One of the most popular bands of all times, a reggae band from Birmingham named after the Unemployment Benefit Form no 40. Even though this isn't exactly my favorite kind of music I must admit that UB40 deserves to be here as they have become monuments in the music history. They have sold more than 70 million albums and that is a feature that not a lot of artists are capable of. They started in 1978 and are still performing today. They are a band that contains a seven member strong setting and a multitude of instruments is used to create their, " oh so easy to recognise", sound. Here is a collection of their most popular songs, enjoy...

I wonder what the correct term would be for Terence Trent D'Arby? Is this what you would call a "one album wonder"? I still can not understand why this vocalist did not have more success? His debut album: Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby, is a wonderful album. It has it all, soul, power, feeling, a great musical setting and oh, that voice. He has four hits from that album in the top 40 in the UK and in the Hot one 100 in the USA. And after that... nothing. Perhaps claiming that his album was the most important album after Sgt Pepper wasn't a very good thing to do? Anyhow, here is the debut album of Terence Trent D'Arby, enjoy...

Billy Fury was a rock 'n roll artist who had been propelled into the spotlight in 1958. An English version of Elvis (as would be Cliff Richard) who created a musical revolution that would result in a better future for artists that were trying to make it in Liverpool and in the UK. We are talking rock music here (fifties rock music mind you) but in quite a few songs you could already hear the future sound of pop music, as it later would be created by the Beatles and you may notice that the future Mersey Beat sound is starting to take shape as well. It is just a trip down memory lane and if you want to know where it all started in England, this is your answer, enjoy...

Jefferson Airplane was a band that made psychedelic music and started in 1965. The sound of J.A. is instantly recognisable, this also because of the distinct voices of Marty Balin and Grace Slick. The harmonies sound, sometimes, as the Mamas and the Papas, especially when the typical echo effect is put on the vocals so you have this sort of "bathroom" sound. The band had a huge influence on other bands that started to develop in that time and also on a lot of young, future artists. Their psychedelic rock sound has made Jefferson Airplane a band that stood out in musical style for a long time. Besides of this J.A. was also the first band that insisted on putting strong political messages towards a public that from than on started to realise how powerful music could be. Mix all this with excessive drug and alcohol abuse and it will be clear for everybody that Jefferson Airplane has laid down the roots of a typical pattern of rock n' roll behaviour. Enjoy their first successful album: Surrealistic Pillow. 

The Rascal Flatts are a band that everybody who has young children knows, for the simple reason that they are on the soundtrack of the movie: Cars. Besides of this there are evidently a lot of other people as well, who love the Rascal Flatts and proof of that is that from their eight albums, seven have reached platinum status. The music of the Rascal Flatts is country music with elements of rock, pop and ballads. They use harmonies, steel guitar, violin, banjo and all the classical music instruments you may hear in country music and some more. The subjects of their songs are an extra factor that makes this band so outstanding. They're subjects that are familiar to all of us like: first love, loneliness in a big town, cancer, that first summer night you stayed awake all night, etc. Simply a wonderful band that shows what modern country is all about, enjoy their work...
Thank you Sophie (and your sister) for reminding me.

This time I had to do some research. It started about eight months ago, somebody asked me if I could put up some saxophone music. Sure I said and than almost entirely forgot about it. Until recently. I was teaching English and we started a conversation about music and I discovered that two people in one of my classes played saxophone. Suddenly I remembered that I had promised to do a piece about saxophone music so I asked: Do you know any female saxophone players? The answer was no. So I started searching. I got a list of saxophone players and started to look for girls names.  There are hundreds of well known male sax players. There are very, very few known women, who play the saxophone but in the end I found what I was looking for.  Here are the three most popular female saxophone players: Mindy Abair, Pamela Williams and Candy Dulfer. They may play the same instrument but you will discover that their styles and choice of music pieces is very wide ranged and different. Evidently you will also hear styles that all three have in common. Enjoy ...

                                                          Mindi Abair

                                                      Pamela Williams

                                                           Candy Dulfer

Nelly Furtado makes pop, hip hop, dance-pop and R&B music. She has a wonderful voice that enables her to create emotions in her songs that are easily to understand for everybody. The instrumental settings of her songs are fairly simple and dare I say "sober". This makes that her music has this kind of "comfortable" feel that results in accepting her music the first time you hear it. Even when the music appears "sober" this doesn't mean that her music is boring, far from it. As her parents are Portuguese, Nelly also shows a strong Latin influence in her music and that makes it all the more creative, listen to this compilation of her work and enjoy...

Probably one of the coolest soul vocals I know. The music is calm and controlled, as soul music should be and the saxophone is never exaggerated. The rhythms are always in complete balance with the melody. Simple, not challenging but for this kind of music that is not what you need, anyway. You won't find any particularly wild or fast songs. Loïs Lane does give you however songs with great riffs and hooks. The ambiance in the songs and the part that every instrument has to play in them is something that shines through, every time and that is what makes this collection of their work so worthwhile listening. Even an artist as Prince acknowledged that and invited Loïs Lane on one of his concert tours. This is soul/disco music with style! Enjoy... 

If you like old fashioned, disco than this is the stuff for you. KC and the Sunshine Band have created some absolute classics that have made the disco music style known all over the world. They started in 1973 and have since then become a household name. Their music is appreciated by young and old and has been picked up by every generation. Their music has also been used in TV series and movies and sometimes you may even hear parts of their lyrics being quoted. They disappeared when disco got almost "banned" at the beginning of the eighties but when in the nineties their songs got sampled and became popular again, their return was eminent. Enjoy their work...

Apocalyptica a band of three classical trained cellists and a drummer. They rose to fame with their first album that consisted of all Metallica covers. Apocalyptica has since than opted for other influences. Two original founders of the band have left which saw the band change the format of four cellists to three. (The drummer joined later.) The sound of the cello's is a little bit frightened and dark, one may perhaps suggest, gothic. This is honest and straight forward music, though the later works of Apocalyptica are also influenced by the styles and sounds of world music and folk music etc.  People like Dave Lombardo, Till Lindeman, Corey Taylor and Ville Valo are all people who have recorded with Apocalyptica. The result is a wonderful marriage between classical music, pop and rock. Enjoy...