John Lilley
Encyclopedia
John Lilley is an American guitarist
, singer, songwriter
, guitar teacher
and landscape gardener, best known for being a member of rock band The Hooters
.
perform on The Ed Sullivan Show
on February 9, 1964. He initially learned to play jazz
and folk music
, with his first teacher being folk and bluegrass
expert Jerry Ricks
. He eventually studied jazz improvisation with Dennis Sandole and then jazz, theory, orchestration, composition and arranging with Calvin Harris. Lilley also participated in visual arts, drawing voraciously while in school and mostly painting as an adult.
In his twenties during the mid-1970s, Lilley got involved in the local Philadelphia rock music
scene, as the manager and guitarist of the Get Right Band and later became the guitarist for Robert Hazard
and the Heroes, who went on to write Cyndi Lauper
's hit "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
."
, in 1983. The band combined reggae
, ska
, and rock'n'roll in their music.
Nervous Night
, The Hooters
' 1985 debut on Columbia Records
, sold in excess of 2 million copies and included Billboard Top 40 hits "Day By Day" (#18), "And We Danced" (#21) and "Where Do The Children Go" (#38).
After releasing six albums, The Hooters
obtained a large global following throughout the 1980s and 1990s. As a result, they were asked to open three major musical events of the late 20th century: Live Aid
in Philadelphia in 1985, Amnesty International
Concert at Giants Stadium
in 1986, and Roger Waters
' The Wall Concert in Berlin
in 1990. In 1995, The Hooters went on hiatus.
Lilley reunited with The Hooters on successful headlining European summer tours in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
2007 saw the release of Time Stand Still
, their first album of new material since 1993.
and dance
scores.
Sister Carrie
, adapted by Louis Lippa and based on Theodore Dreiser
's novel, was performed at the People's Light and Theatre Company in Malvern, Pennsylvania
in 1991 and included over 125 musical moments and themes throughout the 6 hour play that Lilley contributed to.
At the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1992, Lilley contributed to Collecting Gravity by the Terry Beck Dance Troupe.
Lilley has also worked on commercials for Raisin Bran
, Clinique
and American Express
.
Currently, Lilley is working on a solo album that he describes "as a blend of rock and country with an Americana edge," while also teaching guitar lessons to students in the Philadelphia area.
Solo debut CD "Lucky Kinda Guy" is released October, 6th, 2009.
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, singer, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, guitar teacher
Music education
Music education is a field of study associated with the teaching and learning of music. It touches on all domains of learning, including the psychomotor domain , the cognitive domain , and, in particular and significant ways,the affective domain, including music appreciation and sensitivity...
and landscape gardener, best known for being a member of rock band The Hooters
The Hooters
The Hooters is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By combining a mix of rock and roll, reggae, ska and folk music, The Hooters first gained major commercial success in the United States in the mid 1980s due to heavy radio and MTV airplay of several songs including "All You...
.
Early life
John Lilley learned to play the guitar at nine years old after he saw The BeatlesThe Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
perform on The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
on February 9, 1964. He initially learned to play jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, with his first teacher being folk and bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
expert Jerry Ricks
Jerry Ricks
Jerry Ricks was an American blues guitarist.Ricks was born and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, playing trumpet as a child; he started playing guitar in local coffee shops in the late 1950s...
. He eventually studied jazz improvisation with Dennis Sandole and then jazz, theory, orchestration, composition and arranging with Calvin Harris. Lilley also participated in visual arts, drawing voraciously while in school and mostly painting as an adult.
In his twenties during the mid-1970s, Lilley got involved in the local Philadelphia rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
scene, as the manager and guitarist of the Get Right Band and later became the guitarist for Robert Hazard
Robert Hazard
Robert Hazard Robert Hazard Robert Hazard (born Robert Rimato, (August 21, 1948 – August 5, 2008), was a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, musician, probably best known for composing and recording the song "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", which Cyndi Lauper covered, turning the song into a...
and the Heroes, who went on to write Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
's hit "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Girls Just Want to Have Fun (song)
"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" is a song written by Robert Hazard. It was the first major single released by singer Cyndi Lauper as a solo artist. It gained recognition as a feminist anthem, an award-winning video and a worldwide hit. It has been covered on either an album or in live concert by over...
."
Tenure with The Hooters
After a sudden and unexpected departure from the Heroes, Lilley joined another local Philadelphia band, The HootersThe Hooters
The Hooters is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By combining a mix of rock and roll, reggae, ska and folk music, The Hooters first gained major commercial success in the United States in the mid 1980s due to heavy radio and MTV airplay of several songs including "All You...
, in 1983. The band combined reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
, and rock'n'roll in their music.
Nervous Night
Nervous Night (album)
Nervous Night is the second studio album by the American rock band The Hooters, released in 1985 by Columbia Records and on CBS Records in Europe.-Background:...
, The Hooters
The Hooters
The Hooters is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By combining a mix of rock and roll, reggae, ska and folk music, The Hooters first gained major commercial success in the United States in the mid 1980s due to heavy radio and MTV airplay of several songs including "All You...
' 1985 debut on Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, sold in excess of 2 million copies and included Billboard Top 40 hits "Day By Day" (#18), "And We Danced" (#21) and "Where Do The Children Go" (#38).
After releasing six albums, The Hooters
The Hooters
The Hooters is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By combining a mix of rock and roll, reggae, ska and folk music, The Hooters first gained major commercial success in the United States in the mid 1980s due to heavy radio and MTV airplay of several songs including "All You...
obtained a large global following throughout the 1980s and 1990s. As a result, they were asked to open three major musical events of the late 20th century: Live Aid
Live Aid
Live Aid was a dual-venue concert that was held on 13 July 1985. The event was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. Billed as the "global jukebox", the event was held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom ...
in Philadelphia in 1985, Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
Concert at Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Maximum seating capacity was 80,242. The building itself was 230.5 m long, 180.5 m wide and 44 m high from service level to the top of the seating bowl and 54 m high to...
in 1986, and Roger Waters
Roger Waters
George Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...
' The Wall Concert in Berlin
The Wall Concert in Berlin
The Wall – Live in Berlin was a live concert performance by Roger Waters and numerous guest artists, of the Pink Floyd studio album, The Wall, itself largely written by Waters during his time with the band. The show was held in Berlin, Germany, on 21 July 1990, to commemorate the fall of the Berlin...
in 1990. In 1995, The Hooters went on hiatus.
Lilley reunited with The Hooters on successful headlining European summer tours in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
2007 saw the release of Time Stand Still
Time Stand Still
Time Stand Still is the sixth studio album by American rock band The Hooters, released in 2007.-Background:The Hooters gathered in October 2006 at keyboard player Rob Hyman's Elmstreet Studios, in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for the recording of basic tracks, followed by additional...
, their first album of new material since 1993.
Other musical projects
When Lilley has not worked with The Hooters, he has composed and performed several theatreTheatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
and dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
scores.
Sister Carrie
Sister Carrie
Sister Carrie is a novel by Theodore Dreiser about a young country girl who moves to the big city where she starts realizing her own American Dream by first becoming a mistress to men that she perceives as superior and later as a famous actress...
, adapted by Louis Lippa and based on Theodore Dreiser
Theodore Dreiser
Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm moral code, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of...
's novel, was performed at the People's Light and Theatre Company in Malvern, Pennsylvania
Malvern, Pennsylvania
Malvern is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,998 at the 2010 census. The main road through the borough is King Street, although the borough is also bordered by Paoli Pike on the south, and is near US 30 on the north. The primary cross street is Warren...
in 1991 and included over 125 musical moments and themes throughout the 6 hour play that Lilley contributed to.
At the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1992, Lilley contributed to Collecting Gravity by the Terry Beck Dance Troupe.
Lilley has also worked on commercials for Raisin Bran
Raisin Bran
Raisin bran is a breakfast cereal manufactured by several companies under a variety of brand names, including Kellogg's Raisin Bran; General Mills' Total Raisin Bran, a variant by General Mills called Raisin Nut Bran; and Ralcorp's Post Raisin Bran.-History:Skinner's Raisin Bran was the first...
, Clinique
Clinique
Clinique is a manufacturer of skincare, cosmetics, toiletries and fragrances, owned by the Estée Lauder Corporation.- History :In 1967, American Vogue magazine published an article called “Can Great Skin Be Created?”, written by beauty editor Carol Phillips with Dr. Norman Orentreich, discussing...
and American Express
American Express
American Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best...
.
Currently, Lilley is working on a solo album that he describes "as a blend of rock and country with an Americana edge," while also teaching guitar lessons to students in the Philadelphia area.
Solo debut CD "Lucky Kinda Guy" is released October, 6th, 2009.
Avantgardeners
When The Hooters went on hiatus in 1995, Lilley left the music business and concentrated on a career in landscape gardening. He started his own company in the Philadelphia area, Avantgardeners, which evolved from a one man operation to a full-time business employing several workers and having its own nursery.External links
- John Lilley official website
- John Lilley official MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
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