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Cantharellaceae

The Cantharellaceae are a family of fungi in the order Cantharellales. The family contains the chanterelles and related species, a group of fungi that superficially resemble agarics (gilled mushrooms) but have smooth, wrinkled, or gill-like hymenophores (spore-bearing undersurfaces). Species in the family are ectomycorrhizal, forming a mutually beneficial relationship with the roots of trees and other plants. Many of the Cantharellaceae, including the chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius), the Pacific golden chanterelle (Cantharellus formosus), the horn of plenty (Craterellus cornucopioides), and the trumpet chanterelle (Craterellus tubaeformis), are not only edible, but are collected and marketed internationally on a commercial scale.

History
The family was originally described in 1888 by German mycologist Joseph Schröter to accommodate the chanterelles, which at that time were thought to be an evolutionary link between "primitive" Thelephora species with smooth hymenophores (spore-bearing surfaces) and more "advanced" Agaricus species with gilled hymenophores. In 1903, French mycologist René Maire proposed a new classification system that emphasized the possession of "stichic" basidia (basidia with nuclear spindles arranged longitudinally), a characteristic of the Cantharellaceae that linked the family to the Hydnaceae and Clavulinaceae. This led Ernst Albert Gäumann to include the genus Hydnum (the hedgehog fungi) within the Cantharellaceae. In his 1964 survey of fungal families, Dutch mycologist Marinus Anton Donk limited the Cantharellaceae to Cantharellus and Craterellus species, together with some close tropical associates, and this disposition was widely accepted.

Current status
Molecular research, based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences, has confirmed Donk's circumscription of the Cantharellaceae, though the smaller genera have not yet been sequenced. According to a standard 2008 reference work, the family contains 5 genera and over 90 species worldwide.

Description
Fruit bodies of most species in the family are mushroom-like or trumpet-like, with spore-bearing surfaces that are smooth, wrinkled, veined, or gill-like and that are typically decurrent (running down the upper stem). The consistency is fleshy, the hyphal system being monomitic (consisting of generative hyphae only). The basidia are comparatively large and often have more than the standard 4 sterigmata. Spores are smooth and white to yellowish or pinkish in deposit.

Habitat and distribution
All species within the Cantharellaceae are believed to be ectomycorrhizal, forming a mutually beneficial relationships with the roots of living trees and other plants. Basidiocarps typically occur on the ground or in leaf litter in woodland. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, though the majority of species are tropical. Afrocantharellus, segregated as a genus distinct from Cantharellus in 2012, has four species found only in Africa.

Economic importance
Many species of Cantharellus, Craterellus, and Goossensia are edible and several are collected and marketed on a commercial scale. In Europe, the commercial species are Cantharellus cibarius, Craterellus cornucopioides, and Craterellus tubaeformis which are sold fresh, dried, or canned and are either sourced in Europe or imported, mainly from China. Various African Cantharellus species (often collected in miombo woodlands) are also imported into Europe and marketed as "chanterelles". In North America, Cantharellus formosus is an additional, widely marketed species. The global trade in species of the Cantharellaceae has been estimated (2005) to be worth over £1bn (US$1.5bn) per year.

title: Cantharellaceae


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Cantharellales

The Cantharellales are an order of fungi in the class Agaricomycetes. The order includes not only the chanterelles (Cantharellaceae), but also some of the tooth fungi (Hydnaceae), clavarioid fungi (Aphelariaceae and Clavulinaceae), and corticioid fungi (Botryobasidiaceae). Species within the order are variously ectomycorrhizal, saprotrophic, associated with orchids, or facultative plant pathogens. Those of economic importance include edible and commercially collected Cantharellus, Craterellus, and Hydnum species as well as crop pathogens in the genera Ceratobasidium and Thanatephorus/Rhizoctonia.

Taxonomy
The order was originally proposed in 1926 by German mycologist Ernst Albert Gäumann to accommodate species within the phylum Basidiomycota having "stichic" basidia (basidia with nuclear spindles arranged longitudinally). On this basis, he included three families within the Cantharellales: the Cantharellaceae (including the Hydnaceae), the Clavulinaceae, and the Exobasidiaceae. The last group are now placed within the Exobasidiales.

By 1995, the order had been amended (based on micromorphological research) to include not only the Cantharellaceae, but also the Aphelariaceae, Clavariaceae, Clavariadelphaceae, Clavulinaceae, Craterellaceae, Hydnaceae, Physalacriaceae, Pterulaceae, Scutigeraceae, Sparassidaceae, and Typhulaceae.

Current status
Molecular research, based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences, has redefined the Cantharellales. As well as the Cantharellaceae (chanterelles and their allies, inclusive of the Craterellaceae), the order currently comprises fungi with morphologically diverse sporocarps (fruit bodies) within the Aphelariaceae (clavarioid fungi), Botryobasidiaceae (corticioid fungi), Ceratobasidiaceae (heterobasidiomycetes), Clavulinaceae (clavarioid fungi), Hydnaceae (tooth fungi), and Tulasnellaceae (heterobasidiomycetes). The Clavariaceae, Physalacriaceae, Pterulaceae, and Typhulaceae, previously included within the order, are now placed within the Agaricales; the Clavariadelphaceae are now in the Gomphales; the Sparassidaceae in the Polyporales. The Scutigeraceae have been replaced by the Albatrellaceae within the Russulales. According to a 2008 estimate, the order contains 7 families, 38 genera, and 544 species.

Habitat and distribution
Most fungi within the order are ectomycorrhizal, forming mutually beneficial associations with certain trees, shrubs, and other vascular plants. Species in the Botryobasidiaceae are believed to be saprotrophs of fallen wood and leaf litter. Species in the Ceratobasidiaceae are also saprotrophs, but some are capable of becoming facultative plant pathogens. Species in the Tulasnellaceae are saprotrophic, but are also associated with orchid mycorrhiza, as are some species in the Ceratobasidiaceae. Distribution is cosmopolitan.

Economic importance
Sporocarps (fruit bodies) of chanterelles and some Hydnum species, particularly Hydnum repandum, are edible and widely collected on a commercial scale. They are marketed fresh or processed and traded internationally. Several species in the Ceratobasidiaceae, notably Rhizoctonia solani, cause significant diseases of cereals and other commercial crops, as well as turf grass.

Genera incertae sedis
Some genera of the Cantharellales have not been assigned to any family, i.e., they are incertae sedis with respect to familial placement:
 * Burgella Diederich & Lawrey (2007)
 * Minimedusa Weresub & P.M.LeClair (1971)
 * Odontiochaete Rick (1940)
 * Radulochaete Rick (1940)

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

title: Cantharellales


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Sandy Rass

Sandy Rass is a British government statistician and a British songwriter/producer of Fast Food Rockers and others, and a singer, dancer and actor. He was born in London and trained at the Royal Ballet School for 3 years and then at Italia Conti Academy for a further 3 years as a singer/dancer/actor. As a performer, Rass starred in the West End musicals Starlight Express and Cats, and played leading roles in the UK tours of 42nd Street, What a Feeling! and Living La Vida Loca. He was a backing dancer for numerous pop artists, most notably appearing with Diana Ross at Wembley Stadium, and fronting the pop act Reel 2 Real ("I Like to Move It") on the Smash Hits Tour alongside other major British and international pop acts.

During his varied career he also featured appearances in operas such as The Mikado with the ENO at the Coliseum, La Bohème at the Royal Albert Hall, and The Bartered Bride and Tales of Hoffmann with the Royal Opera Company, before making his name as a pop songwriter.

Writing with Mike Stock of Stock Aitken Waterman, Sandy most notably co-wrote and co-produced "The Fast Food Song" by The Fast Food Rockers - one of the biggest hits of 2003.

He is also known for his work as Musical Supervisor and Musical Arranger on the Singapore Repertory Theatre production of They're Playing Our Song, starring Lea Salonga both in Singapore and Manila in 1999 and 2000, and having radically reworked the musical arrangements of the 1999 London version of Oscar winner Stephen Schwartz's Pippin at the Bridewell Theatre.

Among others, Sandy worked with Nick Bridges from Ministry of Sound, Jon Pearn of Full Intention and Amanda Wilson from Freemasons - the singer of hits "Love on my Mind, "Watchin'", and "Bromance", writing and co-producing the classic Hed Kandi club hit "Intoxicated" performed by R.A.W. featuring Amanda Wilson.

title: Sandy Rass


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Talk:Brain's Faggots

I suspect the bit on the origin of the name is just a joke: Google search brings up this, which calls them Mr. Brain's Faggots. Evercat 23:35 27 Jul 2003 (UTC)

 * Judging by what I see when I go shopping, faggots are freely available from many butchers, including Tesco, with no mention of a brand name. I suspect there are also other brands besides Brain's -- they just happen to be the best known. As this is an article about a commercial product, shouldn't it be "Brain's Faggots" rather than "Brain's faggots"? Deb 16:40 28 Jul 2003 (UTC)

 * This is hilariuos. Keep. (Pre-emptive strike)--Planetary 07:43, 17 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Merge, hardly enough in either article. HawkerTyphoon 11:46, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

title: Talk:Brain's Faggots


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Leo Africanus

Johannes Leo Africanus (born al-Hasan Muhammad al-Wazzan al-Fasi, الحسن محمد الوزان الفاسي; c. 1494 – c. 1554) was an Andalusi diplomat and author who is best known for his 1526 book Cosmographia et geographia de Affrica, later published by Giovanni Battista Ramusio as Descrittione dell'Africa (Description of Africa) in 1550, centered on the geography of the Maghreb and Nile Valley. The book was regarded among his scholarly peers in Europe as the most authoritative treatise on the subject until the modern exploration of Africa. For this work, Leo became a household name among European geographers. He converted from Islam to Christianity and changed his name to Johannes Leo de Medicis (يوحنا الأسد). Leo possibly returned to North Africa in 1528, reverting back to Islam.

Biography
Most of what is known about his life is gathered from autobiographical notes in his own work. Leo Africanus was an Arab born as al-Hasan, son of Muhammad in Granada around the year 1494. The year of birth can be estimated from his self-reported age at the time of various historical events. His family moved to Fez soon after his birth. In Fez he studied at the University of al-Qarawiyyin (also spelled al-Karaouine). As a young man he accompanied an uncle on a diplomatic mission, reaching as far as the city of Timbuktu (c. 1510), then part of the Songhai Empire. In 1517 when returning from a diplomatic mission to Constantinople on behalf of the Sultan of Fez Muhammad II he found himself in the port of Rosetta during the Ottoman conquest of Egypt. He continued with his journey through Cairo and Aswan and across the Red Sea to Arabia, where he probably performed a pilgrimage to Mecca.

On his way back to Tunis in 1518 he was captured by Spanish corsairs either near the island of Djerba or more probably near Crete, and imprisoned on the island of Rhodes, the headquarters of the Knights Hospitaller. The usual fate of unransomed Muslim captives was slavery in Christian galleys, but when his captors realized his intelligence and importance, he was moved to the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome and presented to Pope Leo X. He was soon freed and given a pension to persuade him to stay. He was baptized in the Basilica of Saint Peter's in 1520. He took the Latin name Johannes Leo de Medicis (Giovanni Leone in Italian). In Arabic, he preferred to translate this name as Yuhanna al-Asad al-Gharnati (literally means John the Lion of Granada). It is likely that Leo Africanus was welcomed to the papal court as the Pope feared that Turkish forces might invade Sicily and southern Italy, and a willing collaborator could provide useful information on North Africa.

Leo Africanus left Rome and spent the next three or four years traveling in Italy. The death of his patron Leo X in 1521, and suspicions from the new Pope Adrian VI against a Muslim in court, was likely the reason for his leaving Rome. While staying in Bologna he wrote an Arabic-Hebrew-Latin medical vocabulary, of which only the Arabic part has survived, and a grammar of Arabic of which only an eight-page fragment has survived. He returned to Rome in 1526 under the protection of the new Pope Clement VII, a cousin of Leo X who replaced Adrian. According to Leo, he completed his manuscript on African geography in the same year. The work was published in Italian with the title Della descrittione dell'Africa et delle cose notabili che ivi sono, per Giovan Lioni Africano in 1550 by the Venetian publisher Giovanni Battista Ramusio. The book proved to be extremely popular and was reprinted five times. It was also translated into other languages. French and Latin editions were published in 1556 while an English version was published in 1600 with the title A Geographical Historie of Africa. The Latin edition, which contained many errors and mistranslations, was used as the source for the English translation.

There are several theories of his later life, but none of them are certain. According to one theory, he spent it in Rome until he died around 1550, the year Description of Africa was published. This theory was based on indirect allusion in a later preface to this book. According to another theory, he left shortly before the Sack of Rome by Charles V's troops in 1527. He then returned to North Africa and lived in Tunis until his death, some time after 1550. This was based on records by German orientalist Johann Albrecht Widmannstetter, who arrived in Italy and planned (but ultimately failed) to travel to Tunis to meet Leo who had since reconverted to Islam. Yet another theory said that he left Tunis after it was captured by Charles V in 1535 for Morocco, his second home country after Granada where his relatives were still living. This was based on the assumption that Leo, having left Granada, would not have wanted to live under Christian Spanish rule again, and his wish (recorded in Description of Africa) that he wanted to ultimately return to his home country "by God's assistance".

Veracity of Africa trip
It is unlikely that Leo Africanus visited all the places that he describes and he must therefore have relied on information obtained from other travellers. It is doubtful whether he visited Hausaland and Bornu and it is even possible that he never crossed the Sahara but relied on information from other travellers that he met in Morocco. The historian Pekka Masonen has argued that the belief of his further travels was based on misreadings by modern scholars who interpreted his book as an itinerary. At the time Leo visited the city of Timbuktu, it was a thriving Islamic city famous for its learning. Home to many scholars and learned men, Timbuktu also possessed a Great Mosque, renowned for its expansive library. The town was to become a byword in Europe as the most inaccessible of cities. At the time of Leo's journey there, it was the centre of a busy trade carried on by traders in African products, gold, printed cottons, slaves and in Islamic books.

Name
In an autograph in one of his surviving manuscripts, a fragment of an Arabic-Hebrew-Latin medical vocabulary he wrote for the Jewish physician Jacob Mantino, he signed his name in Arabic as Yuhanna al-Asad al-Gharnati (literally means John the Lion of Granada), a translation of his Christian name, John-Leo, or Johannes Leo (Latin), or Giovanni Leone (Italian). He was also given the family name Medici after his patron, Pope Leo X's family. The same manuscript also contained his original name al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan al-Fasi. al-Hasan ibn Muhammad was a patronymic name meaning "al-Hasan, son of Muhammad", and al-Fasi is the Arabic demonym for someone from Fez, Morocco.

Works
Cosmographia et geographia de Affrica, later published by Giovanni Battista Ramusio as Description of Africa in 1550, is Leo's most famous work. He wrote an Arabic-Hebrew-Latin medical vocabulary for the Jewish physician Jacob Mantino. He also wrote an Arabic translation of the Epistles of St. Paul, which is dated in January 1521; the manuscript belongs to the Biblioteca Estense in Modena. Another surviving work is a biographical encyclopedia of 25 major Islamic scholars and 5 major Jewish scholars which was completed in Rome before he left the city in 1527 and published for the first time in Latin by Johann Heinrich Hottinger in 1664. Unlike Description of Africa, this biographical work was hardly noticed in Europe; the book contains various erroneous information, likely due to his lack of sources when he was in Italy, forcing him to rely on memory. In Description of Africa, he referred to plans to write other books. He planned two descriptions of places, one for the Middle East and another for Europe. He also planned to write an exposition of the Islamic faith and a history of North Africa. None of these books survived nor has there been any proof that he completed them, which might have been due to his possible return to North Africa.

References in media
A fictionalized account of his life, Leo Africanus, by the Lebanese-French author Amin Maalouf, fills in key gaps in the story and places Leo Africanus in prominent events of his time.

The BBC produced a documentary about his life called "Leo Africanus: A Man Between Worlds" in 2011. It was presented by Badr Sayegh and directed by Jeremy Jeffs. The film followed in Leo's footsteps from Granada, through Fez and Timbuktu, all the way to Rome.

It has been suggested that William Shakespeare may have drawn on Leo Africanus' book when preparing to write Othello.

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The Skin Game (1931 film)

The Skin Game is a 1931 British drama film by Alfred Hitchcock, based on the 1920 play by John Galsworthy and produced by British International Pictures. The story revolves around two rival families, the Hillcrists and the Hornblowers, and the disastrous results of the feud between them.

Edmund Gwenn and Helen Haye reprised their respective roles as Mr. Hornblower and Mrs. Hillcrist from the 1921 silent version.

Plot
The plot concerns a feud between the long-established (upper class) Hillcrists, played by C.V. France, Helen Haye, and Jill Esmond, and the nouveau riche (formerly working class) Hornblowers, played by Edmund Gwenn, John Longden, Phyllis Konstam, and Frank Lawton. Underlying themes in the story include class warfare and the results of avarice.

For his love of riches, Mr. Hornblower coldly enjoys a "skin game" of buying up land under false pretenses of letting the tenant farmers remain and then booting them out, in order to build factories. The Hillcrists learn of this and regret selling some land to him; in turn Hornblower considers them snobs, and taunts them with his plans to buy the picturesque countryside adjoining their rural estate which is due to be auctioned off. Visions of factories spewing smoke where a magnificent landscape has been maturing for several generations torment the Hillcrists.

At the auction, the Hillcrists are outbid, then learn it was by Hornblower's agent. But Hillcrist employee Dawker learns a dark secret about the past life of Hornblower's now pregnant daughter-in-law Chloe, wife of Charles Hornblower. The Hillcrists confront Chloe and elder Hornblower together, and prove their case with witnesses. They are prepared to use the information, unless Hornblower agrees to deed the land to them. Reluctantly he agrees, making them swear to silence on a Bible. But now, townspeople are already gossiping and Charles has become suspicious. Chloe, terrified that this secret threatens her marriage, goes to the Hillcrist home to beg them to make up a story to tell Charles.

At that point, Charles is announced and Chloe jumps behind a curtain. Charles has already beaten the secret out of Dawker, and declares that he intends to end his marriage. Off-camera, Chloe had left through a door behind the curtain, and in short order, had drowned herself. Mrs. Hillcrist, although upset with Dawker for breaking the vow of silence, pulls the property deed out of the desk and gives it to him for safekeeping ... he puts it in his outer pocket, clearly visible. The elder Hornblower then arrives in a fury and wrestles the deed from Dawker.

Chloe's body is brought in. Hornblower rages that Hillcrist has destroyed him and his family completely, and he will exact revenge. A last brief, poignant scene shows a prominent large tree on the land behind the Hillcrist house being felled by a work crew using a two-man saw.

Cast (in credits order)

 * C. V. France as Jack Hillcrist – the Hillcrists
 * Helen Haye as Ivy Hillcrist – the Hillcrists
 * Jill Esmond as Jill – the Hillcrists
 * Edmund Gwenn as Mr Hornblower – the Hornblowers
 * John Longden as Charles – the Hornblowers
 * Phyllis Konstam as Chloe – the Hornblowers
 * Frank Lawton as Rolf – the Hornblowers
 * Herbert Ross as the Jackmans
 * Dora Gregory as the Jackmans
 * Edward Chapman as Dawker
 * R.E. Jeffrey as First Stranger
 * George Bancroft as Second Stranger
 * Ronald Frankau as Auctioneer

Copyright status and home media
The Skin Game, like all of Hitchcock's other British films, is copyrighted worldwide but has been heavily bootlegged on home video. Despite this, various licensed, restored releases have appeared on DVD, Blu-ray, and video on demand services from Optimum in the UK, Lionsgate and Kino Lorber in the US, and many others.

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an aggregated score of 38% based on 3 positive and 5 negative critic reviews.

title: The Skin Game (1931 film)


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Fast Food Song

"Fast Food Song" is a song made famous by British-based band Fast Food Rockers, although it existed long before they recorded it, as a popular children's playground song. The chorus is based on the Moroccan folk tune "A Ram Sam Sam" and mentions fast food restaurants McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut.

The song was released on 16 June 2003 as the lead single from their album It's Never Easy Being Cheesy. The song was highly successful in the United Kingdom, reaching number two on the UK Singles Chart and number one on the Scottish Singles Chart. The song also achieved minor chart success worldwide and reached number 24 on the Irish Charts and number 56 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart. The song was co-written and produced by Mike Stock.

The original version of this song was written and recorded in Dutch by Eric Dikeb, called "Pizza-ha-ha", even though it is better known as "De Pizza Hut". "Fast Food Song" is only one of the many adaptations of the Dutch original. Other versions include "De pizza dans" by Dynamite, which was a number-one hit in Belgium's Flanders region, and "Burger Dance" by DJ Ötzi and Dikeb, which reached number one in Germany.

Track listings
All tracks were written by Mike Stock, Steve Crosby, Sandy Rass, Eric Dikeb, Martin Neumayer, and Bob Patmore.

UK CD single and Dutch maxi-CD single
 * 1) "Fast Food Song" ('Deep Pan' radio mix) – 3:10
 * 2) "Fast Food Song" (Extra Large 'Deep Pan' radio mix) – 4:16
 * 3) "Fast Food Song" (Shanghai Surprise 'Go Large' club mix) – 6:05
 * 4) "Fast Food Song" (Sing-A-Long-A-Fast-Food) – 3:08
 * 5) "Fast Food Song" (video)

UK cassette single
 * 1) "Fast Food Song" ('Deep Pan' radio mix) – 3:10
 * 2) "Fast Food Song" (Sing-A-Long-A-Fast-Food) – 3:08

DJ Ötzi version
A version recorded by Austrian singer DJ Ötzi featuring Eric Dikeb was released in July 2003 titled "Burger Dance". It reached number one in Germany, number three in Austria, and number seven in Switzerland.

The song is based on the original Dutch "Pizza ha-ha", including the parts that invite audience participation. It therefore also uses samples of "A Ram Sam Sam" and some sections of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" particularly "Glory Glory Hallelujah".

Track listing
German maxi-CD single
 * 1) "Burger Dance" (party version) – 3:24
 * 2) "Summer of '69" – 3:21
 * 3) "Burger Dance" (international remix) – 3:17
 * 4) "Burger Dance" (single version) – 3:42
 * 5) "Burger Dance" (karaoke version) – 3:24

title: Fast Food Song


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Mike Stock (musician)

Michael Stock (born 3 December 1951) is an English songwriter, record producer, musician, and member of the songwriting and production trio Stock Aitken Waterman. He has been responsible for over a hundred top-40 hits in the UK, including 16 Number One's and is recognised as one of the most successful songwriters of all time by the Guinness World Records. As part of Stock Aitken Waterman in the 1980s and 90s, he holds the UK record of 11 number one records with different acts. In the UK Singles Chart he has written 54 top-ten hits including 7 number ones.

Biography
Stock was born in Margate, Kent, England in 1951 and grew up in Swanley, Kent. He attended White Oak primary school and Swanley comprehensive school. At Swanley school he was involved in several school variety productions. He was self-taught in playing the piano and guitar and began writing songs at the age of seven. Inspired by The Beatles, he soon became fixated with pop music and put together his first band at age 13, playing bass guitar and singing. Fascinated by the popular songwriting styles of Rodgers and Hammerstein, and writers such as Irving Berlin and the energy and freshness of The Beatles, he established a deep love of pop music. Stock signed a publishing contract when he was nineteen after earning a reputation as a budding songwriter, although no one had suggested a full-time career in the music world was a possibility.

In 1970 Stock earned a placement at the University of Hull to study Drama and Theology and formed a band with a fellow student, the future film director, Anthony Minghella. Whilst at Hull, Stock met his wife Bobbie and left university when she graduated to concentrate his efforts in making it in music. In 1975 they married and soon after, sold their house in Bury, Lancashire to move back south Stock played his first paid, solo gig at Aveley Working Men's Club in Essex in 1976, earning twenty five pounds. By the late 1970s Stock, now living in Blackheath, South London, was performing up and down the country. Performing solo, in a duo or with bands Mirage and Nightwork, Stock gained a good reputation for his live performances and was regularly booked for venues like the Hilton Hotel, Grosvenor House and the Dorchester in Mayfair. Throughout 1979 to 1981 Stock was gigging every night of the week in various bands embracing pop, dance, old standards, rock or funk.

Stock's band had gone through several guitar players before he was alerted to Matt Aitken; a guitarist who had been spotted by another member of his band working on a cruise ship. Stock contacted Aitken to offer him a role in the band. Playing on cruise ships and in various bands of his own, Aitken was an accomplished guitarist whose style could adapt to any type of music. In 1982 Stock moved to Abbey Wood, South London where, along with Aitken he acquired a recording desk and tape machine and formed his first record label. During the break of one of Mirage's sets on New Year's Eve 1983, Stock informed the band he would be leaving and was going into the studio to pursue his career as a songwriter and producer. Aitken agreed to join him and from January 1984 onwards the pair worked exclusively in recording studios.

Formation and Early Hits: Divine, Hazell Dean, Dead or Alive (1984–1985)
Stock had briefly worked with Pete Waterman in 1980 when John Milton, Mark Stock and Mike wrote a song – "One Nine for a Lady Breaker" – for a CB radio club. A version of the track found its way to Pete Waterman who managed Peter Collins, then a successful producer with acts like Musical Youth and Nik Kershaw. The track was re-recorded and produced by Collins; Stock sang on the track under the alias Chris Britton. In January 1984 Stock and Aitken arranged to meet Waterman at his office in the Stiff Records building, Camden Town. Waterman was seeking a new partnership and in February 1984 they went into the Marquee Studio in Wardour Street Soho to record the song "The Upstroke" for 'Agents Aren't Aeroplanes'- a front for their concept of a female Frankie Goes To Hollywood. The record was released on Proto Records run by Barry Evangeli and Nick East and distributed by RCA. "The Upstroke" achieved popularity in the gay clubs and discos where many new records were being found and subsequently promoted into the mainstream as Hi-NRG.

In 1983 Stock had been approached by Andy Paul, a Greek Cypriot, to write a song for Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest. "Anna Maria Lena" was voted by the Cypriot public to represent their country in the competition and the re-recorded version would be Stock and Aitken's second collaboration with Waterman. The team were then asked to produce a song for Divine and they recorded "You Think You're a Man" at the Marquee Studio, which was released by Proto Records in July 1984 reaching number 16 on the UK Singles Chart. Soon after, the team recorded Hazell Dean's "Whatever I Do, (Wherever I Go)". The song became Stock Aitken Waterman's first top 10 hit, reaching number 4 in the UK. In September 1984 they were approached by Dead or Alive to produce the song "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)", which became SAW's first UK number 1 in March 1985.

The Hit Factory: Bananarama, Mel and Kim, Princess (1985–1986)
In 1985 the trio built a new studio at 'The Vineyard' recording studio complex, The Borough, that would later be dubbed 'The Hit Factory'. Whilst working with the band Brilliant, Stock wrote a song for their backing singer Desiree Heslop called "Say I'm Your Number One", which became a hit in the UK under her stage name 'Princess'. Towards the end of 1985 the group Bananarama approached SAW to record a cover of Shocking Blue's "Venus". The track became a huge hit in the UK and went to No. 1 in America in July 1986. Bananarama would continue to enjoy success with SAW with hits such as "Love in the First Degree", "I Heard a Rumour" and "I Want You Back". In 1986 Mel and Kim's first single "Showing Out (Get Fresh at the Weekend)" went to number 3 in the UK charts and their follow-up "Respectable" reached number 1. 1

Rick Astley, Ferry Aid (1987)
In 1987, Rick Astley recorded what would arguably be the team's biggest hit - "Never Gonna Give You Up", though initially Stock and Aitken were unsure of its appeal with Astley's strong but unorthodox voice. When it was released by RCA, "Never Gonna Give You Up" went straight to No. 1 in 17 different countries including America and the UK where it became the biggest selling record of 1987. Astley's fourth single, "Together Forever" also topped the Billboard Hot 100. That year SAW produced "Let It Be" in aid of the victims involved in the Zeebrugge Ferry disaster, and Stock got the chance to work with his musical inspiration Paul McCartney whose original recordings of the Beatles classic were sent to the production team by producer George Martin. "Let It Be" went straight to No. 1 where it stayed for three weeks, knocking Stock's own "Respectable" by Mel and Kim off the top spot. Two years later Stock would again collaborate with McCartney on the Gerry and the Pacemakers hit - "Ferry Cross the Mersey", recorded to raise funds for the victims and their families of the Hillsborough Disaster in 1989 which also went straight to No. 1.

Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Band Aid II (1988–1989)
In 1987 Pete Waterman formed PWL the in-house label of SAW and one of the first artists to be released on the label was Australian soap star, Kylie Minogue. Stock was informed by Minogue's manager, Terry Blamey, that she had been in London for ten days waiting to work with SAW though Waterman had not informed Stock. By the time Minogue entered the studio she was due on a plane back to Australia later that day. In 40 minutes Stock and Aitken had written the song, "I Should Be So Lucky", recorded a backing track and Minogue's vocals. "I Should Be So Lucky" was released by PWL in February 1988 and climbed to the No. 1 spot in March where it stayed for five weeks, the joint longest running No. 1 of 1988. It also went to number 1 in 25 other territories including Minogue's native Australia. With demand for a follow-up single, Minogue was not keen on returning to England to work with SAW again after the rushed treatment she had received. Stock flew to Australia to meet Minogue and her parents at her home to apologise and successfully convinced her to record a follow-up single "Got to Be Certain", which reached No. 2 in the UK charts. When her debut album Kylie was released in August 1988 it sold 2.8 million copies and she spent more weeks on the singles chart than any other artist. Minogue went on to record three more studio albums with SAW, scoring 15 successive top 10 hits including "Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi", "Hand on Your Heart", "Wouldn't Change a Thing", "Tears on My Pillow", "Better the Devil You Know" and "Shocked", among many others.

Soon after, Jason Donovan's first single, "Nothing Can Divide Us", became a top-five hit. Donovan's next single, "Especially for You", a duet with Kylie Minogue, went to number 1 in January 1989. A duet had not initially been planned by SAW until retailer Woolworth's had taken huge orders for hundreds of thousands before the song had even been written. Stock wrote "Especially for You", sang the demo with a SAW backing singer and Aitken flew to Australia to record Minogue and Donovan's vocals in time for a Christmas release. Donovan returned to the studio to record the song "Too Many Broken Hearts", which went to number 1 in March 1989. His debut album Ten Good Reasons also held to the top spot for three weeks, selling 1.5 million copies. Donovan went on to have numerous hits with SAW, including the number-one hit "Sealed with a Kiss", "Every Day (I Love You More)", and the Christmas number-two record "When You Come Back to Me", kept off the top spot by the Band Aid II record – "Do They Know It's Christmas?", also produced by Stock Aitken and Waterman.

Donna Summer, Cliff Richard and later work (1989–1993)
1989 became Stock Aitken and Waterman's most successful year having helmed seven UK number ones (a feat equalled only by George Martin in 1963) and 15 top 5s. During 1989 Stock wrote and produced over seven albums' worth of material for artists such as Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Bananarama, Donna Summer, Cliff Richard and Paul McCartney. The team supplied Donna Summer with her most successful hit single since the 1970s with "This Time I Know It's for Real" and Cliff Richard's No. 3 "I Just Don't Have the Heart". SAW also gave 18-year-old singer Sonia a debut No. 1 with "You'll Never Stop Me Loving You". Stock became the first person to receive the Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year three times in a row between 1988 and 1990. In 1990 SAW picked up three "Ivors": for Songwriter of the Year, Most Performed Work for Donna Summer's "This Time I Know It's for Real" and Best Selling A-Side for Jason Donovan's "Too Many Broken Hearts". They received the Brit Award for Best Producers in 1987, eight 'Ivor Novellos' many Music Week awards and more. Despite continued success in the '90s with the likes of Minogue's "Better the Devil You Know", "Step Back in Time" and "Shocked", and Lonnie Gordon's "Happenin' All Over Again", the partnership began to disband. When Aitken left in 1991 Stock stayed with Waterman to write and produce Minogue's fourth album, Let's Get to It, Sybil's 1993 hits, "The Love I Lost" and "When I'm Good and Ready", and Boy Krazy's "That's What Love Can Do" went top 20 in the US. Later that year, Stock ended his relationship with Waterman; by the end of their partnership, Stock had written and/or produced over three hundred top 75 hits and over thirty platinum-selling albums.

Post-SAW
In 1993 Stock formed 'Love This Records', and built a brand new multimillion-pound recording studio in London. The first record released with 'Love This Records' was a dance cover of the track "Total Eclipse of the Heart". It was a worldwide hit for Nicki French, reaching No. 2 in America and No. 1 in seven countries selling over 2 million copies. In 1994 Simon Cowell asked Stock to produce the record for the popular kid's TV show 'Mighty Morphin Power Rangers' which was a top 5 hit in the UK. Cowell had worked with Stock on previous occasions with artists such as Sinitta, for whom Stock wrote and produced various hits like "Toy Boy" in 1987. Stock again collaborated with Cowell in 1993 on the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) album Wrestlemania which spawned the No. 4 hit "Slam Jam".

In 1994 Stock produced several artists for Simon Cowell including Kym Mazelle, Jocelyn Brown and Robson and Jerome. Their cover of "Unchained Melody" produced by Stock and Aitken became the highest selling non-charity single of the decade, remaining at No. 1 for 7 weeks in 1995 selling 2.5 million copies. Stock produced a further two No. 1 singles with Robson and Jerome and two No. 1 albums.

After several years producing hits for Stock's own label 'Love This Records' and with Simon Cowell for BMG/RCA, the structural integrity of Stock's studio became compromised by the tunnelling of the Jubilee Line extension, and the damage forced Stock to pursue legal action against London Underground. As a result, Stock was forced to pull out of a joint deal with Cowell and BMG to produce several artists including the band Westlife in 1996.

In 1997, Stock produced a version of "You Can Do Magic" (the biggest of three hit singles Limmie & Family Cookin' had in the UK charts in the 1970s) under the name The Mojams, for an investigation on ITV programme The Cook Report into chart rigging. Fronted by Edwina Currie's daughter Debbie (then a trainee journalist for the production company Central Television), the single, credited to The Mojams featuring Debbie Currie, was released by Gotham Records and peaked at number 86 in the UK singles chart. Stock got involved in the investigation after a number of his records' sales had been disqualified from the UK singles chart with Love This Records having been seen as a company involved in chart hyping/chart rigging by the BPI (in regards to the Top 40 hit "Santa Maria" by Tatjana Šimić).

In 1998 Stock and Aitken teamed up with Steve Crosby who had created the group Steps, to form the band Scooch. Their first single "When My Baby" reached No. 29 and their follow up, "More Than I Needed to Know", was a top 5 hit in the UK in 2000 and went to No. 1 in Japan. Scooch's album Four Sure spawned two more top 20 singles. Stock also scored a top 20 with "Airhead" by girl band Girls@Play, with EastEnders' star Rita Simons that toured with Steps.

In 2003 Stock formed the label Better the Devil Records and had a huge hit with the "Fast Food Song" reaching #2 in the UK Charts and selling 200,000 CD singles. Stock wrote and produced two further singles for the Fast Food Rockers including the top 10 "Smile Please".

Recent
In 2005 Stock briefly teamed up with Pete Waterman to write and produce a single for The Sheilas, a novelty group created by the Sheilas' Wheels car insurance brand and again in 2010, collaborating on the UK's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest, "That Sounds Good To Me".

Most recently Stock formed the company 'The Show 4 Kids'. Stock created the pop musical-The Go!Go!Go! Show with Steve Crosby to popular and critical acclaim, featuring new songs written and produced by Stock and Crosby. [http://www.gogogo.tv The Go!Go!Go! Show] debuted at the Leicester Square Theatre, London in July 2010 and was performed daily at Alton Towers through the entirety of their 2011 season as their resident attraction. During the summer of 2011 [http://www.gogogo.tv The Go!Go!Go! Show] began a regional tour of theatres across the UK finishing at the Garrick Theatre, London in October.

In summer 2012 The Go!Go!Go! Show debuted a new live show at the Empire Cinema in London's Leicester Square. It marked the first time in over 50 years that the famous venue has hosted live entertainment. Later that year The Go!Go!Go! Show was commissioned by Nickelodeon for television. It will air on UK channel Nick Jr from April 2013.

In 2013, Stock worked on a cartoon character called The Retrobot, which was an 80's robot who was fed up with modern culture. That Christmas, the character released a song called "Christmas Robot" which went viral, but did not compete for the Christmas chart. The Retrobot did parody covers, a Radio 1 Live Lounge version of "Christmas Robot", and, a short time afterwards, a short lived comedy news channel.

In 2014, Stock worked with Shayne Ward on his comeback album Closer. Stock co-wrote and produced all 14 tracks on the album. Closer was released on 12 April 2015 reaching number 17 in the UK charts and hit Number 2 on the UK Independent Album Charts.

Summer 2015 also showed renewed work with Nicki French with the single "This Love".

In December 2015 Stock Aitken Waterman teamed up to produce a remix of Kylie Minogue's Every Day's Like Christmas in the style of Minogue's earlier hits with the trio. It was received very well by fans and critics. Rob Corpsey from The Official Chart Company stated "OK so this is pretty much the Christmas song to end all Christmas songs; a massive sugar rush of classic, candy-coated late 80s pop wrapped up in a big shiny red bow. Oh, and did we mention Kylie's singing on it?" He concluded "it's no wonder this latest offering is so good, because they've clearly got chemistry. We can't get enough of this and we reckon you'll feel the same..."

In 2016 Stock confirmed that he was working with young singer Chloe Rose on a single for NSPCC's ChildLine 30 year anniversary. Stock agreed to produce the single as he had also written and produced the very first Childline single "You've Got A Friend" by Big Fun & Sonia. The song "For Me" was performed first at England Captain Wayne Rooney's testimonial match at Old Trafford on 3 August and released on 9 September in aid of the Wayne Rooney Foundation supporting NSPCC and ChildLine. The music video "For Me" premiered on Rose's VEVO channel on 15 August.

In 2017 Stock worked with The Fizz (formerly Bucks Fizz). Stock co-wrote and produced the album The F-Z of Pop - the group's first studio album in over 33 years. It was released in September 2017 and charted at #25 in the UK charts and #6 in the UK independent Charts.

Stock has subsequently produced two further albums with The Fizz including Christmas With The Fizz in 2018 and Smoke & Mirrors in 2020. On 6 March 2020 the album was released and entered the overall Official Albums Chart at No.29, the UK Sales Chart at No.6, the UK Vinyl Chart at No.5 and the Independent Chart at No.3. The album also scored the No.6 position on the Official Scottish Album Charts.

Of the album Classic Pop Magazine said "The Fizz are back firing on all cylinders with Smoke & Mirrors – an album of shiny new pop bangers, the latest fruit of a fertile collaboration with legendary hitmaker Mike Stock". Commenting on the songs, it said that "All We Ever Can Do" and "Boomerang" illustrate the group's "extraordinary resilience", while "The World We Left Behind" sees them "laying to rest a few old ghosts".

title: Mike Stock (musician)


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Maria, Queen of Sicily

Maria (2 July 1363 – 25 May 1401) was Queen of Sicily and Duchess of Athens and Neopatria from 1377 until her death.

Accession to the Sicilian Throne
Born in Catania, Maria was the daughter and heir of Frederick the Simple by his first wife Constance of Aragon. After her father's death in 1377, she ascended the Sicilian throne. Her government, however, was effectively taken over. She was only thirteen years old at the time, and the four baronial families who claimed her power styled themselves "vicars."

One of the Vicars, Artale Alagona, was previously named regent by Maria's father. In 1360—seventeen years before Queen Maria's ascension—Alagona had burnt and razed to the ground Augusta, an important fortified city, using forces from Syracuse and Catania. However, Alagona's regency failed because of conflicts between the "Sicilian" and "Aragonese" parties, and he was forced to form a government with three other Vicars instead. The four baronial families were chosen to represent and equally distribute power between the Sicilian and Aragonese factions.

Unrest during the Vicars' Reign
Starting in 1377, the Kingdom of Sicily was ruled by four Vicars: Artale I Alagona, Count of Mistretta, Francesco II Ventimiglia, Count of Geraci, Manfredi III Chiaramonte, Count of Modica, and Guglielmo Peralta, Count of Caltabellotta. The composition of the college of Vicars was intended to include a parity of exponents of the "Sicilian" and "Aragonese" parties. However, the four men ruled effectively in their separate baronial lands alone. In 1379, Queen Maria was kidnapped by Guglielmo Raimondo III of Moncada, Marquis of Malta and Gozzo, a Sicilian nobleman and member of the Aragonese House of Montcada, who had been specifically excluded from the government by Alagona. Moncada intended to prevent Maria's planned marriage to Giangaleazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan, and held her for two years first at Augusta, then at Licata. Moncada's actions had been approved by Maria's grandfather, King Peter IV of Aragon, but naturally provoked opposition, particularly by his rivals Alagona and Chiaramonte, who proceeded to attack Moncada's fortresses. In 1381, Moncada turned Maria over to the envoys of Peter IV, and in 1382 she was rescued from the advancing forces of Chiaramonte by an Aragonese fleet; she was taken first to Sardinia, then, in 1384, to Aragon, where she was married to Martin the Younger, the grandson of King Peter IV (1390).

Co-reign with Martin the Younger
In 1392 Maria and Martin returned with a military force and defeated the opposing barons, ruling jointly until Maria's death in 1401. At that time, Martin repudiated the Treaty of Villeneuve (1372) and ruled Sicily alone. She also survived their only son, Peter (1398–1400). The kingdom remained without a crown prince and this caused a succession crisis for Martin, who ruled by right of his wife. Frederick the Simple had named his illegitimate son, Guglielmo, Count of Malta, as heir presumptive in the case of the extinction of his daughter's line. Guglielmo had died in c. 1380, but he had a daughter, Giovanna, wife of the Sicilian nobleman Pietro di Gioeni. She, however, cannot have contested her uncle's claim since Martin continued to rule unopposed until his death.

Maria of Sicily died at Lentini in 1401.

title: Maria, Queen of Sicily


text:
Talk:Marshfield (city), Wood County, Wisconsin

There was previously a mix-up in the location of the city of Marshfield, which was listed under Marathon County (there is a part of the city in that county, but it's not listed, apparently it hasn't been harvested by the bot yet(?)). Previously listed under "Marshfield, Wood County" was the township of Marshfield, which is separate from the city.

What I did was move the city into Marshfield (city), Wood county, Wisconsin and change the name of the township to Marshfield (township). I hope this is acceptable formatting.


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Sonia (singer)

Sonia Evans (born 13 February 1971), known mononymously as Sonia, is an English pop singer from Liverpool. She had a 1989 UK number one hit with "You'll Never Stop Me Loving You" and became the first female UK artist to achieve five top 20 hit singles from one album. She represented the United Kingdom in the 1993 Eurovision Song Contest, where she finished second with the song "Better the Devil You Know".

Between 1989 and 1993, she had 11 UK top 30 hits, including "Listen to Your Heart" (1989), "Counting Every Minute" (1990) and "Only Fools (Never Fall in Love)" (1991). In 1994, she starred as Sandy in a West End revival of the musical Grease, while on television she appeared as Bunty in the 1998 BBC comedy series The Lily Savage Show.

Music career
Sonia was signed to Chrysalis Records after badgering Pete Waterman to listen to her sing outside his recording studio in Liverpool. Waterman called her bluff and asked her to sing live on his weekly radio show. Sonia's debut single, "You'll Never Stop Me Loving You", composed and produced by the songwriting and music production trio Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman (Stock Aitken Waterman) was released in June 1989. "You'll Never Stop Me Loving You" peaked at number 1 on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks the following month. At 18, Sonia became one of the youngest female British singers to achieve this feat. The single also topped the Irish chart and reached the top 10 of the US dance chart.

Sonia's debut album, Everybody Knows, was released in April 1990. The album peaked at number 7 in the UK, and was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry. All five singles released from the album became top 20 hits in the UK, making Sonia the first British solo female artist to achieve this. Sonia achieved a sixth top 20 hit in the UK in 1990 with "You've Got a Friend", recorded with the group Big Fun, and released as a charity single for Childline.

Sonia left her record label and released her second, self-titled album in 1991, produced by Nigel Wright. The first single released from it, "Only Fools (Never Fall in Love)" became Sonia's third UK top 10 hit, although the album was less successful than her debut. Sonia also contributed to two charity singles, Band Aid II's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in 1989 (peaked at number 1 in the UK ) and Gulf Aid's "As Time Stood Still" in 1991.

In 1993, Sonia represented the United Kingdom in the 1993 Eurovision Song Contest, singing the Dean Collinson and Brian Teasdale composition "Better the Devil You Know". She was placed second in the contest. Her third album, also titled Better the Devil You Know was released that year and reached number 32 in the UK. Sonia performed the song again on Saturday, 13 May 2023, during the interval at the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool, 30 years after her first appearance. The day before, she also appeared in Hollyoaks (see TV appearances below) performing her iconic Eurovision entry to the cast at an on-screen Eurovision party.

In 1994, Sonia replaced singer Debbie Gibson as Sandy in the West End musical Grease. A cover of "Hopelessly Devoted to You" was released as a tie-in single, but it only peaked at number 61 in the UK. In 1995, Sonia released a cover of "Wake Up Everybody", which did not enter the UK top 100. It was to be the lead single of her fourth album, the soul covers album Love Train – The Philly Album, but Sonia was unhappy with it and it only received a promotional release. Sonia performed a vocal part in Italian Eurobeat singer Nuage's "I'm Never Gonna Let You Down and Forget You", released in Japan in 2004, produced by Dave Rodgers.

Late 2007 saw the release of Sonia's Greatest Hits album. However, this compilation only featured recordings from Sonia's two albums released on BMG. In 2007, prior to Sonia's Greatest Hits release, she recorded two Motown-influenced songs, "Dancing in the Driver's Seat" and "Your Heart or Mine", both of which were written by Barry Upton and U.S. songwriter Gordon Pogoda. However, her record label decided to include no new songs on Greatest Hits so both tracks remained unreleased until 2018. In 2008, Sonia recorded a cover of the Beatles' "She Loves You" for the Liverpool – The Number Ones Album. On 1 June 2009, Sonia released her first single in 14 years, "Fool for Love".

In October 2010, the Everybody Knows album was remastered and re-issued in expanded form, containing two additional tracks, extended versions of her first four singles, and a demo version of "You'll Never Stop Me Loving You". Also in 2010, Sonia's cover version of "You've Got a Friend", a duet with Big Fun, was released on a reissue of the group's debut album. On 21 December 2012, Sonia performed at the Stock Aitken Waterman "Hit Factory Live" reunion concert at The O2 in London, along with many other former SAW acts, including Kylie Minogue.

In summer 2018, in conjunction with her appearance in the Channel 5 program Celebrity 5 Go Caravanning, Sonia's recording of "Dancing in the Driver's Seat", written by Barry Upton and Gordon Pogoda, was released. Another song recorded with Upton and Pogoda in 2007, "Your Heart or Mine", was released in 2018 as its follow-up. Sonia signed a new record deal with Energise Records in 2019, and a new single, "A Night That's Never Ending", was released in November 2019.

Acting career and television work
Prior to her music career, around 1988, Evans appeared as an extra in Channel 4's soap opera Brookside, and also appeared in an episode of the BBC1 situation comedy Bread, where she played Ellia, a short-term girlfriend of Adrian Boswell, in episode 11 of series 4. In 1990, Sonia co-hosted children's game show The Wetter the Better as a scoreboard person with main quizmaster Ross King, which was part of the Saturday morning children's magazine show 8:15 from Manchester.

In 1993, Sonia made her theatre debut in the musical Slice of Saturday Night, alongside Dennis Waterman. The following year she replaced singer Debbie Gibson as Sandy in a West End revival of Grease, where she stayed for a year. In 1997, she returned to the stage on the musical What A Feeling!, which also included fellow 1980s stars Luke Goss and Sinitta. An accompanying soundtrack album was released.

She has also played alongside Lily Savage as her wayward daughter Bunty Savage, both on the BBC series The Lily Savage Show and live shows. Also in 1993, Sonia represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in Millstreet, county Cork in Ireland. She sang "Better the Devil You Know" and finished second. In 2003, Sonia appeared in the ITV1 reality show Reborn in the USA, where former pop stars including Leee John from the band Imagination, Michelle Gayle, Gina G, Elkie Brooks and pop duo Dollar performed American hits. The show saw the artists touring America and each week one artist was eliminated from the show. Sonia came sixth out of the nine participants. In January 2007, she starred in the pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk as Jack in Horsham, West Sussex, alongside Mark Curry. Sonia also starred in the pantomime Cinderella in December 2010 / January 2011 as the Wicked Queen Edwina at the Stiwt Theatre in Wrexham, North Wales, alongside Big Brother star Dale Howard.

She appeared on series 5 of Hacker Time. In 2018, Sonia appeared alongside Todd Carty, Tony Blackburn, Colin Baker and Sherrie Hewson in Channel 5's Celebrity 5 Go Caravanning. Sonia made a significant guest appearance as herself in Channel 4 soap opera, Hollyoaks, in the episode aired Friday, 12 May 2023.

In the storyline, Sonia is an old school friend of Diane O'Connor, played by Alexandra Fletcher, and the two are part of an in-joke where Sonia remarks Diane "doesn't look a day over 50" (a reference to the age discrepancy between the two, Fletcher was born in 1976, and Sonia in 1971), and then Sonia asks Diane if her father is still running 'The Moby'. This is a reference to Fletcher's previous long-running role in Brookside, as Jacqui Dixon (from 1990 to 2003, produced by the same production company, and in which, Sonia herself was an extra in 1988), whose father, Ron, ran a mobile mini-market from a blue van with a white whale painted down the side called The Moby Dick. Sonia performed her 1993 Eurovision Song Contest song, "Better The Devil You Know", at a party while Diane danced as one of her backing singers.

Personal life
Sonia was born on 13 February 1971. She married Mark Moses in 1998 and the couple have a daughter, who was born in 2010.

title: Sonia (singer)


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Martin I of Sicily

Martin I of Sicily (c. 1374/1376 – 25 July 1409), called "The Younger", was King of Sicily from his marriage to Queen Maria in 1390 until his death.

Martin's father was the future King Martin I of Aragon, and his grandparents were King Peter IV of Aragon and Eleanor of Sicily. In February 1390 he married Maria of Sicily, born in 1362/1363. In 1392 he returned with Maria to Sicily with a military force and defeated a group of opposing barons. In 1394 the couple had their only son Peter, crown prince of Sicily, who died in 1400. He ruled Sicily jointly with Maria until her death at Lentini on 25 May 1401. At that time, he repudiated the Treaty of Villeneuve (1372) and ruled Sicily alone. After his death in 1409 in Cagliari, Sardinia, his father, by then king of Aragon, ruled Sicily as Martin II.

After Maria's death Martin I the Younger married at Catania on 21 May 1402 by proxy and on 26 December 1402 in person Blanche of Navarre, who was heiress of the Evreux family and the future queen of Navarre, by whom he had an only son Martin in 1403, who died in Valencia in 1407. No offspring of his two marriages survived childhood; the only issue he left was a bastard son by Sicilian-born Tarsia Rizzari, Fadrique of Aragon, Count of Luna and Ejerica and Lord of Segorbe, born in 1400/1403, whom Martin II tried to make his successor in the Aragonese Empire. But the effort failed, and Fadrique was denied the succession by the Pact of Caspe. Fadrique married Yolande Louise (Violante Luisa) de Mur and died at Urena in 1438 without issue.

He also left a bastard daughter by Sicilian-born Agathe de Pesce, named Violante of Aragon, who died c. 1428. She was married twice: first in 1405 as the second wife (some say she was his mistress) to Enrique Pérez de Guzmán, 2nd Count de Niebla (1371–1436); and second, she married Enrique's cousin Martín de Guzmán.

Martin the Younger led the troops in the conquest of Sardinia in 1409, decisively defeating the ruler of Arborea at the Battle of Sanluri just before his own death.

title: Martin I of Sicily


text:
Stock Aitken Waterman

Stock Aitken Waterman (abbreviated as and pronounced from SAW) are an English songwriting and record production trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, and Pete Waterman. The trio had great success from the mid-1980s through to the early-1990s. SAW is considered one of the most successful songwriting and producing partnerships of all time, scoring more than 100 UK top-40 hits, selling over 500 million records and earning an estimated £60 million in royalties.

SAW started producing underground club hits, but earned worldwide success with a mix of hi-NRG-influenced sound, romantic Motown lyrics and Italo disco melodies. During 1984–1989, their musical style was labelled Eurobeat. They also put swing shuffle elements into their songs. The producers' legacy has been increasingly positively reassessed, with contemporary analysts praising the quality and enduring impact of their music.

The team
In January 1984, Mike Stock and Matt Aitken called Pete Waterman asking for a meeting. Stock and Aitken turned up with a song they had written and produced called "The Upstroke", a hi-NRG female version of Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Relax". Waterman was impressed and offered to form a partnership with Stock and Aitken. "The Upstroke", performed by female duo Agents Aren't Aeroplanes, was the very first Stock Aitken Waterman record. It was not a chart hit, but it was a club hit and was championed by Radio 1's John Peel. Their initial style was in creating hi-NRG dance music with "You Think You're a Man" by Divine (UK No. 16 in July 1984) and "Whatever I Do" by Hazell Dean (UK No. 4 in July 1984). This period saw a rapid refining of the core production team and their roles, with a fourth collaborator, Pete Ware, who was co-credited on the team's earliest records, leaving after Stock and Aitken objected to him taking a side gig touring with Dean.

The production trio achieved their first UK No. 1 single in March 1985 with "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" by Dead or Alive. Although a massive commercial success, the record set the scene for SAW's often fractious creative relationship with those bands and artists who demanded creative involvement in their records. Engineer Phil Harding, who mixed the track, said tensions were running so high between the band members and producers Stock and Aitken during mixing, that it almost escalated to violence. Stock has disputed the seriousness of studio tensions, alleging that singer Pete Burns, Harding and Waterman have all "exaggerated" what happened in their recounting of events. Despite the enormous success of the single, Waterman has stated in interviews that the trio were still in dire financial straits at the time.

This chart success and the trio's sound attracted the attention of girl group Bananarama. Group member Siobhan Fahey wanted to record a cover version of Shocking Blue's hit song "Venus". The result was a pop/hi-NRG reworking which became a worldwide chart hit, reaching No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart on 6 September 1986, and reaching the top 10 in the UK and many other countries. Bananarama went on to make Stock, Aitken and Waterman their main producers, and would collaborate with them on some of their biggest hits, including "Love in the First Degree", "I Can't Help It", and "I Heard a Rumour". The act were one of only a few who were given co-writing credits with the producers, with Stock describing the creative relationship as challenging; explaining he was obliged to collaborate with them due to a deal with their management. "It's very difficult to be creative if someone's just going to mock you, or laugh at you," he said. "With Bananarama it was just awkward, all the time very awkward, and I didn't feel comfortable writing with them."

The assembly line
Following their early success, SAW's style evolved into a more mainstream synthpop, typically performed by attractive singers. Their usual method for creating the music was to write the songs themselves, although some of their early artists (such as Dead or Alive and Bananarama) wrote or cowrote their own material. Next they would record the music with extensive use of synthesizers, drum machines (drums were often credited to "A Linn", a reference to the Linn brand of drum machine) and sequencers; and then finally bring in a singer solely to record the vocal track. Pete Burns would later criticise SAW for their methods, describing that "they took our sound and just basically wheeled it off with a load of other imbeciles, and that makes me a bit sour."

The tendency toward interchanging artists and repertoire was well established when Rick Astley's breakout album Whenever You Need Somebody got its name and title track from a minor hit the trio had produced a year earlier for O'Chi Brown. Evidently they thought the song still had some mileage, and it was even issued with an exact replica of O'Chi Brown's club mix for the Rick Astley club mix. Similarly, many of their songs were tried out and recorded by multiple artists; Mel and Kim, Pepsi and Shirlie and Sinitta all recorded the song "Who's Gonna Catch You", both Kylie Minogue and Mandy Smith recorded "Got To Be Certain", whilst Mel and Kim, Carol Hitchcock and Hazell Dean all laid down vocals for "More Than Words Can Say". Their prodigious, production line-like output and similar song structures led to them being referred to as the "hit factory" (not to be confused with the record label of the same name or the New York City recording studio The Hit Factory) and attracted criticism from many quarters, including The Guardian newspaper, who unflatteringly dubbed the team, "Schlock, Aimless and Waterdown". However, Waterman defended their style by comparing it to the output of Motown in the 1960s.

SAW's early work was recorded and mixed at Marquee Studios in Wardour Street, where Phil Harding and Rob Waldron worked with them on Youthquake, the Dead or Alive album which included their huge hit "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)". Waldron went to work as an assistant engineer to Harding when Waterman opened his new studio in Borough, London (The Hit Factory). Waldron became the chief recording engineer and Linn 9000 programmer (A Linn) and Harding was the mixer/remixer, working with various artists including Bananarama, Princess, Rick Astley, Hazell Dean, Haywoode, Brilliant and O'Chi Brown.

The youth, the press and the underground
SAW's greatest success was in fully exploiting the underground music scene that was booming in Britain in the late 1980s. SAW's goal was to harness the dynamic energy of club culture (and the sound of Hi-NRG music) and bring it to a mainstream audience. In this regard, they were extremely similar to Motown, with SAW reportedly making use of the "artist development deal" just as Berry Gordy had two decades earlier. Under such arrangements, all facets of a young artist's career would be controlled and dictated by the record company, and often the artist's publishing rights would be co-opted in the process and the record company would fill the role of manager on the artist's behalf.

While SAW seem to have worked equally well with artists under their control and with those more established and independent acts, it obviously made more business sense for them to focus on the development of new talent under the terms that gave them the most control. As the 1990s rolled in, they increasingly focused on their young teenage signings (through PWL and the publishing arm of All Boys Music).

PWL was championed by the music papers for their fresh sound and seemingly underground aesthetic, but not for long. They incurred bad reviews from the British music press establishment when they strong-armed the group M|A|R|R|S into a legal settlement; M|A|R|R|S had taken from SAW's own recording, "Roadblock", and used it in their surprise hit "Pump Up the Volume". Waterman wrote an open letter to the music press calling such things "wholesale theft". The press fired back that Waterman was currently using the bassline of Colonel Abrams's "Trapped" in Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up". Indeed, "Roadblock" itself could be described as inspired by the classic Average White Band hit "Pick Up the Pieces". Waterman's production company later lifted the entire basic rhythm arrangement from "Pump Up the Volume" (complete with the chorus) in a remix for a Sybil record (titled the "Red Ink Remix"). As a result, relations between PWL and much of the UK's music underground were for a long time acrimonious.

As the epitome of creating very popular teen-pop music, the trio were often satirised or criticised. Comedy group Morris Minor and the Majors' parodied the SAW style on "This is the Chorus", specifically referencing Kylie Minogue's hit song "I Should Be So Lucky" as well as Mel and Kim's "Respectable". The popular satire puppet show Spitting Image also parodied Minogue, depicting the Australian singer as being brought to life by a big-headed scientist. SAW also appear as puppet heads with their bodies forming a tape machine with arms who sing along with a SAW-style song about how 'lucky' the singer has been. Comedians French and Saunders also parodied "I Should Be So Lucky" in their television show in 1990 where the song features as an opera.

In later years, Kylie Minogue became one of SAW's biggest artists. Her first 13 singles reached the UK top 10 and her debut "I Should Be So Lucky" spent five weeks at No. 1 in the UK. The album Kylie was the highest selling album in Britain of 1988, and fifth highest-selling album of the decade. They were also responsible for 1987's highest-selling single, Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up". At the height of their fame, SAW also had a top-twenty hit as themselves with the largely instrumental "Roadblock" (from which M|A|R|R|S would lift the offending sample for "Pump Up the Volume").

In 1989, SAW wrote and produced the highest-selling album of the year, Jason Donovan's Ten Good Reasons. Donovan had been Minogue's co-star in Neighbours, and his success for a time equalled hers. In 1988–89, SAW recorded three tracks with Judas Priest, a cover and their own tracks "I Will Return" and "Runaround". These tracks were never released, and are said to be in Judas Priest's possession. In 2015, a snippet of their cover version of The Stylistics' hit "You Are Everything" was posted on the hard rock news site Blabbermouth.net.

In 1989, SAW also recorded and produced Donna Summer's Another Place and Time album, as well as writing or co-writing all the tracks including the hit "This Time I Know It's for Real". Summer, an American pop superstar singer, hired SAW in order to revive her career, just as an earlier European pop music producer (Giorgio Moroder) had launched it. However, a followup to Another Place and Time was never to be realised, reportedly because of scheduling conflicts between Summer and SAW. Another of SAW's most successful hit singles was the 1989 number-one single "Ferry Cross the Mersey" (a charity single featuring The Christians, Holly Johnson, Paul McCartney and Gerry Marsden). They also produced the 1989 edition of "Do They Know It's Christmas?"

1990–1993
Being the top producers in 1989, with seven number-one singles, SAW started the 1990s with high hopes. January 1990 brought their last UK No. 1 single, Kylie Minogue's cover of "Tears on My Pillow", and a top-10 hit with new recruit Lonnie Gordon, "Happenin' All Over Again" which hit No. 4. However, by mid-1990 SAW artists were having problems placing singles in the top 10 (with the notable exception of Kylie Minogue), and the week of 13 October 1990 became the first with no SAW-produced singles in the UK top 75 in over two years. In mid-1991, Aitken left the team due to stress and deep dissatisfaction with business and creative decisions made by Pete Waterman.

Stock and Waterman carried on. With their sound no longer in vogue, they still had notable hits with Jason Donovan (who left them in 1991) and Kylie Minogue (who left them in 1992). 1993 saw a slight resurgence with two top-10 hits from Sybil, and top-40 hits from Bananarama, Bill Tarmey and the WWF Superstars. They also had a top-20 hit that year in the U.S. market with American female group Boy Krazy. In late 1993, Stock ended his partnership with Waterman following a disagreement over their finances.

Recent times
In 1994, Stock and Aitken began working together again, forming Love This Records and achieving some success in the UK during the mid-1990s through the early 2000s; they achieved further top-10 hits with Robson & Jerome, Nicki French, and Scooch. Meanwhile, Waterman kept running PWL Records and continued to collaborate on music productions, most notably with Mark Topham and Karl Twigg, finding success with artists such as Steps and Tina Cousins.

In 2005, the three producers reunited again and released a CD+DVD album, Stock Aitken Waterman Gold, with some of their best-known singles. Despite their reunion, Aitken soon left. 2007 saw the release of a new Stock/Waterman-produced single, the first in 14 years, The Sheilas' single "(I'm So) Happy Happy (You're Mine)", which reached No. 91 in the UK. A reunion concert event called Hit Factory Live was scheduled to take place in Hyde Park, London, in July 2012 featuring many of the acts associated with Waterman's record labels but was cancelled due to safety concerns caused by the ongoing heavy rain during that summer. The rescheduled concert took place on 21 December 2012 at London's O2 Arena.

In December 2015, SAW made a return as a trio to their Hit Factory roots, producing a remix of the Chris Martin-written Kylie Minogue song "Every Day's Like Christmas". In 2023, the trio reunited for the filming of the Channel 5 documentary Legends of Pop: Stock Aitken Waterman, each giving interviews both individually and as a group. On 21 March 2023, it was announced that a musical entitled I Should Be So Lucky, making use of SAW songs, would premiere at the Manchester Opera House before embarking on a UK tour. Nativity! creator Debbie Isitt has written and will direct the show.

Eurovision Song Contest
One of SAW's first collaborations was the Cypriot entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1984, "Anna Maria Lena", performed by Andy Paul. The song finished 15th, with 31 points. Stock and Waterman collaborated on the UK Eurovision 2010 entry "That Sounds Good to Me". It was revealed in the final round of Eurovision: Your Country Needs You on BBC One, in which Josh Dubovie eventually earned the right to perform the song at the contest. He finished in 25th place in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, receiving 10 points in total.

UK number-one hits
The following SAW-produced hits made it to the top of the UK singles chart:

US number-one hits
The following SAW-produced hits made it to the top of the US pop chart:

title: Stock Aitken Waterman


text:
Black chanterelle

Black chanterelle is a common name of several fungi species and can refer to:

 * Craterellus cornucopioides
 * Craterellus cinereus
 * Craterellus atrocinereus
 * Polyozellus multiplex

title: Black chanterelle