title: Thai Airways International

text: In April 2015, after an audit of the Thai Department of Civil Aviation, Thailand was downgraded from Category 1 to Category 2 due to negative audit results from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). On 1 December 2015, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced their reassessment of the safety rating for Thailand, downgrading it from a Category 1 to Category 2 country. The FAA stated, "U.S. and Thai aviation officials have a long-standing cooperative relationship and both our countries work continuously to meet the challenge of ensuring aviation safety. A Category 2 International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) rating means that the country either lacks laws or regulations necessary to oversee air carriers in accordance with minimum international standards, or its civil aviation authority—a body equivalent to the FAA for aviation safety matters—is deficient in one or more areas, such as technical expertise, trained personnel, record-keeping, or inspection procedures. With a Category 2 rating, Thailand's air carriers can continue existing routes to the United States but they won't be allowed to establish new routes to the United States."


title: Thai Airways International

text: The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) declined to blacklist any Thai carriers following a review of certain carriers in November 2015. Thai later received third country operator (TCO) certification from the EU, effective 15 December 2015, authorizing the carrier to continue flying to the EU for the foreseeable future.


title: Thai Airways International

text: In July 2015, Thai announced the planned cancellation of service to Los Angeles after 25 October 2015, marking the end of US service.


title: Thai Airways International

text: In June 2016, as a result of its restructuring plan, Thai announced it would commence thrice-weekly Tehran service. However, the service ended on 28 February 2018. The airline also considered a return to the US using Boeing 787-9 by 2017. However, Charamporn Jothikastira, THAI president, turned down the possibility of returning to Los Angeles or New York City due to losses in the past. Instead, Thai considered other cities such as San Francisco and Seattle. While Thai Smile, its subsidiary, planned new regional routes such as Cebu, Medan, Surabaya, Chandigarh, Shantou and Tianjin.


title: Thai Airways International

text: In August 2016, Thai introduced a new route network management system. Following implementation, flight schedules were synchronized, allowing international passengers to transit via Bangkok Suvarnabhumi more conveniently. Thai planned to adjust thirteen route schedules, mainly in Japan, Australia, and India. Routes to Perth and Brisbane were announced.


title: Thai Airways International

text: The current safety video was introduced in 2018. Sueb Nakhasathien Foundation president Rungsit Kanjanavanit stated his belief that the video does not sufficiently reflect Thai culture as the animals and flowers used are more commonly found in South America.


title: Thai Airways International

text: As part of THAI's broader growth strategy in the region, THAI launched a regional carrier with light-premium services, Thai Smile, which operates the narrow-bodied Airbus A320-200 on regional and domestic routes. The new airline began commercial operations in July 2012, after its first A320s were received. As of September 2020, Thai Smile files to 31 destinations and a fleet of 20 aircraft with Chiang Mai International Airport being its focus city.


title: Thai Airways International

text: By September 2016, Thai Smile, Thai's subsidiary announced new services to Gaya, Varanasi, Jaipur, and Lucknow in India marking the expansion of Thai's Asian network.


title: Thai Airways International

text: In the fourth quarter of 2016, Thai Smile vowed to resume its suspended routes and Thai's terminated regional routes to Da Nang, Kota Kinabalu, Luang Prabang and Mandalay. Also the airline has considered launching new services to Hangzhou and Zhengzhou.


title: Thai Airways International

text: In 2006, Thai Airways moved its hub to the new Suvarnabhumi Airport. Coinciding with the arrival of new aircraft in the mid-2000s, as well as its new hub in Bangkok, the airline launched a brand renewal by introducing new aircraft livery, new aircraft seating, and revamped ground and air service.


title: Thai Airways International

text: The logo on the tail fin shows the traditional Thai greeting gesture (wai), and the curves represents traditional Thai architecture of the decorative structure called lamyong that are common on temple roofs to distinguish different tiers in the structure. The gold represents the colour of Thai Temples, while the magenta signifies magnolia blossom, where finally the purple represents the Thai Orchid - a colour that is used throughout the airline from uniforms to interior cabin colour schemes.


title: Thai Airways International

text: In 1999, THAI first painted the Suphannahong Royal Barge aircraft livery on its Boeing 747-4D7 (HS-TGJ) aircraft, royally bestowed the name “Haripunchai” on the occasion of the Sixth Cycle Birthday of King Rama IX.


title: Thai Airways International

text: To mark the Coronation of the King Rama X Thai Airways used a Boeing 777-300 (HS-TKF) to put the Suphannahong Royal Barge as its aircraft livery, where it will be featured till the end of 2022


title: Thai Airways International

text: As of October 2019, Thai's accumulated debt amounted to more than 100 billion baht, prompting a deputy transport minister to question "...how serious the airline's executives were in dealing with the worsening financial situation." Thai reported a net loss of 4.68 billion baht in the third quarter of 2019 and a 10.91 billion baht net loss for the first nine months of 2019. Thai's president lamented that, "...such losses were normal for airlines amid fierce competition and price dumping to win customers," a statement contradicted by the performance of other airlines in the region such as VietJet Air.


title: Thai Airways International

text: In 2019, Thai's net loss widened to 12.2 billion baht, up from Thai's net loss of 11.6 billion baht in 2018 and 2.11 billion in 2017.


title: Thai Airways International

text: For calendar year 2017, Thai posted revenues of 190,535 million baht, net income of (2,072) million baht, and total assets of 280,775 million baht. In the first half of 2018, Thai reported a net loss of 381 million baht.


title: Thai Airways International

text: At the commencement of 2014, Thai was subject to a rumor that the company would declare bankruptcy in May 2014. Listed on the Thai stock exchange, the company was formerly a state enterprise—until 22 May 2020—in which the finance ministry held a stake of up to 51 per cent. In a statement to the media, Chokchai Panyayong, the airways' senior executive vice-president and acting president, stated: "Thai has never once defaulted. Despite its loss in the third quarter of last year, the company still has high liquidity and has a clear plan for debt repayment." He further explained that the carrier's loss of 6.35 billion baht in the third quarter of last year was the result of the company's unsuccessful plan to attract more customers. Thai's financial loss for 2014 was reported to be at 15.6 billion baht (US$479 million), 3.6 billion baht higher than the previous year. Thai blamed declining tourist arrivals from North Asia owing to political unrest in Thailand during the year, but capacity figures from Flightglobal's Innovata Network Data service suggest that Europe was probably an even bigger drain on the bottom line during the year.


title: Thai Airways International

text: Thai's new management team has set itself the goal of returning to "sustainable profitability" by 2022 as well as joining the ranks of the world's top five airlines. The centerpiece of its turnaround plan is its proposed 100 billion baht purchase of 23 new aircraft. THAI's chairman pointed to its aging fleet as being expensive to maintain. THAI's 89 aircraft have an average age of 9.3 years compared with competitor Singapore Airlines average age of 7.6 years. Thai's chairman said the company has not yet determined "...what aircraft and type we need to buy because we have yet to finalize financing."


title: Thai Airways International

text: Thai's recovery plans include teaming up with state enterprises Airports of Thailand PCL (AOT) and Krung Thai Bank (KTB) to help drive the carrier to profitability. The team's "first task" is to deliver more tourists to 55 "second-tier" provinces. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) will assist the team by creating a new campaign, "More Local", to drive tourism to less visited corners of the nation. AOT, which operates Thailand's six international airports, will invest 220 billion baht in infrastructure to increase airport capacity from 2018's 80 million passengers to 185 million in ten years. KTB's contribution to the effort consists of creating new payment solutions for tourists and ramping up travel promotions.


title: Thai Airways International

text: Political interference, corruption and abuse of authority have been persistent issues in Thai's management. Speaking at the World Economic Forum on East Asia, former president Piyasvasti Amranand, who had been abruptly dismissed in May 2012, cited Thai's procurement of A340-500s (three of which had since been grounded) as examples of mismanagement influenced by corruption and political meddling, resulting in operational losses.


title: Thai Airways International

text: At an extraordinary board meeting held on 27 March 2020, Chakkrit Parapuntakul, Second Vice Chairman, was appointed as acting president of Thai Airways effective 11 April 2020.


title: Thai Airways International

text: The Thai government stepped in to provide THAI with a 50bn baht loan guarantee in April 2020 and reaffirmed the airline's status as a state enterprise. The move was taken in the absence of a "get well" plan. A week later, the bailout loan was withdrawn and the cabinet replaced it with a plan to have Thai file with the Central Bankruptcy Court for debt restructuring. As of March 2021, the airline is 410 billion baht in debt and 13,000 creditors. This include customers who simply bought tickets and not being refunded by Thai Airways. Most of those customers have waited for close to 2 years and still not being refunded although Thai Airways keeps selling new tickets. Its main creditors are the state-owned Krungthai and Government Savings Banks. The 50bn baht loan it had sought from the government would have kept it afloat for only five months. An 80bn baht capital infusion would have been needed later.


title: Thai Airways International

text: Thai Airways lost its state enterprise status on 22 May 2020 when the Finance Ministry sold off a 3.17% stake in Thai to the Vayupak 1 Fund, thus reducing its former majority shareholding to 47.86%. Thai has appealed to the government for help to forestall the seizure of its aircraft by foreign creditors. The airline sought government help because it has contracts and legal obligations that can only be resolved by the state. These issues must be dealt with before Thai enters debt rehabilitation. Concurrently, investigators are looking into anomalies in Thai ticket sales in 2019. The Transport Ministry reported that Thai ticket sales and freight revenues totalled 140bn baht in 2019, yet Thai had 25.4m passengers at an average ticket price of 6,081 baht, a total of 154.5bn baht. A senior prosecutor, Wanchai Roujanavong, had earlier warned that, "...the proposed rehabilitation of Thai Airways International [is] the opening of a Pandora's Box, which will expose extensive corruption in the ailing national flag carrier which has hitherto been hidden from the public."


title: Thai Airways International

text: On September 14, 2020, the Central Bankruptcy Court has given approval for THAI to enter rehabilitation. THAI has submitted the rehabilitation plan on 2 March 2021. The airline nominated the airline's independent director Piyasvasti Amranand and Chakkrit Parapuntakul, the company's second vice chairman as rehabilitation plan administrators, while the creditors will meet on 12 May 2021 to vote on the rehabilitation plan, and the court is expected to decide whether to endorse the plan between June and July 2021.


title: Thai Airways International

text: On 15 June 2021, the Central Bankruptcy Court set the hearing to read out the court's order with regard to the consideration of THAI's Business Rehabilitation Plan. After receiving two objections against the Business Rehabilitation Plan of THAI, the Planner's clarification, and the official receiver's opinion regarding several issues, the Central Bankruptcy Court granted an order to approve THAI's Business Rehabilitation Plan as well as the amended plan following the acceptance resolution of the creditors' meeting on 19 May 2021. As a result, the Plan Administrator nominations whose names were proposed according to the Business Rehabilitation Plan and the amended plan, i.e. Mr. Piyasvasti Amranand, Mr. Pornchai Thiravet, Mr. Siri Jirapongphan, Mr. Kraisorn Barameeauychai, and Mr. Chansin Treenuchagron, has become the Plan Administrators who are authorized to operate THAI's business and implement the plan.


title: Thai Airways International

text: On 1 July 2022, the Plan Administrator submitted the petition for plan amendment to the official receiver. On 1 September 2022, the Official Receiver held the creditors’ meeting via electronic means (e-Meeting). The creditors who hold 78.59 percent of the total claims of the creditors, who attended the meeting and cast votes, accepted the amendment of the Business Reorganization Plan that the Plan Administrator submitted to the Official Receiver. On 20 October 2022, the Central Bankruptcy Court issued an order approving the proposal for the Plan amendment of the Company.


title: Thai Airways International

text: On 21 October 2022, THAI informed the resignation of the Plan Administrator, effective as of October 21, 2022 as follows: 1. Mr. Kraisorn Barameeauychai 2. Mr. Siri Jirapongphan


title: Thai Airways International

text: On 20 August 2020, then Deputy Transport Minister Thaworn Senniam announced some Thai Airways employees became unusually rich from the 2003-2004 10 Airbus A340's procurement deal and other mismanaged projects, according to a police-led investigation team set up by the Ministry of Transport. The team is forwarding its findings to the National Anti-Corruption Commission and has been informed by the Council of State that it must shut down due to a technicality.


title: Thai Airways International

text: In January 2017, a four-year investigation by the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) determined that aircraft engine-maker Rolls-Royce had paid bribes to Thai Airways employees and government employees in Thailand to secure orders for the Rolls-Royce T800 engine for its Boeing 777-200s. Rolls-Royce admitted to the charge and agreed to pay penalties. The illicit payments of US$36.38M took place between 1991 and 2005. Bribes were paid in three s:


title: Thai Airways International

text: The government rejected calls for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to use his Section 44 powers to cut through red tape in the investigation of the Rolls-Royce bribery scandal. Response from the Thai government's National Anti-Corruption Commission to information provided by the SFO, is said to be "tepid" and "...could be more embarrassing than the scandal itself."


title: Thai Airways International

text: On 28 August, Thaworn Senneam announced the findings of a House panel which found evidence of bribes of a minimum of 5%, or 2.6 billion baht, on contracts in payments to officials, politicians, and THAI executives. Thaworn alleged that Rolls-Royce paid 245 million baht in bribes through middlemen, and irregular expenses and overtime payments to staff and senior management, with excessive payments to executives costing. On 1 September, the Transport Ministry formally submitted the findings of the probe into alleged irregularities to the Finance Ministry, Prime Minister's Office, and National Anti Corruption Commission for further action.


title: Thai Airways International

text: Thai Airways International is a member and one of the five founding members of Star Alliance which was founded on 14 May 1997. As of February 2020 Thai Smile is a connecting member for the alliance.


title: Thai Airways International

text: Thai Airways operates a fleet of widebody aircraft from both Airbus and Boeing, totalling 43 aircraft as of April 2022.


title: Thai Airways International

text: Thai maintains three maintenance centres, at U-Tapao International Airport, Don Mueang International Airport, and Suvarnabhumi Airport. The centers service aircraft belonging to other airlines in addition to Thai aircraft.


title: Thai Airways International

text: Thai Technical is certified internationally by the Federal Aviation Administration, the Joint Aviation Authorities, the European Aviation Safety Agency Part-145 Maintenance Organisation, and the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau for facilities at Don Mueang International Airport and Suvarnabhumi Airport. It has also received its Requalifier Identification Certificate from the United States Department of Transportation for its operations at U-Tapao International Airport and Suvarnabhumi Airport.


title: Thai Airways International

text: It is certified domestically by the Department of Civil Aviation (Thailand) for all three of its facilities in Thailand.


title: Thai Airways International

text: On 27 February 1998, the department received its ISO 9002 certification from Bureau Veritas Quality International, with ISO 14001 certification granted by the same agency on 16 March 2001.


title: Thai Airways International

text: Thai initiated a program entitled "The Most Hygienic In-Cabin Environment Program" with an emphasis on air quality, surface cleanliness, and food safety. The program includes removal of all in-flight disposable materials after flights, sterilization and fumigation of all cabin equipment, and inspection of the air-circulation system. A special audit process is also carried out for the cleaning and sanitization of aircraft systems by a team of specialists. These measures are applied to the entire Thai fleet.


title: Thai Airways International

text: Thai was the first airline to install hospital-grade air-filter True HEPA, capable of intercepting up to 99.99 per cent of dust particles and microorganisms on every flight. The World Health Organization awarded the airline a plaque for the implementation of its in-cabin management system in 2004. It was the first award of its kind to be presented to a private organization.


title: Thai Airways International

text: Thai's Royal First Class is currently not available. The airline's last 3 Boeing 777-300ERs on order are scheduled to be fitted with a Royal First Class cabin.


title: Thai Airways International

text: Thai's Royal Silk Class seats have been installed on all Thai aircraft. The angled shell design seats have of pitch and a width of . Prior to refurbishment, Royal Silk seats on Boeing 777-300ERs are sold as premium economy class seats on flights to Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm and Moscow. A new set of Royal Silk seats are available on THAI's Boeing 777-300ERs, Boeing 787-8s, and Airbus A350-900s. After the delivery of the new 787-9s to THAI, the Zodiac Cirrus or Reverse Herringbone seats are now available on board the new aircraft.


title: Thai Airways International

text: Thai's Economy Class offers between seat pitch depending on the aircraft type. Personal screens with AVOD are present on the Airbus A350-900, Boeing 777-200ER/-300ER, Boeing 787-8/-9 aircraft.


title: Thai Airways International

text: Royal Orchid Plus is Thai's frequent flyer program. It has a membership of over two million people. There are two types of miles which can be accrued with a Royal Orchid Plus account: "Eligible Qualifying Mile"s (EQM) on flights of THAI and its subsidiaries and codeshare and Star Alliance partners as well as "Qualifying Mile"s (Q Miles) are the miles flown as well as the bonus miles earned from travel in particular classes of service on THAI and Star Alliance airlines. Royal Orchid Plus miles are earned based on the paid class of travel. There are four tiers in the Royal Orchid Plus program: "Member", "Silver", "Gold" and "Platinum", depending on the Q Miles earned in one calendar year.


title: Thai Airways International

text: Thai Airways signed a sponsorship agreement with English Football League (EFL). The new agreement will see Thai Airways have a digital and in-stadia presence at every one of the five EFL Finals that are held at Wembley Stadium throughout the 2017/18. As of 2020, Thai has been given a year extension on the partnership. Thai Airways also has signed a sponsorship agreement with Australian Rugby Team Melbourne Rebels and the Australian A-League soccer club Western Sydney Wanderers


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: The Ford Mustang Mach 1 is a performance-oriented option package of the Ford Mustang muscle car, originally introduced in August 1968 for the 1969 model year. It was available until 1978, returned briefly in 2003, 2004, and most recently 2021.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: As part of a Ford heritage program, the Mach 1 package returned in 2003 as a high-performance version of the New Edge platform. Visual connections to the 1969 model were integrated into the design to pay homage to the original. This generation of the Mach 1 was discontinued after the 2004 model year, with the introduction of the fifth generation Mustang.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: Ford first used the name "Mach 1" in its 1969 display of a concept called the "Levacar Mach I" at the Ford Rotunda. This concept vehicle used a cushion of air as propulsion on a circular dais.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: The Ford Mustang was successfully introduced in April 1964 as a sporty pony car to attract younger buyers into Ford products. After a few years of development, Ford saw the need to create performance Mustangs to compete with GM and their release of the Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: As the performance war continued, the Mustang's platform and engine bay were progressively redesigned to accommodate larger engine blocks. Late in the 1968 model year, Ford introduced the 428 cu in (7.0 L) Cobra Jet FE engine in a small group of Mustang GTs and into the 1968 Shelby GT500KR. This was a strong performer and indicated the direction of the 1969 Mustang. However, "GT" was deemed insufficient to describe performance, thus the Mach 1 model name was introduced.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: The 1969 Ford Mustang featured numerous performance-themes model names and engines. Six factory performance Mustang models were available (GT, Boss 302, Boss 429, Shelby GT350, Shelby GT500, and the Mach 1). Additionally, seven variations of V8s were available in the 1969 to 1973 models; most of these also available in the new Mach 1.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: Due to the Mach 1's success, the GT model was discontinued after 1969 following poor sales of 5,396 units versus the 72,458 sales for the Mach 1. The Mustang would not wear the "GT" badge again until 1982.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: The Mach 1 package was only available in the "SportsRoof" fastback body style (previously known as the 'fastback'); never on the hardtop or convertible. Many resto-mod visual conversions have since been performed by owners and enthusiasts, but are not Mach 1's by VIN code.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: The Mach 1 started with a V8-powered SportsRoof body and added visual and performance-enhancing items such as matte black hood treatment with hood pins, hood scoop (including optional Shaker scoop), competition suspension, chrome pop-open gas cap, revised wheels with Goodyear Polyglas tires, chrome exhaust tips (except 351W 2V), deluxe interior, livery and dealer optional chin spoiler, rear deck spoiler, and rear window louvers (SportSlats).


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: Standard equipment was a 351 cu in (5.8 L) Windsor (351W) 2V engine with a 3-speed manual transmission, and a 28 spline open rear axle. A 351W 4V was optional as was a 390 cu in (6.4 L) FE, and the 428 cu in (7.0 L) Cobra Jet 4V with or without Ram Air, and even the introduction of the "drag pack" option with the modified 428 cu in (7.0 L) Super Cobra Jet engine. A 4-speed manual or 3-speed FMX (small block)/C6 (big block) automatic transmission was optional, and the 428SCJ added a cast iron tailshaft in place of the regular aluminum one to the C6. A "traction lok" rear axle was optional, and the 428 CJ/SCJ included a "traction lok" with a 3.91 or 4.30 ratio, 31 spline axle shafts, and a nodular case. In 1970, the 3.91 ratio was a "traction-lok", while the 4.30 ratio was a Detroit Locker.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: Mach 1s came with upgraded suspension to varying degrees dependent upon powertrain choices. Big block cars had front shock tower reinforcement, thicker sway bars (no rear bar for 1969), and heavier springs and shocks. 428 CJ/SCJ 4 speed cars also came with staggered rear shocks. Standard on Mach 1s was a fierce but cosmetic hood scoop that had integrated turn-signal lights mounted in the back. A more functional option was the signature "Shaker hood", an air scoop mounted directly to the top of the engine, used to collect fresh air and so named for its tendency to "shake" with the V8 engine. The interior came complete with teak wood grain details, full sound deadening material and high-back sport bucket seats.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: In 1968 racecar drivers Mickey Thompson and Danny Ongais took three Mach 1 Mustangs to the Bonneville salt flats for a feature in "Hot Rod" magazine, in the process setting 295 speed and endurance records over a series of 500-mile and 24-hour courses.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: Ford kept the Mach 1 alive into 1970 and little changed other than the visuals. The 1970 body included dual-beam headlights with the previous inner headlights becoming sport lamps and recessed taillights on a black honeycomb rear panel, side scoops behind both doors removed, revised bucket seats, deep dish sports wheel covers, as well as new side and rear badging and striping were the main visual differences. The 1970 model year Ford did use the Windsor 2v motor on some earlier built cars until the new 351 cu in (5.8 L) Cleveland (351C) V8 in either 2V (for use with 2-venturi carbs) or 4V (for use with 4-venturi carbs) versions were used exclusively. The 351C 4V (M code) engine featured 11.0:1 compression and produced at 5400 rpm. This new engine incorporated elements learned from the Ford 385 series engine and the Boss 302, particularly the poly-angle combustion chambers with canted valves and the thin-wall casting technology.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: For 1971, Ford reduced the content of the Mach 1. The standard features of the model were as follows:


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: In 1971, the Mach 1 was available with three 351 Cleveland engines; the H-code 2-V, the M-code 4-V, and beginning in May 1971, the Q-code 351CJ (Cobra Jet or GT engine). M & Q code engines were produced concurrently up until the end of 71 model year production. There were also two 429ci options, the C-code CJ (Cobra Jet) & J-code CJ-R (Cobra Jet – Ram Air). Buying the optional "Drag Pak" 3.91 (V) or 4.11 (Y) rear gears turned either 429 into a "Super Cobra Jet", with a solid lifter cam, Holley 780cfm carb and special rotating assembly with forged pistons.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: One of the most recognizable features of the '71–'73 Mach 1s is the hood design with dual scoops. The hood was a no-cost option on the 302 cars and standard on all others. The basic hood had non-functional NACA ducts, but when ordered with the Ram Air option, it became functional. The Ram Air option included a vacuum-controlled door inside each scoop, and a fiberglass under-hood 'plenum' that directed cool, outside air through a modified, rubber-ringed air filter housing and into the carburetor. The ram-air option also included a pair of 1970 Mach1-style chrome twist hood locks and a two-tone hood paint treatment in either 'matte black' or 'argent' (matte silver), which coordinated with the decals and striping. The option also received either a "351 RAM AIR" or "429 RAM AIR" decal on each side of the hood, depending upon the engine ordered.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: In 1972, the 429CJ & SCJ engines were dropped from the lineup, and horsepower ratings dropped across the board due to the switch to new SAE net horsepower calculations and a 4-degree camshaft retard built into the timing set. This year also produced the fewest Mach 1 sales of the 1971–73 generation. There are no major differences in the '71 and '72 Mach 1s externally. The 1972 Mach 1 also saw the deletion of the pop-open gas cap, which was replaced with the standard twist-on cap found on the other Mustang models that year. The 302 Windsor remained as the base Mach 1 engine. There were again three 351 Cleveland engine options for 1972. A 2 barrel, the 4 barrel 351CJ, and a new for '72 R-code 351HO, essentially a lower compression Boss 351 engine.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: The Mach 1 received some significant appearance updates for 1973. The lower body accent paint and bright trim were gone and the entire car was one color top to bottom. All 1973 Mach 1s received a wide body-side tape stripe in either black or argent, that featured a "MACH 1" cutout on the front of the quarter panel, and a standard "MUSTANG" script emblem on the fender. The deck lid tape stripe was revised, with the "MACH 1" lettering now incorporated into the passenger side of the stripe, instead of centered above it as in 1971 and 1972. The valance cutouts and bright tips were no longer available on 4V cars for 1973.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: The Mustang needed to comply with new NHTSA standards, which necessitated a redesigned front and rear bumper. The front bumper on all models was now a much larger body-colored urethane unit, mounted on impact absorbing struts. Due to the revised bumper, the Mach 1 sport lamps were deleted and all models had the park/turn signal lamps moved from the front valance up to a vertical orientation at each end of the grille. The Mach 1 grille was black with a honeycomb pattern and a small running horse tri-bar emblem. The rear bumper was mounted on extended brackets which caused the bumper to protrude from the body further and yielded a large gap. To rectify this, Ford used a body-colored urethane filler piece at each quarter panel, and a sheetmetal filler panel bolted to the taillight panel.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: Engine options remained virtually the same as in 1972, with the exception of the 351HO being dropped. The 351-4V was not advertised in the '73 Mustang as a Cobra Jet engine even though the 1973 Ford shop manual and other internal Ford documentation did reference the engine as the 351-4V CJ since the "Cobra Jet" nomenclature did continue on in Torino, Cougar, and Montego lines.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: Due to trouble getting the Ram Air option approved for emissions reasons, the 351-2V was the only engine available with Ram Air. New for 1973, Ford offered a "Tu-Tone" hood paint treatment option that consisted of the black or argent paint treatment and twist locks, but without the actual functional components of the Ram Air system.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: The chart does not reflect the Boss 351 variant of the 351 Cleveland or 250cid I6, as neither were available in the Mach 1 package.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: The 1972 R-code 351HO package – essentially the solid-lifter Boss 351 engine from 1971 with a reduction in compression from 11.0:1 to 8.8:1 – is listed here, as it was available with the Mach 1 package that year.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: The Mach 1 name continued with the advent of the Mustang II in 1974. The downsized vehicle – fitted with the 2.8 L V6 rated at – outsold the Mach 1 models of the previous four years. For model years 1975 to 1978, the high-performance package was renamed "Cobra II".


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: The 302 Windsor returned in 1975, rated at and of torque, giving the Pinto platform a notable performance boost. Also available was a 4-speed manual.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: The Mach 1 remained mostly unchanged in 1976, as a new performance model – the Cobra II – was introduced alongside. 1977 proved to be the weakest sales year of the Mach 1 to date, selling only 6,719 units. The nameplate remained for one more year, upon when it was discontinued with the advent of the third generation Mustang in 1979.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: During the 1990s, the preeminent performance Mustang was the SVT Cobra. Following the departure of the Fox chassis in 1993 and the arrival of the SN-95 in 1994, Ford also sought to eliminate the 302, which would not occur until the 1996 model. Drawing on its newly developed OHC architecture engines known as the Modular, SVT created the 1996 and up Cobra around several variations of the 32 valve, all-aluminum 4.6 liter (281 CID) V8. The 32-valve 4.6 L V8 used in the Mustang Mach 1 was originally introduced in the 1993 Lincoln Mark VIII, however, for the Mach 1, it was re-engineered with a free-flowing exhaust and intake manifold to increase the engine by 30 horsepower. Below the SVT in performance was only the GT, reintroduced in 1982 with the 302 HO "5.0", later turning to the 16-valve SOHC V-8 in 1996. The sales on the new SN-95 style cars increased, so that by 2002, Mustang sales topped the combined sales figure of the Firebird and the Camaro. With GM's withdrawal from the "Pony Car wars" in 2002, Ford had a free hand at the whole market but nonetheless created what was arguably the fastest stock Mustang up to that point in time with the 2003–2004 SVT Cobra. However, concerns over a price gap between the GT and Cobra, as well as interest in keeping sales up before the release of the all-new 2005 S197 Mustang prompted the creation of two unique mid-range performance models: The 2001½ Bullitt GT and the 2003 and 2004 Mach 1 both credited to Team Mustang led by Art Hyde and Scott Hoag.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: Following the stir caused by the retro 2001 "Bullitt" (a lightly modified 2001 GT, named for the famed chase Mustang driven by Steve McQueen in the film "Bullitt") Ford saw the value of heritage in the Mustang name and as a follow-up, sought to revive the Mach 1 name. While similar to the Bullitt in the use of the Cobra's Brembo front brake rotors, unique Tokico gas shocks and struts, and lower and stiffer springs, the Mach 1 received a huge performance gain over the base GT and even the Bullitt in the form of a unique variant of the DOHC 32-valve 4.6 L Modular V8. Commonly known by Mach 1 owners as an "R" code DOHC, (for the unique VIN engine R code) this all-aluminum engine features the same high flow heads as the 2003–2004 SVT Cobra, 2003–2004 Mercury Marauder, 2003–2005 Lincoln Aviator, and the 2003–2009 Australian Boss 5.4 L V8s (see Ford of Australia Boss 5.4 L), the engine also has intake camshafts sourced from Lincoln's 5.4 L "InTech" V8 to provide more mid-range torque. The Mach 1 engine had a 10.1:1 compression ratio in contrast to the 1999 and 2001 Cobra's 9.85:1, and the Mach 1 was equipped with a Windsor Aluminum Plant or WAP block unique from the Teksid aluminum blocks used in the 1996–1999 Cobras. The Mach 1 also featured a relatively high redline of 6,800 rpm (5-speed cars) and fuel cut off at 7,050 rpm "or 5800 rpm (4-speed automatic)." While on paper the 305 hp (228 kW) ratings seem a loss when compared to the 1999 and 2001 SVT Cobras which produced 320 hp (239 kW), in practice the Mach 1 engine produced similar peak horsepower and substantially more torque.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: Further differences included the use of Ford's solid rear axle with a 3.55 final ratio (As opposed to SVT's Independent Rear Suspension) also the availability of a 4-speed automatic in addition to the Tremec sourced 5-speed manual. Factory steel "Box" cross-section subframe connectors were also added to increase chassis strength for both the added handling and to deal with the prodigious torque over the stock GT. Style-wise, the Mach 1 was distinct from other Mustangs as it drew heavily from the 1970 Mach 1. In addition to the matte black spoiler and hood stripe, flat black chin spoiler, Mach 1 rocker panel stripes, and Mach 1 badging on the rear, there were also faux Magnum 500 polished 17×8-inch alloy wheels. A retro-themed interior was included with well-bolstered dark grey leather seats featuring 1970s style "Comfort Weave" textures, a 1970s style gauge cluster, and a machined aluminum shift ball. An optional 18G interior upgrade package included stainless steel pedals, a 4-way head restraint, aluminum finished shift boot trim ring and door lock posts, and aluminum-look bezels on the dash. The most noticeable difference visually from other Mustangs was the bulging hood with cut-out and the return of a semi-legitimate "Shaker Hood". While physically identical in placement and function (the scoop is said to be built on the same tooling as the 1970 Mach 1) it only provides a portion of air to the engine routing to the airbox ahead of the MAF. It does function well as a cold air "snorkel" and a partial Ram Air at speed.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: 2004 saw only minor cosmetic changes to the Mach 1. 2004 Mach 1s can be identified by bare aluminum finished valve covers, as opposed to the 2003's black finished covers. Outside, 2004 Mach 1's have 40th-anniversary tags ahead of the doors while the 2003 has the traditional Mustang Running Pony and Tri-Color bar. The lone interior change was the deletion of the overhead "cargo net" mounted on the headliner. Despite pre-production rumors, the horsepower and torque ratings were not increased in 2004. Power rating was and .


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: The 2003 Mach 1 was originally offered in Black, Dark Shadow Grey Metallic, Torch Red, Zinc Yellow, and Oxford White, as well as Azure Blue that was exclusive to the Mach 1. For 2004 Zinc Yellow was replaced with a more vibrant yellow called Screaming Yellow, as well as adding a new color, Competition Orange.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: With improvements in power and a relatively light curb weight of 3,380 lb (1,533 kg), the 2003 Mustang Mach 1 posted magazine test numbers that were impressive given its $29,305 price tag. Magazine tests by "Motor Trend" found numbers from 13.88 seconds at for the automatic equipped 2003 Mach 1 with a 5.6 seconds 0–60 mph, up to the five speed's 13.5 seconds at with a 5.2 second 0–60 mph (97 km/h) time. All this while maintaining a decent on a slalom and 0.85 "g"s on the skidpad, though the higher CG of the larger DOHC engine has created a tendency to understeer more than the IRS equipped SVTs and lower CG and lower curb weight Bullitt GTs with the same basic suspension and brakes.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: Limited in production, the 2003 and 2004 Mach 1s ended with the New Edge body platform, the discontinuation of the Fox framed unibody, and the introduction of the first new frame design since 1979 the s-197 with 9,652 2003's and 7,182 2004's being built, contrary to the Mach 1 originally being advertised as a one-year limited run model with production set at 6,500 cars.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: After a 17 year hiatus, the fifth installment of the Mach 1 uses the GT's 5.0 L Coyote V-8 producing at 7,000 rpm and at 4,600 rpm, which is same output of the Mustang Bullitt. The 2022 model produces 470 hp and 410 lb-ft at 4,600 rpm, which is a loss of 10 hp and 10 lb-ft of torque. Ford engineers were originally targeting 525 hp (391 kW) and 450 lb⋅ft (610 N⋅m). It borrows several parts from the Shelby models: the intake manifold, oil-filter adapter, engine oil cooler, and front and rear subframe are shared with the Shelby GT350, while the rear axle cooling system, rear toe link, and rear diffuser are shared with the Shelby GT500. On the front grille, at each side of the pony badge there are two large vent holes.


title: Ford Mustang Mach 1

text: “Mach 1 performance is evident even before you get behind the wheel. Its streamlined design and exterior styling cues celebrate Mach 1 heritage dating back more than five decades. Sure, every Mustang looks good in the driveway, but the Mach 1 was made to shine on the track. The unique handling dynamics and an available Mach 1 Handling Package help you feel stuck to the road, around curves and when you’re hitting the straightaway at a 168 mph max speed. Better yet, it’s completely customizable in appearance, powertrain and performance, so you can put your spin on this icon.”


title: Walkie-talkie

text: A walkie-talkie, more formally known as a handheld transceiver (HT), is a hand-held, portable, two-way radio transceiver. Its development during the Second World War has been variously credited to Donald Hings, radio engineer Alfred J. Gross, Henryk Magnuski and engineering teams at Motorola. First used for infantry, similar designs were created for field artillery and tank units, and after the war, walkie-talkies spread to public safety and eventually commercial and jobsite work.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: Typical walkie-talkies resemble a telephone handset, with a speaker built into one end and a microphone in the other (in some devices the speaker also is used as the microphone) and an antenna mounted on the top of the unit. They are held up to the face to talk. A walkie-talkie is a half-duplex communication device. Multiple walkie-talkies use a single radio channel, and only one radio on the channel can transmit at a time, although any number can listen. The transceiver is normally in receive mode; when the user wants to talk they must press a "push-to-talk" (PTT) button that turns off the receiver and turns on the transmitter. Smaller versions of this device are also very popular among young children.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: Some units have additional features such as sending calls, call reception with vibration alarm, keypad locking, and a stopwatch.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: Handheld two-way radios were developed by the military from backpack radios carried by a soldier in an infantry squad to keep the squad in contact with their commanders. Probably the first patent owner (patent filled on 20 May 1935, granted on 19 March 1936) was the engineer Henryk Magnuski from Poland, who later worked since 1939 on Motorola's first walkie-talkie (a hand-held radio transceiver SCR-536). Canadian inventor Donald Hings was the first to create a portable radio signaling system for his employer CM&S in 1937. He called the system a "packset", although it later became known as a "walkie-talkie". In 2001, Hings received the Order of Canada for the device's significance to the war effort. Hings' model C-58 "Handie-Talkie" was in military service by 1942, the result of a secret R&D effort that began in 1940.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: Alfred J. Gross, a radio engineer and one of the developers of the Joan-Eleanor system, also worked on the early technology behind the walkie-talkie between 1938 and 1941, and is sometimes credited with inventing it.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: The first device to be widely nicknamed a "walkie-talkie" was developed by the US military during World War II, the backpacked Motorola SCR-300. It was created by an engineering team in 1940 at the Galvin Manufacturing Company (forerunner of Motorola). The team consisted of Dan Noble, who conceived of the design using frequency modulation; Henryk Magnuski, who was the principal RF engineer; Marion Bond; Lloyd Morris; and Bill Vogel.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: The first handheld walkie-talkie was the AM SCR-536 transceiver from 1941, also made by Motorola, named the Handie-Talkie (HT). The terms are often confused today, but the original walkie-talkie referred to the back mounted model, while the handie-talkie was the device which could be held entirely in the hand. Both devices used vacuum tubes and were powered by high voltage dry cell batteries.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: Following World War II, Raytheon developed the SCR-536's military replacement, the AN/PRC-6. The AN/PRC-6 circuit used 13 vacuum tubes (receiver and transmitter); a second set of thirteen tubes was supplied with the unit as running spares. The unit was factory set with one crystal which could be changed to a different frequency in the field by replacing the crystal and re-tuning the unit. It used a 24-inch whip antenna. There was an optional handset that could be connected to the AN/PRC-6 by a 5-foot cable. An adjustable strap was provided for carrying and support while operating.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: In the mid-1970s, the United States Marine Corps initiated an effort to develop a squad radio to replace the unsatisfactory helmet-mounted AN/PRR-9 receiver and receiver/transmitter handheld AN/PRT-4 (both developed by the US Army). The AN/PRC-68, first produced in 1976 by Magnavox, was issued to the Marines in the 1980s, and was adopted by the US Army as well.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: The abbreviation HT, derived from Motorola's "Handie-Talkie" trademark, is commonly used to refer to portable handheld ham radios, with "walkie-talkie" often used as a layman's term or specifically to refer to a toy. Public safety and commercial users generally refer to their handhelds simply as "radios". Surplus Motorola Handie-Talkies found their way into the hands of ham radio operators immediately following World War II. Motorola's public safety radios of the 1950s and 1960s were loaned or donated to ham groups as part of the Civil Defense program. To avoid trademark infringement, other manufacturers use designations such as "Handheld Transceiver" or "Handie Transceiver" for their products.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: Some cellular telephone networks offer a push-to-talk handset that allows walkie-talkie-like operation over the cellular network, without dialing a call each time. However, the cellphone provider must be accessible.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: Walkie-talkies for public safety, commercial and industrial uses may be part of trunked radio systems, which dynamically allocate radio channels for more efficient use of limited radio spectrum. Such systems always work with a base station that acts as a repeater and controller, although individual handsets and mobiles may have a mode that bypasses the base station.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: Walkie-talkies are widely used in any setting where portable radio communications are necessary, including business, public safety, military, outdoor recreation, and the like, and devices are available at numerous price points from inexpensive analog units sold as toys up to ruggedized (i.e. waterproof or intrinsically safe) analog and digital units for use on boats or in heavy industry. Most countries allow the sale of walkie-talkies for, at least, business, marine communications, and some limited personal uses such as CB radio, as well as for amateur radio designs. Walkie-talkies, thanks to increasing use of miniaturized electronics, can be made very small, with some personal two-way UHF radio models being smaller than a deck of cards (though VHF and HF units can be substantially larger due to the need for larger antennas and battery packs). In addition, as costs come down, it is possible to add advanced squelch capabilities such as CTCSS (analog squelch) and DCS (digital squelch) (often marketed as "privacy codes") to inexpensive radios, as well as voice scrambling and trunking capabilities. Some units (especially amateur HTs) also include DTMF keypads for remote operation of various devices such as repeaters. Some models include VOX capability for hands-free operation, as well as the ability to attach external microphones and speakers.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: Consumer and commercial equipment differ in a number of ways; commercial gear is generally ruggedized, with metal cases, and often has only a few specific frequencies programmed into it (often, though not always, with a computer or other outside programming device; older units can simply swap crystals), since a given business or public safety agent must often abide by a specific frequency allocation. Consumer gear, on the other hand, is generally made to be small, lightweight, and capable of accessing any channel within the specified band, not just a subset of assigned channels.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: Military organizations use handheld radios for a variety of purposes. Modern units such as the AN/PRC-148 Multiband Inter/Intra Team Radio (MBITR) can communicate on a variety of bands and modulation schemes and include encryption capabilities.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: Walkie-talkies (also known as HTs or "handheld transceivers") are widely used among amateur radio operators. While converted commercial gear by companies such as Motorola are not uncommon, many companies such as Yaesu, Icom, and Kenwood design models specifically for amateur use. While superficially similar to commercial and personal units (including such things as CTCSS and DCS squelch functions, used primarily to activate amateur radio repeaters), amateur gear usually has a number of features that are not common to other gear, including:


title: Walkie-talkie

text: Digital voice modes are available on some amateur HTs. For example, a newer addition to the Amateur Radio service is Digital Smart Technology for Amateur Radio or D-STAR. Handheld radios with this technology have several advanced features, including narrower bandwidth, simultaneous voice and messaging, GPS position reporting, and callsign routed radio calls over a wide-ranging international network.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: As mentioned, commercial walkie-talkies can sometimes be reprogrammed to operate on amateur frequencies. Amateur radio operators may do this for cost reasons or due to a perception that commercial gear is more solidly constructed or better designed than purpose-built amateur gear.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: The personal walkie-talkie has become popular also because of licence-free services (such as the U.S. FRS, Europe's PMR446 and Australia's UHF CB) in other countries. While FRS walkie-talkies are also sometimes used as toys because mass-production makes them low cost, they have proper superheterodyne receivers and are a useful communication tool for both business and personal use. The boom in licence-free transceivers has, however, been a source of frustration to users of licensed services that are sometimes interfered with. For example, FRS and GMRS overlap in the United States, resulting in substantial pirate use of the GMRS frequencies. Use of the GMRS frequencies (USA) requires a license; however most users either disregard this requirement or are unaware. Canada reallocated frequencies for licence-free use due to heavy interference from US GMRS users. The European PMR446 channels fall in the middle of a United States UHF amateur allocation, and the US FRS channels interfere with public safety communications in the United Kingdom. Designs for personal walkie-talkies are in any case tightly regulated, generally requiring non-removable antennas (with a few exceptions such as CB radio and the United States MURS allocation) and forbidding modified radios.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: Most personal walkie-talkies sold are designed to operate in UHF allocations, and are designed to be very compact, with buttons for changing channels and other settings on the face of the radio and a short, fixed antenna. Most such units are made of heavy, often brightly colored plastic, though some more expensive units have ruggedized metal or plastic cases. Commercial-grade radios are often designed to be used on allocations such as GMRS or MURS (the latter of which has had very little readily available purpose-built equipment). In addition, CB walkie-talkies are available, but less popular due to the propagation characteristics of the 27 MHz band and the general bulkiness of the gear involved.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: Personal walkie-talkies are generally designed to give easy access to all available channels (and, if supplied, squelch codes) within the device's specified allocation.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: Personal two-way radios are also sometimes combined with other electronic devices; Garmin's Rino series combine a GPS receiver in the same package as an FRS/GMRS walkie-talkie (allowing Rino users to transmit digital location data to each other) Some personal radios also include receivers for AM and FM broadcast radio and, where applicable, NOAA Weather Radio and similar systems broadcasting on the same frequencies. Some designs also allow the sending of text messages and pictures between similarly equipped units.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: While jobsite and government radios are often rated in power output, consumer radios are frequently and controversially rated in mile or kilometer ratings. Because of the line of sight propagation of UHF signals, experienced users consider such ratings to be wildly exaggerated, and some manufacturers have begun printing range ratings on the package based on terrain as opposed to simple power output.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: While the bulk of personal walkie-talkie traffic is in the 27 MHz and 400–500 MHz area of the UHF spectrum, there are some units that use the "Part 15" 49 MHz band (shared with cordless phones, baby monitors, and similar devices) as well as the "Part 15" 900 MHz band; in the US at least, units in these bands do not require licenses as long as they adhere to FCC Part 15 power output rules. A company called TriSquare is, as of July 2007, marketing a series of walkie-talkies in the United States, based on frequency-hopping spread spectrum technology operating in this frequency range under the name eXRS (eXtreme Radio Service—despite the name, a proprietary design, not an official allocation of the US FCC). The spread-spectrum scheme used in eXRS radios allows up to 10 billion virtual "channels" and ensures private communications between two or more units.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: Low-power versions, exempt from licence requirements, are also popular children's toys such as the Fisher Price Walkie-Talkie for children illustrated in the top image on the right. Prior to the change of CB radio from licensed to "permitted by part" (FCC rules Part 95) status, the typical toy walkie-talkie available in North America was limited to 100 milliwatts of power on transmit and using one or two crystal-controlled channels in the 27 MHz citizens' band using amplitude modulation (AM) only. Later toy walkie-talkies operated in the 49 MHz band, some with frequency modulation (FM), shared with cordless phones and baby monitors. The lowest cost devices are very simple electronically (single-frequency, crystal-controlled, generally based on a simple discrete transistor circuit where "grown-up" walkie-talkies use chips), may employ superregenerative receivers, and may lack even a volume control, but they may nevertheless be elaborately decorated, often superficially resembling more "grown-up" radios such as FRS or public safety gear. Unlike more costly units, low-cost toy walkie-talkies may not have separate microphones and speakers; the receiver's speaker sometimes doubles as a microphone while in transmit mode.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: An unusual feature, common on children's walkie-talkies but seldom available otherwise even on amateur models, is a "code key", that is, a button allowing the operator to transmit Morse code or similar tones to another walkie-talkie operating on the same frequency. Generally the operator depresses the PTT button and taps out a message using a Morse Code crib sheet attached as a sticker to the radio. However, as Morse Code has fallen out of wide use outside amateur radio circles, some such units either have a grossly simplified code label or no longer provide a sticker at all.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: In addition, Family Radio Service UHF radios will sometimes be bought and used as toys, though they are not generally explicitly marketed as such (but see Hasbro's ChatNow line, which transmits both voice and digital data on the FRS band).


title: Walkie-talkie

text: A variety of mobile apps exist that mimic a walkie-talkie/push-to-talk style interaction. They are marketed as low-latency, asynchronous communication. The advantages touted over two-way voice calls include: the asynchronous nature not requiring full user interaction (like SMS) and it is voice over IP (VOIP) so it does not use minutes on a cellular plan.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: Applications on the market that offer this walkie-talkie style interaction for audio include Voxer, Zello, Orion Labs, Motorola Wave, and HeyTell, among others.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: Other smartphone-based walkie-talkie products are made by companies like goTenna, Fantom Dynamics and BearTooth, and offer a radio interface. Unlike mobile data dependent applications, these products work by pairing to an app on the user's smartphone and working over a radio interface.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: In addition to land mobile use, waterproof walkie talkie designs are also used for marine VHF and aviation communications, especially on smaller boats and ultralight aircraft where mounting a fixed radio might be impractical or expensive. Often such units will have switches to provide quick access to emergency and information channels. They are also used in recreational UTVs to coordinate logistics, keep riders out of the dust and are usually connected to an intercom and headsets


title: Walkie-talkie

text: Intrinsically safe walkie-talkies are often required in heavy industrial settings where the radio may be used around flammable vapors. This designation means that the knobs and switches in the radio are engineered to avoid producing sparks as they are operated.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: There are various accessories available for walkie-talkies such as rechargeable batteries, drop in rechargers, multi-unit rechargers for charging as many as six units at a time, and an audio accessory jack that can be used for headsets or speaker microphones. Newer models allow the connection to wireless headsets via Bluetooth.


title: Walkie-talkie

text: In line to the ITU Radio Regulations, article 1.73, a walkie-talkie is classified as radio station / land mobile station.


title: Prunus spinosa

text: Prunus spinosa, called blackthorn or sloe, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae. The species is native to Europe, western Asia, and regionally in northwest Africa. It is locally naturalized in New Zealand, Tasmania, and the Pacific Northwest and New England regions of the United States.


title: Prunus spinosa

text: The fruits are used to make sloe gin in Britain and patxaran in Spain. The wood is used to make walking sticks, including the Irish shillelagh.


title: Prunus spinosa

text: "Prunus spinosa" is a large deciduous shrub or small tree growing to tall, with blackish bark and dense, stiff, spiny branches. The leaves are oval, long and broad, with a serrated margin. The flowers are about in diameter, with five creamy-white petals; they are produced shortly before the leaves in early spring, and are hermaphroditic, and insect-pollinated. The fruit, called a "sloe", is a drupe in diameter, black with a purple-blue waxy bloom, ripening in autumn and traditionally harvested – at least in the UK – in October or November, after the first frosts. Sloes are thin-fleshed, with a very strongly astringent flavour when fresh.


title: Prunus spinosa

text: Blackthorn usually grows as a bush but can grow to become a tree to a height of 6 m. Its branches usually grow forming a tangle.


title: Prunus spinosa

text: "Prunus spinosa" is frequently confused with the related "P. cerasifera" (cherry plum), particularly in early spring when the latter starts flowering somewhat earlier than "P. spinosa". They can be distinguished by flower colour, pure white in "P. spinosa", creamy white in "P. cerasifera". In addition, the sepals are bent backwards in "P. cerasifera", but not in "P. spinosa". They can be distinguished in winter by the shrubbier habit with stiffer, wider-angled branches of "P. spinosa"; in summer by the relatively narrower leaves of "P. spinosa", more than twice as long as broad; and in autumn by the colour of the fruit skin purplish black in "P. spinosa" and yellow or red in "P. cerasifera".


title: Prunus spinosa

text: The specific name " is a Latin term indicating the pointed and thornlike spur shoots characteristic of this species. The common name "" is due to the thorny nature of the shrub, and possibly its very dark bark: it has a much darker bark than the white-thorn (hawthorn), to which it is contrasted.


title: Prunus spinosa

text: The word commonly used for the fruit, "", comes from Old English ', cognate with Old High German ', ', and Modern German '. Other cognate forms are Frisian and Middle Low German ', Middle Dutch '; Modern Dutch '; Modern Low German '/', '; Danish ".


title: Prunus spinosa

text: The names related to 'sloe' come from the common Germanic root '. Compare Old Slavic, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Ukrainian and Russian ("sliva", Ukr. "slyva"), West Slavic / Polish '; plum of any species, including sloe '—root present in other Slavic languages, e.g. Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin and Serbian ' / .


title: Prunus spinosa

text: The species is native to Europe, western Asia, and locally in northwest Africa. It is also locally naturalized in New Zealand, Tasmania and eastern North America.


title: Prunus spinosa

text: The foliage is sometimes eaten by the larvae of Lepidoptera, including the small eggar moth, emperor moth, willow beauty, white-pinion spotted, common emerald, November moth, pale November moth, mottled pug, green pug, brimstone moth, feathered thorn, brown-tail, yellow-tail, short-cloaked moth, lesser yellow underwing, lesser broad-bordered yellow underwing, double square-spot, black hairstreak, brown hairstreak, hawthorn moth ("Scythropia crataegella") and the case-bearer moth "Coleophora anatipennella". Dead blackthorn wood provides food for the caterpillars of the concealer moth "Esperia oliviella".


title: Prunus spinosa

text: The shrub, with its long, sharp thorns, is traditionally used in Britain and other parts of northern Europe to make a "cattle-proof" hedge.


title: Prunus spinosa

text: The fruit is similar to a small damson or plum, suitable for preserves, but rather and for eating, unless it is picked after the first few days of autumn frost. This effect can be reproduced by freezing harvested sloes.


title: Prunus spinosa

text: Since the plant is hardy, and grows in a wide range of conditions, it is used as a rootstock for many other species of plum, as well as some other fruit species.


title: Prunus spinosa

text: The juice is used in the manufacture of fake port wine, and used as an adulterant to impart roughness to genuine port, into the 20th century. In rural Britain a liqueur, sloe gin, is made by infusing gin with sloes and sugar. Vodka can also be infused with sloes.


title: Prunus spinosa

text: In Navarre, Spain, a popular liqueur called "" is made with sloes. In France a liqueur called or "épinette" or "troussepinette" is made from the young shoots in spring rather than from fruits in autumn. In Italy, the infusion of spirit with the fruits and sugar produces a liqueur called "bargnolino" (or sometimes "prunella"). In France, "eau de vie de prunelle[s]" is distilled from fermented sloes in regions such as the Alsace and "vin d'épine" is an infusion of early shoots of blackthorn macerated with sugar in wine. Wine made from fermented sloes is made in Britain, and in Germany and other central European countries. It is also sometimes used in the brewing of lambic beer in Belgium.


title: Prunus spinosa

text: Sloes can also be made into jam, chutney, and used in fruit pies. Sloes preserved in vinegar are similar in taste to Japanese "umeboshi". The juice of the fruits dyes linen a reddish colour that washes out to a durable pale blue.


title: Prunus spinosa

text: The fruit stones have been found in Swiss lake dwellings. Early human use of sloes as food is evidenced in the case of a 5,300-year-old human mummy (nick-named Ötzi), discovered in the Ötztal Alps along the Austrian-Italian border in 1991: a sloe was found near the remains, evidently with the intent to eat it before the man died.


title: Prunus spinosa

text: Blackthorn makes an excellent fire wood that burns slowly with a good heat and little smoke. The wood takes a fine polish and is used for tool handles and canes. Straight blackthorn stems have traditionally been made into walking sticks or clubs (known in Ireland as a shillelagh). In the British Army, blackthorn sticks are carried by commissioned officers of the Royal Irish Regiment; this is a tradition also in Irish regiments in some Commonwealth countries.


title: Prunus spinosa

text: Rashi, a Talmudist and Tanakh commentator of the High Middle Ages, writes that the sap (or gum) of "P. spinosa" (which he refers to as the ) was used as an ingredient in the making of some inks used for manuscripts.


title: Prunus spinosa

text: A "sloe-thorn worm" used as fishing bait is mentioned in the 15th-century work, "The Treatyse of Fishing with an Angle".


title: Prunus spinosa

text: The expression "" for a person with dark eyes comes from the fruit, and is first attested in A. J. Wilson's 1867 novel "Vashti".


title: Prunus spinosa

text: The flowering of the blackthorn may have been associated with the ancient Celtic celebration of Imbolc, traditionally celebrated on February 1 in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man.


title: This Means War (film)

text: This Means War is a 2012 American romantic comedy spy film directed by McG, produced by Will Smith and starring Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, and Tom Hardy. The plot concerns two CIA agents who are best friends and discover that they are dating the same woman.


title: This Means War (film)

text: CIA agent and best friends Franklin "FDR" Foster and Tuck Hansen are deployed to Hong Kong to prevent international criminal Karl Heinrich from acquiring a weapon of mass destruction, but the mission goes awry, resulting in the death of Heinrich's brother, Jonas. Heinrich swears vengeance against them. Upon returning to the United States, their boss, Collins assigns them to desk duty for their protection.


title: This Means War (film)

text: FDR is a womanizer whose cover is a cruise ship captain while Tuck presents himself as a travel agent. Tuck is divorced with a young son, Joe. After attending one of Joe's karate classes, Tuck attempts to rekindle his connection to his family but is rebuffed by his ex-wife Katie. Tuck sees a commercial for online dating and decides to sign himself up. He matches with Lauren Scott, a product-testing executive who is dealing with the recent engagement of her ex-boyfriend. Her best friend, Trish enrolled her in the same online dating website. FDR insists on being Tuck's back-up for the date and hides nearby, but Tuck and Lauren hit it off right away.


title: This Means War (film)

text: Shortly thereafter, FDR runs into Lauren at a video store and tries to flirt with her, not knowing she is Tuck's date. She surmises that he's a ladies' man and ignores him. Intrigued, FDR gatecrashes one of Lauren's test groups and coerces her into going on a date with him. FDR and Tuck soon discover that they are seeing the same woman and decide not to tell her that they know each other, not to interfere with each other's dates and not to have sex with her, letting her instead come to a decision between them.


title: This Means War (film)

text: The date with FDR does not go well at the start, and Lauren storms out of the club FDR takes her to. After arguing with FDR in the street, Lauren sees her ex-boyfriend and his fiancée approaching. Desperate, Lauren grabs FDR and kisses him. She lies to her ex that she and FDR are together, as FDR plays along with the ruse. FDR demands that Lauren explain what happened and suggests they grab some dinner at a nearby pizza parlour, where they talk seriously and hit it off. Later, after dating both men a few times Lauren feels guilty about dating both at the same time, but is persuaded by Trish to make the best of the situation until sure who to choose. Lauren gives herself a week to make up her mind.


title: This Means War (film)

text: Both men bug Lauren's phone so they can spy on her when she is on dates with the other one. They overhear her tell Trish that she is going to need to have sex with them both to decide which one is the right one. This leads to both men taking steps to ensure she does not sleep with the other. After a few more dates, Lauren and Trish discuss the pros and cons of dating more than one guy, especially since Tuck has told Lauren he loves her. FDR discovers that Heinrich has arrived in town to kill them. He interrupts Tuck's date with Lauren to warn Tuck about Heinrich, but Tuck doesn't believe him. They engage in an extended fight and Lauren discovers that they are best friends. She angrily leaves with Trish but the women are kidnapped by Heinrich and his men, who are pursued by FDR and Tuck.


title: This Means War (film)

text: FDR and Tuck rescue Lauren and Trish after a car chase, and confess that they are not who they say they are. On Lauren's advice, they shoot out the headlights on Heinrich's SUV, deploying the airbags and sending the car rolling out of control towards them all. With Lauren standing directly in the path of the approaching SUV, FDR and Tuck, on opposite sides of the road, urge her to come to their side and she is saved as she ultimately chooses FDR's side, while Heinrich dies when his car rolls off the elevated freeway and crashes below. Lauren has decided to be with FDR and Tuck makes amends with him, as they declare their brotherly love for one another. The car chase is picked up by the news, and Katie and Joe see it. Later, Joe is at his karate lesson with Tuck when Katie comes to pick Joe up. Tuck and Katie re-introduce themselves to each other and she invites him out for a meal as a family.


title: This Means War (film)

text: Shortly thereafter, FDR and Tuck go on a mission. They are about to parachute out of a Chinook helicopter when FDR reveals that he will be marrying Lauren and asks Tuck to be his best man. He reveals that he had sex with Katie before she met Tuck but no longer feels guilty about it because Tuck had sex with Lauren. Tuck reveals that they did not go all the way and angrily tackles FDR out of the helicopter.


title: This Means War (film)

text: According to "Entertainment Weekly", "the initial script dates back [...] at least about a decade," with Bradley Cooper, Seth Rogen, and Sam Worthington reportedly turning down the lead role. Going back even further, Martin Lawrence and Chris Rock also declined the part. Screenwriter Larry Doyle claimed to have read the script in 1998, and that in the draft the protagonists were video game designers with access to guided missiles.


title: This Means War (film)

text: "This Means War" was previously scheduled for wide release on February 14, but 20th Century Fox postponed its opening to February 17, 2012, in order "to avoid a head-on confrontation with" Screen Gems' "The Vow", which had been "expected to dominate" the box office on Valentine's Day. Instead, it was sneak previewed that "Tuesday evening at between 2,000 and 2,500 locations nationwide." During its first weekend ending February 19, it opened at number 5 behind "Safe House", "The Vow", "", and "" with $17.4 million from 3,189 locations. The following weekend, it dropped to number 7 behind newcomers "Act of Valor" and Tyler Perry's "Good Deeds" with $8.4 million. After a 17-week theatrical run, it earned $54,760,791 domestically and $101,730,488 overseas for a worldwide total of $156,491,279.


title: This Means War (film)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes "This Means War" has a score of 26% based on reviews from 180 critics, with an average score of 4.28/10 with the site's consensus saying, "A career lowlight for all three of its likable stars, "This Means War" is loud, clumsily edited, and neither romantic nor funny." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 31 out of 100, based on 36 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade A− on scale of A to F.


title: This Means War (film)

text: Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" found this "action-spiked romcom [...] death-sentenced by a lack of humour, heart and a coherent reason for being. I could say more, but do I really need to?" Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" considered the film "an incompetent stupid action comedy" that was "so bad it's nothing else but bad" and observed that Witherspoon lacked the "irresistible raw sex appeal" to be "convincing as the woman [Hardy and Pine] go to war over." Richard Roeper of ReelzChannel called the film "one of the worst movies of this or any other year" and mocked Handler, who looked old, "lost," and "haggard" while delivering "her lines in a kind of flat monotone."


title: This Means War (film)

text: Lou Lumenick of the "New York Post" ridiculed the film for being "spectacularly awful" and "riddled with continuity errors," suggesting that it "has a script whose sensible parts would fit on a napkin with enough room left over for the Gettysburg Address." Todd McCarthy of "The Hollywood Reporter" recommended "the whole picture" be "sent back for a reshoot" as it "manages to embarrass its three eminently attractive leading players in every scene" and disapproved of Handler's performance, noting that she "has no sense of creating a character." James Berardinelli of ReelViews dismissed the film as "a 98-minute music video without the music -- all splash and little heart," joking that "we keep hoping the sleazy bad guy will show up and shoot" the main characters.


title: This Means War (film)

text: Claudia Puig of "USA Today" opined that "silly action sequences grow tedious and rarely blend with the wannabe madcap comedy" and concluded that McG "can't seem to decide whether he's making a spy action flick with romance interspersed or a rom-com peppered with action." Mary Pols of "Time" criticized the film's "terrible sense of chemistry all the way around" and declared that "even the pairing of Witherspoon and Handler [...] turns out to be a dud." Peter Debruge of "Variety" thought Tom Hardy and Chris Pine "are too busy trying to out-appeal one another to make the buddy dynamic click" and wondered if "it's the pic's cartoonish tone that keeps them from doing much more than look pretty, trading on the stars' blue eyes and impossibly big lips in lieu of their proved acting ability."


title: This Means War (film)

text: Lisa Schwarzbaum of "Entertainment Weekly" "enjoyed everything that's all over the place about the finished product" and stated that while it "may have been hammered together by brute Hollywood force, [...] there's this going for it: It's game to throw in anything that'll keep the motor running." Tom Long of "The Detroit News" characterised the film as "unpretentious goofiness" with "some nice light yuks" and believed "the whole sublimely stupid mess works." Betsy Sharkey of the "Los Angeles Times" warned that "if you can get past the gross invasion of privacy," there "is some bittersweet fun peppered by bursts of sharp patter," especially from Hardy and Pine, who electrified "the screen almost any time they're sharing it."


title: This Means War (film)

text: John Paul Ruttan who played Joe, Tuck's son was nominated for a Young Artist Award for "Best Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Young Actor Ten and Under".


title: Like a Prayer (album)

text: Like a Prayer is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on March 21, 1989, by Sire Records. Madonna worked with Stephen Bray, Patrick Leonard, and Prince on the album, with her co-writing and co-producing all the songs. Her most introspective release at the time, "Like a Prayer" is a confessional record. Madonna described the album as a collection of songs about her mother, father, and bonds with her family. It was dedicated to Madonna's mother, who died when she was young.


title: Like a Prayer (album)

text: "Like a Prayer" is a pop album and incorporates elements of rock, R&B, gospel, and funk. Madonna drew from her Catholic upbringing, as seen on the album's title track, which was also released as its lead single. The lyrics deal with themes from Madonna's childhood and adolescence, such as the death of her mother in "Promise to Try", the importance of family in "Keep It Together", and her relationship with her father in "Oh Father", as well as encouraging female empowerment in "Express Yourself".


title: Like a Prayer (album)

text: "Like a Prayer" received universal acclaim from music critics, who praised the songwriting and recognized Madonna's increased artistic merit. The album was featured in several musical reference books and best-of lists including "Rolling Stone"'s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, Colin Larkin’s "All Time Top 1000 Albums", "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" and "Spin Alternative Record Guide". Commercially, the album was an international success, reaching the top of the charts in 20 countries, and was certified quadruple platinum in the US by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Worldwide, it has sold over 15 million copies and is one of the best-selling albums by women. Six accompanying singles were released: the title track, "Express Yourself", "Cherish", "Oh Father", "Dear Jessie", and "Keep It Together". "Like a Prayer" became Madonna's seventh number-one hit on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, while "Express Yourself" and "Cherish" both peaked at number two, and "Keep It Together" became a top-10 hit.


title: Like a Prayer (album)

text: With the singles' music videos, Madonna furthered her creativity and became known as a leading figure in the format. The music video for "Like a Prayer" was met with controversy worldwide over its use of religious imagery, including the appropriation of Catholic iconography such as stigmata and the burning crosses of the Ku Klux Klan, as well as a dream about making love to a Black saint, and a scene depicting an interracial murder by white supremacist groups. Family and Christian groups including the Vatican protested its broadcast and threatened to boycott Pepsi for having ties with Madonna. Eventually, Pepsi caved in to the protest and canceled the sponsorship, allowing Madonna to keep her $5 million paycheck in advance. "Like a Prayer" preceded Madonna's Blond Ambition World Tour, which she used to promote it. At the end of the 1980s, following the release of the album, Madonna was named artist of the decade by several publications.


title: Like a Prayer (album)

text: 1988 was a quiet year on the recording front for Madonna. Following the lack of critical and commercial success of her 1987 film "Who's That Girl", she acted in the Broadway production "Speed-the-Plow". However, unfavorable reviews once again caused discomfort for Madonna. Her marriage to actor Sean Penn ended and the couple filed for divorce in January 1989. Madonna had also turned 30, one year removed from the age at which her mother had died, and thus the singer experienced more emotional turmoil. She commented for the May 1989 issue of "Interview" that her Catholic upbringing struck a feeling of guilt in her all the time:


title: Like a Prayer (album)

text: Because in Catholicism you are a born sinner and you're a sinner all your life. No matter how you try to get away from it, the sin is within you all the time. It was this fear that haunted me; it taunted and pained me every moment. My music was probably the only distraction I had.


title: Like a Prayer (album)

text: Madonna came to the realisation that as she and her fans were growing up, it was time for her to move away from the teen appeal to wider audiences, and cash in on the longevity of the album market. Feeling the need to attempt something different, Madonna wanted the sound of her new album to indicate what could be popular in the music world. For lyrical ideas of the title track, she chose topics that until then had been personal meditations never shared with the general public. Madonna told "SongTalk" magazine "In the past I wrote a lot of songs that [revealed my inner self], but I felt they were too honest or too frightening or too scary and I decided not to record them." She decided to take a more adult, sophisticated approach; thoughtfully, she sifted through her personal journals and diaries, and began considering her options. She recalled, "What was it I wanted to say? I wanted the album and the song to speak to things on my mind. It was a complex time in my life." The singer had certain matters on her mind, including her troubled relationship with her husband Penn, her family, her lost mother, and even her belief in God.


title: Like a Prayer (album)

text: "Like a Prayer" drew its title from Catholicism's influence on Madonna's early life, as well as her struggles with religion; "The theme of Catholicism runs rampant", she said. "It's me struggling with the mystery and magic that surrounds it. My own Catholicism is in constant upheaval." Recording sessions took place from September 1988 to January 1989. On January 27, 1989, a press release from "The Albany Herald" said the album would include "a number of hot dance tracks" but noted, "much of the material [...] is of a personal tone". The singer described it as a collection of songs "about my mother, my father, and bonds with my family. [...] It's taken a lot of guts to do this." She also said that "Like a Prayer" would be her "most different" work to date; "It was a real coming-of-age record for me emotionally, I had to do a lot of soul-searching, and I think it is a reflection of that [...] I didn't try to candy-coat anything or make it more palatable for mass consumption, I wrote what I felt." Madonna described "Like a Prayer" as a reflection of past musical influences, in contrast to current influences for her previous work.


title: Like a Prayer (album)

text: Madonna chose to collaborate with Stephen Bray and Patrick Leonard, with whom she had collaborated on her previous studio album "True Blue" (1986) and the "Who's That Girl" soundtrack (1987). Both Bray and Leonard wanted to bring their unique style to the project, and they developed completely different music for the title track. Eventually, Madonna felt that the music presented to her by Leonard was more interesting, and she started to work with him. According to the singer, Leonard was also facing emotional turmoil; "I was working with Pat, who was also in a very dark state of mind, and we worked in a very isolated place in the Valley." On January 6, 1989, following a nullified divorce filing in late 1987 and several publicized fights, one of which led to a 60-day prison term, Madonna and Penn filed for divorce. This incident inspired the song "Till Death Do Us Part". The rest of the songs were written within two weeks, with "Like a Prayer", "Cherish" and "Spanish Eyes" being penned in the first week. According to Leonard, "we wrote a song a day, and we didn't change them. And oftentimes the vocal that she did was the lead vocal, we didn't even change the lead vocal. That was it. She sang it. It was done."


title: Like a Prayer (album)

text: Recording artist Prince played the guitar on three songs from "Like a Prayer", "Like a Prayer", "Keep It Together", and "Act of Contrition", though he remained uncredited. Prince and Madonna also worked together on the track "Love Song". The song was recorded at Prince's Studio on Paisley Park; "We were friends and talked about working together, so I went to Minneapolis to write some stuff with him, but the only thing I really dug was 'Love Song' [...] We ended up writing it long-distance, because I had to be in L.A. and he couldn't leave Minneapolis, and quite frankly I couldn't stand Minneapolis. When I went there, it was like 20 degrees below zero, and it was really desolate. I was miserable and I couldn't write or work under those circumstances", Madonna recalled.


title: Like a Prayer (album)

text: For the artwork, Madonna chose to work with photographer Herb Ritts. Initially, photos from the session with Ritts were also to be used for the lead single's packaging. When it came to the photoshoot, she decided to dye her blonde hair brown; she commented, "I love blonde hair, but it really does something different to you. I feel more grounded when I have dark hair. It's unexplainable. I also feel more Italian when my hair is dark." The cover art features a close-up of the singer's jean-clad midsection and bare midriff. The cover has been seen as a reference to "Sticky Fingers" (1971) by the Rolling Stones. The packaging for the first pressings of the CD, cassette, and LP were scented with patchouli oils to simulate church incense. A publicist for Warner Bros. Records revealed this had been Madonna's idea; "She wanted to create a flavor of the 60's and the church. She wanted to create a sensual feeling you could hear and smell." Initial pressings also included an insert with safe sex guidelines and a warning about the dangers of AIDS, to which Madonna had lost friends. Its inclusion was decided after Warner Bros. had agreed to release an album by stand-up comedian Sam Kinison the year before, although he had stated that AIDS came from gay men involved in bestiality. Madonna dedicated the album to "My mother, who taught me how to pray".


title: Like a Prayer (album)

text: "Like a Prayer" is a pop album, which incorporates elements of rock, R&B, gospel, and funk. According to Stephen Holden, "Like a Prayer" "teems with 60's and early 70's echoes – of the Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, and Sly and the Family Stone – all pumped up with a brash, if occasionally klutzy, 80's sense of showmanship". The album is a confessional record; in Madonna's own words, the songs "intertwine her search for faith with her search for her mother". "Like a Prayer" uses live instrumentation, in contrast to the sound of Madonna's previous albums. The opening track is "Like a Prayer", which was also the first song developed for "Like a Prayer". Once Madonna had conceptualized the way she would interpose her ideas with the music, she wrote the song in about three hours. She described "Like a Prayer" as the song of a passionate young girl "so in love with God that it is almost as though He were the male figure in her life". It is a pop rock song with elements of gospel music. A choir provides background vocals that heighten the song's spiritual nature, and a rock guitar keeps the music dark and mysterious.


title: Like a Prayer (album)

text: The second track, "Express Yourself", talks about rejecting material pleasures and only accepting the best for oneself; throughout the song, subtexts are employed. According to the singer, the track is a tribute to Sly and the Family Stone. The third track, "Love Song", is a duet with Prince. The song was co-written by Madonna and Prince and features the artist's "signature scratchy disco guitar break[ing] through Madonna's synths".


title: Like a Prayer (album)

text: Originally titled "State of Matrimony", the song "Till Death Do Us Part" talks about the violent dissolution of Madonna's marriage. It was described as "an anxious jumpy ballad that describes a marriage wracked with drinking, violent quarrels and a possessive, self-hating husband". The next song, "Promise to Try", talks about the death of Madonna's mother. In one part of the song, she specifically asks: "Does she hear my voice in the night when I call?" Later, an adult seems to admonish a child with the lyrics, "Little girl, don't you forget her face/Don't let memory play games with your mind/She's a faded smile frozen in time."


title: Like a Prayer (album)

text: The sixth track, and third single from "Like a Prayer", is "Cherish". Built around the themes of love and relationship, with William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" being one of the major inspirations, the song includes a line from "Cherish" by the 1960s band the Association. The lyrics illustrate "Cherish" as a simple love song, where Madonna talks about devotion and having her lover by her side, whom she would never leave. Following "Cherish" is "Dear Jessie"; according to Rikky Rooksby, the song sounds more like a children's lullaby than a pop song. The lyrics encourage the little girl Jessie to use her imagination. The song summons up a psychedelic landscape, where pink elephants roam with dancing moons and mermaids. It references fairy-tale characters and creates an image of children playing with each other. The nexus of the album's eighth song, "Oh Father", talks about the presence of male authoritative figures in Madonna's life, most prominently her father Tony Ciccone. Madonna's insecurities about her childhood shows up in anxieties during her vocal performance. Author J. Randy Taraborrelli held that "Till Death Do Us Part", "Promise To Try", and "Oh Father" are songs where Madonna tries to "purge herself of certain personal demons".


title: Like a Prayer (album)

text: The lyrics of "Keep It Together" talk about the realization of how important Madonna's family has been as a form of stability in her life. In an interview with "Interview" magazine, Madonna expressed that she did not feel close to anybody in her family when she was growing up, and competed with her siblings in school grades for her father's attention. "Spanish Eyes" is said to have "confronted the still-taboo issue of AIDS". Carol Benson and Allen Metz, authors of "The Madonna Companion: Two Decades of Commentary", described the song as "a cross between Ben E. King's 'Spanish Harlem' and something by Billy Joel". The final song, "Act of Contrition", features Madonna reciting the Catholic prayer of the same name, before the vocals deteriorate into a monologue in which Madonna grows obstreperous over being denied a restaurant reservation.


title: Like a Prayer (album)

text: The album was released on March 21, 1989 on LP, cassette, and compact disc. Madonna performed an energetic version of "Express Yourself" during the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards. She started the performance by descending from a flight of stairs, wearing a pin-striped suit and a monocle. Later she removed the coat to reveal her bustier, and together with her backing singers Niki Haris and Donna De Lory, performed a dance routine called voguing. Ian Inglis, author of "Performance and Popular Music: History, Place and Time", noted that the historical importance of Madonna's performance at the Video Music Awards was due to the televisual venue. Inglis explained that since Madonna's performance was striking primarily as a high-energy, provocatively choreographed, dance production number, it went on to highlight the 'TV' part of MTV, and in a way heralded her and the network as a cultural arbiter. In August 1989, in order to promote the release of "Like a Prayer" in Japan, Warner Music released a remix extended play titled "Remixed Prayers", which included several remixes of "Like a Prayer" and "Express Yourself". It was released exclusively in Japan until July 1993, when the EP was released in Australia to celebrate Madonna's first visit to the country as part of her Girlie Show World Tour. The EP reached number 92 on the ARIA Albums Chart and was present on the chart for three weeks, and also charted at number 24 on the Oricon weekly albums chart, on which it charted for five weeks.


title: Like a Prayer (album)

text: In January 1989, Pepsi-Cola announced that they had signed Madonna for US$5 million deal to feature the singer and "Like a Prayer" for a high-profile television commercial. The deal also included Pepsi sponsoring the then-upcoming Blond Ambition World Tour. Madonna wanted to use the commercial to launch the album and its lead single globally before its release — the first time something like this was being done in the music industry. Titled "Make a Wish", the two-minute commercial portrayed Madonna going back in time to her childhood memories. An estimated 250 million people around the world viewed the commercial.


title: Like a Prayer (album)

text: The day after the Pepsi commercial premiered, Madonna released the actual music video for "Like a Prayer" on MTV. Religious groups worldwide, including the Vatican immediately protested the clip, saying that it contained blasphemous use of Christian imagery. They called for the national boycott of Pepsi and PepsiCo's subsidiaries, including fast food chains Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut. Despite taken aback by the protests, Pepsi initially wanted to continue airing the commercial, explaining the differences between their advertisement and Madonna's artistic opinions in the video. They ultimately gave in to the protests and cancelled the campaign, and were so eager to extricate themselves from the collaboration that Madonna was allowed to keep the US$5 million advance.


title: Like a Prayer (album)

text: The title track was released as the lead single from "Like a Prayer" on March 3, 1989. The song was acclaimed by critics, and was a commercial success. It became Madonna's seventh number-one single on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, and topped the singles charts in eighteen countries, including Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. "Express Yourself" was released as the second single from the album on May 9, 1989. The song received positive reviews from critics, who applauded the gender equality message of the song and complimented the song for being a hymn to freedom and encouragement to women, as well as all oppressed minorities. Commercially, the song peaked at number two on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, and became Madonna's sixth number-one hit on the European Hot 100 Singles chart. It also reached the top of the singles charts in Canada and Switzerland, and the top five elsewhere.


title: Like a Prayer (album)

text: "Cherish" was released as the third single on August 1, 1989. After its release, the song received positive feedback from reviewers, who were surprised by the change of content and the lighter image of Madonna's music, unlike her previous singles from "Like a Prayer" that incorporated themes such as religion and sexuality. On the US "Billboard" Hot 100, "Cherish" became Madonna's 16th consecutive top-five single, setting a record in the history of the chart. It was also a commercial success elsewhere, topping the singles chart in Canada, and reaching the top-10 of the charts in Australia, Belgium, Ireland, the UK and the combined European chart. It also featured the B-side, "Supernatural", previously unreleased from the album sessions. Released on October 24, 1989 as the fourth single, "Oh Father" received positive reviews from critics and authors, but commercially was less successful than Madonna's previous singles. In most of the countries where it was released, the song failed to attain top-ten positions, except in Finland, where it peaked at number six. It ended Madonna's string of 16 consecutive top-five singles in the US.


title: Like a Prayer (album)

text: "Dear Jessie" was released as the fifth single from "Like a Prayer" on December 10, 1989. The release of "Dear Jessie" was limited to the UK, certain other European countries, Australia, and Japan. Upon its release, "Dear Jessie" received mixed reviews from critics, who complained about the overdone fantasy imagery of the song, but complimented its composition. The track was a moderate success commercially, reaching the top 10 in the UK and Ireland and the top-20 in Germany, Spain, and Switzerland. "Keep It Together" was released on January 30, 1990, as the sixth and final single from "Like a Prayer". The song received mixed reviews from critics, but was commercially successful, reaching a peak of number eight on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 and Canadian charts, while topping the dance chart in the US. In Australia, it reached number one along with Madonna's next release, "Vogue".


title: Like a Prayer (album)

text: "Like a Prayer", alongside Madonna's following album "I'm Breathless" (1990), was promoted in her third concert tour, the Blond Ambition World Tour, which visited Asia, North America, and Europe. Originally planned as the "Like a Prayer World Tour", it consisted of 57 dates and was divided into five different sections; the first inspired by the 1927 German expressionist film "Metropolis", the second by religious themes, the third by the film "Dick Tracy" (1990) and cabaret, the fourth by Art Deco, and the fifth was an encore. The show contained sexual themes and Catholic imagery, such as in the performances of "Like a Prayer" and "Oh Father", which were based in church-like surroundings with Madonna wearing a crucifix and her backup dancers dressed like priests and nuns. A lighter moment was the performance of "Cherish", which featured dancers dressed up as Mermen and Madonna playing the harp.


title: Like a Prayer (album)

text: The concert was criticized for its sexual content and religious imagery; in Toronto, Canada, Madonna was threatened with arrest for obscenity, and Pope John Paul II later called for a boycott, with one of the three Italian dates being cancelled. Despite this, the tour was a critical success, winning "Most Creative Stage Production" at the 1990 Pollstar Concert Industry Awards. Two different shows were recorded and released on video; "Blond Ambition: Japan Tour 90", taped in Yokohama, Japan, on April 27, 1990, and "Blond Ambition World Tour Live", taped in Nice, France, on August 5, 1990.