Bravo 2 was a television channel in the UK, that originally launched as Player on 2 March 2006. It was originally a spin-off of Challenge. On 28 September 2006, Player was rebranded as Bravo 2, and became a sister channel of Bravo.
On 15 September 2010, BSkyB announced that it will close Bravo 2 as well as sister channels Bravo and Channel One. The Bravo channels closed on 1 January 2011, with the most popular programmes moved to the other Sky channels. The last image seen on Bravo 2 was the Bravo 2 logo with the words "Bravo 2 doesn't do regret".
The channel's programming consisted of gambling and sport-related programmes. The ident for Player was the same as that of its original late night slot on Challenge, except with yellow colouring and without the famous club.
As Player, they added exclusive coverage of the FIA GT Championship to its portfolio of sports events. The channel also carried a limited amount of Serie A matches under the production of Bravo.
Bravo 2 also showed programs from their sister channel Bravo such as The Unit, Street Crime UK and The Real Football Factories.
Player is an American rock band that made their mark during the late 1970s. The group scored a few US Hot 100 hits, three of which went into the Top 40; two of those single releases went Top 10, including the No. 1 hit "Baby Come Back", written by group members Peter Beckett and J.C. Crowley.
Player first came together in Los Angeles, California. The original members included Peter Beckett (lead vocals, guitar), John Charles "J.C." Crowley (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Ronn Moss (bass, vocals), and John Friesen (drums).
Beckett, a transplanted Englishman, had been in a group called Skyband with Australian Steve Kipner (who had also played with the Australian band Tin Tin). After Skyband broke up in 1975, Beckett was in Los Angeles and met Crowley at a party. He and Crowley teamed up in a new band called Riff Raff, which soon changed its name to Bandana and released a single, "Jukebox Saturday Night", on Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter's Haven label. Steve Kipner and former Grass Roots guitarist Reed Kailing were also members of Riff Raff/Bandana, but Kipner was gone before the single's recording and Kailing was aced out after its release, though some of the Bandana tracks with Kailing's playing and co-writing later appeared on Player's debut.
A political player is a participant in politics who has or is perceived to have influence or power, although usually on a smaller level than a global power elite. The phrase may refer to an individual who is a candidate or elected or appointed official, but more commonly refers to someone who is not in office but still wields power or influence, such as a lobbyist, a fundraiser or contributor, a whistleblower, a political consultant, a labor union or labor leader, a corporation, or even an entire industry. More recently, with the rise of the Internet, web-based groups such as Moveon.org and online organizations, like ActBlue, have become political players as well.
Zapp may refer to:
Zapp or Pay by Bank app is a proposed mobile payment system provided by VocaLink in conjunction with several banks and building societies in the United Kingdom. Zapp is designed for individuals to pay businesses in shops, on the internet, or from paper bills using their banks own mobile banking app.
Zapp is supported by Nationwide Building Society and banks including HSBC, Santander and Metro Bank.
Zapp was intended to be launched in the Autumn of 2014, but this date passed without launch. In July 2015 Zapp and Barclays announced that they had teamed up, with the intention of launching in October 2015 using Barclays Pingit application, with this date again passing without the service being introduced and no explanation being provided. Pingit is available for anyone with a UK bank account using an Android or Apple smartphone.
For payments in shop, Zapp will pass a digital token from the till to and a persons mobile phone using Near field communication or a QR code. The payment will then be completed by the shopper using their own mobile banking application, and no personal or bank details will change hands. Zapp can be used anywhere the "Pay by Bank app" symbol is displayed.
Zapp is the self-titled debut album of the Ohio Funk band Zapp, released on Warner Bros. Records on July 28, 1980. The album's style was highly similar to Parliament-Funkadelic as the band was working with and being produced by both Parliament members William Earl "Bootsy" Collins and George Clinton during the album's production. The Troutman family of the Zapp band had close ties with the Collins family, both being Ohio natives. This friendship proved instrumental in Zapp gaining a record deal with Warner Bros. Records in 1979. Zapp was recorded between late 1979 and early 1980 at the United Sound Studios in Detroit Michigan, the studio of which Parliament-Funkadelic frequented.
The album was released on July 28, 1980 on Warner Bros. Records and was certified gold by November 1980, reaching number 2 on the Billboard Hot R&B tracks chart in the Autumn of 1980 for 2 weeks. The album has been cited as one of the definitive albums of early 80s electronic funk, bringing the genre into mainstream attention. The album has also served as a partial source toward the creation of the G-funk sound of Hip-Hop, which was popular on the West coast of the United States during the early to mid 1990's. Numerous acts have extensively sampled tracks from the album.