Chas Smash

Cathal Joseph Patrick Smyth (born 14 January 1959), also known as Chas Smash, is an English musician, best known as the backing singer, trumpet player, harmonica player and dancer in the ska/pop band Madness.

In addition to trumpet, Smyth plays the bass guitar (having initially joined Madness as a bassist), acoustic guitar and other various percussion instruments. He occasionally performs the lead vocals, such as on the songs "Michael Caine", "Wings of a Dove", "One Step Beyond" and "Madness (Is All in the Mind)". He was initially an occasional songwriter, but became a more regular contributor over the course of Madness's career and was credited as co-writer on the group's major international hit, "Our House".

Early years

Cathal Smyth was born at Middlesex Hospital and grew up in Marylebone, London. As a child he went by the name Carl. His parents were Irish immigrants, as his father was in the oil business and moved the family from Ireland to England and then to the Middle East because of his work. The Smyths were competitive Irish dancers, and Smyth grew up around dance, but never took much of an interest until he began to dance as a performer.

Charles

Charles is a masculine given name from the French form Charles of a Germanic name Karl. The original Anglo-Saxon was Ċearl or Ċeorl, as the name of king Cearl of Mercia, that disappeared after the Norman conquest of England.

The corresponding Old Norse form is Karl, the German form is also Karl. The name was notably borne by Charlemagne (Charles the Great), and was at the time Latinized as Karolus (as in Vita Karoli Magni), later also as Carolus.

Etymology

The name's etymology is a Common Germanic noun *karlaz meaning "free man", which survives in English as churl (< Old English ċeorl), which developed its deprecating sense in the Middle English period.

In the form Charles, the initial spelling ch- corresponds to the palatalization of the Latin group ca- to [tʃa] in Central Old French (Francien) and the final -s to the former subjective case (cas sujet) of masculine names in Old French like in Giles or James (< Latin -us, see Spanish/ Portuguese Carlos).

According to Julius Pokorny, the historical linguist and Indo-Europeanist, the root meaning of Karl is "old man", from Indo-European *ĝer-, where the ĝ is a palatal consonant, meaning "to rub; to be old; grain." An old man has been worn away and is now grey with age.

Smash (Martin Solveig album)

Smash is the fourth studio album by French DJ and record producer Martin Solveig, released on 6 June 2011 by Mercury Records. The album's lead single, "Hello" (a collaboration with Canadian band Dragonette), was released on 6 September 2010 and became a worldwide hit, topping the charts in five countries. "Ready 2 Go" was released as the album's second single on 28 March 2011 and features English singer Kele Okereke.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Smash.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Release history

References

Smash (season 1)

The first season of the American musical drama television series Smash premiered on February 6, 2012 on NBC and concluded on May 12, 2012, consisting of 15 episodes.

Season synopsis

Julia Houston (Debra Messing) and Tom Levitt (Christian Borle), a Broadway writing team come up with the idea of a new musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe, Bombshell. Producer Eileen Rand (Anjelica Huston), in the midst of divorce proceedings from her philandering husband, jumps on board and brings with her Derek Wills (Jack Davenport), a difficult but brilliant director. Ivy Lynn (Megan Hilty) is initially cast as Marilyn, but is forced to deal with competition from the talented, yet naive ensemble member Karen Cartwright (Katharine McPhee). Julia's former lover Michael Swift (Will Chase) is initially cast in the role of Joe DiMaggio. However when Julia and Michael's reunion causes serious trouble in her marriage to Frank (Brian d'Arcy James), the decision is made to fire Michael. The role of Marilyn is recast with film star Rebecca Duvall (Uma Thurman), leaving Ivy devastated. After a somewhat disastrous out-of-town opening in Boston, Rebecca is felled by a peanut allergy and the actor playing Joe departs the production for a better gig. Derek casts Karen in the role of Marilyn and Michael is reinstated as Joe. Karen discovers Ivy has slept with her fiancé Dev (Raza Jaffrey), while Eileen finds out that her assistant Ellis (Jaime Cepero) was the one who poisoned Rebecca and fires him. Karen gets through her debut and the season ends with the closing number being applauded by the audience.

Pall Mall Groove

Pall Mall Groove is an album released by Switch, under the name of Hot Ice. After the White Heat fiasco, the band recorded this album for Bernd Lichters. It was initially released only in Germany, Bernd's home country, in 1977 through Polydor Records. It was eventually released in the US in 1979, now renamed Smash, on the MCA Records-distributed Source label. In 2007, it was released again (still titled Smash) on a limited edition CD through Bernd's own Burndsman Records. This album appeared a year before their Motown debut as Switch. Hot Ice was Gregory Williams, Jody Sims, Phillip Ingram, Bobby DeBarge, Tommy DeBarge, T.C. Brown, Stanley Brown and Arnett Hayes. The album includes a re-recording of "Funk Freak" from the previous White Heat album.

Track listing

Side One:

Side Two: