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Mannheim Steamroller
Comment:
Back when "new age" was actually [i]new[/i] — in fact, before it even had the name "new age" — a composer named Chip Davis had an idea for a band with what was then a new sound. He had co-created the musical persona of C. W. McCall, who'd had a smash novelty hit with the CB-craze anthem "Convoy." Flush with success (and cash), Davis created yet another fictitious artist, Mannheim Steamroller, and composed a fusion of classical and electronic music with rock and pop in a series of albums entitled [i]Fresh Aire[/i], marketing them to stereo buffs. Not only did they gain instant success among audiophiles, but when Mannheim recorded its first Christmas album, the phenomenon also went multi-platinum. What started as a trickle became a wave — in fact, Mannheim was an early staple on the Wave radio format — and it continues rolling on 30 years (and more than 30 albums) later.