80s, Money's videos were in regular rotation on MTV, and those clips helped make "Shakin'" and "Think I'm in Love" into major chart hits.

In 1986 Eddie hit the charts again with 'Can't Hold Back'. Featuring the hit duet with Ronnie Spector, "Take Me Home Tonight," and the Top 20 "I Wanna Go Back," the album became a Top Ten smash. Money followed in 1988 with 'Nothing to Lose', which featured the Top Ten "Walk on Water." Two years later, "Peace in Our Time," taken from the 1989 Greatest Hits: Sound of Money, reached number 11.

Eddie Money continues to tour the country rocking audiences with his winning combination of a powerful voice, catchy lyrics, and hook-laden straight-ahead rock and roll. He has even appeared on television shows such as The King of Queens (as himself) and The Drew Carey Show.

Eddie pays homage to 1960's rock on his new album 'Wanna Go Back'. It's the music that 15-year-old Eddie Mahoney and his band, The Grapes of Wrath, played in their live set 'back in the day' here on Long Island.

Eddie Money - http://www.eddiemoney.com/

Eddie Money Performances on Video Here.
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=19972&fr=yfp-t-501 and
http://www.vodpod.com/pod/show_video/169674.

PUBLIC ENEMY - Chuck D (born Carlton Ridenhour, 1960) formed Public Enemy in 1982 as he was studying graphic design at Long Island's Adelphi University. Def Jam Records co-founder and producer Rick Rubin heard a tape of Chuck D rapping over a song called 'Public Enemy Number One', and began courting him for the label.

Ridenhour began conceived of a project that mixed sonically extreme production with revolutionary politics. He put together a crew consisting of DJ Terminator X (born Norman Rogers, 1966), fellow Nation of Islam member Professor Griff (born Richard Griffin, 1960) and fellow rapper Flavor Flav (born William J. Drayton Jr., 1959). As the group developed, Flavor Flav functioned as a court jester to Chuck D's booming voice and somber rhymes. Chuck D's friend from his Adelphi student radio days, Hank Shockley, was put in charge of PE's production team, The Bomb Squad.

Public Enemy's debut album "Yo! Bum Rush the Show" was recorded in Hempstead and released on Def Jam records in 1987. A decade later, the album was selected as one of The Source Magazine's 100 Best Rap Albums. In 2003, it was ranked number 497 on Rolling Stone Magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The group's second album, "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back" put Public Enemy on the map. With the album's mix of avant garde and funk sounds, Chuck D's inspired political rhetoric, and Flavor Flav's comedic raps, hip-hop had now also become a force for social change.

Public Enemy often found itself embroiled in controversy. Critics were uncomfortable when the lyrics for their song 'Bring the Noise' were praised by controversial Muslim leader Louis Farrakhan, and some were outraged when lyrics for 'Fight the Power' (theme song for the Spike Lee film "Do the Right Thing") disparaged such icons as Elvis Presley and John Wayne. Amidst these difficulties "Fear of a Black Planet" was released in 1990 to both positive critical reception and public acclaim that took the album into the pop Top Ten. Their next album, 1991's "Apocalypse 91...The Enemy Fights Back" included a re-recording of 'Bring the Noise' with the thrash-metal band Anthrax, which raised their profile among rock audiences.

The band released a remix collection "Greatest Misses" in 1992, and "Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age" in 1994. Chuck D retired Public Enemy from touring in 1995 and formed his own label. The group released the soundtrack to Spike Lee's "He's Got Game" in 1998, "There's a Poison Goin' On" in 1999, and "Revolverlution" in 2002. The member roster has changed over time, but Public Enemy remains a vital force in rap music.

Public Enemy - www.publicenemy.com

Public Enemy Performances on Video Here.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1372497575242532600
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1372497575242532600
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=1114042170&fr=yfp-t-471

THE RAMONES - The members of the Ramones joined forces in Forest Hills, Queens in January 1974. They all adopted Ramone as their surname, though they were not actually brothers. The name stemmed from a piece of Beatles trivia; Paul McCartney called himself Paul Ramone in an early incarnation of the group.

Johnny (Cummings) was lead guitarist for the group's entire career. Joey (Jeffrey Hyman) handled vocal chores for the legendary punk outfit. DeeDee (Douglas Colvin) played bass in the original quartet. Original drummer Tommy (Erdelyi), a band member for just over three years, would later become a producer for the group. In 1978 the band asked Marky Ramone (Marc Bell) to fill the drum chair. This put the longest running lineup (Joey, Johnny, DeeDee, Marky) of the band in place, and Marky would perform 1700 shows with the band. Towards the end of the group's twenty-three year run, other "Ramones" (Richie and CJ) would fill out the bass and drummer positions.

Along with acts as diverse as the New York Dolls, Television, Blondie, Patti Smith Group, and the Talking Heads, the Ramones were a focal point of the collective 'punk scene' at the club CBGBs in New York. The group was signed by Sire Records in 1975, and released their eponymous debut (at a cost of about $6000) on April 23rd of 1976, a date many mark as the official beginning of the punk movement. The album would have a profound effect on the future of the music industry. The Ramones subsequent appearance at The Roundhouse in England galvanized the UK punk scene, and inspired members of The Clash (Joe Strummer), The Damned and the Sex Pistols (Johnny Rotten), who all managed to get backstage and meet the band.

Johnny, Joey, DeeDee and Marky starred in the 1979 Roger Corman film "Rock 'n' Roll High School". This lineup also worked with legendary producer Phil Spector on their 1980 album "End of the Century", a collaboration that resulted in the Ramones biggest selling album. In total, the group released 14 studio albums between 1975 and June of 1995.

After a spot in the 1996 Lollapalooza festival reaffirmed the group's relevance after 20 years, The Ramones disbanded. Sadly, Joey Ramone died of lymphoma on April 15, 2001. DeeDee died of a heroin overdose in June of 2002, and Johnny succumbed to prostate cancer in September of 2004. A few months later, the Ramones documentary film "End of the Century" was released to critical acclaim. The Ramones DVD "Raw", produced by Marky, is the first Ramones DVD to go gold. Johnny, Joey, Marky, and CJ appeared as cartoon caricatures of themselves in the popular animated television series "The Simpsons"

Today, Marky and Tommy Ramone are both dedicated to keeping the Ramones legacy alive.

The Ramones - http://www.ramones.com/

Ramones Performances on Video Here
http://www.vodpod.com/pod/show_video/148260 and
http://www.vodpod.com/pod/show_video/94487 and
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=219091&fr=yfp-t-501 and
http://www.vodpod.com/pod/show_video/27635.

BEVERLY SILLS was born Belle Miriam Silverman to first generation immigrants of Russian-Jewish background, and was raised in a working-class neighborhood of Brooklyn. Beverly's mother was convinced of her daughter's musical talents when the three-year-old won a talent contest, and so the youngster was provided with lessons in dance, voice and elocution. In the 1930s, Sills performed professionally on radio and in the 1936 short film "Uncle Sol Solves It". In 1936, she auditioned for CBS Radio's Major Bowes' Amateur Hour, became a member of his company, and was heard every Sunday across the nation.

In 1945, Sills made her professional stage debut with a Gilbert & Sullivan touring company and sang operetta for several years. In 1947, she made her operatic stage debut as Frasquita in Bizet's Carmen with the Philadelphia Civic Opera. In 1955, she first appeared with the New York City Opera as Rosalinde in Strauss's Die Fledermaus. The performance drew raves from the newspaper critics, as did her follow-up work in the title role in Douglas Stuart Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe.

In 1956, Beverly married publisher Peter Greenough, and the couple had two children. Upon learning that one was virtually deaf and the other mentally challenged, she temporarily retired from the stage in order to care for them.

Sills resumed her career in January 1964 in Boston. In 1966, the New York City Opera revived Handel's then virtually unknown opera masterpiece Giulio Cesare, and Sills' performance as Cleopatra made her an international opera star. In subsequent seasons, Sills took on many varied and prestigious roles with the company. In April 1975, Sills made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in The Siege of Corinth, receiving an eighteen-minute ovation.

Although essentially a "dramatic coloratura" as a voice type, Sills took on a number of heavier roles as she grew older, including Violetta in Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata and Gaetano Donizetti's Maria Stuarda, and Roberto Devereux. Sills later commented that Roberto Devereux "shortened her career by four years."

After Sills retired from the stage in 1980, she served as general director of the New York City Opera until 1991, where she helped turn what was then a financially struggling opera company into a viable enterprise. From 1994 to 2000, she was chairman of the Lincoln Center. She also devoted herself to various arts causes and such charities as the March of Dimes. Beverly returned from retirement in 2002 to serve as chairman of the Metropolitan Opera, but resigned the position in January 2005 to spend more time with her family.

During her illustrious operatic career, Sills recorded eighteen full-length operas. She also starred in eight opera productions televised on PBS and participated in such specials as Sills and Burnett at the Met, with Carol Burnett, Profile in Music, which won an Emmy Award, and A Conversation with Beverly Sills. In 1976, Sills published a memoir, Bubbles: A Self-Portrait, which she followed up with Beverly: An Autobiography, written with Lawrence Linderman.

Beverly Sills died at age 78 on July 2, 2007.

Beverly Sills - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_Sills and http://www.greatwomen.org/women.php?action=viewone&id=144 and http://www.frenchculture.org/people/honorees/sills.html

Beverly Sills Performances on Video Here.
http://www.vodpod.com/pod/show_video/142501 and
http://www.vodpod.com/pod/show_video/116505 and
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=1106407687&fr=yfp-t-501 and
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=751583&fr=yfp-t-501.

JEAN RITCHIE was born and raised in Viper, Kentucky in the heart of the Southern Appalachian Mountains, youngest in a family of fourteen children. Walled in by the rugged Cumberland ridges, the Ritchies and their neighbors farmed their hillsides using primitive methods and entertained themselves with games and ballads handed down through the generations from their Scottish, English and Irish ancestors.

She became the first person to enroll and obtain a degree in social work from the University of Kentucky. In 1947 she moved to New York and worked in the famous Henry Street Settlement as a social worker whose main virtues proved to be her voice and her deeply felt desire to help make a better world.

By 1950, Jean Ritchie was an important figure on the New York folk scene, her influence probably best shown by the fact that dulcimers, almost unknown instruments in New York, were suddenly in demand. She is credited with almost single-handedly reviving interest in the mountain dulcimer and with helping to establish its prominence as more than a regional folk instrument.

As Jean's reputation grew, Oxford Press published Singing Family of the Cumberlands, a book about her family and its music, in 1955 (and still in print today). Nine more books, including the prize winning Celebration of Life, were to follow.

The early 50s continued to be eventful for Jean. She married New York photographer George Pickow and met Jac Holzman, who with a friend, had just started a small record company called Elektra. He asked if she'd consider launching their folk music division. The first record for Elektra and for Jean, was the 10-inch LP "Jean Ritchie, Singing Traditional Songs of Her Kentucky Mountain Family". Since then, she has recorded more than 30 albums for different labels, including her own Greenhays label, which she and George set up in 1979.

In 1996, the Ritchie-Pickow Archive was established at University College, Galway, Ireland. In 1998 the Life Achievement Award was given to Jean by the Folk Alliance. KET, The Kentucky Network honored her with a special about her life and music, "Mountain Born: the Jean Ritchie Story" which aired widely over the PBS network.

The Ritchies have lived in Port Washington since 1956, and have a log house in Viper, Kentucky. Interest in traditional music keeps Jean active performing in more summer music festivals and college dates than ever before. She also finds herself in demand to guest teach at such places as the University of California, Santa Cruz or to serve as artist-in-residence, and has performed extensively for television.

"I believe that old songs have things to say to the modern generation, and that's why they've stayed around. That's also why I am still singing. I'm not afraid to be myself. Agents say you have to change and grow, but I believe you can sing the same songs and sing them better and grow new songs out of the old. I guess if I had to categorize myself or pin down a description of what I do, I'd have to say I'm a carrier of tradition." – Jean Ritchie

Jean Ritchie - http://www.jeanritchie.com/
Jean Ritchie Performance on Video Here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFVdp1KJiqM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8wR4GZGnZE

SIMON & GARFUNKEL - In the mid-1950s, two teenagers from Forest Hills, Queens struck up a friendship that led to an incredible musical journey. "Tom and Jerry", known to their families as Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, found fame with the regional hit "Hey Schoolgirl" in 1957. The song managed to get them a spot on American Bandstand - every young pop star's dream. But after struggling both together and individually for over six years to record a successful follow-up, the two went their separate ways.

Paul Simon spent the years that followed honing his craft as a songwriter, working in the famed Brill Building alongside other greats like Doc Pomus and Carole King. Paul and Art decided to try again in 1964, and they released an album for Columbia Records under their given names. They had become darlings of the Greenwich Village crowd, but while their new acoustic "folk" recording attracted a larger and hipper audience, it was not going to make them pop stars.

Feeling that the two had done all they could with the album, Paul headed off to England and Art returned to his plans to become an architect. Simon developed a strong following as a solo artist in the U.K. during his numerous visits. He was invited to play on BBC radio, and even recorded a solo acoustic album that included a few of the compositions songs that he would later re-record with his gifted musical associate, Art Garfunkel.

Fate, luck, and a clever producer named Tom Wilson intervened to help catapult Simon and Garfunkel - the duo - onto the charts. Wilson hired a group of studio musicians to put electric instrumental backing behind the album's closing song "Sounds of Silence", reasoning that the new arrangement could cash in on the "folk-rock" sound being popularized by groups like The Byrds and the newly-"plugged-in" Bob Dylan. The gamble paid off. Paul Simon was summoned back from England with the news that he had a number one single. Much to their surprise, the duo was back on top.

Over the next four years, Simon's well-written songs, presented in transcendent two-part harmony with his childhood friend Art, would top the pop music charts. And songs like "The Boxer", "Bridge Over Troubled Water" "Homeward Bound" and "I Am A Rock" remain radio staples nearly thirty five years later. Unfortunately, the harmony found in these recordings did not always cross over into the duo's personal relationship. But after splitting initially in 1970, the two have reunited on a number of occasions, most notably for the 1975 hit "My Little Town" and for their 1981 performance in Central Park that was attended by over 500,000 fans. In 2003 Simon and Garfunkel launched their hugely successful 'Old Friends' tour, which was documented on DVD and CD. Their set captured highlights of their entire career, touched upon their solo works, and delighted audiences comprised, in part, of fans that hadn't even been born when two teenagers from Queens first called out to that schoolgirl in the second row.

Simon and Garfunkel - http://www.simonandgarfunkel.com/ and
http://www.rockhall.com/hof/inductee.asp?id=188 and http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1951161
and http://www.paulsimon.com and http://www.artgarfunkel.com/

Simon & Garfunkel Performances on Video Here.
http://www.vodpod.com/pod/show_video/116787 and
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=14135&fr=yfp-t-501 and
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=465927&fr=yfp-t-501 and
http://www.vodpod.com/pod/show_video/15305.

BARBRA STREISAND - Barbra Streisand (born Barbara Joan Streisand on April 24, 1942 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn) was educated at Beis Yakov School and then famed Erasmus Hall High School, where she graduated fourth in her class in 1959, and overlapped by a year future collaborator (and 2007 LIMHOF classmate) Neil Diamond.

In 1962, she signed with Columbia Records and her debut album, "Pins and Needles", became the nation's top-selling record by a female vocalist. Since then, she has released more than 60 chart-topping albums.

Her early music career led to her appearance on stage in the musicals "I Can Get It For You Wholesale" and the 1964 comedy "Funny Girl" (the film version of which would garner her an Academy Award in 1968). Shortly after receiving widespread recognition for her stage success, Barbra was offered a 10-year contract with CBS television to produce and star in a variety of TV specials including "My Name is Barbra" and "Color Me Barbra".

Starting in 1969, Streisand tackled contemporary songwriters; and found success with the pop and ballad-oriented, Richard Perry-produced "Stoney End" in 1971, whose Laura Nyro-written title track was a big hit. During the 1970s she was highly prominent in the pop charts, with number-one records like "The Way We Were", "Evergreen" (for which she received her second Academy Award in 1976), "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" and "Woman In Love"; some of which came from the soundtracks to her films.

Streisand returned to her musical theater roots with 1985's "The Broadway Album". This held the #1 Billboard position for 3 weeks straight, and was 3x Platinum. The album featured songs reworked by Stephen Sondheim especially for this recording, was critically acclaimed, nominated as Album of the Year and landed Streisand her 8th Grammy as Best Female Vocalist.

In 1991 she released a four-disc box set, entitled "Just for the Record". A separate disc, entitled "Highlights from Just for the Record" featured two dozen tracks, including live material, greatest hits, and rarities, from her early recordings up to 1991.

Recent albums have included "Christmas Memories" (2001), "The Movie Album" (2003), featuring famous movie themes and backed by a large symphony orchestra, and "Guilty Pleasures" (2005), a collaboration with Barry Gibb and a sequel album to their previous "Guilty".

During the course of her 45-year career, Barbra has become recognized as a dedicated spokesperson and fundraiser for a variety of social causes. The Streisand Foundation has raised money for various causes including human rights and the preservation of the environment. The majority of her concerts over the past 30 years have been devoted to supporting and raising money for important issues such as AIDS.

Barbra Streisand - www.barbrastreisand.com

Barbra Streisand Performances on Video Here.
http://barbrastreisand.vodpod.com/video/219634-barbra-streisand-my-man
http://barbrastreisand.vodpod.com/video/219653-barbra-streisand-people
http://barbrastreisand.vodpod.com/video/219590-barbra-streisand-tony-bennett-smile
http://barbrastreisand.vodpod.com

THE TOKENS - Young men singing Doo Wop in high school bathrooms and on street corners across New York City was hardly extraordinary in the late 50s and early 60s. What is extraordinary, though, is the incredible feat that one of those groups from Brooklyn has accomplished with such style.

That style, as well as is elegantly defined by Jay Siegel, whose tenor lead and trademark falsetto have characterized all The Tokens' music since the group began recording, and continues to do so today as they perform around the country. The original members of the group were Jay Siegel, Phil & Mitch Margo and Hank Medress (who died in June of 2007). Today, the group consists of Jay Siegel, Bill Reid & Jay Traynor (he was the original "Jay" of The Americans, who sang the lead vocal on "She Cried").

First breaking onto the pop charts in 1961, The Tokens got back on the charts in the 1990s and were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall Of Fame in 2004.

The Tokens continue to distinguish themselves with the second-longest chart span in the history of Rock & Roll. More than 30 years after the debut of their first big hit, "Tonight I Fell In Love", they re-emerged on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart in August, 1994 with a re-release of their chart-topping 1962 single, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." The release of the Disney motion picture "The Lion King" prompted RCA to re-release the Tokens song – a re-working of a South African folk song that charted as "Wimoweh" for The Weavers in 1952 – along with a CD featuring a unique compilation of twenty of the groups hit tunes from the 60s.

The Tokens were one of the first and youngest groups to independently produce recordings for a major label, breaking into the really big-time in 1962, when they became the first vocal group to produce a #1 record for another vocal group (remember "He's So Fine" by The Chiffons?). They also produced all the records by The Happenings, Randy & The Rainbows, as well as "Candida", "Knock Three Times", & "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" by Tony Orlando & Dawn. They have performed & produced many major radio & TV commercials, including spots for Clairol, General Foods, Wrigley's gum, Eastern Airlines, Cool Whip, Wendy's and many other companies.

The Tokens also sang backup vocals for such diverse artists as Del Shannon, Melissa Manchester, Connie Francis, The Blues Project, Keith, Mac Davis, Al Kooper & Bob Dylan.

The Tokens - http://www.jaysiegelandthetokens.com
Tokens Performance on Video at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-gVu1Ld3dk

KENNY VANCE grew up in Belle Harbor, in the New York City borough of Queens, where he developed an interest in rock'n' roll as a teenager. He was particularly fascinated with the vocal styling of doo-wop. By the time he was fifteen he was traveling back and forth to Manhattan's Brill Building, meeting and befriending other singers and songwriters. In 1961, Vance formed the highly successful group Jay and The Americans, along with 'Jay' Traynor, Howard Kane, and Sandy Deanne. The band recorded fifteen albums, toured extensively, and opened for The Beatles and The Rolling Stones during each of their first U.S. performances. The band's hit records, including "She Cried," "Only in America," "Come a Little Bit Closer," and "This Magic Moment", helped to establish their legendary status.

Kenny remained with Jay and The Americans until the early 1970s when he launched a solo career that kicked off with him producing the first sessions by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen - Steely Dan. Soon enough, Vance had racked up a wide range of successes, as he began to compose, supervise and produce a long list of scores and soundtracks for feature films and television.

Vance gave the Alan Freed story, "American Hot Wax," its musical life by recreating the groups of the 50's and 60's for the screen. His group The Planotones was formed for the film, where they gave their first on-screen performance. In addition, Vance was musical director for Saturday Night Live, as well as serving as music supervisor for "Animal House," "Eddie & The Cruisers," and "Looking for an Echo." As an actor, Kenny Vance has appeared in "Hurly Burly," "Billy Bathgate," "American Hot Wax," "Eddie & The Cruisers," and in several Woody Allen films.

Kenny's passion is singing and throughout a long and successful career in the entertainment industry he has never lost his love and need to sing. He re-formed The Planotones in 1992, and he has brought his passion, along with his soulful vocals, to new heights as he continues to tour as the leader of this talented band of vocalists and musicians.

Kenny Vance - http://www.planotones.com/pl2a.htm

Kenny Vance Performances on Video Here.
http://www.vodpod.com/pod/show_video/91120 and
http://www.vodpod.com/pod/show_video/91078.