Some context: Brandreth was born in Wuppertal, Germany, where his father, Charles Brandreth, was serving as a legal officer with the Allied Control Commission. After having moved to London with his parents at the age of three, Brandreth was educated at the Lycee Francais Charles de Gaulle (as it is called today), Bedales School, where he met his friend Simon Cadell, and New College, Oxford. He was President of the Oxford Union in Michaelmas Term, 1969 and edited the university magazine Isis. He was described in a contemporaneous publication as "Oxford's Lord High Everything Else".
He is a former European Monopoly champion, and President of the Association of British Scrabble Players, having organised the first British National Scrabble Championship in 1971. He is also the President of The Oscar Wilde Society. The society was founded in September 1990, by a group of fans of Wilde and his work, it is a non-profit organisation that aims to increase knowledge, enjoyment and study of Wilde's life, personality and works. It organises lectures, readings and discussions, as well as visits to places connected with him. Brandreth hosts an annual Oscar Wilde party to celebrate the writer's birth. These parties are often attended by such people as Stephen Fry, Joanna Lumley, Derek Jacobi, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Julian Fellowes. The venues are often places of interest in Wilde's life, for example the Langham where A Picture of Dorian Gray was commissioned. In August 2005, he appeared in a production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night at the Edinburgh Festival. He is an after-dinner speaker, and he held the world record for the longest continuous after-dinner speech, at 12 and a half hours, done as a charity stunt. With his wife he founded the Teddy Bear museum; formerly located in Stratford-upon-Avon for 18 years, it was relocated to the Polka Theatre in Wimbledon, London and as of 2016 it is on display at Newby Hall in Yorkshire. He is a patron of the National Piers Society and vice-president of charity Fields in Trust (formerly the National Playing Fields Association). He was appointed as Chancellor of the University of Chester in December 2016.
Did he take part in any charity activities?
A: he held the world record for the longest continuous after-dinner speech, at 12 and a half hours, done as a charity stunt.
Some context: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by English rock band the Beatles. Released on 26 May 1967 in the United Kingdom and 2 June 1967 in the United States, it was an immediate commercial and critical success, spending 27 weeks at the top of the UK albums chart and 15 weeks at number one in the US. On release, the album was lauded by the vast majority of critics for its innovations in music production, songwriting and graphic design, for bridging a cultural divide between popular music and high art, and for providing a musical representation of its generation and the contemporary counterculture.
In November 1966, during a return flight to London from Kenya, where he had been on holiday with Beatles tour manager Mal Evans, McCartney had an idea for a song that eventually formed the impetus of the Sgt. Pepper concept. His idea involved an Edwardian-era military band, for which Evans invented a name in the style of contemporary San Francisco-based groups such as Big Brother and the Holding Company and Quicksilver Messenger Service. In February 1967, McCartney suggested that the Beatles should record an entire album that would represent a performance by the fictional band. This alter ego group would give them the freedom to experiment musically. He explained: "I thought, let's not be ourselves. Let's develop alter egos." Martin remembered: "Sergeant Pepper" itself didn't appear until halfway through making the album. It was Paul's song, just an ordinary rock number ... but when we had finished it, Paul said, "Why don't we make the album as though the Pepper band really existed, as though Sergeant Pepper was making the record? We'll dub in effects and things." I loved the idea, and from that moment on it was as though Pepper had a life of its own. In 1966, the American musician and bandleader Brian Wilson's growing interest in the aesthetics of recording and his admiration for both record producer Phil Spector's Wall of Sound and the Beatles' album Rubber Soul resulted in the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds LP, which demonstrated his production expertise and his mastery of composition and arrangement. The author Thomas MacFarlane credits the release with influencing many musicians of the time, with McCartney in particular singing its praises and drawing inspiration to "expand the focus of the Beatles' work with sounds and textures not usually associated with popular music". McCartney thought that his constant playing of the album made it difficult for Lennon to "escape the influence", adding: "It's very cleverly done ... so we were inspired by it and nicked a few ideas." Martin stated: "Without Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper never would have happened ... Pepper was an attempt to equal Pet Sounds." Freak Out! by the Mothers of Invention has also been cited as having influenced Sgt. Pepper. According to the author Philip Norman, during the Sgt. Pepper recording sessions McCartney repeatedly stated: "This is our Freak Out!" The music journalist Chet Flippo states that McCartney was inspired to record a concept album after hearing Freak Out!, considered the first rock concept album.
What else did Chet Flippo say?
A: the first rock concept album.
Some context: Arijit Singh is an Indian musician, singer, composer, music producer, recordist and music programmer. He sings predominantly in Hindi and Bengali, but has also lent his voice to various other Indian languages. Singh is regarded as one of the most versatile and successful singers in the History of Indian Music and Hindi Cinema. At the start of his singing career, he received nominations for the Upcoming Male Vocalist of the Year award at the 2013 Mirchi Music Awards for renditions of "Phir Le Aya Dil" and "Duaa", winning the award for the latter.
Singh has played a great role in the Bollywood singing career of one of his contemporaries today Ash King. Regarding his help King told the Times of India, "When I met Arijit in London through a mutual friend, he wasn't a star singer yet. I knew he'd be big someday. When I came back (to Kolkata) in 2010, Arijit invited me to Mumbai and recommended me to Pritam for the song 'I Love You' and 'Te Amo'. He has been a great motivating force." Singh said in an interview that he would love to serve people through his NGO named "Let There Be Light" which works for the Below Poverty Line (BPL) community. His NGO aims to include activities like bloodbank camp (with proof and records and photographs of all the blood being delivered properly), distribution of clothes, books, stationery, etc. to Below Poverty Line children on a huge scale and seasonal human ground activities. In an interview, he spoke about his desire to work for people. "I try and help people in whichever way I can. I owned an NGO long time ago which is now turned into something which helps the people in whichever way they can. For example, we collected a lot of things for victims of the Nepal earthquake. The biggest problem is that we are not ready for anything bad that happens, be it during disasters or helping people post one. For example, the first earthquake in Nepal happened on 25 April and it took me a while to collect something as basic as matchboxes, candles and so on. People basically are not ready to help others. I firmly feel that we over here need a lot of awareness when it comes to population and at times I even feel bad for the Government."
What types of humanitarian works did they partake in?
A:
serve people through his NGO named "Let There Be Light" which works for the Below Poverty Line (BPL) community.