Happy Birthday this week to:
April 14
1925 ● Bill Harris / (William Harris) → Guitarist and vocals in pioneering, genre-defining R&B/doo wop The Clovers, “Ting-A-Ling” (R&B #1, 1952) and 18 other R&B Top 10 hits in the early 50s plus the crossover “Love Potion No. 9” (#23, R&B #23, 1959), left in 1958 and, following several decades of business successes and failures, died from pancreatic cancer nearly penniless on 12/6/1988, age 63
1932 ● D. L. Menard / (Doris Leon Menard) → The “Cajun Hank Williams,” contemporary Cajun music guitarist, singer, songwriter and frontman for the several bands, including The Louisiana Aces and most recently Jambalaya for over two decades, wrote the oft-covered Cajun standard “The Back Door” (“La Porte En Arrière”), died from multiple cancer and heart-related ailments on 7/27/2017, age 85
1935 ● Loretta Lynn / (Loretta Webb) → Iconic country and country-pop singer/songwriter with 37 Country Top 10 hits, eleven reaching #1, including her signature “Coal Miner’s Daughter” (#83, Country #1, 1970), in a six decade career that included becoming the first female named Country Music Entertainer of the Year and the subject of the 1980 film Coal Miner’s Daughter, also recorded a dozen Country Top 10 duet singles and ten studio albums with Conway Twitty in the 70s and 80s, continued to record and release solo albums until her final LP, Still Woman Enough (#83, Country #9, 2021), died in her sleep on her Tennessee ranch on 10/4/2022, age 90.
1941 ● Kenny Young / (Shalom Giskan) → Jerusalem-born, American award-winning songwriter in the famed Brill Building in New York in the early 60s, co-wrote with Artie Resnick the Grammy Hall of Fame “Under the Boardwalk” (#4, UK #45, 1964) for The Drifters and others, issued two light folk-pop solo albums in early 70s to limited reaction, left for England in the mid-70s and formed a succession of pop bands with several charting hits, including “S-S-S-Single Bed” (UK #4, 1976) by Fox, after 1980 shifted focus to the global environment and over the next three decades led several non-profit groups supporting various conservation and protection causes, all funded at least in part by his continued songwriter and assistance from other notable musicians, suffered from cancer for several years and died on 4/14/2020, his 79th birthday.
1942 ● Tony Burrows → Session singer who, in the spring of 1970, set the record for the most UK Top 10 singles at one time, all with different groups: Edison Lighthouse “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)” (#5, UK #10, 1970), White Plains “My Baby Loves Lovin'” (#13, UK #9, 1970), The Pipkins “Gimme Dat Ding” (#9, UK #6, 1970) and the Brotherhood of Man “United We Stand” (#13, UK #10, 1970), also sang lead vocals for The Ivy League, “Tossing And Turning” (#83, UK #3, 1965), psych-pop one hit wonder The Flower Pot Men, “Let’s Go To San Francisco” (UK #1, 1967), and pop-rock The First Class, “Beach Baby” (#4, UK #13, 1974)
1942 ● John “Duff” Lowe / (John Charles Lowe) → English pianist invited by school chum Paul McCartney to play piano in pre-Beatles skiffle band The Quarrymen, stayed for two years and appeared on the only two Quarrymen recordings, both of which ended up remastered and included on The Beatles’ album Anthology 1 (1995), left the group in 1959 to join a competing Liverpool band and largely dropped out of sight, joined several non-Beatles original members of The Quarrymen for a reunion and lone album in 1994, continued to tour and perform at Beatles events worldwide through 2017, died from undisclosed causes on 2/22/2024, age 81.
1943 ● Pat Fairley / (Patrick Fairley) → Co-founding member and six-string bassist for 60s Scottish pop-rock Marmalade (“Reflections Of My Life,” #10, UK #3, 1970), quit the band in 1972 to run its music publishing company, then moved to Los Angeles about 1979 and joined RSO Records as publishing manager and prog rock Yes as session bassist, opened a Scotland Yard-themed restaurant in the 80s in L.A., retired in 2018 and died from undisclosed causes on 8/13/2020, age 76.
1945 ● Ritchie Blackmore → Guitar and vocals for hard rock/prog rock Deep Purple (“Smoke On The Water,” #4, 1973), founded and fronted hard rock Rainbow (“Since You’ve Been Gone,” #57, 1979, and “Stone Cold, “Mainstream Rock #1, 1982) then renaissance-folk-rock Blackmore’s Night
1948 ● June Millington → Vocals and lead guitar with sister Jean in pioneering all-girl rock quartet Fanny (“Butter Boy,” #29, 1975), one of the earliest women-only rock bands and the first to release an album on a major record label (Fanny, Reprise, 1970), broke up in 1975 but continued to record and perform as a solo artist, with her sister as a duet and in various Fanny reunions, including as Fanny Walks The Earth with an eponymous album in 2018.
1948 ● Larry Ferguson → Keyboardist for Brit interracial R&B/soul-disco-funk Hot Chocolate, “You Sexy Thing” (#3, 1976) and 27 other UK Top 40 hits, including one in every year from 1970 to 1984
1948 ● Jon Lind / (Jonathan Gus Lind) → Late 60s classical guitarist and Greenwich Village folk singer, fronted folk-pop Fifth Avenue Band and Howdy Moon in the 70s with little commercial recognition, focused on songwriting and co-wrote “Boogie Wonderland” (#6, R&B #2, 1979) for Earth, Wind & Fire and “Crazy for You” (#1, UK #2, 1985) for Madonna, plus dozens of other hit songs, joined Warner Bros. in 1984 as a senior VP of A&R at subsidiary Hollywood Records and moved over to Disney Music in 1998 for thirteen years, battled cancer for two years prior to dying from the disease on 1/15/2022, age 73.
1949 ● Dennis Byron → Welsh keyboardist with early prog rock septet Amen Corner, “(If Paradise Is) Half As Nice” (UK #1, 1969), worked with The Bee Gees during the 70s and ’80s
1949 ● Sonja Kristina → Vocals for Brit prog/avant-garde rock Curved Air, “Back Street Luv” (UK #4, 1974)
1962 ● Joey Pesce → Keyboardist for New Wave synth-pop-rock ‘Til Tuesday, “Voices Carry” (#8, 1985)
1964 ● Vinnie Moore / (Vincent Moore) → Influential shred guitarist and member of Brit hard rock UFO, “Doctor Doctor” (UK #35, 1979) and “The Writer” (Rock #23, 1982), solo
1965 ● Carl Hunter → Bassist for Brit synth-pop The Farm, “Groovy Train” (#41, Dance/Club #4, 1991), film producer and academic media professor
1965 ● Sheila Chandra → Vocals for Brit prog rock trio Monsoon, “Ever So Lonely” (UK #12, 1982), then solo
1969 ● Martyn Le Noble → Dutch bassist and founding member of hard art-rock Porno For Pyros, “Pets” (Mainstream Rock #25, 1993), later worked with Jane’s Addiction, The Cult, Scott Welland, Dave Navarro and others
1973 ● David Miller → Baritone for pre-fab Euro-pop vocal quartet Il Divo, “Unbreak My Heart” (Adult Contemporary #33, 2005)
1974 ● DaBrat / (Shawta Harris) → Hard-edged MC/urban rapper, “Funkdafied” (#6, Rap #1, 1994), first female hip hop artist with a platinum selling record (Funkdafied, 1994)
1980 ● Win Butler → Lead vocalist and songwriter for Grammy-winning Canadian alt/indie rock Arcade Fire, “Keep The Car Running” (Alt #32, 2007)
April 15
1894 ● Bessie Smith → The “Empress of the Blues” and first significant female blues recording artist, a major influence on all jazz singers to follow and an inspiration to many pop-rock performers, died following a car accident on 9/26/1937, age 43.
1930 ● Richard Davis → Child prodigy bassist who rose to become a genre-fluid session, touring, and solo bass guitarist on over 600 albums by classical, jazz and rock artists, including those by Van Morrison (Astral Weeks, 1969), Bruce Springsteen (Born To Run, 1975) and Rickie Lee Jones (It’s Like This, 2000), plus two dozen of his own solo releases, from 1977 to 2016 taught university-level music in Wisconsin and mentored aspiring bassists, awarded a Jazz Master title by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2014, entered hospice care in 2021 and died from undisclosed causes on 9/6/2023, age 93.
1933 ● Roy Clark / (Roy Linwood Clark) → Accomplished, multi-instrumentalist country superstar singer/songwriter with nine Country Top 10 albums and nine Country Top 10 hits, including “Yesterday, When I Was Young” (#19, AC #6, Country #9, 1969), but best known as the affable, 23-year host of variety TV show Hee Haw, country music’s answer to the comedy show Rowan & Martin’s Laugh In, Hee Haw brought him into millions of American homes each week, after 1990 toured lightly and collaborated occasionally until his death from complications of pneumonia on 11/15/2018, age 85
1933 ● Eddie Cooley / (Edward James Cooley) → R&B singer and songwriter, co-wrote “Fever” in 1956 and enjoyed royalties from dozens of recordings of the song over the decades, including Peggy Lee (#8, UK #5, 1958) and Madonna (#6, Dance/Club #1, 1993), as frontman for R&B girl-trio backing group The Dimples scored a rockabilly hit with “Priscilla” (#20, 1956), stopped touring and recording by 1960 but wrote several minor hits for others through the early 60s, thereafter disappeared from music and died from undisclosed causes on his 87th birthday, 4/15/2020.
1935 ● Eliot Tiber / (Eliyahu Teichberg) → Abstract artist, interior designer and Catskill Mountains hotel owner credited with saving the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival by issuing a permit to hold the event in Bethel, NY after the nearby town of Wallkill revoked an earlier permit in July 1969, just weeks before the festival kick-off, became the subject of several books and the Ang Lee film Taking Woodstock (2009), died from complications of a stroke on 8/10/2016, age 81
1937 ● Bob Luman → Country, rockabilly and one hit wonder pop crossover singer, “Let’s Think About Livin'” (#7, Country #9, 1960) plus 20 other Country Top 40 hits, died from pneumonia on 12/27/1978, age 41
1939 ● Marty Wilde / (Reginald Leonard Smith) → Early Brit rock ‘n’ roll singer, “Bad Boy” (#45, UK #7, 1959), plus over 10 other UK Top 40 hits, father of 80s pop-rock singer Kim Wilde
1939 ● Ronald Dunbar → Grammy-winning songwriter, producer and record label executive, first at Motown Records with the Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting and production team and later with their spin-off labels, co-wrote “Give Me Just A Little More Time” (#3, 1970) for the Chairmen Of The Board and “Band Of Gold (#3, 1970) for Freda Payne, co-wrote Grammy-winning “Patches” (#4, 1970) for Clarence Carter, moved to George Clinton‘s stable of funk artist and labels and managed artist development off and on for 20 years, then rejoined Eddie Holland in 1998 in his new R%B production company and worked with artists and groups until dying in a doctor’s office from undisclosed causes on 4/8/2018, age 78.
1940 ● Satch Satchell / (Clarence Satchell) → Saxophone and guitar for R&B/funk The Ohio Players, “Love Rollercoaster” (#1, 1975), died from a brain aneurysm on 12/30/1995, age 55
1944 ● Dave Edmunds / (David William Edmunds) → Welsh roots-rock guitarist, vocals, songwriter, producer and bandleader for Love Sculpture, solo “I Hear You Knocking'” (#4, 1970), member of Rockpile with Nick Lowe
1947 ● Mike Chapman / (Michael Donald Chapman) → Australian-born songwriter and producer, created the “Chinnichap” songwriting and production team with co-writer Nicky Chinn, wrote and produced UK Top 10 hits for Mud, Suzi Quatro, Smokie and Sweet, produced albums for Blondie and The Knack
1947 ● Wooly Wolstenholme / (Stuart Wolstenholme) → Keyboards and vocals for Brit prog-folk-rock Barclay James Harvest, album Octoberon (#174, 1977), died on 12/13/2010, age 63
1948 ● Michael Kamen → American composer, arranger and orchestral arranger, collaborated with Eric Clapton on the score for Lethal Weapon (1987), co-scored Die Hard (1988) plus sequels and multiple other films, worked with Roger Waters, The Who, Queen, David Bowie and others, co-wrote Bryan Adams‘ ballad “(Everything I Do), I Do It for You” (#1, 1991), died from a heart attack on 11/18/2003, age 55
1962 ● Nick Kamen / (Ivor Neville Kamen) → Brit pop-rock model and pop-rock singer, “Each Time You Break My Heart” (UK #5, 1986)
1965 ● Linda Perry → Songwriter, guitarist and lead vocals for indie hard rock 4 Non Blondes, “What’s Up?” (#11, 1993), went solo in 1995, wrote “Beautiful” (#2, 2002) for Christina Aguilera, plus other songs for Jewel, Courtney Love, Gwen Stefani, Sugababes, Robbie Williams, Melissa Etheridge and Gavin Rossdale
1965 ● Oscar Harrison → Drummer for Britpop/trad rock Ocean Colour Scene, “The Day We Caught The Train” (UK #4, 1996) plus 16 other UK Top 40 singles
1966 ● Graeme Clark → Bassist for Scottish pop-rock Wet Wet Wet, “Love Is All Around” (#41, UK #1, 1994)
1966 ● Samantha Fox → Former pinup tart and teen Page 3 topless model turned pop singer, “Naughty Girls (Need Love Too)” (#3, Dance #1, 1987)
1967 ● Frankie Poullian → Bassist for Brit hard/glam rock The Darkness, “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” (Mainstream #35, 2004)
1968 ● Edward John O’Brien → Guitarist for alt/indie rock Radiohead, “There There” (Modern Rock #14, 2003)
1980 ● Patrick Carney → Founding member and drummer for blues-rock The Black Keys, “Tighten Up” (Alt Rock #1, 2010), produced records for up-and-coming bands and founded independent label Eagle Rock Records
April 16
1924 ● Rudy Pompilli / (Rudolph Clement Pompilii) → Saxophonist with early and important rock ‘n’ roll group Bill Haley & His Comets, “Rock Around The Clock” (#1, 1955), died of lung cancer on 2/5/1976, age 51.
1924 ● Henry Mancini → Grammy-winning composer, conductor and arranger for stage, film and TV, wrote “Moon River” (#11, 1961) and the themes to The Pink Panther movies and Peter Gunn TV show, died from pancreatic cancer on 6/14/1994, age 70
1929 ● Roy Hamilton → Classical-trained 50s R&B/gospel-pop singer, “Unchained Melody” (#6, R&B #1,1955), died after a stroke on 7/20/1969, age 40
1929 ● Ed Townsend → Award-winning soul singer and songwriter, wrote and produced the autobiographical Impressions hit “Finally Got Myself Together (I’m A Changed Man)” (#17, R&B #1, 1974), co-wrote with Marvin Gaye “Let’s Get It On” (#2, R&B #1, 1973), had his own hit with “For Your Love” (#13, R&B #7, 1958) and wrote songs for many other soul and pop artists through the 70s, died of a heart attack on 8/13/2003, age 74
1930 ● Herbie Mann / (Herbert Jay Solomon) → Pre-eminent 60s jazz-pop flautist, composer and bandleader most known for his big hit “Hijack” (#14, Disco #1, 1975), died from prostate cancer on 7/1/2003, age 73
1934 ● Robert Stigwood / (Robert Colin Stigwood) → Australian-born music executive and producer, founder of Robert Stigwood Organization and the RSO Records label, manager for supergroup Cream and disco-pop The Bee Gees, producer of stage shows Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar, and the hit films Saturday Night Fever (1977), Grease (1978) and Evita (1996) starring Madonna, died of natural causes on 1/4/2016, age 81
1934 ● Vince Hill / (Vincent Hill) → English traditional pop musician and singer with the hit cover version of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s show tune “Edelweiss” (UK #1, 1967) and eight other UK Top 10 hits in the 60s Beatlemania era, recorded 25 studio albums and several soundtracks, wrote theatrical plays and hosted TV shows during the 1970s and 1980s, suffered health issues in the 00s but returned to the stage in the late 00s and 10s, died at home from undisclosed causes on 7/22/2023, age 89.
1935 ● Bobby Vinton / (Stanley Robert Vinton) → Early 60s pop-rock crooner, “Blue Velvet” (#1, 1963) and over 25 other Top 40 hits
1939 ● Dusty Springfield / (Mary Isabel O’Brien) → Vocalist with her brother Tom Springfield in light folk-pop trio The Springfields, “Silver Threads And Golden Needles” (#20, 1962), then blue-eyed soul-pop diva, “Son Of A Preacher Man” (#10, 1969), died from breast cancer on 3/2/1999, age 59.
1943 ● “Lonesome Dave” Peverett / (David Jack Peverett) → Guitar and vocals for blues-rock Savoy Brown “Tell Mama” (#83, 1971), then founded and led blues/boogie rock Foghat, “Slow Ride” (#20, 1975), died of cancer on 2/7/2000, age 56
1944 ● Mike Mitchell → Founding member and guitarist for legendary one hit wonder garage rockers The Kingsmen, played the jangly solo on the enduring hit “Louie Louie” (#2, 1963) and lead guitar in various incarnations of the band over nearly 60 years before dying from unspecified causes on his birthday, 4/16/2021, age 77.
1945 ● Stefan Grossman → Folk and acoustic blues guitarist, singer and songwriter, worked in The Even Dozen Jug Band and political folk The Fugs, solo recordings, co-founder of Kicking Mule Records.
1945 ● Johnny Sandlin / (John Everett Sandlin) → Bandmate with brothers Duane and Gregg Allman in 60s rock Hour Glass, then joined Capricorn Records as a session musician, later engineered and produced albums for The Allman Brothers Band, including At Fillmore East (#13, 1971) and Eat A Peach (#4, 1972), also worked with Wet Willie, Elvin Bishop, Dixie Dregs and Widespread Panic, died from cancer on 9/19/2017, age 72
1947 ● “The Bear” Kerslake / (Lee Kerslake) → Hard rock drummer and backing vocals on ten albums for the mid-70s line-up of prog/hard rock Uriah Heep, “Easy Livin'” (#39, 1972), “Easy Livin'” (#39, 1972), after 1978 played on Ozzy Osbourne‘s Blizzard Of Ozz (1980) and Diary Of A Madman (1981) but received no credit and no royalties, losing a lawsuit against Osbourne for recovery, rejoined a new Heep lineup in 1982 and stayed through 2007, all the while playing in various side gigs and hard rock collaborations, announced he had advanced prostate cancer in 2018 and died from the disease on 9/19/2020, age 74.
1947 ● Gerry Rafferty / (Gerald Rafferty) → Scot singer, songwriter and frontman for Stealers Wheel, “Stuck In The Middle” (#6, 1973), then solo, “Baker Street” (#2, 1978), died of liver failure caused by acute alcoholism on 1/4/2011, age 63
1951 ● John Bentley → Bassist for New Wave traditional guitar pop Squeeze, “Tempted” (Mainstream Rock #8, 1981)
1953 ● Peter Garrett → Towering Australian musician, politician and activist, frontman and lead vocals from 1975 to 2002 for politically-outspoken Aussie rock Midnight Oil (“Beds Are Burning,” #17, Mainstream Rock #6, 1988) , the band’s album Diesel And Dust (1987) ranked #13 on Rolling Stone magazines 100 best albums of the 80s, served as a member of the Australian House of Representatives from 2004 to 2013
1956 ● Paul Buchanan → Singer/songwriter and guitarist in ambient folk-pop The Blue Nile, “Saturday Night” (UK #50, 1991), has songs covered by Annie Lennox and Rod Stewart
1959 ● Stephen Singleton → Saxophonist for New Wave synth-pop ABC, “Be Near Me” (#9, 1982), left in 1984 for brief film career
1962 ● Ian MacKaye → Singer, songwriter, musician, producer and record label executive, frontman for hardcore punk Minor Threat and The Teen Idles, post-hardcore Embrace and Fugazi, co-founder of Dischord Records
1963 ● “Little Jimmy” Osmond / (James Arthur Osmond) → Vocals for family-oriented light pop-rock The Osmonds, ten US Top 40 singles including “One Bad Apple” (#1, 1971)
1963 ● Nick Berry → Brit TV actor and pop singer, “Every Loser Wins” (UK #1, 1986)
1964 ● David Pirner → Vocals and guitar for garage rock superstar group Soul Asylum, “Runaway Train” (#5, 1993), solo
1969 ● Sean Cook → Bassist for space rock/trance rock Spiritualized, “Lazer Guided Melodies” (UK #27, 1992)
1970 ● Gabrielle / (Louisa Gabrielle Bobb) → Brit house/R&B singer, “Dreams” (#26, Dance/Club #1, UK #1, 1993) and 15 other UK Top 30 hits through 2004
1971 ● Selena Quintanilla-Pérez → The “Queen of Tejano Music”, Grammy-winning, beloved Mexican-American pop singer, “Dreaming Of You” (#22, 1995), subject of a film (Selena, 1997) based on her life and starring Jennifer Lopez, murdered by the embezzling president of her fan club on 3/31/1995, age 23
1973 ● Akon / (Aliaune Thiam) → Senegalese-American R&B/hip hop artist, “I Wanna Love You” (#1, 2006) plus 10 other Top 40 hits, first artist of any genre to simultaneously hold the top two spots on the Billboard Hot 100 on two separate occasions, recorded as a guest on over 300 other Top 40 singles
April 17
1926 ● Sam Carr / (Samuel Lee McCollum) → Drummer in electric Mississippi Delta blues trio The Jelly Roll Kings known for his minimalist drum kit, died from congestive heart failure on 9/21/2009, age 83
1930 ● Chris Barber / (Donald Christopher Barber) → English jazz musician and bandleader known for helping launch the UK “skiffle” craze in the 50s and the subsequent Brit-beat scene by mentoring and promoting non-jazz pop acts such as Lonnie Donegan and, in the early 60s, by arranging UK tours of authentic American blues acts, including Muddy Waters, his efforts leading to the British blues-rock explosion of the mid-60s and the later success of The Yardbirds, John Mayall and The Rolling Stones and many others, continued to front traditional jazz and bop bands until suffering from dementia in his last years and dying on 3/2/2021, age 90.
1930 ● Al Schmitt / (Albert Harry Schmitt) → Apprentice in the 1950s for the legendary recording engineer Tom Dowd, rose to become a twenty-time Grammy-winning record producer and sound engineer with RCA, Capitol, United and East/West Studios, among others, along the way engineering over 150 gold and platinum albums and producing albums for Hot Tuna, Neil Young, Jefferson Airplane, Jackson Browne and dozens of other top artists, died from natural causes on 4/26/2021, age 91.
1931 ● David Axelrod → Top-level 60s and 70s music producer, worked with jazz and R&B artists from Cannonball Adderly to Lou Rawls and varied pop acts as David McCallum and The Electric Prunes, enjoyed a resurgence of sorts when hip hop acts sampled his work in the 90s, died of lung cancer on 2/5/2017, age 85.
1934 ● Don Kirshner → Entertainment mogul, led Brill Building songwriting teams, formed The Monkees, owned Kirshner Records (“Sugar Sugar” by The Archies, #1, 1969), major concert promoter, TV music show host, died of heart failure 1/17/2011, age 76
1936 ● Pete Graves / (Alexander Graves) → Vocals and founding member of important 50s R&B/doo wop The Moonglows, “Sincerely” (R&B #1, 1955)
1937 ● Don Buchla / (Donald Buchla) → Berkeley-trained NASA engineer, musician, business entrepreneur and unheralded electronic music pioneer, his many creations were mostly outside of contemporary bounds but included precursors to 80s synthesizers and computer-based keyboard controllers, his “Buchla Box” supplied the sound for Ken Kesey‘s “Acid Tests” and Grateful Dead sounds systems in the 60s, died of cancer on 9/14/2016, age 79
1940 ● Billy Fury / (Ronald Wycherley) → Early British rock ‘n’ roll singer and songwriter, “Halfway To Paradise”” (UK #3, 1961) and 25 other UK Top 40 singles between 1959 and 1966, starred as rock ‘n’ roller “Stormy Tempest” in the film That’ll Be The Day (1973) with David Essex and Ringo Starr, died of a heart attack on 1/28/1983, age 42
1942 ● Shelly Buchansky → Vocals for New York R&B/doo wop one hit wonder Vito & The Salutations, “Unchained Melody” (1963)
1943 ● Roy Estrada → Bassist for experimental art rock Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band, then Frank Zappa-led satirical rock group The Mothers Of Invention, “Brown Shoes Don’t Make It” (1967), co-founded Southern-fried blues-boogie rock Little Feat, “Dixie Chicken” (1973), left after their first two albums to rejoin various Zappa projects, currently serving 25 years without parole for sexually abusing a child on several occasions
1945 ● Tony Crane → Founding member, rhythm guitar and lead vocals for Britbeat pop-rock The Merseybeats, “Mr. Moonlight'” (UK #5, 1964) and seven other UK Top 40 hits but no chart presence in the US, then folk-pop vocal duo The Merseys, “Sorrow” (UK #4, 1966), reformed The Merseybeats in 1993 and continues with the band
1948 ● Jan Hammer → Jazz-rock fusion keyboardist with Mahavishnu Orchestra, Jeff Beck Group, composed and performed TV’s “Miami Vice Theme” (#1, 1985)
1948 ● Graham Bell → Brit pop-rock vocalist as a solo act and bandmember, started with psych-pop band Skip Bifferty in the 60s, recorded the rock opera Tommy with the London Symphony Orchestra, joined jazzy prog rock Every Which Way and formed pop-rock Bell & Arc in the 70s, toured with and did session work for Long John Baldry, Jackie Lomax and others, died of cancer on 5/2/2008, age 60
1954 ● Michael Sembello → Producer, composer, session guitarist for many pop-rock acts, solo one hit wonder singer, “Maniac” (#1, 1983) from the film Flashdance (1983)
1955 ● Pete Shelley / (Peter Campbell McNeish) → Co-founder, lead guitarist, principal songwriter and vocalist for early and seminal punk-pop Buzzcocks, the band’s melodic punk and power pop in a sea of hard core punk created eight charting UK singles, including “Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve)” (UK #12, 1978), after Buzzcocks broke up in 1981 balanced a 30-year solo career (“On Your Own,” Dance #10, 1986) with several reunions of the band and collaborative recordings, died from a heart attack on 12/6/2018, age 63.
1957 ● Afrika Bambaataa / (Kevin Donovan) → Proto-rap hip-hop DJ and electro-funk artist, “Planet Rock” (#48, R&B #4, 1986), Zulu Nation spiritual leader
1964 ● Maynard James Keenan → Founder, frontman, songwriter and lead vocalist for Grammy-winning prog-metal band Tool, “Vicarious” (Modern Rock #2, 2006) plus side project alt rock A Perfect Circle, “Weak And Powerless” (Mainstream Rock #1, 2003)
1967 ● Liz Phair → Lo-fi indie pop-rock singer/songwriter and guitarist, “Why Can’t I?” (#32, Top 40 #10, 2004)
1967 ● Matt Chamberlain → Widely-heard session drummer, played on over 200 albums with rock and pop bands such as Christina Aguilera, Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, David Bowie, Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians, Peter Gabriel, Elton John, Morrissey, Pearl Jam, The Wallflowers, Natalie Merchant, John Mayer, William Shatner and many others
1970 ● Redman / (Reginald Noble) → Actor, producer and funk/reggae-tinged rapper, “How High” (#13, Rap #2, 1995), worked with Method Man on the 1999 album Blackout!, featured on Christina Aguilera‘s “Dirrty” (#48, UK #1, 2002)
1974 ● Victoria Beckham / (Victoria Adams Beckham) → Vocals and “Posh Spice” in pop-rock girl-group Spice Girls, “Wannabe” (#1, 1997), married soccer star David Beckham in June 1999
April 18
1918 ● Tony Mottola → Session guitarist for Perry Como, Burl Ives and others, member of Frank Sinatra‘s backing band and Doc Severinsen‘s The Tonight Show house band, one hit wonder easy listening soloist (“This Guy’s In Love With You,” Easy Listening #22, 1968) with dozens of light pop guitar-based albums, died from complications of pneumonia on 8/9/2004, age 86
1924 ● Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown → Grammy-winning electric Texas blues, country, Cajun and R&B guitarist, “Okie Dokie Stomp” (1954), died of emphysema on 9/10/2005, age 81
1935 ● Paul Rothchild / (Paul A. Rothchild) → Boston-area folk album producer, discovered The Butterfield Blues Band in the early 60s, moved to Southern California and became central to the development of the L.A. Sound in the 60s and 70s, produced five albums by The Doors, plus various recordings for Janis Joplin, The Lovin’ Spoonful, Neil Young, Tom Paxton, Love, Bonnie Raitt, The Outlaws and others, died from lung cancer on 3/30/1995, age 59
1939 ● Glen D. Hardin → Country and rock ‘n’ roll drummer, first with post-Buddy Holly & The Crickets, then in the TV show Shindig house band and Elvis Presley‘s backing band, session work for Emmy Lou Harris, Linda Ronstadt and others
1941 ● Mike Vickers / (Michael Vickers) → Multi-instrumentalist (guitar, flute and sax) for British Invasion pop-rock Manfred Mann, “Do Wah Diddy Diddy” (#1, 1964), then film score composer and session man, played synthesizer on The Beatles‘ Abbey Road album
1942 ● Seymour Stein / (Seymour Steinbigle) → Teenaged entry-level clerk at Billboard magazine, helped develop the Hot 100 singles chart in 1958 before taking a post-high school job with industry legend Syd Nathan and King Records in Cincinnati, left in 1963 to return to New York and work at Red Bird Records alongside the songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, co-founded Sire Records in 1966 as a production company licensing British acts in the U.S., began signing New York punk bands to the label in the 70s, including the Ramones, Talking Heads and the Dead Boys, plus UK bands Madness, Soft Cell, the Pretenders and others, sold Sire to Warner Bros. Records in 1978 and served the company in various senior executive positions until retiring in 2018, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005 with a Lifetime Achievement Award, died at home from brain cancer on 4/2/2023, age 80.
1943 ● Clyde Stubblefield / (Clyde Austin Stubblefield) → R&B and funk drummer with Eddie Kirkland and Otis Redding in the early 60s, then joined James Brown‘s band in 1965 and created memorable funk rhythm patterns, including the drum break on “Funky Drummer” (#51, R&B #20, 1970), the most sampled music segment ever, continued to record on his own and with others through the 10s and performed in central Wisconsin until his death from kidney failure on 2/18/2017, age 68
1945 ● Charles Love → Guitarist and founding member of a cappella doo wop group turned early and influential funk and black rock Bloodstone, “Natural High” (#10, R&B #4, 1973) and eleven other charting singles, died from emphysema on 3/6/2014, age 68
1946 ● Skip Spence / (Alexander Lee Spence) → Early guitarist for psych-folk Quicksilver Messenger Service, left to become original drummer for psych-rock Jefferson Airplane, “Somebody To Love” (#5, 1967), left to form eclectic psych-rock Moby Grape, “Omaha” (#88, 1967), went solo in 1969, died from lung cancer on 4/16/1999, age 52
1946 ● Lennie Baker / (Leonard J. Baker) → Saxophonist in a later lineup of 50s rock ‘n’ roll Danny & The Juniors, joined “greaser” revival parody rock-and-doo-wop Sha Na Na (“(Just Like) Romeo And Juliet,” #55, 1975) in 1970 and played saxophone and sang with the group for 30 years on stage, film and TV, died from an unspecified infection on 2/24/2016, age 69
1958 ● Andy Kyriacou → Drummer for New Wave dance-pop Modern Romance, “Can You Move” (Dance/Club #2, 1981) and “Best Years Of Our Lives” (UK #4, 1982)
1958 ● Les Pattinson → Bassist for gloomy post-punk psych-rock Echo & The Bunnymen, “Enlighten Me” (Modern Rock #8, 1990)
1959 ● Richard Lyons / (Richard Duaine Lyons) → Founding member of avant-garde, sonic experimentation and collage sound cult band Negativland, since 1980 the band has released nearly two dozen LPs and EPs and hosted a weekly live radio program, Over The Edge, on KPFA in Berkeley, CA, all featuring sound bites, music sampling, distortion, dubbing and random noises, died from complications of nodular melanoma on 4/18/2016, age 57
1962 ● Shirlie Holliman → Backing vocals for New Wave dance-pop Wham!, “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” (#1, 1984), left to form pop duo Pepsi & Shirlie, “Heartache” (#78, Dance #2, 1987)
1963 ● Michael Mangini → Drummer for Canadian thrash metal Annihilator, left to join heavy metal/hard rock Extreme, “More Than Words” (#1, 1991), sessions and Steve Vai backing band
1964 ● Bez Berry / (Mark Berry) → On stage dancer for Manchester electro-dance club Happy Mondays, “Stinkin Thinkin” (Dance/Club #1, 1992), left to form and dance for dance-pop Black Grape, “In The Name Of The Father” (UK #8, 1995)
1970 ● Greg Eklund → Drummer for Northwest post-grunge/punk Everclear, “Wonderful” (#11, Alt Rock #3, 2000)
1974 ● Mark Tremonti → Guitarist for Grammy-winning post-grunge Creed, “With Arms Wide Open” (#1, 2000), founding member of hard rock Alter Bridge, “Open Your Eyes” (Mainstream Rock #2, 2004)
1982 ● Marie-Élaine Thibert → Canadian adult contemporary and teen pop singer, runner-up in the first season of the Quebec singing idol reality show Star Académie, two-time Felix award winner for best female artist in Quebec and one-time Juno award winner for best Francophone album in Canada, her first four albums reached the Top 10 in Canada
April 19
1928 ● Alexis Korner → Major force in early British blues-rock, formed Blues Incorporated with Charlie Watts, then blues-rock ensemble CCS which covered Led Zeppelin‘s “Whole Lotta Love” (#58, 1971), writer and radio DJ, died from lung cancer on 1/1/1984, age 55
1934 ● Dickie Goodman / (Richard Dorian Goodman) → With partner Bill Buchanan, one half of the pioneering novelty “break in” song genre (prototype of later “sampling” technique) Buchanan & Goodman, “Flying Saucer, Pt. 1-2” (#3, 1956), plus solo work, “Mr. Jaws” (#4, 1975), died from self-inflicted gun shot wounds on 11/6/1989, age 55
1934 ● Bruce Swedien / (Bruce Frederick Swedien) → Five-time Grammy Award winning sound engineer and record producer in collaborations with Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones on Jackson‘s Thriller (Worldwide #1, 1983), Bad (Worldwide #1, 1988) and Dangerous (US #1, 1993) albums, and with Jones‘s on his Back On The Block (#9, 1991) and Q’s Jook Joint (Jazz #1, 1997) albums, also engineered albums and songs for Paul McCartney, Barbara Streisand, The Four Seasons (“Big Girls Don’t Cry,” #1, 1962) and many others, pioneered sound recording techniques and received numerous professional awards and honorary degrees, died from complications from surgery for a broken hip on 11/16/2020, age 86.
1939 ● Bill Rice / (Wilburn Steven Rice) → Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee with six charting singles in the 70s, including “Travelin’ Minstrel Man” (Country #33, 1971), best known for penning original songs for Elvis Presley (“Girl Next Door Went A’Walkin’,” 1960), Jerry Lee Lewis (”Would You Take Another Chance On Me,” Country #1, 1972), and dozens of Country Top 10 hits, many of which were co-written with partner Jerry Foster (“Here Comes The Hurt Again,” Mickey Gilley, Country #9, 1978) or wife Sharon Rice (“Lonely Too Long,” Patty Loveless, Country #1, 1996), at one point in 1974 ten different Foster/Rice songs were in the Country Top 10, died at home in Florida on 10/28/2023, age 84.
1940 ● Bobby Russell → Country-pop crossover singer with several minor singles, including “Saturday Morning Confusion” (#28, Country #24, 1971), best known for penning several country and pop hits, from Grammy-winning “Little Green Apples” for O. C. Smith (#2, 1968) to “Honey” for Bobby Goldsboro (#1, 1968) and “The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia” (#1, 1972) for his then-wife Vicki Lawrence, died from coronary artery disease on 11/19/1992, age 52
1942 ● Alan Price → Organist for early line-up of Brit blues-rock The Animals, “House Of The Rising Sun” (#1, 1964), left for one hit solo career, “‘Simon Smith And His Amazing Dancing Bear” (UK #4, 1967)
1942 ● Larry Ramos / (Hilario Ramos) → Filipino-American guitarist, banjo player and singer with 60s folk-pop vocal ensemble The Association, co-sang two of the group’s hits, “Windy” (#1, 1967) and “Never My Love” (#2, 1967), left in 1975 over musical differences but returned in 1979 and performed with the group until just prior to his death from melanoma on 4/30/2014, age 72
1943 ● Eve Graham / (Evelyn Mae Beatson) → Vocals for folk-sunshine pop The New Seekers, “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing” (#7, 1972)
1944 ● Bernie Worrell / (George Bernard Worrell, Jr.) → Founding member and keyboards for R&B/soul-funk Parliament-Funkadelic, co-wrote many P-Funk hits with bandleader George Clinton including synth-funk classic “Flash Light” (#16, R&B #1), worked with Talking Heads, Gov’t Mule and Black Jack Johnson among others and fronted the Bernie Worrell Orchestra until his death from lung cancer on 6/24/2016, age 72.
1945 ● Michael Stewart → Co-founder and guitarist for folk-pop harmony group We Five “You Were On My Mind” (#3, AC #1, 1965), brother of John Stewart of The Kingston Trio and producer of Billy Joel‘s Piano Man album (#27, 1973), worked as a computer programmer until he committed suicide on 11/13/2002, age 57
1946 ● Tim Curry → Singer, stage and film actor, voice actor, came to prominence as “Dr. Frank N. Futer” in cult classic move The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), later in Annie (1982), Legend (1985), Clue (1985) and Monty Python’s Spamalot (2004)
1947 ● Mark Volman → With long-time collaborator Howard Kaylan, co-founder and vocals for pop-rock The Turtles, “Happy Together” (#1, 1967), then Frank Zappa-led satirical rock group The Mothers Of Invention, “Brown Shoes Don’t Make It” (1967), formed Flo & Eddie with Kaylan, continues with him in TV, film, radio and reconstituted Turtles projects
1948 ● Stuart McLean / (Andrew Stuart McLean) → Canadian humorist, author and host of the long-running weekly music and storytelling variety show The Vinyl Café on the CBC, the BBC and dozens of U.S. public radio stations, contracted melanoma in 2015 and suspended production of the show in 2016, died of the disease on 2/15/2017, age 68
1956 ● Gary Langan → Recording engineer and founding member of avant-garde synth-pop The Art Of Noise, “Kiss” featuring Tom Jones (#31, Dance/Club #18, UK #5, 1988), record producer
1956 ● Paul Mario Day → Original lead vocalist for Brit heavy metal Iron Maiden (“Flight Of Icarus,” Mainstream Rock #8, 1983), was fired in 1976 for lack of stage charisma and went on to perform and record with various hard rock bands in New South Wales, Australia
1956 ● Rod Morgenstein → Drummer for jazz-Southern rock fusion Dixie Dregs, later with pop-metal Winger, “Miles Away” (#12, 1990)
1957 ● Tony Martin / (Anthony Harford) → Multi-instrumentalist heavy metal lead singer for Black Sabbathh (“TV Crimes,” UK #33, 1992) in two stints between 1987 and 1997, second longest tenured vocalist after Ozzy Osbourne, issued several solo albums and worked with other metal acts through the 00s
1965 ● Suge Knight / (Marion Knight, Jr.) → Strong-armed co-founder and former CEO of Death Row Records, served time for parole violation, suspected of involvement in the murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G.
April 20
1923 ● Tito Puente / (Ernesto Antonio “Tito” Puente, Jr.) → The “King of Latin Music,” five-time Grammy-winning virtuoso vibraphonist, bandleader, songwriter and arranger in a 50-year career that brought mamba, cha-cha-cha and “salsa” music to mainstream audiences through albums, nightclubs, radio and movies, appeared in the TV sitcom The Cosby Show in 1983 and the film The Mambo Kings (1992), Latin rock Santana covered his “Oye Como Va” (#13, 1970), died following heart valve surgery on 5/31/2000, age 77
1929 ● Bob Braun → Long-time radio DJ (WLWT-Cincinnati), TV music show host and one hit wonder pop-rock singer, “Till Death Do Us Part” (#26, 1962), died from cancer on 1/15/2001, age 71
1932 ● Gerry Granahan → Philadelphia radio DJ, songwriter, Influential rock ‘n’ roll producer and pop-rock singer with the minor hit “No Chemise Please” (#23, 1958), co-wrote “Click Clack” (#28, 1958) and performed the song and others in the fictional band Dickey Doo & The Don’ts, produced “My Boyfriend’s Back” (#1, 1963) for The Angels and songs for Patty Duke, Jay & The Americans and others, served as an executive with Dot and Paramount Records, continued to perform in the 90s
1939 ● Johnny Tillotson → Country, pop, R&B and adult crossover singer/songwriter, “Poetry In Motion” (#2, 1961)
1945 ● Jimmy Winston / (James Edward Winston Langwith) → Original keyboard player for Brit raunch/psych-pop-rock The Small Faces (“Whatcha Gonna Do About It,” CAN #20, UK #14, 1965), appeared on their first two albums and on tracks released after leaving in late 1965 for a brief and nominal solo career and roles on stage in the 1968 musical Hair and on TV on the 1972 Doctor Who serial Day of the Daleks, otherwise lived a life in obscurity outside the entertainment world and died from undisclosed causes on 9/26/2020, age 75.
1947 ● Ken Scott → EMI Studios recording engineer whose first session was The Beatles‘ 1964 A Hard Days Night album, worked on multiple other Beatles albums and hit songs, plus recordings for Manfred Mann, Peter and Gordon, Jeff Beck Group, Procol Harum and others, left in 1969 for Trident Studios where he worked with Elton John, David Bowie, Supertramp, America, Lou Reed and others, helped create the harder jazz rock sound typified by Mahavishnu Orchestra, Billy Cobham, Stanley Clark and Jeff Beck, moved to Los Angeles in 1976 and produced albums by The Tubes, Devo, Kansas, Level 42 and L.A. punk and hard rock bands, continues to work in studios and talk about the profession
1947 ● Mark Fisher → Brit architect and stage designer known for his elaborate sets for The Rolling Stones, U2, Pink Floyd (The Wall Tour, 1980), Madonna, Peter Gabriel, Tina Turner, Lady Gaga and others, died after a long illness on 6/25/2013, age 66
1948 ● Craig Frost → Keyboardist, joined hard rock/early heavy metal power trio Grand Funk Railroad in 1972, “We’re An American Band” (#1, 1973), joined Bob Seger‘s Silver Bullet Band in the early 80s
1951 ● Luther Vandross → Eight-time Grammy-winning R&B/smooth soul singer/balladeer, “Power Of Love/Love Power” (#4, 1986) and duet with Janet Jackson, “The Best Things In Life Are Free” (#10, 1997), died following a stroke and heart attack caused by genetic diabetes and hypertension on 7/1/2005, age 54
1967 ● Mike Portnoy → Drummer for heavy metal Dream Theater, “Pull Me Under” (Mainstream Rock #10, 1992)
1971 ● Mikey Welsh → Bassist for post-grunge alt rock Weezer, “Beverly Hills” (#10, 2005), died of an overdose-induced heart attack in a Chicago hotel on 10/8/2011, age 40
1972 ● Carmen Electra → Erstwhile Playboy Bunny, Baywatch beach tart and vocalist for burlesque dance-pop girl troupe The Pussycat Dolls, “Don’t Cha” (#2, 2005) featuring Busta Rhymes
1972 ● Ziggy Marley / (Stephen Robert Nesta Marley) → Grammy-winning roots reggae/ska singer, guitarist, songwriter and bandleader for Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers, “Tomorrow People” (Mainstream Rock #16, 1988), son of reggae superstar and icon Bob Marley
1974 ● Tina Cousins → Fashion model turned dance-pop diva with five UK Top 20 singles, including “Killin’ Time” (UK #15, 1999)