Swift

The swifts are a family, Apodidae, of highly aerial birds. They are superficially similar to swallows, but are not closely related to any of the passerine species. Swifts are placed in the order Apodiformes, which they share with hummingbirds. The treeswifts are closely related to the true swifts, but form a separate family, the Hemiprocnidae.

Resemblances between swifts and swallows are due to convergent evolution, reflecting similar life styles based on catching insects in flight.

The family name, Apodidae, is derived from the Greek ἄπους (ápous), meaning "footless", a reference to the small, weak legs of these most aerial of birds. The tradition of depicting swifts without feet continued into the Middle Ages, as seen in the heraldic martlet.

Some species of swifts are among the fastest animals on the planet, with some of the fastest measured flight speeds of any bird.

Taxonomy

Taxonomists have long classified swifts and treeswifts as relatives of the hummingbirds, a judgement corroborated by the discovery of the Jungornithidae (apparently swift-like hummingbird-relatives) and of primitive hummingbirds such as Eurotrochilus. Traditional taxonomies place the hummingbird family (Trochilidae) in the same order as the swifts and treeswifts (and no other birds); the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy treated this group as a superorder in which the swift order was called Trochiliformes.

Swift (crater)

Swift as a crater may refer to:

D12

D12, an initialism for The Dirty Dozen, is an American hip hop group from Detroit, Michigan. D12 has had chart-topping albums in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. D12 was formed in 1996, and achieved mainstream success after Eminem rose to international fame. D12 released the album Devil's Night in 2001 and D12 World in 2004, spawning numerous hits such as "Fight Music", "Purple Pills", "My Band", "How Come" and "Shit on You" throughout that period. Since 2006, Eminem's hiatus and the death of the member Proof resulted in them being less active in subsequent years.

History

Early career (1996–98)

In order to make up the dozen, it was decided the six members at the time would each create an alter-ego. Proof's was Dirty Harry, Bizarre's was Peter S. Bizarre, Kuniva's was Hannz G. (which later became Rondell Beene), Kon Artis's was Mr. Porter, Bugz' was Robert Beck and Eminem created the famous character Slim Shady.

In 1997, they released their debut album, The Underground EP, which was recorded between 1996 and 1997. In 1997 and through 1998, its members began establishing reputations locally. Bizarre was named Inner City Entertainment's "Flava of the Week" and went on to release an album called Attack of the Weirdos. Along with Eminem, Rah Digga and Young Zee, he became an honorary member of The Outsidaz. Proof won a freestyling competition run by The Source. In 1999, Bugz released an EP called These Streets EP, and made several appearances on other rapper's songs.

Slam (Big Dipper album)

Slam is the third and final full-length album from Boston band Big Dipper. The album was released in 1990 on Epic Records.

Track listing

Slam (soundtrack)

Slam: The Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 1998 film, Slam. It was released on October 13, 1998 through Epic Records and consisted entirely of hip hop music. The soundtrack was a minor success, making it to 84 on the Billboard 200 and 24 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.

Track listing

Slam (band)

Slam is a producer/DJ duo from Glasgow, consisting of Stuart MacMillan (born 1966, Glasgow) and Orde Meikle (born 1964, Oxford). They are co-founders of Soma Quality Recordings. Their music style consists of house and techno.

History

McMillan and Meikle's first club event was a weekly Thursday night called Black Market, in the Glasgow club, Fury Murrys. They played a mix of house, funk and rap. In early 1988, they were approached by Steven Sleepman (aka Steven Workman), after he heard his first acid house track on DJ Segun's late night show on Radio Clyde. During a brief stint PRing for Club Eden, Sleepman secured a Saturday night at Glasgow's Tin Pan Alley, which was to become the home of Slam. Prior to the launch of her musical career Dot Allison (future musical collaborator) worked with the PR team, and DJ Harri was a regular guest on the turntables.

Slam then launched a Friday night at the Sub Club called Joy. Black Market still kept its own musical identity throughout the Summer of Love, playing an eclectic mix of musical genres.