1) An electronica duet… Read Full Bio ↴There are at least 13 artists with this name:
1) An electronica duet from Los Angeles
2) William Oliver Swofford
3) Belgian Rock / Pop singer (Junior Eurovision)
4) Romanian rock band
5) Oliver Ching from Hong Kong
6) American band from the West Coast of the USA
7) Finnish rock band
8) Sydney, Australia rock band
9) Oliver (Vocaloid)
10) Oliver Dragojeviฤ, Croatian legend
11) An alternative teenager from Arizona
12) Oliver Chaplin
13) Oliver Francis, an indie rapper from Columbia, United States
1) Formed by Oliver โOligeeโ Goldstein and Vaughn "U-Tern" Oliver, Oliver have found the beating heart inside the dance machine. Whether moving bodies at the world's biggest electronic festivals, or hand-crafting digital gems in the studio, the producer / DJ duo of U-Tern and Oligee are responsible for some of the funkiest, toughest, and most diverse dance music today.
After spending years writing, producing, DJing and digging for vinyl, U-Tern and Oligee linked up in LA to forge something groundbreaking. They took their shared '80s baby tastes - relentlessly groovy R&B, boombox worthy hip-hop, soaring electropop hooks - and mashed them together in remixes for everyone from Chromeo and Foster The People to Breakbot and techno godfather Juan Atkins. Original jams like "All Night" and "Dirty Talk" (supported by dance music luminaries like Alan Braxe and Busy P) took Oliver's back-to-the-future sound even further, while high-powered collaborations with A-Trak ("Disco Nap") and Destructo ("LA Funky") brought the duo to the festival circuit, where they kept hands in the air all summer.
With the release of their Fool's Gold EP Mechanical, Oliver push their hybrid sound to even funkier new horizons. The stadium worthy opener "MYB" perfectly segues into the moody strut of โNight Is On My Mind,โ before shifting gears with the hands-in-the-air ecstasy of โControlโ and riding off into the sunset on the title trackโs cinematic pulse. With non-stop DJ sets on deck (complete with Oligee's live keyboard riffs) and even more new music, there's no telling where the beats will take them next. "Oliver is all over the map," says U-Tern. "But we're going to have a good time no matter what."
2) Born in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, William Oliver Swofford began singing as an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the early 1960s. He was a member of two music groups: The Virginians and, later, The Good Earth.
Oliver's clean-cut good looks and soaring baritone were the perfect vehicle for his July 1969 #3 single "Good Morning Starshine", from the pop-rock musical Hair. In October 1969 Oliver reached #2 with Rod McKuen's melodious ballad "Jean", the theme from the Oscar-winning film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Oliver performed both hits on a number of TV variety shows and specials in the late 1960s, including the Ed Sullivan Show. Later recordings had much less commercial success: "Sunday Mornin'" peaked at #35 in December 1969, and "Angelica" stalled at #97 in April 1970. His follow-up "I Can Remember" from July 1970 missed the Hot 100.
Despite his vocal talents, Oliver could not sustain more hits and he later made a career in business. A short-lived attempt to team up with Karen Carpenter in the late 1970s was unsuccessful. In 1983, People magazine ran a feature article on Oliver, describing a happily married father who kept his distance from the music business. In the late 1990s Oliver was diagnosed with cancer, and he died in Shreveport, Louisiana, on the same date that Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Charles Schulz, and Tom Landry all died.
3) The Belgian Singer is the representative of Belium in Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song 'Shup Up'. He won Junior EuroSong 2008 in Belgium which gained him the ticket to Limassol in November 2008 to represent his nation in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
4) The Romanian rock band's story begins in 2005, when after four years marked by major member changes, the band 41 shed its skin to reveal what we know today as Oliver: four experienced musicians who are not afraid to experiment, mercilessly blending their uncensored ideas into music. Oliver oozes passion, energy, poetry and the band spares no efforts in making live shows a real treat. And if youโre confused about their lyrics, this might mean you understand them.(Doru Puscasu - vocals, Mircea Moroianu - guitar, Horia Gridan - bass, Mihai Zorca - drums)
5) Born in Hong Kong. Formerly vocalist and guitarist from the band Little Beautiful Brand and becoming a solo singer-song-writer now. Released two solo records "Grace" and "Freddie and King" under 89268 in Hong Kong. working on his third album which will also be his first ever chinese album. Singles released on www.89268.com and www.oliverching.com for free download.
6) The American band was formed in 2000 by Eric Fischer, Stephan Hawkes, Ben Sprague, and Cory Van Name. They have three albums to their name: their self-titled EP, released in 2000; Quiet Life, released in 2002; and the 2-cd EP set Coming Back in Waves and Time Demands Pain, released in 2005. They are characterized by an upbeat, indie-rock sound.
7) Oliver is also a Finnish rock band.
www.oliverband.net
www.myspace.com/oliverfin
Album: Kauempaa sen tajuaa (2009, OMB-Records Finland)
8) A Sydney indie rock band founded by Jason Slattery and David Orwell with at least 2 EPs recorded:
Mr Blue Sky (1994, Ra Records, 4509988962)
Stars
Touchdown
The Conductor
Everyone's A Fool
Build Your Own Highway
Black Mountain Songs (1995)
Box Of Birds
Mr Blue Sky
Grate
Superfine
One Ninety
So You've Been Created
Cherry Shoes
9) Oliver is an English Vocaloid developed by PowerFX and new VOCALOID company, VocaTone. He is also the first to be released on the VOCALOID 3 product software.
My Name
Oliver Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Strong men tremble when they hear it!
They've got cause enough to fear it!
It's much blacker than they smear it!
Nobody mentions...
My name!
Rich men hold their five-pound notes out --
Saves me emptying their coats out.
They know I could tear their throats out
Just to live up to...
My name!
Wiv me
Jemmy in me hand,
Lemme see the man who dares
Stop me.
Taking what I may
He can start to say his prayers!
Biceps like an iron girder,
Fit for doing of a murder,
If I just so much as heard a
Bloke even whisper...
(spoken) My name! Bill Sikes...
(sung) Some Toff, slumming wiv his valet,
Bumped into me in the alley
Now is eyes'll never tally
He'd never heard of...
My name!
One bloke
Used to boast the claim
He could take my name in vain...
Poor bloke...
Shame 'e was so green
Never was 'e seen again!
Once bad -- What's the good of turning?
In hell, I'll be there-a-burning
Meanwhile, thing of what I'm earning
All on account of...
My name!
What is it? What is it? What is it?
Sikes
(spoken) Bill Sikes.
The song "My Name" by Oliver is a powerful ballad that is sung by the character of Bill Sikes in the stage production of Oliver Twist. The song is a showcase of his criminal and violent tendencies and his desire to be feared by everyone. The lyrics refer to how strong and wealthy men tremble at his name and how he can tear their throats out just to live up to his fearsome reputation. The use of the word "wiv" instead of "with" and other Cockney slang words add a sense of danger and roughness to the song.
The lyrics also mention how Sikes carries a weapon, called "Jemmy", in his hand and how anyone who dares to stop him will have to start saying their prayers. His biceps are compared to an iron girder, emphasizing his strength and readiness to commit murder. The song suggests that Sikes takes pleasure in his reputation and the fear he instills in others. The last line of the song is a simple repetition of his name, showing how he revels in his notoriety.
Overall, the song "My Name" is a classic example of a villain song, with lyrics that portray the character's dark and sinister personality.
Line by Line Meaning
Strong men tremble when they hear it!
My name is feared by many, even those who are known as strong men tremble when they hear it.
They've got cause enough to fear it!
There are valid reasons for people to fear my name.
It's much blacker than they smear it!
My name is much worse than how people try to degrade it, a lot of them don't even know the depths of my evilness.
Nobody mentions...
People know better than to mention my name in conversation.
Rich men hold their five-pound notes out --
When rich men see me coming, they hold their money out for me to take so I won't hurt them.
Saves me emptying their coats out.
I don't have to search their coats for money because they're already offering it to me.
They know I could tear their throats out
Rich men understand that I am capable of doing great harm to them without any remorse.
Just to live up to...My name!
I could hurt people just because I want to keep living up to the evil reputation that my name carries.
Wiv me
Jemmy in me hand,
Lemme see the man who dares
Stop me.
If someone tried to stop me, they would regret it, as I hold my weapon and am ready to use it.
Taking what I may
He can start to say his prayers!
If I take something from someone, they better start praying for their life.
Biceps like an iron girder,
My biceps are strong, they are like two iron girders.
Fit for doing of a murder,
My physical strength is enough to aid me in doing a murder.
If I just so much as heard a
Bloke even whisper...
If anyone whispers my name or says anything bad about me, even if I just overhear it, there will be consequences.
(spoken) My name! Bill Sikes...
My name is Bill Sikes.
(sung) Some Toff, slumming wiv his valet,
Bumped into me in the alley
Now is eyes'll never tally
He'd never heard of...
One time, a wealthy person was walking off the beaten path with his servant and he stumbled upon me in an alley. He had never heard of me before, and now he will never forget me.
My name!
It is all thanks to my name.
One bloke
Used to boast the claim
He could take my name in vain...
There was one person who claimed they could disrespect me by saying bad things about me.
Poor bloke...
That person was foolish and should not have made that claim.
Shame 'e was so green
Never was 'e seen again!
He was naive, and after making such a claim, he never showed himself again.
Once bad -- What's the good of turning?
Since I've already been bad, there's no good in trying to become good now.
In hell, I'll be there-a-burning
One day I'll end up in Hell, burning along with all the other lost souls.
Meanwhile, think of what I'm earning
In the meantime, I will continue to earn money and use my reputation to my advantage.
All on account of...
All of this is thanks to...
My name!
My name, Bill Sikes.
Contributed by Madelyn C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@Chadkins
Hey, hey! Now this guy's got the aggressiveness of the Sykes character down!
In a lot of amateur productions, you always have your mix:
Good singers, bad actors.
Good actors, bad singers.
Good performers, unfitting as their characters.
Fitting as their characters, bad performers.
This guy's got Sykes down for it all. Great singing, great acting, knew how to play the character, and knew how to balance it all together!
All too often, regardless of their performance as Sykes, people just can't seem to get down "My Name". Some people try to sing it straight, and forget to act it. Some people try to act it out, and forget they're supposed to be making it a powerful song.
"My Name" is the introduction to Sykes. It's the only real character building experience you get until the end, so there's a lot of responsibility put on the actor to tell the audience how they're supposed to feel when Sykes comes on stage.
Book-to-musical adaptations always have this problem. Les Misรฉrables was especially very guilt of it. Taking a novel, which spends pages upon pages of character building and scenario to help you understand every little detail about the entire universe inside the book, and then putting it to 2 hours of song, dance, and dialogue.
Sykes, being introduced a few minutes into Act 2 and taking his leave a bit of time before its ending, just gets thrown in the mix of a bunch of much more developed characters, and has to equate. Luckily, the very nature of the Sykes character being such an exaggerated evil allows the actor to put this across.
Although "My Name" isn't really the best way they could've done this, it's possible if the actor's up for the challenge.
I can honestly say that if I was watching this production, I'd feel a rush of anxiety any time Sykes entered the room after this performance.
Guy has a great singing and speaking voice, and they both fit each other and the Sykes character, and he perfectly grasps a good singing-to-speaking ratio. His posture, his facial expressions, that controlled intensity to all of his movements; the guy just knows how to make his presence known, and work the stage to where you can't take your eyes off of him.
If you played me this video with high-quality sound and film, I'd think he was a professional.
@deenagara9151
Sad that this song was not in the 1968 movie, love to hear Oliver Reed singing it!
@Generalterz
Very convincing!! When I was 18, I played Bill Sykes at school. During the first rehearsals I was much to nice (I'm a sunnyboy by nature... then after a while I 'got it' and played so mean that some of my friend's mothers said : 'what an awful guy ..." ;-) The best thing, however, was that I could be really rough to some teachers who were sitting in that tavern scene :-D
@mrpatty29
Generalterz Same here, it's such fun to play the villain especially when it surprises everyone else.
@miac1379
Generalterz Same here, I havenโt been in Oliver yet, but I think I could do a great Bill Sykes even tho Iโm a girl, also Iโm pretty kindhearted and sweet.
@i_iar3101
I'm Props right now at my School, so, Props is basically we have to paint the background drawings of Oliver Twist, and our job is mostly to help the other people that are doing Props with the stuffs that were putting on the stage and bringing them out of the stage, and some of my friends are also doing Props with me at School :) and btw, Props doesn't have any roles on the Oliver Twist Movie, we just have to do our job as a Props, like I explained! :)
@chadmartin39
I'm playing Mr. Bumble in our production of Oliver. Then, just a few days ago I was asked to fill in as Bill Sykes for two performances as well. This was by far the most inspirational I've seen and has giving me a solid idea on how I want to approach Sykes...great job. And I don't normally post a comment.
@iamnicole401
When you screamed "Bill Sykes"! My hair stood on end and I had nightmares for like a week. You are so much scarier and intimidating then the bill in our musical. In fact, people laughed when he said, "stand back or i'll kill the boy!" Good job
@princeleftridgeii4230
Gregory, wish me luck as I am going to perform this today. ย Watching this is bringing back how I played this character in 1999.
@Milolan
I'd love to see this entire production from start to finish. If this Bill Sykes is this great...I imagine the rest of the cast is just as great.
@nilsandlexi
Love that he's just about out of control here. Very real.