Icons of the 1970s - Janis Ian

13 May 2010

Singer, songwriter, science fiction author and syndicated columnist Janis Ian is one of those rare combinations of imaginative talent mixed with musical prowess that only comes along once every generation. For this reason, Ian is celebrated nearly five decades after she first started performing, and her iconoclastic status in sci-fi and folk is permanent.

Born as Janis Eddy Fink on April 7, 1951 in New York City, New York, a young Janis was almost certain to become a performer of some sorts. After moving to New Jersey as a child, Janis attended the New York City High School of Music and Art. With her father a music teacher and her musical influences including Joan Baez and Odetta, Janis wrote her first song by age 12.

At only 13 years of age, Ian wrote a moving song about society’s disapproval of interracial relations at the time titled Society’s Child (Baby I’ve Been Thinking). Impressed with the song, the label released it three different times in an attempt to force it to catch on. The first two being failures, Society’s Child finally became a hit on the third release.

Read the rest of this entry »

The British Musical Sensation - Sir Elton John

09 May 2010

Legendary blues-rock singer Sir Elton John has been delivering timeless classics for decades. This British musical sensation burst onto the scene in the mid 1960s and is still performing today at some of the world’s biggest and most reputable venues. John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on March 25, 1947 in Pinner, Middlesex, England.

John was an exceptionally intelligent young man who left school at the age of 17 to follow his dreams of being a musician. Despite his father’s urging to become a banker or practically anything but a musician, the young man was eager to break away from his repressive childhood and let loose on stage with his own brand of music and personality.

Both of John’s parents were gifted musicians in their own right, and Elton was playing the piano by age 3 and was accepted into the Royal Academy of Music at only age 11. It was the gigs John landed as the pianist at local pubs that really developed his taste for music and performing. He went by the name Reggie and played popular classics.

Read the rest of this entry »

Legends of the 1970s - Tom Petty

23 April 2010

One of the most successful bands of the 1970s and most influential of the 1980s, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are a platinum-selling rock band whose success is only bested by Tom Petty and his solo career. With a canon of classic hits, Petty remains one of rock’s greatest living legends and still dabbles in music after decades in the industry.

Petty was born Thomas Earl Petty on October 20, 1950 in Gainesville, Florida. Like many boys born in the 50s, Tom found his first real musical influence in Elvis Presley. And after seeing The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, Petty was positive that he wanted to form a rock band and perform music.

In the 1970s, Tom wasted no time seeing his dream to fruition. He hooked up with a few other young musicians from the area and formed the Sundowners. Later, they switched their name to Mudcrutch and developed a local following. After no commercial success, Petty left to go solo, but would come back quickly to form Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers.

Read the rest of this entry »