Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that answer the question.
Query: What was Connie Francis' first album?
After her breakthrough in early 1958 with her single "Who's Sorry Now?", a rock 'n' roll oriented version of the 1923 standard, and a subsequent album of the same title, Francis chose to take a more adult approach to her second album. For "The Exciting Connie Francis", she chose twelve American standards. Francis clearly marked the album as a concept album by dividing it into two sections with different moods: Side A is filled with songs differing between mid-tempo and up-tempo, while Side B consists solely of ballads.
Jenkinson was offered a five album record contract with Warp Records in December 1995, which was duly signed, and this led him to defer his studies at Chelsea Art College.
Early in 1996 Richard D. James completed the compilation process for "Feed Me Weird Things" which was made from over 50 tracks that Tom had given him on DAT, which were recorded from late 1994 to 1995. Around the same time Richard and Tom recorded two tracks together, one of which was subsequently edited by Tom and released as "Freeman Hardy & Willis Acid" on the "We Are Reasonable People" compilation album in 1998. Tom's contribution to the other track was reinterpreted and released as "Happy Little Wilberforce" on the "Alt. Frequencies" compilation released on Worm Interface in 1996. 1996 saw Jenkinson starting to be offered gigs both in the UK and in continental Europe.
American singer Madonna has released 13 studio albums, three soundtrack albums, five live albums, six compilation albums, and 34 other limited releases. In 1982, Madonna signed a recording contract with Sire Records, a label owned by Warner Bros. Records. The first release under the label was her self-titled debut album, "Madonna" (1983). It peaked at number eight on the "Billboard" 200 and was certified five times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). She followed the debut album with the sophomore release, "Like a Virgin" (1984). The album topped the chart in several countries and was certified diamond by the RIAA. "True Blue" was released as her third studio album in 1986 and sold over 25 million copies worldwide, while becoming her second chart topper in US. In 1987, she released two albums that reached platinum status in the United States: the "Who's That Girl soundtrack" and her first remix compilation, "You Can Dance". Madonna's fourth studio album, "Like a Prayer" (1989), became her third number-one album on the "Billboard" 200, achieving quadruple platinum in US.
We Five's first single, from their debut album of the same name, was a reworked version of Sylvia Tyson's song "You Were On My Mind". It became one of the first folk-rock hits, reaching number three in the "Billboard" "Hot 100" in August 1965. Tyson (then Sylvia Fricker) says that she was unaware that her song had been covered until she heard We Five's version on a car radio while driving on Highway 101 in California. One consequence of We Five's success was that Tyson's song, which, until then, had been unavailable in sheet form, was published by Witmark of New York, with a photograph of Bivens and We Five on the cover. However, with the so-called "British invasion" at its height, We Five's recording had only limited international success, having been covered reluctantly, though successfully, in Britain by Crispian St. Peters.
Madonna (retitled Madonna: The First Album for the 1985 re-release) is the debut album by American singer Madonna, released on July 27, 1983 by Sire Records. After having established herself as a singer in downtown New York City, Madonna was signed by Sire president Seymour Stein, due to the success of her debut single, "Everybody" (1982). She became the sole writer for most of the album's tracks, and chose Reggie Lucas as its primary producer. Unhappy with Lucas's production outputs, she invited John "Jellybean" Benitez to complete the album, who remixed three tracks and produced "Holiday".
Wilson, his brothers Carl and Dennis, Mike Love and Al Jardine first appeared as a music group in the summer of 1961, initially under the name the Pendletones. After being prodded by Dennis to write a song about the local water-sports craze, Wilson and Mike Love together created what became the first single for the band, "Surfin'". Over Labor Day weekend 1961, Wilson took advantage of the fact that his parents were in Mexico City for several days, and the boys used the emergency money his parents had left to rent an amplifier, a microphone, and a stand-up bass for Jardine to play. After the boys rehearsed for two days in the Wilsons' music room, his parents returned home from their trip. Eventually impressed, Murry Wilson proclaimed himself the group's manager and the band embarked on serious rehearsals for a proper studio session.
Francine Joy Drescher (born September 30, 1957) is an American actress, comedian, writer and activist. She is best known for her role as Fran Fine in the hit TV series "The Nanny" (1993–99), and for her nasal voice and thick New York accent.
Kenny G is the debut studio album by American jazz saxophonist Kenny G, released in 1982. It was released by Arista Records in 1982 and reached number 10 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart.
An album including all 14 songs in the episode, with Christophe Beck's scores for three other "Buffy" episodes, was released by Rounder Records in September 2002 as season seven premiered. John Virant, president and chief executive of Rounder Records, told the "Los Angeles Times", "I remember watching the episode when it aired last October, and after it was over, I said to my wife, 'That's the best hour of TV I've ever seen. Someone should put that [soundtrack] out.' I inquired at Fox, just following up, and they said, 'Well, we tried, it didn't happen. If you want to take a run at it, feel free. AllMusic gives the album five out of five stars, stating that the music is "every bit as fun as the episode itself", praising the voices of Benson, Marsters and Head. Reviewer Melinda Hill states it is "a must-have for "Buffy" fans, but it wouldn't be out of place in anyone's collection".
Four songs had previously been recorded by Shirley Bassey, "I Don't Know How To Love Him" in 1972 for the album And I Love You So, "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" in 1978 for the album "The Magic Is You", "Memory" in 1984 for the B-side of the European single "That's Right" and "All I Ask of You" in 1991 for the album Keep the Music Playing. Several TV performances and interviews were made by Bassey to promote this album. The album entered the UK Albums Chart on December 4, 1993 and peaked at No. 34.
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegün and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most important American labels, specializing in jazz, R&B, and soul by Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, Ruth Brown and Otis Redding. Its position was greatly improved by its distribution deal with Stax. In 1967, Atlantic became a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, now the Warner Music Group, and expanded into rock and pop music with releases by Led Zeppelin and Yes.
American smooth jazz saxophonist Kenny G recorded the song for the "Heart and Soul", which was released on June 29, 2010. Unlike most of Kenny G's jazz numbers, "Fall Again" is a rhythm and blues ballad. Kenny G plays the saxophone with Thicke on vocals. Kenny G said, "His (Robin Thicke's) voice is so emotional and soulful, the combination of his voice and my saxophone really hits the perfect tones for my new album." Mark Edward Nero of About.com mentioned Kenny G "is a jazz saxophonist, not an R&B singer. But K.G. has a new, R&B-inspired album", and "Robin Thicke is featured on the first single, Fall Again".
The album was first released in the United States on July 27, 1983 by Sire Records. It was originally slated to be titled "Lucky Star", after the track of the same name, but eventually titled simply "Madonna", perhaps that this singular name could have star power. The album's artwork was shot by photographer Gary Heery and directed by Carin Goldberg. The front cover shows Madonna with short-cropped platinum hair, wearing a number of black rubber bangles on her hands and a dog chain around her throat. Her navel is also prominent on the inner sleeve of the album. Madonna commented: "The picture inside the dust of sleeve of my first album has me, like, in this Betty Boop pose with my belly button showing. Then when people reviews the album, they kept talking about my cute belly button. [...] I think there are other unobvious places on the body that are sexy and the stomach is kind of innocent." Regarding the album photoshoot, Gary Heery recalled:
American Pie is the second studio album by the American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released by United Artists Records on 24 October 1971. The folk/rock album reached number one on the Billboard 200, containing the chart-topping singles "American Pie" and "Vincent." Recorded in May and June 1971 at The Record Plant in New York City, the LP is dedicated to Buddy Holly, and was reissued in 1980 minus the track "Sister Fatima". The album was released to much acclaim, later being included in the book "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
During the Summer of 1964, the Ronettes spent a lot of time hanging out at Odine's, an exclusive East Side club on Fifty-Ninth Street in Manhattan. According to Ronnie, that is where the Ronettes were first introduced to Jimi Hendrix, who was an unknown guitarist there at the time. Ronnie used to get up and sing along with Hendrix as he played guitar. After running into Hendrix again at a party in 1969, Estelle and Ronnie were invited into the studio to do backing vocals on Hendrix's "Earth Blues" song. Their work on the backing vocals earned The Ronettes a credit on Hendrix's posthumously released LP "Rainbow Bridge", released in October 1971.
"American Pie" is McLean’s second album; his first, "Tapestry", having been released to only moderate commercial success and acclaim in 1970. McLean was a protégé of Pete Seeger, having played with him in the 1960s. The album "American Pie" was intended as a unified work, as McLean has said that he was influenced by the Beatles' "Sgt Pepper" album and envisioned "American Pie" to be a similar album. Believing that an artist's work should stand by itself, McLean generally did not offer explanations for his work's themes or meaning, though he did describe the title song as involving "a sense of loss". McLean dedicated the album to Buddy Holly, one of his childhood icons, and it was released in 1971. It has a melancholy feel and rather sparse arrangements. At the time of the writing McLean’s first marriage was failing and the optimism and hopefulness of the 1960s was giving way to the nihilism and hedonism of the 1970s.
The first incarnation of what was to become the Ronettes appeared in when Bennett was 14. After a number of unsuccessful attempts, the trio reinvented themselves as the Ronettes. Signed up by a then 23-year-old Phil Spector, Ronnie was made lead, with Estelle and Nedra as backing. After the Ronettes' 1966 break-up, Bennett recorded a single for Laurie Records, "The Year 2000/The Naked Boy". She then quit the music business and was rarely seen afterwards. In 2007, when the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it was decided that she was too fragile to perform with them, and she spoke only a brief two sentences during her acceptance speech, "I would just like to say, thank you very much for giving us this award. I'm Estelle of the Ronettes, thank you." She did, however, come back out on stage for a final bow with the rest of the Ronettes after the performance of "Be My Baby".
In April 1974, while on a book tour in the USA, Frisch launched into an affair with an American called Alice Locke-Carey who was 32 years his junior. This happened in the village of Montauk on Long Island, and Montauk was the title the author gave to an autobiographical novel that appeared in 1975. The book centred on his love life, including both his own marriage with Marianne Oellers-Frisch and an affair that she had been having with the American writer Donald Barthelme. There followed a very public dispute between Frisch and his wife over where to draw the line between private and public life, and the two became increasingly estranged, divorcing in 1979.
Although not officially, this is the first album with Jeff Singer (his official full-time membership in the band was on "The Enemy" single from the "In Requiem" album), who came after when the band was ready to release this album on an earlier date but postponed when they had no drummer. The band had songs such as "Sedative God", which was written for this album but did not end up on any of the releases of this album (such as singles) but instead ended up on the aforementioned album, while other songs such as "Through The Silence" and "Sanctimonious You", although not released on any of the reissues of this album, ended up being on the "Forever After" single CD and the "B-Sides & Rarities" album. The aforementioned single also has a Music Video which features Jeff Singer in the lineup.
Kenny G had his inspiration for the album when he was touring and traveling in Brazil, especially in Rio de Janeiro. Explaining this, he claimed he loved the Bossa nova genre, the people in Brazil and the nights of dancing and singing. He decided to take the Bossa nova sounds into his new album. The album's deluxe edition also contains 4 live versions of Kenny G's biggest hits, such as "Forever in Love" and "Heart and Soul".
The album brought Kenny G back to the Billboard 200 after 5 years. It's also Kenny's eighth No.1 album in the Billboard Jazz Albums.
Calypso music enjoyed a brief period of popularity in other parts in the world during the 1950s. Trinidadian expatriate Lord Kitchener had helped popularize calypso in England, and Sparrow also found some success there. In the United States, interest in calypso was sparked largely by Harry Belafonte's 1956 album "Calypso", the first LP to sell over one million copies. In January 1958, Sparrow, along with longtime rival Lord Melody, travelled to New York City seeking access to the American music audience. Sparrow had already been recording with Balisier and Cook Records, and with Belafonte's help he also began to record for RCA Victor. He did not achieve the success he had hoped for; he said in a 2001 interview, "When nothing happened for me, I went back to England and continued on with my career."
In 1978, Francis returned to the recording studio to cut an album titled "Who's Happy Now?" The leading recording on this album was a disco version of "Where the Boys Are". She recorded this song also in Japanese, Italian, and Spanish, as she had done before with her original 1960 version. Several songs from the "Who's Happy Now?" sessions were subsequently recorded in Italian, Spanish, Japanese, and German. The Spanish and German recordings became albums of their own in as "Connie Francis en Español" in Spain and as "Was ich bin" (What I Am) in Germany. All three albums and the singles culled from them were released on United Artists Records.
Following another idea from her father, Francis traveled to London in August 1959 to record an Italian album at EMI's famous Abbey Road Studios. Entitled "Connie Francis Sings Italian Favorites", the album was released in November 1959. It soon entered the album charts where it remained for 81 weeks, peaking at number 4. To this day, it is still Francis' most successful album. "Mama," the single taken from the album, reached number 8 in the United States and number 2 in the United Kingdom.
Unlike the other installments in Francis' series of "Favorites"-albums, "Connie Francis sings German Favorites" does not focus on the traditional songs of a certain country or ethnic group. Beginning in 1960 with the overwhelming success of "Die Liebe ist ein seltsames Spiel", a German version of her U.S. #1 hit "Everybody's Somebody's Fool", Francis had established herself in Germany as a respected performer of contemporary German music. By the time of the album's release Francis had enjoyed six # 1 hits on the German charts. Hence, "Connie Francis sings German Favorites" is more a typical Greatest Hits Album in the Pop Music genre.
In the wake of this success, Francis returned to Nashville several times to record further singles and albums with Bradley's highly prolific team of musicians and arrangers until her contract with MGM Records ended in 1969. ""Connie Francis sings 'Never on Sunday'"" was the first of these album projects to be released. Another album, ""Connie Francis sings Folk Song Favorites"", had been recorded two days before on August 8 and 9, 1961 but was released later.