Brandy

Brandy (from brandywine, derived from Dutch brandewijn, "gebrande wijn" "burned wine") is a spirit produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically taken as an after-dinner drink. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks, some are coloured with caramel colouring to imitate the effect of aging, and some brandies are produced using a combination of both aging and colouring.

In broader sense, the term "brandy" also denotes liquors obtained from distillation of pomace (pomace brandy) or mash or wine of any other fruit (fruit brandy). These products are also named eaux-de-vie.

Varieties of wine brandy can be found across the winemaking world. Among the most renowned are Cognac and Armagnac from Southwestern France.

History

The origins of brandy were clearly tied to the development of distillation. While the process was known in classical times, it wasn't used for significant beverage production up until the 15th century.

Initially wine was distilled as a preservation method and as a way to make it easier for merchants to transport. It is also thought that wine was originally distilled to lessen the tax which was assessed by volume. The intent was to add the water removed by distillation back to the brandy shortly before consumption. It was discovered that after having been stored in wooden casks, the resulting product had improved over the original distilled spirit. In addition to removing water, the distillation process led to the formation and decomposition of numerous aromatic compounds, fundamentally altering the composition of the distillate from its source. Non-volatile substances such as pigments, sugars, and salts remained behind in the still. As a result, the taste of the distillate was often quite unlike that of the original source.

Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)

"Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" is a 1972 pop song written and composed by Elliot Lurie and recorded by Lurie's band, Looking Glass, on their debut album Looking Glass. The single reached number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100 charts, remaining in the top position for one week. Billboard ranked it as the 12th biggest song of 1972. Horns and strings were arranged by Larry Fallon.

Song info

Synopsis

The lyrics tell of Brandy, a barmaid in a port town. She falls in love with a sailor who gives her a locket that bears his name. In the end, Brandy is left in love with "a man who's not around." Brandy may have been based on Mary Ellis (1750–1828), a spinster in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Before and after

In February 1972, Robert Mandel was the Epic Records Promotion Manager in Washington, DC. He received a test pressing of an album by a new group named "Looking Glass". He took the test pressing around to every radio station in the Washington/Baltimore region. At the time, WPGC AM was one of the leading Top 40 AM stations in the country and was the number one radio station in DC. Harv Moore was the programme director. He decided to play the test pressing at night and as Harv related at the time, "the switchboard lit up like a Christmas tree". He said that he had never received a response like that on a record in his 20 years in radio. Based on the airplay at WPGC and as all the other Top 40 stations followed, Epic rush-released the single of "Brandy". Based on requests alone, two weeks later, when the single finally hit the stores, "Brandy" was the number one record in DC without a single copy yet sold. Other stations around the country started playing it and it ended up being a number one million seller.

Brandy (album)

Brandy is the self-titled debut album by American R&B singer Brandy. It was released by Atlantic Records on September 27, 1994 in North America, December 5 in the United Kingdom and on several dates in Europe and Oceania, starting on February 3, 1995. The album contains a range of contemporary genres, and the songs are a mix of soft hip hop soul, pop and contemporary mid–1990s R&B. They were chiefly produced by Keith Crouch who would contribute all four single releases from the album. Aside from Crouch, Norwood worked with a range of other writers and producers, including R&B group Somethin' for the People, Arvel McClinton, and Damon Thomas and young Robin Thicke.

Upon release, Brandy received generally positive reviews from music critics, who complimented Norwood's appearance, as well as the album's timeless appeal. It became a commercial success as well. While initial sales were slow, the album reached the top 20 of the US Billboard 200 was certified four-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), selling over two million copies in the United States. It experienced similar success in Australia and Canada, where it was platinum and gold respectively. Worldwide, the album has sold over six million copies.

Libre

Libre is an adjective meaning "free, at liberty". It may also refer to:

Music

Other

See also

Repretel 9

Canal 9 is the second television station established in Costa Rica, having begun broadcasts in 1961 as Tic Tac Canal 9.

In 1993, the channel was acquired by Remigio Ángel González becoming the first station owned by the then-new Repretel group. It later sub-leased to TV Azteca and was sold in 2000. Repretel moved channel 9's programming to the newly-acquired Repretel Channel 4, bought from TV Azteca in the same year. Afterwards, channel 9 was branded as Spectamérica.

From 2011 to 2015, the station was branded as canal nueve, and still carried TV Azteca programming as well as local shows. This is all set to change with Repretel reacquiring the channel and rebranding under the new ownership in the coming months. Some of the channel's productions were cancelled.

Libre (song)

"Libre" ("Free") is a song by José Luis Armenteros and Pablo Herrero, first performed and made popular by Spanish pop star Nino Bravo on his 1972 album of the same name. The song's lyrics tell of a young man who is "tired of dreaming" and yearns to fly "free like a bird that escaped its prison." Though he's not mentioned in it by name, the song was reportedly inspired by the death of Peter Fechter.

A hit in Spain, the song also became popular in much of Spanish-speaking Latin America, where it took on political overtones. Banned in Cuba, in Chile it was adopted as an unofficial anti-communist anthem and became popular among supporters of the government junta. In her study Sounds of Memory: Music and Political Captivity in Pinochet’s Chile (1973-1990) music historian Katia Chornik of the University of Manchester claims the song was played during interrogations of prisoners at the time of the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship.

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