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 CAROLE KING - Born Carole Klein on February 9, 1942, in Brooklyn, New York, legendary songwriter Carole King began playing piano at the age of four, and formed her first band, the vocal quartet the Co-Sines, while in high school. A devotee of the composing team of Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, she became a fixture at influential DJ Alan Freed's local Rock 'n' Roll shows. While attending Queens College, she fell in with budding songwriters Paul Simon and Neil Sedaka, as well as Gerry Goffin, with whom she forged a writing partnership. In 1959, Sedaka scored a hit with "Oh! Carol"; written in her honor. King cut the novelty answer record, "Oh! Neil" in response.
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.
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 AL KOOPER is often referred to as the "Zelig" or "Forrest Gump" of Rock. Somehow, in a career that spans 50 years, he has managed to turn up at key points in the last five decades.
Born in Brooklyn, he grew up in Hollis Hills, Queens, New York. As a teen, he hung around Tin Pan Alley and the Brill Building, watching and learning. In 1958, Kooper began his professional career as guitarist in The Royal Teens ("Short Shorts"). He metamorphisized into a Tin Pan Alley songwriter with cuts by Gary Lewis ("This Diamond Ring"), Gene Pitney, Keely Smith, Carmen MacRae, Pat Boone, Freddie Cannon, Lulu, Lorraine Ellison, Donnie Hathaway and later was sampled by The Beastie Boys, Jay-Z, Pharcyde, and Alchemist to name but a few.
In the mid-sixties, Al was a member of The Blues Project ("Flute Thing") and then founded Blood Sweat & Tears, remaining only for their debut and classic album "Child Is Father To The Man." He then slipped his producer hat on and began with the top ten album "SuperSession" in 1968 featuring Mike Bloomfield & Stephen Stills ("Season Of The Witch"). His debut solo album, "I Stand Alone" is a highly regarded work.
In one of those "Zelig" moments, producer Tom Wilson, invited Kooper to watch a Bob Dylan session. By the afternoon's end, Al had played the signature organ riff on Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone." He played off and on with Dylan for many years beginning in 1965, live and in the studio as well as producing "New Morning". His playing skills have graced the works of The Rolling Stones (playing piano, organ and FRENCH HORN for The Rolling Stones on "You Can't Always Get What You Want"), George Harrison (keyboards on George Harrison's #1 hit "All Those Years Ago"), The Who (keys on "The Who Sell Out"), Jimi Hendrix (keys on "Electric Ladyland"), Peter Paul & Mary, B.B. King, The Tubes, Cream, Tom Petty, Joe Cocker, BB King, Taj Mahal, Alice Cooper, Roger McGuinn, Betty Wright, Trisha Yearwood, Tracy Nelson and scores more.
As a producer he is best known for discovering Lynyrd Skynyrd and producing their first three albums including "Sweet Home Alabama," "Free Bird," "Gimme Three Steps," and "Saturday Night Special." He was also involved in the introductions of Janis Joplin and Little Feat. His other producing clients included, The Tubes, Nils Lofgren, Eddie & The Hot Rods, Ray Charles, BB King, The Staple Singers, Lorraine Ellison, Bob Dylan, Joe Ely, Thelonious Monster and Green On Red. His autobiography "Backstage Passes & Backstabbing Bastards" is considered by many to be a rock n roll must-read. He scored Hal Ashby's first film "The Landlord," John Waters film "Cry Baby," Michael Mann's TV series "Crime Story" and Peter Riegert's "King Of The Corner." In 1996. He co- produced the critically-acclaimed "For The Love of Harry: Everybody Sings Nilsson." For one week in 1995, he took over New York City's The Bottom Line for a retrospective of his career. With members of the original Blood, Sweat and Tears, The Blues Project, The Rekooperators and friends, his 2CD release, "Soul Of A Man" brought his work back into the spotlight.
During the 1990s, Kooper was a member of the Rock Bottom Remainders, a loosely affiliated rock band made up of authors including Dave Barry, Stephen King, Dave Marsh, Amy Tan, Barbara Kingsolver, Matt Groening and perhaps ten other writers. Five Towns College in Long Island bestowed an honorary Doctorate of Music on Kooper in May of '97. Dr. Kooper's live show accompanied by his band of Berklee professors, "The Funky Faculty," has been acclaimed all over the USA and in Japan, Italy, Spain, Demark, Finland, Norway and The Czech Republic.
In an issue devoted to The 500 Greatest Recordings of All Time, Rolling Stone magazine included 12 albums with serious participation by Al Kooper.
There are many more credits, but in interest of space, we will close with his most recent solo album "BLACK COFFEE" released in 2005 to much critical acclaim featuring four stars in MOJO magazine and three stars in Rolling Stone. It was awarded the Memphis Blues Award for Comeback Album Of The Year. His humorous appearances in the Martin Scorcese Dylan biopic "No Direction Home" were consideered a highlight by many. In 2006, he was awarded the Milestone Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2007, the AES voted him the Les Paul Award presented to Al by it's namesake, and in 2008, he was inducted into the Musicians Hall Of Fame. At 68, he shows no signs of retirement with a new album "White Chocolate", more live concerts, and the brisk sale of his book published for the third time in 2008.
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 CYNDI LAUPER - Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper was born in Ozone Park, Brooklyn on June 22, 1953 to parents Catrine Dominique and Fred Lauper.
She began playing the guitar and writing lyrics at the age of 12. Lauper performed throughout the '70s with a number of different cover bands. In 1980, she and John Turi formed the band Blue Angel and released a self-titled debut album. She signed with Portrait Records in 1983 as a solo artist.
Her first solo album, She's So Unusual, went on to sell 4.5 million copies in the U.S. alone, and produced four Top Five Singles: 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun', 'Time After Time', 'All Through the Night', and 'She-Bop'. The album, and the videos made from her singles, garnered a number of awards. In 1985, Lauper was one of the many musical icons to lend her singing talent to the recording of USA for Africa's 'We Are the World', a Number One single that was produced to help raise money for starving people in Africa. In that same year, she penned and sang the theme song for the film The Goonies, '(The Goonies 'R') Good Enough'. She followed this up with her successful 1986 album True Colors.
Lauper continued to release albums throughout the '80s and early '90s. She also appeared in a pair of films, Vibes in 1988 with Jeff Goldblum, and Off and Running in 1990. It was on the set for this second film where she first met her husband, David Thornton.
Lauper released a number of albums during the '90s, including Twelve Deadly Cyns...And Then Some (1994), which contained many of her singles hits, Sisters of Avalon (1997), and Merry Christmas...Have a Nice Life (1998). Her son, Declyn Wallace Lauper-Thornton was born in November of 1997.
Lauper continues to record, perform live shows, and act.
Audio Portrait
Performances on YouTube Here, Here and Here.
www.cyndilauper.com
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 LITTLE ANTHONY AND THE IMPERIALS - Little Anthony and The Imperials have enjoyed one of the longest careers of any doo wop group, mixing smooth ballads with R&B-influenced dance tunes.
Little Anthony was born Jerome Anthony Gourdine in 1941, and grew up in Brooklyn (where he lived for 30 years of his life). While in high school, he sang in a doo wop group called The Duponts. After graduation, he joined another Brooklyn-based group called The Chesters. They had been formed by his friend Clarence Collins (tenor), and also featured Ernest Wright, Jr. (tenor), Tracy Lord (tenor), and Nat Rogers (bass). In 1958, they landed a recording contract with the End label, and changed their name to The Imperials. 'Little Anthony' was later tacked onto the beginning of their name by DJ Alan Freed.
The Imperials' first single for End was the classic 'Tears on My Pillow', which quickly became a Top Five hit on both the pop and R&B charts. The singleís B-side 'Two People in the World' was also something of a hit. The band followed with a number of lower-charting singles, including 'So Much', 'Wishful Thinking' and 'A Prayer and a Jukebox', before reaching the upper level of the charts again with a novelty dance track, 'Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko-Ko-Bop'. In 1961, Little Anthony embarked on a solo career, but he rejoined The Imperials in 1963. The reconstituted group signed with the DCP label, releasing 'I'm on the Outside (Looking In)', which reached number 15 on both the pop and R&B charts in 1964. The follow-up, 'Goin' Out of My Head' was a smash, returning them to the Top Ten. They had another Top Ten hit in 1965 with 'Hurt So Bad', and a couple of smaller hits later that year, 'I Miss You So' and 'Take Me Back'.
Little Anthony and the Imperials continued to chart singles over the next several years, but only one, 1969's 'Out of Sight, Out of Mind' reached the Top 50 on either the pop or R&B charts. Wright left the band in 1969, and Little Anthony himself left the band again in 1975. Little Anthony, Clarence Collins and Harold Wright, Jr. reunited in 1992, and have steadily toured the oldies circuit since.
Performances on YouTube Here.
www.littleanthonyandtheimperials.net
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 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
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 LONG ISLAND PHILHARMONIC-The Long Island Philharmonic was founded in 1979 by folk singer Harry Chapin, Maestro Christopher Keene, and a group of Long Island's major community and business executives.
In the years ensuing, the Philharmonic has not only performed at such venues as the Tilles Center in Brookville, which is the Philharmonic's home, the Staller Center in Stony Brook, and Southampton HS, they also perform regularly at outdoor locations including Heckscher Park in Huntington, Brookhaven Amphitheater in Farmingville and Eisenhower Park in East Meadow.
In addition to its regularly scheduled concerts, which include Youth Concerts, as well as two free Summer Parks Concerts, the Philharmonic has expanded its mission to include Arts-in-Education Programs geared toward involving Long Island's school children in Youth Concerts, Master Classes, and other collaborative efforts with the school districts, including the John Funk Memorial Scholarship, which is awarded to two students annually, one in Nassau County and one in Suffolk County.
The Philharmonic is also involved in programs with community-based organizations, including libraries, hospitals, senior centers, hospices, museums and malls, among other areas. Their most well-known program is called "Random Acts of Music", in addition to "Heartstrings", which provides over 2,000 tickets every year to those who would otherwise be unable to attend a performance.
The Philharmonic currently consists of 83 resident musicians, drawn from the New York area, as well as a number of guest artists, and an adjunct chorus of 150 members.
www.liphilharmonic.com
www.tillescenter.org
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 GUY LOMBARDO- 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 .
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