August 31: Musical lyricist & composer Alan Jay Lerner, "Gigi," "My Fair Lady," Camelot" was born on this date in 1918...

... he died on June 14, 1986 at the age of 67.

Born and raised in New York City, Alan Jay Lerner, in collaboration with Frederick Loewe, created many of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre for both stage and film. His uncle, Samuel Alexander Lerner, was the founder of the Lerner Stores chain of dress shops.

Despite his success, he was full of self doubt about his ability to write lyrics. He usually spent months on one song and was constantly rewriting them. It took a toll on his personal life: for nearly twenty years he battled an amphetamine addiction and was married eight times. Still, he won three Tony Awards and three Academy Awards, and is inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.


He died in June 1986 from lung cancer.

Among his Many Honors:

Academy Award
Best Original Screenplay, 1951 An American in Paris
Best Adapted Screenplay, 1958 Gigi
Best Original Song, 1958 Gigi


Golden Globe
Best Original Song, 1968 Camelot
Best Original Score, 1975 The Little Prince


Tony Award
Best Book of a Musical, 1957 My Fair Lady
Best Original Score, 1957 My Fair Lady and 1974 Gigi


New York Drama Critics
Best Musical, 1947 Brigadoon
Best Musical, 1957 My Fair Lady


Johnny Mercer Award
Lyric Writing, 1985-Lifetime Achievement
                       ----

 

August 31: Gina Schock, drummer for the Go-Go's - "We Got the Beat" - is 56-years-old today.

 

                                -----

Regina Ann Schock, born in Baltimore, Maryland, is the drummer in the all-girl punk/pop band The Go-Go's. Her career as a drummer began with a group named or Edie and the Eggs. After that gig ended, Schock relocated to Los Angeles and joined The Go-Go's. She toured with The Go-Go's until they disbanded in 1985 and reformed in 1990.

In 1997, Schock sued the other members of the group, claiming that she had not been properly paid for her contributions since 1986 and that a songwriting agreement with Caffey had been breached. The suit was resolved by 1999 and The Go-Go's have toured regularly since then. However, it has been announced (once again) that they would soon embark on a farewell tour.

Schock has played the drums with other musicians while working on her songwriting. Schock's songs have appeared in films including The Accused, Superstar, and Bull Durham. Gina has co-written with Alanis Morrissette, Carnie Wilson and Wendy Wilson of the pop trio, Wilson Phillips, and Debbie Peterson of The Bangles.


Gina released a self-titled album in 1988 with her band "House of Schock," and later formed the short-lived group K-Five. Gina Schock co-wrote the title track for Miley Cyrus's second CD, Breakout, which debuted at #1 on the US Billboard 200 Charts in the summer of 2008. She currently lives in San Francisco.

Schock is one of the cowriters of the title track for the Miley Cyrus album Breakout. She also cowrote "Falling Down," "Kiss and Tell," "Stop and Erase" and "Crush" for Selena Gomez & the Scene's debut album Kiss & Tell.

Press album covers for a link to ENTIRE Amazon Website:

####

August 31: Irish Superstar Van Morrison is 68-years-old today.

-----

Born George Ivan Morrison in Northern Ireland - Known as "Van the Man" to his fans - started his musical career as a teenager playing guitar, harmonica, keyboards and saxophone while covering popular records.

Morrison rose in popularity in the mid-1960s as the lead singer of the Northern Irish R&B band "Them." Their first big hit was the classic, "Gloria," followed by the hit single "Brown Eyed Girl" in 1967, "Domino" and "Wild Night," studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely viewed as among the greatest ever made.

Morrison has received six Grammy Awards, been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and has appeared on several "Greatest Artists" lists: In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Van Morrison forty-second on their list of "Greatest Artists of All Time"; in 2006, Paste ranked him twentieth in their list of "100 Greatest Living Songwriters"; Q ranked him twenty-second on their list of "100 Greatest Singers" in April 2007, and he was voted twenty-fourth on Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Singers of All Time in November 2008.

 

-----

 

For more about Van, visit his Website at -

 

http://www.vanmorrison.com/index.html

 

####

Aug. 31: From "Teen Beat" to "Playboy"- Deborah Ann "Debbie" Gibson is 42-years-old today.

From an early age, Deborah wanted a career in show business. She began writing songs when she was only five years-old. When she was eight, she sang in the children's chorus at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.

By the time she signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records at 16, Deborah had already appeared in a number of shows on Broadway Although Deborah was making strides in the music industry, she was otherwise a normal student at Sanford H. Calhoun High School in Merrick, Long Island where she was a cheerleader.

Called "Deborah" while growing up, her record company wanted her to go by "Debbie," and at one point wanted to change her name entirely. In 1987, Deborah (then Debbie) Gibson's first album was released, titled Out of the Blue. It spawned the hits "Only In My Dreams," "Foolish Beat" and the title track. At the time, the success of "Foolish Beat" made Debbie the youngest artist to have written, produced and performed a Number 1 song. With over 5 million copies sold, Debbie set on to continue her success with her follow-up album, Electric Youth.

Released in 1989, Electric Youth went triple platinum, and spawned the title track and the single, "Lost In Your Eyes." The latter earned the New York Music Award for Song of the Year in 1990, while Deborah took home the same award for Best Pop Female Vocalist that same year.


In 1992, she returned to theater as Eponine in the Broadway production of Les Miserables. In the years that followed, Deborah played opposite roles as Sandy and Rizzo (respectively), in productions of Grease, and was also cast as Fanny Brice in the Broadway production of Funny Girl.


In 1990, Anything Is Possible was released and was certified Gold, while Body Mind Soul was released in 1993. 1995 saw the release of Think With Your Heart as well as a Greatest Hits album, and her self-titled album, Deborah hit shelves in 1997.

In the meantime, Deborah had returned to Broadway again, this time as Belle in Beauty and the Beast, and Gypsy Rose Lee in Gypsy at the Paper Mill Playhouse. You may have also recognized her voice as the narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and stepped into the shoes of Cinderella as the title role of the national production.




Playboy Photo

The March 2005 issue of Playboy featured a nude pictorial of Gibson, coinciding with the release of her single, "Naked." She has said she agreed to pose in an effort to revamp her image. The single peaked #35 on the Billboard "Hot single sales" chart in March 2005.

 

(Links for viewing You Tube videos:)
-- "Foolish Beat"
-- "Lost In Your Eyes"  
-- "Already Gone"
 
  (Additional video below)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Recommended (Press album covers for direct links to Amazon):
 

####

August 31: From "Teen Beat" to "Playboy"- Debbie Gibson is 43 today.

From an early age, Deborah wanted a career in show business. She began writing songs when she was only five years-old. When she was eight, she sang in the children's chorus at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.

By the time she signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records at 16, Deborah had already appeared in a number of shows on Broadway Although Deborah was making strides in the music industry, she was otherwise a normal student at Sanford H. Calhoun High School in Merrick, Long Island where she was a cheerleader.


Called "Deborah" while growing up, her record company wanted her to go by "Debbie," and at one point wanted to change her name entirely. In 1987, Deborah (then Debbie) Gibson's first album was released, titled Out of the Blue. It spawned the hits "Only In My Dreams," "Foolish Beat" and the title track. At the time, the success of "Foolish Beat" made Debbie the youngest artist to have written, produced and performed a Number 1 song.

With over 5 million copies sold, Debbie set on to continue her success with her follow-up album, Electric Youth.

Released in 1989, Electric Youth went triple platinum, and spawned the title track and the single, "Lost In Your Eyes." The latter earned the New York Music Award for Song of the Year in 1990, while Deborah took home the same award for Best Pop Female Vocalist that same year.


In 1992, she returned to theater as Eponine in the Broadway production of Les Miserables. In the years that followed, Deborah played opposite roles as Sandy and Rizzo (respectively), in productions of Grease, and was also cast as Fanny Brice in the Broadway production of Funny Girl.

In 1990, Anything Is Possible was released and was certified Gold, while Body Mind Soul was released in 1993. 1995 saw the release of Think With Your Heart as well as a Greatest Hits album, and her self-titled album, Deborah hit shelves in 1997.


In the meantime, Deborah had returned to Broadway again, this time as Belle in Beauty and the Beast, and Gypsy Rose Lee in Gypsy at the Paper Mill Playhouse. You may have also recognized her voice as the narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and stepped into the shoes of Cinderella as the title role of the national production.


Playboy Photo

The March 2005 issue of Playboy featured a nude pictorial of Gibson, coinciding with the release of her single, "Naked." She has said she agreed to pose in an effort to revamp her image. The single peaked #35 on the Billboard "Hot single sales" chart in March 2005.

 

   
   

 Recommended (Press album covers for direct links to Amazon):
 

In June 2011, Gibson appeared in Katy Perry's music video "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" alongside several other guest stars.

Gibson co-starred with actor Lorenzo Lamas in the low-budget action/adventure film Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus, produced by The Asylum and released on May 19, 2009. The film's trailer has become a viral hit, scoring over one million hits on MTV.com and YouTube. The film premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. Ironically, Gibson's former music rival Tiffany had her film Necrosis (a.k.a. Blood Snow) premiere at the Cannes as well.

In August 2011, the final night of the Journey Through The 80s Tour, Gibson and Tiffany sold out Chicago's House of Blues. The two of them also starred in a Syfy original movie entitled Mega Python vs. Gatoroid, which aired on January 29, 2011. The pairing was at the suggestion of Tiffany, who wanted to play off their supposed rivalry.

For more info visit http://www.deborah-gibson.com

####

August 31: Tony DeFranco of the DeFranco Family pop group is 54-years-old today.

 

-----

With their youthful exuberance and cheerful music, the DeFranco Family were a successful pop music act in the mid-1970s. In addition to lead singer Tony, The DeFranco's, from Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada, consisted of guitarist, Benny, keyboardist, Marisa, guitarist, Nino and drummer, Merlina.

The group had a number of hits between 1973 and 1977. Their debut 1973 single, "Heartbeat, It's a Lovebeat," featuring the lead vocals of then 13-year-old Tony DeFranco, reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the top song on the Cashbox singles chart, and sold more than two million copies. Their second single, "Abra-Ca-Dabra," which reached the Top 40, was followed by their final hit, "Save the Last Dance for Me," which reached number 18 on the charts in May 1974.

By the late 1970s, the group faded from the pop scene, disbanding in 1978.

Today, Tony is a realtor in Westlake Village, California.

 

 

For more about Tony and the DeFranco's, visit their website at -

 

 

http://www.defranco.com/

 

####