Born On This Day In Music, April 5th

1995 – Daniel Caesar
Canadian singer and songwriter Daniel Caesar. He was featured alongside Giveon on Justin Bieber’s 2021 single, ‘Peaches’, which serves as his No.1 song on the US Billboard Hot 100.

1981 – Mariqueen Maandig
Filipino American musician and singer-songwriter Mariqueen Maandig, vocalist for How to Destroy Angels, (with her husband Trent Reznor).

1975 – Juicy J
American rapper, songwriter and record producer, Juicy J, (Jordan Michael Houston), founding member of the Southern hip hop group Three 6 Mafia. He featured on the 2014 US Katy Perry No.1 hit ‘Dark Horse’.

1973 – Pharrell Williams
Pharrell Williams, one half of the writing duo, The Neptunes (with Chad Hugo). Williams has produced numerous No.1 hits for Mystikal, Jay-Z, NSYNC, Britney Spears, Ed Sheeran, and Nelly. He had the 2003 US No.1 album ‘The Neptunes Present Clones’. Williams featured on the 2013 worldwide hit ‘Blurred Lines’ with Robin Thicke and his own 2013 single ‘Happy’ from the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack album was the most successful song of 2014, reaching No.1 on over 20 countries.

1968 – Paula Cole
American singer-songwriter Paula Cole, who scored the 1997 UK No.15 single, ‘Where Have All The Cowboys Gone’. Her song ‘I Don’t Want to Wait’ was used as the theme song of the television show Dawson’s Creek.

1966 – Mike McCready
Mike McCready, guitarist, and one of the founding members of Pearl Jam who had the 1992 UK No.15 single Jeremy, the 1993 US No.1 and UK No.2 album Vs and the 1994 US No.1 and UK No.4 album Vitalogy. McCready also has the side project bands Temple of the Dog, Mad Season and The Rockfords.

1961 – Jacob Slichter
Jacob Slichter, drummer, with Semisonic who had hits with ‘Secret Smile’, ‘Closing Time’ and ‘Chemistry’.

1954 – Stan Ridgeway
American multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter Stan Ridgeway who scored the 1986 UK No.4 single ‘Camouflage’ and was a founding member of the band Wall of Voodoo.

1951 – Everton Morton
Everett Morton, from British group The Beat who had a string of UK hit singles in the 80s, including ‘Mirror in the Bathroom,’ ‘Can’t Get Used to Losing You’ and ‘Hands Off, She’s Mine’. He died age 71 on 8 October 2021.

1950 – Agnetha Faltskog
Swedish musician, singer, songwriter Agnetha Faltskog from ABBA. Their first UK hit was the 1974 No.1 ‘Waterloo‘, followed by eight other UK No.1 singles and 9 UK No.1 albums and they scored the 1977 US No.1 single ‘Dancing Queen’. Her self-penned debut single ‘Jag var så kär’ was released in 1967, and topped the Swedish Chart in 1968 which led to a successful solo career before joining ABBA.

1948 – Dave Holland
English rock drummer Dave Holland best remembered for his stints with Trapeze from 1969 to 1979 and Judas Priest from 1979 to 1989. He died in a hospital in Spain 16 January 2018 aged 69.

1944 – Nicholas Caldwell
Nicholas Caldwell, singer with American group The Whispers who had the 1980 UK No.2 & US No.19 single ‘And The Beat Goes On’. He died on January 5 2016.

1942 – Alan Clarke
Alan Clarke, singer with British pop/rock group The Hollies who have scored over 30 top 40 hits, including ‘Just One Look’, ‘Bus Stop’, ‘Carrie Anne’, and later ‘He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother’ and ‘The Air That I Breathe’. Clarke retired from performing in 1999.

1941 – Dave Swarbrick
Dave Swarbrick, English folk musician and singer-songwriter. His work for the group Fairport Convention from 1969 has been credited with leading them to produce their seminal album Liege & Lief (1969) which initiated the electric folk movement. Swarbrick died on 3rd June 2016.

1939 – Ronald White
American musician Ronald White, singer with The Miracles, who had the 1970 UK & US No.1 single with Smokey Robinson, ‘The Tears Of A Clown’. White was also known for bringing Stevie Wonder to the attention of a Motown Records and writing several hit singles for the Miracles and other artists including The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, and Mary Wells. White died on 26 August 1995 age 56.

1935 – Peter Grant
Peter Grant, manager of Led Zeppelin. Died from a heart attack on 21st Nov 1995 aged 60. Known as being one of the shrewdest and most ruthless managers in rock history, Grant secured 90% of concert gate money and intimidated record store owners who dealt in bootlegs. The former wrestler also worked as a film extra and bodyguard. During the early 60s Grant worked as a tour manager for Bo Diddley, The Everly Brothers, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent and The Animals.

1932 – Billy Bland
R&B singer Billy Bland, known for the ’60s hits “Let the Little Girl Dance” and “Harmony,” is born in Wilmington, North Carolina. He died on March 22, 2017.

1929 – Joe Meek
Joe Meek, English record producer, sound engineer and songwriter who pioneered space age and experimental pop music. He produced ‘Telstar’ the 1962 UK and US No.1 single by The Tornadoes, the first British act to have a No.1 in the US. Meek also produced ‘Johnny Remember Me (John Leyton, 1961), ‘Just Like Eddie’ (Heinz, 1963) and ‘Have I the Right?’ (the Honeycombs, 1964). On 3 February 1967 Meek killed his landlady Violet Shenton and then shot himself dead with a single-barrelled shotgun.

1928 – Tony Williams
Tony Williams, from American vocal group The Platters who had the 1959 UK & US No.1 single ‘Smoke Gets In Your Eyes’. Williams died on 14th August 1992. The group had 40 charting singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart between 1955 and 1967. He died August 14, 1992

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