The Shadows

There is more than one act that goes by the name 'The Shadows';

1) The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre-Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard from 1958 to 1968, and have joined him for several reunion tours.

The Shadows have had 69 UK chart singles from the 1950s to the 2000s, 35 credited to the Shadows and 34 to Cliff Richard and the Shadows. The group, who were in the forefront of the UK beat-group boom, were the first backing band to emerge as stars. As pioneers of the four-member instrumental format, the band consisted of lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass guitar and drums. Their range covers pop, rock, surf rock and ballads with a jazz influence.

The core members from 1958 to present are guitarists Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch and drummer Brian Bennett (who has been with the group since 1961) with various bassists and occasionally keyboardists through the years. Along with the Fender and the Burns guitars, another cornerstone of the Shadows sound was the Vox amplifier. Around 1964, the Shadows replaced the Fender with the Burns, Bruce Welch citing tuning issues as the main reason.

The Shadows' number one hits include "Apache", "Kon-Tiki", "Wonderful Land", "Foot Tapper" and "Dance On!". Although these and most of their best-remembered hits were instrumentals, the group also recorded occasional vocal numbers, and hit the UK top ten with the group-sung "Don't Make My Baby Blue" in 1965. Four other vocal songs by the Shadows also made the UK charts. They disbanded in 1968, but reunited in the 1970s for further commercial success.

The Shadows are the fifth most successful act on the UK Singles Chart, behind Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Cliff Richard and Madonna. The Shadows and Cliff Richard & the Shadows each have had four No. 1 selling EPs.

The Shadows are difficult to categorize because of their stylistic range, which includes pop, rock, surf rock and ballads with a jazz influence. Most tunes are instrumental rock, with a few vocal numbers. Their rhythmic style is primarily on the beat, with little syncopation. They said in 1992 that "Apache" set the tone with its surf guitar sound.

The Shadows have been cited as a major influence on many guitarists, including Brian May, Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Andy Summers, Ritchie Blackmore, David Gilmour, Tommy Emmanuel, Andy Powell and Tony Iommi. A tribute album, Twang! A Tribute to Hank Marvin & the Shadows (Capitol 33928), in October 1996 featured Blackmore, Iommi, Peter Green, Randy Bachman, Neil Young, Mark Knopfler, Peter Frampton and others playing Shadows hits. The early set of Queen (who played their first gig on 27 June 1970 with Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor and Brian May) included a cover of Cliff and the Shadows' "Please Don't Tease".

The Shadows influenced 1960s Yugoslav beat bands like Atomi, Bele Višnje, Bijele Strijele, Crni Biseri, Crveni Koralji, Daltoni, Delfini, Elektroni, Elipse, Iskre, Samonikli, Siluete and Zlatni Dečaci, all of whom were the pioneers of the Yugoslav rock scene. In the words of Crni Biseri member Vladimir Janković "Jet" (who got his nickname after Harris), "even the Beatles weren't as popular in Belgrade as the Shadows were". The second episode of Rockovnik, a Serbian 2011 documentary series about the Yugoslav rock scene, deals with the appearance of the Shadows and the influence they had on Yugoslav bands.

2) A band out of Georgia who recorded the album titled 'It Ain't Easy If It's Not Sleazy'.

Recorded at Kala studios, Atlanta, Georgia. Includes liner notes by Bryan Cole. Producers: The Shadows, Sam Whiteside, Bryan Cole. The Shadows: Joel Murphy (guitar, vocals); Albey Scholl (harmonica, saxophones, background vocals); Roger Gregory (Fender bass, acoustic bass); Tom Chavers (drums). Additional personnel: Luther "Houserocker" Johnson (guitar); Steve McRay (piano, Hammond B-3); Francine Reed (backing vocals).

As you'll hear on this effort, The Shadows have taken blues, rock, country, rock-a-billy, and a number of other musical "spices" and come up with their own boiling gumbo. In the tradition of groups like Little Feat, Los Lobos and The Band, they have developed a unique sound while still being respectful of their influences. It was my sincere pleasure to work with such a fine group. All of us involved hope you will dig what you hear - Turn It Up! (Bryan Cole)

3) Known best for their longtime residence at Blind Willie's, a popular blues club in Atlanta, the Shadows released several albums during the '90s before the untimely death of singer/guitarist Mike Lorenz. Shadows bassist Roger Gregory opened Blind Willie's in 1986 with Eric King. The club, which is located in the Virginia-Highland neighborhood of Atlanta, hosted many local blues artists such as Billy Wright, Grady "Fats" Jackson, Sandra Hall, and Chicago Bob.

In 1988, Chicago Bob, who was also a Blind Willie's resident, recorded an album called Just Your Fool that featured the Shadows as his backing band. A few years later, in 1992, the Shadows – comprised of Gregory, Lorenz, harp/saxman Albey Scholl, and drummer Tom Chavers – released an album of their own, Party Tuff or Stay Home!, that Ichiban released.

Several successive albums followed: It Ain't Easy Bein' Sleazy (1993), Steppin' to the Shadows (1994), Dreamtime (1994), Dark Side of the Shadows (1995), Pale Interpretators (1997), and One Night of Sin (2000). Unfortunately, Lorenz died an accidental death on July 3, 2001, when his car caught on fire behind his home after he'd fallen asleep with the car running. ~ Jason Birchmeier, Rovi

4) The Shadows is a heavy metal band from Chile signed with Sentient Ruin Laboratories.

After the pure magic and fire of the "Into the Nightmare" precursor demo tape, we're thrilled to bring you its full-scale successor and evolution: the unrivaled debut album by Chilean heavy metal cult Shadows. Packing in 30 minutes of legendary songwriting and visionary revivalism "Out for Blood" takes us back to a time, somewhere in the early 80's, when acts like Mercyful Fate, Satan, Death SS, Judas Priest, and Alice Cooper were laying the unforgettable foundations of what would soon become a generational, industry-changing phenomenon: the defining of heavy metal as we know it. A raging and undying fire of searing leads, thundering drums, spooky operatic vocals, ripping guitars, unforgettable hooks and outrageous transgression. With no hesitation or limits to its deathless imagination, Shadows has conceived a classic metal crucible of unparalleled wizardry and dominance, using familiar concepts borrowed from dark b-movies, old comic strips, occultism and esotericism to take the listener down a dark, left-hand path of cinematic storytelling, thrilling fantasy, dark impulses and transgressive paranoia.

The ten tracks of "Out for Blood" display a breadth of tricks and expertise rarely seen at such an accomplished level in contemporary NWOTHM and classic metal acts, and this should come as no surprise knowing that Shadows mastermind and main songwriter John Shades (a pseudonym of Cristian Silva of Apostasy fame), has been shaping the pillars of true and untamed underground South American heavy metal for at least three decades. Using a mist of dark, keyboard-laden atmospheres, vorticose melodies and a dominating, dual attack of criss-crossing, blazing razor-sharp solos, Shades and his co-conspirators have unfolded a half-hour of absolute, boundless imagination, covering almost fifty years of heavy metal evolution and transformation, and delving deep into the primordial fabric of the genre's most defining traits, those of technical extremism, frantic intensity, and adrenaline-pumping darkness. A full-frontal assault on the senses where the limitless imagination of epic storytelling and of rare musicianship have converged in creating the ultimate homage, heirloom and celebration to the undying, sacred and eternal flame of heavy metal.

5) S H A D O W S is a punk rock band from Japan formed in 2009.

https://www.last.fm/music/%EF%BC%B3%EF%BC%A8%EF%BC%A1%EF%BC%A4%EF%BC%AF%EF%BC%B7%EF%BC%B3