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Danny Rivera is an outspoken singer/songwriter from Puerto Rico whose career spans several decades and includes numerous hits, many of them romantic songs in the bolero tradition. Born February 28, 1945, in Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico, he began his singing career at an early age in his church choir. During the late '60s and early '70s, he rose to fame in Puerto Rico with hits such as "Porque Yo Te Amo," "Fuiste Mía un Verano," "Manolo," "Mi Viejo," "Yo y la Rosa," "Va Cayendo una Lágrima," and "Jesucristo." After establishing himself as a popular singer of hit songs, he began to release full-length albums such as Mi Hijo (1972), En Concierto (1975), Alborada (1976), Muy Amigos (a duet album with Eydie Gormé, 1977), and Serenata (1979). During the '80s Rivera continued to enjoy popularity and began hitting the Latin pop charts regularly with albums including Así Cantaba Cheíto González (1984), Controversia (1985), Inolvidable Tito: A Mi Me Pasa Lo Mismo Que a Usted (1986), Mi Canción Es Paz (1987), Ofrenda (1987), and El Día Que Me Quieras (1988). Though his popularity began to fade after the turn of the decade, he remained active during the '90s and beyond. En Vivo Desde el Carnegie Hall (1999) was the most successful of his latter-day albums. Following his 2001 arrest for protesting U.S. military exercises on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, Rivera published the book Enamorado de la Paz (2002), a collection of poems and diary entries written during his month-long imprisonment. ~ Jason Birchmeier

Prelude was a trio consisting of Brian Hume (vocals, guitar), his wife Irene Hume (vocals) and Ian Vardy (guitars, vocals). Based in England, the group was midway between Peter, Paul & Mary and Crosby, Stills & Nash, with harmonies that rivaled the latter for sweetness and quiet elegance. They became favorites on England's folk circuit; their recording career began with the 1973 release How Long Is Forever on Dawn Records, and continued right into the end of the decade, although their last widely distributed album was Back Into the Light, for Pye, in the middle of the decade. The trio's rendition of Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush" charted in both the British and American Top 30 and Top 40, respectively, and Prelude toured the United States in the mid-1970s. They also recorded for Island during this period. Vardy left in the 1980s, and the group was reduced to a duo for a time, before expanding to a trio. The Humes were once again performing as a duo in the late 1980s and early 1990s. ~ Bruce Eder