oldies

Billy Fury was born Ronald Wycherley in Liverpool, England. He was a sickly child who experienced his first bout of rheumatic fever at age six. That began chronic health problems which eventually took his life before age 45. Fury began music lessons, on the piano, at age 11. He got his first guitar at age 14. By 1955, the skiffle music boom had begun in England and Fury was leading his own local group, while still working on a tugboat and/or as a stevedore. By 1958, he had won a talent competition and had begun to write his own songs.

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Smokie is an English classic rock band from Bradford who found success in Europe in the 1970s. They formed in 1966 in Yorkshire, England and did some early records under the name "Smokey" One of their top hits was "Living Next Door to Alice". While touring in Ireland they discovered the audience would cheer back "Who the Fuck is Alice?". As it turns out , this was a ritual at a Café in Nijmegen (the Netherlands) called "Gompie". The group decided to "cover" this version with comedian Roy Chubby Brown having the honor of yelling "Alice, Who the Fuck is Alice?" during the chorus.

Martha and the Vandellas were one of the most successful groups in the Motown roster during the 1960s and fully active from 1960 to 1972, performing at various times doo-wop, pop, rock and roll and soul. The label's second most-successful all-female singing group after The Supremes, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas were known for a churchier, more southern-styled soul than the Supremes, as typified in Motown hits such as "(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave", "Jimmy Mack", "I'm Ready For Love", "My Baby Loves Me", "Nowhere to Run", and, their signature song, "Dancing in the Street".

Michael McDonald (born February 12, 1952, in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American R&B/soul singer (sometimes described as a "blue-eyed soul" singer), known for his trademark husky baritone voice. McDonald played in several local bands (such as Mike and the Majestics, Jerry Jay and the Sheratons, the Reebtoors, and The Guild) while attending McCluer High School in his hometown of Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.

Read more about Michael McDonald on Last.fm.