Odds and ends of Hozier news during his hiatus. This is an active quarter.
(Check out the last quarter: Q4 2017.)
February
Better Love is included on a Valentine’s Day playlist by Abbey Road.
Take a listen to our Valentine’s Day playlist ‘Abbey Road in Love’, a collection of some of the greatest love songs ever recorded in Abbey Road Studios – guaranteed to get you feeling romantic! Listen on Spotify: https://t.co/oh73MzZdKC pic.twitter.com/85hbE2KC0o
— Abbey Road Studios (@AbbeyRoad) February 8, 2018
And Better Love was #1 on the iTunes chart in Bahrain.
Better Love (From "The Legend of Tarzan") by Hozier is number 1 in Bahrain #iTunes top 100 songs https://t.co/iYYuuhndX0
— Hot Music Charts (@ihotmusiccharts) February 9, 2018
Take Me To Church is still going strong in some places in the world.
Take Me To Church by Hozier is number 2 in Belarus #iTunes top 100 songs https://t.co/qSQpTy383a
— Hot Music Charts (@ihotmusiccharts) February 4, 2018
Feb 1: Today is the feast day of St. Brigid, one of the patron (matron) saints of Ireland. It is also Imbolc, a pagan festival in Ireland that marks the beginning of spring.
St. Brigid is smashing it today. Outrageous results
— Hozier (@Hozier) February 1, 2018
Feb 1: RIAA, the body that certifies record sales in the US, announced that they will be integrating streams in their calculations for album sales. The first 17 albums to be awarded certifications under the new criteria included Hozier’s debut album, which was given (its second) Platinum award. Take Me To Church is 6x Platinum in the US.
January
Jan 30: The video for Take Me To Church surpassed 200 million views on VEVO. The same video on Hozier’s own channel is at almost 400 million views!
200 million: Hozier – Take Me To Church https://t.co/CdWhDy6N9Y
— YouTube Milestones (@YTMilestones) January 30, 2018
But wait! The really impressive thing is that from all sources on YouTube, the video has been viewed almost 900 million times!
Jan 23: Hozier’s manager, Caroline Downey, posted a photo of the studio in London where he is working on the next album. See more about that Hammond B-3 organ below.
Jan 22: Hozier posted a photo of a beautiful Hammond B-3 organ in the London recording studio where he’s been spending time.
The expression he used, “pulling out all the stops”, is actually derived from organ playing. The drawbars on this organ are also called stops, and you pull them out to change the sounds.
If you’re curious about the Hammond B-3 organ, here’s the legendary Booker T. Jones (from Booker T & The MGs) at NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert playing Green Onions, Born Under A Bad Sign, and Down In Memphis. Between songs, he tells the story of how he came to play the Hammond B-3 and demonstrates some of the features.
Key to the Hammond B-3/C-3 sound is the Leslie tone speaker cabinet. The speakers have spinners that turn at different speeds that you control to create vibrato. Here’s a pretty smokin’ rendition of Stevie Wonder’s I Wish that demonstrates how the player controls the vibrato. You can see the speed change and compare the sound difference while watching the treble speaker horns spin. There’s a bass woofer in the lower cabinet with another spinning rotor that isn’t shown in this video.
Jan 22:
Hozier's 'Hozier' has now spent 150 weeks on the Billboard 200.
— chart data (@chartdata) January 23, 2018
Jan 17: RIAA announced that Hozier’s album is now certified 2x Platinum in the U.S. (2,000,000) and Take Me To Church has been certified 6x Platinum in the U.S.
US Certifications (@RIAA): @Hozier, Hozier 2x Platinum (2,000,000).
— chart data (@chartdata) January 17, 2018
US Certifications (@RIAA): @Hozier, Take Me to Church 6x Platinum (6,000,000).
— chart data (@chartdata) January 17, 2018
Jan 3:
A radio doc that I put together with a little help from @toofeckinmuch – The Irish at Eurosonic feat: @TheFrames, @MayKapes, JJ72, @jacknifelee, & archive interviews: @Soakofficial, @Kodaline, @Hozier, @jamesvmcmorrow, & @wearevillagers @esns @ebba_awards https://t.co/OPSL2d5ZGT pic.twitter.com/IczmRHfyGE
— 🎤 Dan Hegarty 🎧 (@talldanhegarty) January 3, 2018
Take a trip back to Eurosonic 2014 when Hozier played his first gigs outside of Ireland on 15 and 16 January in Groningen, Netherlands. Hear how this premiere European music industry festival helped to break Take Me To Church and kickstart Hozier’s live bookings in Europe.
Listen in from 21:45.
Jan 1: “I’ve been hit with a terrifying bout of optimism and I hope it finds you also. Excited to share what’s coming.”
Want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and a sincere thank you to everyone who has shown such support over the last while, I'm so grateful to have known it. I've been hit with a terrifying bout of optimism and I hope it finds you also. Excited to share what's coming. Much love x
— Hozier (@Hozier) January 2, 2018
Thanks to all of our contributors with special thanks to @literarypengke and @Megn0481.
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Featured image: Caroline Downey