office	Maricopa County Sheriff
term start	January 1, 1993
predecessor	Tom Agnos
party	Republican
birth name	Joseph M. Arpaio
birth date	June 14, 1932
birth place	Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
spouse	Ava Arpaio
occupation	Sheriff }}

Joseph M. "Joe" Arpaio (born June 14, 1932) is the elected Sheriff of Maricopa County in the U.S. state of Arizona. First voted into office in 1992, Arpaio is responsible for law enforcement in Maricopa County. This includes management of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, county jail, courtroom security, prisoner transport, service of warrants, and service of process. Arpaio styles himself as "America's Toughest Sheriff." He is well known for his outspoken stance against illegal immigration. Arpaio has become a flashpoint for controversy surrounding Arizona's SB1070 anti-illegal immigration act. He is also known for his investigation of President Barack Obama's citizenship.

Arpaio was once widely popular among voters in Arizona. His popularity has waned since 2007, notably by independent and Republican voters but still has a 57% positive job rating among Republicans; he has been re-elected five times.

History and law enforcement background

Arpaio was born Joseph M. Arpaio in Springfield, Massachusetts on June 14, 1932, to Italian parents both from Lacedonia, Italy. Arpaio's mother died while giving birth to him, and Arpaio was raised by his father, a grocery store owner. Arpaio completed high school and worked in his father's business until age 18 when he enlisted in the United States Army. Arpaio served in the Army from 1950 to 1954 in the Medical Detachment Division and was stationed in France for part of the time as a military policeman.

Following his discharge in 1954, Arpaio moved to Washington, D.C. and became a police officer, moving in 1957 to Las Vegas, Nevada. He served as a police officer in Las Vegas for six months before being appointed as a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, which later became part of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). During his 25-year tenure with the DEA, he was stationed in Argentina, Turkey and Mexico, and advanced through the ranks to the position of head of the DEA's Arizona branch.

In 1992, Arpaio successfully campaigned for the office of Maricopa County Sheriff. The voters of Maricopa County re-elected him in 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008.

Arpaio married his wife Ava in 1958. Together, they have two children and four grandchildren. They currently reside in Fountain Hills, Arizona.

Actions as Maricopa County Sheriff

Television

In late 2008 and early 2009, Arpaio came out in ''Smile...You're Under Arrest!'', a three-episode Fox Reality Channel series in which persons with outstanding warrants were tricked into presenting themselves for arrest.

On June 9, 2011, Arpaio was interviewed on Fox News on KSAZ-TV about a song on iTunes called "F#@K Sheriff Joe" by Contraband, describing him on his deathbed battling his own mortality.

Jails

Arpaio's practices include serving inmates surplus food and limiting meals to twice daily. He has also banned inmates from possessing "sexually explicit material" including ''Playboy'' magazine after female officers complained that inmates openly masturbated while viewing them or harassed the officers by comparing their anatomy to that of the nude models in the publications. The ban was challenged on First Amendment grounds but upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

In February 2007, Arpaio instituted an in-house radio station he calls KJOE. Arpaio's radio station broadcasts classical music, opera, Frank Sinatra hits, patriotic music and educational programming. It operates from the basement of the county jail for five days a week, four hours each day.

In an ongoing case, federal judge Neil V. Wake ruled in 2008 and 2010 that the Maricopa County jails violated the constitutional rights of inmates in medical and other care related issues.

Tent City

Arpaio set up a "Tent City" as an extension of the Maricopa County Jail. Arpaio has described Tent City as a concentration camp. Tent City is located in a yard next to a more permanent structure containing toilets, showers, and an area for meals. It has become notable particularly because of Phoenix's extreme temperatures.

On July 2, 2011, when the temperature in Phoenix hit , Arpaio measured the temperature inside Tent City at . Some inmates complained that fans near their beds were not working, and that their shoes were melting from the heat. During the summer of 2003, when outside temperatures exceeded , Arpaio said to complaining inmates, "It's 120 degrees in Iraq and the soldiers are living in tents, have to wear full body armor, and they didn't commit any crimes, so shut your mouths." In 1997, Amnesty International published a report on Arpaio's jails which found that Tent City is not an "adequate or humane alternative to housing inmates in suitable . . . jail facilities." Tent City is criticized by groups contending that there are violations of human and constitutional rights. Those critical of Arpaio also point out that the vast majority of inmates within Tent City have not been convicted; rather, they are merely awaiting trial.

Volunteer chain gangs

In 1995, Arpaio reinstituted chain gangs. In 1996, he expanded the chain gang concept by instituting female volunteer chain gangs. Female inmates work seven hours a day (7 a.m. to 2 p.m.), six days a week. He has also instituted the world's first all-juvenile volunteer chain gang; volunteers earn high school credit toward a diploma.

Pink underwear

One of his most visible public-relations actions was the introduction of pink underwear, which the Maricopa County Sheriff's website cites as being, "world-famous." Arpaio subsequently started to sell customized pink boxers (with the Maricopa County Sheriff's logo and "Go Joe") as a fund-raiser for Sheriff's Posse Association. Despite allegations of misuse of funds received from these sales, Arpaio declined to provide an accounting for the money.

Arpaio's success in gaining press coverage with the pink underwear resulted in his extending the use of the color. He introduced pink handcuffs, using the event to promote his book, ''Sheriff Joe Arpaio, America's Toughest Sheriff''.

Selective Service registration and organ donors

In 2001, he was the first sheriff to require all inmates aged 18 and over to register for the Selective Service System. Registration is required by federal law for all U.S. males between 18 and 26 years of age, as well as for resident aliens of the same age, regardless of their immigration status. Since 2001, a total of 28,000 inmates (including 9,000 aliens) have registered for Selective Service.

The Sheriff also started the "Have a Heart" program in which inmates may volunteer to be organ donors.

Sheriff's posse

Building upon Maricopa County's 50-year-old program, Arpaio expanded the all-volunteer citizen posse through heavy recruiting. The volunteers perform many duties for the sheriff's office:

Search and rescue

Emergency communications

Prisoner transport

Traffic control

Backup for sworn deputies

Office administrative duties

Holiday Mall Patrol (which provides motorist assistance and security for shoppers during the holiday shopping season)

Deadbeat parent details targeting men and women with outstanding arrest warrants for failure to pay child support

Assisting in immigration sweeps

Current investigation of President Barack Obama's birth certificate

In November 2010, Arpaio created an armed illegal immigration operations posse, to help his deputies enforce immigration law. Members of this posse include celebrity actors Steven Seagal, Lou Ferrigno, and Peter Lupus.

Controversies

Arpaio has been a controversial sheriff. His practices have been criticized by government agencies such as the United States Department of Justice, United States District Courts, and organizations such as Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Arizona Ecumenical Council, the American Jewish Committee, and the Arizona chapter of the Anti-Defamation League. The editorial board of ''The New York Times'' called Arpaio "America's Worst Sheriff". Controversial issues surrounding Arpaio have included allegations of racial profiling, in which the ACLU has sued the sheriff.

Unconstitutional jail conditions

Neil V. Wake ruled in 2008, and again in 2010, that the Maricopa County jails violated the constitutional rights of inmates in medical and other care related issues. This ruling was a result of a lawsuit brought by the ACLU, which alleged that "Arpaio routinely abused pre-trial detainees at Maricopa County Jail by feeding them moldy bread, rotten fruit and other contaminated food, housing them in cells so hot as to endanger their health, denying them care for serious medical and mental health needs and keeping them packed as tightly as sardines in holding cells for days at a time during intake."

In a ruling issued in October 2010, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Arpaio to follow Judge Wake's 2008 ruling, which required Arpaio to end severe overcrowding and ensure all detainees receive necessary medical and mental health care, be given uninterrupted access to all medications prescribed by correctional medical staff, be given access to exercise and to sinks, toilets, toilet paper and soap and be served food that meets or exceeds the U.S. Department of Agriculture's dietary guidelines.

Lack of cooperation with Department of Justice

In June 2008, the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division began an investigation of Arpaio amid accusations of discrimination and unconstitutional searches and seizures. The investigation was conducted under the authority of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which forbids discrimination related to programs that receive federal funds. On July 7, 2009, Arpaio held a press conference, and announced that he would not cooperate with the investigation, either by providing documents, or permitting interviews with personnel. On September 2, 2010, the Department of Justice filed suit against Arpaio, to compel his cooperation with the investigation. A spokeswoman for the Justice Department stated that it was unprecedented for an agency to refuse to cooperate with a Title VI investigation, and that this is the first time the Justice Department has sued to compel access to documents and facilities. The suit was settled in June, 2011, after Arpaio allowed federal officials to interview Sheriff's office employees, and review hundreds of thousands of documents for the investigation.

Racial profiling

On December 15, 2011, the U.S. Justice Department released their findings after a 3-year investigation of Arpaio's office amid complaints of racial profiling and a culture of bias at the agency's top level. The report stated that under Arpaio, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has "a pervasive culture of discriminatory bias against Latinos" that "reaches the highest levels of the agency."

The Justice Department accused Arpaio of engaging in "unconstitutional policing" by unfairly targeting Latinos for detention and arrest, and retaliating against critics. In the report, a Justice Department expert concluded that Arpaio oversaw the worst pattern of racial profiling in U.S. History.

Loss of authority to identify illegal immigrants

Based on the Justice Department report on discriminatory policing practices within the MCSO, on December 15, 2011, the United States Department of Homeland Security revoked the MCSO's federal authority to identify and detain illegal immigrants.

In a separate action on December 23, 2011, U.S. District Court Judge G. Murray Snow enjoined Arpaio and the MCSO from "detaining any person based only on knowledge or reasonable belief, without more, that the person is unlawfully present within the United States," halting anti-illegal immigration enforcement by MCSO in its current form.

Federal grand jury inquiry

A federal grand jury has been investigating Arpaio's office on criminal abuse-of-power allegations since at least December 2009 and is specifically examining the investigative work of the sheriff's anti-public corruption squad.

Abuse of power

In February 2010, Judge John Leonardo found that Arpaio "misused the power of his office to target members of the (Board of Supervisors) for criminal investigation".

In 2008 a federal grand jury began an inquiry of Arpaio for abuse of power, in connection with an FBI investigation. Arpaio is being investigated for politically motivated and "bogus" prosecutions, which a former US Attorney called "utterly unacceptable". Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon has called Arpaio's "long list" of questionable prosecutions "a reign of terror".

The targets of Arpaio's alleged abuse of power have included or currently include: Phil Gordon, Phoenix Mayor; Dan Saban, Arpaio's 2004 and 2008 opponent for the office of Sheriff of Maricopa County; Terry Goddard, Arizona Attorney General; David Smith, Maricopa County Manager; The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors; Barbara Mundell, Maricopa Superior Court Presiding Judge; Anna Baca, former Maricopa Superior Court Presiding Judge; Gary Donahoe, Maricopa Superior Court Criminal Presiding Judge Daniel Pochoda, ACLU attorney; Sandra Dowling, former Maricopa County School Superintendent; Mike Lacy, Editor, ''Phoenix New Times''

To date (July 10, 2010) of the above only Sandra Dowling has been successfully prosecuted. Indicted on 25 felony counts, Dowling eventually pled guilty to patronage for giving a summer job to her daughter, a single class 2 misdemeanor which was not among the original counts, although as part of the plea bargain she also agreed to recuse herself from the Maricopa County Regional School District. Dowling has since filed suit, alleging negligence, malicious prosecution, abuse of process and several constitutional violations.

Feud with Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and Maricopa Superior Court

Over the two years prior to September, 2010, feuding between Arpaio and former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas on one side, and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors on the other side cost at least $5.6 million, most of which was paid to private attorneys. Arpaio and Thomas filed several lawsuits against the Board of Supervisors, including a federal civil-racketeering suit against the supervisors, four judges and attorneys who work with the county. Arpaio and Thomas lost every case, either by ruling of the courts, or by dropping the case.

In early 2010, Arpaio and Thomas sought to have a grand jury indict a number of Maricopa County Judges, Maricopa County Supervisors, and employees of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. The grand jury, in an unusual rebuke, ordered the investigation ended. This action has been described as meaning that "...the case is so bad, there's no further evidence that could be brought [to substantiate it]". Legal experts agree this is a rare move. Thomas and a subordinate attorney on his County Attorney staff face a hearing later in 2011 before the Ethics Committee of the Arizona Bar, the result of which could be a number of sanctions up to permanent loss of their law licenses.

In November and December 2010, lawsuits naming Arpaio were filed by Judge Gary Donahoe, retired Maricopa County Superior Court judges Barbara Mundell, Anna Baca, and Kenneth Fields, County Supervisor Don Stapley, Deputy County Manager Sandi Wilson, and Susan Schuerman, executive assistant to Supervisor Don Stapley. Conley Wolfswinkel (a business associate of Stapley) filed suit in January, 2011. Other targets of Arpaio's investigations, including Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, and Maricopa Deputy County Manager Sandi Wilson have filed notices of claims (the precursor to filing suit) totalling about $56 million dollars.

Election law violation

During the month of July 2010, a committee established by Arpaio, the Campaign to Re-Elect Joe Arpaio 2012, funded advertisements critical of Rick Romley, a candidate in the Republican Primary for Maricopa County Attorney and Arizona Attorney General candidate Tom Horne, despite the fact that Arpaio is not currently running for re-election (his term does not expire until the end of 2012).

An order issued on the behalf of the Maricopa Elections Department on August 24, 2010, found that one of the advertisements, a direct mailer, advocated the defeat of Romley, and was an in-kind contribution to Bill Montgomery (Romley's primary election opponent), in violation of Arizona election law. The order stated that the Campaign to Re-Elect Joe Arpaio 2012 will be fined three times the amount of money that was spent on the mailer. In September, 2010, Arpaio's campaign was fined $153,978 in this matter. Montgomery ultimately defeated Romley in the primary election, with Romley stating Arpaio's ads "hurt" his results.

Misuse of funds

An analysis by the Maricopa County Office of Management and Budget, completed in April 2011, found Arpaio has misspent almost $100 million in taxpayer dollars over the previous 5 years.

The analysis showed that money from a restricted detention fund which could only legally be used to pay for jail items, such as food, detention officers' salaries and equipment, was used to pay employees to patrol Maricopa County. The analysis also showed that many Sheriff's Office employees, whose salaries were paid from the restricted detention fund, were working job assignments different from those recorded in their personnel records. Arpaio's office kept a separate set of personnel books detailing actual work assignments, different from information kept on the county's official human-resources records.

Arpaio used the detention fund to pay for investigations of political rivals, and activities involving his human-smuggling unit.

The analysis also showed a number of inappropriate spending items, including a trip to Alaska where deputies stayed at a fishing resort, and trips to Disneyland.

Separate investigations by The Arizona Republic uncovered widespread abuse of public funds and county policies by Arpaio's office, including high-ranking employees routinely charging expensive meals and stays at luxury hotels on their county credit cards.

The Republic also found that a restricted jail enhancement fund was improperly used to pay for out-of-state training, a staff party at a local amusement park, and a $456,000 bus, which was purchased by Arpaio in violation of county procurement rules.

Munnell memo

In September, 2010, a 63 page internal memo, written by Maricopa Deputy Chief Frank Munnell, was made public. The memo alleged years of misconduct and mismanagement by Arpaio's second in command and other top MCSO officers, including the use of a public-corruption task force to conduct politically motivated probes into political opponents. The memo alleged that top officials in the MCSO "willfully and intentionally committed criminal acts by attempting to obstruct justice, tamper with witnesses, and destroy evidence." Arpaio forwarded the memo to the Pinal County Sheriff's Office, requesting they conduct an administrative investigation. Former top MCSO staffers have claimed that Arpaio knew of the acts alleged in the Munnell memo, but took no action to stop them. Arpaio has not commented publicly on the allegations.

In October 2010, the US Attorney for Arizona confirmed that the FBI and Department of Justice have received copies of the Munnell memo, and are conducting criminal investigations into its allegations.

Adam Cox

Adam Eugene Cox was arrested in Knoxville, Tennessee in January 2012 for making death threats against Arpaio. In October of 2011, Cox posted the message "I plan to kill Arpaio first. He will be filled with a thousand bullet holes before the year is out. He won't (expletive removed) with Obama." On March 14, 2012 he was convicted of harassment and sentenced to a "bootcamp" probation and ordered to pay court costs. Records show that he must also attend anger management counseling and maintain no contact with the sheriff.

Investigation of President Obama’s birth certificate

On March 1, 2012, Sheriff Arpaio and members of his Cold Case Posse held a news conference announcing their belief that President Barack Obama’s long-form birth certificate, released by the White House on April 27, 2011, is a computer-generated forgery. Additionally, the Posse’s six-month-long investigation included an examination of President Obama’s Selective Service card and contended that it, also, is a forgery. Much of the evidence supporting their claims was presented at that press conference and at a second press conference held in Arizona on March 31, 2012.

Election results

2000 election results

}}

2004 election results

2007 failed recall petition

In November 2007, a group calling itself ''Arizonans for the U.S. Constitution and Recall of Joe Arpaio'' filed the paperwork to begin an effort to recall Arpaio and County Prosecutor Andrew P. Thomas from office for allegedly disobeying and violating the United States Constitution and abuse of power. Their petition to get a recall question for the two officials onto the next general election ballot failed when the group was unable to collect the more than 200,000 registered voter signatures required. In a survey taken by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, while the petition was in circulation, nearly three out of four respondents opposed the recall, and 65 percent of the respondents held a positive opinion of Arpaio.

2008 election results

Books

Joe Arpaio and Len Sherman, ''America's Toughest Sheriff: How We Can Win the War Against Crime'', (1996). Summit Publishing Group, ISBN 1-56530-202-8

Joe Arpaio and Len Sherman, ''Joe's Law: America's Toughest Sheriff Takes on Illegal Immigration, Drugs, and Everything Else that Threatens America'', (2008). AMACOM, ISBN 0-8144-0199-6

References

External links

Official Bio

Official Election Website

Local News Coverage of Arpaio from KPHO.com and CBS 5 News (KPHO-TV)

Local News Coverage of Arpaio from azfamily.com and KTVK-3TV

Category:1932 births Category:Arizona sheriffs Category:American people of Italian descent Category:Living people Category:People from Maricopa County, Arizona Category:People from Springfield, Massachusetts Category:American anti–illegal immigration activists Category:Drug Enforcement Administration agents Category:Conspiracy theorists

ca:Joe Arpaio de:Joe Arpaio es:Joe Arpaio fr:Joe Arpaio nl:Joe Arpaio pt:Joe Arpaio

name	Alan Parsons
background	solo_singer
birth date	December 20, 1948
Birth place	London, England
genre	Rock
occupation	Audio engineer, composer, musician, record producer, director
years active	1967–present
label	Legacy, Arista, Fox, Mercury, Frontiers
associated acts	The Alan Parsons Project
website	Alan Parsons Music
notable instruments	}}

Alan Parsons (born 20 December 1948) is a British audio engineer, musician, and record producer. He was involved with the production of several significant albums, including The Beatles' ''Abbey Road'' and ''Let It Be'', as well as Pink Floyd's ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' for which Pink Floyd credit him as an important contributor. Parsons' own group, The Alan Parsons Project, as well as his subsequent solo recordings, have also been successful commercially.

Career

In October 1967, at age 18, Parsons went to work as an assistant engineer at Abbey Road Studios, where he earned his first credit on the LP ''Abbey Road''. He became a regular there, engineering such projects as Paul McCartney's ''Wild Life'' and ''Red Rose Speedway'', five albums by The Hollies, and Pink Floyd’s ''The Dark Side of the Moon'', for which he received his first Grammy Award nomination. He was known for doing more than what would normally be considered the scope of a recording engineer’s duties. He considered himself to be a recording director, likening his contribution to recordings to what Stanley Kubrick contributed to film. This is apparent in his work with Al Stewart's "Year of the Cat", where Parsons added the saxophone part and transformed the original folk concept into the jazz-influenced ballad that put Al Stewart onto the charts. It is also heard in Parsons' influence on the Hollies' "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" and "The Air That I Breathe", sharp departures from their popular 1960s hits "Stay", "Just One Look", "Stop! Stop! Stop!" or "Bus Stop". Parsons was also known to have swapped shifts during the engineering of ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' so he could work entirely on the project.

Parsons also produced three albums by Pilot, a Scottish pop rock band consisting of Ian Bairnson on guitar, Stuart Tosh on drums, and David Paton on lead vocals, guitars,bass and William (Billy) Lyall, on piano and keys. Their hits included "January" and "Magic".

He also mixed the debut album by the American band Ambrosia and produced their second album ''Somewhere I've Never Travelled''. Alan was nominated for grammys for both of these albums.

In 1975, he declined Pink Floyd's invitation to come back and work on the follow-up for "Dark Side," ''Wish You Were Here'', and instead initiated The Alan Parsons Project with producer and songwriter (and occasional singer) Eric Woolfson, whom he had met at Abbey Road. The Project consisted of a revolving group of studio musicians and vocalists, most notably the members of Pilot and (on the first album) the members of Ambrosia. Unlike most rock groups, The Alan Parsons Project never performed live during its heyday, although it did release several music videos. Its only live performance during its original incarnation was in 1990, with Woolfson present but behind the scenes. After releasing ten albums, the last in 1987, the Project terminated in 1990 after Parsons and Woolfson split, with the Project's intended 11th album released that year as a Woolfson solo album. Parsons continued to release work in his own name and in collaboration with other musicians. Parsons and his band now regularly tour many parts of the world.

Although an accomplished vocalist, keyboardist, bassist, guitarist and flautist, Parsons only sang infrequent and incidental parts on his albums. While his keyboard playing was very audible on the Alan Parsons Project albums, very few recordings feature his flute. During the late 1990s, Parsons' career travelled an interesting full circle. Having started out in the music industry at the Abbey Road Studios in London as an assistant engineer in the late 1960s, he briefly returned to run the studio in its entirety. He reportedly managed to combine this role with the demands of a hectic performing and recording schedule. Parsons also continued with his selective production work for other bands.

Of all his collaborations, guitarist Ian Bairnson worked with Parsons the longest, including Parsons' post-Woolfson albums, ''Try Anything Once'', ''On Air'', and ''The Time Machine.''

As well as receiving gold and platinum awards from many nations, Parsons has received ten Grammy Award nominations for engineering and production. In 2007 he received a nomination for Best Surround Sound Album for ''A Valid Path.''

In May 2005, Parsons appeared at the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, California, to mix front-of-house sound for Southern California-based Pink Floyd tribute band Which One’s Pink? and their performance of ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' in its entirety.

Since 2003 he has toured under a revised name, The Alan Parsons ''Live'' Project (with Woolfson’s permission). The globe-trotting band features guitarist Godfrey Townsend, drummer Steve Murphy, keyboardist Manny Focarazzo, and bass guitarist John Montagna. The 2004–2005 shows offered vocalist P. J. Olsson's track "More Lost Without You", while the later 2006 shows presented The Crystal Method-featured "We Play the Game" and opened with "Return to Tunguska" along with successes spanning the Project years.

Beginning in 2001 and extending for four years, Parsons conceived and led a Beatles tribute show called ''A Walk Down Abbey Road'' featuring a group of headlining performers such as Todd Rundgren, Ann Wilson of Heart, John Entwistle of The Who, and Jack Bruce of Cream. The show structure included a first set where all musicians assembled to perform each others' hits, and a second set featuring all Beatles songs.

In 2010, Alan Parsons released his single "All Our Yesterdays" through Authentik Artists. Parsons also launched a DVD educational series in 2010 titled The Art and Science of Sound Recording ("ASSR") on music production and the complete audio recording process. The single "All Our Yesterdays" was written and recorded during the making of ASSR. The series, narrated by Billy Bob Thornton, gives detailed tutorials on virtually every aspect of the sound recording process. Individual sections of the series are also being released in batches and are available to stream or download at www.artandscienceofsound.com.

During 2010, several media reports, one of which included a quote from a representative of Parsons, alleged that the song "Need You Now" by country music group Lady Antebellum possessed the melody and arrangement of "Eye in the Sky."

In 2011 it was announced that Parsons was creating and producing a new group called the Subclones. Parsons said: "I feel that the public deserves some genuinely innovative music and It's been a long time since I've heard some that truly excites me – it made me want to get back into the studio and do another 'Dark Side'." Parsons jokingly refers to one of the biggest-selling and most popular albums in history.

Personal life

Parsons was born in London. He resides in Santa Barbara, California with his wife and her two daughters, as well as numerous pets.

Discography

Studio albums

with The Alan Parsons Project:

*''Tales of Mystery and Imagination'' (1976)

*''I Robot'' (1977)

*''Pyramid'' (1978)

*''Eve'' (1979)

*''The Turn of a Friendly Card'' (1980)

*''Eye in the Sky'' (1982)

*''Ammonia Avenue'' (1984)

*''Vulture Culture'' (1985)

*''Stereotomy'' (1985)

*''Gaudi'' (1987)

as a solo artist:

*''Try Anything Once'' (1993)

*''On Air'' (1996)

*''The Time Machine'' (1999)

*''A Valid Path'' (2004)

Full discography

style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"	Date	Title	Label	Charted	Country	Catalog Number
colspan="7" style="text-align:center;"	as part of The Alan Parsons Project
		style="text-align:left;"
	style="text-align:left;"	style="text-align:left;"
	style="text-align:left;"
	style="text-align:left;"
	November 1980		''The Turn of a Friendly Card''		Arista		13		US
	style="text-align:left;"
	style="text-align:left;"
	February 1984		''Ammonia Avenue''		Arista		15		US	style="text-align:left;"
	March 1985		''Vulture Culture''		Arista		46		US	style="text-align:left;"
	November 1985		''Stereotomy''		Arista		43		US	style="text-align:left;"
	style="text-align:left;"
	1988		''The Best of the Alan Parsons Project, Vol. 2''		Arista		–		–	style="text-align:left;"
	1988		''The Instrumental Works''		Arista		–		–	style="text-align:left;"
	1990		''Freudiana''		EMI		–		–	style="text-align:left;"
	9 October 1989		''Pop Classics''		Arista		–		–	style="text-align:left;"
	style="text-align:left;"
	style="text-align:left;"
	15 April 1999		''Sound Check 2''			–		–
	27 July 1999		''Master Hits - The Alan Parsons Project''			–		–
	2 August 1999		''Alan Parsons Project - Greatest Hits Live''			–		–
	style="text-align:left;"
	style="text-align:left;"
	9 May 2000		''Alan Parsons Project - Gold Collection''		BMG International		–		–	style="text-align:left;"
	style="text-align:left;"
	style="text-align:left;"
	1 June 2004		''Extended Versions: The iEncore Collection Live''			–		–
	2006		''Days Are Numbers (3 CD Compilation)''		Arista		–		–		88697016972
	1969		''Abbey Road'' (The Beatles)			1		UKUS
	1970		''Atom Heart Mother'' (Pink Floyd)			155		UKUS
	1973		''The Dark Side of the Moon'' (Pink Floyd)			21		UKUS
	style="text-align:left;"
	style="text-align:left;"
	style="text-align:left;"|''Ambrosia'' (Ambrosia)
	1976		''Year of the Cat'' (Al Stewart)			5		US
	style="text-align:left;"
	style="text-align:left;"|''Rebel'' (John Miles)
	1976		''Year of the Cat'' (Al Stewart)			5		US
	style="text-align:left;"
	1978		''Time Passages'' (Al Stewart)			10		US
	style="text-align:left;"
	1985		''Ladyhawke'' (OST by Andrew Powell)		Atlantic Records	style="text-align:left;"
	6 October 1993		''Try Anything Once''		Arista		–		–	style="text-align:left;"
	27 June 1995		''The Very Best Live''		RCA		–		–	style="text-align:left;"
	style="text-align:left;"
	style="text-align:left;"
		style="text-align:left;"
	6 April 2010		''Eye 2 Eye: Live In Madrid''		Frontiers		–		–	style="text-align:left;"
	1999		''Turning the Tide'' (Iconic Phare)		Carrera Records		–		–

''Billboard'' Top 40 hit singles (U.S.)

: No. 37 – "(The System Of) Doctor Tarr And Professor Fether" (1976) : No. 36 – "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You" (1977) : No. 27 – "Damned if I Do" (1979) : No. 16 – "Games People Play" (1980) : No. 15 – "Time" (1981) : No. 3 – "Eye in the Sky" (1982) : No. 15 – "Don't Answer Me" (1984)

Canadian singles

: No. 62 – "(The System Of) Doctor Tarr And Professor Fether" (1976) : No. 22 – "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You" (1977) : No. 16 – "Damned if I Do" (1980) : No. 9 – "Games People Play" (1981) : No. 30 – "Time" (1981) : No. 1 – "Eye in the Sky" (1982) : No. 43 – "You Don't Believe" (1983) : No. 20 – "Don't Answer Me" (1984) : No. 89 – "Let's Talk About Me" (1985)

Awards and nominations

Nominations

1973 – Pink Floyd – ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' – Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical

1976 – Ambrosia – ''Somewhere I've Never Travelled'' – Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical

1976 – The Alan Parsons Project – ''Tales of Mystery and Imagination'' – Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical

1978 – The Alan Parsons Project – ''Pyramid'' – Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical

1979 – ''Ice Castles'' – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack – Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media

1979 – The Alan Parsons Project – ''Eve'' – Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical

1981 – The Alan Parsons Project – ''The Turn of a Friendly Card'' – Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical

1982 – The Alan Parsons Project – ''Eye in the Sky'' – Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical

1986 – The Alan Parsons Project – "Where's The Walrus?" – Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance

2007 – Alan Parsons – ''A Valid Path'' – Grammy Award for Best Surround Sound Album

References

Official website of the Alan Parsons Project

The Avenue, The Official Alan Parsons Fan Club

External links

Alan Parsons Music Official Site

Alan Parsons Project Official Site

Alan Parsons in the Internet Movie Data Base

''Crawdaddy!'' "Parsons Knows: The Tale of Alan Parsons and Edgar Allan Poe"

The Subclones, Parsons new group

Category:English record producers Category:English rock musicians Category:British audio engineers Category:British soft rock musicians Category:People from London Category:British expatriates in the United States Category:1948 births Category:Living people

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