Does the following sentence break any (US English) grammatical rules?
After closing the label in 1966, their two Billboard charting artists: Baja Marimba Band and Lucille Starr; went on to release recordings under the A&M parent.
It’s been suggested both the colon and semi-colon should be removed:
After closing the label in 1966, their two Billboard charting artists (Baja Marimba Band and Lucille Starr) went on to release recordings under the A&M parent.
A semicolon divides two complete sentences (like this); in your example, there are not two sentences, so it is used incorrectly. The colon is overkill for introducing a series of two. Parentheses are not wrong but seem like overkill as well. I’d just use commas to set off the names.
In fact, if the Baja Marimba Band and Lucille Star were the label’s ONLY Billboard charting artists, you can do without the commas, because it’s a restrictive clause (i.e., the two names restrict what is meant by “Billboard charting artists.”)
If that’s the case, I’d take out “two” as well, so the sentence reads, “After closing the label in 1966, their Billboard charting artists Baja Marimba and Lucille Star went on to release recordings…”
You’ve relegated the poor semicolon to the mere task of conjunction. It has other jobs, as well. Of course, you’re correct in that none of them apply in this case.
kayT (with exception noted by Freckafree) is right on the money.
Nearly always, a semicolon connects two relatively brief but complete-thought independent clauses that could technically stand as complete sentences. “Impeachment is the legal means of removing a rogue president or judge; however, this is done rarely.” Note that a period and capital H on “however” would work equally well, and sometimes, as in newspapers, this may be preferable.
The only time one might use a semicolon within a single clause is when it’s separating phrases containing commas. “Controversial cabinet officers in recent years have included James Watt, former Secretary of the Interior; Donald Rumsfeld, former Secretary of Defense; and Janet Reno and Alberto Gonzalez, former and current Attorneys General.” The semicolons enable quick and clear grouping of the individuals who are described by appelations placed in appositives set off by commas.
The colon is used exclusively when what follows it exemplifies, enumerates, or clarifies what comes before, in a logical connection. Normally about 95%+ of the time this will be a list: “There were historically five ways to bring cases before the Supreme Court: appeal, writ of certiorari, certification, writ of error, and original jurisdiction.” But notice that that very sentence defining the normal “list” usage is itself an example of the non-list usage, where the matter following the colon is the direct explication of the matter before it. The “copulative colon” is rare but, used properly, the mark of exquisite style.
Unless it was Baja Marimba Band and Lucille Starr who closed the label, you have a misplaced modifier at the beginning of the sentence.
After the label was closed in 1966, its Billboard charting artists, Baja Marimba Band and Lucille Starr, went on to release recordings under the A&M parent.
I got graded down on a paper for using copulative colons; I had to bring in The Elements of Style and show my professor the relevant passage before she’d believe I was using them correctly.
One more note about colons is necessary: in proper grammar, what comes before the colon must work as a sentence in itself. That is, it must contain at least one independent clause. If you say, for example, this: this is not a proper use of a colon, since the colon is preceded only by a dependent clause.
