"Carol of the Bells" (also known as
the "Ukrainian Bell Carol") is a choral miniature work originally
composed by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych.
Throughout the composition, Leontovych used a four note motif as an
ostinato which was taken from an ancient pagan Ukrainian New Year's
chant known in Ukrainian as "Shchedryk" [the Generous One]
One Must Remember Not all Pagans were worshipers of the Devil or Satan per say they were supposedly Unaware of GOD as their Father. Are as Many of us So Called "Christians of today" are today! We Know not OUR Father and have forsaken-ed HIS Only Begotten Son. Do You Know Who God is and do you Know the difference between GOD and the God of this Our world our Earth?
Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers[1] (born August 21, 1938) is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, entrepreneur and author.
Though he has been most successful with country audiences, he has
charted more than 120 hit singles across various music genres and
topping the country and pop album charts for more than 200 individual
weeks in the United States alone.
Two of his albums, The Gambler and Kenny, are featured in the About.com poll of "The 200 Most Influential Country Albums Ever".[2] He was voted the "Favorite Singer of All-Time" in a 1986 joint poll by readers of both USA Today and People.[3]
He has received numerous such awards as the AMAs, Grammys, ACMs and CMAs, as well as a lifetime achievement award for a career spanning six decades in 2003.[4]
Later success includes the 2006 album release, Water & Bridges, an across the board hit, that peaked at No. 5 in the Billboard Country Albums sales charts, also charting high in the Billboard 200. The first single from the album, "I Can't Unlove You," was also a chart hit. Remaining a popular entertainer around the world, the following year he completed a tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland, telling BBC Radio 2 DJ Steve Wright his favorite hit was "The Gambler".
He has also acted in a variety of movies and television shows, most notably the title roles in Kenny Rogers as The Gambler and the MacShayne series as well as his appearance on The Muppet Show.[5][6]
Kenny Rogers
Kenny Rogers, concert, Chumash Casino Resort hall, Santa Ynez, California, September 27, 2006.
Kenneth Ray Rogers was born in Houston, Texas, in 1938, the fourth of eight[7] children born to Lucille (née Hester; d. 1991), a nurse's assistant[8], and Edward Floyd Rogers (d. 1975), a carpenter.[9] Rogers graduated from Jefferson Davis High School in Houston.
Career
Early career
His career began in the mid 1950s when he recorded with a rockabilly
group called The Scholars, who had some success with a single called
"Poor Little Doggie." Rogers was not the lead singer of the group and
after two more singles they disbanded when their leader went solo.
Now on his own, Kenneth Rogers (as he was billed then) followed the
breakup with his own single, a minor solo hit called "That Crazy
Feeling" (1958). After sales slowed down, Rogers joined a jazz group called The Bobby Doyle Trio, who got a lot of work in clubs thanks to a reasonable fan following and also recorded for Columbia Records.
Feeling that the Minstrels were not offering the success they wanted,
Rogers and fellow members Mike Settle, Terry Williams, and Thelma
Camacho left the group. They formed The First Edition
in 1967 (later renamed "Kenny Rogers and The First Edition").
When the group split in 1976, Rogers launched his solo career. Rogers soon developed a more middle of the road
sound, with a somewhat rough but tuneful voiced style that sold to both
pop and country audiences; to date, he has charted more than 60 top 40
hit singles (including upwards of 25 No. 1's) and 50 of his albums have
charted. His music has also been featured in top selling movie
soundtracks, such as Convoy, Urban Cowboy and The Big Lebowski.[10][11]
Solo career
Rogers in 1981.
After leaving The First Edition in 1976, after almost a decade with the group, Rogers signed a solo deal with United Artists. Producer Larry Butler and Rogers began a partnership that would last four years.[12]
Rogers first outing for his new label was Love Lifted Me. The
album charted and two singles "Love Lifted Me" and "While the Feeling's
Good" were minor hits. The song "Runaway Girl" was featured in the
motion picture Trackdown. Later in 1976, Rogers issued his second album, the self-titled Kenny Rogers, whose first single "Laura (What's He Got That I Ain't Got)", was another solo hit.
The single "Lucille"
(1977) was a major hit, reaching number one on the pop charts in 12
countries, selling over five million copies, and firmly establishing
Rogers' post-First Edition career. On the strength of "Lucille", the
album Kenny Rogers reached No. 1 in the Billboard Country Album Chart.
More success was to follow, including the multi-million selling album The Gambler and another international Number 1 single, "Coward of the County", taken from the equally successful album, Kenny. In 1980, the Rogers/Butler partnership came to an end, though they would occasionally reunite: in 1987 on the album I Prefer the Moonlight and again in 1993 on the album If Only My Heart Had a Voice.
In the late 1970s, Rogers teamed up with close friend and Country Music legend Dottie West
for a series of albums and duets. Together the duo won 2 gold records
(1 of which later went platinum), 2 CMA Awards, an ACM nomination, two
Grammy nominations and 1 Music City News Award for their two hit albums
"Every Time Two Fools Collide" (#1) and "Classics" (#3), selling out
stadiums and arenas while on tour for several years, as well as
appearing on several network television specials which showcased them.
Their hits together "Every Time Two Fools Collide" (#1), "Anyone Who Isn't Me Tonight" (#2), "What Are We Doin' in Love"
(#1), "All I Ever Need Is You" (#1) and "Till I Can Make It On My Own"
(#3) all became Country standards.
Of West, Rogers stated in a 1995 TNN
interview "She, more than anybody else I ever worked with, sang with
such emotion that you actually believed what she sang. A lot of people
sing words, Dottie West sang emotions." In a 1978 press release for
their album "Every Time Two Fools Collide", Rogers credited West with
further establishing and cementing his career with Country Music
audiences.
In the same release, West credited him with taking her career
to new audiences. Rogers was with West only hours before she died at
age 58 after sustaining injuries in a 1991 car accident, as discussed in
his 2012 biography "Luck Or Something Like It". In 1995 he starred
opposite Michele Lee as himself in the CBSbiopicBig Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story.
He went on to work with the Bee Gees to record and produce his 1983 hit album Eyes That See in the Dark, featuring the title track and yet another No. 1 hit "Islands in the Stream", a duet with Dolly Parton. The Gibbs originally wrote the song for Marvin Gaye in an R&B style, only later to change it for the Kenny Rogers album.[13]
The partnership with Bee Gees only lasted one album, which was not a
surprise considering that Rogers' original intentions were to work with Barry Gibb in only one song but Barry insisted on them doing the entire album.
"Islands in the Stream", Rogers' duet with Dolly Parton, was the first single to be released from Eyes That See in the Dark in the United States, and it quickly went to No. 1 in the Billboard Hot 100 (it would prove to be the last country single to reach No. 1 on that chart until "Amazed" by Lonestar
did so in 2000), as well as topping Billboard's country and adult
contemporary singles charts; it was certified Platinum by the Recording
Industry Association of America for shipping two million copies in the
United States.
Rogers would reunite with Parton in 1984 for a holiday
album and TV special, Once Upon a Christmas, as well as a 1985 duet "Real Love", which also topped the U.S. country singles chart.[citation needed]
Despite the "Islands in the Stream"s success, however, RCA insisted on releasing Eyes'
title track as the first UK single, and the song stalled at a
disappointing No. 61 there, although it did stay in the top 100 for
several weeks (when it was eventually released in the United States, it
was more successful, charting high on the Adult Contemporary chart and
making the country top 30).
"Islands in the Stream" was issued as a
followup single in Britain and sold well, making No. 7. The album itself
reached No. 1 on the country charts on both sides of the Atlantic and
enjoyed multi-million sales. "Buried Treasure," "This Woman" and
"Evening Star"/"Midsummer Nights" were also all successful singles from
the album.
Shortly after came the album What About Me?, a hit whose title track, a trio performance with James Ingram and Kim Carnes, was nominated for a Grammy award; the single "Crazy" (not to be confused with the Willie Nelson-penned Patsy Cline hit) topped the country charts. David Foster was to work again with Rogers in his 1985 album The Heart of the Matter, although this time Foster was playing backing music rather than producing, a role given to George Martin. This album was another success, going to No. 1, with the title track making to the top ten category in the singles charts.
The next few years saw Rogers scoring several top country hits on a
regular basis, including "Twenty Years Ago," "Morning Desire," "Tomb of
the Unknown Love", among others. On January 28, 1985 Rogers was one of
the 45 artists who recorded the worldwide charity song "We Are the World" to support hunger victims in Africa.
The following year he played at Giants Stadium.[citation needed]
In January 1987, Rogers co-hosted the American Music Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. In 1988 Rogers won a grammy "Best Country Collaboration with Vocals" with Ronnie Milsap —
"Make No Mistake, She's Mine". In the 1990s Rogers continued to chart
with singles such as "Crazy In Love", "If You Want To Find Love" and
"The Greatest".
His second Christmas album entitled "Christmas in
America" was released in 1989 for Reprise Records. From 1991-94, Rogers
hosted The Real West on A&E, and on The History Channel
since 1995 (Reruns only on The History Channel). He visited Miller's
during this time period. From 1992-95, Rogers co-owned and headlined Branson, Missouri's 4,000 seat Grand Palace Theatre. In 1994, Rogers released his "dream" album titled Timepiece
on Atlantic Records. It consisted of 1930s/40s jazz standards; it was
the type of music he performed in his early days with The Bobby Doyle
Three in Houston.[citation needed]
In 1996 he released an album Vote For Love where the public
requested their favorite love songs and Rogers performed the songs
(several of his own hits were in there). The album was the first for the
TV shopping channel QVC's record label, onQ Music. The album, sold exclusively by QVC,
was a huge success and was later issued in stores under a variety of
different titles. It reached No. 1 in the UK country charts under the
title Love Songs (a title also used for various compilations) and also crossed over into the mainstream charts.
In 1999 Rogers scored with the single "The Greatest", a song about
life from a child's point of view (looked at through a baseball game).
The song reached the top 40 of Billboard's Country singles chart and was
a Country Music Television Number One video. It was on Rogers' album She Rides Wild Horses
the following year (itself a top 10 success). In 1999, Rogers also
produced a song, "We've Got It All", specifically for the series finale
of the ABC show Home Improvement. Not on any album, the recording sells for a high sum at auction.[citation needed]
Source: Wikipedia
TTFN
TTFN
Happy Holidays
When you Know Christ Our Lord Jesus! Everyday is a Holy Day!
See You Soon! Live Life and do so more Abundantly!
Walking in a Winter Wonderland -Eurythmics- with Lyrics
Eurythmics were a British music duo consisting of members Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart, now disbanded but known to reunite from time to time. Stewart and Lennox were both previously in the bands The Catch and The Tourists.
Their musical style ranged from new wave and synthpop to pop rock and soft rock.
Eurythmics originally came together in 1980 and disbanded in 1990. They
reunited in 1999 and split again in 2005. The duo released their first
album, In the Garden, in 1981 to little fanfare, but went on to achieve global success with their second album Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), released in 1983.
The title track was a worldwide hit, topping the chart in various countries including the US.
Eurythmics went on to release a string of hit singles and albums
before they split in 1990.
By this time, Stewart had already embarked on
a parallel music career and was also a sought-after record producer,
while Lennox began a solo recording career in 1992 with her debut album Diva.
After almost a decade apart, Eurythmics reformed in the late 1990s to record their ninth album, Peace which was released in late 1999.
Lennox and Stewart met in 1975 in a restaurant in London, where Lennox worked at that time.[2] They first played together in 1976 in the punk rock band The Catch. After releasing one single as The Catch in 1977, the band evolved into The Tourists.
Stewart and Lennox were also romantically involved. The Tourists
achieved modest commercial success, but the experience was reportedly an
unhappy one.
Personal and musical tensions existed within the group,
whose main songwriter was Peet Coombes,
and legal wranglings happened with the band's management, publishers
and record labels. Lennox and Stewart felt the fixed band line-up was an
inadequate vehicle to explore their experimental creative leanings and
decided their next project should be much more flexible and free from
artistic compromise.
They were interested in creating pop music, but
wanted freedom to experiment with electronics and the av-ant-garde.
Calling themselves Eurythmics (after the pedagogical exercise system
that Lennox had encountered as a child), they decided to keep
themselves as the only permanent members and songwriters, and involve
others in the collaboration "on the basis of mutual compatibility and
availability."
The duo signed to RCA Records.
At this time, Lennox and Stewart also decided to discontinue their
romantic relationship. During the period that Lennox and Stewart were in
The Tourists, and later as Eurythmics, they were managed by Kenny Smith
and Sandra Turnbull of Hyper Kinetics Ltd.
A couple of the songs were co-written by guitarist Roger Pomphrey (now a
TV director). The album received an indifferent critical reception and
was not a commercial success (though the debut single "Never Gonna Cry Again" made the UK charts at No. 63).[3]
Lennox and Stewart then activated their new Eurythmics mode of
operation by touring the record as a duo, accompanied by backing tracks
and electronics, carted around the country themselves in a horse-box.
During 1982 the duo retreated to Chalk Farm
in London, and used a bank loan to establish a small 8-track studio
above a picture framing factory, giving them freedom to record without
having to pay expensive studio fees.
They began to employ much more
electronics in their music, collaborating with Raynard Faulkner and Adam
Williams, recording many tracks in the studio and playing live using
various line-up permutations. However, the three new singles they
released that year ("This Is the House", "The Walk" and "Love Is a Stranger")
all performed badly on initial release in the UK.
Although their mode
of operation had given them the creative freedom they desired,
commercial success was still eluding them, and the responsibility of
running so many of their affairs personally (down to transporting their
own stage equipment) took its toll on both of them. Lennox apparently
suffered at least one nervous breakdown during this period,[4] while Stewart was hospitalized with a collapsed lung.[5]
1983–1984: Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) and Touch
Eurythmics' commercial breakthrough came with their second album, Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), released in January 1983.
The successful title track
featured a dark and powerful sequenced synth bass line and a dramatic
video that introduced the now orange crew-cut Lennox to audiences. The
song reached no.2 on the UK Singles Chart,[3]
becoming one of the year's biggest sellers, and later topped the US
charts.
The band's fortunes changed immensely from this moment on, and
Lennox quickly became a pop icon, gracing the covers of numerous
magazines including Rolling Stone.
Their previous single, "Love Is a Stranger", was also re-released and
became another chart success.
The video for the song saw Lennox in many
different character guises, a concept she would employ in various
subsequent videos. The album's working title was Invisible Hands
(as was a track left off the album), inspiring the name of UK
independent company Invisible Hands Music - known for releasing music by
Hugh Cornwell, Mick Karn and Hazel O'Connor. The album also featured a cover of the 1968 Sam & Dave hit "Wrap It Up", performed as a duet between Lennox and Green Gartside of Scritti Politti.
The duo quickly recorded a follow-up album, Touch,
which was released in November 1983. It became the duo's first no.1
album in the UK, and also spawned three major hit singles.
The upbeat, calypso-flavoured "Right by Your Side" showed a different side of Eurythmics altogether and also made the Top 10, and "Here Comes the Rain Again" (number eight in the UK,[3] number four in the U.S.) was an orchestral/synth ballad (with orchestrations by Michael Kamen).
Nevertheless, the record was
presented as "music derived from the original score of Eurythmics for
the Michael Radford film version of Orwell's 1984". Eurythmics charged that they had been misled by the film's producers as well,[6] and the album was withdrawn from the market for a period while matters were litigated.
The album's first single, "Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four)", was a top 5 hit in the UK,[3]
Australia and across Europe, and a major dance success in the United
States, but its supposedly suggestive title (actually taken from the newspeak phrase used in Orwell's book) resulted in many U.S. pop radio stations refusing to play the track.
Annie Lennox performing during Revenge Tour in 1986
"The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" is a song written by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. (a.k.a. David Seville) in 1958. Although it was written and sung by Bagdasarian (in the form of a high-pitchedchipmunk voice), the singing credits are given to The Chipmunks, a fictitious singing group consisting of three chipmunks by the names of Alvin, Simon, and Theodore. The song won three Grammy Awards in 1958: Best Comedy Performance, Best Children's Recording, and Best Engineered Record (non-classical).[1]
Chart performance and sales
The song was very successful, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100
Pop Singles chart, becoming The Chipmunks' first (and only), as well as
David Seville's second and final, No. 1 single. It has the distinction
of being the only Christmas record to reach No. 1 on the same chart. The
single sold 4.5 million copies in seven weeks, according to Ross
Bagdasarian, Jr.[2]
Ironically, before the song's success, "The Chipmunk Song" was featured on American Bandstand's "Rate-A-Record" segment and received the lowest possible rating of 35 across the board.[3]
Between 1959 and 1962, the single managed to re-enter the Hot 100,
peaking at No. 41 in 1959, No. 45 in 1960, and No. 39 in 1962. (Starting
in 1963, Billboard would list re-current Christmas songs on a separate
chart.) The song managed to chart on the Hot Digital Songs for the first
time in 2005, peaking at No. 35 on that chart.
"The Chipmunk Song" is the last Christmas/holiday song to reach No. 1
on any US singles record chart totaling performance of all available
records.
With the release and popularity of the film Alvin and the Chipmunks
in December 2007, "The Chipmunk Song" re-entered the Billboard Hot 100
at No. 70.
At the same time, a remixed version of the song that appears
on the Chipmunks' 2007 album (and soundtrack to the film) Alvin and the Chipmunks: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, peaked at No. 66 and was credited as "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) (2007 Version)".
"The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)"
(1958)
Adaptation in other media
The song has been adapted in The Alvin Show as one of its musical segments. The short depicts Alvin looking through various presents to find a hula hoop,
even as he reluctantly sings along with the other Chipmunks.
At the end
of the song, Seville rewards Simon and Theodore with toy planes and
Alvin with his hula hoop. The subsequent argument about singing the song
again ends abruptly with their Christmas tree falling over, and Seville
and the Chipmunks emerge from the mess to wish the viewers a merry
Christmas.
The song was featured in A Chipmunk Christmas. A depressed Alvin sings along flatly at first (much like the 1958 original), but then leaves the studio to give away his harmonica
to a sick boy. As Seville starts to resume recording the song without
Alvin, Alvin returns in the nick of time to sing the song with the
others.
The song was featured in the 1980s and 1990s version of Alvin and the Chipmunks,
in the episode "Merry Christmas, Mr. Carroll." In that version, Alvin
is taken by Dave (as the Spirit of Christmas Past) to his old house, a
cabin lodge where he saw Dave and younger versions of himself, Simon and
Theodore.
There, it was revealed that Dave wrote the song (called "The
Christmas Song" in this episode), because it was inspired by the gifts
that the young Chipmunks gave him (which was an eraser, a pencil and a
piece of paper).
The song was featured in the film Alvin and the Chipmunks. There were multiple versions of the song in that film, the original with Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.'s voice, a new one with Jason Lee's voice as David Seville, and a rock mix.
In most subsequent releases since the song's original release, the
first verse on the original recording has been re-recorded, sounding
more exaggerated than the original release, which contained "Almost
Good" as the flip side. There is also a version with the Chipmunks and
rock group Canned Heat
which was first issued as a single in 1968, which is a bonus track on
the 2007 re-release of the Chipmunks' first Christmas album, Christmas with The Chipmunks, this version is the official remix of the original version of the song.
On the Solid Gold Chipmunks: 30th Anniversary Edition
greatest hits album (1988), this song appears, but with an altered
bridge and ending. Instead of Dave yelling at Alvin for how flat he is
in the first verse, Alvin instead appeals that he has asked for the
hula-hoop for years but has never gotten it. Dave answers by telling him
to finish the song, and they'll discuss it later.
After they finish,
Dave tells Alvin that something came in for him. It s the hula-hoop that
he has been asking for, and the song fades out with Alvin now rattling
off a long list of what else he desires for Christmas. The Solid Gold Chipmunks album, Here's Looking at Me album, and The Chipmunk's 35th Birthday Party (1993) are currently the only known albums that contains this version.
There are two versions of the song that both feature Kenny G on the album A Very Merry Chipmunk
(1995), that features a more jazz version of the song with Kenny G
playing the saxophone during the song, the first is the long version
with Alvin complaining about Kenny G and his success as a jazz saxophone
player and him helping Alvin to learn to play the sax, the second
version called "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) (Reprise)"
is the first version but with the talking removed and just the song with
Kenny G playing the sax and the Chipmunks singing the song.
There was
also a version with the Chipmunks and CCM singer, Jaci Velasquez in which Alvin fell in love with Jaci and changed the line "Hula Hoop" into "Date With You".
On the album Disney's Merry Christmas Carols, Chip 'n' Dale sing "The Chipmunk Song" with Donald Duck in the background.
Olive Marie Osmond (born October 13, 1959) is an American singer, actress, doll designer, and a member of the show business family The Osmonds. Although she was never part of her family's singing group, she gained success as a solo country music artist in the 1970s and 1980s.
From an early age, her brothers maintained a career in show business,
singing and performing on national television. Osmond debuted as part of
her brothers' act The Osmond Brothers on the The Andy Williams Show when she was three, but generally did not perform with her brothers in the group's television performances through the 1960s.
Marie Osmond
Osmond with a custom guitar covered in Swarovski Crystals built by Ed Roman Guitars.
Aside from her two older brothers (who are deaf), Marie was soon the
only family member not involved in the music business. After the initial
success of The Osmonds in 1970, Marie's older brother Donny was gaining success as a solo artist on the Pop Music charts and was becoming a teen idol.
The Osmonds' management convinced Marie to try her hand as well. She signed with the family's record label, MGM Records and began making concert appearances with The Osmonds. Her style was more directed towards country music, in contrast with her brothers' pop music.
In 1973, Osmond cut her first single as a solo artist, "Paper Roses". The recording became a No. 1 country hit, reached the Top 5 on the Billboard magazine pop chart, and achieved crossover success. The song earned a gold record as did the album of the same name.
Osmond released another single, "In My Little Corner of the World", and a same-name album in 1974, with both entering the Billboard Top 40 in 1974. The title song on her next album Who's Sorry Now, released in 1975, went to No. 20 the month after its release.
The title song from Osmond's final solo album of the seventies, This Is The Way That I Feel, reached No. 39 within two months of its 1977 release.
In 1974, Osmond had two pop music duet hits with brother Donny: "I'm Leaving It All Up to You" and "Morning Side of the Mountain." The former song was a Top 20 country hit.
Source: Wikipedia
TTFN
Happy Holidays
When you Know Christ Our Lord Jesus! Everyday is a Holy Day!
See You Soon! Live Life and do so more Abundantly!
Michael Buble singing Chestnuts
Roasting On An Open Fire with pics of Christmas and wishing you one and
all a Merry Christmas. Thanks for viewing my videos all year!
According to an Oprah
interview on 9 October 2009, Bublé dreamed of becoming a famous singer
since age two. When he was a teenager, he slept with his Bible and
prayed to become a singer.[12][13] Bublé's interest in jazz music began around age five[14] when his family played Bing Crosby's White Christmas album at Christmas time.[14][15][16]
The first time that his family noticed his singing talent was at
Christmas time when Bublé was 13 years old, and they heard him
powerfully sing the phrase "May your days be merry and bright" when the
family was singing to the song "White Christmas" in a car ride.[12][17]
Bublé had a strong passion for ice hockey and wanted to become a professional ice hockey player for the Vancouver Canucks growing up, but believed he was not good at it,[18] stating: "I wanted so bad to be a hockey player.
If I was any good at hockey, I probably wouldn't be singing right now."[19] Bublé often played hockey in his youth,[20][21] watched Vancouver Canucks games with his father,[22] and said that he "went to every single home game as a kid.
I remember I wanted to be Gary Lupul, I wanted to be Patrik Sundstrom and Ivan Hlinka. I used to think that being named Michael Bublé was pretty cool because I was close to being called Jiri Bubla."[20] Bublé also shared his hockey interest with his grandfather.[23]
From age 14 Bublé spent six years working during the summer as a commercial fisherman with his father and crewmates.[6][24]
Bublé described his work experience as "The most deadly physical work
I’ll ever know in my lifetime. We’d be gone for two, sometimes three
months at a time and the experience of living and working among guys
over twice my age taught me a lot about responsibility and what it means
to be a man."[9]
His first singing engagements were in nightclubs at the age of 16 and
were facilitated by his Italian grandfather Demetrio Santagà,[7] a plumber originally from the small town of Preganziol,[25] in the district of Treviso, who offered his plumbing services in exchange for stage time for his grandson.[9]
Bublé's grandfather also paid for his singing lessons. One of his vocal instructors was Joseph Shore, the opera baritone.[17] Bublé grew up listening to his grandfather's collection of jazz
records and credits his grandfather in encouraging his love for jazz
music. "My grandfather was really my best friend growing up.
He was the
one who opened me up to a whole world of music that seemed to have been
passed over by my generation. Although I like rock 'n' roll and modern
music, the first time my granddad played me the Mills Brothers,
something magical happened. The lyrics were so romantic, so real, the
way a song should be for me. It was like seeing my future flash before
me. I wanted to be a singer and I knew that this was the music that I
wanted to sing."[26]
Bublé never stopped believing that he would become a star but admitted
he was probably the only one who believed in his dream, stating that
even his maternal grandfather thought Bublé was going to be "an opening
act for somebody in Las Vegas".[27] Bublé's maternal grandmother Iolanda Moscone[28][29] was also Italian, from Carrufo,[28]
Villa Santa Lucia degli Abruzzi, Italy.[30] Bublé has stated he never learned to read and write music, using only emotion to drive his songwriting ability.[18][31][32]
At the age of 18, Bublé entered a local talent contest and won. But
after winning, he was disqualified by organizer Bev Delich because he
was underage.
After that, Delich entered Bublé in the Canadian Youth
Talent Search, which he won. Following that win, Bublé asked Delich to
be his manager. Delich signed on and represented Bublé for the next
seven not-so-fruitful years. According to Delich, Bublé would do every
gig imaginable, including talent shows, conventions, cruise ships,
malls, hotel lounges, bars, clubs, corporate gigs, musical revues, singing telegrams, and even the occasional singing Santa Claus gig.[17][24][33][34]
In 1996, Bublé appeared in TV's "Death Game" (aka Mortal Challenge)
as a Drome Groupie. Also in 1996, he appeared (uncredited) in 2 episodes
of The X-Files as a Submarine Sailor.[35]
Bublé's first national TV performance was on a 1997 award-winning Bravo! documentary titled Big Band Boom!, directed by Mark Glover Masterson.
Beginning in 1997, Bublé also became a frequent guest on Vicki Gabereau's national talk show on the CTV
network. During its first season the Vancouver-based program aired
live, which ultimately worked in Bublé's favour. When a scheduled guest
was forced to cancel, the show's music producer (Mark Fuller) often
asked Bublé to fill in at the last minute.
On one occasion, Bublé shared
guest duties with fellow British Columbian Diana Krall,
who was already a Grammy-nominated jazz musician. According to Fuller,
Krall was suitably impressed with Bublé's performance. The Gabereau
appearances provided Bublé with great exposure, but they also helped the
singer hone his television skills as a performer and as an interview
guest. In a mutual show of gratitude, Bublé appeared on the final
Gabereau show in 2005, along with Jann Arden and Elvis Costello.
Bublé received two Genie Award-nominations in 2000 for two songs he wrote for the film Here's to Life! ("I've Never Been in Love Before", "Dumb ol' Heart").[36] He recorded three independent albums (First Dance, 1996; Babalu, 2001; Dream, 2002).[37]
But by 25 years of age, Bublé moved from British Columbia to Toronto, Ontario and was ready to give up the dream of professional musicianship to move back to Vancouver, British Columbia to pursue a career in journalism, when his lucky break came in 2000.[17][38]
Source: Wikipedia
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