Alannah Myles
Encyclopedia
Alannah Myles is a Canadian singer-songwriter
, the daughter of Canadian broadcast pioneer William Douglas Byles. In 1989, she released her eponymous debut album. In 1990, "Black Velvet
", a single from that album, was a worldwide hit and won a Grammy Award
for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female.
, AC/DC
, Bob Seger
, Ann Peebles
, the Rolling Stones, and the Pretenders. By the time she was in her early mid-twenties, she and Christopher began collaborating with David Tyson
to produce her self-titled debut album, Alannah Myles. She appeared in a 1984 installment of the television series program The Kids of Degrassi Street
, in which she played the role of an aspiring singer and single mother. She was featured in several other TV and film productions as a guest prior to her success as a recording artist.
In May 1989, Warner Music in Canada released Alannah Myles. It produced four Top 40 selections, including "Love Is", "Lover of Mine", and "Still Got This Thing", and the number-one hit "Black Velvet
". In early 1990 Atlantic Records released "Black Velvet" in the U.S., making her first album ineligible for possible Grammy nominations. For Myles, "Black Velvet" became a number one hit worldwide and was named the most played song on radio for 1989 & 1990. By 2000 it had received the ASCAP Millionaire Award for having received over five million airplays at radio. "Black Velvet" won Myles a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Performance in 1991, and three Juno Awards.
The year 1992 brought the follow-up album, Rockinghorse
, which included the hit singles "Song Instead of a Kiss" written by Alannah Myles, Nancy Simmonds and Canadian poet Robert Priest
, "Our World, Our Times", and "Sonny, Say You Will". She received a Grammy nomination for Rockinghorse' and several global awards, including a Juno and Much Music's people's choice award for "Our World, Our Times".
The year 1995 produced Myles's final album on Atlantic Records before being released from the label, granting Warner/Atlantic a Best Of CD after only 3 records. The A-lan-nah album, which contained no Top 40 singles, included two tracks which made it into the Top 100: "Family Secret" and "Blow Wind, Blow".
In 1997 she managed to terminate her eight-record contract with Atlantic Records
with the help of her then-manager, Miles Copeland, who immediately signed her to his Ark 21 Records
. There she released Arival, which had the Top 40 hit "Bad 4 You", written and recorded by Myles, Desmond Child
and Eric Bazilian
at Copeland's castle songwriting retreat at Grand Brassac, France.
In February 2005, together with the Swedish band Kee Marcello's K2, she participated in the third semi-final of Melodifestivalen
, the Swedish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest
. Their song "We Got It All" scored very few points and finished seventh out of eight songs yet managed to dominate the leading newspaper and media headlines in Sweden.
In April 2008, she went public about her then upcoming album Black Velvet, which featured a new recording of her song of the same name in addition to ten new studio recordings. She discussed the subject in May 2008 in an interview with Evan Solomon
on the TV program CBC News: Sunday Night
.
In the fall of 2009, Myles released the CD Black Velvet on Linus Entertainment, which merged with Canada's legendary True North Records and released the album in America in the spring of 2010. This was followed by a video for the song "Trouble" that features a jug band performance. "Trouble" was awarded an 'Honourable Mention' as a finalist in the blues category at the 2009 International Songwriting Contest. Myles won the 15th annual USA Songwriting Competition for both best rock/alternative song as well as grand prize finalist for a song written with Nancy Simmonds for her "Black Velvet" CD entitled "Give Me Love".
Myles toured in support of her Black Velvet CD beginning with a string of European dates in March 2011. Her song Black Velvet was one of four selected to be covered on the CBC Television
reality television show Cover Me Canada
.
At Toronto music festival on July 1, 2011 she revealed that she has suffered severe spinal nerve damage from an excess of chiropractic treatments and has been left unable to move her head or neck. Her voice is unaffected and she continues to perform and record.
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
, the daughter of Canadian broadcast pioneer William Douglas Byles. In 1989, she released her eponymous debut album. In 1990, "Black Velvet
Black Velvet (song)
"Black Velvet" is a rock song written by Canadian musicians David Tyson and Christopher Ward, and recorded by Canadian singer Alannah Myles in 1988. It became a number one hit for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1990 and reached number one on the Album Rock Tracks chart, as well as...
", a single from that album, was a worldwide hit and won a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female.
Biography
Alannah began writing songs at the age of 9. She performed in a songwriting group for the Kiwanis Music Festival in Toronto at 12 years of age and by the time she was a teenager, began performing solo gigs in Southern Ontario. She eventually met Christopher Ward, a WMG recording artist and songwriter who helped her to form her own band, and performed cover versions of T. RexT. Rex (band)
T. Rex were a British rock band, formed in 1967 by singer/songwriter and guitarist Marc Bolan. The band formed as Tyrannosaurus Rex, releasing four folk albums under the name...
, AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
, Bob Seger
Bob Seger
Robert Clark "Bob" Seger is an American rock and roll singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist.As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s...
, Ann Peebles
Ann Peebles
Ann Peebles is an African American singer-songwriter who gained celebrity for her Memphis soul albums of the 1970s on the Hi Records label...
, the Rolling Stones, and the Pretenders. By the time she was in her early mid-twenties, she and Christopher began collaborating with David Tyson
David Tyson
David Tyson is a Canadian rock music producer and songwriter. He is best known for co-writing Alannah Myles' 1990 #1 hit "Black Velvet" and producing her debut album. He also co-wrote 3 hit songs from Amanda Marshall's self-titled 1995 debut album.Tyson has won 3 Juno Awards for his work,...
to produce her self-titled debut album, Alannah Myles. She appeared in a 1984 installment of the television series program The Kids of Degrassi Street
The Kids of Degrassi Street
The Kids of Degrassi Street is a Canadian children's TV show which aired from 1979 to 1986, and is the first in the Degrassi series, aboutthe lives of a group of children living on Degrassi Street in Toronto, Canada...
, in which she played the role of an aspiring singer and single mother. She was featured in several other TV and film productions as a guest prior to her success as a recording artist.
In May 1989, Warner Music in Canada released Alannah Myles. It produced four Top 40 selections, including "Love Is", "Lover of Mine", and "Still Got This Thing", and the number-one hit "Black Velvet
Black Velvet (song)
"Black Velvet" is a rock song written by Canadian musicians David Tyson and Christopher Ward, and recorded by Canadian singer Alannah Myles in 1988. It became a number one hit for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1990 and reached number one on the Album Rock Tracks chart, as well as...
". In early 1990 Atlantic Records released "Black Velvet" in the U.S., making her first album ineligible for possible Grammy nominations. For Myles, "Black Velvet" became a number one hit worldwide and was named the most played song on radio for 1989 & 1990. By 2000 it had received the ASCAP Millionaire Award for having received over five million airplays at radio. "Black Velvet" won Myles a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Performance in 1991, and three Juno Awards.
The year 1992 brought the follow-up album, Rockinghorse
Rockinghorse
Rockinghorse is the second album released by Alannah Myles. It was issued in 1992 on Atlantic Records, and featured three singles, "Song Instead Of A Kiss", "Our World, Our Times" and "Sonny Say You Will"...
, which included the hit singles "Song Instead of a Kiss" written by Alannah Myles, Nancy Simmonds and Canadian poet Robert Priest
Robert Priest
Robert Priest is a British born Canadian poet and children's author. He has written numerous books of poetry, several children's novels, and has often appeared on CBC radio's hit spoken word show "Wordbeat" under the alias "Dr Poetry". He is well known for his aphorisms and performance poetry...
, "Our World, Our Times", and "Sonny, Say You Will". She received a Grammy nomination for Rockinghorse' and several global awards, including a Juno and Much Music's people's choice award for "Our World, Our Times".
The year 1995 produced Myles's final album on Atlantic Records before being released from the label, granting Warner/Atlantic a Best Of CD after only 3 records. The A-lan-nah album, which contained no Top 40 singles, included two tracks which made it into the Top 100: "Family Secret" and "Blow Wind, Blow".
In 1997 she managed to terminate her eight-record contract with Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
with the help of her then-manager, Miles Copeland, who immediately signed her to his Ark 21 Records
Ark 21 Records
Ark 21 Records is a record label established by Miles Copeland & Stewart Copeland. The record label is based out of Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California.-Artists:* Ragheb Alamah* Beats Antique* The Badlees* Farrah* Faudel* The Human League* Hakim...
. There she released Arival, which had the Top 40 hit "Bad 4 You", written and recorded by Myles, Desmond Child
Desmond Child
Desmond Child is an American musician, songwriter, and producer. He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.-Career:...
and Eric Bazilian
Eric Bazilian
Eric M. Bazilian , is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer, best known for being a founding member of the rock band The Hooters.-Early life:...
at Copeland's castle songwriting retreat at Grand Brassac, France.
In February 2005, together with the Swedish band Kee Marcello's K2, she participated in the third semi-final of Melodifestivalen
Melodifestivalen 2005
Melodifestivalen 2005 was the selection for the 45th song to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest. It was the 44th time that this system of picking a song had been used. Five semifinals had taken place to select the ten songs for the final, in Gothenburg, Linköping, Skellefteå, Växjö and...
, the Swedish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
. Their song "We Got It All" scored very few points and finished seventh out of eight songs yet managed to dominate the leading newspaper and media headlines in Sweden.
In April 2008, she went public about her then upcoming album Black Velvet, which featured a new recording of her song of the same name in addition to ten new studio recordings. She discussed the subject in May 2008 in an interview with Evan Solomon
Evan Solomon
Evan Solomon is a Canadian writer, magazine publisher and television journalist, who currently hosts the nightly series Power & Politics on CBC News Network. Beginning in September 2011, he will also host CBC Radio One's weekly political affairs series The House.Solomon graduated from McGill...
on the TV program CBC News: Sunday Night
CBC News: Sunday Night
CBC News: Sunday Night was a television newsmagazine series in Canada, which aired on Sunday evenings at 10 p.m. on CBC Television. It was, essentially, the Sunday night equivalent of The National, although it took a more features-oriented approach than its weekday counterpart. The program also...
.
In the fall of 2009, Myles released the CD Black Velvet on Linus Entertainment, which merged with Canada's legendary True North Records and released the album in America in the spring of 2010. This was followed by a video for the song "Trouble" that features a jug band performance. "Trouble" was awarded an 'Honourable Mention' as a finalist in the blues category at the 2009 International Songwriting Contest. Myles won the 15th annual USA Songwriting Competition for both best rock/alternative song as well as grand prize finalist for a song written with Nancy Simmonds for her "Black Velvet" CD entitled "Give Me Love".
Myles toured in support of her Black Velvet CD beginning with a string of European dates in March 2011. Her song Black Velvet was one of four selected to be covered on the CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
reality television show Cover Me Canada
Cover Me Canada
Cover Me Canada is a Canadian reality television competition show which airs on CBC Television. The show is a competition to find the most talented singer, rock band, group, or ensemble in Canada....
.
At Toronto music festival on July 1, 2011 she revealed that she has suffered severe spinal nerve damage from an excess of chiropractic treatments and has been left unable to move her head or neck. Her voice is unaffected and she continues to perform and record.
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales threshold) |
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| CAN Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... |
US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
UK UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
AUS ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
NZ |
NOR VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
SWE Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
AUT Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
SWI Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
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| 1989 | Alannah Myles Alannah Myles (album) Alannah Myles was the self-titled debut album released by Alannah Myles on March 28, 1989. It reached number five on the Billboard 200 in the U.S...
|
1 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Canadian Recording Industry Association Music Canada is a Toronto-based, non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, artists, manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music in Canada... : Diamond Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... : Platinum British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... : Gold |
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| 1992 | Rockinghorse Rockinghorse Rockinghorse is the second album released by Alannah Myles. It was issued in 1992 on Atlantic Records, and featured three singles, "Song Instead Of A Kiss", "Our World, Our Times" and "Sonny Say You Will"... |
9 | — | — | — | — | — | 23 | 40 | 16 |
|
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| 1995 | A-lan-nah A-lan-nah A-lan-nah is the third album released by Alannah Myles, in 1995.-Track listing:#Mistress of Erzulie – #Blow Wind Blow – #Family Secret – #Mother Nature –... |
47 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 40 | ||||
| 1998 | Arival
|
40 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 2008 | Black Velvet
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||||||||||||
Compilation albums
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 1999 | Alannah Myles: The Very Best Of
|
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales threshold) |
Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays.... |
CAN AC | US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US Main | US AC Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States... |
UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
NL MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
AUS ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
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| 1989 | "Love Is" | 16 | — | 36 | 19 | — | 61 | 32 | 12 | Alannah Myles | ||||
| "Black Velvet Black Velvet (song) "Black Velvet" is a rock song written by Canadian musicians David Tyson and Christopher Ward, and recorded by Canadian singer Alannah Myles in 1988. It became a number one hit for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1990 and reached number one on the Album Rock Tracks chart, as well as... " |
2 | — | 1 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
|
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| 1990 | "Still Got This Thing" | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Lover of Mine" | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | 78 | — | 47 | ||||||
| 1992 | "Song Instead of a Kiss" | 1 | 1 | 60 | — | — | — | 32 | — | Rockinghorse | ||||
| "Tumbleweed" | 51 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| 1993 | "Our World, Our Times" | 27 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Living on a Memory" | 31 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| "Sonny Say You Will" | 23 | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| 1995 | "Family Secret" | 10 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | — | A-lan-nah | ||||
| 1996 | "Blow Wind Blow" | 64 | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "You Love Who You Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Two If By Sea (soundtrack) | |||||
| 1997 | "Bad 4 You" | 45 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Arival | ||||
| "What Are We Waiting For? (with Zucchero Zucchero Adelmo Fornaciari, Commander , more commonly known by his stage name Zucchero Fornaciari or simply Zucchero /ˈtsukkero/, is an Italian rock singer. His music is largely inspired by gospel, blues and rock music, and alternates between ballads and more rhythmic boogie-like pieces.Zucchero is the... ) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Prince Valiant (soundtrack) | |||||
| 2000 | "Like Flames" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album song | ||||
| 2008 | "Comment Ca Va" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Black Velvet | ||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||||||||||||
External links
- Alannah Myles biography in Rolling StoneRolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
online - Alannah Myles talks to the Canadian Press about the new version of Black Velvet
- Review of 'Black Velvet' (2007)
- Videos and Concerts
- USA Songwriting Competition