The Luckberries were a popular Dutch music duo and consisted of Berry Kluft and Lucas Dekker. The duo was founded in 1962 and participated in several talent shows. In 1966 the Luckberries participated in the Dutch national final for the Eurovision Song Contest. In a semi-final they sang three songs of which a jury picked their favorite. In the final they came 2nd with the song Dromen Zijn Bedrog. The duo married in 1968 and they stopped their singing career in 1970. In 2003 Berry died. Lucas sometimes appears in a radio show.
Roy Black (January 25, 1943 – October 9, 1991) was a German schlager singer and actor, who appeared in several musical comedies and starred in the 1989 TV series, Ein Schloß am Wörthersee.
Born Gerhard Höllerich in Bobingen, Bavarian Swabia, Germany, Roy Black attended the gymnasium in Augsburg and, aged 20, founded the rock and roll band Roy Black and His Cannons. His stage name derived from his black hair and his idol, Roy Orbison.
Roy Black and His Cannons achieved some local fame and were offered a recording contract with Polydor Records. However, his record producer Hans Bertram decided on a solo career for Black, and a switch to romantic songs for his protégé, a decision which soon led to nationwide fame. In 1966, his single Ganz in Weiß — a romantic song about marrying in white — sold in excess of one million copies by the end of 1967. His 1969 song Dein schönstes Geschenk, sold one million copies by May 1970, having spent nine weeks at number one in the German chart.
From 1967, Roy Black also took on roles in several musical comedy films, for example in the 1969 movie Hilfe, ich liebe Zwillinge (Help, I Love Twins) opposite Uschi Glas.
In 1974 Black announced his engagement to model Silke Vagts (1945-2002), and the couple got married in Munich the same year. In 1976 their son Torsten was born. They divorced in 1985.
Six years later in 1991, Black died of heart failure, in Heldenstein near Mühldorf am Inn, which was assumed to be a result of his addiction to alcohol and pharmaceuticals. The punk band Wizo wrote a song disparaging Black after his death, changing the lyrics of a children's song to Roy Black ist tot (Roy Black is dead).
For one of his albums Roy recorded Schenk' Mir Eine Nacht which came 7th in the German national final for the Eurovision Song Contest of 1982 and was originally sung by Mel Jersey.
Guy Bonnet is a French author, composer and singer, born in Avignon in 1945.
Guy is especially known for his Eurovision songs. In 1968 he wrote the french entry La Source which came 3rd and was sung by Isabelle Aubret. In 1970 Guy won the French pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Marie-Blanche which came 4th in Amsterdam and in 1983 Guy won the French national final with the song Vivre which came 8th at the Eurovision Song Contest.
Guy wrote and composed songs for many artists including Mireille Mathieu, Sylvie Vartan, Franck Fernandel and Massilia Sound System.
Katra is a Finnish Symphonic metal band founded in 2006 by vocalist Katra Solopuro.
Katra Solopuro has been studying piano, since the age of 6. At 14 she switched to voice lessons. Today she studies singing and theatre music in Tampere University of Applied Sciences. She also has a background in dance and gymnastics. She has a daughter, Illusia, whose father is the guitarist Risto Katajisto. In her former bands, Lovex and Essentia, she played keyboard and sang background vocals. In the band Coverstone she is a vocalist. Other current members of Katra include Guitarist Kristian Kangasniemi (Sonicmind), bassist Johannes Tolonen (When the Empire Falls, Alcoholica), drummer Matti Auerkallio (Avenie, Soulfallen, Duality, Animal House, Mistreaters and Four Hoarsemen), and guitarist Teemu Mätäsjärvi (Alcoholica).
Katra Solopuro released a single Sahara in September 2006. Then she formed the band Katra and published the self-titled album Katra through Edel Records in Spring 2007. The Sahara single received lots of radio play and while on tour, the band started writing new material.
In 2007 Katra participated in he Finnish national final for the Eurovision Song Contest with the songs Tietäjä and Vaaratar. Tietäjä was chosen into the final and finished 8th. The song was accused of plagiarism, it was said the song resembled a song of the Dutch metal band Within Temptation.
In November 2007 it was announced that Napalm Records signed Katra and asked for an international version of their 2007 album Katra. The band recorded the 2007 album Katra in English, along with two new songs and named the English language release Beast Within. The album was produced by Risto Asikainen (Stratovarious) at Jean Records Studio. Beast Within was published in late August/early September 2008. The band played a couple of gigs in Germany, including Summer Breeze Open Air 2009 and received a good response. Katra also released a video for the title track Beast Within. On June 19, 2010 Katra opened for Theatre of Tragedy at Circo Volador in Mexico, a career highlight for all of the members.
Out of the Ashes was released in October 2010 internationally through Napalm Records and in Finland through Bullhead Music. Although it is their third album, Katra considers it their first creation as a band. A video was released for the song One Wish Away that features an appearance by Flamma, the biggest and most versatile fire performance group in Finland. The German Orkus magazine reviewed it as darker, more melancholic and more determined than the previous album.
Katra have been featured in Germany's Orkus magazine, where they won Best International Newcomer in the 2009 fan poll, and China's X music magazine. Katra have also been nominated in the Best Atmospheric/Symphonic Metal category for the album Beast Within on the Estonian webzine Metal Storm.
Tuula-Ritta Eskelinen Amberla, born in Turku, is a Finnish singer. Tuula released a couple of quite successful albums.
In the 80's Tuula was one of the most successful Finnish female singers.
In 1992 Tuula recorded Kuun Poika for one of her albums which was also called Kuun Poika. The song is a cover of Hijo De La Luna which came 2nd in the Spanish internal selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 1986.
Dollar are a pop vocal duo from the UK, consisting of David Van Day and Thereza Bazar. The duo were successful in the late 1970s and 1980s in the UK and Japan.
Thereza Bazar and David Van Day met at 17 when they successfully auditioned for the Guys 'n' Dolls. The group enjoyed a number of hit singles in the mid 1970s and during this time David Van Day became romantically involved with Thereza Bazar. By 1977 the group was in decline and the pair complained about the choice of material and musical direction. David decided to quit the band to embark on a solo career while Thereza would continue with Guys n' Dolls to earn a living for them both. The group's management were unhappy with the situation and sacked Thereza with the reasoning that a six-piece group consisting of three couples would now look odd with five members. With the change in circumstances, the pair decided to begin a career as a duo. They were picked up by French label Carrere Records, going under the name Dollar.
Dollar's first single, Shooting Star, was released in late 1978 and, after a slow climb, reached number 14 in the UK Singles Chart. The follow-up, Who Were You With In The Moonlight?, was released in early 1979 and also reached number 14. After two hit singles featuring David on lead vocals their third, the ballad Love's Gotta Hold On Me was sung by Thereza. It became Dollar's first self-penned hit as it entered the Top Ten and was one of their biggest, climbing to number 4 in the UK chart. Encouraged by this steady run of success, the group released their debut album, Shooting Stars, which made the top 40. In a change of pace, the band released a cover of The Beatles' song I Want to Hold Your Hand, which reached number 9. At the same time, Dollar had their first (and only) US hit with Shooting Star, which made No.74. By February 1980, the group had scored four UK Top 20 hits, but this was not to last.
In 1980 Dollar moved to WEA Records. Buoyed by the success of Love's Gotta Hold On Me, the pair decided to write and produce all the songs for their second album. Attempting a move towards a rockier sound, the album, along with its singles, failed to sell well. In a bid to generate sales, Van Day and Bazar announced their engagement, but this was later revealed to be a publicity stunt.
In 1981, Thereza approached record producer, Trevor Horn, whom she had met during her days in Guys n' Dolls, and asked if he would work with them. He agreed, and produced their 1981 and 1982 material. Horn's production work gave Dollar a more distinctive sound, and their four Horn-produced singles represented the high point in the band's career. It gave them another two Top Ten singles (Mirror Mirror and Give Me Back My Heart) and two more Top Twenty hits (Videotheque and Hand Held in Black and White). The production on these four hit singles had brought Horn to the attention of other bands, notably ABC, and it was not long before he was too busy to continue working with the duo.
Give Me Some Kinda Magic, a Top 40 hit Dollar had written and produced themselves was the lead-in single to their final studio album, The Dollar Album, which was a mixture of Horn's and the duo's own efforts. It became the biggest of their three albums, peaking at No. 18 in the UK and was certified Silver by the BPI.
In 1982 they represented the UK at the World Popular Song Festival in Japan with the song Two Hearts which didn't reach the final. Originally Dollar want to sing the song Give Me Some Kinda Magic at the Festival but the song was released too early and was disqualified. They had to write the new song in only one day.
During a promotional trip to Japan in February 1983, relations between the duo had become increasingly tempestuous and David Van Day quit the band. Their latest single (Two Hearts) went unreleased in the UK and Dollar split.
David had ambitions to be a solo artist after he and Thereza split. He released the single Young Americans Talking, which was written and produced by the people behind Bucks Fizz. Meanwhile Thereza recorded an album, The Big Kiss, with producer Arif Mardin, and a theme song for the US film Gotcha! with composer Bill Conti. This was released as a single. But neither of them enjoyed the same kind of success as solo artists as they had had as Dollar.
By 1986 they had reformed, and released the singles We Walked In Love and Haven't We Said Goodbye Before. Neither of these met with much success and soon the group were looking for another record contract. In late 1987, the group covered the hi-NRG-style Erasure song O L'amour. In early 1988 the song became one of their biggest hits and peaked at No.7. The group then hit a stumbling block in deciding on a follow-up and past ill-feeling between the pair was rising again. Six months later they finally released another single, It's Nature's Way, but it was to be their last release as the single flopped and work on a possible album had been long delayed. In late 1988, Dollar disbanded again.
David Van Day again attempted to launch a solo career, but to no avail. Thereza Bazar decided to finish with the music industry and moved to Australia where she concentrated on raising her family. During the 1990s David Van Day teamed up with a succession of female singers for a touring version of Dollar. In the latter half of the decade he joined a rival variation of the group Bucks Fizz with original member Mike Nolan. Two versions of Bucks Fizz were touring the UK and another Bucks Fizz original member, Bobby G brought a case in the High Court against Van Day. In 2001, a judge refused to grant a court injunction against Van Day as he had been operating in Bucks Fizz for five years at the time, while also famously running a burger van in Brighton.
In the early 2000s David Van Day persuaded Thereza Bazar to rejoin him in Dollar for a reunion tour. In 2002 they took part in the Here And Now tour, a series of arena-sized concerts featuring other singers and bands from the 1980s. They followed this up by appearing on the reality television show Reborn in the USA in 2003. This show involved a number of formerly successful chart acts touring together in America with the public voting off a different act each week. They quickly became the centre of attention when they were involved in an argument with pop star Sonia, which was televised and reported in the newspapers. Dollar were the first act to be voted off and they returned to the UK.[14] Dollar made another live appearance in 2004, in a show celebrating the career of Trevor Horn. It took place at Wembley Arena and Dollar appeared alongside ABC and Pet Shop Boys, amongst other acts who had worked with Horn over the years.
In July 2008 Dollar reformed again to take part in a UK reality television programme entitled Pop Goes the Band, in which a number of former pop stars were remodelled and restyled to try to recapture their former glory. The programme aired on Living TV on 23 February 2009. In December 2008 Van Day came fourth in I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! on ITV1. The show saw Van Day co-write a new song, Biff Baff Boff, with 1980s television presenter and broadcaster Timmy Mallett. It was released as a download only single in December 2008 but failed to chart. His appearance on this show angered Bazar, who subsequently refused to work with him again.
On 15 February 2010 Cherry Red Records re-issued remastered and expanded editions of The Dollar Album and The Paris Collection for the first time on CD.
The Guys 'n' Dolls were formed in 1974, after Ammo Productions held auditions for three girls and three boys to start the band. The six members of the group Paul Griggs, David Van Day, Thereza Bazar, Dominic Grant, Martine Howard, and Julie Forsyth (daughter of Bruce Forsyth), first met in November 1974. They released their first hit single, There's a Whole Lot of Loving in January 1975. In the following years, the group released several more hits, including Here I Go Again (1975) and You Don't Have to Say You Love Me (1976) which is a cover of the 1965 Sanremo song Io Che Non Vivo. In 1977 the group had a record chart No.1 with You're My World, formerly made famous by Cilla Black.
After that big success David Van Day and Thereza Bazar had left the band, but went on to have success as Dollar.
In 1978 the Guys'n' Dolls represented the UK in Japan at the World Popular Song Festival with the song Same Old Way which came 4th and won the Outstanding Song Award. Same Old Way was a big hit in Japan.
In 1979 they participated in A Song For Europe, the UK pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song How Do You Mend A Broken Heart which ended 10th.
After a less successful period the band stopped in 1985 but Dominic Grant and Julie Forsyth went on as a duo. In 1988 Julie wrote the UK entry for the Eurovision Song Contest.
The original line up of Guys 'n' Dolls reunited for the first time in thirty one years for a major television show in the Netherlands on 22 March 2008.
