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Trainspotting (film)

Trainspotting is a 1996 British black comedy-drama film directed by Danny Boyle, and starring Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd, Robert Carlyle and Kelly Macdonald in her film debut. Based on the 1993 novel of the same title by Irvine Welsh, the film was released in the United Kingdom on 23 February 1996.

The film follows a group of heroin addicts in an economically depressed area of Edinburgh and their passage through life. Beyond drug addiction, other themes in the film include an exploration of the urban poverty and squalor in Edinburgh.

Trainspotting was released to critical acclaim, and is regarded by many critics as one of the best films of the 1990s. The film was ranked tenth by the British Film Institute (BFI) in its list of Top 100 British films of the 20th century. In 2004, the film was voted the best Scottish film of all time in a general public poll. A 2017 poll, which consisted of 150 actors, directors, writers, producers and critics for Time Out magazine, ranked it the tenth best British film ever. A sequel, T2 Trainspotting, was released in January 2017.

Plot
Mark Renton, a 26-year-old unemployed heroin addict, lives with his parents in the Edinburgh ward of Leith and regularly takes drugs with his "friends": treacherous, womanising James Bond fanatic Simon "Sick Boy" Williamson; docile and bumbling Daniel "Spud" Murphy; and Swanney—"Mother Superior"—their dealer. Renton's other friends, aggressive, alcoholic psychopath Francis "Franco" Begbie and honest footballer and recreational speed user Tommy Mackenzie, who both abstain from heroin, warn him about his dangerous drug habit. Growing tired of his reckless lifestyle, Renton attempts to wean himself off heroin with a bare room, foodstuffs, and opium suppositories from ill-reputed dealer Mikey Forrester. He develops diarrhoea and has to relieve himself in the disgusting toilet of a betting shop, then imagines himself swimming in the filthy water as he retrieves the suppositories.

Renton attempts to lead a "useful and fulfilling" life away from heroin. This consists of him meeting Sick Boy in a park where he shoots a stranger's dog with an air gun, supplying Spud with amphetamine for a job interview that turns disastrous, and stealing a sex tape of Tommy and his girlfriend, Lizzy. At The Volcano nightclub, Renton notices that his cessation of heroin use has increased his libido. He seduces a girl named Diane Coulston, and they return to her apartment to have sex. The following morning, Renton is horrified to learn that she is below the age of consent and lives with her parents, whom Renton initially assumes are her flatmates. Diane threatens Renton with blackmail to report him to the police for statutory rape if he does not continue the relationship.

After several unsuccessful attempts to reintegrate into society, Renton, Sick Boy, and Spud relapse into heroin use; Tommy also begins to dabble in drug use after becoming depressed due to being dumped by Lizzy, thanks to the actions of an unknowing Renton. Despite the group’s shock, grief, and horror regarding the negligence-induced death of Dawn, the infant daughter of Sick Boy and his girlfriend Allison, the group still does not recover from their heroin use. Later, Renton, Sick Boy, and Spud are caught shoplifting; Renton and Spud are arrested while Sick Boy narrowly escapes. Spud receives a six-month custodial sentence at HMP Saughton, and Renton narrowly avoids jail by entering a drug rehabilitation programme where he is given methadone to help him. However, Renton quickly relapses and nearly dies of a heroin overdose at Swanney's home. Upon returning home after his revival at the hospital, Renton's parents lock him in his childhood bedroom and force him to go cold turkey. Following a horrific withdrawal punctuated by hallucinations of his friends and visions of Dawn crawling on the ceiling, Renton is released upon the condition of an HIV/AIDS test. Despite years of sharing syringes with other addicts, Renton tests negative.

Now clean but bored and devoid of meaning in his life, Renton visits Tommy, who is now severely addicted to heroin and is HIV-positive. On Diane's advice, Renton moves to London and works as a property letting agent. He begins to enjoy his new life of sobriety in London and corresponds with Diane, who updates him on developments back home. To Renton's shock and frustration, Begbie, wanted for a failed armed robbery, tracks him down and takes refuge in his apartment. Sick Boy, now trying to be a pimp and drug dealer, soon joins them. Begbie and Sick Boy later attack two of Renton's clientele (at a supposedly impossible-to-sell property where Renton has sent them to get them off his back), resulting in him losing his job. The trio returns to Edinburgh to avoid police attention and for the funeral of Tommy, who has died of AIDS-related toxoplasmosis.

Following the funeral, Sick Boy asks Renton, Begbie, and Spud (who has been recently released from prison) for help in buying two kilograms of pure heroin from Mikey Forrester (who got it after a drunken night out with two Russian sailors), for the low price of £4,000, to sell on, with Renton needing to supply the remaining £2,000 asking price. After Begbie threatens him, Renton reluctantly covers the remaining cost, and the group returns to London to sell the heroin to a dealer for £16,000. As they celebrate in a pub, Renton secretly suggests to Spud that they could leave with the money, but Spud, motivated by fear and loyalty, refuses. Sick Boy indicates he would happily do so, and Begbie brutally beats a man after a minor accident. Concluding that Begbie and Sick Boy are unpredictable and dangerous, Renton quietly steals the bag of money and leaves the following morning. Spud witnesses him but does not warn the others. Renton leaves £4,000 in a left-luggage locker for Spud, who "never hurt anybody". Begbie, discovering Renton and the money gone, enragedly destroys the hotel room where the four stayed, prompting the police to arrive and arrest him as Sick Boy and Spud flee. Spud discreetly claims his share of the money, and Renton walks away to his new life.

Cast

 * Ewan McGregor as Mark "Rent Boy" Renton
 * Ewen Bremner as Daniel "Spud" Murphy
 * Jonny Lee Miller as Simon "Sick Boy" Williamson
 * Robert Carlyle as Francis "Franco" Begbie
 * Kevin McKidd as Thomas "Tommy" Mackenzie
 * Kelly Macdonald as Diane Coulston
 * Peter Mullan as Swanney "Mother Superior"
 * Fiona Bell as Diane's Mother
 * Vincent Friell as Diane's Father
 * Pauline Lynch as Lizzy
 * Susan Vidler as Allison
 * Eileen Nicholas as Mrs Renton
 * James Cosmo as Davie Renton
 * Shirley Henderson as Gail Houston
 * Stuart McQuarrie as Gav Temperley/American Tourist
 * Irvine Welsh as Mikey Forrester
 * Kevin Allen as Andreas
 * Keith Allen as Hugo the Dealer, reprising his role from Shallow Grave (1994)
 * Dale Winton as Game Show Host
 * Lauren and Devon Lamb as Baby Dawn (uncredited)

Production
Producer Andrew Macdonald read Irvine Welsh's book on a plane in December 1993, and felt that it could be made into a film. He turned it on to director Danny Boyle and writer John Hodge in February 1994. Boyle was excited by its potential to be the "most energetic film you've ever seen — about something that ultimately ends up in purgatory or worse". Hodge read it and made it his goal to "produce a screenplay which would seem to have a beginning, a middle and an end, would last 90 minutes and would convey at least some of the spirit and the content of the book". Boyle convinced Welsh to let them option the rights to his book by writing him a letter stating that Hodge and Macdonald were "the two most important Scotsmen since Kenny Dalglish and Alex Ferguson". Welsh remembered that originally the people wanting to option his book "wanted to make a po-faced piece of social realism like Christiane F or The Basketball Diaries". He was impressed that Boyle, Hodge and Macdonald wanted everyone to see the film and "not just the arthouse audience". In October 1994, Hodge, Boyle and Macdonald spent a lot of time discussing which chapters of the book would and would not translate into film. Hodge finished the first draft by December. Macdonald secured financing from Channel 4, a British television station known for funding independent films.

Casting
Pre-production began in April 1995. Ewan McGregor was cast after impressing Boyle and Macdonald with his work on their previous film, Shallow Grave. According to Boyle, for the role of Renton, they wanted the quality of Michael Caine's character in Alfie and Malcolm McDowell's character in A Clockwork Orange, "repulsive ... with charm 'that makes you feel deeply ambiguous about what he's doing'." McGregor shaved his head and lost 2 stone (12.7 kilograms) for the film. Ewen Bremner had played Renton in the stage adaptation of Trainspotting and agreed to play the role of Spud, saying he felt the characters "were part of my heritage". Boyle had heard about Jonny Lee Miller playing an American in the film Hackers and was impressed when he auditioned by doing a Sean Connery accent. For the role of Begbie, Boyle considered casting Christopher Eccleston for his resemblance to how he imagined the character in the novel, but asked Robert Carlyle instead. Carlyle was initially hesitant, believing he was too short to play the character, but Boyle convinced him by telling him, "No, small psychos are better." Carlyle said, "I've met loads of Begbies in my time. Wander round Glasgow on Saturday night and you've a good chance of running into Begbie." For the role of Diane, Boyle wanted an unknown actress so audiences would not realise that a 19-year-old was playing a 15-year-old. The filmmakers sent flyers to nightclubs and boutiques and approached people on the street, eventually hiring Kelly Macdonald. The casting of Keith Allen as the Dealer was a reference to his role in Shallow Grave with the implication being that he plays the same character in both.

Pre-production
McGregor read books about crack and heroin to prepare for the role. He also went to Glasgow and met people from the Calton Athletic Recovery Group, an organisation of recovering heroin addicts, who play the opposing football team in the opening credits. He was taught how to cook up heroin with a spoon using glucose powder. McGregor considered injecting heroin to better understand the character, but eventually decided against it. Many of the book's stories and characters were dropped to create a cohesive script of adequate length. Danny Boyle had his actors prepare by making them watch older films about rebellious youths like The Hustler and A Clockwork Orange.

Principal photography
Trainspotting was shot in mid-1995 over seven weeks on a budget of £1.5million with the cast and crew working out of an abandoned cigarette factory in Glasgow. Due to time constraints and a tight budget, most scenes were done in one take, which contributed to the grungy look of the film. For example, when Renton sinks into the floor after overdosing on heroin, the crew built a platform above a trap door and lowered the actor down. The faeces in the 'Worst Toilet in Scotland' scene was made from chocolate.

Although set in Edinburgh, almost all of the film was shot in Glasgow, apart from the opening scenes which were shot in Edinburgh, and the final scenes which were shot in London.

Locations in the film include:
 * The opening scene of Renton and Spud being chased by security for shoplifting is shot in Edinburgh, on Princes Street and Calton Road under Regent Bridge.
 * The park where Sick Boy and Renton discuss James Bond, Sean Connery and The Name of the Rose is Rouken Glen Park in Giffnock, near Glasgow. The park was also the site of the grave in Boyle's previous film, Shallow Grave.
 * Corrour railway station is the setting for the "great outdoors" scene in the film, where Tommy suggests the group climb Leum Uilleim.
 * The scenes where they do their drug deal take place in Paddington. The scene where they parody the cover of the Beatles album Abbey Road takes place as they walk out of Smallbrook Mews across Craven Road to the Royal Eagle, 26–30 Craven Road, Paddington.
 * The school attended by Diane is Jordanhill in Glasgow's West End.

Marketing and theatrical release
MacDonald worked with Miramax Films to sell the film as a British Pulp Fiction, flooding the market with postcards, posters, books, soundtrack albums and a revamped music video for "Lust for Life" by Iggy Pop directed by Boyle.

Prior to its release in the United States, Miramax, the film's US distributor, requested that some of the dialogue be dubbed so the film would be easier to understand for American viewers unfamiliar with Scottish slang and British slang in general.

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, the company responsible for the distribution of the film, launched a publicity campaign of half as much as the film's production costs (£850,000) in the UK alone, making the film stand out more as a Hollywood blockbuster rather than a smaller European production.

Trainspotting was able to portray itself as British and as an 'exotic' element to the international market while also staying relevant to the American public, making it an international success in its marketing.

Home video
The film was released on VHS after its theatrical release. It was released on DVD on March 25, 1998, and on Blu-ray on September 13, 2011. A remastered version of the film was released by The Criterion Collection on Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray on January 30, 2024.

Soundtracks
The Trainspotting soundtracks were two best-selling albums of music based on the film. The first is a collection of songs featured in the film, while the second includes those left out from the first soundtrack and extra songs that inspired the filmmakers during production.

The soundtrack for Trainspotting has gone on to become a pop culture phenomenon. Nearly all of the score is pre-recorded music from existing artists. This score is divided into three distinct groups, all representing a different eras and styles: The first being pop music from the 1970s, by artists such as Lou Reed and Iggy Pop; who are all musicians closely associated with drug use and are referred to throughout the original novel. The second group is the music from the Britpop era in the 1990s, with bands Blur and Pulp. Finally, there is the techno-dance music from the 1990s, including Underworld, Bedrock and Ice MC. Danny Boyle approached Oasis about contributing a song to the soundtrack but Noel Gallagher turned down the opportunity due to him mistakenly believing it would be a film about actual trainspotters.

Through the years, acclaim for the soundtrack has been sustained. In 2007, Vanity Fair ranked the Trainspotting original soundtrack at number 7 for best motion picture soundtrack in history. Additionally, Entertainment Weekly ranked the Trainspotting soundtrack as 17th on their 100 best movie soundtracks list. In 2013, Rolling Stone listed it as the 13th best soundtrack in their 25 best soundtracks. In 2015, New Musical Express praised it as a "perfect snapshot of 1996 music."

1996 saw a drastic change in British music with the rise of popularity for Britpop, although old-fashioned pop was still firmly rooted in British culture. With Oasis dominating the singles chart and the Spice Girls on the rise, the Trainspotting soundtrack aimed to champion the alternative music legacy of 1996 Britain with a focus on presenting electronic music on equal footing with rock music in a way that had never been done before.

Reception
Trainspotting was screened at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival but was shown out of competition, according to the filmmakers, due to its subject. It went on to become the festival's one unqualified critical and popular hit.

The film had previews in the UK on 17 screens, grossing £18,970, before opening on 23 February 1996 in a platform release on 57 screens in the West End of London, Scotland and Ireland, grossing £532,950 in its opening weekend and placing fifth at the UK box office. It was the number one film in London. It expanded nationwide to 245 screens in its third week of release and was the number one film in the UK with a gross of £1,422,906 for the weekend.

By the time it opened in North America, on 19 July 1996, the film had grossed more than $18million in Britain. It initially opened in eight theatres in the U.S. and Canada and on its first weekend grossed $33,000 per screen. The film expanded to 357 screens and made $16.4million in North America, one of the biggest grossing films of 1996 in limited release. Trainspotting was the highest-grossing British film of 1996, and at the time it was the fourth highest grossing British film in history. The film grossed £12million in the UK and $72million internationally. Based on a cost-to-return ratio, Trainspotting was the most profitable film of the year.

Critical reception
The film has an approval rating of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 95 reviews collected by the site, with an average score of 8.30/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "A brutal, often times funny, other times terrifying portrayal of drug addiction in Edinburgh. Not for the faint of heart, but well worth viewing as a realistic and entertaining reminder of the horrors of drug use". On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 83 out of 100 based on 28 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". In his review for The Guardian, Derek Malcolm gave the film credit for tapping into the youth subculture of the time and felt that it was "acted out with a freedom of expression that's often astonishing." Empire magazine gave the film five out of five stars and described the film as "something Britain can be proud of and Hollywood must be afraid of. If we Brits can make movies this good about subjects this horrific, what chance does Tinseltown have?"

American film critic Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars and praised its portrayal of addicts' experiences with each other. In his review for the Los Angeles Times, Kenneth Turan wrote, "in McGregor ... the film has an actor whose magnetism monopolizes our attention no matter what". Entertainment Weekly gave the film an "A" rating and Owen Gleiberman wrote, "Like Scorsese and Tarantino, Boyle uses pop songs as rhapsodic mood enhancers, though in his own ravey-hypnotic style. Whether he's staging a fumbly sex montage to Sleeper's version of "Atomic" or having Renton go cold turkey to the ominous slow build of Underworld's "Dark and Long" ... Trainspotting keeps us wired to the pulse of its characters' passions". In her review for The New York Times, Janet Maslin wrote, "Trainspotting doesn't have much narrative holding it together. Nor does it really have the dramatic range to cope with such wild extremes. Most of it sticks to the same moderate pitch, with entertainment value enhanced by Mr. Boyle's savvy use of wide angles, bright colours, attractively clean compositions and a dynamic pop score".

Rolling Stone's Peter Travers wrote, "the film's flash can't disguise the emptiness of these blasted lives. Trainspotting is 90 minutes of raw power that Boyle and a bang-on cast inject right into the vein". In his review for The Washington Post, Desson Howe wrote, "Without a doubt, this is the most provocative, enjoyable pop-cultural experience since Pulp Fiction". Jonathan Rosenbaum, in his review for the Chicago Reader, wrote, "Like Twister and Independence Day, this movie is a theme-park ride – though it's a much better one, basically a series of youthful thrills, spills, chills, and swerves rather than a story intended to say very much".

The film's release sparked controversy in some countries, including Britain, Australia and the United States, as to whether or not it promoted and romanticised drug use. U.S. Senator Bob Dole accused it of moral depravity and glorifying drug use during the 1996 U.S. presidential campaign, although he later admitted that he had not seen the film. Producer of the film Andrew Macdonald responded to these claims in a BBC interview stating "we were determined to show why people took drugs ... you had to show that it was fun and that it was awful" to which Boyle adds "It's the music and humour that makes people feel it's glamorising drugs." Despite the controversy, it was widely praised and received a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay in that year's Academy Awards. Time magazine ranked Trainspotting as the third best film of 1996.

Legacy
The film had an immediate effect on popular culture. In 1999, Trainspotting was ranked in the tenth spot by the British Film Institute (BFI) in its list of Top 100 British films of all time, while in 2004 the magazine Total Film named it the fourth greatest British film of all time. That same year, Channel 4 named it as the greatest British film of all time. The Observer polled several filmmakers and film critics who voted it the best British film in the last 25 years. In 2004, the film was voted the best Scottish film of all time by the public in a poll for The List magazine. Trainspotting has developed a cult following. It was recognised as an important film during the 1990s British cultural tour de force known as Cool Britannia. It was also featured in the documentary Live Forever: The Rise and Fall of Brit Pop.

The film title is a reference to a scene in the book where Begbie and Renton meet "an auld drunkard" who turns out to be Begbie's estranged father, in the disused Leith Central railway station, which they are using as a toilet. He asks them if they are "trainspottin. This scene is later included as a flashback in T2 Trainspotting.

The music video for the 2019 song "Doorman" by English rapper Slowthai contains several references to the film.

Awards
Trainspotting was nominated for two British Academy Film Awards in 1996, Best British Film and John Hodge for Best Adapted Screenplay. Hodge won in his category. Hodge also won Best Screenplay from the Evening Standard British Film Awards. The film won the Golden Space Needle (the award for Best Film) at the 1996 Seattle International Film Festival. Ewan McGregor was named Best Actor from the London Film Critics Circle, BAFTA Scotland Awards, and Empire magazine. Hodge was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay but lost to Billy Bob Thornton's Sling Blade.

Style and themes
Music has great importance in Boyle's films, as evident by the best-selling soundtracks for Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire, both of which feature many pop and punk rock artists. In Boyle's view, songs can be "amazing things to use because they obviously bring a lot of baggage with them. They may have painful associations, and so they inter-breathe with the material you're using".

The combination of images and music with the setting of the criminal underworld has drawn comparisons to Pulp Fiction and the films of Quentin Tarantino, that had created a certain type of "90s indie cinema" which "strove to dazzle the viewer with self-conscious cleverness and empty shock tactics". This affected the shooting style of the film, which features "wildly imaginative" and "downright hallucinatory" visual imagery, achieved through a mix of "a handheld, hurtling camera", jump cuts, zoom shots, freeze frames and wide angles. This vigorous style contributed to the "breathless" pace that Boyle's films have been associated with.

For the look of the film, Boyle was influenced by the colours of Francis Bacon's paintings, which represented "a sort of in-between land – part reality, part fantasy". The scene where Renton (McGregor) dives into a toilet is a reference to Thomas Pynchon's 1973 novel Gravity's Rainbow.

Sequel
Boyle had declared his wish to make a sequel to Trainspotting which would take place nine years after the original film, based on Irvine Welsh's sequel, Porno. He was reportedly waiting until the original actors themselves aged visibly enough to portray the same characters, ravaged by time; Boyle joked that the natural vanity of actors would make it a long wait. Ewan McGregor stated in an interview that he would return for a sequel, saying "I'm totally up for it. I'd be so chuffed to be back on set with everybody and I think it would be an extraordinary experience."

On 6 May 2014, during a BBC Radio interview with Richard Bacon, Welsh confirmed that he had spent a week with Boyle, Andrew Macdonald and the creative team behind Trainspotting to discuss the sequel. Welsh stated that the meeting was to "explore the story and script ideas. We're not interested in doing something that will trash the legacy of Trainspotting. ... We want to do something that's very fresh and contemporary." Welsh did not however confirm any kind of timeline for the film, unlike Boyle's comments about wanting the film to come out in 2016.

In a newspaper interview with The Scotsman on 17 November 2014, Welsh said that McGregor and Boyle had resolved their differences and had held meetings about the film, saying "I know Danny and Ewan are back in touch with each other again. There are others in the cast who've had a rocky road, but now also reconciled. With the Trainspotting sequel the attention is going to be even more intense this time round because the first was such a great movie—and Danny's such a colossus now. We're all protective of the Trainspotting legacy and we want to make a film that adds to that legacy and doesn't take away from it."

In a September 2015 interview with ComingSoon.net, Boyle said that a script for the sequel had been written, and that filming would take place between May and June 2016, in the hope of releasing the film that year to commemorate Trainspotting's 20th anniversary.

T2 Trainspotting was released in the UK on 27 January 2017, and worldwide in February and March 2017. It received generally positive reviews from critics and was a commercial success, grossing $42.1 million against a production budget of $18 million. It is a black comedy-drama film, directed by Boyle and written by John Hodge. Set in and around Edinburgh, it is based on characters created by Welsh in his 1993 novel Trainspotting and its 2002 follow-up Porno. T2 stars the original ensemble cast, including leads Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, and Robert Carlyle, with Shirley Henderson, James Cosmo, and Kelly Macdonald. The film features a new character, Veronika, played by Anjela Nedyalkova, and includes clips, music, and archive sound from the first film.

title: Trainspotting (film)


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The Crickets

The Crickets were an American rock and roll band from Lubbock, Texas, formed by singer-songwriter Buddy Holly in January 1957. Their first hit record, "That'll Be the Day", released in May 1957, peaked at number three on the Billboard Top 100 chart on September 16, 1957. The sleeve of their first album, The "Chirping" Crickets, shows the band line-up at the time: Holly on lead vocals and lead guitar, Niki Sullivan on rhythm guitar, Jerry Allison on drums, and Joe B. Mauldin on bass. The Crickets helped set the template for subsequent rock bands, such as the Beatles, with their guitar-bass-drums line-up, performing their own material. After Holly's death in 1959, the band continued to tour and record into the 1960s and beyond with other band members through to the 21st century.

Formation
Holly had been making demo recordings with local musician friends since 1954. Sonny Curtis, Jerry Allison, and Larry Welborn participated in these sessions. In 1956 Holly's band, then known informally as Buddy and the Two Tones (Holly with Sonny Curtis and Don Guess; posthumous releases refer to the Three Tunes), recorded an album's worth of rockabilly numbers in Nashville, Tennessee, for Decca. The records were not more than mildly successful, and the band did not achieve financial success until 1957, when the producer and recording engineer Norman Petty recorded Holly's sessions in Clovis, New Mexico.

Holly had already recorded for another label under his own name, so to avoid legal problems he needed a new name for his group. As the Crickets recalled in John Goldrosen's book Buddy Holly – His Life and Music, they were inspired by other groups named after birds. They were then considering insect-centered names, apparently unaware of the Bronx R&B vocal group the Crickets, who recorded for Jay-Dee. They almost chose the name Beetles; years later, the Beatles chose their name partly in homage to the Crickets.

The Crickets were lead guitarist and vocalist Buddy Holly, drummer Jerry Allison, bassist Joe B. Mauldin, and rhythm guitarist Niki Sullivan. Sullivan dropped out after a little more than one year to resume his education. The Crickets, now a trio, continued to make stage and TV appearances and recorded more songs, many composed by the band members.

Early success
In 1957 Norman Petty arranged for the Crickets' recordings to be marketed under two names. The solo vocals were released as being performed by Buddy Holly, and the songs with dubbed backing vocals were issued as being sung by the Crickets. Petty reasoned correctly that disc jockeys might be reluctant to program a single artist too heavily but would play records by two seemingly different groups. Some disc jockeys referred to the band as "Buddy Holly and the Crickets", but record labels never used this wording until after Holly's death.

In 1958, Holly broke with producer Petty and moved to New York to be more involved with the publishing and recording businesses. Allison and Mauldin chose not to move and returned to Lubbock. Holly now recorded under his own name with the studio musicians Tommy Allsup and Carl Bunch. Waylon Jennings toured with him shortly after Holly left the Crickets. Allison and Mauldin looked forward to rejoining Holly after he returned from a winter tour through the northern Midwest. In the meantime, Mauldin, Allison, and Sonny Curtis (a friend and collaborator of Holly's) began recording new songs as the Crickets, with vocals by Earl Sinks. While they were recording, it was announced that Holly had died in a plane crash while on tour.

After Holly's death
The Crickets, now with vocalist Earl Sinks, went on performing after Holly's death. David Box, a native of Lubbock, Texas, who sang in a manner similar to Holly, joined the group as lead vocalist for their 1960 single "Dont Cha Know"/"Peggy Sue Got Married", released as Coral 62238 after the departure of Sinks. Curtis was not in the band, as he was completing military service. Box, who had left the group in 1960, died in a charter plane crash on October 23, 1964, while touring as a solo singer.

In April 1960 the Crickets backed the Everly Brothers on their first UK concert tour but were not billed as their backing group. By 1962, the Crickets consisted of Curtis, Allison, Glen D. Hardin, and Jerry Naylor. That year, the Crickets' version of the Gerry Goffin–Carole King song "Don't Ever Change" (Liberty Records), featuring Naylor on lead vocals, reached the top five in the British single charts. Also in 1962 they released Bobby Vee Meets the Crickets, an album with Bobby Vee on lead vocals. For their 1962 UK tour, Allison was temporarily out of the group because of commitments with the U.S. Air Force.

In 1963, the Crickets hit the UK top 40 twice more, with the singles "My Little Girl" and "Don't Try to Change Me", the last of their recordings to reach the charts. The band continued to record. In 1964, the Crickets issued their version of the surf rock song "California Sun" for their album of the same title. In 1970, Jerry Allison and Sonny Curtis performed backing vocals for Eric Clapton for his first solo album titled Eric Clapton.

Personnel changes were made over the years, with Curtis and Allison remaining relative constants. For the 1971 album Rockin' 50s Rock n' Roll (which consisted mostly of remakes of Holly-era material), the group consisted of Curtis, Allison and Doug Gilmore. For the 1973 album Bubblegum, Bop, Ballad and Boogies, the line-up featured Curtis, Allison, Hardin and bassist Ric Grech. Steven Krikorian, later to record as the new wave artist Tonio K., joined the group as a vocalist shortly thereafter, as did guitarists Albert Lee and Nick van Maarth, replacing Hardin. The 1973 album Remnants and the 1974 album A Long Way from Lubbock featured the sextet of Allison, Curtis, Krikorian, Grech, Lee and van Maarth.

In 1978, the award-winning film The Buddy Holly Story, starring Gary Busey as Holly, presented an engaging but inaccurate depiction of the band's early years. Allison and Mauldin's names were altered to Jesse Charles and Ray Bob Simmons, respectively, to avoid legal action due to their rights being sold to another film production that was also working on Holly's story. Niki Sullivan, Sonny Curtis, Bob Montgomery, Don Guess, and Larry Welborn were written out of the film. The Crickets gave a thumbs down review of the film wherein Allison expressed his dislike on the portrayal of his fictional counterpart Jesse Charles: vulgar, racist, alcoholic, and profane.

In the 1980s, Waylon Jennings called to ask the Crickets (JI, Joe B and Sonny) to open for him on a tour. They stayed with him for five years. Gordon Payne (Waylon's guitarist) played lead and on a few gigs when Sonny broke his arm. Gordon joined the Crickets as lead guitarist and singer when Sonny left. This trio of JI, Joe B and Gordon toured for some years including visits to the UK. In the UK Paul McCartney recorded the Crickets single "T Shirt" in his studio and played piano on the track.During this time a Swedish Television Company recorded a film showing JI, Joe B and Gordon touring the UK and Sweden, as well as at home in Tennessee. It was called My Love Is Bigger than a Cadillac. In 1994, Gordon Payne left and Sonny returned and was joined by Glen D Hardin to take the group to a four piece band. After recording "Well All Right" with Nanci Griffith, the group toured the UK with Griffith and her Orchestra

21st century
The Crickets released The Crickets and Their Buddies in 2004, featuring classics from all parts of their career, with performances by several prominent artists, including Eric Clapton, Rodney Crowell, Waylon Jennings, Nanci Griffith, John Prine, Graham Nash, and Bobby Vee. The album was produced and mixed by Greg Ladanyi and included editing and additional mixes by Dave Carlock, Rob Hill, and Rogers Masson. For the album, the Crickets officially consisted of Allison, Curtis and Mauldin; former members Albert Lee (guitar) and Glen D. Hardin (keyboards) also played throughout, and one-time member Steven Krikorian (now known as Tonio K.) was the lead vocalist on two tracks.

On October 28, 2008, the Crickets were inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee. They performed "Peggy Sue", "Not Fade Away" and "That'll Be the Day" at the ceremony, accompanied by guest guitarist Keith Richards. In 2011, Allison was still touring with Sonny Curtis, a childhood friend and bandmate of Holly's, on vocals and guitar.

On April 14, 2012, the Crickets were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by a special committee charged with correcting the omission of the band with Holly when he was first inducted in 1986. The inducted members were Jerry Allison, Sonny Curtis, Joe B. Mauldin, and Niki Sullivan. The group was unable to attend the ceremony because Mauldin was ill. Mauldin died from cancer on February 7, 2015, in Nashville, Tennessee.

On February 6, 2016, "The Crickets & Buddies" performed in Clear Lake, Iowa, at the Surf Ballroom, the site of Holly's last performance. Members of previous line-ups appeared, including Sonny Curtis, Glen D. Hardin, Albert Lee, Tommy Allsup, Gordon Payne and others. After the show, Allison announced that it was the group's final performance.

Allison died of cancer on August 22, 2022.

Band members

 * Jerry Allison – drums (1957–2016; died 2022)
 * Buddy Holly – lead vocals, guitar (1957–1958; died 1959)
 * Joe B. Mauldin – double bass, electric bass (1957–1960, 1976–2015; his death)
 * Niki Sullivan – guitar (1957–1958; died 2004)
 * Sonny Curtis – guitar (1958–1960, 1962–1985, 1994–2016); lead vocals (1962–1985, 1994–2016)
 * Earl Sinks – lead vocals (1958–1960; died 2017)
 * David Box - lead vocals (1959-1960; died 1964)
 * Tommy Allsup – guitar (1959; died 2017)
 * Jerry Naylor – lead vocals (1961–1964; died 2019)
 * Glen Hardin – keyboards (1962–1972, 1999–2016); keyboard bass (1962–1972, 2015–2016)
 * Gordon Payne – lead vocals, guitar (1985–1994)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: The Crickets


text:
Bryan Ferry

Bryan Ferry (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter who was the frontman of the band Roxy Music and also a solo artist. His distinctive voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established a distinctive image and sartorial style: according to The Independent, Ferry and his contemporary David Bowie influenced a generation with both their music and their appearances. Peter York described Ferry as "an art object" who "should hang in the Tate".

Born to a working-class family, Ferry studied fine art and taught at a secondary school before pursuing a career in music. In 1970 he began to assemble Roxy Music with a group of friends and acquaintances in London, and took the role of lead singer and main songwriter. The band achieved immediate international success with the release of their self-titled debut album in 1972, containing a rich multitude of sounds, which reflected Ferry's interest in exploring different genres of music. Their second album, For Your Pleasure (1973), further cultivated the band's unique sound and visual image that would establish Ferry as a leading cultural icon over the next decade.

Ferry began a parallel solo career in 1973 by releasing These Foolish Things, which popularized the concept of a contemporary musician releasing an album covering standard songs and was a drastic departure from his ongoing work with Roxy Music. His second album, Another Time, Another Place (1974), featured as its cover image Ferry posing by a pool in a white dinner jacket and represented one of his most impactful fashion statements. Over the next two years, Roxy Music released a trilogy of albums, Stranded (1973), Country Life (1974) and Siren (1975), which broadened the band's appeal internationally and saw Ferry take greater interest in the role of a live performer, reinventing himself in stage costumes ranging from gaucho to military uniforms. In 1983, following the release of their best-selling album Avalon the previous year, Ferry disbanded Roxy Music to concentrate on his solo career, with his next album, 1985's Boys and Girls, reaching No. 1 in the UK and featuring the hit singles "Slave to Love" and "Don't Stop the Dance", while the follow up album Bête Noire went Top 10 in the UK in 1987

As well as being a prolific songwriter, Ferry has recorded many cover versions, including standards from the Great American Songbook, in albums such as These Foolish Things (1973), Another Time, Another Place (1974), Let's Stick Together (1976), Taxi (1993) and As Time Goes By (1999), as well as Dylanesque (2007), an album of Bob Dylan covers. Including his work with Roxy Music, Ferry has sold over 30 million albums worldwide. In 2019, Ferry was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Roxy Music.

Early life
Ferry was born in Washington, County Durham, son of Mary Ann and Frederick Charles Ferry. His parents were working-class: his father was a farm labourer who also looked after pit ponies. He attended Washington Grammar-Technical School (now called Washington Academy) on Spout Lane from 1957.

As a child he had a job as a paperboy and bought jazz magazines with his earnings. He studied fine art at Newcastle University from 1964 until 1968, under Richard Hamilton for one year, and some of his paintings were displayed at the Tate Gallery in 1970. His contemporaries included Tim Head and Nick de Ville. During this period, Ferry was a member of the bands the Banshees, City Blues, and the Gas Board, the latter of which featured his university classmates Graham Simpson and John Porter. He then moved to London in 1968 and taught art and pottery at Holland Park School while pursuing a career in music.

Roxy Music (1970–1983)
Ferry formed Roxy Music with a group of friends and acquaintances, beginning with bassist Graham Simpson, an art school classmate, in November 1970. The line-up was expanded to include saxophonist/oboist Andy Mackay and Brian Eno, an acquaintance who owned tape recorders and played Mackay's synthesiser. Other early members included timpanist Dexter Lloyd and ex-Nice guitarist David O'List, though by the time the band recorded their first album, the line-up had settled as Ferry, Simpson, Mackay, Eno, drummer Paul Thompson and guitarist Phil Manzanera. Around late 1970/early 1971, Ferry auditioned for King Crimson, who were seeking a new singer and bassist to replace Gordon Haskell. Although his voice was deemed not right for Crimson, band members Robert Fripp and Peter Sinfield were still impressed with Ferry and quickly developed a friendship with him that would lead to Roxy Music being signed to Crimson's management company E.G. and Sinfield producing their first album and its subsequent non-album single "Virginia Plain".

Released on 16 June 1972, Roxy Music's self-titled debut album reached no. 10 on the UK album charts and immediately established the band's presence in the British music scene. By the time the album was released Simpson had departed and the band would undergo several changes of bassist for the next few years. Later that summer the band made its television debut on Top of the Pops, performing their first hit single, "Virginia Plain", marking one of the first electronic music performances on a mainstream television show. The first two Roxy Music albums were written solely by Ferry; the debut contained a pastiche of musical styles, representing Ferry's wide-ranging interests, while the second album, For Your Pleasure (1973), pursued a darker, more determined mood.

Ferry met women's fashion designer Antony Price at a party in Holland Park in 1972, and later that year enlisted him alongside other friends including Nick de Ville to create the cover for Roxy Music's debut album. Featuring model Kari-Ann Moller splayed on the floor in a dress designed by Price, the cover image captivated the attention of the general public and according to writer Richard Williams was, "nothing less than a challenge, bold and direct, to the prevailing complacency." Ferry would continue art-directing each Roxy Music album cover to follow.

Ferry began a parallel solo career in 1973, performing cover versions of old standards on his debut studio album These Foolish Things (1973) and his second album Another Time, Another Place (1974), both of which reached the UK top 5. Ferry's interest in the Great American Songbook represented a stark departure from Roxy Music, and the success of these two albums created a template which would be followed later by other artists including Joni Mitchell, Rod Stewart and Bob Dylan. Embarking on his first solo tour in support of these albums, in 1973 Ferry was notably denied his request for a show at the Royal Albert Hall due to a ban on rock concerts before ultimately being granted his first performance a year later, in December 1974. Ferry's debut at the Royal Albert Hall was recorded and later released as Live at the Royal Albert Hall, 1974 in 2020. Contemporary reviews of this period of Ferry's live performances noted his "actor's instinct for understatement" and praised his novelty and command on stage, concluding "to be Bryan Ferry in 1974 was like being Bob Dylan in 1965, Clark Gable in 1939, and Oscar Wilde in 1895."

"Roxy Music changed the face and curves, the visage and physique, of rock and pop. From their definitively art-school debut album of 1972, the collision of past and future of which still startles, through the Gatsby sighs of Ferry's gondolas, glam and goddesses period, then the two-year split, then the return with the likes of Manifesto and Avalon (so improbably refined that they shouldn't exist, can't exist, but do), Roxy were the ultimate marriage of style and substance: inspiring, influential, intoxicating."

Between 1972 and 1974, Ferry's creative output was prolific, as he released a total of six studio albums between his solo career and Roxy Music. The third Roxy Music album, Stranded (1973), saw the departure of Brian Eno and the recruitment by Ferry of violinist and keyboardist Eddie Jobson, a contributor to Ferry's first solo album. Stranded became Roxy Music's first UK no. 1 album, dominating the charts for four months, and its supporting world tour saw Ferry wear a white dinner jacket and move out from behind the keyboard to take centre stage. The Rake notes, "the suit became the lynchpin of his onstage persona, buoyed by iconic, ostentatious tailoring by the likes of Anthony Price." After the concert tour in support of their fifth studio album, Siren (1975), Roxy Music temporarily disbanded in 1976, though some Roxy members - Paul Thompson, Phil Manzanera, Eddie Jobson and bassists John Porter, John Gustafson, John Wetton and Rick Wills - took part in the recording of Ferry's subsequent solo material. He released three solo albums during this period, Let's Stick Together (1976), In Your Mind (1977) and The Bride Stripped Bare (1978), all of which charted in the UK top 20.

Frustrated by the lukewarm response to The Bride Stripped Bare, Ferry reformed Roxy Music at the end of 1978 to record tracks for what would become their sixth studio album, Manifesto, which was released in early 1979 and reached no. 7 in the UK album charts. By now, Roxy Music was a core quartet of Ferry, Mackay, Thompson and Manzanera, and then a core trio following Thompson's departure at the end of 1979, augmented by a wide array of other musicians in the studio and on stage, some drawn from Ferry's solo output. 1980's Flesh + Blood album reached no. 1 in the UK album charts, two years before the group's final studio release Avalon in 1982, which also reached no. 1 in the UK album charts. In-between these two albums, the band also achieved their first and only UK no. 1 single, "Jealous Guy", released in 1981 as a posthumous tribute to its author, John Lennon, who had been murdered two months earlier. It was the only one of their singles not to be written or co-written by Ferry. After lengthy tours to promote the Avalon album, Ferry disbanded Roxy Music in 1983 and continued as a solo artist.

Solo years (1984–2001)
Resuming his solo career, Ferry's sixth solo album, Boys and Girls, reached no. 1 in the UK in June 1985, and was his first and only solo studio album to top the chart. Boys and Girls remained in the UK chart for 44 weeks and its lead single, "Slave to Love", reached the UK top ten. In July 1985, Ferry performed at the London Live Aid show, accompanied by Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour.

After the Avalon promotional tours, Ferry was reluctant to return to touring; a change of management persuaded him to resume touring in 1988 to promote the previous year's Bête Noire. Following the tour, Ferry teamed again with Brian Eno for Mamouna (collaborating with Robin Trower on guitar and as producer). The album took more than five years to produce, and was created under the working title Horoscope. During production, Ferry simultaneously recorded and released a covers album, Taxi, in 1993, his eighth solo studio album, which peaked at no. 2 on the UK charts. Mamouna (Ferry's ninth solo studio album) was released in 1994, peaking at no. 11 on the UK charts. In 1996, Ferry performed the song "Dance with Life" for the Phenomenon soundtrack, written by Bernie Taupin and Martin Page.

In 1999, Ferry released his tenth solo studio album, As Time Goes By, consisting of cover versions of 1930s songs. The album peaked at no. 16 in the UK charts and was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Roxy Music reunion (2001–2011)
Ferry, Manzanera, Mackay and Thompson re-reformed Roxy Music in 2001 and toured extensively for a couple of years, though the band did not record any new material. In 2002, Ferry released a new studio album, Frantic, which featured several tracks written with David A. Stewart of Eurythmics as well as collaborations with Eno, Manzanera and Thompson. The album was a mix of new original material and covers – something that Ferry had not attempted on a solo album since The Bride Stripped Bare in 1978.

In 2003, Ferry provided the entertainment for the Miss World contest. In 2005, it was confirmed that Roxy Music (Ferry, Mackay, Manzanera and Thompson) would perform shows at that year's Isle of Wight Festival and that they would record an album of new and original songs, with no indication of when such a project would reach completion. Brian Eno confirmed that he had worked in the studio with Roxy Music once more and had co-written songs for the new album. However, Ferry later stated that some of the material from these sessions would most likely be released as part of his next solo album. In October 2006, he signed a contract with the British retailer Marks & Spencer to model its "Autograph" men's clothing range.

In March 2007, Ferry released the album Dylanesque, an album of Bob Dylan songs with backing vocals from Tara McDonald and Anna McDonald. The album charted in the UK top 10, and Ferry undertook a UK tour. On 7 October 2008, Ferry was honoured as a BMI Icon at the annual BMI London Awards. In 2009, Ferry provided vocals on DJ Hell's record U Can Dance. The original version of the track was recorded for Ferry's new studio album Olympia, released in October 2010. The album included some of the material he recorded with his former Roxy Music band members, and featured musicians such as Nile Rodgers, David A. Stewart, Scissor Sisters, Groove Armada, Flea, Jonny Greenwood and David Gilmour. The model Kate Moss was featured on the album cover.

Ferry also provided vocals for the song "Shameless" on Groove Armada's 2010 album Black Light. The album received a nomination for the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards in the category Best Dance/Electronic Album.

In 2011, Roxy Music performed together for the last time before going on indefinite hiatus as Ferry, Manzanera, Mackay, and Thompson embarked on a world tour to celebrate the group's 40th anniversary.

Return to solo work (2011–2020)
In June 2011, Ferry was made a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for his contribution to the British music industry, and in 2012 he was awarded the French national honour of Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2014, Ferry was made an honorary Doctor of Music by Newcastle University.

On 26 November 2012, he released a new album entitled The Jazz Age with the Bryan Ferry Orchestra. The album features 1920s period jazz renditions of some of Ferry's songs (from both his solo discography and with Roxy Music). Film director Baz Luhrmann asked to use Ferry's song "Love Is the Drug" from The Jazz Age album for the 2013 film The Great Gatsby. This resulted in a collaboration with the Bryan Ferry Orchestra to create several jazz pieces throughout the movie, released as a separate album titled The Great Gatsby – The Jazz Recordings (A Selection of Yellow Cocktail Music). Ferry began touring with the Bryan Ferry Orchestra in 2013, including a performance at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival which was opened by Luhrmann's Great Gatsby film.

In 2014, Ferry toured extensively, with notable performances including Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, as well as an appearance at the Chicago Theatre, which was preceded by a talk with author Michael Bracewell at the Museum of Contemporary Art on the subjects of fame and his creative inspiration. Also in 2014, Ferry collaborated with the Norwegian DJ/producer Todd Terje, providing vocals on a cover version of "Johnny and Mary" (originally recorded by Robert Palmer). The track was released as a single and appeared on Terje's album It's Album Time. In June 2014, Ferry appeared at the Glastonbury Festival, and in 2015 he returned to Coachella to perform as a guest artist with Terje.

In November 2014, Ferry released a new album entitled Avonmore, featuring original material and two cover songs (including the aforementioned "Johnny and Mary" with Terje). To support the album, Ferry launched a 20-date tour across the UK and released his first-ever solo live album, Live 2015. Ferry continued to tour Europe and North America in the three years following the album's release, consistently playing no fewer than 30 shows each year. In 2017, Ferry gave his debut performance at the Hollywood Bowl, backed by the venue's full orchestra. Music industry critic Bob Lefsetz reviewed the performance, and noted Ferry's orchestral performance of "The Main Thing" as a highlight. In November and December 2018, Ferry made his second appearance with the long-running concert series Night of the Proms in Germany, along with the Pointer Sisters, Milow, and Tim Bendzko.

While furthering his solo career in recent years, Ferry has continued to collaborate with previous members of Roxy Music, including backing singer Fonzi Thornton and guitarist Neil Hubbard. Both Thornton and Hubbard toured with Ferry extensively during his promotion of the Avonmore album in 2015 and 2016. In February 2018, a 45th anniversary deluxe edition of Roxy Music's eponymous debut album was released, including numerous demos, outtakes, and unseen photographs curated over the years by Ferry. During his promotional tour to support the deluxe re-issue, Ferry said he was open to collaborating once again with Roxy Music keyboardist Brian Eno.

Bryan Ferry and His Orchestra announced the new album Bitter-Sweet in November 2018. The Bryan Ferry World Tour 2019 set off across four continents in February, playing one British date at the 5,200-seater Royal Albert Hall in June, also adding 18 dates in North America through August and September. A separate date was slated for the BST Hyde Park festival in July 2019.

In February 2020 Ferry released live album Live At The Royal Albert Hall, 1974, a recording from his first ever solo tour.

Ferry continued touring with a UK run in March 2020, finishing the tour shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down touring in the United Kingdom.

Post-pandemic work and Roxy Music reunion (2021–present)

In April 2021, Ferry released Royal Albert Hall 2020, an album recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall in March 2020, prior to the lockdown as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The proceeds of the album went to support Ferry's touring band and crew members. A 2021 tour that had been planned, was ultimately cancelled due to on-going restrictions. In June of the same year, Ferry's first six albums were remastered and re-released on vinyl.

In March 2022, Ferry announced, alongside bandmates Andy Mackay, Phil Manzanera and Paul Thompson, that Roxy Music would be touring for the first time since 2011. The tour was billed as a celebration of Roxy Music's 50th anniversary. The tour took place in September and October 2022, across Canada, United States and United Kingdom. In May 2022, Ferry released a cover EP called Love Letters, and a new book titled Lyrics that looked back on his song writing through the Roxy Music and solo years

Continuing the re-release of his solo vinyl records, in late 2023 Ferry released Mamouna and confirmed an additional unreleased partner album Horoscope, would join the deluxe release. Ahead of Record Store Day 2024, Ferry re-released The Right Stuff as an EP on a limited edition blue vinyl. In March of the same year, Ferry entered a partnership with Irving Azoff's Iconic Artists Group, which involved the sale of 50% of his catalogue to the company.

Style and influence
Ferry's vocal style is regarded as unique and highly influential. When asked for examples of singers she studied, Kate Bush remarked "I thought [Ferry] was the most exciting singer that I'd heard ... For me it covered the whole emotional spectrum, and I just couldn't get enough of it." In reviewing a 1975 Roxy Music concert, The Village Voice described Ferry's voice as "a second tenor which lacks vocal antecedent", going further to note, "his voice operates on the same principle as hotel room service. Studied effects appear with hazy origins, use themselves up, and are removed without explanation." In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Ferry at number 150 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Inducting Roxy Music into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019, Duran Duran lead singer Simon Le Bon described Ferry's lyric writing as "open-heart surgery".

In addition to his contributions to music, Ferry has also come to be known for his distinctive style and artistic sensibilities as well as a "synonym for cool". In 2005, GQ presented Ferry with its Lifetime Achievement Award, deeming him "pop's original art-school bobby-dazzler" and noting his solo career spent as the "world's best-dressed and most languidly mannered deluxe chanteur". Esquire has noted Ferry's lifelong obsession with clothing and describing any in-person interaction with him as a "bespoke event, a louche ensemble of elegant affectations". In 2007, Belgian fashion designer Dries van Noten created a Fall 2007 collection inspired by outfits Ferry wore during his solo career and tenure with Roxy Music.

In his 1976 essay "Them", cultural critic Peter York described Ferry as "the best possible example of the ultimate art-directed existence" and suggested he was the most important pasticheur in Britain at the time. Ferry has credited numerous art and film influences throughout his career, among them Richard Hamilton, Marcel Duchamp, and Humphrey Bogart. Hamilton is credited by Ferry as an inspiration to him both as an artist and as a person, and is also responsible for introducing Ferry as an art student to Duchamp's work. The title of Ferry's 1978 solo album The Bride Stripped Bare is taken from Duchamp's classic work The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even. For Bogart, Ferry penned the song "2HB" ("2HB" = "To Humphrey Bogart"), leading the band Madness to record "4BF" ("for Bryan Ferry"), on their 1988 album The Madness. Phil Manzanera – who would become Roxy Music's guitarist – recalls, during his audition to join the band, that Ferry and he discussed Humphrey Bogart and classic films from the golden age of Hollywood.

Relationships and family
In 1975, Ferry began a relationship with model Jerry Hall. They first met when she appeared on the album cover for Siren (1975), which was photographed in Wales during the summer of 1975. According to Harper's Bazaar, the photo shoot boosted Hall's status as an international celebrity. Her stay at Ferry's Holland Park (London) home, following the album photo shoot, marked the start of their relationship. Hall and Ferry lived together, sharing homes in London and in the Bel Air neighbourhood of Los Angeles, and Hall also appeared in some of Ferry's solo music videos, including "Let's Stick Together" and "The Price of Love" (both 1976). Their relationship ended when she left him for Mick Jagger in late 1977.

Ferry rarely talks about Hall, but fans have often speculated his song "Kiss and Tell" from his album Bête Noire (1987) was his response to Hall's 1985 tell-all book in which she discussed their relationship. Additionally, Ferry's 1978 solo album The Bride Stripped Bare is widely believed to contain allusions to his break-up with Hall, particularly the song "When She Walks in the Room".

On 26 June 1982, Ferry married London socialite Lucy Helmore, who had become pregnant with their child Otis (b. 1 November 1982). Though her face is not seen, Helmore was the model on the front cover of Roxy Music's album Avalon (1982), released a month before their wedding. The couple had three more sons, Isaac, Tara, and Merlin. After 21 years of marriage the couple divorced in 2003. Helmore died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 2018, while on holiday in County Clare, Ireland, after what her brother described as "a long battle with depression". Ferry said he was "saddened and shocked" by her death.

In 2000, the whole Ferry family were on British Airways Flight 2069 to Nairobi when a passenger forced his way into the cockpit, attacked the pilot and caused the plane to lurch downwards. The assailant eventually was overcome, and the pilot recovered from a descent of 12,000 feet in 25 seconds; the fastest rate of descent from which any civil aircraft has ever recovered.

Ferry's son Otis has become known in the British media for his pro-hunting political activities. He has been arrested and charged several times for activities relating to hunting, only one of which led to a conviction. In 2004 he was among pro-hunt campaigners who stormed into the chambers of the House of Commons during a debate on the banning of hunting. He was charged with disorderly conduct. Otis was also a joint master of the South Shropshire hunt.

By 2008, Ferry's son Tara was performing in a rock band called Rubber Kiss Goodbye. By 2008, Merlin was studying for "A" Levels at Marlborough College, and then played guitar in a band called Voltorb. Ferry's children have also contributed to his albums Olympia and Avonmore. On Olympia, Tara played drums on several tracks, Merlin played guitar on one track, and Isaac was the producer of the album's artwork. Tara also toured with Ferry (and Roxy Music) on the band's 2011 For Your Pleasure tour, performing additional drums.

Ferry's youngest son, Merlin, was seriously injured in a head-on car crash in Shropshire in December 2014.

Ferry and Helmore split in the early 2000s after she had an affair, and they divorced in 2003. After their separation, British newspapers photographed Ferry with Katie Turner, 35 years his junior, naming her as his new girlfriend. Ferry and Turner met while she worked as one of the dancers on Roxy Music's concert tour in 2001 (and is featured on the DVD of the 2001 Hammersmith Odeon show). She appeared with Ferry on several TV shows to promote the Frantic album, and performed on the Frantic tour in 2002. After their break-up, Ferry had a relationship with British socialite Lady Emily Compton. In 2006, he resumed his relationship with Katie Turner for some time.

In 2009, Ferry began a relationship with Amanda Sheppard, an acquaintance of one of his sons, and on 4 January 2012, they married in a private ceremony on the Turks and Caicos Islands. In August 2013, it was reported that the couple were to separate after 19 months of marriage, and they divorced in 2014.

Ferry was estimated to have a fortune of £30 million in the Sunday Times Rich List of 2010.

Politics
In 1988, Ferry referred to himself as "sort of conservative" in his beliefs in an interview with the Chicago Tribune. He also expressed support for having a strong work ethic, stating "most of my life is spent working hard. I come from the kind of working-class background where you have to work very hard and if you don't, you feel guilty."

In 2007, controversy arose when Ferry praised the imagery and iconography of Nazi Germany in an interview with the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, citing in particular "Leni Riefenstahl's movies and Albert Speer's buildings". In the same interview Ferry was reported to have referred to his West London recording studio as "The Führerbunker" (Adolf Hitler's bunker during World War II). Ferry later issued a public apology for any offence caused by the comments. Jewish Labour peer Greville Janner criticised Ferry for his remarks. At the time of the controversy, Ferry was contracted to the British retailer Marks & Spencer, one of whose co-founders Michael Marks was Jewish, to model its "Autograph" menswear line. Despite Ferry's public apology for his comments, Marks & Spencer opted to sever its ties with him.

In 2007, Ferry performed at a concert to raise funds for the Countryside Alliance.

In 2008, Ferry indicated that he supported the Conservative Party, referring to himself as "conservative by nature" but essentially apolitical, preferring not to mix art with politics. Without elaborating, he stated he was "proud" of his son Otis and described the then Labour Government's ban on fox hunting as "futile". He also expressed an opposition to "left-wing bitterness" and political correctness, arguing both were stifling to individual liberty and freedom of expression. The model of free speech he cited was the 1970s. In a 2009 interview, Ferry stated: "I would support a Cameron government. I have met him, and he's a bright guy. I hope they do well. I don't like the way the present Government has done things, most of all putting my son in prison for four and a half months, totally unlawfully ... and that's not just my opinion: judges, all sorts, have said it was a stitch-up. It was politically motivated. The poor lad just wants to live the traditional country life."

In 2012, Ferry was a guest at the Conservative Party's black-and-white ball. In 2020, he described incumbent Prime Minister Boris Johnson as "bright" but expressed a reluctance to discuss politics.

In August 2014, Ferry was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue.

In other media
In 1985, Ferry contributed the song "Is Your Love Strong Enough?" to the Ridley Scott film Legend. The song, featuring guitar work by David Gilmour, plays during the end credits of the US theatrical release, and was released with the Tangerine Dream version of the soundtrack on CD (although this is out of print and rare). A promotional music video was created, integrating Ferry and Gilmour into scenes from the film; this is included as a bonus in Ferry's 2002 "Ultimate Edition" DVD release. The song was later covered by How to Destroy Angels for the soundtrack to the 2011 US version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. A heavily fictionalised version of Ferry featured in the last episode of the first series of The Mighty Boosh. In it, he lived in the forest and raised the character Vince Noir alongside multiple animals.

Acting
Ferry had a cameo role in the fourth episode of the French television miniseries Petit déjeuner compris, which first aired in 1980. In 2004, he starred in the short film The Porter, and in 2005 he appeared in Neil Jordan's film Breakfast on Pluto as the character Mr. Silky String.

In 2017 Ferry appeared as a cabaret singer in the television series Babylon Berlin. In addition, he contributed six songs to the series and its soundtrack, including "Dance Away" from the 1979 album Manifesto, and "Bitter-Sweet", with its original German verses, from the 1974 album Country Life.

Studio albums

 * These Foolish Things (1973)
 * Another Time, Another Place (1974)
 * Let's Stick Together (1976)
 * In Your Mind (1977)
 * The Bride Stripped Bare (1978)
 * Boys and Girls (1985)
 * Bête Noire (1987)
 * Taxi (1993)
 * Mamouna (1994)
 * As Time Goes By (1999)
 * Frantic (2002)
 * Dylanesque (2007)
 * Olympia (2010)
 * The Jazz Age (2012)
 * Avonmore (2014)
 * Bitter-Sweet (2018)

General sources

 * Bracewell, Michael. Roxy Music: Bryan Ferry, Brian Eno, Art, Ideas, and Fashion (Da Capo Press, 2005). ISBN 0-306-81400-5
 * Buckley, David. The Thrill of It All: The Story of Bryan Ferry & Roxy Music (Chicago Review Press, 2005). ISBN 1-55652-574-5
 * Rigby, Jonathan. Roxy Music: Both Ends Burning (Reynolds & Hearn, 2005; revised edition 2008). ISBN 1-903111-80-3
 * Stump, Paul. Unknown Pleasures: A Cultural Biography of Roxy Music (Quartet Books, 1998). ISBN 0-7043-8074-9

title: Bryan Ferry


text:
Danny Boyle

Daniel Francis Boyle (born 20 October 1956) is an English director and producer. He is known for his work on films including Shallow Grave (1994), Trainspotting (1996) and its sequel T2 Trainspotting (2017), The Beach (1999), 28 Days Later (2002), Sunshine (2007), Slumdog Millionaire (2008), 127 Hours (2010), Steve Jobs (2015), and Yesterday (2019).

Boyle's debut film Shallow Grave won the BAFTA Award for Best British Film. The British Film Institute ranked Trainspotting the 10th greatest British film of the 20th century. Boyle's 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire, the most successful British film of the decade, was nominated for ten Academy Awards and won eight, including the Academy Award for Best Director. He also won the Golden Globe and BAFTA Award for Best Director. Boyle was presented with the Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award at the 2008 Austin Film Festival, where he also introduced that year's AFF Audience Award Winner Slumdog Millionaire.

In 2012, Boyle was the artistic director for Isles of Wonder, the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was subsequently offered a knighthood as part of the New Year Honours but declined due to his republican beliefs.

Early life and education
Danny Boyle was born on 20 October 1956, in Radcliffe, Lancashire, England, about 6 mi north of Manchester's city centre, to Irish parents Frank and Annie Boyle, both from County Galway. He has a twin sister, Marie, and a younger sister, Bernadette, both of whom are teachers.

Although he now describes himself as a "spiritual atheist," he was brought up in a working-class Catholic family. Boyle was an altar boy for eight years and his mother had the priesthood in mind for him, but at the age of 14 he was persuaded by a priest not to transfer to a seminary.

"Whether he was saving me from the priesthood or the priesthood from me, I don't know. But quite soon after, I started doing drama. And there's a real connection, I think. All these directors – Martin Scorsese, John Woo, M. Night Shyamalan – they were all meant to be priests. There's something very theatrical about it. It's basically the same job – poncing around, telling people what to think."

Boyle attended Thornleigh Salesian College, a Catholic boys' direct grant grammar school in Bolton, and studied English and drama at the University College of North Wales (now Bangor University), where he directed several productions for the student drama society.

Theatre and television
Upon graduating from university he began his career at the Joint Stock Theatre Company before moving on to the Royal Court Theatre in 1982 where he directed The Genius by Howard Brenton and Saved by Edward Bond. He also directed five productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

In 1987, Boyle started working in television as a producer for BBC Northern Ireland where he produced, amongst other TV films, Alan Clarke's controversial Elephant before becoming a director on shows such as Arise And Go Now, Not Even God Is Wise Enough, For The Greater Good, Scout, and two episodes of Inspector Morse.

Boyle was responsible for the BBC Two series Mr. Wroe's Virgins in 1993. In between The Beach and 28 Days Later Boyle directed two TV films for the BBC in 2001–Vacuuming Completely Nude in Paradise and Strumpet.

In 2011 he directed Frankenstein for the National Theatre. This production was broadcast to cinemas as a part of National Theatre Live on 17 March 2011. He has also appeared on Top Gear and set the fastest wet lap at that time. In 2014, both Boyle and Christian Colson signed to a first look deal with FX Productions.

Boyle was announced to be directing a dance adaptation of The Matrix, titled "Free Your Mind", set to debut in October 2023 in Manchester.

The Children's Monologues
On 14 November 2010, he directed a one-night play at the Old Vic Theatre titled The Children's Monologues starring Sir Ben Kingsley, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston, Gemma Arterton, and Eddie Redmayne, in aid of his charity Dramatic Need, which operates in Rwanda and South Africa, helping young people to come to terms with trauma and conflict. He co-directed another performance of the play in 2015 at the Royal Court Theatre, and again in 2017 at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Isles of Wonder
Boyle was artistic director for the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in London. Entitled Isles of Wonder, it charted aspects of British culture including the Industrial Revolution and contributions to literature, music, film, and technology.

Reception to the ceremony was generally positive both nationally in the United Kingdom and internationally.

Pistol
On 11 January 2021, it was announced that Boyle would be adapting the Steve Jones' autobiography Lonely Boy into a six-part TV series entitled Pistol that charts the rise and fall of the Sex Pistols. The series aired on FX and Disney+ on 30 May 2022, and stars Emma Appleton, Louis Partridge and Maisie Williams, amongst others. The show was filmed in London.

Film
Boyle's love for film began with his first viewing of Apocalypse Now: "It had eviscerated my brain, completely. I was an impressionable twenty-one-year-old guy from the sticks. My brain had not been fed and watered with great culture, you know, as art is meant to do. It had been sandblasted by the power of cinema. And that's why cinema, despite everything we try to do, it remains a young man's medium, really, in terms of audience."

1990s: Shallow Grave and Trainspotting
The first film Boyle directed was Shallow Grave. The film was the most commercially successful British film of 1995, won the BAFTA Award for Best British Film, and led to the production of Trainspotting. Working with writer John Hodge and producer Andrew Macdonald, Shallow Grave earned Boyle the Best Newcomer Award from the 1996 London Film Critics Circle. Critics credited these films with revitalising British cinema in the early '90s. The BFI ranked Trainspotting the 10th greatest British film of the 20th century.

Boyle declined an offer to direct the fourth film of the Alien franchise to make A Life Less Ordinary.

2000s: The Beach, 28 Days Later and Slumdog Millionaire
Boyle's next project was a film adaptation of the cult novel The Beach by Alex Garland. Filmed in Thailand with Leonardo DiCaprio, casting of the film led to a feud with Ewan McGregor. He then collaborated with Garland on the post-apocalyptic horror film 28 Days Later.

He also directed a short film Alien Love Triangle (starring Kenneth Branagh), which was intended to be one of three shorts within a feature film. However the project was cancelled after the two other shorts were made into feature films: Mimic starring Mira Sorvino and Impostor starring Gary Sinise. In 2004 Boyle directed Millions, scripted by Frank Cottrell Boyce. His next collaboration with Alex Garland was the 2007 science-fiction film Sunshine, featuring 28 Days Later star Cillian Murphy.

In 2008 he directed Slumdog Millionaire, the story of an impoverished child (Dev Patel) on the streets of Mumbai, India, who competes on the local version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, for which Boyle won Academy and BAFTA Awards for Best Director. The most successful British film of the decade, the film won eight Academy Awards and seven BAFTA Awards. Boyle commented, "To be a film-maker...you have to lead. You have to be psychotic in your desire to do something. People always like the easy route. You have to push very hard to get something unusual, something different." Andrew Macdonald, producer of Trainspotting, said "Boyle takes a subject that you've often seen portrayed realistically, in a politically correct way, whether it's junkies or slum orphans, and he has managed to make it realistic but also incredibly uplifting and joyful." The success led a deal with Fox Searchlight.

Despite the commercial success of Slumdog Millionaire, Boyle also faced great criticism for his portrayal of India through a Western, idealized lens. Some critics saw the film as "poverty porn," though Boyle argued he showed India's "lust for life" and "resilience."

2010s: 127 Hours, Steve Jobs and T2 Trainspotting
In 2010, Boyle directed the film 127 Hours, starring James Franco and featuring Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara. It was based on Aron Ralston's autobiography Between a Rock and a Hard Place, which detailed his struggle of being trapped under a boulder while canyoneering alone in Bluejohn Canyon, southeastern Utah. The film was released on 5 November 2010 to critical acclaim and got six nominations at the 83rd Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay for Boyle and Best Actor for Franco.

Boyle's next film was Trance, starring James McAvoy and Rosario Dawson. It has been reported another instalment of the 28 Days Later franchise is in the development stages. Boyle has stated previously that in theory the third instalment of the series would be titled 28 Months Later, but alluded to a film taking place somewhere else in the world he created in 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later. He was also stated to be producing the upcoming film Paani.

Boyle told an interviewer about the eclectic range of his films, "There's a theme running through all of them—and I just realised this. They're all about someone facing impossible odds and overcoming them." With a strong interest in music, Boyle has mentioned in interviews that he has considered a musical film with original compositions. Boyle has also expressed interest in an animated film.

Boyle's eponymous biopic of Apple Inc. founder Steve Jobs closed the 59th BFI London Film Festival. It was the third time Boyle has had that honour, after Slumdog Millionaire in 2008 and 127 Hours two years later. The BFI's London Film Festival Director, Clare Stewart, said Boyle had created an exhilarating and audacious film about a complex, charismatic pioneer. He then directed the sequel to Trainspotting, T2 Trainspotting.

In a BBC interview, Boyle stated that he didn't write his own films but they did reflect his personality. "I am not a big auteur fan and like to work with writers, but ultimately a film is a director's vision, because he gets all its elements together towards that vision."

In March 2018, Boyle confirmed he would be directing the then-untitled twenty-fifth James Bond film (later known as No Time to Die) but dropped out that August due to a dispute over the film's script.

He and writer Richard Curtis collaborated on Yesterday, starring Himesh Patel, Kate McKinnon, Lily James, and Ed Sheeran, released on 28 June 2019.

Personal life
While at university, Boyle dated actress Frances Barber.

Boyle is a constitutional republican. He lives in Mile End, London.

Other activities
Boyle was a founding trustee in 2007. of Dramatic Need, a charity which operated in Rwanda and South Africa, helping young people to come to terms with trauma and conflict. The charity was wound up in November 2021.

Boyle was the patron of North West-based young people's substance misuse charity, Early Break, which was founded and based in his home town of Radcliffe.

In 2014, it was announced that Boyle would become a patron of HOME in Manchester.

In February 2017, Boyle announced a bid to launch a £30 million film and media school in Manchester. Manchester School of Digital Arts was subsequently launched in June 2022 as part of Manchester Metropolitan University.

Recognition
In 2010, The Tablet named Boyle one of Britain's most influential Roman Catholics.

The BBC referred to Boyle as a "titan of the British film industry – renowned for his spunky grit – typified by his 1996 film Trainspotting."

In 2012, Boyle was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork – The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover – to celebrate the British cultural figures of his lifetime.

In December 2012 it was widely reported that Boyle turned down a knighthood in the New Year Honours list. He told BBC Radio 4 "I'm very proud to be an equal citizen and I think that's what the opening ceremony was actually about."

Awards and nominations
Boyle's awards include:

Theatre
Assistant stage manager

Assistant director

Director

Film
Short film
 * Alien Love Triangle (2008)
 * Methuselah (TBA)

Executive producer
 * Twin Town (1997)
 * 28 Weeks Later (2007)
 * Creation Stories (2021)

Television
TV movies

title: Danny Boyle


text:
College, Alaska

College (Lower Tanana: Trothyeddha') is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States. It is part of the Fairbanks, Alaska Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,332, down from 12,964 in 2010. College is the third-most populated CDP in Alaska.

College is adjacent to the city of Fairbanks. The University of Alaska Fairbanks lies within its boundaries, and serves as its core. The area is often referred to as part of Fairbanks, and not as a separate entity. The area is served by the University of Alaska Fairbanks for fire protection and ambulance service, and jointly by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Police Department and Alaska State Troopers for police protection.

Geography
College is located at 64.84833°N, -147.82722°W (64.848302, -147.827194).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 19.1 sqmi, of which 18.7 sqmi is land and 0.4 sqmi (2.15%) is water.

Climate
According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, College has a subarctic climate, abbreviated "Dfc" on climate maps. The hottest temperature recorded in College was 94 F on June 16, 1969, June 26, 1983, and June 22, 1991, while the coldest temperature recorded was -66 F on December 28, 1961.

Demographics
College first appeared on the 1930 U.S. Census as an unincorporated village. It was made a census-designated place in 1980.

At the 2000 census, there were 11,402 people, 4,104 households and 2,638 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 610.7 PD/sqmi. There were 4,501 housing units at an average density of 241.1 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the CDP was 77.9% White, 3.1% Black or African American, 9.0% Native American, 3.2% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.1% from other races, and 5.7% from two or more races. 3.5% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 4,104 households, of which 37.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.0% were married couples living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.7% were non-families. 25.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.13.

26.7% of the population were under the age of 18, 16.8% from 18 to 24, 29.1% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 4.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 107.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 109.2 males.

The median household income was $56,560 and the median family income was $69,969. Males had a median income of $47,126 versus $31,495 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $23,381. About 4.9% of families and 8.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.2% of those under age 18 and 4.8% of those age 65 or over.

Education
The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District operates the public grade schools that serve the CDP. The oldest of these is University Park Elementary ("U-Park"), which opened in 1958 along University Avenue. A new school building for U-Park was constructed on Loftus Road during the 1990s; the original school is now used for classrooms by the UAF Community and Technical College. The district operates several other schools within CDP boundaries: along with U-Park, Pearl Creek Elementary, Woodriver Elementary and West Valley High serve attendance areas which include the CDP (middle school students attend Randy Smith Middle and Ryan Middle, located in Fairbanks city limits). Effie Kokrine Charter, Watershed Charter and Hutchison High are also located in the CDP. These schools have open enrollment and are not governed by attendance area boundaries.

The Yukon–Koyukuk School District, which operates public schools in a widely scattered swath of rural Interior Alaska covering much of the nearby Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, has its headquarters within the CDP boundaries.

title: College, Alaska