The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. Consequently, an adult who engages in sexual activity with a person younger than the age of consent is unable to legally claim that the sexual activity was consensual, and such sexual activity may be considered child sexual abuse or statutory rape. The person below the minimum age is considered the victim, and their sex partner the offender, although some jurisdictions provide exceptions through "Romeo and Juliet laws" if one or both participants are underage, and are close in age.

The term age of consent typically does not appear in legal statutes. Generally, a law will establish the age below which it is illegal to engage in sexual activity with that person. It has sometimes been used with other meanings, such as the age at which a person becomes competent to consent to marriage, but consent to sexual activity is the meaning now generally understood. It should not be confused with other laws regarding age minimums including, but not limited to, the age of majority, age of criminal responsibility, voting age, drinking age, and driving age.

Age of consent laws vary widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, though most jurisdictions set the age of consent in the range 14 to 18 (with the exceptions of Argentina and Niger which set the age of consent for 13, Mexico which sets the age of consent between 12 and 15, and 14 Muslim states and the Vatican City that set the consent by marriage only). The laws may also vary by the type of sexual act, the gender of the participants or other considerations, such as involving a position of trust; some jurisdictions may also make allowances for minors engaged in sexual acts with each other, rather than a single age. Charges and penalties resulting from a breach of these laws may range from a misdemeanor, such as corruption of a minor, to what is popularly called statutory rape.

There are many "grey areas" in this area of law, some regarding unspecific and untried legislation, others brought about by debates regarding changing societal attitudes, and others due to conflicts between federal and state laws. These factors all make age of consent an often confusing subject and a topic of highly charged debates.

By continent

Africa
 Ages of consent in Africa

Americas
 Ages of consent in North America
 Ages of consent in the United States
 Ages of consent in South America

Asia
 Ages of consent in Asia

Europe
 Ages of consent in Europe

Oceania
 Ages of consent in Oceania

History and social attitudes

Traditional attitudes
In traditional societies, the age of consent for a sexual union was a matter for the family to decide, or a tribal custom. In most cases, this coincided with signs of puberty, menstruation for a woman, and pubic hair for a man.

Reliable data for ages at marriage is scarce. In England, for example, the only reliable data in the early modern period comes from property records made after death. Not only were the records relatively rare, but not all bothered to record the participants' ages, and it seems that the more complete the records are, the more likely they are to reveal young marriages. Modern historians have sometimes shown reluctance to accept evidence of young ages of marriage, dismissing it as a 'misreading' by a later copier of the records.

In the 12th century, Gratian, the influential compiler of canon law in medieval Europe, accepted the age of puberty for marriage to be around twelve for girls and around fourteen for boys but acknowledged consent to be meaningful if both children were older than seven years of age. There were authorities that said that such consent for entering marriage could take place earlier. Marriage would then be valid as long as neither of the two parties annulled the marital agreement before reaching puberty, or if they had already consummated the marriage. Judges sometimes honored marriages based on mutual consent at ages younger than seven: in contrast to established canon, there are recorded marriages of two- and three-year-olds.

In China, 慶元條法事類 (Law Code of the Qingyuan Reign), published in 1202 which catelogued laws that came into effect from 1127 to 1195, introduced statutory rape in the following decree '諸強姦者,女十歲以下雖和也同,流三千里,配遠惡州;未成,配五百里;折傷者,絞。  Successful intercourse with girls younger than 10 is considered rape in all circumstances, punishable by exile 3000 li (miles) away into the uncivilized provinces; if the rape was unsuccessful, exile by 500 li; If injury occurs in process, death by hanging'.

From 1275 in England; as part of its provisions on rape, the Statute of Westminster 1275 made it a misdemeanor to "ravish" a "maiden within age," whether with or without her consent. The phrase "within age" was later interpreted by jurist Sir Edward Coke (England, 17th century) as meaning the age of marriage, which at the time was twelve years of age.

大明律·集解附例卷之二十五·刑律·犯姦, (Great Ming Code, 25th section, Criminal Code on Rape) came into effect from 1373, raised the age of consent to 12 by stating '十二歲以下幼女未有欲心故雖和同強論成姦者亦坐絞罪。  Girls younger than 12 lack rational sexual desires, therefore any intercourse with them is considered the same as rape and therefore punishable by death with hanging.'

The American colonies followed the English tradition, and the law was more of a guide. For example, Mary Hathaway (Virginia, 1689) was only nine when she was married to William Williams. Sir Edward Coke "made it clear that the marriage of girls under 12 was normal, and the age at which a girl who was a wife was eligible for a dower from her husband's estate was 9 even though her husband be only four years old."

In the 16th century, a small number of Italian and German states set the minimum age for sexual intercourse for girls, setting it at twelve years.  Towards the end of the 18th century, other European countries also began to enact similar laws. The first French Constitution of 1791 established the minimum age at eleven years. Portugal, Spain, Denmark and the Swiss cantons initially set the minimum age at ten to twelve years.

Age of consent laws were historically difficult to follow and enforce. Legal norms based on age were not, in general, common until the 19th century, because clear proof of exact age and precise date of birth were often unavailable.

In 18th century Australia it was thought that children were inherently sinful and vulnerable to sexual temptations. Punishment for "giving in" to these temptations was generally left to parents and was not seen as a government matter, except in the case of rape. Australian children had few rights and were legally considered the chattel of their parents. From the late 18th century, and especially in the 19th century, attitudes started to change. By the mid-19th century there was increased concern over child sexual abuse.

Reforms in the 19th and 20th century
A general shift in social and legal attitudes toward issues of sex occurred during the modern era. Attitudes on the appropriate age of permission for females to engage in sexual activity drifted toward adulthood. While ages from ten to thirteen years were typically regarded as acceptable ages for sexual consent in Western countries during the mid-19th century, by the end of the 19th century changing attitudes towards sexuality and childhood resulted in the raising of the age of consent.

English common law had traditionally set the age of consent within the range of ten to twelve years old, but the Offences Against the Person Act 1875 raised this to thirteen in Great Britain and Ireland. Early feminists of the Social Purity movement, such as Josephine Butler and others, instrumental in securing the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts, began to turn towards the problem of child prostitution by the end of the 1870s. Sensational media revelations about the scourge of child prostitution in London in the 1880s then caused outrage among the respectable middle-classes, leading to pressure for the age of consent to be raised again.

The investigative journalist William Thomas Stead of the Pall Mall Gazette was pivotal in exposing the problem of child prostitution in the London underworld through a publicity stunt. In 1885 he "purchased" one victim, Eliza Armstrong, the thirteen-year-old daughter of a chimney sweep, for five pounds and took her to a brothel where she was drugged. He then published a series of four exposés entitled The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon, which shocked its readers with tales of child prostitution and the abduction, procurement, and sale of young English virgins to Continental "pleasure palaces". The "Maiden Tribute" was an instant sensation with the reading public, and Victorian society was thrown into an uproar about prostitution. Fearing riots on a national scale, the Home Secretary, Sir William Harcourt, pleaded in vain with Stead to cease publication of the articles. A wide variety of reform groups held protest meetings and marched together to Hyde Park demanding that the age of consent be raised. The government was forced to propose the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885, which raised the age of consent from thirteen to sixteen and clamped down on prostitution.

In the United States, as late as the 1880s most states set the minimum age at ten to twelve (in Delaware, it was seven in 1895). Inspired by the "Maiden Tribute" articles, female reformers in the U.S. initiated their own campaign, which petitioned legislators to raise the legal minimum age to at least sixteen, with the ultimate goal to raise the age to eighteen. The campaign was successful, with almost all states raising the minimum age to sixteen to eighteen years by 1920.

In France, Portugal, Denmark, the Swiss cantons and other countries, the minimum age was raised to between thirteen and sixteen years in the following decades. Though the original arguments for raising the age of consent were based on morality, since then the raison d'être of the laws has changed to child welfare and a so-called right to childhood or innocence.

In France, under the Napoleonic Code, the age of consent was set in 1832 at eleven, and was raised to thirteen in 1863. It was increased to fifteen in 1945. In the 1970s, a group of prominent French intellectuals advocated for the repeal of the age of consent laws, but did not succeed.

In Spain, it was set in 1822 at "puberty age", and changed to twelve in 1870, which was kept until 1999, when it became 13; and in 2015 it was raised to 16.

21st century
In the 21st century, concerns about child sex tourism and commercial sexual exploitation of children gained prominence, resulting in legislative changes in multiple jurisdictions, as well as the adoption of international laws.

The Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (Lanzarote, 25 October 2007), and the European Union's Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography were adopted.

The Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography came into force in 2002.

The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, which came into force in 2003, prohibits commercial sexual exploitation of children.

The Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (which came into force in 2008) also deals with commercial sexual exploitation of children.

Several Western countries have raised their ages of consent in recent decades. These include Canada (in 2008—from 14 to 16); and in Europe, Iceland (in 2007—from 14 to 15), Lithuania (in 2010—from 14 to 16), Croatia (in 2013—from 14 to 15), Spain (in 2015—from 13 to 16), Romania (in 2020 from 15 to 16) and Estonia (in 2022—from 14 to 16).

The International Criminal Court Statute does not provide a specific age of consent in its rape/sexual violence statute, but makes reference to sexual acts committed against persons "incapable of giving genuine consent"; and the explicative footnote states, "It is understood that a person may be incapable of giving genuine consent if affected by natural, induced or age-related incapacity." (see note 51)

Law

Sexual relations with a person under the age of consent is a crime in most countries; Jurisdictions use a variety of terms for the offense, including child sexual abuse, statutory rape, illegal carnal knowledge, corruption of a minor, besides others.

The enforcement practices of age-of-consent laws vary depending on the social sensibilities of the particular culture (see above). Often, enforcement is not exercised to the letter of the law, with legal action being taken only when a sufficiently socially-unacceptable age gap exists between the two individuals, or if the perpetrator is in a position of power over the minor (e.g. a teacher, minister, or doctor). The sex of each participant can also influence perceptions of an individual's guilt and therefore enforcement.

Age
The threshold age for engaging in sexual activity varies between jurisdictions. Most jurisdictions have set a fixed age of consent. However, some jurisdictions permit sex with a person after the onset of their puberty, such as Yemen, but only in marriage. Ages can also vary based on the type of calendar used, such as the lunar calendar, how birth dates in leap years are handled, or even the method by which birth date is calculated.

Defenses and exceptions
The age of consent is a legal barrier to the minor's ability to consent and therefore obtaining consent is not in general a defense to having sexual relations with a person under the prescribed age, for example:

Reasonable belief that the victim is over the age of consent
In some jurisdictions it is a defense if the accused can show their reasonable belief that the victim was over the age of consent. However, where such a defense is provided, it normally applies only when the victim is close to the age of consent or the accused can show due diligence in determining the age of the victim (e.g. an underage person who used a fake identification document claiming to be of legal age).

Marriage
In various jurisdictions, age of consent laws do not apply if the parties are legally married to each other. Ruhollah Khomeini, First Supreme Leader of Iran, in Tahrir al-Wasilah apart from sexual penetration, which he said a girl must be at least 9 years old to do it; he considered other sexual pleasures to be unobjection, whether after 9 years old or before 9 years old, even if those sexual acts done with a suckling infant.

Close-in-age exemptions

Similar age
Some jurisdictions have laws explicitly allowing sexual acts with minors under the age of consent if their partner is close in age. In Canada, the age of consent is 16, but there are three close-in-age exemptions: sex with minors aged 14–15 is permitted if the partner is less than five years older, sex with minors aged 12–13 is permitted if the partner is less than two years older, and sex with minors aged 0–11 is permitted if the partner is 12 or 13 years of age, as long as the partner is not in a position of trust over the other minor.

Age under threshold
Another approach takes the form of a stipulation that sexual intercourse between a minor and an older partner is legal under the condition that the latter does not exceed a certain age. For example, the age of consent in the US state of Delaware is 18, but it is allowed for teenagers aged 16 and 17 to engage in sexual intercourse as long as the older partner is younger than 30. The law in Canada for sex between minors aged 0–11 with a partner younger than 14 also takes this form.

Similar maturity
Other countries state that the sexual conduct with the minor is not to be punished if the partners are of a similar age and development: for instance, the age of consent in Finland is 16, but the law states that the act will not be punished if "there is no great difference in the ages or the mental and physical maturity of the persons involved". In Slovenia, the age of consent is 15, but the activity is only deemed criminal if there is "a marked discrepancy between the maturity of the perpetrator and that of the victim".

Homosexual and heterosexual age discrepancies
Some jurisdictions, such as the Bahamas, UK overseas territory of the Cayman Islands, Chile, Paraguay and Suriname have a higher age of consent for same-sex sexual activity. However, such discrepancies are increasingly being challenged. Within Bermuda for example (since 1 November 2019 under section 177 of the Criminal Code Act 1907) the age of consent for vaginal and oral sex is 16, but for anal sex it is 18. In Canada, the United Kingdom and Western Australia, for example, the age of consent was formerly 21 for same-sex sexual activity between males (with no laws regarding lesbian sexual activities), while it was 16 for heterosexual sexual activity; this is no longer the case and the age of consent for all sexual activity is 16. In June 2019, the Canadian government repealed the section of the criminal code that set a higher age of consent for anal intercourse.
 Gender-age differentials In some jurisdictions (such as Indonesia), there are different ages of consent for heterosexual sexual activity that are based on the gender of each person. In countries where there are gender-age differentials, the age of consent may be higher for girls—for example in Papua New Guinea, where the age of consent for heterosexual sex is 16 for girls and 14 for boys, or they may be higher for males, such as in Indonesia, where males must be 19 years old and females must be 16 years old. There are also numerous jurisdictions—such as Kuwait and the Palestinian Territories—in which marriage laws govern the gender-age differential. In these jurisdictions, it is illegal to have sexual intercourse outside of marriage, so the de facto age of consent is the marriageable age. In Kuwait, this means that boys must be at least 17 and girls at least 15 years old.

Position of authority/trust
In most jurisdictions where the age of consent is below 18 (such as England and Wales), in cases where a person aged 18 or older is in a position of trust over a person under 18, the age of consent usually rises to 18 or higher. Examples of such positions of trust include relationships between teachers and students. For example, in England and Wales the age of consent is 16, but if the person is a student of the older person it becomes 18.

Circumstances of the relationship
In several jurisdictions, it is illegal to engage in sexual activity with a person under a certain age under certain circumstances regarding the relationship in question, such as if it involves taking advantage of or corrupting the morals of the young person. For example, while the age of consent is 14 in Germany and 16 in Canada, it is illegal in both countries to engage in sexual activity with a person under 18 if the activity exploits the younger person. Another example is in Mexico, where there is a crime called "estupro" defined as sexual activity with a person over the age of consent but under a certain age limit (generally 18) in which consent of the younger person was obtained through seduction and/or deceit. In Pennsylvania, the age of consent is officially 16, but if the older partner is 18 or older, they may still be prosecuted for corruption of minors for their corruption or tending to corrupt the morals of the younger person.

Extraterritoriality

A growing number of countries have specific extraterritorial legislation that prosecutes their citizens in their homeland should they engage in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign country with children. In 2008, ECPAT reported that 44 countries had extraterritorial child sex legislation. For example, PROTECT Act of 2003, a federal United States law bans sexual activity by its citizens with foreigners or with U.S. citizens from another state, if the partner is under 18 and the activity is illegal under the federal, state, or local law. This applies in cases where any of the partners travels into or out of the United States, or from one state into another, for the purpose of an illegal sexual encounter.

Other issues

Gender of participants
There is debate as to whether the gender of those involved should lead to different treatment of the sexual encounter, in law or in practice. Traditionally, age of consent laws regarding vaginal intercourse were often meant to protect the chastity of unmarried girls. Many feminists and social campaigners in the 1970s have objected to the social importance of virginity, and have also attempted to change the stereotypes of female passivity and male aggression; demanding that the law protect children from exploitation regardless of their gender, rather than dealing with concerns of chastity. This has led to gender-neutral laws in many jurisdictions. On the other hand, there is an opposing view which argues that the act of vaginal intercourse is an "unequal act" for males and females, due to issues such as pregnancy, increased risk of STDs, and risk of physical injury if the girl is too young and not physically ready. In the US, in Michael M. v. Superior Ct.450 U.S. 464 (1981) it was ruled that the double standard of offering more legal protection to girls is valid because "the Equal Protection Clause does not mean that the physiological differences between men and women must be disregarded".

Traditionally, many age of consent laws dealt primarily with men engaging in sexual acts with underage girls and boys (the latter acts often falling under sodomy and buggery laws). This means that in some legal systems, issues of women having sexual contact with underage partners were rarely acknowledged. For example, until 2000, in the UK, before the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000, there was no statutory age of consent for lesbian sex. In New Zealand, before 2005, there were no age of consent laws dealing with women having sex with underage boys. Previously, in Fiji, male offenders of child sexual abuse could receive up to life imprisonment, whilst female offenders would receive up to seven years. Situations like these have been attributed to societal views on traditional gender roles, and to constructs of male sexuality and female sexuality; according to E Martellozzo, "[V]iewing females as perpetrators of sexual abuse goes against every stereotype that society has of women: women as mothers and caregivers and not as people who abuse and harm". Alissa Nutting argues that women are not acknowledged as perpetrators of sex crimes because society does not accept that women have an autonomous sexuality of their own.

Marriage and the age of consent

The age at which a person can be legally married can differ from the age of consent. In jurisdictions where the marriageable age is lower than the age of consent, those laws usually override the age of consent laws in the case of a married couple where one or both partners are below the age of consent. Some jurisdictions prohibit all sex outside of marriage irrespective of age, as in the case of Yemen.

Prostitution

In many countries, there are specific laws dealing with child prostitution.

Pornography and "jailbait" images

In some countries, states, or other jurisdictions, the age of consent may be lower than the age at which a person can appear in pornographic images and films. In many jurisdictions, the minimum age for participation and even viewing such material is 18. As such, in some jurisdictions, films and images showing individuals under the age of 18, but above the age of consent, that meet the legal definition of child pornography are prohibited despite the fact that the sexual acts depicted are legal to engage in otherwise under that jurisdiction's age of consent laws. In those cases, it is only the filming of the sex act that is the crime as the act itself would not be considered a sex crime. For example, in the United States under federal law it is a crime to film minors below 18 in sexual acts, even in states where the age of consent is below 18. In those states, charges such as child pornography can be used to prosecute someone having sex with a minor, who could not otherwise be prosecuted for statutory rape, provided they filmed or photographed the act.

Jailbait images can be differentiated from child pornography, as they do not feature minors before the onset of puberty, nor do they contain nudity. The images are, however, usually sexualized, often featuring tween or young teenagers in bikinis, skirts, underwear or lingerie. Whether or not these images are legal is debated. When questioned regarding their legality legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin stated he thought it was not illegal, though legal expert Sunny Hostin was more skeptical, describing jailbait images as "borderline" child pornography which may be illegal.

Health

The human immune system continues to develop after puberty. The age of exposure has an influence upon if the immune system can fend off infections in general, and this is also true in the case of some sexually transmitted diseases. For example, a risk factor for HPV strains causing genital warts is sexual debut at a young age; if this extends to the cancer causing strains, then sexual debut at a young age would potentially also increase risk of persistence of HPV infections that cause the very HPV induced cancers that are being diagnosed in spiking numbers of relatively young people.

Initiatives to change the age of consent

Age-of-consent reform refers to the efforts of some individuals or groups, for different reasons, to alter or abolish age-of-consent laws. These efforts advocate positions such as:
 Introductions of close-in-age exceptions.
 Reducing the age-of-consent for homosexual activity to match that of heterosexual activity.
 A change in the way that age-of-consent laws are examined in court.
 Either increases in the ages of consent or more severe penalties or both.
 Either decreases in the ages of consent or less severe penalties or both.
 Abolition of the age-of-consent laws either permanently or as a temporary, practical expedient.

See also

 Adult film industry regulations
 Age disparity in sexual relationships
 Age of accountability
 Age of candidacy
 Age of Consent Act, 1891 (British India)
 Age of consent reform (UK)
 Age of consent by country
 Age of majority
 Age of reason (canon law)
 Child sexual abuse
 Comprehensive sex education
 Convention on the Rights of the Child
 Emancipation of minors
 Fitness to plead, law of England and Wales
 French petition against age of consent laws
 Gillick competence
 Legal age
 Mature minor doctrine
 Minors and abortion
 Sex-positive movement
 Sodomy law
 The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon
 Youth
 Youth suffrage
 Youth rights

References

Further reading
 Brewer, Holly. By Birth or Consent: Children, Law, & the Anglo-American Revolution in Authority ; Univ. of North Carolina Press (Chapel Hill, 2005)
 Robertson, Stephen (University of Sydney). "Age of Consent Laws." In: Children & Youth in History, Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (CHNM) at George Mason University and the University of Missouri–Kansas City.—Includes links to primary sources.
 Waites, Matthew (2005). The Age of Consent: Young People, Sexuality and Citizenship, (New York [United States] and Houndmills, Basingstoke [United Kingdom]: Palgrave Macmillan)

External links
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Adolescent sexuality
Age and society
Minimum ages
Sex laws
Sexuality and age
Statutory law

Age of consent


Tonight or Never is a 1931 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Gloria Swanson, Melvyn Douglas (in his screen debut) and Boris Karloff.

Plot
Nella Vargo is a Hungarian prima donna whose latest performances include singing Tosca in Venice. Although she is praised by the audience, her music teacher Rudig feels that she can not be the greatest opera singer in history until she performs in New York City. When she is criticized for not putting her soul into the song, she gets mad, until she suddenly notices a mysterious man walking on the street. She becomes smitten with the man, until Rudig claims that he is a gigolo whose latest client is Marchesa Bianca San Giovanni, a former diva with a notorious past.

Later that night, Nella heads to Budapest, accompanied by Rudig, her butler Conrad, her maid Emma and her fiancé Count Albert von Gronac, whom she does not love. She is shocked to discover that the mysterious man is on board as well, with the marchesa as his company. Rudig again suggests that she will never be a great singer if she does not experience love. The next day, Rudig announces that Fletcher, an agent for New York's prestigious Metropolitan Opera, is in town to sign European artists. Later that afternoon, she learns that her fiancé is having an affair with one of her enemies.

Furious and upset with her love life, she hires the mysterious man, Jim, hoping to experience love and thereby impress Fletcher. She is attracted to Jim, but is afraid to have her as his admirer. Jim, who is actually Fletcher, soon learns that Nella believes that he is a gigolo. Instead of revealing the truth, he pretends to be a gigolo and forces her to make a decision: spend the night with him or leave within three minutes.

Nella decides to spend the night with Jim, but leaves the next morning before he awakes. That night, she again gives a performance of Tosca, which is acclaimed as the greatest in her entire career. After returning home, she is overcome by joy to learn that she has landed a contract with the Metropolitan Opera, but feels guilty for what she had done the night before. The same day, Jim visits her, returning the necklace that she had left him to pay for his services and demanding that she choose between him and the contract. When she tears apart the contract, he realizes that she is in love with him and he reveals himself to be a nephew of the marchesa and the famous talent scout. Now, Nella can have the successful New York career of her dreams.

Cast
Gloria Swanson as Nella Vago
Melvyn Douglas as Jim Fletcher
Alison Skipworth as Marchesa Bianca San Giovanni
Ferdinand Gottschalk as Rudig
Robert Greig as Conrad
Warburton Gamble as Count Albert von Gronac
Greta Meyer as Emma
Boris Karloff as a comical waiter

Production
The film is based on the Hungarian play of the same name, which was performed on Broadway between November 18, 1930 and June 1931. In the film, Melvyn Douglas, Ferdinand Gottschalk, Robert Greig, Greta Meyer and Warburton Gamble recreated their stage roles. In June 1931, Adela Rogers St. Johns was assigned to write the screenplay. A month later, she was replaced with Sheridan Gibney, who was eventually replaced as well. According to a January 1931 news article, George Fitzmaurice was initially set to direct, but he was replaced by Mervyn LeRoy, who as a young unknown had appeared uncredited as a newsboy in Swanson's 1923 silent societal drama Prodigal Daughters.

Joseph Schenck cast Gloria Swanson to play the lead role, believing that it would help her recover from a career slump. The film was the only of Swanson's early sound films in which she did not sing, despite playing an opera singer. The film sparked Douglas' screen debut.

The Hays office strongly objected to the film and demanded several cuts. The scene thought to be the most vulgar was the love scene between Nella and Jim. A staff member commented: "This scene was one of the most offensive, if not the most offensive—in my recollection." The film was permitted a release in 1931, but as enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code commenced in 1934, requests for rereleases in 1935 and 1937 were rejected.

See also
 Boris Karloff filmography

References

Bibliography

External links

1931 films
1931 comedy films
American black-and-white films
American comedy films
American films based on plays
1930s English-language films
Films directed by Mervyn LeRoy
Films set in Venice
Samuel Goldwyn Productions films
United Artists films
1930s American films

Tonight or Never (1931 film)


S.O.B. is a 1981 American satirical black comedy film written and directed by Blake Edwards. It stars Julie Andrews, Richard Mulligan, Robert Preston, Larry Hagman, Robert Vaughn, Robert Webber, Loretta Swit, Shelley Winters, and William Holden in his final film role. The film was produced by Lorimar and was released by Paramount Pictures on July 1, 1981.

Plot
The story is a satire of the film industry and Hollywood society. The main character, Felix Farmer, is a phenomenally successful film producer who has just made the first major flop of his career, resulting in the loss of millions of dollars to his movie studio and his own sanity. Felix attempts suicide four times:

 He attempts to die of carbon monoxide poisoning in his car, only to have it accidentally slip into gear and crash through the side of his garage, down a sand dune and into the Pacific Ocean.
 He then attempts to hang himself from a rafter in an upstairs bedroom, only to fall and crash through the floor, injuring a venomous Hollywood gossip columnist standing in the room below.
 Subsequently, he tries to gas himself in his kitchen oven, but is prevented from carrying out his intent by two party guests with other things on their mind. Felix spends roughly the first quarter of the film in a catatonic state or heavily sedated, while his friends and hangers-on occupy his Malibu beach house. The occupation leads to a party, which degenerates into an orgy.
 Finally, he tries to shoot himself with a police officer's gun, but is prevented from doing so by the ministrations of a young woman wearing only a pair of panties. The experience gives him the sudden realization that the reason for his film's failure was its lack of sex.

Felix resolves to save both the film and his reputation. He persuades the studio to sell him the rights to the film and then tries to convince his wife Sally Miles, an Oscar-winning movie star with a squeaky-clean image, to appear in the revised film - a softcore pornographic musical in which she must appear topless. He liquidates most of his financial holdings to buy the existing footage and to finance further production. If he fails, both Sally and he will be impoverished, at least by Hollywood standards.

At first, the studio executives are keen to unload the film onto Felix and recoup their investment, but when Sally goes through with the topless scene and the film seems a likely success, they plot to regain control. Using California's community property laws, they persuade Sally to sign a distribution deal that also gives the studio the right to edit the film. An angry and deranged Felix tries to steal the film negatives from the studio's color lab vault. Armed with his son's water pistol, Felix takes the lab's manager hostage. Hysterical, Felix points the water pistol at police; the police shoot and kill Felix, believing the toy gun to be real.

Felix's tragic death creates a crisis for his cronies Tim Culley, the director of Night Wind; Ben Coogan, Sally's press agent; and Dr. Irving Finegarten, Felix and Sally's physician; the trio plans to save their friend from the lavish but hypocritical Hollywood funeral and give Felix a proper sendoff. They steal his body from the funeral home, substituting the corpse of Burgess Webster, a once popular, but largely forgotten character actor who died on the beach near the Farmer home in the first scene of the film. After toasting their fallen comrade, the three give Felix a Viking funeral in a burning dinghy, while Webster, in Felix's coffin, gets the elaborate Hollywood sendoff many thought he deserved.

The epilogue later reveals that Felix's revamped film was a box-office smash for the studio and Sally won another Academy Award for her performance.

The movie within the movie
Little is seen of the movie that is the focus of the plot, except for an extended dream sequence and a brief shot close to the end. Its title is Night Wind, which provokes the headline "Critics Break Wind" seen on a copy of Variety at the start of S.O.B. after the initial flop. The plot of Night Wind is kept vague; it involves a frigid businesswoman (played by Sally), whose inability to love a "male chauvinist" rival executive stems from a childhood trauma that led to her sexual detachment.

The climax of Night Wind is the first scene of S.O.B., an elaborate song-and-dance sequence set to "Polly Wolly Doodle", in which Sally wanders through a room full of giant toys (several of which come to life), singing the song while dressed as a tomboy. The implication is that her father's death caused Andrews's character to renounce childhood and become a cold, frigid person.

A second scene, taking place at the end of the film, has Sally's character arrive at the home of her would-be lover after the dream, where he reveals that he still loves her, "despite everything."

When Felix rewrites the film to make it into soft porn, changes are made: Sally's character goes from sexually frigid to being a nymphomaniac. Her lover goes from male chauvinist to being a secret cross dresser. Felix axes the entire song sequence, turning it from a dream to a hallucination"... caused by a powerful aphrodisiac put into her Bosco" and replacing the regular version of "Polly Wolly Doodle" with a more haunting version. He has the "toys" dress in more erotic outfits, and includes a carnival barker-type muscle man, who tempts Andrews' character before she rejects him by flashing her breasts.

Cast

 Julie Andrews as Sally Miles, the star of Night Wind and the wife of film producer Felix Farmer
 William Holden as Tim Culley, the director of Night Wind and Felix's best friend
 Richard Mulligan as Felix Farmer, the producer of Night Wind and the husband of Sally Miles
 Robert Preston as Dr. Irving Finegarten, Felix and Sally's physician
 Robert Webber as Ben Coogan, Sally's press agent
 Robert Vaughn as David Blackman, the president of Capitol Studios
 Larry Hagman as Dick Benson, a Capitol studios executive and Blackman's right-hand man
 Marisa Berenson as Mavis, an actress and mistress to David Blackman
 Stuart Margolin as Gary Murdock, Sally's personal secretary and an aspiring producer
 Loretta Swit as Polly Reed, a Hollywood gossip columnist
 Craig Stevens as Willard Pratt, Polly Reed's henpecked husband
 Shelley Winters as Eva Brown, Sally's agent
 Robert Loggia as Herb Maskowitz, Sally's lawyer
 Jennifer Edwards as Lila, a young hitchhiker picked up by Culley
 Rosanna Arquette as Babs, Lila's friend, also picked up by Culley
 John Lawlor as the Capitol Studios Manager
 John Pleshette as the Capitol Studios Vice-president
 Ken Swofford as Harold P. Harrigan, a studio security guard
 Hamilton Camp as Lipschitz, an executive at Capitol Color Lab, where the negative of Night Wind is stored.
 Paul Stewart as Harry Sandler, Felix's agent
 Benson Fong as Felix and Sally's personal chef
 Larry Storch as Professor Krishna Mansa Kesari, Sally Miles' spiritual guru, who officiates at Felix's funeral.
 Mimi Davis as Joyce Benson, Dick's wife and Sandler's daughter
 David Young as Sam Marshall, a popular young actor
 Byron Kane as the Funeral Director
 Virginia Gregg as the Funeral Director's Wife
 Herb Tanney as Burgess Webster (as Stiffe Tanney)
 Joe Penny as Officer Buchwald, a police officer called to the Farmer residence
 Erica Yohn as Agnes, the costume designer of Night Wind
 Colleen Brennan as Tammy Taylor (as Katherine MacMurray)
 Charles Lampkin as Felix and Sally's Butler
 Bert Rosario as the Mexican Gardener
 Gene Nelson as Clive Lytell

Title
"S.O.B." (in the film) stands for "Standard Operational Bullshit" and refers to misinformation being the norm.  The abbreviation means "sexually oriented business" (if pertaining to strip clubs) and more generally "son of a bitch" (a ruthless person).

A Spanish dub of the film keeps the abbreviation S.O.B., claiming that it stands for "Sois honrados Bandidos" (You Are Honest Crooks). The Argentine title for the movie was changed to Se acabó el mundo (The World is Ended), having no relation to the original title.

Three years later, when Edwards had his name removed from the writing credits of 1984's City Heat, he was billed under the pseudonym Sam O. Brown. (S.O.B.)

Influences
When writing the screenplay, Edwards drew upon several of his own experiences as a film maker. The character of Felix Farmer is a person not unlike Edwards, while actress Sally Miles bears certain similarities to real-life wife Julie Andrews (who plays her).

The story of S.O.B. parallels the experiences of Edwards and Andrews in their infamous, but Academy Award-nominated, failure, Darling Lili. Intended to reveal Andrews' heretofore unseen wicked and sexy side, that film had a troubled shoot, went significantly over budget, and was subjected to postproduction studio interference. The early 1970s brought more bad news for Edwards; he made two more films, Wild Rovers, a Western with William Holden, and The Carey Treatment with James Coburn. Once again, the studio interfered in the postproduction of both films, which were edited without any input from Edwards. Both movies opened to negative reviews and poor business. Hit hard financially and personally by these events, Edwards moved to Europe to work independently, away from the meddling and restrictions of the Hollywood studios. The plan worked, leading to several successful projects, including three very profitable Pink Panther sequels starring Peter Sellers.

In S.O.B., Andrews's character agrees (with some pharmaceutical persuasion) to "show my boobies" in a scene in the film-within-the-film. For this scene, comedian Johnny Carson thanked Andrews on the Academy Awards for "showing us that the hills were still alive," alluding to a famous line from The Sound of Music opening sequence.

Production
S.O.B.  had been in development by Edwards since 1976. In 1979, the film was set for preproduction at Orion Pictures with distribution by Warner Bros., Edwards's third film with Orion after 10 and The Ferret, which was due to star Dudley Moore. In July 1979, Orion put the film into turnaround. Later in 1979, Edwards signed a deal with Lorimar through United Artists set to distribute. In January 1980, Variety announced that Cloris Leachman  and David Callan had been named among the cast members but neither ultimately appeared in the film; Variety also reported that Joel Grey had turned down a role in S.O.B. In 1981, Lorimar's distribution agreement with UA ended and Lorimar began distributing their films through Paramount Pictures. Paramount released  S.O.B. in July, 1981, though much animosity still existed between Paramount and Edwards over the Darling Lili debacle.

Filming took place between March and July 1980 in Los Angeles, Malibu, and Santa Monica on a budget of $12 million.

Reception

Critical response
S.O.B. was released in July 1981, with critical opinion of the film sharply divided. Remarkably, the screenplay was nominated for both a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen, and a Razzie Award for Worst Screenplay. It was also nominated for a Razzie for Worst Director and a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical.

S.O.B. currently holds an 81% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 26 reviews, with an average rating of 6.90/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A sustained blast of unbridled vitriol from writer-director Blake Edwards, S.O.B. is one of the blackest – and most consistently funny – Hollywood satires ever put to film."

Vincent Canby, writing for The New York Times, described S.O.B. as "a nasty, biased, self-serving movie that also happens to be hilarious most of the time...It's difficult to remember a film as mean-spirited as S.O.B. that also was so consistently funny." Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel, then hosts of the PBS film review program Sneak Previews, both gave S.O.B. a positive review.

Box office
The film grossed $3,116,078 over the five-day 4th of July holiday weekend and went on to gross $14.8 million in the United States and Canada. The Village Voice dubbed the film a box-office flop.

Television version
Broadcast television prints of S.O.B. contain alternate takes and edits of several scenes originally containing sex and nudity, such as the party and orgy scenes and  Night Winds erotica dream sequence where Julie Andrews exposes her breasts. The television version contains a scene where Robert Vaughn, as studio head David Blackman, receives a phone call while in bed with his mistress, and is simply seen naked from the waist up.  In the original theatrical print, he is wearing a bustier, nylon stockings, and other transvestite paraphernalia.

Home media
The original video release was made by CBS Video Enterprises in 1982, on both VHS and CED Videodisc, and was later reissued on VHS by CBS/Fox Video in the mid-1980s. Warner Bros. bought ancillary rights in 1989 with their purchase of Lorimar, and the film was released on Laserdisc through Warner Home Video in 1990. Warners released a DVD edition in 2002 and reissued in 2012.

References

Notes

  Each page is not identified.

Citations

Sources

External links

1981 films
1981 black comedy films
1981 comedy films
1980s sex comedy films
American satirical films
American sex comedy films
1980s English-language films
Films scored by Henry Mancini
Films directed by Blake Edwards
Films with screenplays by Blake Edwards
Films about film directors and producers
Films about Hollywood, Los Angeles
Films set in Los Angeles
Paramount Pictures films
1980s American films

S.O.B. (film)


Asia are  an English rock supergroup formed in London in 1981. The most commercially successful lineup was its original, which consisted of four members of different progressive rock bands who had enjoyed great success in the 1970s: lead vocalist and bassist John Wetton (King Crimson, Uriah Heep and U.K.), guitarist Steve Howe (Yes), keyboardist Geoff Downes (Yes and the Buggles) and drummer Carl Palmer (Emerson, Lake & Palmer). Their debut album, Asia, released in 1982, remains their best-selling album and went to number one in several countries.  Billboard listed it as the top album in the U.S. in 1982.  The lead single from the album, "Heat of the Moment", remains their top charting and best-known song, reaching the top 40 in over a dozen markets.  It peaked at #4 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.

The band underwent multiple lineup changes before the original four members reunited in 2006. As a result, a band called Asia Featuring John Payne exists as a continuation of John Payne's career as Asia's frontman from 1991 until Wetton's return in 2006. In 2013, the original lineup was broken once again when Howe retired from the band and was replaced by guitarist Sam Coulson. After a few years of inactivity, Billy Sherwood (of Yes, World Trade and Circa:) replaced an ailing Wetton (who died shortly thereafter) in Asia for a summer 2017 tour with Journey. Following the end of the tour, the band went on hiatus again, re-emerging in 2019 with Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal replacing both Sherwood on vocals and Coulson on guitar. In 2022, Marc Bonilla joined the group as guitarist and vocalist in place of Thal.

History

Formation
Asia began in early 1981 after the apparent ending of Yes and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, two of the founding bands of British progressive rock. After the breakup of King Crimson in 1974, various plans for a supergroup involving bassist John Wetton had not been successful, including the abortive British Bulldog project with Bill Bruford and Rick Wakeman in 1976. In 1977 Bruford and Wetton were reunited in U.K., augmented by guitarist Allan Holdsworth and keyboardist/violinist Eddie Jobson. Their self-titled debut was released in 1978. But by January 1980, U.K. had folded after one lineup change and three recordings. A new project was then suggested involving Wetton, Wakeman, drummer Carl Palmer and (then little known) guitarist/singer Trevor Rabin, but Wakeman left this project shortly before they were due to sign to Geffen and before they had played together.

In early January 1981, Wetton and former Yes guitarist Steve Howe were brought together by A&R man John Kalodner and Geffen Records to start writing material for a new album. They were eventually joined by drummer Carl Palmer and finally by Howe's fellow member of Yes, keyboardist Geoff Downes. Two other players auditioned and considered during the band's formation were former The Move and ELO founder Roy Wood and the aforementioned guitarist/singer Trevor Rabin, who would end up replacing Steve Howe in a reformed Yes in 1983. Rabin, in a filmed 1984 interview included in the DVD 9012Live, said that his involvement with Asia never went anywhere because "there was no chemistry" among the participants.

The band's first recordings, under the auspices of Geffen record label head David Geffen and Kalodner, were extremely popular with record buyers, while considered disappointing by music critics and fans of progressive rock, who found the music closer to radio-friendly album-oriented rock (AOR). However, Asia clicked with fans of popular arena acts such as Journey and Styx; Kalodner had once introduced Wetton to Journey's short-lived frontman Robert Fleischman, with a view to Fleischman becoming Asia's lead singer. As they worked on material together, Fleischman was impressed by Wetton's singing and felt the voice best suited to the new material was Wetton's own. He left Asia amicably.

Rolling Stone gave Asia an indifferent review, while acknowledging the band's musicianship was a cut above the usual AOR expectations.

1981–1985: "Heat of the Moment" and early success
Asia's debut album Asia, released in March 1982, gained considerable commercial success, spending nine weeks at number one on the United States album chart and selling over four million copies in the States alone. The album sold over 10 million worldwide and has never been out of print. The singles "Heat of the Moment" and "Only Time Will Tell" became Top 40 hits, both boosted by popular MTV music videos. Both tracks went on to become stadium favourites at United States sporting events. "Sole Survivor" also received heavy air play on rock stations across the United States, as did "Wildest Dreams" (another MTV video) and "Here Comes The Feeling". The band's best performing single, and perhaps their most recognised and popular hit song, "Heat of the Moment", spent six weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's Album Rock Tracks chart and climbed to No. 4 on the Hot 100.

In the United States the band sold out every date on their debut tour, which began at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York on 22 April 1982 and continued in theatres but quickly expanded into massive arenas because of high ticket demand. Asia would go on to receive a Grammy Award nomination as Best New Artist of 1982. MTV also played Asia videos on heavy rotation—as many as five times a day. Both Billboard and Cash Box named Asia's debut the No. 1 album of the year. Asia's logo and cover art were created by illustrator Roger Dean of Yes and Uriah Heep fame.

Asia's second album Alpha (released in July 1983) and future Asia albums did not achieve the chart success of their debut release; however, Alphas "Don't Cry" was a No. 1 Album Rock Track and Top 10 Pop hit in the summer of 1983, and the video received considerable attention on MTV, while "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes" was another Top 40 hit for the band. The video for "Smile" also scored heavy MTV play. However, Rolling Stone criticized Alpha as an over-produced commercial album, while others stated that Howe and Palmer were effectively reduced to session musicians. Alpha received indifferent reviews from various critics, while attaining platinum status and reaching No. 6 on the Billboard album chart.

In October 1983 Wetton left the group after the comparatively disappointing sales of Alpha. The band says that Wetton quit; Wetton stated that he was fired by phone. There is no universally agreed version of what happened. Wetton later said that his alcohol dependency may have been a factor. Howe, in his 2021 autobiography All My Yesterdays, says that tensions had been building gradually, as songs began to work out differently on stage than they had while recording the album, which had itself not gone smoothly. After a show in New York where some members of the band had, after giving an interview, taken the stage and given a subpar performance, Howe recalls that he, Downes and Palmer confronted Wetton about his increasing mistakes on stage.

The next leg of their 1983 United States tour (which had begun in the summer but shut down suddenly on 10 September following a performance at Pine Knob outside Detroit), scheduled for the autumn, was abruptly cancelled, reportedly because of low ticket sales. Howe says this was because Wetton's issues had worsened; the ensuing two-month break in the tour marked Wetton's departure from the band as a practical matter regardless of who had initiated it.

In December 1983 ex-King Crimson and ELP lead singer and bassist Greg Lake replaced Wetton for a few concerts in Japan, including the highly publicised "Asia in Asia" concert at the Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo, Japan, on 6 December 1983, which was the first concert broadcast over satellite to MTV in the United States and was later made into a home video. Some songs were played in a lower key to suit Lake's voice. He sang some lyrics assisted with a teleprompter, as he had been asked to cover Wetton's parts on short notice as a favour to Carl Palmer; although he initially declined due to the short preparation time, eventually he accepted because Geffen Records "offered me so much money there was no way I could refuse it." In a 2011 interview, asked why he hadn't stayed a member of Asia, he stated, "I did a brief stint with them and didn't want to go in that corporate rock direction. I didn't believe in that sort of music, so I didn't continue." Howe says Lake was interested in remaining a member and recording with the band but Palmer was opposed to that.

Following Lake's departure, Wetton was asked to return (in Howe's account, Wetton approached the band via management) to Asia after his three-month absence; he returned on the condition that Steve Howe was ousted from the band. For a while, the group considered continuing as a three-piece without a permanent guitarist, inviting guest guitarists such as Jeff Beck and David Gilmour into the studio. Geffen Records suggested recruiting Krokus guitarist Mandy Meyer, who got on well with the band and was offered a permanent position: his playing style was more inclined to straightforward hard rock, thus changing the sound of the band.  Meanwhile, Howe went on to brief success with GTR (another supergroup, this one formed with former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett and produced by Downes).

1985–1991: Astra, breakup and new lineups
The third Asia album was tentatively titled Arcadia, but during production it was discovered that that name was being used by a forthcoming spin-off project from Duran Duran. The retitled Astra, released in November 1985, was not as commercially successful as the first two albums. The record label cancelled the projected tour because of lack of interest. The band charted another single with "Go" (No. 46), featuring Meyer's guitar work as a primary element. The music video was another hit with MTV but in 1986 this Asia lineup folded, bringing the group to an end for the time being. Wetton is quoted as saying "[Astra] did really well in Sweden ... but Swedish sales aren't that large."

Wetton resurfaced in January 1987 with an album recorded with guitarist Phil Manzanera, Wetton-Manzanera, based on material that had been originally intended for Asia. Also in 1987, Wetton played with Phenomena on their Dream Runner album and landed a number one hit in South America with the Phenomena single "Did It All for Love", also appearing in the related music video. Asia were also credited with contributing the Giorgio Moroder produced track "Gypsy Soul" to the Sylvester Stallone film soundtrack to Over the Top, although Wetton was the only band member involved.

Wetton and Downes' attempt to restart the group in 1987 with guitarist Scott Gorham (formerly of Thin Lizzy) and drummer Michael Sturgis (ex-A-ha) failed when they were unable to land a worldwide recording deal.

Wetton and Palmer reunited the band for tours of Europe in the summer and autumn of 1989. Downes (working on a project with Greg Lake) was not available, so keyboards were played by John Young. Guitars on the tour were handled by Alan Darby (replaced by German guitarist Holger Larisch); and Zoe Nicholas and Susie Webb were brought aboard to provide back-up vocals. Unlike Wetton's later anger at Asia continuing without him in the 1990s, this lineup was viewed favourably by other Asia band members.

Asia returned to the studio in 1990 with Downes, Toto guitarist Steve Lukather and other studio musicians and released Then & Now (August 1990), a best-of with four new tracks. "Days Like These" from the disc received substantial airplay during the summer of 1990 on AOR radio stations and re-sparked some interest in the band. Pat Thrall joined Downes, Palmer and Wetton on tour and they performed classic material, including King Crimson and U.K. songs.

The band toured the former Soviet Union in November 1990 to play in front of 20,000 fans on two sold-out nights. "Days Like These" charted in the United States at No. 64 in 1990 and No. 2 on the United States Album Rock Tracks chart. A video was planned, but scrapped when various problems hampered the single's chance at the Top 40. Asia received the RIAA Gold album award for Then and Now years later, but initially the album did not reach the Top 100. A DVD and CD are available of the Asia concerts in the USSR (featuring a bonus studio track, "Kari-Anne" recorded by the 1987 Wetton-Downes-Gorham-Sturgis lineup and with Francis Dunnery contributing a guitar solo). Wetton left the group in April 1991 after a South American tour, discouraged by Asia's lack of success in the United States.

1991–2006: Downes/Payne era
After Wetton's departure, vocalist/bassist John Payne joined the band and, together with Downes, enlisted new musicians and led Asia through to 2006. The first album with this lineup was Aqua, released in June 1992. In addition to Downes and Payne, the album featured Howe, Palmer, and guitarist Al Pitrelli (of Danger Danger, Megadeth and Alice Cooper). Howe returned during the sessions having just left Yes again, but Palmer would leave soon, committing to an ELP reunion, and was able to play on just three songs. Drummers Simon Phillips and Nigel Glockler then completed the sessions. Downes' environmentalist single "Who Will Stop the Rain?" (originally written for Max Bacon and the aborted Rain project, later appearing on Bacon's album From the Banks of the River Irwell) attracted some radio attention. The Aqua club tour featured Howe (whose presence was heavily promoted), who took the stage after the fifth song. The tour was successful enough to warrant the band's continuation. The 1992–93 tour featured Downes, Howe, Payne, guitarist Vinny Burns and drummer Trevor Thornton. Before a European festival tour in late 1993, Howe and Burns left and were replaced by guitarist Keith More.

The group released Aria in May 1994, which featured lead guitarist Al Pitrelli once again, who would leave Asia during the short Aria tour. The Aria album did not fare well commercially and the ensuing tour was limited to four concerts. Ex-Simply Red guitarist Aziz Ibrahim took over during the tour. Aria also introduced new drummer Michael Sturgis, who had been involved during the band's aborted 1987 reunion and had appeared on some of the sessions for Aqua. Aria was not released in the United States until May 1995.

Over New Year's Eve 1995/1996, a broken pipe inundated the control room in Downes' and Payne's recording studio, Electric Palace, in London. Amid the lost equipment, a vault containing unreleased material was found intact. The band decided to release the material in two discs, Archiva 1 and Archiva 2. The Archiva sets were collections of unreleased tracks recorded during the first three Downes/Payne albums.

Next, Arena, released in February 1996, featured Downes, Payne, Sturgis, Ibrahim and guest guitarist Elliott Randall (ex-Steely Dan, and Randy Crawford). The album was released on Resurgence Records but there was no tour because of lack of interest. The group's lone promotional performance in conjunction with the album occurred on 19 April 1996, when Downes and Payne appeared with guitarist Elliott Randall on the Virgin FM radio programme Alive in London to play the song "Never".

An all-acoustic album, Live Acoustic, was recorded by the group at Stadthalle, Bruchsal, Germany on 21 September 1997 (and released in December 1999) that featured a lineup of Downes, Payne, Ibrahim, and drummer Bob Richards. Also in 1997, a best of album Anthology, featuring songs from the past six albums was released. However, a lawsuit from Wetton meant that songs from the first three albums needed to be re-recorded.

In 1999 there was talk of a reunion of the original lineup minus Howe. The original proposition included Dave Kilminster on guitar, who had previously toured and recorded with Wetton. While Howe was interested in participating, he was unable to because of his busy schedule with Yes. This reunion did not take place and John Payne continued to carry on Asia with Downes uninterrupted. Wetton and Palmer did, however, get together to form Qango, which included Kilminster and John Young, although the band was short-lived. Kilminster went on to work with Keith Emerson, The Nice and Roger Waters.

Also in 1999, Rare, Asia's seventh studio album was released on Resurgence. It was made up of the instrumental music, which Downes and Payne had composed for the soundtrack for David Attenborough's documentary nature film Salmon: Against the Tides (tracks 1–16) and for an unreleased CD-ROM video game (tracks 17–22).

In 2000 Geffen/Universal released a best-of entitled The Very Best of Asia: Heat of the Moment (1982–1990), which also included three rare B-sides from the early days.

2001's Aura featured three different session guitarists, including Ian Crichton (of Canadian progressive rock band Saga) who'd briefly joined Asia in 1998–1999. Aura took a more progressive rock form, but still did not recapture the commercial success of the first album. Former members Howe, Thrall, Sturgis and Elliott Randall also made guest appearances. The single "Ready to Go Home" was barely distributed. Asia then signed with Recognition Records. 2001 did see the band with a stable lineup, achieved during the Aura sessions featuring Downes, Payne, guitarist Guthrie Govan and ex-Manfred Mann's Earth Band/The Firm/Uriah Heep/Gary Numan/AC/DC drummer Chris Slade (who had first joined Asia in 1999, briefly).

In 2001 and 2002, Asia toured for the first time since 1994, including their first United States dates since 1993. A live album and DVD, both titled America: Live in the USA, were released in 2003, recorded at the Classic Rock Productions Classic Rock Festival at The Patriots Theater at the Trenton War Memorial in Trenton, New Jersey on 5 October 2002, which they co-headlined with Uriah Heep.

In the summer of 2003, Downes and Payne undertook the "Asia Across America Tour", which received some media attention. Performing "unplugged", the duo would reportedly play anywhere in the United States that fans requested, provided there was a venue and the fans put up $3,000 to cover costs.

Marking a departure from convention, for the first time a studio release was not titled as a single word starting and ending with the letter A (excepting the partial compilation / partial new album Then & Now). Released on Asia's newly signed label SPV/Inside Out Records, 2004's Silent Nation (name influenced by the Howard Stern vs. FCC incident) picked up some unexpected exposure on the Internet.

In 2004 an acoustic Asia toured once again featuring only Downes and Payne. In 2005 the full band toured in Europe and the Americas playing settings ranging from small clubs to medium-sized theatres. In the United States attendance was poor at best.

In August 2005 Slade left Asia to be replaced by drummer Jay Schellen. The new band started work on an album, tentatively entitled Architect of Time, which was originally planned for release early in 2006, though subsequent developments would cause this project to be shelved. Half of this material ended up being released on the album Window to the Soul in August 2006 under the new band name of GPS, which was an acronym for the three players involved: Govan, Payne and Schellen. After this, the three continued on as Asia Featuring John Payne in 2007.

Meanwhile, Wetton and Downes had released some archival Asia material under the name Wetton/Downes in September 2002 and they then reunited to record a full-length album (Icon, released in August 2005) and an accompanying EP and DVD. Two additional Icon projects have since followed: Icon II: Rubicon (November 2006) and Icon 3 (March 2009).

2006–2013: "Original Asia" reunion

In early 2006, Downes left for a reunion of the original band lineup under the Asia name, a breakup that Payne described as "painful". The existing lineup (minus Downes) continued for a short while before morphing into the aforementioned GPS.

Following Downes' departure, on 9 May 2006, John Payne, Geoff Downes, John Wetton, Carl Palmer and Steve Howe contractually agreed that John Payne could continue his 15-year period with Asia as Asia Featuring John Payne. Asia featuring John Payne debuted in 2007 with Payne on vocals/bass, Guthrie Govan on guitar, Erik Norlander on keyboards and Jay Schellen on drums. Downes, Wetton, Palmer and Howe continued to perform and record as Asia thereafter.

The official websites of each band reflect a split between the shared history of Payne's tenure with the band, as the reunited Asia acknowledge only pre- and post-Payne albums, whereas Asia Featuring John Payne claim Payne-era (1991–2006) albums Aqua (1992) through Silent Nation (2004) as part of their own discography. Asia Featuring John Payne perform songs from before and during Payne's time in Asia.

Downes and the other three original members (Wetton, Palmer and Howe) convened a group meeting in England in early 2006 in anticipation of formally reforming for work that year. And after a slew of rumours, they announced that this original lineup of Asia were planning a CD, DVD and world tour to celebrate the band's 25th anniversary. The band appeared in October 2006 on United States cable channel VH-1 Classic and began a world tour largely focused on the United States. The band secured ownership of the Asia name and toured under the description of the Four Original Members of Asia. The set list featured most of the first album as well as a couple of songs from the second, along with one selection each from Yes, ELP, King Crimson and the Buggles to acknowledge the history of each member of the band. In a 2006 interview, guitarist Steve Howe states, "This is the real Asia. There have been other incarnations of the band, but this is the one that the public truly embraced".

The tour began on 29 August 2006 in Rochester, New York. "The Definitive Collection" was released by Geffen/Universal to tie into the tour in September and peaked at No.183 on the United States album charts--—the first time Asia had made the charts since 1990. A limited edition release available only at Best Buy stores also included a DVD of all the band's music videos.

The reunion tour continued into 2007 with venue size based on the success of the 2006 shows, where the band was mainly playing in clubs and theatres. Many of these sold out, including all seven dates in Japan. Also in 2007, the band released Fantasia: Live In Tokyo on CD and DVD through Eagle Records, commemorating the 25th Anniversary and documenting the success of the 2006–2007 tour.

In mid-2007, all four original members (Wetton, Downes, Howe and Palmer) went into the studio to record a new album, marking the first recorded material from all four original members since 1983's Alpha. The band continued to tour until major heart surgery for Wetton in the second half of the year saw remaining tour dates rescheduled for 2008.

The new studio album, entitled Phoenix, was released on Frontiers Records on 14 April 2008 (via EMI/Capitol on 15 April in North America), along with a world tour to promote. The 12-track album includes "An Extraordinary Life", based on Wetton's experience of ill health; rockers such as "Never Again" and "Alibis"; and power ballads such as "Heroine" and "I Will Remember You". The world tour also featured a couple of the new songs. The album cover featured Roger Dean's illustration and design. The Phoenix album did well in both the American and European/Japanese markets. It debuted at No.73 on the American Billboard 200; the band had not charted with a studio album since 1985.

As a special finale to the US Phoenix tour, the band performed, for the first time ever, the entire first Asia album from beginning to end at their San Francisco concert at The Regency Center on 5 May. The album comprised the entire second set of the evening's concert.

In summer 2009, Asia toured the United States with Yes. Asia opened with a 55-minute show, while Yes closed with a 1-hour and 50-minute set. Asia's set included only "An Extraordinary Life" from Phoenix, the rest of the songs coming from the first two albums plus one cover each from The Buggles ("Video Killed the Radio Star" with Wetton on lead vocals and Downes on vocoder), King Crimson ("The Court of the Crimson King", which was recorded by the original incarnation of that band with Greg Lake on lead vocals) and Emerson, Lake & Palmer ("Fanfare for the Common Man"). Yes songs were omitted from this tour's setlist, though Asia also covered "Roundabout" on earlier legs of the "Four Original Members" tour. Contrary to some early expectations, Downes did not perform with Yes, although their set list included two songs from the 1980 album Drama, which featured Downes on keys. A series of shows late in the tour featured a special appearance by Ian McDonald (flute and vocals on "The Court Of The Crimson King", which he co-wrote, and backing vocals on "Heat Of The Moment").

In late 2009, the band began working on their follow-up CD to Phoenix. According to Wetton's website in late November 2009: "Good news is that the new album is starting to leap, rather than creep (or sleep) in terms of progress. This week I have two completed lead vocals, with complete harmony/chorus voxes on three. It's just me, Geoff [Downes], Steve R[ispin], and Mike Paxman in the studio--- Carl [Palmer] is pretty much all done, Steve H[owe] is half done, and returns to the fold after Yes tour. It sounds absolutely wonderful". The follow-up, titled Omega, was released in the UK on 26 April 2010.

The band finished a new studio album timed to coincide with the band's thirtieth anniversary, titled XXX, and released in the U.K. on 2 July 2012 and worldwide around the same time. In September 2012 they played four shows in Japan and a North American tour started on 11 October 2012. The UK tour, however, had to be cancelled after a number of shows due to Palmer contracting a serious case of E. coli.

2013–2017: Howe's retirement, Gravitas and hiatus
On 10 January 2013, Steve Howe announced his retirement from the band to focus on other projects, including Yes, bringing an end to the reunion of the original lineup. Asia in turn announced they would be continuing with new guitarist Sam Coulson, with a new album in the works entitled Gravitas. The new lineup performed live in 2013.

On the website ultimateclassicrock.com, Howe explained his decision to leave Asia:

The band finished the recording sessions for Gravitas in December 2013 and in January 2014 they started shooting the music video for "Valkyrie", which was released as a single. The album's cover artwork was designed by Asia longtime collaborator Roger Dean. On 30 January 2014, Wetton revealed the album's track listing through Asia's official website and talked about each song from the album. The album was released on 24 March 2014 and reached Number 1 in the Progressive Rock Chart for emusic on 27 March.

Following Gravitas and the subsequent tour, the band went on an almost three-year hiatus due to Wetton having cancer and undergoing chemotherapy. On 5 December 2016, Asia announced a US tour opening for American rock band Journey, beginning with 12 dates from 15 March 2017 at the Yakima Valley Sundome in Yakima, Washington, and four days later, announced their live album Symfonia: Live in Bulgaria 2013, upon which they performed with the Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra.

2017–2018: Wetton's death and tour with Journey

On 11 January 2017, Wetton released a statement that, due to receiving another round of chemotherapy, he would be unable to perform on the 12 dates announced for the Journey tour, and that he would be substituted by Billy Sherwood, one of Downes' Yes bandmates, and Wetton's own co-writer and producer of the album Raised in Captivity. The band originally wanted to cancel the tour altogether, but Journey's management and agents refused, forcing them to pick Sherwood as last-minute replacement.

Wetton died on 31 January 2017 at the age of 67; Palmer later stated "So, we used Billy and we had a phenomenal time. It was a great experience all 'round, and I'm pleased we did it. John would have loved to be on that tour, so I'm pleased we did it for him, anyway." On 17 June 2017 Asia performed a show in homage to Wetton, titled An Extraordinary Life. The show was an interactive celebration of Wetton's music and life. Fan dedications were sent into management and shown on a large projection screen above the stage.

After Wetton's death, Downes stated that the duo had been working on another Asia album and stated that he hopes to eventually finish and release it as a final testament to Wetton. It is unclear whether Wetton had recorded any parts, or if the album had only been in the songwriting process. In August 2017, Palmer stated that there were no immediate plans for Asia to continue, as it was too soon to make any decisions and the band members would be busy on other projects in the meantime.

2019–present: Lineup changes, tour with Yes, and 40th Anniversary Tour

On 2 April 2019, the band announced it would join Yes, John Lodge, and Carl Palmer's ELP Legacy as part of The Royal Affair Tour, a 26-date Summer 2019 North American joint tour, with founding guitarist Steve Howe rejoining the band for a portion of the set. The band also confirmed that Sam Coulson had amicably left Asia to focus on solo projects and that he'd be replaced as guitarist by Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, specifically for the tour also took over lead vocals, with Sherwood remaining on bass but moving to backing vocals. Coulson confirmed his departure on Twitter the same day.

In 2019, a New York Times investigation revealed that Asia was among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire. While Universal Music has generally disputed the severity of the fire's damage, they have yet to publicly confirm or deny the status of Asia's masters as a result, while Downes has stated that he has it "on good authority" that the masters survived.

In 2022, Asia announced a 40th Anniversary Tour, with Marc Bonilla on guitar and vocals. However, the tour was later cancelled due to Alan Parsons, the band's opening act, backing out in order to undergo surgery. Following the cancellation, Palmer said in February 2023 that there were no plans for any activity for the rest of the year.

Personnel

Throughout the years, Geoff Downes has been the longest serving member of the band and is the only one to appear on every studio album. However, he was out of the band from its 1989 reunion to 1990 due to prior commitments at the time.

The original lineup initially lasted from 1981 until 1983 when John Wetton left. It was reunited on two occasions: first, one year later when Wetton rejoined, but Steve Howe left before the band could work together again, and a second time in 2006, when Downes, the last original member in the band, replaced the rest of the band with his original bandmates. This last original reunion lasted until 2013, when Howe left once again. Wetton died from cancer in 2017, making another reunion of the original lineup impossible.

Several musicians have joined and left after a short time without recording any studio material with the group. The most notable collaboration of this kind was the participation of Greg Lake in the "Asia in Asia" concert on bass guitar and lead vocals. Yet more musicians have played as session musicians or have guested with the band without formally joining. Some of these artists include: Robert Fleischman, Vinnie Colaiuta, Francis Dunnery, Ant Glynne, Scott Gorham, Tomoyasu Hotei, Luís Jardim, Ron Komie, Tony Levin, Steve Lukather, Thomas Lang, Kim Nielsen-Parsons, Nigel Glockler, Simon Phillips, and Alex Thomas.

Lineup
Current members
Geoff Downes – keyboards, backing vocals (1981–1986, 1990–present)
Carl Palmer – drums, percussion (1981–1986, 1989–1992, 2006–present)
Billy Sherwood – bass (2017–present, guest: 2004), backing vocals (2019–present), lead vocals (2017-2019), guitar (guest: 2004)
Marc Bonilla – lead vocals, guitar (2022–present)

Discography

Studio albums
Asia (1982)
Alpha (1983)
Astra (1985)
Aqua (1992)
Aria (1994)
Arena (1996)
Rare (1999)
Aura (2001)
Silent Nation (2004)
Phoenix (2008)
Omega (2010)
XXX (2012)
Gravitas (2014)

Remixes
 In 2005, DJ Manian's dance remix of "Heat of the Moment" was released to nightclubs.

Soundtracks and other uses
 In the episode "Kenny Dies" of the animated TV series South Park, Eric Cartman and the United States Congress sing "Heat of the Moment" a cappella.
 A cover of the song "Heat of the Moment" is playable in the PlayStation 2 game Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s.
 In the film The 40-Year-Old Virgin, main character Andy Stitzer is mocked for having a framed Asia poster in his apartment. Also, "Heat of the Moment" is played during the scene in which Andy chases Trish's car after she leaves his home.
 In the film The Matador, "Heat of the Moment" plays as Julian and Danny arrive in Tucson.
 In the episode "The Splendid Source" of the animated TV series Family Guy, the song "Only Time Will Tell" plays and John Payne is introduced simply as "Lead Singer of Asia." Payne gleefully takes advantage of the fact that the ex-wife of REO Speedwagon's lead singer Kevin Cronin will get money if the song "Time for Me to Fly" plays.
 The song "Lay Down Your Arms" was used by the animated film Freddie the Frog (1992) starring Ben Kingsley, Jenny Agutter and Brian Blessed.
 In the film Over the Top with Sylvester Stallone, a song called "Gypsy Soul" is credited to Asia, although John Wetton was the only member involved as the song was written and recorded by Giorgio Moroder.
 In the episode "Mystery Spot" of the CW series Supernatural, every Tuesday morning, Sam is awakened by "Heat of the Moment" coming from the radio, followed by a "Rise and shine, Sammy!" from Dean.
 In JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable the stand Aqua Necklace is named after the album "Aqua".

See also

Rodney Matthews, a fantasy artist responsible for some of the album covers during the 1990s.

References

External links

English hard rock musical groups
English progressive rock groups
Musical groups established in 1981
Musical groups disestablished in 1986
Musical groups reestablished in 1989
Rock music supergroups
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Inside Out Music artists
Geffen Records artists
EMI Records artists
Frontiers Records artists
King Records (Japan) artists
Victor Entertainment artists
Warner Music Japan artists
English musical quartets
British supergroups

Asia (band)


Chirped pulse amplification (CPA) is a technique for amplifying an ultrashort laser pulse up to the petawatt level, with the laser pulse being stretched out temporally and spectrally, then amplified, and then compressed again. The stretching and compression uses devices that ensure that the different color components of the pulse travel different distances.

CPA for lasers was introduced by Donna Strickland and Gérard Mourou at the University of Rochester in the mid-1980s, work for which they received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018.

CPA is the current state-of-the-art technique used by most of the highest-power lasers in the world.

Background
Before the introduction of CPA in the mid-1980s, the peak power of laser pulses was limited because a laser pulse at intensities of gigawatts per square centimeter causes serious damage to the gain medium through nonlinear processes such as self-focusing. For example, some of the most powerful compressed CPA laser beams, even in an unfocused large aperture (after exiting the compression grating) can exceed intensities of 700 GW/cm2, which if allowed to propagate in air or the laser gain medium would instantly self-focus and form a plasma or cause filament propagation, both of which would ruin the original beam's desirable qualities and could even cause back-reflection potentially damaging the laser's components. In order to keep the intensity of laser pulses below the threshold of the nonlinear effects, the laser systems had to be large and expensive, and the peak power of laser pulses was limited to the high gigawatt level or terawatt level for very large multi-beam facilities.

In CPA, on the other hand, an ultrashort laser pulse is stretched out in time prior to introducing it to the gain medium using a pair of gratings that are arranged so that the low-frequency component of the laser pulse travels a shorter path than the high-frequency component does. After going through the grating pair, the laser pulse becomes positively chirped, that is, the high-frequency component lags behind the low-frequency component, and has longer pulse duration than the original by a factor of 1000 to .

Then the stretched pulse, whose intensity is sufficiently low compared with the intensity limit of gigawatts per square centimeter, is safely introduced to the gain medium and amplified by a factor of a million or more.  Finally, the amplified laser pulse is recompressed back to the original pulse width through reversal of the process of stretching, achieving orders-of-magnitude higher peak power than laser systems could generate before the invention of CPA.

In addition to the higher peak power, CPA makes it possible to miniaturize laser systems (the compressor being the biggest part). A compact high-power laser, known as a tabletop terawatt laser (T3 laser, typically delivering  of energy within ), can be created based on the CPA technique.

Stretcher and compressor design

There are several ways to construct compressors and stretchers. However, a typical Ti:sapphire-based chirped-pulse amplifier requires that the pulses are stretched to several hundred picoseconds, which means that the different wavelength components must experience about 10 cm difference in path length. The most practical way to achieve this is with grating-based stretchers and compressors. Stretchers and compressors are characterized by their dispersion. With negative dispersion, light with higher frequencies (shorter wavelengths) takes less time to travel through the device than light with lower frequencies (longer wavelengths). With positive dispersion, it is the other way around. In a CPA, the dispersions of the stretcher and compressor must cancel out. Because of practical considerations, the (high-power) compressor is usually designed with negative dispersion, and the (low-power) stretcher is therefore designed with positive dispersion.

In principle, the dispersion of an optical device is a function , where  is the time delay experienced by a frequency component . (Sometimes the phase  is used, where  is the speed of light and  is the wavelength.) Each component in the whole chain from the seed laser to the output of the compressor contributes to the dispersion. It turns out to be hard to tune the dispersions of the stretcher and compressor such that the resulting pulses are shorter than about 100 femtoseconds. For this, additional dispersive elements may be needed.

With gratings

Figure 1 shows the simplest grating configuration, where long-wavelength components travel a larger distance than the short-wavelength components (negative dispersion). Often, only a single grating is used, with extra mirrors such that the beam hits the grating four times rather than two times as shown in the picture.   This setup is normally used as a compressor since it does not involve transmissive components that could lead to unwanted side-effects when dealing with high-intensity pulses. The dispersion can be tuned easily by changing the distance between the two gratings. The introduced dispersion by such a compressor is often described in dispersion orders: the group delay dispersion (GGD), third order of dispersion (TOD) etc.  Figure 2 shows the dispersion orders for a grating compressor with a groove density of , an incidence angle of , and a normal grating separation of , as described in the original design by Donna Strickland and Gérard Mourou (1985), and evaluated using  Lah-Laguerre optical formalism - a generalized formulation of the high orders of dispersion.

Figure 3 shows a more complicated grating configuration that involves focusing elements, here depicted as lenses. The lenses are placed at a distance  from each other (they act as a 1:1 telescope), and at a distance  from the gratings. If , the setup acts as a positive-dispersion stretcher and if , it is a negative-dispersion stretcher. The  case is used in Femtosecond pulse shaping. Usually, the focusing element is a spherical or cylindrical mirror rather than a lens. As with the configuration in Figure 1, it is possible to use an additional mirror and use a single grating rather than two separate ones. This setup requires that the beam diameter is very small compared to the length of the telescope; otherwise undesirable aberrations will be introduced. For this reason, it is normally used as a stretcher before the amplification stage, since the low-intensity seed pulses can be collimated to a beam with a small diameter.

With prisms

It is possible to use prisms rather than gratings as dispersive elements, as in Figure 4. Despite such a simple change, the set-up behaves quite differently, as to first order no group delay dispersion is introduced. Such a stretcher/compressor can have both a positive or negative dispersion, depending on the geometry and the material properties of the prisms. With lenses, the sign of the dispersion can be reversed, similar to Figure 3. For a given distance between the dispersive elements, prisms generate much less dispersion than gratings. Prisms and gratings are sometimes combined to correct higher order dispersion ("grisms"), in which case the distance between the prisms is on the order of 10 meters rather than 50 cm as with a grating compressor. Gratings lose power into the other orders, while prisms lose power due to Rayleigh scattering.
As an example, the dispersion orders of a fused silica prism-pair compressor are illustrated in Figure 5 for variable insertion depth of the first prism . The dispersion is evaluated for laser pulses at  with spectral bandwidth of , using  Lah-Laguerre optical formalism - a generalized formulation of the high orders of dispersion. The compressor parameters at near Brewster incidence angle are: normal distance between the prisms of , insertion depth of the second prism  at   and an apex angle of the fused silica prisms . The particular values depend on the prism material, the wavelength of interest as well as on the compressor parameters.

Phase conjugation of chirped pulses
Chirped pulses from  laser amplifiers may be phase locked via reflection from a phase-conjugating mirror
to increase the brightness as . For this purpose degenerate four-wave mixing Kerr Phase conjugation is relevant.

Other techniques
Some other techniques can be used for stretching and compressing pulses, but these are not suitable as the main stretcher/compressor in CPA due to their limited amount of dispersion and due to their inability to handle high-intensity pulses.

 A pulse can be stretched simply by letting it propagate through a thick slab of transparent material, such as 200 mm glass. As with the prisms, only a limited amount of dispersion can be achieved within physically practical dimensions. Outside the visible-light spectrum, materials exist both for positive and negative dispersion. For visible and near-infrared wavelengths, almost all transparent materials have positive dispersion. However, glass fibres can have their dispersion tailored to meet the needs.
 One or multiple reflections between a pair of chirped mirrors or similar device allow any form of chirp. This is often used in conjunction with the other techniques to correct for higher orders.
 The Dazzler is a commercial pulse shaper in which light is diffracted from an acoustic wave. By tuning the timing, frequency, and amplitude of the acoustic wave, it is possible to introduce arbitrary dispersion functions with a maximum delay of a few picoseconds.
 A phase-shifting mask can be placed in the focal plane of the stretcher in Fig. 3, which introduces additional dispersion. Such a mask can be an LCD array, where the phase shift can be tuned by changing the voltage on the pixels. This can generate arbitrary dispersion functions with a maximum of a few tens of picoseconds of delay. Such a setup is called a pulse shaper.

Applications
CPA is used in all of the highest-power lasers (greater than about 100 terawatts) in the world, with the exception of the ≈500 TW National Ignition Facility. Some examples of these lasers are the Vulcan laser at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory's Central Laser Facility, the Diocles laser at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the GEKKO XII laser at the GEKKO XII facility in the Institute for Laser Engineering at Osaka University, the OMEGA EP laser at the University of Rochester's Lab for Laser Energetics and the now dismantled petawatt line on the former Nova laser at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Gérard Mourou has proposed using CPA to generate high-energy and low-duration laser pulses to transmute highly radioactive material (contained in a target) to significantly reduce its half-life, from thousands of years to only a few minutes.

Apart from these state-of-the-art research systems, a number of commercial manufacturers sell Ti:sapphire-based CPAs with peak powers of 10 to 100 gigawatts.

See also

Femtotechnology
Group velocity
Mode locking
Raman amplification
Regenerative amplification

References

Laser science

Chirped pulse amplification