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Skaro

Skaro is a fictional planet in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was created by the writer Terry Nation as the home planet of the Daleks.

In The Daleks (1963–64), Skaro is described as being the twelfth planet from its sun, and in Genesis of the Daleks (1975) it is stated that Skaro is situated in the "Seventh Galaxy". It is portrayed as having various moons: Flidor, Falkus and Omega Mysterium, with Falkus being presented as an artificial construct created by the Daleks as a last refuge. Falkus and Omega Mysterium are also referenced in the Big Finish Productions I, Davros audio dramas I, Davros: Innocence (2006) and I, Davros: Purity (2006). In Destiny of the Daleks (1979) the Movellans refer to Skaro as D–5–Gamma–Z–Alpha.

Geography
The BBC-licensed The Dalek Book (1964) includes a map entitled "The Dalography of Skaro" on which three continents are shown; Dalazar, Darren and Davius. Dalazar is described as the most habitable part of Skaro, having a subtropical climate and being the location of the Dalek city. To the south-east is the Lake of Mutations and to the south the Drammankins mountain range, which stretches across the entire continent from the east to west coast. To the north-east Dalazar is joined to the continent of Darren by a land bridge. Darren is indicated to be the site of the neutron bomb explosion which transformed the Daleks from their humanoid form into mutants. The north and south regions are separated by the "Radiation Range" mountains. The third continent, Davius, is shown divided into east and west regions by the "River of Whirling Waters", with the eastern region being identified as the home of the Thals. Five seas are shown; the Ocean of Ooze, Sea of Acid, Sea of Rust, Serpent Sea and the land-locked Bottomless Sea. Other major features are the Island of Moving Mountains and an island chain named the Forbidden Islands, both situated in the Ocean of Ooze, and the Island of Gushing Gold located in the Sea of Rust.

The BBC-Licensed The Dalek Outer Space Book (1966) confirms some of these details in a cutaway illustration entitled "The Strata of Skaro". A sea called The Ocean of Death is added, together with the Islands of Mist which, from the description, is an alternative name for the Dalek Book's Forbidden Islands. Further information is added by the 1977 Dalek Annual article "The Dark Side of Skaro", which mentions the Crystal Continent, Serpent Island and a feature called The Rocks, consisting of stone needles projecting thousands of feet high out of the sea and populated by gigantic flying creatures. Other areas listed are a prison colony, a region populated by the mutated descendants of prisoners used in early Dalek neutron weapon tests and The Swamp Lands, described as possibly being a vast, living organism that engulfs and feeds upon anything coming near its surface.

Other Skarosian geographical features are mentioned in the TV21 comic strip The Daleks (1965-1967). In the story "Duel of the Daleks" an acid river and mercury geysers appear. In "Legacy of Yesteryear" a desert area called Tarran, volcanic plains and a northern polar region are portrayed, the latter area stated to have been created when the explosion of the Daleks' neutron bomb shifted the planet on its axis.

The novelisation of Remembrance of the Daleks (1990) states that the Dalek city is called Mensvat Esc-Dalek and is located in the Vekis Nar-Kangji (Plain of Swords). In the computer game Doctor Who Adventure Game "City of the Daleks" (2010) the Dalek city is named Kaalann.

Flora
In most media, Skaro is portrayed as a nuclear wasteland and almost entirely devoid of plant life, with only a petrified forest located close to the Dalek city. Several exceptions are mentioned, however. Varga plants, resembling large, motile cacti studded with poisonous thorns, are seen in Mission to the Unknown (1965). Native to Skaro, they have been deliberately mutated by the Daleks to act as sentries and deter other life forms from interfering with their activities. An individual poisoned by the thorns develops an urge to kill and eventually transforms into another Varga plant. The Arkellis flower is described as being rare and only able to root in metal, with its sap being a constituent of the Golden Emperor Dalek's metallic casing. In the TV21 comic strip The Daleks, dense undergrowth is depicted on several occasions, most notably in the mercury geyser swamps and the mutated forest.

Fauna
The Doctor Who television programme has shown only a few examples of Skaro's native wildlife. In The Daleks, a small, dead reptilian creature with long teeth, a pointed snout and pliable metal skin is discovered, the First Doctor surmising that its body is held together by a magnetic field. This is later identified by a Thal as a "Magnedon". (In the 1965 film Dr. Who and the Daleks, which is based upon The Daleks television serial, this creature is portrayed as a rather larger, petrified, dragon-like animal). A multi-tentacled creature with two luminous eyes is also shown inhabiting the Lake of Mutations. A large, aggressive, tentacled animal called a "Slyther" appears in The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964). It is described as the Black Dalek's "pet" and is used to patrol the Dalek mine workings. Giant land-based clams, capable of crushing bone, are seen in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). They are described as being the discarded results of Davros' genetic experiments. In "Asylum of the Daleks" (2012) a flock of bird-like creatures are seen briefly, flying in the distance above the ruins of the Dalek City.

Other media have introduced additional creatures. The Dalek Book's Dalography of Skaro states that vast serpents, mutated from earthworms by a neutron bomb explosion, live below the surface of the continent of Darren. The book also contains The Dalek Dictionary, which includes entries for "Lallapalange" (an extinct harmony bird which sang with two voices) and "Urvacryl" (a two-headed eel inhabiting the Lake of Mutations). Later, the TV21 "The Daleks" comic strip added giant eels, Terrorkons (large aquatic creatures resembling wingless, two-headed dragons) and amorphous Sand Creatures. The Dalek Outer Space Book contains illustrations of several subterranean creatures including "Sponge People", a "Sucker" (resembling a red beetle), the tentacled Krakis and an unnamed squirrel-like animal. To this can be added yellow and black beetles and "rock leopards", mentioned in the novelisation of Remembrance of the Daleks.

Sapient inhabitants
In the television serial The Daleks two sapient, humanoid species are described as having existed on Skaro; the Dals, teachers and philosophers, and the Thals, a race of warriors. Radiation from a neutronic war caused both species to mutate. By the time of the story, the Thals are a blond-haired caucasian people, their physical mutation having come full circle. They have renounced violence and survive by farming. In contrast, the Dals have evolved into hideous, aggressive, xenophobic creatures which have encased themselves in protective metal shells and rely upon technology for survival. They now refer to themselves as Daleks.

This evolution of the Dalek and Thal races is contradicted in the TV serial Genesis of the Daleks. The story depicts the Dalek progenitors as being a humanoid race called the Kaleds. They have been at war with the Thals for generations, turning Skaro into a wasteland devastated by chemical and nuclear weapons. While the Kaleds and Thals have each engineered their own huge, protective dome in which to shelter, the disfigured victims of chemical and radioactive contamination are banished to roam the surface as "mutos". The Kaled scientists realise that the planet's toxic environment will eventually cause the mutation of their species, bringing their genetic purity to an end. Their chief scientist, Davros, decides to accelerate the mutation to find the ultimate Kaled form, in the process "improving" it by removing all traces of conscience, feeling and emotion. The resulting organisms are placed into armoured travel machines and referred to by Davros as Daleks.

The TV Century 21 Dalek comic strip presents a different description of Skaro's sapient life. One race, the Daleks, are depicted as short, blue-skinned, aggressive humanoids. They are engaged in a vicious war against the Thals who, although not shown in the strip, are described as tall, handsome, peaceful and living in constant fear of Dalek attack. The Daleks build a neutron bomb to finally bring the conflict to an end but a meteorite storm detonates the device prematurely, apparently destroying most of the life on Skaro. A mutated Dalek commandeers a prototype war machine, created shortly before the holocaust, to act as a mobile protective casing. It then convinces the last two humanoid Daleks, Yarvelling and Zolfian, to build more casings for the many other mutants which have survived. No further mention of the Thals is made in the strip, the implication being that they all perished in the nuclear conflagration.

The Big Finish Productions I, Davros series of audio plays (2006) places the divergence of the Kaled and Thal species at a point 10 million years prior to the events depicted in Genesis of the Daleks and refers to two other species, the Tharons and the Dals, as both being extinct due to Kaled genocide by the time of the Kaled-Thal war.

Fictional history
The central plot device of the Doctor Who television programme, and of the Whoniverse, is time travel. Coupled with successive programme producers' and scriptwriters' uneven approach to continuity, attempts at imposing a strict chronology upon Skaro's fictional history are problematic.

The events leading to the creation of the Daleks, as depicted in Genesis of the Daleks (1975), apparently pre-date those of The Daleks (1963–64) while in The Evil of the Daleks (1967), the story of which concludes with the apparent destruction of the Daleks due to a civil war on Skaro, the Second Doctor states that this is the creatures' "final end".

In Destiny of the Daleks (1979), set many centuries after the events of Genesis of the Daleks, the Daleks return to an abandoned and still radioactive Skaro to retrieve their creator, Davros. In the subsequent serial Revelation of the Daleks (1985), the Daleks are shown to have re-occupied Skaro; those loyal to the Dalek Supreme travelling from there to capture Davros and destroy his new Dalek army on the planet Necros.

Skaro's final appearance in the classic series is in the story Remembrance of the Daleks (1988), in which the Seventh Doctor tricks Davros and his Imperial Daleks into using a Time Lord device called the Hand of Omega on Skaro's sun to recreate the Gallifreyan time travel experiments. The Doctor sabotages the device, however, causing their sun to turn into a supernova which completely obliterates the planet.

An image of Skaro is shown briefly at the start of the 1996 Doctor Who television movie, the narrative indicating that it is the site of a trial of the Master. No reference to the destruction of the planet is made. An attempt to explain this incongruity is made in the novel War of the Daleks (1997) in which, at the climax of the events portrayed in Remembrance of the Daleks, the Daleks manipulate Davros and the Seventh Doctor into destroying a planet called Antalin which they have terraformed to resemble Skaro and take its place. The novel further places the story Destiny of the Daleks on the disguised Antalin, and not Skaro.

In the revived Doctor Who series, Skaro is referenced by the introduction of the Cult of Skaro in "Doomsday" (2006) and "Daleks in Manhattan" (2007), where the character Dalek Caan states that the planet is "gone... destroyed in a great war". Later, in the episode "Asylum of the Daleks" (2012), the Eleventh Doctor is lured to Skaro briefly. The planet is depicted as having been abandoned once again and is shown with a stormy, rain-swept red sky, the landscape filled with derelict structures and skyscrapers. This is consistent with the appearance of post-Time War Skaro as seen in the downloadable computer game City of the Daleks and an article written by Russell T Davies in the Doctor Who Annual 2006, which states that Skaro was devastated at the end of the Time War.

Skaro appears in "The Magician's Apprentice" and "The Witch's Familiar" (2015), where Davros is shown first as an adolescent lost on a desert battlefield, and then having returned to the planet many years later to die with his "children", the Daleks. The planet has been made invisible and, when questioned by the Doctor, Davros states that the Daleks have rebuilt it.

The Dalek Outer Space Book (1967) contains a chart entitled "The Evolution of Skaro" which traces the development of the planet from its creation, through various geological periods, to the advent of the Daleks.

Other appearances
Skaro is the setting for the feature film Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965), starring Peter Cushing. Although it is not named in the film, it is retroactively identified in its sequel, Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966).

Skaro appears in the Big Finish Doctor Who audio stories The Mutant Phase (2000) and Davros (2003), and features prominently in the I, Davros spin-off series (2006), which focuses on Davros' life and the events that led to his creating the Daleks.

Skaro makes an appearance in the Doctor Who: The Adventure Games episode "City of the Daleks". In the narrative the Daleks remove Skaro from the Time War, preventing its destruction. The Eleventh Doctor thwarts the Dalek's plan, negating the planet's survival and restoring the proper timeline. In April 2010 Piers Wenger, executive producer of Doctor Who at the time, stated that the games constitute "episodes" and form part of the Doctor Who universe.

Skaro appears in Daleks!, a five part animated series launched by the BBC on its YouTube channel in November 2020 as part of its multi-platform story, Time Lord Victorious!.

Exterior filming locations
For Genesis of the Daleks exterior scenes supposedly taking place on Skaro were shot at Betchworth Quarry, Surrey and for Destiny of the Daleks at Winspit Quarry, Dorset. In "The Magician's Apprentice" and "The Witch's Familiar", exterior scenes set on Skaro were filmed in Tenerife.

title: Skaro


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Republica

Republica are an English alternative rock band formed in 1994. The height of their popularity spanned from 1996 to 1999. The current line-up consists of Saffron (vocals), Tim Dorney (keyboards) and Johnny Male (guitar).

The Republica sound was described by the band as "technopop punk rock". The band went on hiatus in 2001 and reunited in 2008.

1994–1997: Beginnings, debut album and international success
Former Flowered Up keyboard player Tim Dorney and Andy Todd founded Republica. Singer Saffron was an actress at one point, performing for two years in London's Starlight Express. She also appeared in the video for the Chesney Hawkes' hit "The One and Only" and in the video for N-Joi's single "Mindflux". She was also lead vocalist on N-Joi's hit "Anthem" in 1990.

Republica released the first single "Out of This World" in 1994, followed by the single "Bloke" in March 1995. In April 1996, their single "Ready to Go" became their first to chart on the UK Singles Chart, when it reached Number 43. Their debut album Republica was released in July 1996 and reached No. 4 in the UK Albums Chart after being reissued in 1997. The band added Johnny Male, formerly of early 1990s One Little Indian act Soul Family Sensation, as an official member on guitar, with "Ready to Go" remixed as more a rock-sounding dance track. This version became their signature single and reached No. 13. The fourth single, "Drop Dead Gorgeous", reached No. 7.

The group attracted positive press coverage. Emerging after a wave of female-fronted rock bands (such as Elastica, Lush, Sleeper, Echobelly and Kenickie), they had, like Curve and Garbage, a notably more aggressive and electronic sound. In 1997, they contributed a cover of "Are 'Friends' Electric?" to the Gary Numan tribute album Random. That same year, Saffron performed vocals for the Prodigy's "Fuel My Fire" from their album The Fat of the Land.

1998–2001: Speed Ballads and dissolution
The band's second album, Speed Ballads, was released in 1998 and reached No. 37 in UK Albums Chart. Its lead single, "From Rush Hour With Love", peaked at No. 20 in UK Singles Chart. The band suffered when their label, Deconstruction Records, folded shortly after the release of Speed Ballads. Deconstruction's back catalogue was swallowed up by BMG and Speed Ballads was never released in the United States. In 2001, Republica went on hiatus. On their official site it was posted the message "Republica are not recording at this time".

2002–2009: Hiatus
In 2002 BMG released the compilation Ready to Go: The Best Of against the band's wishes. After the band went on hiatus, Saffron worked with the Cure, appearing on the single "Just Say Yes" from their Greatest Hits album. She also collaborated with Junkie XL for his 2003 album Radio JXL: A Broadcast from the Computer Hell Cabin. In September 2008, Republica reunited at Windsor at a Contra Mundum concert. They played "Ready to Go", "Drop Dead Gorgeous" and a cover of "You Got the Love".

2010–2020: Reunion, sporadic performances and new material
In early 2010, Republica performed a string of gigs. They also issued a remixed version of "Ready to Go" entitled "Ready to Go 2010". In June 2010 the remix was released and reached No. 1 on the Upfront Club chart. The track has been produced by Andy Gray and Alan Moulder. In October 2010, the band performed a comeback gig at O2 Academy Islington followed by several dates in Eastern Europe and the Middle East in 2011. They performed at GuilFest in July 2012.

The band released a new EP, Christiana Obey, and also recorded a session for Brentwood radio station Phoenix FM in April 2013. A joint 20th anniversary tour with the band Space took place in the spring of 2014. In October and early November 2014, Republica toured the UK in support of the Boomtown Rats "Ratlife" tour and took the opportunity to premiere some new material. Friday 29 May 2015 saw the public debut of more new material when Republica performed at the "Under The Bridge" venue in Chelsea, London, with support from Tenek and Kenelis. A deluxe edition of Republica was released on 28 February 2020 on Cherry Red Records.

2021–present: Damaged Gods
The band released a new single, "New York" in November 2023, from their upcoming studio album Damaged Gods scheduled to be released in October 2024, their first in 26 years, on Armalyte Industries. The second single off the album, "Hallelujah", was released 28 June 2024.

Current members

 * Saffron – lead vocals, tambourine (1994–2001, 2008–present)
 * Tim Dorney – keyboards (1994–2001, 2008–present)
 * Johnny Male – guitar, bass (1995–2001, 2008–present)

Current touring members

 * Conor Lawrence – drums (2012–present)

Former members

 * Andy Todd – keyboards, guitar, bass (1994–1997)
 * David Barbarossa – drums (1994–1997)
 * Alix Tiernan – percussion (1994–1995)
 * Mick Pirie – bass (1994–1995)

Former touring members

 * Pete Riley – drums (1998–2001)
 * Nigel Champion – drums (2008–2012)
 * Timm Hamm – bass (2013–2015)

Side projects and collaborations

 * Saffron performed vocals for the Prodigy's "Fuel My Fire" from their 1997 album The Fat of the Land.
 * Saffron wrote and performed vocals for Deepsky's "Smile" from their 2002 album In Silico.
 * Saffron recorded the songs "Crusher", "Spirits" and "Beauty Never Fades" on Junkie XL's 2003 album Radio JXL: A Broadcast from the Computer Hell Cabin.
 * In 2001 Saffron worked with the Cure on the single "Just Say Yes" for their Greatest Hits. She also featured in "Just Say Yes" video.
 * Dorney briefly reunited with fellow former Flowered Up band member Liam Maher, but they split up in late 2002. Flowered Up tried to re-form in 2007 but Dorney refused, causing the cancellation of a planned reunion tour. He worked as a painter and decorator and on Contra Mundum with Male releases in 2008 on the White Label.
 * Male co-wrote tracks for Lipslide, the 1997 solo album by Sarah Cracknell of Saint Etienne. He has also featured in cult band Go Kart Mozart.
 * Todd continued as a songwriter and co-wrote "Reach" by S Club 7, and has also worked with Kylie Minogue. He now operates between his recording studios in London and the Caribbean.

Music videos

 * "Bloke", 1995
 * "Ready to Go" (original mix), 1996
 * "Ready to Go" (Ben Grosse mix), 1997
 * "Drop Dead Gorgeous", 1997
 * "From Rush Hour with Love" (version 1), 1998
 * "From Rush Hour with Love" (version 2), 1998
 * "Try Everything", 1998
 * "Christiana Obey", 2013
 * "New York", 2023
 * "Hallelujah", 2024

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

title: Republica


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David Gilmour

David Jon Gilmour (born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter who is a member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined in 1967, shortly before the departure of the founder member Syd Barrett. By the early 1980s, Pink Floyd had become one of the highest-selling and most acclaimed acts in music history. Following the departure of Roger Waters in 1985, Pink Floyd continued under Gilmour's leadership and released three more studio albums.

Gilmour has produced a variety of artists, such as the Dream Academy. He has released four solo studio albums: David Gilmour (1978), About Face (1984), On an Island (2006) and Rattle That Lock (2015). His fifth solo album, Luck and Strange, is scheduled for September 2024. He is also credited for bringing the singer-songwriter Kate Bush to public attention, paying for her early recordings and helping her find a record contract.

As a member of Pink Floyd, Gilmour was inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. In 2003, Gilmour was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). He received the award for Outstanding Contribution at the 2008 Q Awards. In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked him number 28 in their list of the greatest guitarists of all time. He was also voted number 36 in the greatest voices in rock by Planet Rock listeners in 2009.

Gilmour has taken part in projects related to issues including animal rights, environmentalism, homelessness, poverty, and human rights. He has married twice and is the father of eight children. His wife, the novelist Polly Samson, has contributed lyrics to many of his songs.

Early life and education
David Jon Gilmour was born on 6 March 1946 in Cambridge, England. He has three siblings: Peter, Mark and Catharine. His father, Douglas Gilmour, was a senior lecturer in zoology at the University of Cambridge, and his mother, Sylvia (née Wilson), trained as a teacher and later worked as a film editor for the BBC. At the time of Gilmour's birth, they lived in Trumpington, Cambridgeshire. In 1956, after several relocations, they moved to nearby Grantchester.

Gilmour's parents encouraged him to pursue his interest in music, and in 1954 he bought his first single, Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock". His enthusiasm was stirred the following year by Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel", and later "Bye Bye Love" by the Everly Brothers piqued his interest in the guitar. He borrowed a guitar from a neighbour, but never gave it back. Soon afterward, Gilmour started teaching himself to play using a book and record set by Pete Seeger. At age 11, Gilmour began attending Perse School on Hills Road, Cambridge, which he did not enjoy. There he met the future Pink Floyd members Syd Barrett and Roger Waters, who attended Cambridgeshire High School for Boys on Hills Road.

In 1962, Gilmour began studying A-Level modern languages at the Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology. Despite not finishing the course, he eventually learned to speak fluent French. Barrett was also a student at the college, and he spent his lunchtimes practising guitar with Gilmour. In late 1962, Gilmour joined the blues rock band Jokers Wild. They recorded a one-sided album and a single at Regent Sound Studio, in Denmark Street, west London, but only 50 copies of each were made.

In 1965, Gilmour hitchhiked to Saint-Tropez, France. Barrett and his friends also drove there and met up with Gilmour. In France, they were arrested for busking. He and Barrett later went to Paris, where they camped outside the city for a week and visited the Louvre. During this time, Gilmour worked in various places, most notably as the driver and assistant for the fashion designer Ossie Clark.

Gilmour travelled to France in mid-1967 with Rick Wills and Willie Wilson, formerly of Jokers Wild. The trio performed under the name Flowers, then Bullitt, but were not commercially successful. After hearing their covers of chart hits, club owners were reluctant to pay them, and soon after their arrival in Paris, thieves stole their equipment. In France, Gilmour contributed lead vocals to two songs on the soundtrack of the film Two Weeks in September, starring Brigitte Bardot. When Bullitt returned to England later that year, they could not afford petrol and had to push their bus off the ferry onto the landing.

Pink Floyd
In 1967, Pink Floyd, composed of Gilmour's Cambridge schoolmates Barrett and Waters with Nick Mason and Richard Wright, released their debut studio album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. That May, Gilmour briefly returned to London in search of new equipment. During his stay, he watched Pink Floyd record "See Emily Play" and was shocked to find that Barrett, who was beginning to suffer mental health problems, did not seem to recognise him.

In December 1967, after Gilmour had returned to England, Mason invited him to join Pink Floyd to cover for the increasingly erratic Barrett. Gilmour accepted; they initially intended to continue with Barrett as a non-performing songwriter. One of the band's business partners, Peter Jenner, said the plan was to have Gilmour "cover for Barrett's eccentricities".

By March 1968, working with Barrett had become too difficult and he agreed to leave the band. Mason said later: "After Syd, Dave was the difference between light and dark. He was absolutely into form and shape and he introduced that into the wilder numbers we'd created. We became far less difficult to enjoy, I think." In 1970, Gilmour attended the Isle of Wight Festival and assisted in the live mix of Jimi Hendrix's performance.

In the 1970s, Gilmour received a copy of a demo tape by the teenage songwriter Kate Bush from Ricky Hopper, a mutual friend of both families. Impressed, Gilmour paid for Bush, then 16, to record three professional demo tracks to present to record labels. The tape was produced by Gilmour's friend Andrew Powell, who went on to produce Bush's first two studio albums, and the sound engineer Geoff Emerick. Gilmour arranged for EMI executive Terry Slater to hear the tape, and he signed her. Gilmour is credited as the executive producer on two tracks on Bush's debut studio album, The Kick Inside (1978), including her second single "The Man with the Child in His Eyes". He performed backing vocals on "Pull Out the Pin" on her fourth studio album, The Dreaming (1982), and played guitar on "Love and Anger" and "Rocket's Tail" on her sixth, The Sensual World (1989). In 1975, Gilmour played on Roy Harper's album HQ (1975).

First solo works

By the late 1970s, Gilmour had begun to think that his musical talents were being underused by Pink Floyd. In 1978, he released his first solo album, David Gilmour, which showcased his guitar playing and songwriting. Music written during the finishing stages of the album, but too late to be used, became "Comfortably Numb" on the Pink Floyd album The Wall (1979).

Wright was fired during the Wall sessions. The relationship between Gilmour and Waters deteriorated during the making of the Wall film and the album The Final Cut (1983). The negative atmosphere led Gilmour to produce his second solo studio album, About Face, in 1984. He used it to express his feelings about a range of topics, from his relationship with Waters to the murder of John Lennon. Gilmour toured Europe and the US, supported by the Television Personalities, who were dropped after the singer, Dan Treacy, revealed Barrett's address on stage. Mason also made a guest appearance on the UK leg of the tour, which despite some cancellations eventually turned a profit. When he returned from touring, Gilmour played guitar with a range of artists and produced the Dream Academy, including their US top-ten hit "Life in a Northern Town" (1986).

Gilmour co-wrote five songs on Roy Harper's album The Unknown Soldier (1980), including "Short and Sweet", which was first recorded for Gilmour's first solo album. In April 1984, Harper made a surprise guest appearance at Gilmour's Hammersmith Odeon gig to sing "Short and Sweet". This was included in Gilmour's Live 1984 concert film. Harper also provided backing vocals on Gilmour's second solo studio album About Face (1984).

In 1985, Gilmour played on Bryan Ferry's sixth solo studio album Boys and Girls, as well as the song "Is Your Love Strong Enough" for the US release of the Ridley Scott–Tom Cruise film Legend (1985). The music video for "Is Your Love Strong Enough" incorporated Ferry and Gilmour into footage from the film. In July that year, Gilmour played with Ferry at the Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium in London. He contributed to Pete Townshend's 1985 album White City: A Novel, including the single "Give Blood", and the 1985 Grace Jones album Slave to the Rhythm.

Leading Pink Floyd
In 1985, Waters declared that Pink Floyd were "a spent force creatively" and attempted to dissolve the band. Gilmour and Mason announced that they intended to continue without him. Waters resigned in 1987, leaving Gilmour as the band leader. In 1986, Gilmour purchased the houseboat Astoria, moored it on the River Thames near Hampton Court and transformed it into a recording studio. He produced the Pink Floyd studio album A Momentary Lapse of Reason in 1987, with contributions from Mason and Wright. He believed Pink Floyd had become too driven by lyrics under Waters' leadership, and attempted to "restore the balance" of music and lyrics''. '' In March 1987, Gilmour played guitar for Kate Bush's performance of "Running Up That Hill" at the Secret Policeman's Third Ball.

Pink Floyd released their second album under Gilmour's leadership, The Division Bell, in 1994. In December 1999, Gilmour played guitar, alongside Mick Green, Ian Paice, Pete Wingfield, and Chris Hall, for Paul McCartney, at a concert at the Cavern Club, in Liverpool, England. This resulted in the concert film Live at the Cavern Club, directed by Geoff Wonfor.

2000s: Pink Floyd reunion and On an Island
In 2001 and 2002, Gilmour performed six acoustic solo concerts in London and Paris, along with a small band and choir, which was documented on the In Concert release. On 24 September 2004, he performed a three-song set at the Strat Pack concert at London's Wembley Arena, marking the 50th anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster.

On 2 July 2005, Pink Floyd reunited with Waters to perform at Live 8. The performance caused a sales increase of Pink Floyd's compilation album Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd (2001). Gilmour donated his profits to charities that reflect the goals of Live 8, saying: "Though the main objective has been to raise consciousness and put pressure on the G8 leaders, I will not profit from the concert. This is money that should be used to save lives." He called upon all Live 8 artists to donate their extra revenue to Live 8 fundraising. After the concert, Pink Floyd turned down an offer to tour the US for £150 million. In 2006, Gilmour said that Pink Floyd would likely never tour or write material again: "I think enough is enough. I am 60 years old. I don't have the will to work as much any more. Pink Floyd was an important part in my life, I have had a wonderful time, but it's over. For me it's much less complicated to work alone."

On 6 March, Gilmour's 60th birthday, he released his third solo album, On an Island. It featured guest musicians including Wright and lyrics by Gilmour's wife, the writer Polly Samson. It debuted at number 1 on the UK Albums Chart and became Gilmour's first solo album to enter the top ten in the US, reaching number six on the Billboard 200. On 21 September 2011 On an Island was certified gold in Canada, with sales of more than 50,000 copies.

Gilmour toured Europe, US and Canada in May 2006, with a band including Wright and the Pink Floyd collaborators Dick Parry, Guy Pratt, and Jon Carin. A DVD, Remember That Night – Live at the Royal Albert Hall, was released on 17 September 2007. For the final show, Gilmour performed with the 38-piece string section of the Polish Baltic Philharmonic orchestra. It was released as Live in Gdańsk (2008).

In December 2006, Gilmour released a tribute to Barrett, who died that year, in the form of his own version of Pink Floyd's first single, "Arnold Layne". Recorded live at London's Royal Albert Hall, it featured versions of the song performed by Wright and David Bowie. It reached number 19 on the UK Singles Chart. In early 2007, Gilmour reconvened his touring band and spent a week recording in a barn in his farm. Some of the recordings were released on his later solo albums.

On 25 May 2009, Gilmour participated in a concert at the Union Chapel in Islington, London, with the Malian musicians Amadou & Mariam. The concert was part of the Hidden Gigs campaign against hidden homelessness, organised by the charity Crisis. On 4 July, Gilmour joined his friend Jeff Beck onstage at the Royal Albert Hall, London. Gilmour and Beck traded solos on "Jerusalem" and closed the show with "Hi Ho Silver Lining". In August 2009, Gilmour released an online single, "Chicago – Change the World", to promote awareness for Gary McKinnon, who was accused of computer hacking. A retitled cover of the Graham Nash song "Chicago", it featured MicKinon, Chrissie Hynde and Bob Geldof. It was produced by the longtime Pink Floyd collaborator Chris Thomas.

2010s: reunion with Waters and Rattle that Lock

On 11 July 2010, Gilmour performed for the charity Hoping Foundation with Waters in Oxfordshire, England. The performance was presented by Jemima Goldsmith and Nigella Lawson, and according to onlookers, it seemed that Gilmour and Waters had ended their long-running feud, laughing and joking together along with their respective partners. Gilmour performed "Comfortably Numb" with Waters on 12 May 2011 at the O2, London and, with Nick Mason, played with the rest of the band on "Outside the Wall" at the conclusion of the show. In October, Gilmour released an album with the electronic duo the Orb, Metallic Spheres.

On 7 November 2014, Pink Floyd released The Endless River. Gilmour said it would be Pink Floyd's last studio album, saying: "I think we have successfully commandeered the best of what there is ... It's a shame, but this is the end." There was no supporting tour, as Gilmour felt it was impossible without Wright. In August 2015, Gilmour reiterated that Pink Floyd were "done" and that to reunite without Wright would be wrong. In September, he released his fourth solo studio album, Rattle That Lock. On 14 November, Gilmour was the subject of a BBC Two documentary, David Gilmour: Wider Horizons.

On 13 September 2017, Gilmour's live album and film Live at Pompeii, which documents the two shows he performed on 7 and 8 July 2016 at the Amphitheatre of Pompeii, were shown at selected cinemas. The album was released on 29 September 2017 and reached number three on the UK Albums Chart. To celebrate the event, Mayor Ferdinando Uliano made Gilmour an honorary citizen of Pompeii.

Waters and Gilmour continued to quarrel, arguing over subjects including album reissues and the use of the Pink Floyd website and social media channels. Mason, who remains close to both, said in 2018 that Waters did not respect Gilmour, as that Waters "feels that writing is everything, and that guitar playing and the singing are something that, I won't say anyone can do, but that everything should be judged on the writing rather than the playing".

2020—2023: "Hey, Hey, Rise Up!"
From April 2020, Gilmour appeared in a series of livestreams with his family, performing songs by Barrett and Leonard Cohen. In July 2020, he released "Yes, I Have Ghosts", his first single since 2015. Its lyrics were written by Samson and features his daughter Romany making her recording debut on backing vocals and harp.

In 2021, Rolling Stone noted that Gilmour and Waters had "hit yet another low point in their relationship". In early 2023, Gilmour's wife, Polly Samson, wrote on Twitter that Waters was antisemitic and "a lying, thieving, hypocritical, tax-avoiding, lip-synching, misogynistic, sick-with-envy megalomaniac". Gilmour responded to the tweet on Twitter: "Every word demonstrably true." In April 2022, Gilmour and Mason reformed Pink Floyd to release the song "Hey, Hey, Rise Up!" in protest of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Gilmour said the song was a "one-off for Pink Floyd".

2024: Luck and Strange
In 2024, Gilmour contributed guitar to a new version of Mark Knopfler's "Going Home: Theme of the Local Hero" in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust. On 24 April, Gilmour announced his fifth solo album, Luck and Strange, due for release on 6 September. It was recorded over five months in Brighton and London with the producer Charlie Andrew. Gilmour said Andrew challenged him musically as he "has a wonderful lack of knowledge or respect for this past of mine". Samson wrote the majority of the lyrics, which she said reflected themes of mortality and ageing. The album features keyboards recorded by Wright in 2007, lyrics from Gilmour's son Charlie, and harp and vocals from his daughter Romany. The first single, "The Piper’s Call", was released on 25 April.

Gilmour will begin a tour in September 2024. He announced that he would be playing in four venues and cities, London's Royal Albert Hall, Rome's Circus Maximus, the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and Madison Square Garden in New York City. He said he had replaced some of the musicians in the touring band, as he felt some of them "would have been better off in a Pink Floyd tribute band" and he wanted to use more creative musicians.

Musical style
Gilmour credits guitarists such as Pete Seeger, Lead Belly, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, John Fahey, Roy Buchanan, and Hank Marvin of the Shadows as influences. Gilmour said, "I copied – don't be afraid to copy – and eventually something that I suppose that I would call my own appeared."

Writing for the magazine Far Out in 2022, Jordan Potter described Gilmour as having a "unique and constantly developing guitar style" in Pink Floyd, adding that "drawing from a healthy pool of influence, he could devise his own characteristic style, recognised for its sonorous gravity and pitch-perfect lead excursions, which valued precision over speed." Gilmour's lead guitar style is characterised by blues-influenced phrasing, expressive note bends, and sustain. In a 1985 interview, he said, "I can't play like Eddie Van Halen, I wish I could [...] Sometimes I think I should work at the guitar more. I play every day but I don't consciously practice scales or anything in particular." In 2006, Gilmour said, "[My] fingers make a distinctive sound... [they] aren't very fast, but I think I am instantly recognisable." Pink Floyd technician Phil Taylor said, "It really is just his fingers, his vibrato, his choice of notes and how he sets his effects ... In reality, no matter how well you duplicate the equipment, you will never be able to duplicate the personality."

Gilmour also plays bass, keyboards, banjo, lap steel, mandolin, harmonica, drums, and saxophone. Gilmour said he played bass on some Pink Floyd tracks, such as the fretless bass on "Hey You", as he could do it more quickly than Waters; he said that Waters would thank him for "winning him bass-playing polls".

Influence
According to MusicRadar, Gilmour is "a household name among the classic rock crowd, and for a lot of younger guitar fans he's the only 1970s guitarist that matters. For many he's the missing link between Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen." The MusicRader writer Billy Saefong wrote that Gilmour "isn't as flashy as Jimi Hendrix or Jimmy Page on the stage, but his guitar work outshines most for emotion."

In 1996, Gilmour was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd. He has been ranked one of the greatest guitarists of all time by publications including Rolling Stone and The Daily Telegraph. In January 2007, Guitar World readers voted Gilmour's solos for "Comfortably Numb", "Time" and "Money" among the top 100 greatest guitar solos. In 2011, Rolling Stone named Gilmour the 14th-greatest guitarist of all time.

Gilmour was cited by the Marillion guitarist Steve Rothery as one of his three main influences. John Mitchell, the guitarist of bands including It Bites and Arena, also cited Gilmour as an influence. In 2013, Gary Kemp, the guitarist and songwriter of Spandau Ballet, and a member of Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets, argued that Gilmour's work on The Dark Side of the Moon "must make him the best guitar player in recent history".

Guitars
For Gilmour's 21st birthday, in March 1967, his parents gave him his first Fender guitar, a white Telecaster with a white pickguard and a rosewood fretboard. He used this guitar when he joined Pink Floyd in 1968, with one of Barrett's Telecasters as a spare.

The Black Strat

Gilmour used the Black Strat, a Fender Stratocaster, in most Pink Floyd concerts and for every Pink Floyd studio album recorded between 1970 and 1983. Gilmour bought it at Manny's Music in New York City in 1970, after the band's US tour was cancelled due to the theft of their equipment in New Orleans. The guitar, which originally had a rosewood fretboard and a white pickguard, underwent a number of modifications, settling on a black pickguard and maple neck. It was auctioned for charity in 2019 for $3.9 million, making it one of the most expensive guitars ever sold at auction.

Fender Black Strat Signature Stratocaster
In November 2006, Fender Custom Shop announced two reproductions of Gilmour's Black Strat for release on 22 September 2008. Phil Taylor, Gilmour's guitar technician, supervised this release and has written a book on the history of this guitar. The release date was chosen to coincide with the release of Gilmour's Live in Gdańsk album. Both guitars are based on extensive measurements of the original instrument, each featuring varying degrees of wear. The most expensive is the David Gilmour Relic Stratocaster which features the closest copy of wear on the original guitar. A pristine copy of the guitar is also made, the David Gilmour NOS Stratocaster.

The 0001 Strat
The 0001 Strat is a Fender Stratocaster with a white body, maple neck, three-way pick up selector and a gold anodised pickguard and gold-plated hardware. Gilmour bought it from guitar technician Phil Taylor, who had purchased it from Seymour W. Duncan. Duncan states it is a "partscaster", as he assembled it from two different guitars. Gilmour used the guitar in the 2004 Strat Pack show that commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Stratocaster at Wembley Arena along with one of his Candy Apple Red Stratocasters (famous for their appearances with Gilmour from 1987 to 2004). It has the serial number 0001; however, prototypes had been constructed before this one. The origin of the guitar is unknown, and it is unknown whether it is the real 0001 Strat because the neck (which has the 0001 serial number on it) could have been taken off the original. The model was used as a spare and for slide guitar in subsequent years. In 2019, the 0001 Strat was sold at auction for $1,815,000, setting a new world auction record for a Stratocaster. Gilmour also owns an early 1954 Stratocaster, believed to predate Fender's commercial release of the model.

Other electric guitars
Along with the Fender models, Gilmour has also used a Gibson Les Paul goldtop model with P-90 pick-ups during recording sessions for The Wall and A Momentary Lapse of Reason. It was used for the guitar solo on "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2".

Gilmour also plays a Gretsch Duo-Jet, a Gretsch White Falcon, and a "White Penguin". He played a Bill Lewis 24-fret guitar during the Meddle and Dark Side of the Moon recording sessions, and a Steinberger GL model which was his main guitar during A Momentary Lapse of Reason recording sessions.

Acoustics
Gilmour has used many acoustic guitars, including a Gibson Chet Atkins classical model, and a Gibson J-200 Celebrity, acquired from John Illsley of Dire Straits. Gilmour used several Ovation models including a Custom Legend 1619-4, and a Custom Legend 1613-4 nylon string guitar, both during the Wall recording sessions. Martin models used include a D-35, purchased in New York in 1971, and a D12-28 12-string.

Steel guitar

Gilmour used a pair of Jedson steel guitars and a Fender 1000 pedal steel frequently in the early 1970s. Originally purchased from a pawn shop while Gilmour was in Seattle in 1970, the Jedson was used during recording of "One of These Days" from Meddle and "Breathe" and "The Great Gig in the Sky" from Dark Side of the Moon. Gilmour also owns a Fender Deluxe lap steel, which he used during The Division Bell tour in 1994. Gilmour also owns a Champ lap steel model. Along with the Fender steel models Gilmour has also used: a Gibson EH150, and two Jedson models: one red (1977-tuned D-G-D-G-B-E for "Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Parts 6–9", 1987–2006: Tuned E-B-E-G-B-E for "High Hopes") and one blonde. He also uses a ZB steel model. Gilmour played pedal steel guitar on the album Blue Pine Trees by Unicorn.

Bass guitars
Gilmour has played the bass guitar both in the studio and onstage, and has played many bass models including: an Ovation Magnum, a Fender Bass VI, Fender Precision and Jazz bass models and a Charvel fretless (all used during The Wall recording sessions). During the 1991 Amnesty International concert Gilmour used a Music Man Fretless Stingray bass while conducting the house band and again during Spinal Tap's performance of "Big Bottom".

Signature pick-ups
In 2004 EMG, Inc. released the DG20 Signature guitar pick-up kit for the Fender Stratocaster. The set included three active pick-ups, an EXG Guitar Expander for increased treble and bass frequencies, and a SPC presence control to enhance earthiness and mid-range. The system came pre-wired on a custom 11-hole white pearl pickguard with white knobs. The kit was based on the configuration mounted on Gilmour's red Stratocaster during the Momentary Lapse of Reason and Division Bell tours.

Awards and honours
Gilmour was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2003 Birthday Honours, "for services to music". The award was presented to him at Buckingham Palace, on 7 November that year.

On 22 May 2008, he won the 2008 Ivor Novello Lifetime Contribution Award, recognising his excellence in music writing. Later that year, he was recognised for his outstanding contribution to music by the Q Awards. He dedicated his award to the Pink Floyd keyboardist, Richard Wright, who died in September 2008. On 11 November 2009, Gilmour received an honorary doctorate from Anglia Ruskin University.

Charity work
Gilmour has supported charities including Oxfam, the European Union Mental Health and Illness Association, Greenpeace, Amnesty International, the Lung Foundation, Nordoff-Robbins music therapy, Teenage Cancer Trust, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). In May 2003, Gilmour sold his house in Little Venice to the ninth Earl Spencer and donated the proceeds worth £3.6 million to Crisis to help fund a housing project for the homeless. He has been named a vice-president of the organisation. He donated £25,000 to the Save the Rhino foundation in exchange for Douglas Adams's name suggestion for the album that became The Division Bell.

On 20 June 2019, Gilmour auctioned 120 of his guitars for charity, at Christie's in New York, including his Black Strat, his #0001 and early 1954 Stratocasters, and his 1955 Les Paul. The Black Strat sold for $3,975,000, making it the most expensive guitar ever sold at auction. The auction raised $21,490,750, with the proceeds going to the environmentalist charity ClientEarth.

Personal life
Gilmour's first marriage was to Virginia "Ginger" Hasenbein, an American-born model and artist on 7 July 1975. The couple had four children: Alice (born 1976), Clare (born 1979), Sara (born 1983) and Matthew (born 1986). They originally attended a Waldorf school, but Gilmour called their education there "horrific".

In 1994, Gilmour married the writer Polly Samson. His best man was Pink Floyd album artwork designer Storm Thorgerson, with whom he had been friends since their teenage years. Gilmour and Samson have four children: Gilmour's adopted son Charlie (born 1989 to Samson and Heathcote Williams), Joe (born 1995), Gabriel (born 1997) and Romany (born 2002). Charlie's voice can be heard on the telephone to Steve O'Rourke at the end of "High Hopes" from The Division Bell. Gabriel performed piano on the song "In Any Tongue" on Gilmour's fourth solo studio album Rattle That Lock (2015), making his recording debut. In 2011, Charlie was jailed for 16 months for violent disorder during a London protest against tuition fees.

Gilmour is an atheist. He described himself as left-wing. He said that his parents were "Proper Manchester Guardian readers… Some of their friends went on the Aldermaston Marches. Mine never did to my knowledge, but they were both committed to voting for the Labour Party." He described himself as a socialist, "even if I can't quite stick with party politics". In August 2014, Gilmour 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 the Scottish independence referendum. In May 2017, Gilmour endorsed Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in the 2017 UK general election. He tweeted: "I'm voting Labour because I believe in social equality."

Gilmour is an experienced pilot and aviation enthusiast. Under the aegis of his company, Intrepid Aviation, he amassed a collection of historical aircraft. He later sold the company, which he had started as a hobby, feeling that it was becoming too commercial for him to enjoy; he said he retained an old biplane which he flew sometimes. Gilmour's net worth is £115 million, according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2018.

In 1980, Gilmour purchased Hook End Manor in Oxfordshire, where parts of The Final Cut were recorded. He sold it in 1987. He has a home near the village of Wisborough Green, Sussex. In 2015, Gilmour and Samson purchased Medina House, a derelict Turkish bathhouse in Brighton and Hove, and had it redeveloped. Gilmour also spends time at his recording studio houseboat Astoria near Hampton Court.

Discography
Studio albums
 * David Gilmour (1978)
 * About Face (1984)
 * On an Island (2006)
 * Rattle That Lock (2015)
 * Luck and Strange (2024)

Tours

 * About Face (1984)
 * On an Island (2006)
 * Rattle That Lock Tour (2015–16)
 * Luck and Strange (2024)

title: David Gilmour


text:
Talk:Caananite

Amenhotep IV Akhenaten Moses

title: Talk:Caananite


text:
User:GYU

High school student in what is allegedly the best international baccalaureate in the world, in nearby Rockville, Maryland, although a one-way commute requires more than 2 hours on Metrobus.

Current projects deal with my favorite philosophers:
 * Scott Adams
 * John Norman

A collective, democratized archive of knowledge? This is what humanity truly needs.

title: User:GYU


text:
User:Steve.mcgarrett

Wiki - from the Hawaiian word for "quickly".

Steve.Mcgarrett - from the Hawaii Five - Oh character who thought he was The Boss of All the islands of Hawaii.

Wiki is a group collaboration on a body of encyclopedic knowledge, and _I_ aim to take a proprietary view: this is _my_ wikipedia. Even by a superficial glance at it one can see how many people know so much more than I do, so naturally it has my full support.

The following is a link to a very nice picture of the actor Jack Lord, who portrayed Steve McGarrett for years in the fine tv action adventure cop show "Hawaii 5-0". It is located at a fan shrine site devoted to Jack Lord.

As it should be.

http://www.thejacklordconnection.com/Photo%20Galleries/Jack%20Lord%20Pics/JL_and_Diamond_Head.jpg

title: User:Steve.mcgarrett


text:
Talk:John Edward

Scam/Fraud Charges
Was pretty sure before he became a psychic, Edwards was involved in some sort of financial scam that lead to fraud charges and perhaps even a conviction. Was this whitewashed out the article by fans? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.248.214.103 (talk) 17:13, 26 August 2017 (UTC)

Category change
Categories have been changed in accordance with the recent Arbitration on the paranormal, specifically 6a) Adequate framing, and Cultural artefacts.  Martinphi  (Talk Ψ Contribs) 22:19, 3 August 2007 (UTC)

Format change for Cross Country
So as not to introduce unsourced info - has any in-print discussion been made about the drastic format change of Cross Country in the second season? Willbyr (talk | contribs) 12:43, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

The 9-11 Controversy
Edward is doing a bit on his Cross Country show of 'contacting' a firefighter who died on 9-11. Lots42 (talk) 19:37, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

But seriously
Isn't it a bit much to call him an entertainer or psychic medium? I mean, is exploitation an approved form of entertainment? And giving him credit as an actual psychic medium - seriously? --Riluve (talk) 03:03, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
 * This isn't the place to debate the right/wrong of Edward's work. He is by definition a television performer/entertainer, whose show revolves around his being a medium, a title he readily professes for himself.  I think the current wording is fine. Willbyr (talk | contribs) 04:33, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
 * That's like letting an article on Hitler entitle himself a "Social Engineer" because that is how he thought of himself. 50.224.24.38 (talk) 19:42, 14 December 2022 (UTC)

Well quite obviously he isn't a "psychic medium". But he is an entertainer. He performs his show for ratings, his shows standing is based on ratings, he could have a boring show on late night public television but he chose to be an entertainer.

Thats not really up for discussion, that hes an entertainer. Thats...well, what he does. That he may also believe his own lies or have a certain reason for what he does would not remove the fact hes an entertainer. Even shock jockeys are entertainers. To each his own I guess, even if theirs is remarkably ignorant. 58.170.134.254 (talk) 12:11, 20 February 2009 (UTC) Harlequin

As "psychic mediums" do not really exist, and are on the face of it frauds, I do not have any problem with the way it is worded. Clearly, any rational individual who reads "psychic medium" knows that that is a fake thing anyway. He clearly entertains mindless drones who want to feel better....so he is an entertainer. I believe a prudent and rational person can read the things that he is, and take from that what each means.

Protected
I've protected this for 3 days to stop a looming edit war. Work out issues on the talk page.  — Rlevse • Talk  • 21:47, 7 January 2009 (UTC)

It really needs to say "supposed" psychic medium. This page's existence diminishes everything Wikipedia stands for. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Burr Pie (talk • contribs) 04:05, 30 July 2009 (UTC)

Medium or tv personality
Somebody keeps changing 'medium' to 'television personality'. Now i know that most people don't believe that he has genuine abilities but either way he styles himself as a medium and ommitting this is very obviously point of view. And even if you believe that all mediums are fake, then where is the harm in calling him one? Phallicmonkey (talk) 17:56, 8 January 2009 (UTC)
 * I think that the article has to state the facts. Edward is undoubtedly a television personality; whether or not he is a genuine medium is going to be nigh-impossible to determine factually, and thus I think that the current wording of the intro is more correct. Willbyr (talk | contribs) 20:44, 8 January 2009 (UTC)

 * I disagree: it's certainly possible to determine factually if he is a genuine medium, and the ball is in his court. If he wins $1,000,000 from James Randi, then he's a real medium. If he's afraid to submit to a scientific test, then he doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt. If he were to dress up as Elvis during his performances, you'd be correct to call him an Elvis IMPERSONATOR, not Elvis, even if he claims he's Elvis in his act. So call him a Medium Impersonator. He certainly does a good impersonation of a Douchbag, and that's not original research -- I can provide references. Xardox (talk) 16:13, 10 October 2011 (UTC)

 * I agree, but why not add medium as well? There is no reason as to why there only needs to be one or the other, he is both a medium and television personality. Phallicmonkey (talk) 13:30, 10 January 2009 (UTC)

 * The entire second sentence of the lead’s first paragraph is devoted to that exact thing, his performing as a psychic medium. It would be redundant to add it again in the first sentence and it isn’t necessary.  The most agreed on notability of Edwards is the fact that he’s a successful author and television personality. The second sentence gives detail on what his shows and books are about.

 * Secondly, the Shiavo incident is not at all “biased” per WP:NPOV, it is sourced and neutrally worded. It was indeed a well-publicized controversy and needs to be mentioned in the article.  If you can come up with more neutral wording for that, which gains consensus, then we can change it.  But you cannot just delete sourced, relevant and neutral content like that.  Dreadstar  †  19:04, 10 January 2009 (UTC)

Then why not rewrite the introduction including medium in the opening? 'Television Personality' serves no real purpose except to perhaps please skeptics who don't like to see him labelled a medium. And i will take you up on the offer, although there is hardly a neutral way of putting such a thing. and it may be sourced, but what value does this really have if the information is still biased? Phallicmonkey (talk) 23:15, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
 * I agree with Willbyr above (and his recent edit). Since we can't factually verify that the guy actually is a medium, that is, that he can actually communicate with the dead, the sourced and verifiable fact we can include is that he describes himself as a medium (or whatever similar wording is most agreeable).  I don't see any consensus for saying flat out that he is a medium, so please find some agreement instead of just revert warring over it.  --Minderbinder (talk) 17:00, 16 January 2009 (UTC)

I think that the recent edit is finally an acceptable middle ground. As long as the 'medium' isn't left out, it is not too biased (at least not AS biased as it was before). But the new edit will suffice, and i think that it is the closest to a consensus that we will come to. And as you may have noticed, i did attempt to discuss this on this very page, but it is only when the above comment was made that any discussion had taken place. Thanks Phallicmonkey (talk) 17:39, 16 January 2009 (UTC)
 * I see comments from Willbyr and Dreadstar about it above. --Minderbinder (talk) 17:56, 16 January 2009 (UTC)

Since people seem to think it's ok to call him a medium even though it is not verified simply because he claims that and because you can't prove him wrong, then I suggest they also edit David Koresh's article. I mean, you'd have to list "messiah" or "incarnation of Jesus" into the lead, wouldn't you since you can't PROVE he ISN'T and he did claim it, right? Someone explain to me the difference.

Or, since Kim Jong Il claims to be a god, we should put "Kim Jong Il is the Korean leader and a god" in the lead, right?

Moral: Just because someone claims to be something that you can't disprove, doesn't mean wikipedia should have to list him as such; I'm changing it if there's no response to this entry.SuperAtheist (talk) 17:20, 7 October 2010 (UTC)

Here We Go Again
This happens about every 6 months... a John Edward fan finds his Wikipedia article, and starts kicking up a stink about this or that. Now someone has tagged the entire article citing non-POV and factual accuracy, without any word of explanation or justification. If no explanation is forthcoming in 3 days I'm removing the tag. JQ (talk) 02:38, 5 February 2009 (UTC)
 * The article is POV because of the blatant hints at him being a fake, and any attempts to reduce the bias of the article are an uphill battle, and met with hostility. The article needs a rewrite. Phallicmonkey (talk) 11:47, 5 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Wikipedia is about presenting facts, not opinions or professions of faith as facts. As I think was mentioned earlier, Edward's ability to talk to the dead is inherently untestable so cannot be presented as fact. And funnily enough, not everyone subscribes to Edward's explanation that his ability is genuine. Presenting an untestable, subjective, ad-doc psychic faculty as fact is about as biased as you can get. JQ (talk) 21:54, 5 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Actually now I think about it, I agree the article's opening statement should describe Edward as a "psychic". Along with all the connotations attached to that word. JQ (talk) 21:57, 5 February 2009 (UTC)
 * You say it is not about presenting opinions, yet your previous comment shows that this is exactly what you are going to do. Yes, not everybody agrees with his claims, but that is still what he professes to be and his 'act'is presented as psychic. And the connotations associated with 'psychic' are again a matter of opinion. This is precisely why i have flagged the article as POV, just read the article and it very clearly puts across a viewpoint. Phallicmonkey (talk) 16:11, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Edward should not be described as a "psychic"...I disagree with Phallicmonkey's claims about the article's neutrality, but describing him in that manner implies a belief in the opposite, which is definitely POV. Willbyr (talk | contribs) 14:30, 7 February 2009 (UTC)

He styles himself as a psychic, so it is not up to us to make assumptions regarding this, the facts should be presented. And the facts are 1) He describes himself as psychic and 2) This should be adhered to regardless of personal bias, otherwise the article is fairly useless as a source of fact, but is rather used as an oppurtunity for skeptics to get their viewpoint across. Phallicmonkey (talk) 18:33, 7 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Fair enough, Willbyr. IMHO since the term "psychic" can only be self-styled anyway, and does not infer any kind of professionalism like a doctor or engineer, I can't see the harm in having it in the opening paragraph. On the other hand many readers are very gullible. As far as POV is concerned, yes this article if very POV -- in favour of Edward. JQ (talk) 21:53, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

Monkey, if you want to tag the entire article, you should put your specific criticisms on the talk page so individual parts can be discussed. "it's all bad" without going into detail makes the tag pretty useless. --Minderbinder (talk) 13:50, 17 February 2009 (UTC)

Personally, I don't think that Edward's claim to be able to talk to the dead is inherrently untestable, but like most people in his industry, he doesn't show a lot of interest in falsifying his claimed powers so it amounts to the same thing. I just said that his claims aren't supported by scientific consensus. I don't think anyone can really argue with that point and that's really all you can say about people in Edward's line of work. Gregory j (talk) 16:20, 11 June 2009 (UTC)
 * What I do not get is: why not call him a television personality that claims to have psychic power thats absolutely factbased. He is a television personality and he does claim to have psychic power. If he really is a psychich than is up to the reader to decide. --Gag101 (talk) 13:10, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
 * "Claim," in this instance, is a loaded term per WP:CLAIM. This issue was so contentious that it went to ArbCom; Adequate framing.  Dreadstar  ☥   13:28, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

Show format
Originally: Readings in Crossing Over involve Edward questioning audience members with what is presented as information being communicated by their deceased friends and relatives. Edward says he receives images and clues from "the other side" which the audience must assist him in interpreting. Aside from questionnaires filled out prior to taping, the audience is not supposed to supply Edward with any prior information about themselves, their family or whom they are trying to connect with "on the other side".[8] Audience members respond to Edward's statements and questions, adding any details they feel are appropriate.

Change to: Readings in Crossing Over involve Edward presenting audience members with information being communicated by their deceased friends and relatives and asking them for "yes" or "no" confirmation and validation of that information, but sometimes receives more information than requested, which he often clarifies as information given to him by the audience member and claims he can no longer use that piece of information as validation. Edward receives and interprets information through clairsentience (clear feeling), clairaudience (clear hearing) and clairvoyance (clear seeing) in which he feels, hears or sees images in his mind's eye from the other side which the audience must validate as pertaining to them. Edward has no prior information about audience members, their family or those in spirit with whom they are trying to connect.

--I've seen John Edward live and there are no "questionnaires" that people fill out. John Edward does not "question" audience members, he presents them with information and then asks them to confirm the information. I've also added the three "clairs" which Edward uses to receive his information. -- bigcaat - Aug. 21, '09 (sorry if I haven't done this exactly right. I've not done this 'talk' thing before.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bigcaat (talk • contribs) 06:33, 22 August 2009

Not done: Welcome and thanks for wanting to improve this article. One of the key principle in Wikipedia is presenting information with a neutral point of view. In this case, that means neither accepting nor rejecting the claims made on the show, but presenting them as being the claims made on the show. Rewording it as you suggest would accept and promote what is widely held as being false. Also, we do not allow original research, like your having seen the show live, and prefer verifiable reliable secondary sources. The current sources for much of this article are interviews and the shows themself, which are primary sources, but can at least be verified and used in a limitted way. Please read the linked articles to learn more about these policies. Celestra (talk) 16:49, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

QVC
Should his appearance(s) on QVC (peddling ostensibly blessed jewelry and such) be included? George Lee 07:10, 9 September 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by GSpastic (talk • contribs) Could the 'verifiable secondary sources' be sited in this article? As I too have been to see the live shows (I am actually a rational, logical sceptic)and there was definately no questionaires or similar prior to the show. I just want to know how he does it, read up on cold reading but it just doesn't add up. So regardless of personal belief this is a very, very interesting subject. People should keep an open mind, this life holds infinate possibilties!

Point of the Terri Schiavo controversy?
"So whether it's in a physical vehicle or not, there is still the ability to connect [...] But she's clear on what's going – and I can tell you that she's definitely clear on what's happening now around her."[27] Edward was criticized for this statement because Schiavo did not have proper brain function at the time.[28]"

Does it matter that the complaint is that she did not have proper brain function at the time? This is a man who claims he can talk to dead people who don't have a brain in the first place, let alone brain function. I'm not saying I believe Edward has psychic powers, but it just seems like a silly criticism. You might as well criticize the fact that he thinks he can talk to dead people. ScienceApe (talk) 17:59, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

---He didn't say he could talk to her, he said she was "clear on what's happening around her," while all medical science would lead us to believe she could not. Or, at least that's the criticism. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.230.177.238 (talk • contribs) 06:01, 12 November 2009 UTC

Appearances in the media
John Edward appeared in an episode of South Park series (6x15) being nominated for the Biggest Douche In The Universe award.

The controversy over calling him a psychic professional psychic medium
I've edited the lede to say that Edward is a "self-described psychic medium". This should be acceptable to both sides of the controversy, no? 209.105.199.39 (talk) 20:51, 4 December 2010 (UTC)
 * Yeah you'd think so; but, predictably, some Edwardphile has changed it back to "professional psychic medium". And another piece of me dies inside. JQ (talk) 06:52, 8 April 2011 (UTC)
 * I think "professional psychic medium" sums it up perfectly, or is there another reason he's a psychic medium? Mighty Antar (talk) 22:32, 8 April 2011 (UTC)

I periodically edit-out the change to calling this Edward character a professional and will continue to do so as it is a slap in the face to every true professional out there. Even a call girl can prove what she does is based in fact. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 113.28.103.214 (talk) 02:55, 25 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Bravo! Xardox (talk) 16:26, 10 October 2011 (UTC)

 * I think there is some confusion here with english usage. If the article stated John Edwards is a professional, that would imply he is someone particularly highly skilled at something, but when "professional" is used in conjunction with a trade e.g. "professional psychic medium", it simply means that the person is paid to do the job rather than doing it as an amateur or unpaid. "Psychic medium" may be a valid epistemological subject, the fact that such effortless and magical gifts are rarely demonstrated or offered free-of-charge by those who are purported to be the most gifted should not escape unremarked.Mighty Antar (talk) 17:23, 10 October 2011 (UTC)
 * I've reverted the removal of "professional" once again. The removal is based on what people think (or don't think) a psychic medium actually does. What Edward does as a psychic medium is obviously very important and pertinent to this article, but it's a whole different thing as to whether or not he gets paid for doing it. I've amended the title of this section accordingly. Mighty Antar (talk) 19:20, 12 January 2012 (UTC)

So obviously this conversation hasn't continued on the Talk page, but once again the lead describes Edward as a "professional self-proclaimed psychic medium," presumably by the same argument that Antar and others are making above, that he "makes a living" as a psychic-medium. But I do not remotely agree that it's factual that he makes his living as a psychic. As was also stated in a previous discussion on this matter, if Edward's job is to maintain ratings and/or seat count for his shows, to entertain enough people to keep the crowds coming, then he's making his living as a stage performer and TV personality, NOT as a psychic-medium. Plus the use of the words "professionally" and "professional" in the same sentence is entirely redundant. Also, Edward hasn't had a regularly running TV show in several years, and now seems to be focusing on stage tours. So unless someone has a source that confirms that Edward makes more than half his income from private readings - which would suggest he "makes his living" as a psychic - shouldn't the lead read something more like this, "known professionally as John Edward, is an American television personality, stage performer and self-proclaimed psychic medium." CleverTitania (talk) 19:05, 12 November 2015 (UTC)

Granite State newspaper article
Dreadstar I have readded the reference without the blog citation. Sgerbic (talk) 04:30, 27 June 2011 (UTC)
 * Not sure why, the group and their 'spokesperson' don't seem at all notable. What expertise and notability do they have to rise above the threshold set by WP:BLP?  I'm not seeing it.  Dreadstar  ☥  18:01, 27 June 2011 (UTC)
 * Activism against Edward is noteworthy, even if it had been Anonymous activism. The newspaper that reported it is newsworthy.Sgerbic (talk) 00:46, 28 June 2011 (UTC)
 * Sounds like OR to me. And I'm talking about "Activism against Edward is noteworthy, even if it had been Anonymous activism."  I think it's clear we're now deep into WP:BATTLE.  The group, the spokesman and the opinion are non-notable and violate WP:BLP. Dreadstar  ☥  00:49, 28 June 2011 (UTC)
 * No battle from me Dreadstar. I'll play nice.  I still totally support my edit, but will back down unless I feel I can better support my position. I still feel that a activism section against Edward is noteworthy even if the activism comes from many un-noteworthy sources.  Sgerbic (talk) 14:45, 28 June 2011 (UTC)

Why did you remove my citation?
Dreadstar what do you mean by a "bridge too far"? I have no idea what you are talking about. Is this one of those inclusive WP editor terms that shuts out newer users? Your "talk" page says you are not editing WP and on a break so I am asking for clarification here. Sgerbic (talk) 02:08, 11 October 2011 (UTC)
 * "Bridge too far" was in reference to my own earlier edit which accidentally re-added material when making another change. Your content had several problems, primary one being that Edward was not mentioned at all in two of the sources and was only mentioned by name once in the third source.  The third source made no commentary on on Edward besides the mere mention of his name.  The content was a clear violation of WP:BLP and WP:UNDUE.  Dreadstar  ☥  02:20, 11 October 2011 (UTC)

External links modified
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See also section
I removed a lot from the see also section. Most of it was not relevant to John Edward beyond his being a medium. Per MOS:SEEALSO, I think more of a connection is needed, as the section was too long and most of the entries would not be part of a comprehensive article on the biographical subject here. I kept two entries that were about TV shows, as the first description in the lead is "television personality". – wallyfromdilbert (talk) 23:31, 12 December 2019 (UTC)
 * You are going way overboard on the medium articles you are removing material from - mostly in See also. The MOS states: "One purpose of "See also" links is to enable readers to explore tangentially related topics; however, articles linked should be related to the topic of the article." I maintain that the bios of other mediums and articles covering the general topic are tangentially related and I am going to restore the material as is appropriate. RobP (talk) 23:22, 26 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Some of those links have no relevance other than to implicitly disparage the article subject, which would be a violation of the WP:BLP policy against unsourced content. Why are you restoring those? Also, I don't see how the remaining links to other mediums are relevant enough to include. WP:SEEALSO says that "The links in the 'See also' section should be relevant, should reflect the links that would be present in a comprehensive article on the topic, and should be limited to a reasonable number." How does a list of other mediums apply to that? Under your interpretation, any biography could have dozens of "see also" entries based purely on their profession. – wallyfromdilbert (talk) 03:18, 27 December 2019 (UTC)
 * You keep repeating the same part of the MOS that you like - how about the part I quoted: "One purpose of "See also" links is to enable readers to explore tangentially related topics..."
 * You're not even quoting the whole sentence, which goes on to say "One purpose of 'See also' links is to enable readers to explore tangentially related topics; however, articles linked should be related to the topic of the article" and then provides three conditions for what is considered relevant. Can you please explain how your interpretation would make sense if any biography could have dozens of "see also" entries based purely on their profession? – wallyfromdilbert (talk) 03:32, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

title: Talk:John Edward


text:
Mains electricity

Mains electricity or utility power, grid power, domestic power, and wall power, or, in some parts of Canada, hydro, is a general-purpose alternating-current (AC) electric power supply. It is the form of electrical power that is delivered to homes and businesses through the electrical grid in many parts of the world. People use this electricity to power everyday items (such as domestic appliances, televisions and lamps) by plugging them into a wall outlet.

The voltage and frequency of electric power differs between regions. In much of the world, a voltage (nominally) of 230 volts and frequency of 50 Hz is used. In North America, the most common combination is 120 V and a frequency of 60 Hz. Other combinations exist, for example, 230 V at 60 Hz. Travellers' portable appliances may be inoperative or damaged by foreign electrical supplies. Non-interchangeable plugs and sockets in different regions provide some protection from accidental use of appliances with incompatible voltage and frequency requirements.

Terminology
In the US, mains electric power is referred to by several names including "utility power", "household power", "household electricity", "house current", "powerline", "domestic power", "wall power", "line power", "wall current", "AC power", "city power", "street power", and "120 (one twenty)".

In the UK, mains electric power is generally referred to as "the mains". More than half of power in Canada is hydroelectricity, and mains electricity is often referred to as "hydro" in some regions of the country. This is also reflected in names of current and historical electricity utilities such as Hydro-Québec, BC Hydro, Manitoba Hydro, Hydro One (Ontario), and Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro.

Power systems
Worldwide, many different mains power systems are found for the operation of household and light commercial electrical appliances and lighting. The different systems are primarily characterized by:
 * Voltage
 * Frequency
 * Plugs and sockets (receptacles or outlets)
 * Earthing system (grounding)
 * Protection against overcurrent damage (e.g., due to short circuit), electric shock, and fire hazards
 * Parameter tolerances.

All these parameters vary among regions. The voltages are generally in the range 100–240 V (always expressed as root-mean-square voltage). The two commonly used frequencies are 50 Hz and 60 Hz. Single-phase or three-phase power is most commonly used today, although two-phase systems were used early in the 20th century. Foreign enclaves, such as large industrial plants or overseas military bases, may have a different standard voltage or frequency from the surrounding areas. Some city areas may use standards different from that of the surrounding countryside (e.g. in Libya). Regions in an effective state of anarchy may have no central electrical authority, with electric power provided by incompatible private sources.

Many other combinations of voltage and utility frequency were formerly used, with frequencies between 25 Hz and 133 Hz and voltages from 100 V to 250 V. Direct current (DC) has been displaced by alternating current (AC) in public power systems, but DC was used especially in some city areas to the end of the 20th century. The modern combinations of 230 V/50 Hz and 120 V/60 Hz, listed in IEC 60038, did not apply in the first few decades of the 20th century and are still not universal. Industrial plants with three-phase power will have different, higher voltages installed for large equipment (and different sockets and plugs), but the common voltages listed here would still be found for lighting and portable equipment.

Common uses of electricity
Electricity is used for lighting, heating, cooling, electric motors and electronic equipment. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has published:

U.S. residential sector electricity consumption by major end uses in 2021
 * 1 Includes televisions, set-top boxes, home theatre systems, DVD players, and video game consoles.
 * 2 Includes desktop and laptop computers, monitors, and networking equipment.
 * 3 Does not include water heating.
 * 4 Includes small electric devices, heating elements, exterior lights, outdoor grills, pool and spa heaters, backup electricity generators, and motors not listed above. Does not include electric vehicle charging.

Electronic appliances such as computers or televisions sets typically use an AC to DC converter or AC adapter to power the device. This is often capable of operation with a wide range of voltage and with both common power frequencies. Other AC applications usually have much more restricted input ranges.

Building wiring
Portable appliances use single-phase electric power, with two or three wired contacts at each outlet. Two wires (neutral and live/active/hot) carry current to operate the device. A third wire, not always present, connects conductive parts of the appliance case to earth ground. This protects users from electric shock if live internal parts accidentally contact the case.

In northern and central Europe, residential electrical supply is commonly 400 V three-phase electric power, which gives 230 V between any single phase and neutral; house wiring may be a mix of three-phase and single-phase circuits, but three-phase residential use is rare in the UK. High-power appliances such as kitchen stoves, water heaters and household power heavy tools like log splitters may be supplied from the 400 V three-phase power supply.

Small portable electrical equipment is connected to the power supply through flexible cables terminated in a plug, which is inserted into a fixed receptacle (socket). Larger household electrical equipment and industrial equipment may be permanently wired to the fixed wiring of the building. For example, in North American homes a window-mounted self-contained air conditioner unit would be connected to a wall plug, whereas the central air conditioning for a whole home would be permanently wired. Larger plug and socket combinations are used for industrial equipment carrying larger currents, higher voltages, or three phase electric power.

Circuit breakers and fuses are used to detect short circuits between the line and neutral or ground wires or the drawing of more current than the wires are rated to handle (overload protection) to prevent overheating and possible fire. These protective devices are usually mounted in a central panel—most commonly a distribution board or consumer unit—in a building, but some wiring systems also provide a protection device at the socket or within the plug. Residual-current devices, also known as ground-fault circuit interrupters and appliance leakage current interrupters, are used to detect ground faults—flow of current in other than the neutral and line wires (like the ground wire or a person). When a ground fault is detected, the device quickly cuts off the circuit.

Voltage levels
Most of the world population (Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and much of South America) use a supply that is within 6% of 230 V. In the United Kingdom the nominal supply voltage is 230 V +10%/−6% to accommodate the fact that most transformers are in fact still set to 240 V. The 230 V standard has become widespread so that 230 V equipment can be used in most parts of the world with the aid of an adapter or a change to the equipment's plug to the standard for the specific country. The United States and Canada use a supply voltage of 120 volts ± 6%. Japan, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, North America, Central America and some parts of northern South America use a voltage between 100 V and 127 V. However, most of the households in Japan equip split-phase electric power like the United States, which can supply 200 V by using reversed phase at the same time. Brazil is unusual in having both 127 V and 220 V systems at 60 Hz and also permitting interchangeable plugs and sockets. Saudi Arabia and Mexico have mixed voltage systems; in residential and light commercial buildings both countries use 127 volts, with 220 volts at 60 Hz in commercial and industrial applications. The Saudi government approved plans in August 2010 to transition the country to a totally 230/400-volt 60 Hz system.

Measuring voltage
A distinction should be made between the voltage at the point of supply (nominal voltage at the point of interconnection between the electrical utility and the user) and the voltage rating of the equipment (utilization or load voltage). Typically the utilization voltage is 3% to 5% lower than the nominal system voltage; for example, a nominal 208 V supply system will be connected to motors with "200 V" on their nameplates. This allows for the voltage drop between equipment and supply. Voltages in this article are the nominal supply voltages and equipment used on these systems will carry slightly lower nameplate voltages. Power distribution system voltage is nearly sinusoidal in nature. Voltages are expressed as root mean square (RMS) voltage. Voltage tolerances are for steady-state operation. Momentary heavy loads, or switching operations in the power distribution network, may cause short-term deviations out of the tolerance band and storms and other unusual conditions may cause even larger transient variations. In general, power supplies derived from large networks with many sources are more stable than those supplied to an isolated community with perhaps only a single generator.

Choice of voltage
The choice of supply voltage is due more to historical reasons than optimization of the electric power distribution system—once a voltage is in use and equipment using this voltage is widespread, changing voltage is a drastic and expensive measure. A 230 V distribution system will use less conductor material than a 120 V system to deliver a given amount of power because the current, and consequently the resistive loss, is lower. While large heating appliances can use smaller conductors at 230 V for the same output rating, few household appliances use anything like the full capacity of the outlet to which they are connected. Minimum wire size for hand-held or portable equipment is usually restricted by the mechanical strength of the conductors.

Many areas, such as the US, which use (nominally) 120 V, make use of three-wire, split-phase 240 V systems to supply large appliances. In this system a 240 V supply has a centre-tapped neutral to give two 120 V supplies which can also supply 240 V to loads connected between the two line wires. Three-phase systems can be connected to give various combinations of voltage, suitable for use by different classes of equipment. Where both single-phase and three-phase loads are served by an electrical system, the system may be labelled with both voltages such as 120/208 or 230/400 V, to show the line-to-neutral voltage and the line-to-line voltage. Large loads are connected for the higher voltage. Other three-phase voltages, up to 830 volts, are occasionally used for special-purpose systems such as oil well pumps. Large industrial motors (say, more than 250 hp or 150 kW) may operate on medium voltage. On 60 Hz systems a standard for medium voltage equipment is 2,400/4,160 V whereas 3,300 V is the common standard for 50 Hz systems.

Standardization
Until 1987, mains voltage in large parts of Europe, including Germany, Austria and Switzerland, was $220 V$ while the UK used $240 V$. Standard ISO IEC 60038:1983 defined the new standard European voltage to be $230 V$. From 1987 onwards, a step-wise shift towards $230 V$ was implemented. From 2009 on, the voltage is permitted to be $230 V$. No change in voltage was required by either the Central European or the UK system, as both 220 V and 240 V fall within the lower 230 V tolerance bands (230 V ±6%). Usually the voltage of 230V ±3% is maintained. Some areas of the UK still have 250 volts for legacy reasons, but these also fall within the 10% tolerance band of 230 volts. In practice, this allowed countries to have supplied the same voltage (220 or 240 V), at least until existing supply transformers are replaced. Equipment (with the exception of filament bulbs) used in these countries is designed to accept any voltage within the specified range.

In 2000, Australia converted to 230 V as the nominal standard with a tolerance of +10%/−6%, this superseding the old 240 V standard, AS 2926-1987. The tolerance was increased in 2022 to ± 10% with the release of AS IEC 60038:2022. The utilization voltage available at an appliance may be below this range, due to voltage drops within the customer installation. As in the UK, 240 V is within the allowable limits and "240 volt" is a synonym for mains in Australian and British English.

In the United States and Canada, national standards specify that the nominal voltage at the source should be 120 V and allow a range of 114 V to 126 V (RMS) (−5% to +5%). Historically, 110 V, 115 V and 117 V have been used at different times and places in North America. Mains power is sometimes spoken of as 110 V; however, 120 V is the nominal voltage.

In Japan, the electrical power supply to households is at 100 and 200 V. Eastern and northern parts of Honshū (including Tokyo) and Hokkaidō have a frequency of 50 Hz, whereas western Honshū (including Nagoya, Osaka, and Hiroshima), Shikoku, Kyūshū and Okinawa operate at 60 Hz. The boundary between the two regions contains four back-to-back high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) substations which interconnect the power between the two grid systems; these are Shin Shinano, Sakuma Dam, Minami-Fukumitsu, and the Higashi-Shimizu Frequency Converter. To accommodate the difference, frequency-sensitive appliances marketed in Japan can often be switched between the two frequencies.

History

The world's first public electricity supply was a water wheel driven system constructed in the small English town of Godalming in 1881. It was an alternating current (AC) system using a Siemens alternator supplying power for both street lights and consumers at two voltages, 250 V for arc lamps, and 40 V for incandescent lamps.

The world's first large scale central plant—Thomas Edison's steam powered station at Holborn Viaduct in London—started operation in January 1882, providing direct current (DC) at 110 V. The Holborn Viaduct station was used as a proof of concept for the construction of the much larger Pearl Street Station in New York, the world's first permanent commercial central power plant. The Pearl Street Station also provided DC at 110 V, considered to be a "safe" voltage for consumers, beginning 4 September 1882.

AC systems started appearing in the US in the mid-1880s, using higher distribution voltage stepped down via transformers to the same 110 V customer utilization voltage that Edison used. In 1883 Edison patented a three–wire distribution system to allow DC generation plants to serve a wider radius of customers to save on copper costs. By connecting two groups of 110 V lamps in series more load could be served by the same size conductors run with 220 V between them; a neutral conductor carried any imbalance of current between the two sub-circuits. AC circuits adopted the same form during the war of the currents, allowing lamps to be run at around 110 V and major appliances to be connected to 220 V. Nominal voltages gradually crept upward to 112 V and 115 V, or even 117 V. After World War II the standard voltage in the U.S. became 117 V, but many areas lagged behind even into the 1960s. In 1954, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) published C84.1 “American National Standard for Electric Power Systems and Equipment – Voltage Ratings (60 Hertz)”. This standard established 120 volt nominal system and two ranges for service voltage and utilization voltage variations. Today, virtually all American homes and businesses have access to 120 and 240 V at 60 Hz. Both voltages are available on the three wires (two "hot" legs of opposite phase and one "neutral" leg).

In 1899, the Berliner Elektrizitäts-Werke (BEW), a Berlin electrical utility, decided to greatly increase its distribution capacity by switching to 220 V nominal distribution, taking advantage of the higher voltage capability of newly developed metal filament lamps. The company was able to offset the cost of converting the customer's equipment by the resulting saving in distribution conductors cost. This became the model for electrical distribution in Germany and the rest of Europe and the 220 V system became common. North American practice remained with voltages near 110 V for lamps.

In the first decade after the introduction of alternating current in the US (from the early 1880s to about 1893) a variety of different frequencies were used, with each electric provider setting their own, so that no single one prevailed. The most common frequency was 133⅓ Hz. The rotation speed of induction generators and motors, the efficiency of transformers, and flickering of carbon arc lamps all played a role in frequency setting. Around 1893 the Westinghouse Electric Company in the United States and AEG in Germany decided to standardize their generation equipment on 60 Hz and 50 Hz respectively, eventually leading to most of the world being supplied at one of these two frequencies. Today most 60 Hz systems deliver nominal 120/240 V, and most 50 Hz nominally 230 V. The significant exceptions are in Brazil, which has a synchronized 60 Hz grid with both 127 V and 220 V as standard voltages in different regions, and Japan, which has two frequencies: 50 Hz for East Japan and 60 Hz for West Japan.

Voltage regulation
To maintain the voltage at the customer's service within the acceptable range, electrical distribution utilities use regulating equipment at electrical substations or along the distribution line. At a substation, the step-down transformer will have an automatic on-load tap changer, allowing the ratio between transmission voltage and distribution voltage to be adjusted in steps. For long (several kilometres) rural distribution circuits, automatic voltage regulators may be mounted on poles of the distribution line. These are autotransformers, again, with on-load tap changers to adjust the ratio depending on the observed voltage changes. At each customer's service, the step-down transformer has up to five taps to allow some range of adjustment, usually ±5% of the nominal voltage. Since these taps are not automatically controlled, they are used only to adjust the long-term average voltage at the service and not to regulate the voltage seen by the utility customer.

Power quality
The stability of the voltage and frequency supplied to customers varies among countries and regions. "Power quality" is a term describing the degree of deviation from the nominal supply voltage and frequency. Short-term surges and drop-outs affect sensitive electronic equipment such as computers and flat-panel displays. Longer-term power outages, brownouts and blackouts and low reliability of supply generally increase costs to customers, who may have to invest in uninterruptible power supply or stand-by generator sets to provide power when the utility supply is unavailable or unusable. Erratic power supply may be a severe economic handicap to businesses and public services which rely on electrical machinery, illumination, climate control and computers. Even the best quality power system may have breakdowns or require servicing. As such, companies, governments and other organizations sometimes have backup generators at sensitive facilities, to ensure that power will be available even in the event of a power outage or black out.

Power quality can also be affected by distortions of the current or voltage waveform in the form of harmonics of the fundamental (supply) frequency, or non-harmonic (inter)modulation distortion such as that caused by electromagnetic interference. In contrast, harmonic distortion is usually caused by conditions of the load or generator. In multi-phase power, phase shift distortions caused by imbalanced loads can occur.

title: Mains electricity