Entertainment For Lively Minds
Rock stars of the world...
This should be the sort of thing the Massive, en masse, do particularly well. We shall see!
It occurred to me earlier today that two of my fave bands - the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Quintessence - featured members from countries rarely represented in the patheon of international rock-stardomry. Namely Billy Cobham (Panama) and Jan Hammer (Czechoslovakia, as was) from the MO and Allan Mostert (Mauritius) from Quintessence.
Wikipedia believes there are 204 sovereign nations in the world at present.
How many have given us individuals whio have made a mark in the international rock/pop/jazz world?
Shall we have a go at finding out?
Try and keep it within those genres - if we include 'folk music' we could add dozens of people from obscure places. I'm thinking only of people who've been involved in 'western popular music', for wont of a better expression, at a relatively well-known level.
We'll mark the UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand off the list as a given - or we'd be here all day.
So with those 6 freebies and the three I mentioned above, that's 9.
195 to go...
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Morten Harket
and the rest of the A-ha chaps(Oh go on then, Pal Waaktaar and Mags Furuholmen) from Norway.
was it in Smash Hits...
... that Mr Harket was known as Albion Market?
For some reason whenever I think of that it never fails to raise a smile.
This raises two questions:
1. Why do I think of it at all? (no A-ha fan, me)
2. Is there a more dated (and dating) joke?
Freddy Mercury
from Zanzibar, Tanzania
Peter Sarstedt from Delhi, India
A good start chaps...
...and I'll keep the ball rolling with Plastic Bertrand from, but of course, Belgium...
And Focus from next door, Holland...
France
MC Solaar, Vanessa Paradis, Serge Gainsbourg, Belinda Carlise (snicker)
Germany, the excellent Rammstein, Nena, Kraftwerk, Neu!, Can, Giorgio Moroder
Belgium, Joey Beltram
Holland, Boney M, 2 Unlimited
Sweden, Two girls, two boys - catchy songs, awful dress sense - may have been a film?
Denmark, Aqua
Russia, Autograf
Japan, Yoko Ono & Ryuichi Sakamoto
Denmark, Lars Ulrich
Damo Suzuki
from Japan.
some sixties stars
Nico - Germany
Manfred Mann - S. Africa
Daevid Allen - Australia
And of course Bjork...
...from Iceland.
(Anyone any thoughts how we're going to get the Faroe Islands ticked off the list?)
Faroe Islands
Teitur - fantastic albums and a great live act. Go and see him if he plays near you.
And not forgetting Bob Marley...
...from Jamaica.
Oh Wyclef honey...
Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel - Haiti
Yello
from Switzerland
Rihanna
From Barbados
Ottawan from Martinique
Rock Me Amadeus
Falco was Austrian
(Throw another shrimp on the barbie!)
Goran Bregović
from Bosnia & Herzegovina (work ranging from Iggy Pop to Eurovision)
Laibach...
...and think of Slovenia.
Toumani Diabate
was from Mali.
Orchestra Baobob - Senegal
Los Lobos - Mexico
King Sunny Ade/Fela Kuti - Nigeria
Kraftwerk/Can/Amon Duul - Germany
Los Lobos
Their parents were probably from Mexico, but the boys in the band are Californians, I'm fairly sure.
Hence "Just Another Band from East LA"
Mexico
Pretty sure Carlos Santana was born in Mexico, so that can go back on the list.
Krist Novoselic
of Nirvana has Croatian parents
Uh-huh
The excellent Zodiac are from Serbia.
Finland - Hanoi Rocks,
Finland - Hanoi Rocks, Gwar
South Africa - Ladysmith Black Mambozo
Germany - Michael Schenker, Scorpions, Nena
Greece - Vangelis, Nana Miskouri
Switzerland - Patrick Moraz
France - Jean Michel Jarre, Serge Gainsbourg
Gwar
They may look Finnish, but they're all-American. Are you thinking of Lordi?
Oops
I did mean Lordi, but for some reason by fingers hit the wrong keys
(Dyslexic fingers?)
Three more from them...
Greece - Vangelis, Demis Roussos, Nana Mouskouri
Italy - Zucchero
Spain - Los Bravos
African popmusic etc
Osibisa - Ghana
Fela Kuti - Nigeria
Alpha Blondy - Ivory Coast
Youssou N'Dour - Senegal
Mory Kante - Guinea
Angélique Kidjo - Benin
Mulatu Astatqe - Ethiopia
Manu Dibango - Cameroun
Papa Wemba - Dem. Rep. of Congo
Cheb Khaled - Algeria
Césaria Évora - Cap Verde
*adopts mandatory Andy Kershaw impression voice*
the Bhundu Boys, from Zimbabwe.
Oh, and
Juanes - Colombia
This is where the grey area comes in...
...I know some of those names, and the ones I know fit the 'popular music' tag. so I'll take your word that the others aren't indiginous music types.
Let's use this as a yardstick: if it would get a review in Folk Roots/songlines, chances are it's not pop music for the sake of this thread's parameters.
I think Toumain Diabate might be borderline - yes, he 'crosses over' but he's a Malian traditional music guy, really, isn't he?
but we can certainly allow the blues guy from Mali - Ali Farka Toure...
There's a genuine argument that
Ali Farka Toure is the original article and that all those Americans are the crossover.
Representing Guyana
Eddy Grant,
Mad Professor
Under FIFA rules the following artists could also represent Guyana on account of having at least one Guyanese parent:
Phil Lynott
Rihanna
Brinsley Forde
Dave Baksh (Sum 41)
Leona Lewis
Isle of Man
The Bee Gees
Except that...
...the Isle of Man isn't a sovereign nation.
but good effort all the same. Apart from the Bee Gees thay've got, er, Christine Collister. And that's it, I think...
Scotland
Runr....
*Falls to the floor, convulsing and foaming at the mouth*
That's 54 so far...
...I think.
Where the nuts come from…
Brazil - Sepultura
Colombia - Shakira
Argentina – Gato Barbieri & Lalo Schifrin
Israel – Cinderella Rockefella hitmakers Abi and Esther Ofarim
Holland
U2
*sorry couldn't resist
Gogol Bordello
currently has a singer from Ukraine, two members from Russia, one from Israel, one from Ethiopia, one from China/Scotland, one from Ecuador and one from the USA...
more still
Italy - PFM
Spain - Julio and Enrique Iglesias
Russia - t.A.T.u.
Sweden - ABBA (amongst many others)
And still they come...
Canada - Brian Adams and Celine Dion
Puerto Rico - Ricky Martin
And from Cuba
El Medico (of world wide dance floor hit "Chupa Chupa")!
Gloria Estefan as well
Hello from Dubai
I cannot think of anyone known outside the UAE. The execrable Juliana Down always support touring bands but I doubt anyone has heard of them outside Dubai.
I will add Deep Dish from Iran though.
Cliff Richard
India
Noiserv...
... Portugal.
None more metal
From Brazil - Sepultura
And a word for a personal favourite of mine... Finn troll from Finland.
A whole lot less metal: Tarkan from Turkey (His song Simarik was a huge holiday hit that got covered by Natalie Imbruglia as Kiss Kiss)
Sade - from Nigeria
Slayer
Tom Araya was born in Chile
Kiss Kiss
Holly Valance purleeese....the other Australian Neighbours pop minx did "Torn" which was nicked from some Norwegian singer.
NB - Jah Wobble's remix of "Kiss Kiss" is stunning.
Colombia
Shakira.
Mmmmm....
Turkey
Joe Strummer was born in Ankara.
Trio Bulgarka
From Bulgaria, heavily featured on The Sensual World...
Were any of Shane MacGowan and the Popes from the Vatican, perchance?
Right
Dengue Fever - Cambodia
Vanessa-Mae - Singapore
Katie Melua - Georgia
Joan Armatrading - St Kitts & Nevis (I think. Couldn't be bothered to google and check)
Emile Ford (not the Checkmates though) Saint Lucia
Princess Stephanie from Monaco released a couple of singles. Does she count?
I was impressed by Locust, Jo, but that...
...slew of esoteric knowledge certainly raises the bar!
Dengue Fever
Beat me to it, Jo. One of my favourite bands in the, er, whole world, appropriately enough.
Bahamas
- Baha Men
Brazil - Seu Jorge
Trinidad - Billy Ocean, and Haddaway
Grenada - The Mighty Sparrow
Puerto Rico - Ricky Martin
Indonesia - Anggun
Japan - Ryuichi Sakamoto
Iceland - Emiliana Torrini
France - Serge Gainsbourg
Not forgetting ...
Roger Whittaker - Kenya
Ofra Haza - Israel
Sun Ra
Egyptian God of the Sun,
but claimed he was from Saturn.
Have I taken this too far?
Yes!
...but it raised a smile! :-D
Leaving Sun Ra out of it (which seems like a very...
...appropriate way to put it) that means the total so far, I think, is:
81
Very impressive! I think there's a few bordeline cases (like Trio Bulgarka - brilliant though they are) and we're putting a lot of reliance on people in Gogol Bordello to tick several boxes but... we're nearly halway there!
Is there no one vaguely known from Hungary or the Baltic states, or indeed Poland?
And is Scotland independent yet?
Poland...
Basia
Sort of Poland…
Holger Czukay was born in the Free City of Danzig, which was then nobbled by the Nazis and is now part of Poland (Gdansk).
Not sure if she counts but...
I think Marta Sebestyen is Hungarian; she made quite a splash over here in the 80s, did tours and everything.
How about Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan from Pakistan? I'd say he definitely crossd over.
Polish jazz
well represented by Krzysztof Komeda
And
Latvias Brainstorm did have some chart success after their participation in Eurovision Song Contest (at least they did in Sweden).
Fairuz from Lebanon
.
Mabulu
from Mocambique. They're excellent - catchy tunes.
Moldova - O-Zone
Meanwhile back in Brazil
The very wonderful Os Mutantes.
And didn't Zappa bring out an album called Sheik Djibouti?
/coat got
David Sylvian - Japan
Coldplay - Chile.
Soft Machine - Iceland
Sorry, wrong thread ....
Shake Keane - St. Vincent & the Grenadines
Brilliant 1960s/70s trumpet and flugelhorn player from the Joe Harriott Quintet and Michael Garrick's bands of the time.
Shake was from St.Vincent and the Grenadines.
If you love jazz, and have never checked out Shake Keane, you should. You really should.
Dennis Bovell - Barbados
Dennis Bovell, who led Matumbi, and who has been Linton Kwesi Johnson's musical collaborator for over 30 years, is from Barbados.
Ooh, I think I've got one from Samoa!
Is my memory tricking me or were Boo Ya Tribe Samoan? It could just be that they're American, with Samoan heritage, but I seem to recall quite a lot being made of their being Samoan.
I think we're at 89 now...
...but that's not counting Rosbif's suggestions - I don't think either would count as 'pop music' even in their own countries, would they?
Willing to be overruled if others feel strongly...
And Duco - St Vince & Grenadines - very impressive!
Andy Partridge - Malta?
Andy Partridge of huge Massive favourites XTC was born in Malta. But can we consider him Maltese? Maybe the jury's still out on this...
No, 'born in' is definitely okay...
...as is 'parents from', at a stretch...
We done Andorra yet?
Anonymous - allegedly punk rockers but they were in the Eurovision in 2007 - but they are from Andorra.
They're rubbish.
Estonia? (sorry if I've missed any)
The awesome Metsatoll, who play a kind of folk/black metal with one bloke wielding all manner of traditional instruments. (Live, often at the same time.)
Great stuff chaps...
...I was wondering how we were going to get past Andorra... And, no, Speccy, we haven't had Estonia yet.
So that's 92.
Anyone any thoughts on Latvia or Lithuania?
I did Latvia
a bit further up the thread ^^^^^^^^
My apologies!
...I was trying to think of some witty excuse but, damnit, I just can't think of any Latvian puns...
Lithuania!
We have Jurga (Jurga Šeduikytė). Female popstress who seems to be quite popular there.
She's rubbish.
Zambia?
If that's not been done yet, it's the birthplace of the EF(TFG)H, Rozalla.