100px|Nick Drake's grave in Tanworth-in-Arden
Nick Drake (1948–1974) was an English singer-songwriter and musician, best known for his sombre guitar-based songs. He failed to find a wide audience during his lifetime, but now ranks among the most influential English singer-songwriters of the last 50 years. Drake released his debut album, Five Leaves Left, in 1969. None of his first three albums sold more than 5,000 copies on their initial release. Drake suffered from depression and insomnia throughout his life, and these topics were often reflected in his lyrics. On completion of his third album, 1972's Pink Moon, he withdrew from both live performance and recording, retreating to his parents' home in rural Warwickshire. He died from an overdose of amitriptyline in 1974 (grave pictured). Drake was credited as an influence by numerous artists during the 1980s, including The Dream Academy, who in 1985 reached the UK and US charts with "Life in a Northern Town", a song written for and dedicated to him. By the early 1990s, Drake represented a certain type of "doomed romantic" musician in the UK music press. In 2000, Volkswagen featured the title track from Pink Moon in a television advertisement, and within a month Drake had sold more records than he had in the previous 30 years. (more...) Recently featured: Mauna Kea – Press Gang – Diffuse panbronchiolitis Archive – By email – More featured articles... Read the rest of this article: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Drake> _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 1607: San Agustin Church in Manila, the oldest church in the Philippines, was completed. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Agustin_Church%2C_Manila> 1764: English radical and politician John Wilkes was expelled from the British Parliament and declared an outlaw for seditious libel. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkes> 1917: Approximately 50 tons of TNT exploded at a munitions factory in Silvertown in West Ham, present-day Greater London, killing over 70 people and injuring over 400 others. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvertown_explosion> 1983: The Nazi SS officer Klaus Barbie was arrested in Bolivia, 32 years after having fled to Argentina with the help of the US Army US Army Counterintelligence Corps. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaus_Barbie> 2006: In the deadliest aviation accident in Slovak history, an Antonov An-24 aircraft operated by the Slovak Air Force crashed in northern Hungary, killing 42 of the 43 people on board. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Slovak_Air_Force_Antonov_An-24_crash> _____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day: gnocchi (n): Italian pasta-like dumplings made of potato or semolina <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gnocchi> ___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day: I cannot consent to place in the control of others one who cannot control himself. --Robert E. Lee <http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_E._Lee> _______________________________________________ Wikipedia Daily Article mailing list. To unsubscribe, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/daily-article-l Questions or comments? Contact [email protected]
