Carmel (singer)

Carmel McCourt (born 24 November 1958) is an English singer, best known for her eponymous band Carmel with bassist Jim Parris, and drummer Gerry Darby.

Early life

Born in Wrawby, Lincolnshire, England, Carmel McCourt attended St Bede's Catholic School on Collum Avenue in Ashby, Scunthorpe, and Brigg Girls' High School.

Carmel (band)

The band Carmel was formed in Manchester when two students McCourt and Jim Parris got together with drummer Gerry Darby (Parris's cousin). Their début single, "Storm" reached No. 1 in the UK independent chart and they were signed to London Records. Their second album The Drum is Everything (produced by Mike Thorne) drew some praise. Parris and Darby conjured the effect of a full ensemble backing to McCourt's vocals, and alternated between soulful ballads, gospel, blues and jazz. The resulting singles "Bad Day" and "More, More, More" both went Top 25 in the UK Singles Chart.

The following album, The Falling (produced by Brian Eno, Hugh Jones and David Motion) had considerable success in France, achieving gold disc status, and also charted in Belgium, Germany and The Netherlands. "Sally", the first single lifted from the album, sold 500,000 copies in France alone, and led to McCourt featuring in a duet "J'oublierai ton nom" with French rock star Johnny Hallyday. With the critical and commercial success awarded to both The Falling and the follow-up album Everybody's Got A Little... Soul, record producers were keen to work with Carmel.

Carmel (company)

Carmel is a car and limousine Car Service, mainly focused on airport trips. Carmel Car Service is one of the largest car service companies and limousine services in the world, and provides international car service. The company dispatches 1200 drivers in New York City alone and serves more than 300 cities around the world, including 150 in the United States.

History

Over the years, Kabessa had expanded Carmel to 320 locations worldwide. Once exclusive to the tri-state area, Carmel is now an international company and is expected to land in 400 markets by the end of 2014. Kabessa spent the majority of his early years in the business working behind the wheel — so when a customer unleashes a complaint, the executive presumes the driver to be innocent until proven guilty. Some New York City drivers have more than 20 years of experience with Carmel.

Fleet

Carmel Car Service offers cars, vans, and SUV's for rides at different costs. The company dispatches 1200 drivers in New York City alone.

Carmel (biblical settlement)

Carmel was an ancient Israelite town in Judea.

Biblical references

There are several references to Carmel in the Bible. Carmel is mentioned as a city of Judah in 1 Samuel 15:12 and also in Joshua 15:55. It is mentioned as the place where Saul erects a monument after the expedition against the Amelekites (1 Samuel 15:12). Carmel is mentioned in 1 Samuel 25 as the home of Nabal and his wife Abigail.

Later Jewish history

After the Bar Kochba revolt Carmel was used as a Roman garrison town. The Jews of the town being uncomfortable with the Roman presence moved their settlement 2 km southeast, occupying a hilltop ridge. The new Jewish settlement prospered until the Persian army of Chosroes forced the Roman garrison of Heraclius's army to quit Palestine. The Persian army was, in its turn, shortly destroyed by the Rashidun Caliphate. With a lack of market for their wine, the Jewish settlement declined with the synagogue finally being abandoned in the 9th Century. The abandoned synagogue, which still stands in the Palestinian town now known as al-Karmil, is one of the best preserved ancient synagogues in the West Bank.

Lament

A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form. The grief is most often born of regret, or mourning. Laments can also be expressed in a verbal manner, where the participant would lament about something they regret or someone they've lost, usually accompanied by wailing, moaning and/or crying.

History

Many of the oldest and most lasting poems in human history have been laments. Laments are present in both the Iliad and the Odyssey, and laments continued to be sung in elegiacs accompanied by the aulos in classical and Hellenistic Greece. Lament elements figure in Beowulf, in the Hindu Vedas, and in ancient Near Eastern religious texts, including the Mesopotamian city laments such as the Lament for Ur and the Jewish Tanakh, (which would later become the Christian Old Testament).

In many oral traditions, both early and modern, the lament has been a genre usually performed by women: Batya Weinbaum made a case for the spontaneous lament of women chanters in the creation of the oral tradition that resulted in the Iliad The material of lament, the "sound of trauma" is as much an element in the Book of Job as in the genre of pastoral elegy, such as Shelley's "Adonais" or Matthew Arnold's "Thyrsis".

Lament (Ultravox song)

"Lament" is the third single and title track from Ultravox's seventh studio album, released on 21 June 1984.

Lament is a melancholy ballad, the music video depicting the band members visiting their lovers on a remote Scottish island. The single didn't live up to its smash-hit predecessor, peaking at #22 in the UK music charts and #47 in the New Zealand charts.

Track listing

7" version

12" version

References

External links

Lament (Ultravox album)

Lament is the seventh studio album by British new wave band Ultravox, released in the UK on 6 April 1984. It was the last album featuring original drummer Warren Cann until the band's reunion album Brilliant in 2012. The album peaked at #8 on the UK album chart and was certified Gold by the BPI in June 1984 for 100,000 copies sold. It also reached #25 in Germany and #115 in the United States.

The album's sound saw the band continuing to move away from the synthpop style associated with their previous albums, heading into a more mainstream pop rock direction, not entirely dissimilar to contemporaries such as Simple Minds and U2 featuring greater use of guitar and 'stadium' reverb.

The album was re-released on CD in 1999 with seven bonus tracks consisting of various B-sides and remixes from the Lament period.

The album was once again re-released in 2009 as a double CD set. The first disc consisted of the original album remastered. The second disc contained remixes, B-sides and previously unreleased "work in progress" versions of songs.