Saraya

Saraya was an American hard rock band, based in New Jersey and featuring singer Sandi Saraya, guitarist Tony "Bruno" Rey, keyboardist Gregg Munier, bassist Gary Taylor, and drummer Chuck Bonfante. The band is best known for their 1989 song "Love Has Taken Its Toll," and for being one of the few female-fronted rock bands of the 1980s.

History

In 1987, Sandi Saraya and keyboardist Gregg Munier began performing under the name Alsace Lorraine. They would eventually travel to Los Angeles in search of stardom, changing their name to Saraya, because Sandi was the face of the band. After a short stint in LA, the band would return to New Jersey where Saraya and Munier would spend the next year writing material for their debut album. Later in 1987, Saraya and Munier would be joined by former Danger Danger guitarist Tony "Bruno" Rey, bassist Gary Taylor, and drummer Chuck Bonfante.

Saraya released their self-titled debut on PolyGram Records in 1989. Executives at PolyGram hoped to eventually develop Sandi Saraya into a sex symbol, making her the "Next Bon Jovi". Promoters wanted to establish Saraya as a good rock band and gradually establish Sandi's sex appeal as the band received more exposure. The debut album saw some success, spending 39 weeks on the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 79. Their first single, "Love Has Taken Its Toll" reached No. 64 on the Billboard 100, on the Week of Aug 12th, 1989 and their followup "Back to the Bullet" peaked at No. 63., on the Week of Dec 2nd, 1989.

Saraya (newspaper)

Saraya (in Arabic سرايا ) is an Arabic online newspaper based in Amman, Jordan. It was blocked by the Jordanian government in June 2013.

Profile

Hashim Al Khalidi is the owner of the website. The editor-in-chief is Seif Obeidat. The rate of readership for Saraya in 2010 was 24% according to Alexa, making it third mostly visited website in Jordan. In a market study carried out by Ipsos in March 2012 it was established that Saraya was among the top 20 most visited websites in the country along with two other news portals, namely Ammon News and Khaberni. It was the 15th most visited website in the Arab world in 2012, too. In April 2013, Saraya was the 9th most visited website in the country. The Alexa data showed in June 2013 that the website was among the mostly visited news websites.

In June 2013, it was blocked by the government along with more than other 200 websites. The reason for the blocking was the websites' improper publications and organization according to the new press and publications law.

Saraya (neighborhood)

Saraya (Arabic: السرايا‎) is a neighborhood in Alexandria, Egypt.

See also