The Waterboys are a band formed in 1983 by Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland and Ireland. London, Dublin, Spiddal, New York and Findhorn have all served as a home for the group. The band has played in a number of different styles, but most often their music can be described as a mix of Celtic folk music with rock and roll, or folk rock. After ten years of recording and touring, the band dissolved in 1993 and Scott pursued a solo career. The band reformed in 2000, and continues to release albums and tour worldwide. The early Waterboys sound was dubbed "The Big Music" after a song on their second album, A Pagan Place. This musical style was described by Scott as "a metaphor for seeing God's signature in the world." Their songs, largely written by Scott, often contain literary references and are frequently concerned with spirituality. Both the group and its members' solo careers have received much praise from both rock and folk music critics, but The Waterboys as a band has never received the commercial success that some of its members have had independently.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Waterboys

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1014: Irish forces led by Brian Boru clashed with the Vikings in the Battle of Clontarf. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Clontarf)

1827: Irish mathematician and physicist Rowan Hamilton presented his Theory of Systems of Rays. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Rowan_Hamilton)

1920: The Grand National Assembly of Turkey was founded in Ankara in the midst of the Turkish War of Independence. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_National_Assembly_of_Turkey)

1923: Gdynia was inaugurated as a Polish seaport on the south coast of the Baltic Sea. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gdynia)

1954: Batting against Vic Raschi of the St. Louis Cardinals, Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves hit the first of his 755 home runs in Major League Baseball. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Aaron)

1982L: The Conch Republic facetiously declared independence from the United States. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conch_Republic)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

We defy augury; there's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all. -- "Hamlet" in Hamlet by William Shakespeare (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hamlet)