Yngwie J. Malmsteen

Steeler was an early 1980s American heavy metal band from Nashville. Band members included: Ron Keel on vocals and guitar, Michael Dunigan on lead... guitar, Bobby Eva on drums and Tim Morrison on bass. In 1982, they released the single "Cold Day in Hell". Eva left the band after a short while and was replaced by drummer Mark Edwards. This new line-up did not last long and released no albums or singles. Soon, Dunigan and Morrison left Steeler and were replaced by Rik Fox on bass and an 18 year old Swedish guitarist, Yngwie Malmsteen. The new line-up released the band's first album, Steeler, it saw moderate commercial success and is now a sought after album for many fans of Malmsteen and Keel. Malmsteen subsequently left and was replaced by Mitch Perry. The final line-up of Steeler saw the departure of Perry, Fox and Edwards who were all replaced by Kurt James on lead guitar, Greg Chaisson on bass and Bobby Marks on drums. This line-up also released no albums or singles. Due to constant change in band members, Steeler never got the major record label it required and Keel decided to split up the band and start a new project.
more

Loudness is a Japan-based heavy metal band formed in 1980 by guitarist Akira Takasaki and drummer Munetaka Higuchi. They were the first Japanese... heavy metal act signed to a major label in the United States, releasing twenty-three studio albums by the end of 2009 and reaching the Billboard Top 100 in their moment of maximum international popularity. Despite numerous changes in their roster, the band continued their activities throughout the 90s, finally reuniting the original line-up in 2001. On November 30, 2008 original drummer Munetaka Higuchi died from liver cancer at a hospital in Osaka at age 49. Loudness replaced him with Masayuki Suzuki and are still active to this day. The band was started by guitarist Akira Takasaki, bassist Hiroyuki Tanaka and drummer Munetaka Higuchi, coming off the split-up of the pop-rock band Lazy in February 1980. The three musicians, and Takasaki in particular, were unsatisfied with the musical direction of their previous band and wanted to test their abilities in new avenues.
more

Hear 'n Aid was a one-time collaboration of various individual heavy metal/hard rock artists in 1985 to raise money for famine relief in Africa.... According to Ronnie James Dio's MySpace profile, the project raised $1 million within a year. While attending a 48 hour charity Radiothon at the radio station KLOS, Dio members Jimmy Bain and Vivian Campbell noticed that representation from hard rock or heavy metal stars was low. In light of the success of Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and USA for Africa's "We Are the World", they forwarded an idea to Ronnie James Dio, also attending the Radiothon, and together decided to create a similar project exclusively built around artists from the hard rock/heavy metal scene. Together the three co-wrote the song "Stars." The song was recorded on May 20 and 21 1985 at the A&M Records Studio in Hollywood, California. The project included contributions from Ted Nugent, Yngwie Malmsteen, Tommy Aldridge and members of Dio, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Quiet Riot, Dokken, Mötley Crüe, Twisted Sister, Queensrÿche, Blue Öyster Cult, Vanilla Fudge, Y&T, Rough Cutt, Giuffria, Journey, W.A.S.P. and Night Ranger as well as the parody band Spinal Tap.
more

Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom. Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone Company having... severed their ties during World War I. Deutsche Grammophon claimed the rights to the His Master's Voice trademark for Germany, where HMV recordings were released under the Electrola trademark. In turn, DGG records exported out of Germany were released on the Polydor label. Polydor became a popular music label in 1946 while Deutsche Grammophon became a classical music label. The German rights to the His Master's Voice trademark was sold by Deutsche Grammophon to the Electrola Records unit of EMI in 1949. Polydor remained Deutsche Grammophon's export label, including classical music, in France and the Spanish-speaking world for the remainder of the long-playing era, as a result of language and cultural concerns. In the early 1960s orchestra leader Bert Kaempfert signed unknowns Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers - who would later become famous as The Beatles - to Polydor.
more

PolyGram was the name of the major label recording company started by Philips as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. In 1999 it was sold to Seagram and merged into Universal Music Group. In 1929, Decca Records licensed record shop owner H.W. van Zoelen as a distributor in the... Netherlands. By 1931, his company Hollandsche Decca Distributie had become exclusive Decca distributor for all of the Netherlands and its colonies. Over the course of the 1930s, HDD put together its own facilities for A&R, recording and manufacture. HDD was commercially successful during World War II because of the absence of American and British competition. Van Zoelen wanted to sell to Philips so that HDD would have sufficient financial backing when their major competitors returned after the war. This led Philips to buy HDD in 1942.
more

Universal Music Group is a multinational music company. It is the largest of the "big four" record companies by its leading market share and its multitude of global operations. Universal Music Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of French media conglomerate Vivendi. Universal Music Group owns a... music publisher, Universal Music Publishing Group, which became the world's largest following the 2007 acquisition of BMG Music Publishing. The UMG corporate headquarters are located in Santa Monica, California, United States. "Universal Music" was once the music company attached to film studio Universal Pictures. Its origins go back to the formation of the American branch of Decca Records in 1934. The Decca Corporation of England spun American Decca off in 1939. MCA Inc. bought American Decca in 1962. The present organization was formed when its parent company Seagram purchased PolyGram and merged it with Universal Music Group in 1998. However, the name first appeared in 1996 when MCA Music Entertainment Group was renamed Universal Music Group.
more