British Singer/Songwriter Jamie Cullum is notorious for his love affair with the piano and mature sultry singing voice, although he is also pretty handy on Drums, Piano, Guitar and his favorite stage prop the "Stompbox". All of which has helped Jamie to become the biggest selling jazz artist ever.

Jamie Cullum was born on the 20th of August 1979, in Romford, London, England but was brought up in the Doomsday mentioned village of Hullavington, Wiltshire. When Jamie was still at university studying for an English literature degree, he released his first album ‘Heard It All Before’. Even though only 500 copies of the album were released, ‘Heard It All Before’ was very popular with his fans paying up to 600 pounds for a copy.

His second album ‘Pointless Nostalgic’, released in 2002, three years after his first, was taken on by Candid Records, Candid helped Cullum attain national attention, something Jamie didn’t have for his first album. In keeping with the Jazz tradition the album included covers of the classics ‘Devil May Care’, ‘Well You Needn’t’ and ‘It Ain’t Necessarily So’. The success of this album won Jamie a deal with Universal who handed out a £1,000,000 contract for three Cullum albums.

With Universal backing him, JC’s next album ‘Twentysomething’, released in 2003, became Jamie’s first platinum album. The album included crossover covers from artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Buckley and even a modern take on My Fair Lady, all sprayed with a dose of Jamie’s jazz etiquette. With ‘Twentysomething’, Jamie won the rising star award at the British Jazz awards and was also nominated for British Breakthrough Act at the BRIT awards.

Jamie released his fourth album ‘Catching Tales’, worldwide in 2005. Jamie’s profile raised in stature which resulted in a 14 month tour worldwide, including 4 times around America. Jamie was nominated for best male artist and best live act at the BRIT awards in the year ‘Catching Tales’ was released. In this year, he was also nominated for artist of the year at the BBC Jazz Awards.

As a young performer, Cullum honed his skills as a live performer in pubs, clubs and hotels, from London to Paris, this experience has nurtured Cullum into an almost Dean Martinesque smooth performer. His performances involve a lot more than your average mainstream chart act; aside from serious musicianship he also incorporates beat boxing and some mesmeric rhythm tapping on the wooden panels of his piano, which all make for a more than exhilarating live show.

Even with his album and live show success, Jamie has still had time to compose original songs for Hollywood movies. His composition nearly saw him win a Golden Globe Award for best original song, after penning the title track for Clint Eastwood’s 2008 movie "Gran Torino".

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Jamie’s 2009 album "The Pursuit" is definitely his most commercial album to date with a cover version of Rhianna’s "Please don’t stop the music" and a collaboration with hip-hop producer Kay Gee on "We run things". All of which seems to have set Jamie Cullum up for the longevity in the music business that his passion and commitment to the music so dearly deserves. Jamie Cullum will be touring in 2010 with his latest album "The Pursuit".

Dean Woodhouse

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Jimi Hendrix

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Phil Collins

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Procol Harum is arguably the most successful "accidental" band in the history of progressive rock music. By which I mean, the band originally assembled to take advantage of the success of a record created in the studio. The band was formed from the ashes of the R&B band ‘The Paramounts’ by Gary Brooker (piano, vocals), Matthew Fisher (organ), Bobby Harrison (drums), Ray Royer (guitar) and Dave Knight (bass). Their famous debut, Bach-influenced single, ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’, catalysed the London boys to becoming one of the biggest successes of the late 1960s. It was followed by the Top 10 hit, ‘Homburg’.

However, by the time a hastily thrown-together debut album was released, the band was falling apart. Harrison and Royer departed to be replaced by B.J. Wilson and Robin Trower (who was a member of The Paramounts). The other unofficial member of the band was lyricist Keith Reid.

Brooker and Reid provided the band's entire repertory, however the frequent line-up changes did not help the bands creativity although it added a new instrumental voice to the proceedings. At their most accessible, as on ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ and ‘Conquistador’, they were one of the most popular of progressive rock bands, teir singles outselling all rivals, and their most ambitious album tracks still have a strong following.

‘A Salty Dog’ was released to critical acclaim before Fisher and Knights departed and the circle was completed when Chris Copping (organ, bass) became the last former member of The Paramounts to join the band. Trower’s Jimi Hendrix – influenced guitar patterns on ‘Broken Barricades’ began to give the band a heavier image, not compatible with Reid’s fantasy sagas. This was resolved by Trower’s departure, the recruitment of Dave Ball and the addition of Alan Cartwright (bass). Further line-up changes ensured with Ball departing and Mick Grabham joining in 1972. This line-up became the band’s most stable and they enjoyed four successful and busy years during which they released three albums. 1977 saw the musical climate dramatically change and Procol Harum were one of the first casualties of punk, which led to their disbandment. They reunited for a single performance five months later, when ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ was named joint winner (along with Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’) of the Best British Pop Single 1952–1977 at the BRIT awards, part of Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee. An enormous achievement by any standards.

In August 1991, Brooker, Trower, Fisher and Reid reunited, with Mark Brzezicki (ex-Big Country) replacing the recently deceased Wilson. Unlike many re-formed ‘dinosaurs’ the result was a well-received album ‘The Prodigal Stranger’. In July 1997, fans arranged the celebration of the 30-year anniversary of the success of ‘A White Shade of Pale’ and invited the then-inactive band to perform.

In late 1999, Gary Brooker promised that Procol Harum will play in 2000, and in September the band played an open-air gig with the New London Sinfonia in Guildford. Since 2001 the band has made several tours of mostly Europe, but also Japan and the US. Fisher quit Procol Harum in 2004.

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The band resumed with a limited touring schedule in 2005, with Josh Phillips replacing Fisher on Hammond, leaving Gary Brooker as the only original performing member. Brooker was appointed a Member of the Order of The British Empire in the Queen’s Birthdays Honours on 14 June 2003 in recognition of his charitable services. It was Brooker’s vision and never ending thirst for music, which has been the driving force to the life of Procol Harum and one feels that if there was to be one member that was the heart and backbone to the group, it’s Gary Brooker. The band was able to withstand frequent line-up alterations, however it was the one constant, Gary Brooker, that enabled the band to become the legendary and unique progressive rock band that Procol Harum are.

Although there was no Procol Harum activity in 2008, their manager, Chris Cooke, used the 'Beyond the Pale' web site to announce plans for a live DVD and a new album.

Mathew Jones

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The Moody Blues

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Queen

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Robbie Williams is one of the most successful British, male, artists of all time; he has sold more albums (55 million albums worldwide) and won more BRIT awards that any other solo artist to date, all at the tender age of 35. Having once been labelled “the fat dancer from Take That”, Robbie Williams has far exceeded expectations and has proved that he is one of the great performers of his generation.

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Robert P. Williams was born in the Staffordshire of Stoke-on-Trent in 1974. Williams grew up around music, his dad (Peter) was a local performer whom Williams often performed with, watching and learning from his dad gave him the inspiration to get into the music industry. In 1990, Robbie joined Take That after his mother heard about an advertisement on the radio, looking for singers and dancers for a boy band. Over the course of the next five years, Take That were the biggest act in the UK, scoring multiple number ones and selling out arenas across the UK and Europe.

On July 1995, Robbie left the Band, after reported drug abuse and musical differences with lead singer and songwriter Gary Barlow. Williams and Barlow went to war in the tabloids in a verbal slagging match that lasted two years, it seemed for a while as if only Gary could win this battle, until Robbie released the single “Angels” written with song writing partner Guy Chambers (In 2005 'Angels' was voted, best song of the last 25 years at the BRIT awards). The song was a huge success and catapulted Robbie’s, Debut album 'Life Thru a Lens' to No.1, and so, the Robbie Williams train had started moving and hasn’t stop moving since. By 1999 Gary Barlow retired as a solo artist.

Robbie Williams has since had seven No.1 albums in the UK and has had multiple No.1 albums across Europe and Latin America; in 2002 he signed the biggest music deal in British music history worth a reported £80 million with his record label EMI. The contract was signed with the incentive to dominate the American music market, the general consensus to date, is that Williams has never quite cracked the American market. It has been reported that Robbie is currently working on a new album with Grammy and BRIT award winning producer Trevor Horn, the album title is slated to be 'Reality Killed the Video Star' a play off of Horn's late 70's hit 'Video Killed the Radio Star'. With two pop music heavyweights at the helm no doubt Williams' next album has the potential to be something special.

Segun Murray Ogunsheye

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Take That

Tom Jones

Kylie Minogue

Adam Ant

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Paul Weller is an English singer-songwriter born on 25th May 1958 as John William Weller. Weller started his career with the world famous punk-rock band The Jam in 1976 and continued with them till 1982 before joining The Style Council in 1983 until 1989. In 1991 Weller established himself as a solo artist and still remains a respected singer, lyricist and guitarist. 2009 saw Weller win 2009 BRIT award for ‘Best Male Solo Artist’. He is the principal figure of the 1970s Mod revival and is often referred to as the Modfather.

Weller released his self titled album in 1992, which was commercially and critically successful. Next came arguably Weller’s best work with the release of 'Wild Wood' which reached No. 2 in the UK charts. The 1995 album, 'Stanley Road' was named after the street Weller grew up in and took him to the top of the UK charts and included top 10 single’s 'The Changingman' and 'You Do Something To Me'. The follow up, 'Heavy Soul' reached No. 2 in the UK charts as did the 2000 follow up, 'Heliocentric'. 2002 saw Weller release the No.1 album, 'Illumination' before cover album 'Studio 150' was released in 2004. The album included cover’s of Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Rose Royce, Sister Sledge and Gordon Lightfoot and went to No.2 in the UK charts. 2005 and 2008 saw the release of 'As Is Now' and '22 Dreams' respectively.

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Weller formed a one-off group with Noel Gallagher and Paul McCartney in 1995 called Smokin’ Mojo Filters to record a charity version of The Beatles’ 'Come Together' for Bosnian children and in 2006 declined to receive a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

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The Jam

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The English band, Radiohead, was founded in 1985 in Oxfordshire, England. The 5 band members all met whilst attending Abingdon School.  At the time the band was called On A Friday as they used to meet on a Friday to rehearse. The line up consists of Thom Yorke (rhythm guitar, beats, piano and lead vocals), Ed O’Brien (backing vocals and guitar), Jonny Greenwood (keyboard, lead guitar and other instruments), Phil Selway (percussion and drums) and Colin Greenwood (synthesizers and bass guitar).

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Radiohead’s debut single was the song 'Creep' in 1992, which initially failed to impress but became a huge hit with the release of their debut album, 'Pablo Honey' in 1993. The release of their second album 'The Bends' in 1995 boosted their popularity in the UK. 1997 saw the release of third album, 'OK Computer', which propelled them to greater international fame and is now considered a landmark record of the 1990s. Their next 2 albums, 'Kid A' and 'Amnesiac' saw the group incorporate electronic music, Krautrock, post-punk and jazz influences. In 2003 the band released, “Hail to the Thief”, their last album through record label, EMI. 'In Rainbows', their seventh album was released independently and each customer could set their own price. It was a critical and chart success.

Radiohead have been nominated for numerous music awards including 8 BRIT award nominations (which they have never won), 14 Grammy award nominations (including 3 wins), 10 MTV awards nominations (of which they won 9), 3 Q Awards and an Ivor Novello award. The band are still active today.

WE'VE A GREAT RARE TRACK OF THE BAND WHEN THEY PERFORMED AS ON A FRIDAY,  CHECK IT OUT IN OUR RARE RECORD CLUB SECTION HERES THE LINK

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Elvis Costello

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Blur are an indie rock band formed in 1988 in London consisting of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. They are best known for their chart battle with Oasis in ‘The Battle of Britpop’.

Their debut album, “Leisure” was released in 1991 and was heavily influenced by the ‘Madchester’ scene. Peaking at No.7 in the UK chart it received mixed reviews from the critics. In 1992 the band embarked a 2 month tour of the US and during this period became increasingly unhappy and often fought with each other. They began writing about the things they missed from England. By 1993 the band had released their second album, “Modern Life Is Rubbish” which had limited commercial success peaking at No. 15 in the UK chart and failing to impact upon the US.

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1994 was a turning point in the band’s fortunes. “Parklife” was a massive success and went straight to No.1 staying in the UK charts for a massive 90 weeks. The album’s first single, “Girls & Boys” went to No.5 in the UK and No.4 in the US and also generated further hit singles with title track, “Parklife” and “To the End”. Blur won four BRIT awards that year including Best Band. 1995 saw the start of the antagonistic rivalry between Blur and Oasis and both bands decided to release a new single on the same day. Blur’s “Country House” outsold Oasis’, “Roll With It” by 48,000 copies and was the band’s first No.1. Their next album, “The Great Escape” was released the same year and went straight to No.1 and received excellent reviews. They were soon the media losers again when Oasis’, “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory” went quadruple platinum in America.

After a strained 1996 the band reinvented their musical style for the self titled album, “Blur” in 1997. The album produced hit singles, “Beetlebum” and “Song 2”, the latter being used for soundtracks, adverts and TV shows. The band released, “13” in 1999 and went straight in at No.1 in the charts and included gospel-based, “Tender” and “Coffee & TV”. After “13” the band went into hiatus and pursued other projects such as Gorillaz. The band released a new album, “Think Tank” in 2003 which was heavily electronic and was another UK No.1.

The band reunited in 2009 for a brief UK tour.

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Oasis

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Born Thomas Jones Woodward on 7th June 1940 in the Welsh town of Pontypridd, Tom Jones is as synonymous with Wales as daffodils, coal and leeks.

Tom Jones sang from an early age; he was a member of his school choir, and he often sang at family gatherings. After leaving school with no qualifications, he joined a local beat group - Tommy Scott and The Senators - in 1963. Often performing in black leather, Tom Jones soon gained recognition in South Wales. However, The Senators were still unheard of in London.

The band recorded seven tracks with the legendary producer Joe Meek, but true to form, Meek refused to release the tapes. Tom Jones and the Senators returned to the Working Men’s Clubs and Dance Halls of South Wales, and it was in such a venue that London-based manager Gordon Mills spotted Tom Jones. Mills became Tom Jones’ manager, and managed to get him signed to the renowned Decca label.

Tom Jones’ first single Chills and Fever failed to chart when it was released in late 1964, but the following year, his next record It’s Not Unusual was a smash; hitting the number 1 spot in the UK Singles Chart and reaching the top 10 of the US Billboard Chart. 1965 ended with Tom Jones being awarded the ‘Grammy Award for Best New Artist’. A year later, his cover version of The Green, Green Grass of Home spent seven weeks at number 1 in the UK.

Tom Jones’ first international performance was at Las Vegas’ Flamingo Club in 1967. His performance at New York’s Copacabana Nightclub the following year saw him confronted by a swooning, screaming, knicker-throwing female horde. This marked the beginning of Tom Jones’ concentration on lucrative club performances, rather than on recording albums.

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The 1970s provided Tom Jones with multiple successes, including the records Daughter of Darkness, The New Mexican Puppeteer and She’s a Lady. He also starred in a number of variety shows on American television, including ‘This is Tom Jones’ and ‘The Tom Jones Show’. However - despite these numerous triumphs - his popularity began to wane towards the end of the decade. The 1985 single A Boy From Nowhere reached number 2 on the UK singles chart, and his cover of Prince’s Kiss (which charted at number 5) went some way to reintroduce Jones back into the public consciousness. His comeback truly arrived with the 1999 release of Reload, a selection of duets with several other high-profile artists including The Pretenders, Robbie Williams and Van Morrison. In 2000, Tom Jones was invited by the then president of United States Bill Clinton to perform at the Millennium celebrations at Washington D.C. That same year, Jones was presented with the BRIT award for ‘Best Male’.

He celebrated his 65th birthday in 2005. To mark the occasion, he performed a spectacular concert in Ynysangharad Park, Pontypridd (his first performance in his hometown since 1964), which saw a musical legend returning to where it all began.

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Elvis Presley

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A Bit Of Tom Jones