Traffic (band)

. Other:. Traffic was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 15, 2004. Genie Awards:. After re-uniting, Capaldi and Winwood toured widely but were unable to regain their former stature. Juno Awards:. Traffic did not record again until 1994, when they released Far From Home. He made his motion picture debut in The Aviator and will also appear in the upcoming film, Heights.

Winwood's solo career peaked with the album Back in the High Life. His latest, a live iTunes Sessions EP entitled Alright Already is due for release in March 2005. Capaldi's solo career began to heat up, and Winwood finally launched one of his own, recording the smash hit album Arc of a Diver. It is a companion to the 2003 release Want One. Still, Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory was another hit, as was When the Eagle Flies (1974 in music). Wainwright's newest album, Want Two, of which four songs were released as the EP Waiting for a Want, was released from DreamWorks/Geffen on November 16, 2004. Once again, personnel problems wracked the band as Capaldi began a solo career. Wainwright is an avid opera fan, and the influences on his music are evident; his music has been described as "Popera" (Pop Opera) or "Baroque Pop." His lyrics are filled with allusions to opera, literature, pop culture, and, more recently, politics (in songs such as "Gay Messiah" and "Waiting for a Dream").

After some personnel changes (including the return of Mason), Traffic released The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys, an American hit that didn't chart in the UK. While some of his most moving songs feature just Wainwright with his piano, many of his songs display complex layering and harmonies, occasionally comprising hundreds of individual parts. Winwood formed Blind Faith but after that band split in 1969 he began working on a solo recording which eventually turned into another Traffic album, John Barleycorn Must Die, their most successful album yet. In addition to being a pianist, Wainwright is a guitarist, often switching between the two instruments when performing live; however, his mastery of the guitar does not approach his talent with the piano. Their second album, Traffic, was released in 1968. The band began touring the US, but Mason was fired and Winwood announced the band's break-up. He still often performs with his sister Martha Wainwright (now herself an emerging artist) on backup vocals. "Hole in My Shoe", the second single, was an even bigger hit, and set the stage for a rivalry between Winwood and Mason, the group's principal songwriters. Their debut album was Mr. Fantasy which, like the singles, was a hit in the UK but not in the US or elsewhere. He has frequently toured as the opener for Sting and co-headlined with Ben Folds and Guster in the summer of 2004.

Their debut single was 1967's "Paper Sun", a UK hit. He garnered great praise for his performance and began touring as a main act shortly afterwards. With Mason and Capaldi eager to form a new group, Winwood agreed to join the partnership along with Chris Wood and so the four members retreated to a secluded cottage in Aston Tirrold, Berkshire to rehearse. Wainwright's first main exposure to the American public came as an opener to singer Tori Amos in 2001 and 2002. The four musicians often played at a club called The Elbow Room in Aston, Birmingham. Wainwright's sophomore album, Poses (2001), brought similar acclaim. Traffic was a rock band, from Birmingham in the late 1960s and led by Steve Winwood, with Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason, after Winwood left the Spencer Davis Group. This album landed much critical acclaim in Canada, and was even recognized by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the best albums of the year.

Steve Winwood (http://stevewinwood.com). The label signed him and he relased an album in the spring of 1998. After having been a fixture on the Montreal club circuit, Wainwright cut a series of demo tapes, one of which found itself in the hands of DreamWorks executive Lenny Waronker. He also became an enthusiast of such performers as Edith Piaf, Al Jolson and Judy Garland. Coming out as a homosexual while still a teen, Wainwright found solace through opera throughout his adolescent years (His track Barcelona features lyrics of Guiseppi Verdi).

Additionally, some of his songs feature his mastery of French. He lived in Montreal with his mother for most of his childhood and briefly attended McGill University, where he studied both classical and 'rock' piano. Despite being born in the United States, Wainwright strongly identifies with Canada and still maintains a residence there. He began to play the piano at age six, and by age thirteen he was touring with his sister Martha, mother Kate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_McGarrigle), and aunt Anna as the "McGarrigle Sisters and Family." His song "I'm Running," which he performed in the movie Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller, was nominated for the 1989 Genie Award for Best Original Song and earned him a nomination for the 1990 Juno Award for Most Promising Male Vocalist.

Wainwright was born in Rhinebeck, New York to folk singers Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle (they later divorced while he was a child). Rufus Wainwright (born 22 July 1973) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter. 2004 - Nominated, Shortlist Music Prize. 1999 - Won, Debut Album of the Year, Gay/Lesbian American Music Awards.

1999 - Won, Oustanding Music Album, GLAAD Media Awards. 1989 - Won, Best Original Song, "I'm A Runnin'". 2002 - Won, Best Alternative Album, Poses. 2000 - Nominated, Best Songwriter; "Poses," "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk," and "Grey Gardens".

1999 - Won, Best Alternative Album, Rufus Wainwright. 1990 - Nominated, Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year. "I'll Build A Stairway To Paradise" - Soundtrack to the Motion Picture The Aviator (2004, Sony). "I Eat Dinner" (with Dido) - Soundtrack to the Motion Picture Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004, Geffen Records).

"It's Only a Paper Moon" and "I Wonder What Became of Me" - Stormy Weather: The Music of Harold Arlen (2003, Sony). "When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes" - When Love Speaks (2002, EMI Classics). "Across the Universe" - Soundtrack to the Motion Picture I Am Sam (2002, V2/BMG). "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" - Soundtrack to the Motion Picture Zoolander (2001, Hollywood Records).

"Hallelujah" - Soundtrack to the Motion Picture Shrek (2001, Dreamworks). "Complainte de la Butte" - Soundtrack to the Motion Picture Moulin Rouge! (2001, Interscope). "Instant Pleasure" - Soundtrack to the Motion Picture Big Daddy (1999, Sony). - The McGarrigle Hour (1998).

"Shooldays", "What'll I Do?", "Heartburn", "Talk to Me of Mendocino", "Goodnight Sweetheart" and background vocals on various other tracks. "Le Roi D'Ys" and "On the Banks of the Wabash" - Soundtrack to the Motion Picture The Myth of Fingerprints (1997). "I'm Running" - Soundtrack to the Motion Picture Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller (1989). Alright Already (EP; 2005, DreamWorks/Geffen) - available only on iTunes.

Want Two (2004, DreamWorks/Geffen). Waiting for a Want (EP; 2004, DreamWorks) - available only on iTunes. Want One (2003, DreamWorks). Poses (2001, DreamWorks).

Rufus Wainwright (1998, DreamWorks).