muzic&madnez

The Black Eyed Peas

2006-08-12T11:07:00.000+08:00

Genre: Rap / Hip Hop

The Black Eyed Peas are an American alternative hip hop group from Los Angeles, who have latterly enjoyed massive international pop success. As Atban Klann, they signed to Ruthless Records (run by Eazy-E), but their album was never released because the positive and peaceful lyrics were too unusual for Ruthless.

After Eazy-E died of AIDS in 1995, Atban Klann reformed as the Black Eyed Peas and released a debut, Behind the Front (1998, 1998 in music) that earned the group (and their accompanying live band) critical acclaim. Their other album is 2000's Bridging the Gap. Their breakthrough album Elephunk was released in 2003, featuring a new female vocalist, called Fergie, born as Stacy Ferguson who used to be in a teen pop band named Wild Orchid. She is the replacement of background singer Kim Hill who departed the band during 2000.

From "Elephunk" came the anti-war anthem "Where Is The Love?", which became their first major hit, peaking at #8 on the US Hot 100, but topping the charts practically everywhere else, including six weeks at #1 in the UK where it became the biggest-selling single of 2003. The album subsequently spawned "Shut Up", which failed in the US but peaked at UK #2 and topped the charts in many other European countries including France and Germany. Indeed the band have enjoyed greater mainstream success in Europe than in the US with "Elephunk" having gone Top 10, gold and (sometimes multi-)platinum in the UK, Germany and many other European markets, yet having failed thus far to break the US Top 20, although it has gone platinum there. The third single from the album, "Hey Mama", has already hit the Top 10 in the UK, Germany and several other European countries, and is currently becoming their second US hit as it climbs the Top 40 of the Hot 100. Controversially, a reference to "dropping bombs like we in the Middle East" has been edited out of some versions of "Hey Mama".

The current line-up of the Black Eyed Peas as of 2004 (not including supporting band members) is: will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo, and newcomer Fergie.

During Black Eyed Peas' concert tour in Asia in 2004, apl.de.ap's life story was featured in a weekly Filipino TV drama special called "Maalaala Mo Kaya" (Will You Remember), which explained his childhood with his poor family in Pampanga, Philippines, before sadly parting with them to live a better life in the US at the age of 14. "The Apl Song", with the chorus written in Tagalog, from their album Elephunk, tells the story of apl.de.ap.

The BEP's song "Let's Get it Started" was featured in commercials for the NBA finals all across the world. Later it had great success as a single, especially popular on the iTunes music download service.
Source: Soundbug

Download some of their songs...

My Hump (download) (lyrics)

Don't Phunk With My Heart (download) (lyrics)

Pump It (download) (lyrics)

Where Is The Love? (download) (lyrics)

You wanna know more about this group? Click here

Get your own copy of their albums @ Amazon.com

Visit lyricsondemand for more of their song lyrics

Strawberry Shortcake

2006-07-18T22:42:00.000+08:00

Cuppycake

You're my hunny bun sugar plum
Pumpy upmpy umpkin.
You're my sweetie pie.
You're my cuppy cake
Gumdropshygumsshmigums pure
The apple of my eye!
And I love you so
And I want you to know
That i'll always be right here
And I love to sing this song to you
Because you are so dear!

*** I love this kiddie song... the first time i heard this... i was like... oooh... sooo cute... and i listened to it over and over again =). Pls click the title to hear the song ***

Disney Lyrics

2006-07-07T16:48:00.000+08:00

Disney Lyrics

SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS Someday my Prince will come Heigh-ho With a smile and a song Whistle while you work One Song I'm Wishing The Silly Song The Washing Song
PINOCCHIO I've got no strings When you wish upon a star Little Wooden Head Give a little whistle Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee
DUMBO Baby mine Casey junior Look Out For Mr. Stork Pink Elephants on Parade When I see an elephant fly
BAMBI Little april shower Love is a song
CINDERELLA Bibidi-bobidi-boo So this is love A dream is a wish The work song Sweet nightingale
ALICE IN WONDERLAND Golden afternoon I'm late Unbirthday song Caucus race Theme song Very Good Advice In a World of my Own Painting the Roses Red
PETER PAN You can fly Following the leader Second star to the right Never Smile at a Crocodile Your Mother and Mine
LADY AND THE TRAMP Bella Notte Siamese song He's a Tramp
SLEEPING BEAUTY Once upon a dream I wonder Sleeping Beauty Hail to the Princess Aurora One Gift Skumps
101 DALMATIANS Cruella DeVil Dalmatian Plantation
THE SWORD IN THE STONE Higitus Figitus Mad Madame Mim The Sword in the Stone A Most Befuddling Thing That's What Makes the World go Round
THE JUNGLE BOOK The Bare necessities I wanna be like you That's What Friends are for Trust in Me Colonel Hathi's March My Own Home
THE ARISTOCATS Ev'rybody wants to be a cat Scales and arpeggios The Aristocats Thomas O'Malley Cat
ROBIN HOOD Love Oo-de-lally The Phony King of England Not in Notthingham
WINNIE THE POOH Winnie the Pooh Tigger's song Up-down, touch the ground A Little Black Raincloud Heffalumps and Woozles Rumbly in my Tumbly
BROTHER BEAR On My Way Look Through My Eyes Great Spirits
ATLANTIS Where the Dream Takes you
HOME ON THE RANGE Little Patch of Heaven
THE RESCUERS Someone Rescue Aid Society Tomorrow is Another Day
THE FOX AND THE HOUND Best of friends Goodbye may seem forever Elimination: Lack of Education Appreciate the Lady
THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE Goodbye so Soon Let me be Good to you The World's Greatest Criminal Mind
OLIVER AND COMPANY Good Company Perfect isn't Easy Why should I worry Once Upon a Time in New York City Streets of Gold

SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS

Someday my Prince will come
Heigh-ho
With a smile and a song
Whistle while you work
One Song
I'm Wishing
The Silly Song
The Washing Song

PINOCCHIO

I've got no strings
When you wish upon a star
Little Wooden Head
Give a little whistle
Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee

DUMBO

Baby mine
Casey junior
Look Out For Mr. Stork
Pink Elephants on Parade
When I see an elephant fly

BAMBI

Little april shower
Love is a song

CINDERELLA

Bibidi-bobidi-boo
So this is love
A dream is a wish
The work song
Sweet nightingale

ALICE IN WONDERLAND

Golden afternoon
I'm late
Unbirthday song
Caucus race
Theme song
Very Good Advice
In a World of my Own
Painting the Roses Red

PETER PAN

You can fly
Following the leader
Second star to the right
Never Smile at a Crocodile
Your Mother and Mine

LADY AND THE TRAMP

Bella Notte
Siamese song
He's a Tramp

SLEEPING BEAUTY

Once upon a dream
I wonder
Sleeping Beauty
Hail to the Princess Aurora
One Gift
Skumps

101 DALMATIANS

Cruella DeVil
Dalmatian Plantation

THE SWORD IN THE STONE

Higitus Figitus
Mad Madame Mim
The Sword in the Stone
A Most Befuddling Thing
That's What Makes the World go Round

THE JUNGLE BOOK

The Bare necessities
I wanna be like you
That's What Friends are for
Trust in Me
Colonel Hathi's March
My Own Home

THE ARISTOCATS

Ev'rybody wants to be a cat
Scales and arpeggios
The Aristocats
Thomas O'Malley Cat

ROBIN HOOD

Love
Oo-de-lally
The Phony King of England
Not in Notthingham

WINNIE THE POOH

Winnie the Pooh
Tigger's song
Up-down, touch the ground
A Little Black Raincloud
Heffalumps and Woozles
Rumbly in my Tumbly

BROTHER BEAR

On My Way
Look Through My Eyes
Great Spirits

ATLANTIS

Where the Dream Takes you

HOME ON THE RANGE

Little Patch of Heaven

THE RESCUERS

Someone
Rescue Aid Society
Tomorrow is Another Day

THE FOX AND THE HOUND

Best of friends
Goodbye may seem forever
Elimination: Lack of Education
Appreciate the Lady

THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE

Goodbye so Soon
Let me be Good to you
The World's Greatest Criminal Mind

OLIVER AND COMPANY

Good Company
Perfect isn't Easy
Why should I worry
Once Upon a Time in New York City
Streets of Gold

THE LITTLE MERMAID Under the sea Part of your world Kiss the girl Poor Unfortunate souls Les Poissons Fathoms Below Daughters of Triton
RETURN TO THE SEA Down to the Sea Here on the land and sea Tip and Dash For a moment
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Be our guest Belle Gaston Something there Beauty and the Beast The Mob Song Human Again
THE ENCHANTED CHRISTMAS As long as there's Christmas Stories Don't fall in love A cut above the rest
ALADDIN One jump Prince Ali A whole new world A friend like me Arabian Nights
THE RETURN OF JAFAR Forget about Love Second Rate Nothing Like a Friend I'm Looking Out For Me Arabian Nights
THE KING OF THIEVES Party in Agrabah Out of Thin Air Welcome to the Forty Thieve Father and Son Are You In or Out?
THE LION KING I just can't wait to be King Circle of life Can you feel the love tonight Hakuna Matata Be Prepared
SIMBA'S PRIDE We are one My Lullaby Upendi Love will find a way One of Us
POCAHONTAS Colors of the wind Steady as the beating drum Savages The Virginia Company Just Around the Riverbend Mine, mine, mine! Listen with your heart
JOURNEY TO A NEW WORLD Where Do I Go From Here? What a day in London Wait Till He Sees You Things Are Not What They Appear Between Two Worlds
THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE-DAME Topsy Turvy God help the outcasts Out there Court of Miracles The Bells of Notre-Dame Heaven's Light Hellfire A Guy Like You
HERCULES Zero to hero I won't say I'm in love Go the distance A Star is Born One Last Hope The Gospel Truth
MULAN Reflection Make a man out of you A Girl worth fighting for Honor to us all True to Your Heart
MARY POPPINS A spoonful of sugar Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Chim Chim Cheree Feed the Birds
TARZAN You'll be in my heart Strangers like me Son of Man Two Worlds
EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE My Funny Friend and Me Perfect World
TREASURE PLANET I'm Still Here Always Know Where You Are

THE LITTLE MERMAID

Under the sea
Part of your world
Kiss the girl
Poor Unfortunate souls
Les Poissons
Fathoms Below
Daughters of Triton

RETURN TO THE SEA

Down to the Sea
Here on the land and sea
Tip and Dash
For a moment

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Be our guest
Belle
Gaston
Something there
Beauty and the Beast
The Mob Song
Human Again

THE ENCHANTED CHRISTMAS

As long as there's Christmas
Stories
Don't fall in love
A cut above the rest

ALADDIN

One jump
Prince Ali
A whole new world
A friend like me
Arabian Nights

THE RETURN OF JAFAR

Forget about Love
Second Rate
Nothing Like a Friend
I'm Looking Out For Me
Arabian Nights

THE KING OF THIEVES

Party in Agrabah
Out of Thin Air
Welcome to the Forty Thieve
Father and Son
Are You In or Out?

THE LION KING

I just can't wait to be King
Circle of life
Can you feel the love tonight
Hakuna Matata
Be Prepared

SIMBA'S PRIDE

We are one
My Lullaby
Upendi
Love will find a way
One of Us

POCAHONTAS

Colors of the wind
Steady as the beating drum
Savages
The Virginia Company
Just Around the Riverbend
Mine, mine, mine!
Listen with your heart

JOURNEY TO A NEW WORLD

Where Do I Go From Here?
What a day in London
Wait Till He Sees You
Things Are Not What They Appear
Between Two Worlds

THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE-DAME

Topsy Turvy
God help the outcasts
Out there
Court of Miracles
The Bells of Notre-Dame
Heaven's Light
Hellfire
A Guy Like You

HERCULES

Zero to hero
I won't say I'm in love
Go the distance
A Star is Born
One Last Hope
The Gospel Truth

MULAN

Reflection
Make a man out of you
A Girl worth fighting for
Honor to us all
True to Your Heart

MARY POPPINS

A spoonful of sugar
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Chim Chim Cheree
Feed the Birds

TARZAN
You'll be in my heart
Strangers like me
Son of Man
Two Worlds

EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE

My Funny Friend and Me
Perfect World

TREASURE PLANET

I'm Still Here
Always Know Where You Are

Source: Disney Wonders

Magical Songs of Disney

2006-07-04T15:04:00.000+08:00

I love Disney movies since my early childhood 'til forever... maybe because of my passion for fairy tale romance. Well, i really love Ariel... i remember, i was always wishing I could be a mermaid with such beautiful hair... and sweetsingiing voice... and I wanted to wear a seashell bra =D. I also love Cinderella...she's gorgeous...my mom made me a Cinderella costume when I was like, 10. It was awesome!!! =)

Anyway, each Disney movie is a time piece reflecting a perception of the ideal girl-woman of her time... Snow White is industrious and innocent... Sleeping Beauty is a little wiser and reticent to fall for her "given role" in life... the Little Mermaid is down right rebellious and independent-but only for love and not for a higher course... Cinderella relies on the assistance of others, but is otherwise virtuous... and Belle has the supreme double standard - a real yuppie. And i love the music in all that. Sooo...listed below are some of my fave songs from different Disney movies... pls click the song title to downloand. Have fun list'ning!!! =)

Magical Songs of Disney

A Dream is a Wish You Makes (Cinderella)

A Whole New World (Alladin)

Beauty and the Beast

Can You Feel the Love Tonight (Lion King)

Go the Distance (Hercules)

Its A Small World ( New York Disney)

Kiss the Girl (Little Mermaid)

Once Upon a Dream (Sleeping Beauty)

Once Upon A December (Anastacia)

Part of Your World (little Mermaid)

Reflection (Mulan)

Someday My Prince Will Come (Snow White)

Something There (Beauty & the Beast)

Supercalifragilistic ( Mary Poppins)

The Prayer (Magic Sword)

Through Heaven's Eyes (Prince of Egypt)

Under the Sea (Little Mermaid)

When She Loved Me ( Toy Story)

When You Wish Upon a Star ( Pinnochio)

You'll be in My Heart (Tarzan)

***Visit Amazon.com for more heartwarming Disney Songs***

MP3 Player @ Synertec

2006-07-03T13:07:00.000+08:00

Mp3 Player With Usb Drive And.128m Flash Memory

FEATURES:

128MB Built-in Flash Memory
Digital Voice Recording
Mobile Data Storage Function
LCD Displays Song Title, Album and Artist Information
Direct Connection into USB Port (No Cable Required)
Digital Preset EQ¡¯s (Normal, Classic, Rock, Jazz & Pop)
USB PC Interface for Fast Down/Uploading
Upgradable Firmware
Plug and Play
Requires 1 x ""AAA"" Battery (Included)

SPECIFICATIONS:
Unit Dimensions: 2.2"" x 2.87"" x 0.82"" (WHD)
Blister Dimensions: 8.25"" x 8.25"" x 2.5"" (WHD)

ACCESSORIES INCLUDED:
Installation CD
USB Extension Cable
Professional Digital Neck Strap Stereo Earphones

Mp3 Player W/128m Flash Memory

FEATURES:

128MB Built-in Flash Memory
Up to 640MB Memory Using SD/MMC Card (SD/MMC Card Not Included)
Digital Voice Recording Function up to 32 Hours.
Mobile Data Storage Function
LCD Displays Song Title, Album and Artist Information
Digital Preset EQ's (Normal, Classic, Rock, Jazz & Pop)
Mini USB PC Interface for Fast Down/Uploading
Upgradeable Firmware
PC and Mac Compatible
Requires 1 x ""AAA"" Battery

SPECIFICATIONS:
Unit Dimensions: 2.2"" x 2.87"" x 0.82""(WHD)
Blister Packaging: 7.09"" x 9.84"" x 9.95""(WHD)

ACCESSORIES INCLUDED:
Installation CD
USB Cable
Carrying Strap
Professional Digital Stereo Earphones

Philips Shoqbox 256mb* Mp3 Player With Built-in Speakers

256MB* internal flash memory
Plays MP3 and WMA formats with full ID-3 tag and Digital Rights Management support
Stereo FM tuner with 10 station presets
White backlit LCD displays 5 lines of text; indicators include battery status, time, alarm and Dynamic Bass Boost; multilanguage support
XSL Acoustics for dynamic sound and powerful bass; Dynamic Bass Boost; 2W x 2 class D amplifier
6-mode equalizer offers rock, pop, jazz, hip-hop, classic and normal
Use as portable speakers for any music player or PC
Wake up to your own music or alarm
Fast downloads from your PC via USB
Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery provides up to 10 hours of playback
Upgradable to future formats and features
System requirements: Windows 98 SE, 2000, ME, XP; 50MB hard drive space; 96MB RAM; CD-ROM drive; USB port
Includes AC/DC adapter/charger, USB and line-in cables, CD-ROM, FM antenna and travel case

***Pls visit Synetec Distributors for more***

Undying Songs of the Heart

2006-07-03T11:54:00.000+08:00

Oftentimes, I found myself lying on my bed and listening to some nice slow music... and its true that a love song will be able to to affect you in ways nothing else can. It will be able to get to you more profoundly... probe more deeply... and push you up against your issues more effectively. Love songs can infiltrate our hearts... sneaking past our usual protections... and arriving at the core of our vulnerability, our fear and our longings. Let me share with you some of my favorite undying songs of the heart...

All My Life (America) (download) (lyrics)

Everytime (Janet Jackson) (download) (lyrics)

Fallin' (Teri de Sario) (download) (lyrics)

From This Moment On (Shania Twain) (download) (lyrics)

I Want to Spend My Lyfetime Loving You (Marc Anthony & Tina Arena) (download) (lyrics)

I Will Always Love You (Michael Johnson) (download) (lyrics)

I Will Be Here (Steven Curtis Chapman) (download) (lyrics)

My Heart Will Go On (Celine Dion) (download) (lyrics)

What Matters Most (Kenny Rankin) (download) (lyrics)

Your Love (Michelle Wright & Jim Brickman) (download) (lyrics)

For more love songs from various artists... get your copy @ Amazon.com

Listening for Love

2006-06-30T23:32:00.000+08:00

Listening for Love

by Jaine Fisher

There are times when we are timid and shy about expressing the love we feel. For fear of embarrassing the other person, or ourselves, we hesitate to say the actual words ‘I love you’. So we try to communicate the idea in other words. We say ‘take care’ or ‘don’t drive too fast’ or ‘be good’.

But really, these are just other ways of saying ‘I love you’. ‘You are important to me’, ‘I care what happens to you, and ‘I don’t want you to get hurt’ all mean ‘I love you’. We are sometimes very strange people. The only thing we want to say, and the one thing that we should say, is the one thing we don’t say. And yet because the feeling is so real, and the need to say it is so strong, we are driven to use other words and signs to say what we really mean. And many times the meaning never gets communicated at all and the other person is left feeling unloved and unwanted.

Therefore, I believe we have to listen for love in the words that people are saying to us. Sometimes the explicit words are necessary, but more often, the manner of saying things is even more important. A joyous insult carries more affection and love within the sentiments, which are expressed insincerely. An impulsive hug says ‘I love you’ even though the words might be saying something very different.

Any expression of a person’s concern for another says ‘I love you’. Sometimes the expression is clumsy, sometimes even cruel. Sometimes we must look and listen very intently for the love that it contains.

We say ‘I love you’ in many ways - with birthday gifts, and little notes, with smiles and sometimes with tears. Sometimes we show our love by just keeping quiet and not saying a word, at other times by speaking out, even harshly. We show our love sometimes by impulsiveness.

Many times we have to show our love by forgiving someone who has not listened to the love we have tried to express. The problem is listening for love is that we don’t always understand the language of love, which the other person is using. A girl may use tears or emotions to say what she wants to say, and her boyfriend may not understand her because he expects her to be talking his language.

We have to force ourselves to really listen for love. The problem with our world is that people rarely listen to each other. They hear the words, but they don’t listen to the actions that accompany the words or the expression on the face. Or people listen only for rejection or misunderstanding. They do not see the love that is there just beneath the surface, even if the words are angry.

Simon and Garfunkel wrote that very haunting song, The Sound of Silence . It goes: Ten thousand people, maybe more. People talking without speaking; people hearing without listening; people writing songs that voices never shared, because no one dared disturb the sound of silence... It is a terrifying picture of our modern world, a world without communication and without love.

We have to listen for love in those around us. If we listen intently we will discover that we are a lot more loved than we realise.

Estoy Aqui (Español Version) - Shakira [MV]

2006-06-28T21:50:00.000+08:00

"Estoy Aqui" became a hit all over Latin America, as well as Spain

Shakira's Albums

2006-06-28T20:54:00.000+08:00

Here are samples of her songs that you can download...

Hips Don't Lie (download) (lyrics)
Underneath Your Clothes (download) (lyrics)
Whenever, Wherever (download) (lyrics)
Don't Bother (download) (lyrics)

Shakira's Personal Quotes

2006-06-28T20:30:00.000+08:00

“The worst mistake of a woman is to go to the kitchen, because then she never gets out of there."

"I can't hire other people to write songs for me. I have to write them myself."

"I admire a person who, for the love of art, is able to take off their clothes in front of a camera. But I'm not capable, I'm too cowardly for that".

"It's not easy to work with me, I recognize that. It's not easy if those people aren't as perfectionistic as I am".

"The worst frustration for a singer is choosing a career in making music and then not being able to make music because you're always giving interviews".

"My brain, I believe, is the most beautiful part of my body".

"Videos come definitely after the music has been created, but I have always felt, and especially today, that videos are vital in the album process. I think that we live in a very visual era and if you make a mistake with a video, those images will accompany the song forever. There is no way to divorce the image from the music once the video has been filmed and exposed."

"I remember the first time I saw the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video. I will never forget that day. I just wanted to see Kurt Cobain's face. I had a feeling he was very cute. But, I couldn't see his face. When I finally did see him, he was even cuter than I imagined!"

“People think I like to expose my body. But I don't. It's just because the dance moves require it.”

Shakira… Latin Pop's Biggest Female Crossover Artist

2006-06-28T20:10:00.000+08:00

I like how this lady can carry herself gracefully yet so vibrant… as the Nobel Prize winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez said, “Shakira’s music has a personal stamp that doesn't look like anyone else's and no one can sing or dance like her, at whatever age, with such an innocent sensuality, one that seems to be of her own invention." She's a child prodigy who wrote her first song at age eight… a blond-locked Colombian who speaks three languages and loves only in Spanish. She's a perfectionist who spends hours in the studio… she needs to be close to nature but her passion is the crackle of electric guitars. Noted for her aggressive, rock-influenced approach, Shakira maintained an extraordinary degree of creative control over her music, especially for a female artist; she wrote or co-wrote nearly all of her own material… and in the process gained a reputation as one of Latin music’s most ambitiously poetic lyricists. When she released her first English material in late 2001, she became an instant pop sensation… well, that’s because of her quirky poetic sense and sexy video image built on her hip-shaking belly-dance moves.

Want to know more about her???

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll was born February 2, 1977, in Barranquilla, Colombia, into a poor family. Her mother was a native Colombian and her father was of Lebanese descent

Announced engagement to Antonio de la Rua, son of the President of Argentina. [March 2001]

Is the youngest of eight siblings.

Shakira is Arabic for "grateful" or "full of grace."

Is of Colombian and Lebanese heritage

Named her album "Laundry Service" because when she is in love she feels "clean and fresh"

Has an IQ of 140!

Fluent in Portuguese, Italian, and English, in addition to Spanish and Arabic

Hates to wear jewelry.

Her Lebanese grandmother taught her the art of Arabian Belly Dancing so she can stay true to her middle eastern roots

Has perfect pitch (the ability to recognize any note upon hearing it or sing any note without prior to hearing it)

Her manager for Latin America, Patricia Tellez, the woman who helped her go from being local artist to Grammy-winning global artist, died of a heart attack in Bogota on 17 August 2004.

Ranked #9 in Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women in the World" (2002).

She likes chocolate balls.

Father's name is William Mebarak Chadid and mother's name is Nidia del Carmen Ripolli Torrado.

Her mother is half Colombian and half Italian and her father is American with Lebanese ancestry.

She has 5 half brothers Alberto, Edward, Moises, Tonino and Robin and 3 half sisters Ana, Lucy and Patricia.

Steven Spielberg offered her the role of Elena Montero in The Mask of Zorro (1998) back when he was originally in talks to direct it. But, she turned the offer down because she felt that not only was she a bad actress, but her English wasn't good enough.

When she was two years old her oldest half-brother died in an accident while he was riding a motorcycle and a drunk man hit him with his car.

Her oldest half-sister Lucy is a surgeon, Alberto, her half-brother, is a lawyer, Moises is the third child, Tonino is the fourth child and the closest to Shakira, having worked many years as her road manager. Then is Patricia who lives in Spain, she is a special education teacher, and finally there is Antonio and Edward, the youngest who lives in Miami.

The first English song she wrote was Objection, from the album Laundry Service.

She loves to eat corozos, a little Colombian fruit that is sweet-sour.

Lost her suitcase with all her songs from Donde Estan Los Ladrones in an airport in Bogota Colombia. This happened a couple of months before she walked into the recording studio to begin on that album.

Mattel put out several Barbie dolls inspired by Shakira and her look.

Her album 'Fijacion Oral Vol.1' is #1 on the Billboard Latin Albums Chart in September 2005.

Attended La Ensenanza School in Barranquilla.

Her English language album 'Oral Fixation 2' will be released in November 2005.

Lists John Lennon as her #1 musical influence.

Her cousin is fashion designer and Miss Colombia 2006 Valerie Dominguez Tarud

Ranked as #76 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005" special supplement. (2005)

Was featured as #15 in Maxim Magazine's "Hot 100 of 2002" supplement. (2002)

click here for more...

We Belong Together (MV)

2006-06-22T15:57:00.000+08:00

Mariah Carey: Albums, Singles & Compilations

2006-06-21T19:37:00.000+08:00

Carey quickly became one of the most powerful women in the music industry, with career sales topping 80 million units. She has been extremely successful as a singer, and has co-written many of her biggest hits. She has sold millions and millions of albums worldwide. She may be considered a pop diva… but her singles have crossed over to top the R&B, hip-hop and adult contemporary charts too.

Between 1990 and 2000, she had 15 No. 1 singles on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart… that's twice as many as Janet Jackson had during the same period, and more than Madonna, Celine Dion and Whitney combined. She's also been nominated for countless Grammy Awards. She started winning them from the time of her 1990 debut album release, when she won in the Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (for "Vision of Love") categories.

Her albums, singles and compilations are listed below (just click the title to view the lyrics of the song)... and you can download four of her songs from this site.

It's Like That (download) (lyrics)
I Still Believe (download) (lyrics)
Endless Love feat. Luther Vandross (download) (lyrics)
Everytime I Close My Eyes feat. Kenny G Babyface (download) (lyrics)

(buy at amazon.com)

The Emancipation of Mimi (2005)

It's Like That
We Belong Together
Shake It Off
Mine Again
Say Somethin' feat. Snoop Dogg
Stay The Night
Get Your Number feat. Jermaine Dupri
One And Only feat. Twista
Circles
Your Girl
I Wish You Knew
To The Floor feat. Nelly
Joy Ride
Fly Like A Bird

(buy at amazon.com)

The Remixes (2003)

My All
Heartbreaker
If You Should Ever Be Lonely
Flyaway (Butterfly Reprise)
Anytime You Need A Friend
Fantasy
Honey
Dreamlover
Emotions
Through The Rain
Fantasy
Always Be My Baby
My All
Stay Awhile
Thank God I Found You
Breakdown
Honey
Loverboy
Heartbreaker
Sweetheart
Crybaby
Miss You
The One
I Know What You Want

(buy at amazon.com)

Charmbracelet (2002)

Through The Rain
Boy (I Need You)
The One
Yours
You Got Me
I Only Wanted
Clown
My Saving Grace
You Had Your Chance
Lullaby
Irresistible (Westside Connection)
Subtle Invitation
Bringin' On The Heartbreak
Sunflowers For Alfred Roy
Through The Rain (Remix)

(buy at amazon.com)

Glitter (2001)

Loverboy (Remix)
Lead The Way
If We
I Didn't Mean To Turn You On
Don't Stop (Funkin' For Jamaica)
All My Life
Reflections (Care Enough)
Last Night A DJ Saved My Life
Want You
Never Too Far
Twister
Loverboy

(buy at amazon.com)

Rainbow (1999)

Heartbreaker
Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)
Bliss
How Much
After Tonight
X-Girlfriend
Heartbreaker (Remix)
Vulnerability (Interlude)
Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)
Crybaby
Did I Do That?
Petals
Rainbow (Interlude)
Thank God I Found You

(buy at amazon.com)

Butterfly (1997)

Honey
Butterfly
My All
The Roof
Fourth Of July
Breakdown
Babydoll
Close My Eyes
Whenever You Call
Flyaway (Butterfly Reprise)
The Beautiful Ones
Outside

(buy at amazon.com)

Daydream(1995)

Fantasy
Underneath The Stars
One Sweet Day
Open Arms
Always Be My Baby
I Am Free
When I Saw You
Long Ago
Melt Away
Forever
Daydream Interlude
Looking In

(buy at amazon.com)

Merry Christmas (1994)

Silent Night Lyrics
All I Want For Christmas Is You Lyrics
O Holy Night Lyrics
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) Lyrics
Miss You Most (At Christmas Time) Lyrics
Joy To The World Lyrics
Jesus Born On This Day Lyrics
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town Lyrics
Hark! The Herald Angles Sing / Gloria (Inexcelsis Deo) Lyrics
Jesus Oh What A Wonderful Child Lyrics
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen Lyrics

(buy at amazon.com)

Music Box (1993)

Dreamlover
Hero
Anytime You Need A Friend
Music Box
Now That I Know
Never Forget You
Without You
Just To Hold You Once Again
I've Been Thinking About You
All I've Ever Wanted

(buy at amazon.com)

MTV Unplugged (1992)

Emotions
If It's Over
Someday
Vision Of Love
Make It Happen
I'll Be There
Can't Let Go

(buy at amazon.com)

Emotions (1991)

Emotions
And You Don't Remember
Can't Let Go
Make It Happen
If It's Over
You're So Cold
So Blessed
To Be Around You
Till The End Of Time
The Wind

(buy at amazon.com)

Mariah Carey (1990)

Vision Of Love Lyrics
There's Got To Be A Way Lyrics
I Don't Wanna Cry Lyrics
Someday Lyrics
Vanishing Lyrics
All In Your Mind Lyrics
Alone In Love Lyrics
You Need Me Lyrics
Sent From Up Above Lyrics
Prisoner Lyrics
Love Takes Time Lyrics

lyrics by lyricsondemand

Mariah Carey: Biography

2006-06-21T19:04:00.000+08:00

She's the feature in my blogsite today because of my friend's request... but then, we can’t deny that Mariah Carey has one of the best vocal ranges in the music industry. As the saying goes "all that glitters is gold," and Mariah's been producing gold since her first release. She was one of the world's top recording artists throughout the 1990s, setting records for most No. 1 singles by a female artist…she has 15… and most consecutive weeks at No. 1 with "One Sweet Day," her collaboration with Boyz II Men *the single still holds that record*. Her chart accomplishments resulted in Billboard magazine
naming her "Artist of the Decade" for the '90s.

After suffering from physical and mental exhaustion in 2001, Mariah took a break from performing. However, in 2005, she came back in full force with The Emancipation of Mimi, which sold more copies in the first week following its release than any other one of her albums, and just keeps climbing the charts.

Her solid vocal ability is obviously legendary that will always be remembered for ages to come.

Let’s get to know her deeper…

Mariah Angela Carey was born on March 27, 1970, in Long Island, New York, to parents Patricia and Alfred. Unfortunately, her parents divorced when she was only three years old. As a result of her Irish/African-American/Venezuelan descent, Mariah encountered some racial violence while growing up.

As a multiracial family, the Carey household was met with racial slurs, hostility and even violence. Thus, the family moved around the New York area often to find more friendly neighborhoods. The strain on the family led to the divorce of Alfred and Patricia when Mariah was three; Mariah and Morgan stayed with their mother while Alison stayed with their father. Mariah had little contact with her father, except for sporadic visits on weekends but even those dwindled as the years went by; Patricia raised Mariah, often struggling with two or three jobs and continuing to move among different towns on Long Island, but tried to provide a spirited, loving household. Although, Patrica tried to be a good parent, it is generally believed that she failed in a sense as a parent, as Mariah has often mentioned that she grew up quick for her age being exposed to traumatic incidents as a child, and learning to deal with being alone as her mother and brother were never home. In a sense, Mariah has often mentioned that music helped raise her in a way when no one else was there. Nevertheless, Mariah and her mother still maintain a close relationship to this day.

Carey began singing when she was three; her mother believed early on that she had tremendous potential. In fact, one day, when Patricia had brought Mariah to her opera rehearsal, Patricia had missed a vocal cue, but the young Mariah astouned everyone by catching in and singing it perfectly in tune. Publicly, she first performed when she was six and first began writing songs when she was in grade school. She attended and graduated from Oldfield Middle School and Harborfields High School in Greenlawn, but was frequently absent due to efforts to break into the music business, netting her the nickname "Mirage". Ironically, Mariah was never in her school's choir. She eventually landed a role as a backup singer for Brenda K. Starr. Then, in 1988, Carey met Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola while at a party, and gave him a demo tape. He played the tape while leaving the party and was very impressed by what he heard. He returned to the party to find Carey, but she had already left. Nevertheless he tracked her down and signed her to a recording contract. This Cinderella-like story became part of the standard publicity surrounding Carey's entrance into the industry.

**to be more acquainted with this glass breaking diva, pls click here

Thoughts to Keep. . .

2006-06-21T18:55:00.000+08:00

The hardest of all is learning to be a well of affection, and not a fountain… to show someone that we love them not when we feel like it, but when they need it.

A woman’s self esteem rises and falls like a wave… when she hits the bottom, it is a time for emotional housecleaning.

We mistakenly assume that if our partners love us, they will behave in certain ways… the ways we react and behave when we love someone.

Men often complain, she is over reacting… and women complain he doesn’t listen.

The biggest challenge for a woman is to correctly interpret and support a man when he isn’t talking.

A woman’s sense of self is defined through her feelings.

Men argue for the right to be free while women argue for the right to be upset. Men want space while women want understanding.

Never go into a man’s cave or you will be burned by the dragon.

A woman should not be judged for needing this reassurance… just as a man should not be judged for needing to withdraw.

Blessed are they who expect nothing… for they shall not be disappointed.

Beep by Pussycat Dolls (MV)

2006-06-15T19:23:00.000+08:00

Pussycat Dolls - Beep [Music Video]

PCD and BEP's Will.I.Am show that it's all good when the fellas be lookin' at the female's *beep*...

Dont Cha by Pussycat Dolls (MV)

2006-06-15T19:03:00.000+08:00

dont cha by pussycat dolls

Busta Rhymes gets lucky kickin it with these gals...

Stickwitu by Pussycat Dolls (MV)

2006-06-15T14:00:00.000+08:00

Pussycat Dolls - Stickwitu [Music Vid]

Just be good to these girls and they'll have your back...

*juz click the button w/ arrow to watch the vid*

Pussycat Dolls (PCD album)

2006-06-15T13:22:00.000+08:00

In 2005, The Pussycat Dolls released their debut album PCD. The album debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200, selling over 99,000 copies. It has produced four singles. "Don't Cha" (featuring Busta Rhymes, originally recorded by Tori Alamaze) became their first major hit. The follow-up, "Stickwitu", became the group's second #1 single in the UK. The third single, "Beep", featured Black Eyed Peas lead singer will.i.am. And their fourth single is "Buttons", featuring Snoop Dogg. These gals really want to hook you up...

Listen to some sample of their songs from their PCD album... and get your own copy @ Amazon.com

1. Don't Cha (lyrics)

2. Beep (lyrics)

3. Stickwitu (lyrics)

4. Wait a Minute (lyrics)

5. Buttons (lyrics)

6. I Don't Need A Man (lyrics)

7. Hot Stuff (I Want You Back) (lyrics)

8. How Many Times, How Many Lies (lyrics)

9. Bite The Dust (lyrics)

10.Right Now (lyrics)

11.Tainted Love / Where Did Our Love Go (lyrics)

12.Feelin' Good (lyrics)

Pussycat Dolls

2006-06-15T12:38:00.000+08:00

Artist: Pussycat Dolls Active: 00s
Genre: Rock / Pop
Styles: Club/Dance, Dance-Pop

The singing-and-dancing ensemble has innovated by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995… "Inside every woman is a Pussycat Doll," says Robin Antin… "It's about female empowerment, about being confident with who you are. It's about singing and dancing in front of a mirror by yourself and having fun." The Pussycat Dolls were born in a tiny dance studio in the L.A. garage of actress Christina Applegate, with whom Antin was rooming in the early '90s. Antin had appeared in commercials, and did choreography for music videos for the likes of Smash Mouth, The Offspring and No Doubt. "But I wanted to do something creative and different," she says.

So Antin invited over a few girlfriends who were also tour/music video dancers and they began to play around with her own choreography, a style endowed with the spirit of famed choreographer Bob Fosse but also music from Led Zeppelin to punk rock, Siouxsie and TheBanshees to Bjork, and fashion as well. Meanwhile Applegate suggested they perform at the Sunset Strip's renowned Viper Room. Owner Johnny Depp saw them rehearse and reportedly said, "This is why I opened a club." The Pussycat Dolls, which have seen many members in its evolving lineup since debuting in 1995, became the Thursday night opening act for the next six years.

A turning point came in 2000 when No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani came to a show and said she'd love to do a guest spot, not just to dance but to sing. So did Christina Aguilera. In 2002 it was time to take the show to a bigger venue and so The Pussycat Dolls moved to The Roxy. For two shows a week, for seven weeks, the place was sold out. Other guest performers included Britanny Murphy, Charlize Theron, Nikka Costa, Paris Hilton and Pamela Anderson. All of them appeared without pay, just for the fun of it, including emcee Applegate.

That same year, Antin joined forces with Jimmy Iovine, Chairman, Interscope Geffen A&M, who in turn brought in A&M President Ron Fair to executive produce the project and help take the concept to a higher level.

Their "We Went As Far As We Felt Like Going" was heard in 2004's Shark Tale, their cover of the standard "Sway" (helmed by Fair, also producer for Aguilera and the Black Eyed Peas, among others) was heard in 2004's Shall We Dance? The Pussycat Dolls were also seen in 2003's Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle and Pink’s "Trouble" video as well as 2005's Be Cool. Scherzinger was featured with Will Smith on "If U Can't Dance (Slide)" on his 2005 Lost And Found album.

Today, there is a Pussycat Dolls line of makeup from Stila and The Pussycat Dolls Lounge opened in April 2005 inside Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, featuring a different roster of performers. The future may hold a line of clothing, lingerie, perfume, videogames, TV and movie projects, and other lounges.

Nicole Scherzinger

Nicole Scherzinger is what entertainment industry executives call "a triple threat." This free-spirited artist is not just another pretty face; she can sing, act, AND dance. In a business that has been criticized for placing more emphasis on "image" than "ability" she shatters stereotypes with her blend of exotic beauty, charisma, and undeniable talent.

Scherzinger, who is of Hawaiian-Russian-Filipino descent, knew from a young age that she was destined to become an entertainer; performing is in her blood. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, as a child she watched her family of entertainers perform Polynesian shows featuring her mother as the lead hula dancer and her grandmother, Tutu, as the singer. At the age of six her family relocated to Louisville, Kentucky. Transitioning from island life was a new challenge for Nicole. "It was difficult at first because I didn't look like everyone else", she recalls, feeling at times like the ugly duckling.

Growing up, Nicole attended performing arts junior and senior high schools. At 14 her first professional play was at the prestigious Actors Theatre of Louisville. While attending Wright State University in Dayton, OH, she majored in theatre and minored in dance, garnering such lead roles as Velma Kelly in "Chicago" and Julie LaVerne in "Show Boat", supporting herself with local modeling jobs.

Nicole then learned the rock band Day of The New was looking for a female vocalist. Soon after hearing the demos she recorded with lead singer, Travis Meeks, the band's producer Scott Litt called her out to L.A., where she recorded their second album and set out on the road to tour with them.

After touring she returned home to work on her own music. However auditions for WB's talent series "Popstars" had her driving to Chicago, joining an audition line at five a.m. but would soon pay off. Eden’s Crush, the girl group that resulted from "Popstars," was a sensation. Its 2001 self-titled debut album went Top 10 and the single "Get Over Yourself" went to #1 on Billboard's singles chart. In its year-plus together, the band toured with N’Sync and Jessica Simpson.

After Eden's Crush, Nicole explored opportunities in the acting world. Back in LA, she landed acting roles in feature films such as “Chasing Papi” and guest-starred in television series such as “My Wife and Kids”.

It wasn't long until she heard that The Pussycat Dolls were looking for singers and she landed the coveted spot for PCD. "The Pussycat Dolls have no boundaries," says Scherzinger, who also wrote on the soon to be released album. "We continue to stretch and find ourselves in every performance. We do what is truthful for each of us." While it is obvious she has everything it takes to be a career artist, it is Nicole Scherzinger's unbridled passion to express herself musically that intrigues and inspires her growing legion of fans.

Carmit Bachar

Carmit Bachar, the fire-hot redhead, is as talented as she is beautiful. Her mother is of Dutch/Indonesian descent and her father is Israeli. Being a native of Los Angeles and coming from a family of entertainers has led her down the path of working with some of the most successful artists in music: No Doubt, Beyonce, P. Diddy, Macy Gray and Janet Jackson to name a few. She has numerous feature film and commercial credits - her "bon-bon" was most recognized as Ricky Martin's La Vida Loca girl! Carmit is one of the most respected dancers and choreographers in the business.

Not to be limited to just one genre, she attended Hamilton Academy of Music, in order to hone her sultry voice and piano chops. She was also a rhythmic gymnastics national team member and placed 5th at the '92 Olympic Trials.

Carmit has been putting her heart and soul into the Dolls since the underground movement began. "Individual personality makes this group sassy," she says, which is where her nickname 'Foxy' comes from. "You have to be comfortable in your skin and exude confidence."

Born with a cleft lip/palate, Carmit's success has given her the desire to give back to children. She is in the process of founding a non-profit organization, Smile With Me, for the community of cleft children in Los Angeles. Carmit believes in limitless possibility and having overcome her own obstacles, she feels compelled to instill passion and creativity wherever she goes. With her inspirational personality, powerful presence and determination, she is sharing that light with one child at a time.

This Doll's enthusiasm, drive and discipline give her the momentum to succeed in this fast paced world.

Ashley Roberts

Phoenix native Roberts started dancing when she was three, singing when she was nine. Her father was a drummer turned car dealer who had played for The Mamas & The Papas; her mother was a Pilates instructor. Four years ago, just out of high school, she headed for L.A. During previous summers she had come to the West Coast to study modern dance. This time, she was in L.A. for good. Since then she's hooked commercials and appeared in a Counting Crows video. Within six months, she was also a Pussycat Doll. "I honestly didn't know about them but the word of mouth among dancers was awesome."

Noting that when she sings she has a Marilyn Monroe-type voice, she says her onstage character is "flirtatious but innocent. She's a fun free spirit. I guess I'm 'the blonde' in the group but," she adds with a smile, "it ain't natural."

Jessica Sutta

When she tore the ACL in both knees as a teenager while on stage, Jessica Sutta's dream of being a prima ballerina ended. But her dreams of being a dancer were just beginning.

Born and raised in Miami, of Irish-Russian-Polish, Catholic-Jewish heritage, she went to the New World School of the Arts at age 14 to study dance. After being injured, she switched to theater, but told herself that she'd dance again. And she did, dancing in the Miami Heat troupe and being named captain her final year, 2001. As an actress, she was featured as a pill-poppin' Gothic teenager in the drama series "Ocean Ave.," shot in South Florida for audiences from Sweden to South Africa, and in the film Bully directed by Larry Clark.

In 2002, she moved to L.A. and three months later met Antin. "She's sweet, always positive, and very sensitive," says Antin, "but on stage she turns it on."

With her pale skin and dark hair, Sutta's persona echoes a Bettie Page pin-up. From the moment she joined The Pussycat Dolls, she says, "this is where I always wanted to be. I thought The Pussycat Dolls were genius. I am so blessed to be a part of this group."

Melody Thornton

Melody Thornton was a rising young star in hometown Phoenix, singing backup for local artists and performing the National Anthem for the Arizona Diamondbacks while attending college. Her Mexican maternal grandmother had been a singer for mariachi bands; her African-American paternal grandfather was a blues guitarist and her mother was a Mexican folklore dancer. Being the only Latina and African-American in The Pussycat Dolls means a great deal to her. "I think a lot of the audience can relate to me," she says, "and that adds to the Dolls."

The first time she saw The Pussycat Dolls was on Christina Aguilera's "MTV Diary." "I loved the concept." She recorded the show and played it back over and over. Studying that tape paid off. Melody was welcomed aboard in December 2003.

Kimberly Wyatt

Down-home Southern girl Kimberly Wyatt also happens to be, according to Antin, "the sexiest dancer I have ever seen in my life." Says Wyatt, "I'm a lot shyer than most of the girls, but my personality onstage is full-out. I really go for it."

Born in Warrensburg, MO, a tiny farm town near the Ozarks, her father is a trucker and her mother goes on the road with him. Having danced since she was seven, by the time Wyatt was 14 she was earning scholarships to study in New York each summer, from the Joffrey Ballet to the Broadway Dance Center. Graduating high school at 17, she promptly flew to Las Vegas to audition for cruise ship and casino shows. Landing a revue on Royal Caribbean' s Explorer of the Sea, then the largest cruise ship in the world, she was able to visit most of Southern Europe.

In 2001, she moved to L.A., despite an offer from the Hubbard St. Dance Co. in Chicago. "All I knew was that L.A. is where dancers got jobs and L.A. was the dot MapQuest led to. My parents thought, 'Oh my God, what is she going to turn into out there?'"

In 2003, Antin was the choreographer for a video for Nick Lachey’s solo album when she met Wyatt. Antin asked her that night to join The Pussycat Dolls. "I had only seen a poster for them," Wyatt recalls. "I remember falling in love with the girls. Not many acts let you be sexy and still be about girl power."

"Small town Middle America is different from the coasts," she says, "and all the girls come from big cities. I have a different perspective. They love my stories about towns where the fancy clothing store is Wal-Mart." -Interscope Geffen A&M

(courtesy of starpulse.com)

Piano-Organ @ Synertec

2006-06-14T23:52:00.000+08:00

Learning piano and music notes is one of the most fun things you can do. Learn to play the piano music of your dreams… coz there is no better dream to fulfill than to play with personal and expressive musical freedom. So, come, explore and shop!

Features

TV Connection for lesson display and Karaoke
32-note polyphonic
General MIDI
264 tones
120 Rhythm patterns
Caso Chord/Fingered Chord auto-accompaniment systems
100 Song Bank Tunes
3-Step Advanced Lesson System
Voice Fingering Guide
Interactive Scoring with Voice/display
Practice Phrase Switch
Musical Information System
Transpose and Tuning control
Sing-Along Function
USB Connection to PC to transfer data
3-Step Advanced Lesson System
Voice Fingering Guide
Interactive Scoring with Voice/display
Practice Phrase Switch
Musical Information System
Transpose and Tuning control
Assignable pedal jack (Sustain, Soft, Sostenuto, Rhythm Start/Stop)
Sing-Along Function
Song Memory (tracks x songs): 2 x 2
Tuning and Transpose: Yes
Flash ROM: Yes
Metronome: Yes
SmartMedia Card Slot: Yes
TV Connectivity: Yes-Mini-to-RCA Video cable (included)
Display: LCD
MIDI/General MIDI: General MIDI

**Visit Synertec Distributors for more**

Piano... for Easy Listening #2

2006-06-14T23:17:00.000+08:00

Kick back and listen to some really mellow and beautiful piano music. All you need is a comfortable chair and a few minutes to enjoy some romantic melodies which will bring quiet refreshment to the spirit. Music that comforts and encourages the heart...

Sometimes When We Touch (lyrics)

I Know Him So Well (lyrics)

On My Own (lyrics)

Lost In Love (lyrics)

More Than I Can Say (lyrics)

My You Light Up Life (lyrics)

From A Distance (lyrics)

To My Precious Simple by SC

2006-06-11T17:25:00.000+08:00

To my precious Simple,
Whose radiance can stun the most brightly star.
I implore your presence,
To awake my dimly nights.

Your kisses are like velvet,
So soft and gentle that is inviting to the masses of desperate lips.
Your sweet nectar only teases,
For your kisses lasts as long as a heartbeat.

To my precious Simple,
Who I adore with the utmost reverance.
Whose brilliance is only matched,
But her nagnificent beauty.

Your sparkling personality,
Light up my soul like a candle in the night.
Coaxing laughs from sorrows,
Changing sadness to joy.

To my precious Simple.
To my precious Simple.
To my precious Simple.

Untitled by SC

2006-06-11T01:16:00.000+08:00

Sometimes when i close my eyes
I picture us together
Forever embracing
Under a moon-lit sky

As i fall off to slumber
My thoughts are of you
Smiling and holding me
Preventing my heart from asunder

Tonight i sleep
Dazed and confused
With anguish for heart
And nightmares for comfort

My eyes are closing now
What awaits me in my sleep
For my heart is empty now
And Death knows no love...

The Master & his Music... Schumman

2006-06-11T00:50:00.000+08:00

Robert Alexander Schumann (1810-1856)

As a German composer, critic, and music journalist, Robert Schumann was one of the driving forces of the young Romantic movement in Germany. And like many in his generation, Schumann did not seem destined to become a composer, let alone one who would be so influential in the development of a new style. But music became all-important to Schumann, and he displayed multiple talents as a performer, composer, and literary exponent of Romanticism, championing new composers and their works and influencing the musical tastes of a generation.

Robert Schumann was born in Zwickau, Germany on June 8, 1810 as the son of a bookseller, Friedrich August Schumann. His mother's maiden name was Johanna Christiane Schnabel. Schumann spent his youth reading the imaginary Romantic tales of Byron and Sir Walter Scott, and he wanted to be a poet when he grew up. At the same time, he developed an interest for the organ and piano, studying with Johann Gottfried Kuntzsch, and with the encouragement of his father, he began at the age of seven to compose small pieces. Schumann's father made attempts to retain Carl Maria von Weber as a composition teacher for his talented son, but these efforts were fruitless, owing to the death of both August Schumann and Weber in 1826. However, for Schumann the expression of his creativity through words or through his musical compositions was really the same creative process in a way; the medium of expression was the only difference. This duality in his abilities and interests persisted throughout his life and was to prove to be a very fortunate circumstance in his mature years when he lost his ability to perform as a pianist.

About Strange Lands and People, No. 1 from "Scenes from Childhood"

Traumerei (or Reverie), No. 7 from "Scenes from Childhood"

Soldiers' March, No. 2 from "Album for the Young"

Song of the Reapers, No. 18 from "Album for the Young"

click here for more info

The Master & his Music... Schubert

2006-06-11T00:45:00.000+08:00

Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828)

Schubert was an Austrian composer, considered the last master of the Viennese Classical school and one of the earliest proponents of musical Romanticism.

Although he died at the young age of 31, he wrote some six hundred romantic songs (Lieder) as well as many symphonies, sonatas, string quartets, some operas and many other works. With a natural flair for melodies and lyricism, Schubert is counted among the most gifted composers of the 19th century.

Public appreciation of his work during his lifetime for a long time was thought to be limited, but when he died at the age of 31 over 100 of his compositions had already appeared in print. He was never able to secure adequate permanent employment and for most of his life was supported by friends or employed by his father.

Impromptu No. 2 from the 1st Set

Moments Musicals No. 5 (of 6)

Marche Militaire Op. 51 No. 1 (piano duet)

Scherzo from "Death and the Maiden" String Quartet

click here for more info...

The Master & his Music... Mozart

2006-06-11T00:40:00.000+08:00

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Baptized as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, January 27, 1756 is among the most significant and enduringly popular composers of European classical music. His enormous output includes works that are widely acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music. Many of his works are part of the standard concert repertory and are widely recognized as masterpieces of the classical style.

Mozart's music, like Haydn's, stands as an archetypal example of the Classical style. His works spanned the period during which that style transformed from one exemplified by the style galant to one that began to incorporate some of the contrapuntal complexities of the late Baroque, complexities against which the galant style had been a reaction. Mozart's own stylistic development closely paralleled the development of the classical style as a whole. In addition, he was a versatile composer and wrote in almost every major genre, including symphony, opera, the solo concerto, chamber music including string quartet and string quintet, and the piano sonata. While none of these genres were new, the piano concerto was almost single-handedly developed and popularized by Mozart. He also wrote a great deal of religious music, including masses; and he composed many dances, divertimenti, serenades, and other forms of light entertainment.

Minuet in F (K.2) composed at age 5

Minuet and Trio in G (K.1) composed at age 6

Rondo Alla Turca, from Piano Sonata in A

Sonata in C, 1st movement

Piano Concerto No. 21, 2nd movement

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (1st movement), original version for string orchestra

click here for more info

The Master & his Music... Mendelssohn

2006-06-11T00:36:00.000+08:00

Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847)

Known generally as Felix Mendelssohn (February 3, 1809 – November 4, 1847) was a German composer of Jewish parentage of the early Romantic period. His work includes symphonies, concertos, oratorios, piano and chamber music. After a long period of relative denigration, his creative originality is now being recognised and re-evaluated, and he is now amongst the most popular composers of the Romantic era. From his childhood reputation as gifted musical prodigy, Felix Mendelssohn matured to become a masterful composer who, despite his relatively short life, ranks among the great composers of the first half of the Nineteenth Century.

Mendelssohn was truly fortunate to have been born in Hamburg, on February 3, 1809, as the son of Lea Salomon and Abraham Mendelssohn, a wealthy banker. He was the grandson of Rabbi and philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, one of the most prominent Jewish thinkers of the late Eighteenth Century. Having been born into a family of art-loving intellectuals, Mendelssohn's parents provided the ideal cultural environment for nurturing the artistic talent of such a precocious child. In addition to receiving an excellent education, Mendelssohn and his family traveled extensively around Europe, which proved to be a considerable influence on Felix.

Wedding March from A Midsummer Night's Dream

Song Without Words Op. 16 No. 6 - Venetian Boat Song No. 1

Song Without Words Op. 53 No. 5 - Folk Song

Song Without Words Op. 67 No. 4 - Spinning Song (or Bee's Wedding)

Song Without Words Op. 85 No. 2 - The Adieu

Song Without Words Op. 102 No. 6 - Faith

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The Master & his Music... Mahler

2006-06-11T00:28:00.000+08:00

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)

Mahler was a Bohemian-Austrian composer and conductor. He was best known during his own lifetime as one of the leading orchestral and operatic conductors of the day, but he has since come to be acknowledged as among the most important post-romantic composers… a remarkable feat for a figure whose mature creativity was concentrated in just two genres… song and symphony. Besides the nine completed numbered symphonies, his principal works are the song cycles Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (usually rendered as 'Songs of a Wayfarer', but literally 'Songs of a Travelling Journeyman') and Kindertotenlieder ('Songs on the Death of Children'), and the synthesis of symphony and song cycle that is Das Lied von der Erde ('The Song of the Earth').

Symphony 1, 2nd movement extract

Symphony 1, 3rd movement extract

Symphony 5, 4th movement extract

Symphony 7, 2nd movement extract

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The Master & his Music... Haydn

2006-06-11T00:21:00.000+08:00

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

Haydn was a leading composer of the Classical period, he is called "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet". A life-long resident of

Austria

, Haydn spent most of his career as a court musician for the wealthy Eszterházy family on their remote estate. Being isolated from other composers and trends in music until the later part of his long life, he was, as he put it, "forced to become original". Joseph Haydn was the brother of Michael Haydn, himself a highly regarded composer, and Johann Evangelist Haydn, a tenor.

Piano Sonata No.31 in A-flat (first movement)

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The Master & his Music... Debussy

2006-06-10T23:55:00.000+08:00

Claude Achille Debussy (1862-1918)

Debussy was a French composer. He worked within the style commonly referred to as impressionist music, a term which he dismissed. Debussy was not only one of the most important French composers but was also one of the most important figures in music at the turn of the last century; his music represents the transition from late-romantic music to 20th century modernist music.

Growing up from very humble beginnings to become the most important French composer of the early Twentieth Century, Achille-Claude Debussy (1862-1918) was born near Paris in the town of St. Germain-en-Laye, where his parents kept a china shop. And his father also worked as a traveling salesman, as a printer's assistant, and as a clerk. His mother was a seamstress who managed to provide a very rudimentary education for Claude during his largely unhappy childhood. As an adult, Debussy never spoke about his childhood, and most events of his early years remain a mystery.

Arabeque No. 1 from Deux Arabesque

Golliwog's Cakewalk from Children's Corner

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The Master & his Music... Chopin

2006-06-08T13:48:00.000+08:00

Frederic Chopin

Chopin is one of the most famous, influential and admired composers for the piano, and Poland's most significant composer. He was born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin in the village of Żelazowa Wola, Poland, to a Polish mother and French expatriate father. Hailed as a child prodigy in his homeland, Chopin left for Paris at the age of 20.

In Paris, he made a career as a performer and teacher as well as a composer, and adopted the French variant of his name, "Frédéric-François". He had a turbulent 10-year relationship with the French writer George Sand from 1837 to 1847. Always in fragile health, he succumbed to pulmonary tuberculosis at the age of 39. Chopin's compositions, which are almost exclusively for the piano, include his Funeral March (part of his second piano sonata but composed long before the other parts) and the twenty-four études and are widely considered to be among the pinnacles of the piano repertoire.

Prelude No. 4

Prelude No. 6

Prelude No. 7

Prelude No. 15 (The "Raindrop")

Prelude No. 20

Waltz Op. 18 (Grande Valse Brillante)

The "Minute" Waltz Op. 64 No. 1

Waltz in C# minor Op. 64 No. 2

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The Master & his Music... Brahms

2006-06-08T13:40:00.000+08:00

Johannes Brahms

Brahms wrote a number of major works for orchestra, including four symphonies, two piano concertos, a Violin Concerto, a Double Concerto for violin and cello. His large choral work Ein deutsches Requiem ("A German Requiem") is not a traditional, liturgical requiem (Missa pro defunctis), but a setting of texts which Brahms selected from the Luther Bible.Brahms' works in variation form include the Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel and the Paganini Variations, both for solo piano, and the Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn for orchestra.

Waltz No. 15

Cello Sonata Op.38 (1st movement)

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The Master & his Music... Beethoven

2006-06-08T12:50:00.000+08:00

Ludwig Van Beethoven

Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of classical music's greatest composers, and was the predominant figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic in Western classical music. His reputation and genius have inspired... and in many cases intimidated... ensuing generations of composers, musicians, and audiences. Born in Bonn, Germany, he moved to Vienna, Austria, in his early twenties, and settled there, studying with Joseph Haydn and quickly gaining a reputation as a virtuoso pianist. In his late twenties he began to lose his hearing, and yet continued to produce notable masterpieces throughout his life in the face of this personal disaster, even after his deafness became absolute. Unusually among his contemporaries, he worked as a freelance composer, arranging subscription concerts and being supported by a number of wealthy patrons who considered his gifts extraordinary.

Moonlight Sonata (piano), 1st movement

Fur Elise, for piano

Violin Sonata No. 1, 1st movement

Symphony No. 7 in A, 2nd movement

Symphony No. 5 in Cm, 1st movement

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The Master & his Music... Bach

2006-06-07T12:26:00.000+08:00

Johann Sebastian Bach

Bach was a prolific German composer and organist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra and solo instruments drew together the strands of the baroque style and brought it to its ultimate maturity. Although he introduced no new musical forms, he enriched the prevailing German style with a robust contrapuntal technique, a control of harmonic and motivic organisation from the smallest to the largest scales, and the adaptation of rhythms and textures from abroad, particularly Italy and France. Bach's forceful suavity and vast output have earned him wide acknowledgment as one of the greatest composers in the Western tonal tradition.

Toccata and Fugue in Dm for Organ

Prelude No. 1 from Book 1 of the 48

Prelude No. 2 from Book 1 of the 48

Fugue No. 2 from Book 1 of the 48

Prelude No. 3 from Book 1 of the 48

Prelude No. 6 from Book 1 of the 48

Fugue No. 10 from Book 1 of the 48

Prelude No. 2 from Book 2 of the 48

Fugue No. 2 from Book 2 of the 48

Prelude No. 12 from Book 2 of the 48

Two-part Invention No. 4

Two-part Invention No. 13

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Quotable Quotes

2006-05-30T01:39:00.000+08:00

Love Quotes

“Love is when you shed a tear and still want him, it's when he ignores you and you still love him, it's when he loves another girl but you still smile and say I'm happy for you, when all you really do is cry.”

“Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life...You give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like 'maybe we should be just friends' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love.”

“Meeting you was fate, becoming your friend was a choice, but falling in love with you I had no control over.”

“If I never met you, I wouldn't like you. If I didn't like you, I wouldn't love you. If I didn't love you, I wouldn't miss you. But I did, I do, and I will.”

“I'm not supposed to love you, I'm not supposed to care, I'm not supposed to live my life wishing you were there. I'm not supposed to wonder where you are or what you do...I'm sorry I can't help myself, I'm in love with you.”

“We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly”

“When I saw you, I was afraid to meet you... When I met you, I was afraid to kiss you... When I kissed you, I was afraid to love you... Now that I love you, I'm afraid to lose you.”

“Love comes when manipulation stops; when you think more about the other person than about his or her reactions to you. When you dare to reveal yourself fully. When you dare to be vulnerable.”

“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief...and unspeakable love.”

“I don't wish to be everything to everyone, but I would like to be something to someone.”

Straight from the Heart #1

2006-05-30T01:09:00.000+08:00

I'm here

you don't know i'm here...

how can two people be

on the same part of the universe,

on the same edge of the earth,

on the same share of the continent,

on the same side of the country,

on the same wing of the region,

on the same end of the city.

under the very same roof,

without even meeting each other's eyes?

it's sad, really sad,

when i ache so much to reach out

and have the feel of another's presence,

someone who's, in fact, very near

but is the same someone

who seems a million miles away.

how can we be together

yet be very much apart?

what if i die... the next minute,

the next hour, the next night,

the next day after this?

that makes it sadder because

you don't even know

i'm here

we've won over so many battles,

yet how easily we've been defeated

by our very own selves,

by these restrictions,

by these limitations

on who and how and why

we must care.

i see your shadow

and it's swiftly moving pass me...

oh, what a pain to admit

that though you see me not

my hand still reaches out

ever faithful in declaring

that for you

i'm here...

Juz keep on Jazzin' - Norah Jones

2006-05-29T23:55:00.000+08:00

It is rare to see someone as down-to-earth and in touch with reality as Norah Jones storming onto the music scene. She represents the arrival of a new kind of singer... multi-talented, soulful, dedicated, and sincere when she says "I'm doing it for the music." Although she is stylistically much closer to Diana Krall than Alicia Keys... Jones has the young, fresh appeal and innate skills that Keys possesses, capable of awing audiences with her voice and piano playing.

Born in New York City and raised in Dallas, Texas, Norah Jones later returned to New York to start her career. This change in culture, subtle as it may be, can be seen in her music. She combines country, blues, folk, and jazz to create yet another niche in this day and age when crossover artists come by the barrelful. Still, she stands out without even trying...

Here are some of her songs that you can download... and if you want more of her songs, feel free to leave a comment and i'll be glad to upload them for you...

Come Away With Me

Come away with me in the night

Come away with me

And I will write you a song

Come away with me on a bus

Come away with me where they can't tempt us

With their lies

I want to walk with you

On a cloudy day

In fields where the yellow grass grows

knee kigh

So won't you try to come

Come away with me and we'll kiss

On a mountain top

Come away with me

And I'll never stop loving you

And I want to wake up with the rain

Falling on a tin roof

While I'm safe there in your arms

So all I ask is for you

To come away with me in the night

Come away with me

Don't Know Why

I waited 'til I saw the sun

I don't know why I didn't come

I left you by the house of fun

I don't know why I didn't come

When I saw the break of day

I wished that I could fly away

Instead of kneeling in the sand

Catching teardrops in my hand

My heart is drenched in wine

But you'll be on my mind

Forever

Out across the endless sea

I would die in ecstacy

But I'll be a bag of bones

Driving down the road alone

My heart is drenched in wine

But you'll be on my mind

Forever

Something has to make you run

I don't know why I didn't come

I feel as empty as a drum

I don't know why I didn't come

Cold cold heart

I've tried so hard my dear to show

That you're my every dream

Yet you're afraid each thing I do

Is just some evil scheme

A memory from your lonesome past

Keeps us so far apart

Why can't I free your doubtful mind

And melt your cold cold heart

Another love before my time

Made your heart sad an' blue

And so my heart is paying now

For things I didn't do

In anger unkind words are said

That make the teardrops start

Why can't I free your doubtful mind

And melt your cold cold heart

There was a time when I believed

That you belonged to me

But now I know your heart is shackled

To a memory

The more I learn to care for you

The more we drift apart

Why can't I free your doubtful mind

And melt your cold cold heart

Turn Me on

Like a flower

Waiting to bloom

Like a lightbulb

In a dark room

I'm just sitting here waiting for you

To come on home and turn me on

Like the desert waiting for the rain

Like a school kid waiting for the spring

Im just sitting here waiting for you

To come on home and turn me on

My poor heart

It's been so dark

Since you've been gone

After all you're the one who turns me off

You're the only one who can turn me back on

My hi-fi is waiting for a new tune

My glass is waiting for some fresh ice cubes

I'm just sitting here waiting for you

To come on home and turn me on

I've Got to See you Again

Lines on your face don't bother me

Down in my chair when you dance over me

I can't help myself

I've got to see you again

Late in the night when I'm all alone

And I look at the clock and I know you're not home

I can't help myself

I've got to see you again

I could almost go there

Just to watch you be seen

I could almost go there

Just to live in a dream

But no I won't go for any of those things

To not touch your skin is not why I sing

I can't help myself

I've got to see you again

I could almost go there

Just to watch you be seen

I could almost go there

Just to live in a dream

No I won't go to share you with them

But oh even though I know where

you've been

I can't help myself

I've got to see you again

The Nearness of You

It's not the pale moon that excites me

That thrills and delights me, oh no

It's just the nearness of you

It isn't your sweet conversation

That brings this sensation, oh no

It's just the nearness of you

When you're in my arms and I feel you so close to me

All my wildest dreams come true

I need no soft lights to enchant me

If you'll only grant me the right

To hold you ever so tight

And to feel in the night the nearness of you

To know more about these extremely talented artist... pls visit http://www.norahjones.com

My Friend

2006-05-29T22:41:00.000+08:00

I have met a very nice guy over the Internet who has become a very dear and sweet friend to me. He worries about me when no one else ever even thinks about me. He's truly one of the best guys I have ever known. He's such a very dear friend and I just want to let him know how blessed I am to have him...

You are always around to keeps my feet on the ground... and when my head is up in the clouds, you always seem to know what I'm thinking about

You are someone who always shows the way to be happy, especially when I'm having a bad day

... someone who listens when I'm making no sense at all

... someone I usually drive crazy but still there to understand me

... someone whom I can trust... someone who in possible way, tries to chase all my fears away

Whether its your smile or your laugh that caught my eye... it was definitely your concerned attitude that captured my heart...

And no matter where I am or what I am doing, when you come to my mind... a smile comes to my face and a warmth settles in my heart

I often struggle to say how i feel, but I hope we never let go of what we share, coz whether its accross the miles or just a short distance... you will always be a part of my life.

Our friendship is forever... a relationship so true

Timeless Music #1

2006-05-28T18:10:00.000+08:00

seat back and relax… enjoy the music…

The Entertainer (theme from The Sting) … Scott Joplin

Fur Elise … Beethoven

Moonlight Sonata, 1^st Movement … Beethoven

Canon in D (arranged for piano) ... Pachelbel

Autumn from “The Four Season” … Vivaldi

Minuet (K2) … Mozart

Gymnopedie No.1 … Satie

Sugar Plum Fairy … Tchaikovsky

Concerto for Two Violins ... Vivaldi

O Sole Mio … Italian Folk Song

Music Genre

2006-05-28T16:14:00.000+08:00

I view music as a sound organized and arranged for the means of expression and for sensual and intellectual pleasure. Of the major arts... music maybe the most ancient, because the urge to sing and response to feelings of anger, joy, or sorrow springs from the body itself. I can also describe music as sound shaped by time... where the two most important element are the rhythm and the melody... these maybe considered as a universal characteristics of music... but, musical expressions and traditions are quite distinct and diverse. Let's take a glimpse at some of the basic musical language...

Classical Music

Is popular term for the Western tradition of art music that began in Europe in the Middle Ages and continues today. It includes symphonies, chamber music, opera, and other serious, artistic music. More narrowly, the “classical” style refers to the work of the Viennese classical school, a group of 18th-century composers that include Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus, Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven which is the epitome of what is called classical music.

Gospel Music

Gospel Music, genre of popular American hymnody that emerged about 1870. At first a predominantly white style, it became prominent in the urban religious revivals led by the evangelist Dwight Moody with the musician Ira Sankey. Its roots were in Sunday school hymns, camp meeting spirituals, and the melodies and harmonies of popular music; the bass voice often echoes the other parts. An early example is “I Love to Tell the Story” (1869) by William Fischer. The texts, notably those of the poet Fanny Crosby, often deal with salvation and conversion. Black gospel music, which became distinctive by 1930, is especially associated with Pentecostal churches. It developed out of the combination of the earlier hymns, black performance styles, and elements from black spirituals. Singing, which may merge into ecstatic dance, is usually accompanied by piano or organ, often with handclapping, tambourines, and electric guitars. Texts such as “Precious Lord” (1932) by Thomas Dorsey stress themes of consolation. Noted singers include Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Mahalia Jackson. Although the black and white varieties of gospel music have remained distinctive, repertoire has been shared, and they have freely influenced each other stylistically.

Folk Music

Is the music with which the people of a nation or an ethnic group most specifically identify themselves. It consists of song or pieces taught through performance rather than notation (written musical notes), and learned by hearing. The original composers of folk music are anonymous or forgotten. A folk song does not have a standardized form. Instead, its words as well as its music exist in more than one and sometimes a great many variants, or in slightly different versions. Folk music is most commonly the music of the socially and economically lower classes and of rural populations. Although many folk musicians are accomplished artists who have fine technique and mastery of many pieces, folk music is generally simpler and more compact in style than classical, or art, music. Folk music exists in many different forms and under a variety of social and cultural conditions. Folk music—or some music that conforms to the definition just given—is found in most of the world’s societies. The characterization given in this article applies best to the musical cultures of Western nations. Even so, the variety of folk music is so great that the statements made here can only outline characteristics rather than define the features of folk music.

Jazz

Jazz is a musical form that grew out of a cross-fertilization of folkblues, ragtime and European music, particularly band music. It has been called the first native art form to develop in the United States of America. The music has gone through a series of developments since its inception. In roughly chronological order they are Dixieland, bebop, hard bop, cool jazz, free jazz, jazz fusion and smooth jazz.

Jazz is primarily an instrumental form of music. The instrument most closely associated with jazz may be the saxophone, followed closely by the trumpet. The trombone, piano, double bass, guitar and drums are also primary jazz instruments. The clarinet and banjo were often used, especially in the earlier styles of jazz. Although there have been many renowned jazz vocalists, and many of the most well-known jazz tunes have lyrics, the majority of well-known and influential jazz musicians and composers have been instrumentalists. During the time of its widest popularity, roughly 1920 to 1950, jazz and popular music had a very intimate connection. Popular songs drew upon jazz influences, and many jazz hits were reworkings of popular songs, or lyrics were written for jazz tunes in an attempt to create popular hits.

Jazz was a direct influence on Thythm and Blues, and therefore a secondary influence on most later genres of popular music. Modern American art music composers have often used elements of jazz in their compositions.

Blues

Blues, type of music developed during the late 19th century by African American performers. Blues embraces a variety of styles, including downhome or country blues, boogie-woogie, classic blues, jump blues, and Chicago (urban) blues. Blues directly or indirectly influenced the vast majority of popular music during the 20th century, including jazz, rock, rhythm and blues (R&B), and gospel.

As a form and style blues most likely first appeared in the 1890s, a quarter century after the Civil War (1861-1865) officially ended slavery in the United States. Jazz and ragtime also first appeared around this time. Although freedom did not substantially change the material conditions of the majority of African Americans, it did have a tremendous effect on the mindset of those born into freedom. It is therefore probably no accident that the first generation born outside of slavery would develop a new music that more accurately reflected their worldview and the social situations in which they lived.

Rhythm and blues

Rhythm-and-Blues Music or R&B, variety of different, but related, types of popular musicproduced and supported primarily by black Americans beginning in the early 1940s. Rhythm-and-blues music, also known simply as R&B, embraces such genres as jump blues, club blues, black rock and roll, doo wop, soul, Motown, funk, disco, and rap. First coined in 1949 by Jerry Wexler, who would become prominent with Atlantic Records, the term rhythm and blues was used as a synonym for black rock and roll (rock-and-roll music done by black musicians) in the early and mid-1950s. Until white rock-and-roll performers such as Bill Halley and Elvis Presleyachieved mass popularity in the mid-1950s, what was commonly referred to as rock and roll by white disc jockeys and fans was referred to as the latest style of R&B by black disc jockeys and fans.

As a tradition, R&B provided the single greatest influence on popular music worldwide for much of the second half of the 20th century. This influence can be traced in forms ofrock music, country and western, gospel, and jazz as well as in a variety of non-Western forms of music, including Nigerian juju, a style of popular dance music, and Algerian rai, another popular style distinguished by its rebellious lyrics. As the influence of various styles of R&B has grown, black urban values have also permeated a wide variety of other cultures, most notably that of contemporary Euro-American youth.

Rock

Rock Music, group of related music styles that have dominated popular music in the West since about 1955. Rock music began in the United States, but it has influenced and in turn been shaped by a broad field of cultures and musical traditions. In addition to its use as a broad designation, the term rock music commonly refers to music styles after 1959 predominantly influenced by white musicians. Other major rock-music styles include rock and roll (also known as rock 'n' roll). Each of these major genres encompasses a variety of substyles, such as heavy metal punk, alternative, and grunge. While innovations in rock music have often occurred in regional centers—such as New York City; Kingston, Jamaica; and Liverpool, England—the influence of rock music is now felt worldwide.

Country music

Country Music or Country-and-Western Music, major genre of American popular music, primarily produced by white Southerners beginning in the early 1920s. Born out of the folk music of Southern Appalachia, country music encompasses the styles known as Western swing, honky-tonk, bluegrass, rockabilly, and new country. Over the years country music has been influenced by folk, gospel, rhythm-and-blues (R&B), and rock music and in turn has had an impact on these popular genres. Although originally known by the derisive label “hillbilly music,” country has since moved into the popular music mainstream and gained wide international acceptance.

Musically speaking, country music is one of the simplest styles to create and one of the least intimidating to listen to, features that contribute to its popularity. This basic aspect of country music stems from the fact that it is based predominantly on lyric content rather than musical content. In country, the primary purpose of the musical elements of harmony, melody, and rhythm is to showcase the lyrics without distracting from them. Exceptions to this general rule include the purely instrumental music from country music’s early history and the technical virtuosity often found in bluegrass music.

Country harmony relies for the most part on a simple selection of repeated chords—usually three, although additional chords or as few as two may be used. Vocals appear mainly as single, unharmonized lines, although at times they are harmonized with high, closely spaced voices, especially in the chorus of a song. Rhythmically, there is little syncopation. Most country music is written in ¹ time (four beats to a measure), with the first and third beats receiving emphasis. Melodies are typically just as basic as the rhythm. Many country tunes sound very similar and are distinguishable by their lyrics.

The lyrics of country songs commonly parallel the lives of ordinary, working-class Americans and cover such subjects as love and relationships, loneliness, religion, poverty, and work. A song’s lyric theme is frequently repeated as a hook (a catchy musical phrase) in the chorus section. Most country lyrics are extraordinarily economical, using 150 or fewer words, and the compact result is often poetic and evocative

Pop music

Popular Music, music produced for and sold to a broad audience. Types of popular music include jazz, music from motion pictures and musical comedies, country-and-western music, rhythm-and-blues music (R&B), rock music, and rap (or hip-hop). Shaped by social, economic, and technological forces, popular music is closely linked to the social identity of its performers and audiences. Early musical styles were also very influential in shaping popular music.

The most popular songs in America during the late 18th century, as judged by reported sales of printed music, were written by professional English composers for performance in London parks (known as pleasure gardens) or for performance in English ballad and comic opera. The songs often had pastoral themes, were amorous in content, contained ethnic stereotypes, and included Irish and Scottish lyrics and melodies. By the early 19th century, Italian opera had also become popular in the United States. In addition, the Italian bel canto style of singing—light, clear, and intimate—was to have an influence on the development of the soft, sentimental type of singing known as crooning that became popular in the United States during the 1920s and 1930s.

Distinctive American styles of popular music emerged in the mid-19th century. Minstrel shows —performances in which white entertainers dressed in blackface and acted out crude parodies of African American behavior—were the dominant form of popular entertainment in the 19th century. The minstrel theater had a strong impact on the development of popular music in the United States. American performer Thomas Dartmouth Rice demonstrated the profitability of minstrel music with his song “Jim Crow” (1829), which was the first American song to become an international hit. Many minstrel songs were successful in sheet music form, and they became a dominant force in the development of 19th-century American popular song.

Melodic music

Is a term that covers various genres of non-classical music which are primarily characterised by the dominance of a single strong melody line. Rhythm, tempo and beat are subordinate to the melody line or tune, which is generally easily memorable, and followed without great difficulty. Melodic music is found in all parts of the world, overlapping many genres, and may be performed by a singer or orchestra, or a combination of the two.

In the west, melodic music has developed largely from folk song sources, and been heavily influenced by classical music in its development and orchestration. In many areas the border line between classical and melodic popular music is imprecise. Opera is generally considered to be a classical form. The lighter operatta is considered borderline, whilst stage and film musicals and musical comedies are firmly placed in the popular melodic category. The reasons for much of this are largely historical.

Punk rock

Punk rock is a subgenre of rock music. The term "punk rock" can only rarely be applied without any controversy. Perhaps the only bands always considered "punk" are the first wave of punk bands, such as The Clash, The Sex Pistoles and the Ramones, and even then they may be labeled "sellouts" by more hardcore fans. Before this, however, a series of underground musicians helped define the music throughout the 1970s.

Punk is often considered especially important for its "Do-it-yourself" philosophy. Many punk musicians encouraged their fans and audience members to learn to play instruments and form their own bands, and doing so was implicitly encouraged by the apparent simplicity of the music. Since punk bands were often ignored by major lables, the definitions of the many sub-genres, and the question of which groups belong in which sub-genres, is often a subject of heated debate.

Hip hop / Rap / Rapcore

Hip hop music genre of rhythm-0and-blues (R&B) that consists of rhythmic vocals declaimed over musical accompaniment. The accompaniment generally consists of electronic drum beats combined with samples (digitally isolated sound bites) from other musical recordings. The first rap recording was made in 1979 and the genre rose to prominence in the United States in the mid-1980s. Although the term rap is often used interchangeably with hip-hop, the latter term encompasses the subculture that rap music is simply one part of. The term hip-hop derives from one of the earliest phrases used in rap, and can be found on the seminal recording “Rapper’s Delight” (1979) by the Sugarhill Gang. In addition to rap music, the hip-hop subculture also comprises other forms of expression, including break dancing and graffiti art as well as a unique slang vocabulary and fashion sense.

Rap originated in the mid-1970s in the South Bronx area of New York City. The rise of rap in many ways parallels the birth of rock and roll in the 1950s. Both originated within the African American community and both were initially recorded by small, independent record labels and marketed almost exclusively to a black audience. In both cases, the new style gradually attracted white musicians, a few of whom began performing it. For rock and roll it was a white singer from Mississippi, Elvis Presley, who broke into the Billboard magazine popular music charts. For rap it was a white group from New York, the Beastie Boys, and the hit song “Walk This Way” (1986), a collaboration of the black rap group Run DMC and the white hard-rock band Aerosmith. Soon after 1986, the use of samples and declaimed vocal styles became widespread in the popular music of both black and white performers, significantly altering previous notions of what constitutes a legitimate song, composition, or musical instrument.

Reminiscin' the Past

2006-05-27T14:16:00.000+08:00

As we all know, Music has an extensive and multifaceted history that may go before language… and certainly predates the written word. It is originated in every known culture… past and present… varying wildly between times and places. The society's music is influenced by all other phases of that culture, together with social and economic organization, climate, and access to technology. The passions and inspirations that music expresses, the places that music is played and listened to in, and the mind-sets toward music players and composers… all vary between regions and periods. Let’s take a closer look at the history of our music…

The Middle Ages

Around 500 A.D., western civilization began to emerge from the period known as "The Dark Ages," the time when invading hordes of Vandals, Huns, and Visigoths overran Europe and brought an end to the Roman Empire. For the next ten centuries, the newly emerging Christian Church would dominate Europe, administering justice, instigating "Holy" Crusades against the East, establishing Universities, and generally dictating the destiny of music, art and literature. During this time, Pope Gregory I is generally believed to have collected and codified the music known as Gregorian Chant, which was the approved music of the Church. Much later, the University at Notre Dame in Paris saw the creation of a new kind of music called organum. Secular music was sung all over Europe by the troubadours and trouvères of France. And it was during the Middle Ages that western culture saw the arrival of the first great name in music, Guillaume de Machaut.

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The Renaiissance

Generally considered to be from ca.1420 to 1600, the Renaissance (which literally means "rebirth") was a time of great cultural awakening and a flowering of the arts, letters, and sciences throughout Europe. With the rise of humanism, sacred music began for the first time to break free of the confines of the Church, and a school of composers trained in the Netherlands mastered the art of polyphony in their settings of sacred music. One of the early masters of the Flemish style was Josquin des Prez. These polyphonic traditions reached their culmination in the unsurpassed works of Giovanni da Palestrina.
Of course, secular music thrived during this period, and instrumental and dance music was performed in abundance, if not always written down. It was left for others to collect and notate the wide variety of irrepressible instrumental music of the period. The late Renaissance also saw in England the flourishing of the English madrigal, the best known of which were composed by such masters as John Dowland, William Byrd, Thomas Morley and others.

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The Baroque Age

Named after the popular ornate architectural style of the time, the Baroque period (ca.1600 to 1750) saw composers beginning to rebel against the styles that were prevalent during the High Renaissance. This was a time when the many monarchies of Europe vied in outdoing each other in pride, pomp and pageantry. Many monarchs employed composers at their courts, where they were little more than servants expected to churn out music for any desired occasions. The greatest composer of the period, Johann Sebastian Bach, was such a servant. Yet the best composers of the time were able to break new musical ground, and in so doing succeeded in creating an entirely new style of music.
It was during the early part of the seventeenth century that the genre of opera was first created by a group of composers in Florence, Italy, and the earliest operatic masterpieces were composed by Claudio Monteverdi. The instrumental concerto became a staple of the Baroque era, and found its strongest exponent in the works of the Venetian composer Antonio Vivaldi. Harpsichord music achieved new heights, due to the works of such masters as Domenico Scarlatti and others. Dances became formalized into instrumental suites and were composed by virtually all composers of the era. But vocal and choral music still reigned supreme during this age, and culminated in the operas and oratorios of German-born composer George Frideric Handel.

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The Classical Period

From roughly 1750 to 1820, artists, architechts, and musicians moved away from the heavily ornamented styles of the Baroque and the Rococo, and instead embraced a clean, uncluttered style they thought reminiscent of Classical Greece. The newly established aristocracies were replacing monarchs and the church as patrons of the arts, and were demanding an impersonal, but tuneful and elegant music. Dances such as the minuet and the gavotte were provided in the forms of entertaining serenades and divertimenti.

At this time the Austrian capital of Vienna became the musical center of Europe, and works of the period are often referred to as being in the Viennese style. Composers came from all over Europe to train in and around Vienna, and gradually they developed and formalized the standard musical forms that were to predominate European musical culture for the next several decades. A reform of the extravagance of Baroque opera was undertaken by Christoph von Gluck. Johann Stamitz contributed greatly to the growth of the orchestra and developed the idea of the orchestral symphony. The Classical period reached its majestic culmination with the masterful symphonies, sonatas, and string quartets by the three great composers of the Viennese school: Franz Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven. During the same period, the first voice of the burgeoning Romantic musical ethic can be found in the music of Viennese composer Franz Schubert.

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The Romantic Era

As the many socio-political revolutions of the late eighteenth-century established new social orders and new ways of life and thought, so composers of the period broke new musical ground by adding a new emotional depth to the prevailing classical forms. Throughout the remainder of the nineteenth-century (from ca. 1820 to 1900), artists of all kinds became intent in expressing their subjective, personal emotions. "Romanticism" derives its name from the romances of medieval times -- long poems telling stories of heroes and chivalry, of distant lands and far away places, and often of unattainable love. The romantic artists are the first in history to give to themselves the name by which they are identified.

The earliest Romantic composers were all born within a few years of each other in the early years of the nineteenth century. These include the great German masters Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann ; the Polish poet of the piano Frédéric Chopin; the French genius Hector Berlioz ; and the greatest pianistic showman in history, the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt.

During the early nineteenth century, opera composers such as Carl Maria von Weber turned to German folk stories for the stories of their operas, while the Italians looked to the literature of the time and created what is known as Bel canto opera (literally "beautiful singing"). Later in the century, the field of Italian opera was dominated by Giuseppe Verdi, while German opera was virtually monopolized by Richard Wagner.

During the nineteenth century, composers from non-Germanic countries began looking for ways in which they might express the musical soul of their homelands. Many of these Nationalist composers turned to indigenous history and legends as plots for their operas, and to the popular folk melodies and dance rhythms of their homelands as inspiration for their symphonies and instrumental music. Others developed a highly personal harmonic language and melodic style which distinguishes their music from that of the Austro-Germanic traditions.

The continued modification and enhancement of existing instruments, plus the invention of new ones, led to the further expansion of the symphony orchestra throughout the century. Taking advantage of these new sounds and new instrumental combinations, the late Romantic composers of the second half of the nineteenth-century created richer and ever larger symphonies, ballets, and concertos. Two of the giants of this period are the German-born Johannes Brahms and the great Russian melodist Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

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The Twentieth-Century

By the turn of the century and for the next few decades, artists of all nationalities were searching for exciting and different modes of expression. Composers such as Arnold Schoenberg explored unusual and unorthodox harmonies and tonal schemes. French composer Claude Debussy was fascinated by Eastern music and the whole-tone scale, and created a style of music named after the movement in French painting called Impressionism. Hungarian composer Béla Bartók continued in the traditions of the still strong Nationalist movement and fused the music of Hungarian peasants with twentieth century forms. Avant-garde composers such as Edgard Varèse explored the manipulation of rhythms rather than the usual melodic/harmonic schemes. The tried-and-true genre of the symphony, albeit somewhat modified by this time, attracted such masters as Gustav Mahler and Dmitri Shostakovich, while Igor Stravinsky gave full rein to his manipulation of kaleidoscopic rhythms and instrumental colors throughout his extremely long and varied career.

While many composers throughout the twentieth-century experimented in new ways with traditional instruments (such as the "prepared piano" used by American composer John Cage), many of the twentieth-century's greatest composers, such as Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini and the Russian pianist/composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, remained true to the traditional forms of music history. In addition to new and eclectic styles of musical trends, the twentieth century boasts numerous composers whose harmonic and melodic styles an average listener can still easily appreciate and enjoy.

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A Flower’s Journey

2006-05-26T21:30:00.000+08:00

You ask if I will miss you?

If I shall reminisce?

Within this poem is the answer

For I do promise this

Whenever near the water

Underneath a pink sunset

I shall perform this duty

To prove I won't forget

I will pick a wild flower

Covered with evening dew

Place it on the water

And send it off to you

So that God will guide it

As it drifts toward the sea

I will bless it on its journey

With words of poetry

It will cover endless miles

Over countless brooks and streams

To serve as a reminder

That you're always in my dreams

I will send it on this journey

To fulfill one fantasy

That if ever you do find it

You will think of me

So late some summer's evening

As you're walking on the beach

If a crashing wave beside you

Places a flower within your reach

Know it is a token

That rests there at your feet

Proof of love unbroken

Its journey now complete