Classics

Classics (also Classical Studies) is the study of the languages, literature, laws, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other material culture of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome; especially during Classical Antiquity (ca. BCE 600 – AD 600). Traditionally, the study of Classical literature (Greek and Roman) was the principal study of the humanities.

Etymology

The word classics is derived from the Latin adjective classicus, meaning "belonging to the highest class of citizens."

History of the Western Classics

The first “Classic” writer was Aulus Gellius, a 2nd-century Roman writer who, in the miscellany Noctes Atticae (19, 8, 15), refers to a writer as a Classicus scriptor, non proletarius (“A distinguished, not a commonplace writer”). Such classification began with the Greeks’ ranking their cultural works, with the word canon (“carpenter’s rule”). Moreover, early Christian Church Fathers used canon to rank the authoritative texts of the New Testament, preserving them, given the expense of vellum and papyrus and mechanical book reproduction, thus, being comprehended in a canon ensured a book’s preservation as the best way to retain information about a civilization. Contemporarily, the Western canon defines the best of Western culture. In the ancient world, at the Alexandrian Library, scholars coined the Greek term Hoi enkrithentes (“the admitted”, “the included”) to identify the writers in the canon.

The Classics

The Classics were an American vocal group formed in 1958 in Brooklyn.

The Classics first sang together in high school; two of them had previously sung in a group called The Del-Rays. In 1959, under the auspices of manager Jim Gribble, they recorded their first single, "Cinderella"; the record Bubbled Under the US Hot 100 in early 1960. The follow-up, "Angel Angela", also narrowly missed the national charts, and the 1961 single "Life Is But a Dream" hit the lower regions of the Black Singles chart when Mercury Records picked it up for national distribution, but it wasn't until they released the single "Blue Moon" with Herb Lance on lead vocals that they charted a hit. The song peaked at #50.

The group signed with Musicnote Records in 1963 and released "Till Then", which became their biggest hit, peaking at #20 on the pop charts and #7 AC.

The group was best remembered for its ballads, and frequently sang versions of pop standards from the 1920s and 1930s. They frequently changed labels over the course of their career, and parted ways about 1966. Member Emil Stucchio revived the name to tour in the 1970s and again in the 1990s and 2000s. In the 1990s, the group was Stuccio, former Mystic Al Contrera, Scott LaChance, and Michael Paquette. Later it was Stuccio, Contrera, LaChance, and Teresa McClean. LaChance later left the group.

The Classics (album)

The Classics is the nineteenth studio album by American Contemporary Christian and Gospel singer-songwriter Wintley Phipps.

Track listing