History The Firm

There are several bands called The Firm.

1) The Firm were an English rock supergroup comprising former Free and Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers, ex-Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, ex-Uriah Heep and Manfred Mann's Earth Band drummer Chris Slade and bass player Tony Franklin. Formed in 1984, the band had only mediocre album sales, although they did have sellout tours. Page and Rodgers originally wanted former Yes drummer Bill Bruford and fretless bassist Pino Palladino in the group; however, Bruford was contracted to another label and Palladino had tour commitments with singer Paul Young.

Band members

* Paul Rodgers - lead vocals, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar

* Jimmy Page - lead & rhythm guitars, acoustic guitar

* Tony Franklin - bass, keyboards, synthesizer

* Chris Slade - drums, percussion, backing vocals

Both Page and Rodgers refused to play any material from their former bands and instead opted for a selection of Firm songs plus tracks from both their solo albums. The new songs were heavily infused with a soulful and more commercially-accessible sound, courtesy of Franklin's fretless bass guitar underpinning and understated song structure. Despite refusing to play old material, the last track from The Firm, "Midnight Moonlight", was originally an unreleased Led Zeppelin song entitled "The Swan Song". This caused some critics to believe that Page had begun to run out of ideas. In subsequent press interviews, Page had indicated that the band was never meant to last more than two albums. After the band split, Page and Rodgers returned to solo work while Chris Slade joined AC/DC and Franklin teamed up with guitarist John Sykes in Blue Murder.

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2) The Firm was an American hip hop supergroup that formed in New York City in 1996. It was created by rapper Nas, his manager Steve Stoute, producer Dr. Dre and production team the Trackmasters. The group was composed of East Coast-based rappers Nas, Foxy Brown, AZ and Nature, who served as a replacement for Cormega after he was ousted from the group.

Although the group received initial hype and high expectations from fans upon their formation after collectively signing to Dr. Dre's Aftermath label, The Firm's debut album, The Album (1997), generated disappointing sales and generally negative criticism. The album, which featured predominant mafioso rap-themes and production from Dr. Dre and the Trackmasters, was criticized for its mainstream, pop-orientation. Their debut album was the group's only release and it subsequently disbanded in 1998 with each member continuing their solo careers.

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3) The Firm were a British group from the 1980s comprising of John O'Connor and Grahame Lister, which specialised in novelty songs. They are best known for the hits "Arthur Daley ('E's Alright)" and "Star Trekkin'", the latter of which spent 2 weeks at the top of the UK Singles Chart.

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4) A rock / electronic / brit pop band from Barcelona, Spain which has released one album "Hit And Run" in 2010 yet.

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5) French hardcore techno project formed by Darkomen (aka Exced) & Scratch Deal-A (aka The Mastery).

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6) Since 2008 ass-kicking Oi! Music from Rotterdam..

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