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POPULAR MUSIC ]] Although its music scene is not as renowned as those of Liverpool or Manchester , Birmingham has had a vibrant and varied musical history over the last half-century. Fifties bands such as Billy King And The Nightriders , Pat Wayne and The Deltas and The Dominettes gave rise in the following decade to the Brum Beat era featuring early progressive rock and Blues bands such as The Spencer Davis Group , Traffic , The Fortunes , The Rockin Berries , The Idle Race , The Moody Blues and The Move (members of the last two going on to form The Electric Light Orchestra and Wizzard ). The city is often cited as the birthplace of Heavy Metal Music in the late 1960s, with Judas Priest and Black Sabbath coming from Birmingham. Robert Plant and John Bonham , later members of Led Zeppelin and being local to the city, played in bands which were part of the Birmingham music scene, they performed and rehearsed frequently in the city. Rob Halford of Judas Priest attributes the band's success to '''Birmingham having that tough, working-class feeling [... We weren't born with a Silver Spoon in our mouths. We had to go to work and work really hard. Some people that work in a Coal Mine or work in the car industry might argue and say, 'These guys haven't worked a day in their lives.' That's not true. To be in a band – to be in a worldwide, successful band – is incredibly hard work.''[http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050610/ENT/506100344/1031/NEWS03] In the 1960s, the " Brum Beat " era featured Blues and early Progressive Rock bands such as the Spencer Davis Group , Traffic , The Move and The Moody Blues and Velvett Fogg. In the 1970s members of The Move and The Moody Blues formed the Electric Light Orchestra and Wizzard . In the 1970s, Birmingham's large West Indian population contributed to the popularity of Reggae , with Steel Pulse 's ground-breaking album Handsworth Revolution leading the way. Later Musical Youth , UB40 , the first truly mixed-race UK Dub band, and Pato Banton found commercial success, as did 2 Tone bands such as The Beat who drew their influences from Jamaican ska music. Artistes from the city continue to contribute to reggae in the UK such as Rasta MC Chesire Cat who rapped on the Leftfield album ''Rhythm and Stealth''. Singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading had many hits during this decade. Pink Floyd recorded part of Ummagumma at the venue Mothers in Erdington , where Traffic staged their debut gig. As the 1980s arrived, the Rum Runner Nightclub played a significant role in rock music in the city, particularly in the case of New Romantic supergroup Duran Duran. Dexys Midnight Runners , Stephen "Tintin" Duffy and The Bureau also emanated from the city's music scene at this time. Later in the decade, Grindcore music, a blend of Punk and heavy metal, was pioneered in the city by Napalm Death . The Charlatans , Dodgy , Felt , The Lilac Time , and Ocean Colour Scene were other notable rock bands founded in the city and its surrounding area in this period. Pop Will Eat Itself formed in nearby Stourbridge and consisted of Birmingham band members as did Neds Atomic Dustbin . Birmingham-based tape recorder company, Bradmatic Ltd helped develop and manufacture the Mellotron . Over the next 15 years, the mellotron had a major impact on Rock music and is a trademark sound of the era's progressive bands. The city went on to embrace Acid House (see Birmingham House Music Scene ) supported by local figures such as the late Tony De Vit , Steve Lawler and Scott Bond . Birmingham has given birth to some of the UK's most influential dance nights Gatecrasher , Sundissential , Atomic Jam , and later, Gods Kitchen . The city's cultural diversity also contributed to the blend of Bhangra and Ragga pioneered by Apache Indian in Handsworth. Many varieties of electronic and dance music continue to cross-fertilise in the city with acts such as Bentley Rhythm Ace , The Streets , Rockers Hi-Fi , Editors , Surgeon , Mistys Big Adventure and Broadcast . Successful Birmingham singer/songwriters and musicians include Astro , Joan Armatrading , Steve Gibbons , Mike Kellie (of Spooky Tooth ), Jeff Lynne , Phil Lynott , Carl Palmer (of Emerson Lake And Palmer ), Roy Wood , Jamelia , Kelli Dayton of The Sneaker Pimps , Martin Barre (guitarist with Jethro Tull ), Bev Bevan , Ali Campbell , Steve Cradock (guitarist for Ocean Colour Scene and Paul Weller ), Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy , Tony Iommi , Ozzy Osbourne , Jamelia, Denny Laine , Fritz Mcintyre (keyboardist of Simply Red ), Christine Perfect (of Fleetwood Mac ), Robert Plant (born in West Brom and played in Brumbeat bands), Nick Rhodes , Ranking Roger , John Henry Rostill (bass guitarist/composer for The Shadows ), Matt Skinner , Dave Swarbrick (of Fairport Convention ), John Taylor , Roger Taylor , Ruby Turner , Ted Turner (guitar/vocals, Wishbone Ash ), Peter Overend Watts , Steve Winwood and Dave Mason . Nick Mason of Pink Floyd was born in the city and was brought up in London. Dance music Birmingham embraced House Music in the late 1980s. Acid House nights such as Spectrum took place at the Digbeth Institute (now the Sanctuary) and the Hummingbird (now the Carling Academy Birmingham ). Early Acid House nights in Birmingham included C.R.E.A.M. (not associated with the Liverpool night of similar name), Chuff Chuff and the early events of the influential Gatecrasher . Subsequent nights included Gods Kitchen , Fun , Miss Moneypenny's , Sundissential , Shaanti , House Of God , Atomic Jam and now there is a new breed of dance music nights such as Toxic City and Underground City The Que Club, based in what was the old Methodist Central Hall , opposite the Victoria Law Courts on Corporation Street , was one of the biggest clubs the city has ever had. It had a capacity of about 4000. It housed some early Rave s as well as a succession of Techno , Drum And Bass and Old School Techno events. The club is now closed for conversion to other use. Stores in the city selling Vinyl records include Swordfish Records, Tempest Records, Summit Records (which now sells mainly Reggae and doubles as an Afro Caribbean barbers), Jibbering Records , Punch Records , Old School Daze, Dance Music Finder Records, Three Shades Records and Hard To Find Records , which is the original dance music finder in the UK and now trades as one the largest vinyl record and DJ stores in the world. Electronic artists include Electro Dub music creators Rockers Hi-Fi , Big Beat musicians Bentley Rhythm Ace , UK Garage / House act The Streets , and Electronica bands Broadcast , Pram , Plone , Surgeon , Add N To X , Electribe 101 , Mistys Big Adventure , The Editors and Avrocar . Successful house musicians and DJs include the late Tony De Vit , Steve Lawler , Steve Kelley , Scott Bond , Jem Atkins, Al McKenzie, Colin Dred, The Ryan Brothers, Mark Jarman, Patrick Smooth, Tall Paul and Jeremy Sylvester . Notable dance music record labels include Network Records (of Altern8 fame), Different Drummer , Urban Dubz Records , Badger Promotions , Jibbering Records , Iron Man, Earko and Munchbreak Records . ''See also: List Of Songs About Birmingham '' Hip hop Hip Hop Culture in Birmingham also enjoyed a thriving Electro , Graffiti Art and hip hop scene, and dates back to at least 1980, and has produced popular performers like Moorish Delta 7 and Brothers And Sisters . The city had a Pirate Radio Station called 'Fresh F.M.' which broadcast from the city. The station played hip hop and breakdance records and inspired a rap crew called Jump who released two records, 'We Come to Jam' and 'Feel It', as early as 1985. In 1980 a Birmingham rapper 'Sure Shot' appeared on a UK breakfast show, followed in 1985, a hip hop collective named Jump (which included Sure Shot) released two records;'We Come to Jam' and 'Feel It'. The crew formed 'The Audio Kings' and 'The Black Prophetz'. When hip hop performer Afrika Bambaata visited Britain he inspired new Rappers and Hip Hop DJ s including Moorish Delta 7 Elements, Roc1, Mad Flow, Creative Habits, Lord Laing and DJ Sparra (twice winner of the DMC mixing championships). Brothers And Sisters took place in the 'Coast to Coast' club in the old ATV television studios on Broad Street in the early 1990s. Then came Fungle Junk , held for many years beneath House Music club ' Fun '., and bringing The Psychonaughts , Andy Weatherall and the Scratch Perverts to the city. , both featured on BBC Radio 1. They fuse Acid Jazz , hip hop and funk artists from across the Globe. Munchbreak , a live hip hop collective, host a regular session in the old Rainbow pub in Digbeth which is part owned by Fuzz Townswend, a former member of Bentley Rhythm Ace and Pop Will Eat Itself . Punch Records , in the Custard Factory, run street dance and Hip Hop DJ courses. MUSIC FESTIVALS ]. Jazz musicians associated with the city include Soweto Kinch , Julian Arguelles , Ronnie Ball , Tony Kinsey , Douglas "Dougle" Robinson and King Pleasure And The Biscuit Boys . Jools Holland backs the Jam House in St Paul's Square . The busiest promoter of contemporary jazz in the city is the voluntary organisation Birmingham Jazz , which mounts dozens of concerts every year featuring local, national and international artists in venues such as the CBSO Centre, the mac arts centre, the Glee Club and Symphony Hall. It enjoys the support of the city council and the Arts Council Of England and also commissions new works from both local performers and performers of international standing. Party In The Park is Birmingham's largest music festival, at Cannon Hill Park , where up to 30,000 revellers of all ages enjoy popular chart music. The newest music festival that Birmingham has to offer is Gigbeth , first piloted in March 2006 and now set to be annually on the first weekend of November. Gigbeth is a music festival celebrating all genres of music with a strong emphasis on local music from the West Midlands. It runs in the Digbeth area of Birmingham utilising a range of music venues including the Barfly, local pubs, the Custard Factory,the Bullring and the Glee Club. VENUES Birmingham's music venues large and small include Symphony Hall at the ICC, The National Indoor Arena , Carling Academy Birmingham , the National Exhibition Centre , The CBSO Centre, The Glee Club, The Adrian Boult Hall at Birmingham Conservatoire, The Yardbird, Mac (Midlands Arts Centre) at Cannon Hill Park, The Custard Factory , the Drum Arts Centre , The Jam House , and pub and bar venues including The Rainbow (Digbeth), The Bull's Head (in the suburb of Moseley), The Cross (Moseley), the Ceol Castle (Moseley), the Hare and Hounds (Kings Heath), Scruffy Murphy's, the Jug of Ale, The Queen's Arms (city centre), a branch of Barfly and the Hibernian. CLASSICAL MUSIC The Birmingham Triennial Music Festival took place from 1784 - 1912 and was considered the grandest of its kind throughout Britain. Music was written for the festival by Mendelssohn , Gounod , Sullivan , Dvořák , Bantock and most notably Elgar , who wrote four of his most famous choral pieces for Birmingham. Albert William Ketèlbey was born in Alma Street, Aston on 9 August , 1875 , the son of a teacher at the Vittoria School Of Art . Ketèlbey attended the Trinity College Of Music , where he beat the runner-up, Gustav Holst , for a musical scholarship. The internationally-renowned City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra 's home venue is Symphony Hall , which in acoustic terms is widely considered to be one of the greatest concert halls of the Twentieth Century and also hosts concerts by many visiting orchestras. Other professional orchestras based in the city include the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group , a chamber orchestra specialising in modern music with an impressive record of world premieres; the Royal Ballet Sinfonia , who give concert performances under music director Barry Wordsworth in addition to playing for the Birmingham Royal Ballet; and Ex Cathedra , one of the country's oldest and most respected Early-music and Baroque Period Instrument Ensembles . The Royal College Of Organists is based in Digbeth and is shortly to move into new premises built around the Grade 1 Listed former Curzon Street Railway Station . Birmingham is an important centre for musical education as the home of the UCE Birmingham Conservatoire , founded in 1859. The Birmingham Royal Ballet resides in the city as does the Elmhurst School For Dance , based in Edgbaston, and which claims to be the world's oldest vocational dance school. Birmingham's professional opera company - the Birmingham Opera Company - specialises in staging innovative performances in unusual venues (in 2005 it performed Monteverdi's ''Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria'' in a burnt-out ice rink in the Chinese Quarter). Its artistic director, Graham Vick, has also directed at La Scala , Milan, the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Royal Opera House in London. Visiting opera companies such as Opera North and Welsh National Opera perform regularly at the Hippodrome . Birmingham's other principal music venues include The National Indoor Arena (NIA), CBSO Centre , Adrian Boult Hall (ABH) at Birmingham Conservatoire , the Barber Concert Hall at the Barber Institute Of Fine Arts and Birmingham Town Hall , currently closed for refurbishment. Concerts also regularly take place in churches around the city including St Phillips Cathedral , St Paul's in the Jewellery Quarter , St Alban's in Highgate and The Oratory on the Hagley Road. LITERATURE Many famous literary figures have been associated with Birmingham:
The city also has literary publishers such as Tindal Street Press and hosts The Young Book Reader UK Festival as well as an online literary community called Birmingham Words . THEATRE Kenneth Peacock Tynan and David Edgar are possibly Birmingham's most famous characters linked to the Theatrical scene. There are many theatres in Birmingham. The four largest professional theatres are the Alexandra Theatre ("the Alex"), Birmingham Repertory Theatre ("The Rep"), the Birmingham Hippodrome and the Old Rep . The '' Mac '' and Drum arts centres, the Crescent Theatre and the Old Joint Stock Theatre also host many professional plays. Sutton Coldfield Town Hall has theatre facilities and hosts numerous amateur productions. The actors in the long-running Radio 4 serial '' The Archers '' live in and around Birmingham, where the supposedly rural programme is recorded. Birmingham also hosts a number of independent and community theatre companies, including Banner Theatre which was founded in the city over thirty years ago. For ten years, Birmingham's Fierce! festival has presented one of the most innovative and compelling performance art series in Europe. Featuring artists including Ron Athey , Franko B , Lydia Lunch , Nicole Blackman , Velvet Hammer, The Red Ladies and hundreds more, the Fierce Festival has become an annual "must see" event for performance art fans and curators from around the world. The Fierce Festival is known for presenting performances, dances, films, installations and other events at theatres, galleries, clubs, outdoor spaces, and re-appropriated locations (such as dis-used offices etc), and has recently begun commissioning new works from British and international performers. COMEDY Famous comedians from Birmingham include Sid Field , Tony Hancock , Jasper Carrott and Shazia Mirza . Other leading figures include Jo Enright, Natalie Haynes, James Cook, Weakest Link winner Andy White and Barbara Nice (the creation of actress Janice Connolly). The Glee Club and Birmingham Jongleurs are both prominent comedy venues. The Drum Arts Centre and the Mac also host monthly comedy sessions while smaller independent comedy promoters/ venues include The Laughing Sole (in Strichley), Cheeky Monkey (The Station, Kings Heath - and the city's longest running independent comedy club), Up The Cross (The Cross, Moseley) and The Collective (Nightingale, city centre). The Birmingham Comedy Festival was founded in 2001 and runs during 10 days at the beginning of October. It's the larget independent arts festival in the region. 2007's festival (Oct 5-14) is sponsored by radio station BRMB and local listings/entertainment magazine What's On and features Jimmy Carr, Sean Hughes, Josie Long, Stewart Lee (from Solihull), Ted Chippington (the missing link in the history of alternative comedy), Andy Parsons, Felix Dexter and Marcus Brigstocke, plus theatre, visual arts, performance and film. VISUAL ART History David Cox was a famous Birmingham watercolour artist and President of the Associated Artists in Water Colour in 1810. An "Academy of Arts" was organised in 1814, and an exhibition of paintings took place in Union Passage that year. A School of Design, or "Society of Arts," was started Feb. 7, 1821; Sir Robert Lawley, Bt (the first Lord Wenlock) presenting a valuable collection of casts from Grecian sculpture. The first exhibition was held in 1826, in a building on New Street. The first Ballot for pictures to be chosen from the Annual Exhibition of Local Artists took place in 1835. Birmingham has one of the largest collections of Pre-Raphaelite art in the world at The Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery . Edward Burne-Jones was born in Birmingham, spent his first twenty years in the city, and later became the president of the Birmingham Society of Artists (which dates from 1826). He strongly influenced the Birmingham Group , which formed the link between late Romanticism in the visual arts and the Birmingham Surrealists who were prominent in the city's arts in the early and mid 20th century. David Bomberg 's first well known works date from the 1910s. They are rather complex geometric compositions built over relatively traditional subjects, and typically use a limited number of striking colours with humans being turned into simple, angular shapes. Some have likened these works to 70's New York Graffiti . Bomberg travelled France , where he met Modigliani and Picasso . The Birmingham Arts Lab at Gosta Green was an important centre for alternative comic art in the late 1970s. Contemporary artists Contemporary African Caribbean artists and photographers who have exhibited internationally include Pogus Caesar , Keith Piper and the late Donald Rodney . Graffiti (or "spraycan art") culture appeared in the early 1980s, with the area featuring in Channel 4 documentary ''Bombing''. Local artists to use urban Birmingham as their canvas (this is illegal, and regarded by some as Vandal ism) have included Chu and Goldie (see Birmingham Hip Hop Scene . Graffiti art competitions are still regularly held. The construction of the Bull Ring Shopping Centre allowed local and international artists to display their work. These included three Light Wand s which were erected at the main entrance, a huge mural on a glass Façade located at the entrance facing New Street Station and three fountains in St Martin's Square in the shape of Cube s, which are illuminated at night in different colours. Artwork of the Bullring BBC Current galleries
There are a variety of other small and private galleries in the city. OOM Gallery online art gallery representing artist and filmmaker Pogus Caesar . The OOM Gallery archive has over 8,000 photographic images covering politics, culture, art, sport and music from Britain and throughout the world. Birmingham ArtsFest is an annual, city-wide event, and incorporates a wide variety of venues, stages and public spaces over a weekend in September. The events present a wide variety of disciplines from the West Midlands arts scene, including music, dance, art, sculpture, literature and crafts. FESTIVALS AND SHOWS Birmingham is home to many national, religious and spiritual festivals including a St. George's Day party. The Birmingham Tattoo is a military show that has taken place in the city for several years. The currently biennial Caribbean - style Birmingham International Carnival was originally the ''Handsworth Carnival'', held in Handsworth Park from 1984, but now takes place in the August of odd- numbered years, parading through the streets of Handsworth to Perry Barr Park . Birmingham Pride takes place in the 'gay village' and attracts up to 100,000 visitors each year. Party In The Park , a popular chart music event, is Birmingham's largest music festival. For several years the city also hosted an annual arts festival '' ArtsFest '' during September, where people could enjoy many of the regions' arts, free. It was the largest free arts festival in the UK. In December 2006 the City Council announced that it would no longer hold Artsfest. {Link without Title} . The city's largest single-day event is its St. Patrick's Day parade (Europe's second largest, after the one in Dublin ). History of St. Patrick's Day Birmingham was home to the worlds first Complaints Choir . FILM The Electric Cinema on Station street is the oldest working Cinema in the UK and was once reputedly a haunt of George Bernard Shaw . Albert Austin (born 13 December 1881 or 1885) was an actor, film star, director and script writer, primarily in the days of Silent Movie s. He was born in Birmingham. He worked for Charlie Chaplin 's Stock Company and played supporting roles in many of Chaplin's films, and working as his assistant director. In the 1920's Oscar Deutsch opened his first Odeon cinema in the UK in Perry Barr . By 1930 the Odeon was a household name and still thrives today. In 1930 the Birmingham Film Society was set up. Brummiewood is a name given to the film industry in Birmingham. The Birmingham School Of Acting recently won a Royal Television Society Award for their short film 'Soul Boy'. Moseley Dance Centre also contributes to the city's drama and dance talent. The Birmingham Film Festival takes place annually at various Broad Street venues. It highlights local talent as well as a wide spectrum of international productions. NEWSPAPERS In 1742, 'Aris's Gazette' was established as Birmingham's first newspaper. Birmingham now has two local daily newspapers - the '' Birmingham Post '' and the '' Birmingham Mail '' - as well as the '' Sunday Mercury '', all owned by the Trinity Mirror , who also produce '' The Birmingham News '', a weekly freesheet distributed to homes in the suburbs along with ''Forward'' (formerly ''Birmingham Voice''), the Birmingham City Council 's free newspaper distributed to homes and via community centres and public buildings. Birmingham is also the hub for various national is based in Birmingham, one of the few outside of London. Several local newspapers serve Birmingham including the '' Sutton Coldfield Observer '' and '' Sutton Coldfield News '' for the area of Sutton Coldfield . BROADCAST The are also broadcast from here. The . The area was one of the first to receive programming from the new ITV network in 1956. The networks' original representatives were Associated TeleVision (ATV) who served the area during the week and ABC Weekend TV who broadcast at the weekends. In 1968 ATV won the contract to serve the area seven days a week and built new studios off Broad Street at the heart of the city featuring the landmark Alpha Tower . In 1982 ATV was reorganised and became Central Independent Television , which was rebranded as Carlton Central in 1999 and again as ITV Central in 2004. ITV's Birmingham studios are famous for many shows, including '' Tiswas '', '' Crossroads '' and Bullseye. Sky TV has its own news team bureau based in the University Of Birmingham 's Aston Campus. Local cable and satellite broadcasters include the Natural Health Channel and Asia 1 TV. Local legal radio stations include BRMB , Galaxy , BBC WM and Heart FM , and Kerrang! 105.2 , Birmingham's first dedicated Rock station. REFERENCES Konow, David. ''Bang Your Head: The Rise and Fall of Heavy Metal'' (New York: Crown, 2002) ISBN 0-609-80732-3 EXTERNAL LINKS |
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