Even for those who do not know much about the Beatles, the names John Lennon and Paul McCartney may ring a bell and stand out the most amongst all The Beatles. Many do not know much about the other two band members of the fab four, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Toonari Post have explored ten things to know about the quiet Beatle George, and will here focus on the drummer of the band, Ringo Starr.

1. He was in two bands before he joined The Beatles.

Ringo started his own group in 1957 with his friend Eddie Miles called the Eddie Clayton Skiffle Group. In 1959, he joined the Raving Texans. By October 1960, the band was renamed Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, and while they were performing in Hamburg, Starr met The Beatles.

2. His real name is Richard Starkey.

During his time with the Raving Texans, Richard adopted the stage name “Ringo Starr” because of the rings he wore and because it sounded “cowboyish,” and his drum solos were billed as “Starr Time.”

3. He wasn’t the original drummer for The Beatles.

After meeting The Beatles in 1960 in Germany, Starr sat in for Pete Best as The Beatles’ drummer on 18 August 1961 and 5 February 1962. The Beatles removed Best as their drummer on 16 August 1962, after Best had played in the early recording sessions at EMI Studios. Starr then became the band’s drummer and his first performance as a full Beatle was on 18 August 1962 at a Horticultural Society dance at Port Sunlight. Best’s removal from The Beatles didn’t sit well with Best’s fans. The following day, after Starr’s appearance at the Cavern Club performance as a full Beatle, they were upset at Best’s removal. They held vigils outside Best’s house and fought at the club, shouting ‘Pete forever! Ringo never!’ George Harrison received a black eye from one of the fans.

4. He was the oldest member to join the band.

Ringo was born July 7, 1940. John was the second oldest as he was born October 9, 1940 while Paul was born June 18, 1942 and George-the youngest of the fab four-was born February 25, 1943.

5. He was the first Beatle to actually leave the group.

It was in 1968 during the infamous White Album sessions. During the two week period in which Starr was gone, the remaining band members all took turns on the drums for some of the tracks. When he returned he found his drum kit covered in flowers.

6. Ringo was born left-handed.

He became ambidextrous because his grandmother thought it was a witch spell for people to be left handed and therefore he was forced to write with his right hand.

7. Starr didn’t play the drums on The Beatles’s single “Love Me Do.”

On September 11, 1962, during the band’s second recording session with Starr as a member, producer George Martin replaced Starr (who was inexperienced with playing in the studio) with session drummer Andy White to record takes for what would be the two sides of The Beatles’ first single, “Love Me Do” backed with “P.S. I Love You”. Instead of the drums, Starr played tambourine on “Love Me Do” and maracas on “P.S. I Love You” for this session.

8. Of all the band members, Ringo was the most consistent during recording sessions.

That’s according to English author and historian Mark Lewisohn, who is regarded as the world’s leading authority on The Beatles. In his detailed study of The Beatles’ recording sessions, Lewisohn confirmed that Starr was both proficient and remarkably reliable and consistent. According to Lewisohn, there were fewer than a dozen occasions in the band’s eight-year recording career where session “breakdowns” were caused by Starr making a mistake, while the vast majority of takes were stopped owing to mistakes by the other three Beatles.

9. Starr is considered to have influenced various modern drumming techniques.

Techniques such as the matched grip started with Starr. The drummer holds drum sticks and mallets to play percussion instruments; in the matched grip each hand holds its stick in the same way. In the traditional grip, each hand holds the stick differently. Placing the drums on high risers for visibility as part of the band, tuning the drums lower, and using muffling devices on tonal rings are also Starr’s.

10. Many drummers cite Starr as an influence.

This includes: Steve Gorman of the Black Crowes, Dave Grohl of Nirvana, Jen Ledger of Skillet, Max Weinberg of the E Street Band, Danny Carey of Tool, Liberty DeVitto of Billy Joel’s band, Nicko McBrain of Iron Maiden, Eric Carr of Kiss, Phil Rudd of AC/DC, Orri Páll Dýrason of Sigur Rós, the former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy, Pedro Andreu of Heroes del Silencio and many others.

Image Courtesy of  Mazzzur / Shutterstock.com

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No Doubt is coming back!!! The band is back together, and will be releasing a new album later this year. Gwen Stefani has left her solo career to join the band again, and they’ll be releasing their colorful music all over again. This will be their first album since 2004. This album will be the band’s seventh studio release.

According to No Doubt’s website, they have written nine songs so far, and they are extremely excited to release them. No Doubt is mostly remembered for their hit songs, including “Just a Girl,” “Rock Steady,” “Running,” “New,” “X-Girlfriend,” and “Simple Kind of Life.”

The lead singer, Gwen Stefani was 17-years-old when she started working in the band. She was actually mopping floors at a Dairy Queen before she made it big.

The band’s first album came out in 1992 where No Doubt became one of the most well-known bands in the United States. They became especially become successful when their album “Tragic Kingdom” came out in 1997. Their hits on this album included “Just a Girl,” “Spiderwebs,” and “Don’t Speak.” What made No Doubt so special was how unique they were.

They were a band with men on drums and the guitar, but a girl was the lead singer. And although their band had rock music in it, they could almost be considered pop…just almost. Plus, Gwen Stefani’s flashy voice gave the music a great pitch for a great listen. “Just a Girl” had a chromatic charm that led the song to become one of the most popular songs of the decade.

You can actually hear this tune in certain chick-flicks like ”Clueless” and “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion.” “Return to Saturn” was also an album that represented the band as colorful and picturesque. The song, “New” was something to listen to at nighttime, but when there are random colors spread all over a big city.

Even lesser known songs like “Artificial Sweetener” showed a jazzy and vibrant side to No Doubt. As the band progressed, Gwen Stefani did too. She created her own album, “Love Angel Music Baby.” When the hit, “What You Waiting For” came out, fans were dancing all over the place. Gwen also made a bizarre yet fun music video with her struggling to make it as a singer, then all of a sudden she appears in “Alice in Wonderland.”

Although she wasn’t in her band at the time, Gwen still knew how to be colorful. “Rich Girl” had a pirate ship and “Hollaback Girl” had Gwen dancing and dressing up like a teenager, showing that after plenty of success as well as marriage and kids, Gwen Stefani knew exactly how to keep in touch with her inner adolescent. No Doubt has done plenty of tours over the years, and they’ll hopefully be doing it again with their newest album, scheduled to come out this fall.

Two of their songs will be called “One More Summer” and “Settle Down.” And according to “Rolling Stone,” their new album is going to be “catchy and addictive.”

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What do you think about artists that use the resources they’ve got surrounding them to create their own style of music? If you love already what I am telling you, wait until you hear them. Their band is named, Freelance Whales, and they are exposing their unique style to the world.

With different beats and sounds, the five integrants who form the band Freelance Whales, offer their listeners a great mixture of sounds, Their viewers will have a smile on their faces since the moment they start hearing this multi-instrumentalists artists that offer a diverse and new way of mixing and integrating instruments together. The members of the band define themselves as “collectors”. This word describes the group’s personality since they collect their instruments and focus to produce their music with the tools they possess.

They decided to perform altogether for the first time in an original place that suited the bands style. It occurred in January 2009, in Staten Island. In Farm Colony, which was an abandoned farm. Here the band felt they could find the connection and inspiration they needed surrounded with an old farm that contained many different small rooms.

After the performance at Farm Colony, the group didn’t stayed with the arms closed, they decided to take the lead to perform in other places such as city streets, subway platforms and other stages.

This group offers a distinct kind of music. Their style is so unique that it cannot be compared to any other bands. They intertwine rhythmic patters, and embed the sounds with a light sound of vocals. The songs represent something mystical and spooky at the same time. All of the members in the band sing and play instruments which is something that already differs itself from other bands. Here you can feel a great connection among the members and their sounds fit in the adequate beats.

The record they work on wants to tell a love story, “where the young male falls in love with a spectral young femme who haunts his childhood home. He chases her in his dreams but finds her to be mostly elusive. He imagines her alive, and wonders if someday he’ll take on her responsibilities of ghosting, or If maybe he’ll join her, elsewhere.” (Freelance Whales)

And so, after playing in New York City, almost exclusively, for about a year, they embarked on their first tour of the United States, and Canada. They differ from different artists, because they do not seek being famous and becoming really commercial.

The only thing left out to say for the band is to wish them luck, and appreciate the different kind of music they bring to us!

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Have you heard what’s new and rocking on? Radiohead, that’s what’s hot.

This year the band is back and it has returned with more strength and songs with their new album named The King of Limbs. Radiohead’s followers and fans have already embraced this new MP3 album with all their enthusiasm. There are many expectations to finally get to listen what this new album brings, after their past 2008 release In Rainbows, which left the bands followers with the mouths opened and with the ought to hear more, after revealing an extraordinary composure of songs which swap impressions from better to best.

Promoting their album in an exclusive way was a great technique for the rock band to differ from other bands. Their new album could only be found and available in the bands Website. They recurred to limit other purchase places, making their new single be discovered in the place which they feel more represented, and that know their fans visit often. The MP3 album is available for  $9 and is giving out great responses and it is having a great success.

The band wants to transmit the image of being different among the rest of the bands. While releasing their disc, they didn’t invert Money into marketing strategies, in Fact, they decided to make it all much simpler, since they relieve that their fans have enough motivation to purchase a new album, so they didn’t rely in any type of campaigns or promotion. The release of the new album was announced for the first time on Valentine’s Day, just five days away from the official release.

The new album is leaving smiles upon the followers’ faces, which unbelievably can agree that every album of Radiohead gets better. The band has a unique style, which resembles a lot of confidence, because they know that the rock music they produce is really great rock songs, and they trust their followers. Probable being one of the unique bands that leaves everything to their followers caring to satisfied them, by creating songs that mean something for them and to their fans.

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