Born On This Day In Music, August 31st

1977
Craig Nicholls, singer, songwriter, guitarist, The Vines, (2002 UK No. 3 album ‘Highly Evolved’).

1977
Del Marquis, (Derek Gruen), guitar, Scissor Sisters, (2004 UK No.1 self-titled album, 2004 UK No. 12 single ‘Laura’).

1970
Debbie Gibson, US singer, (1988 US No.1 & UK No.9 single ‘Foolish Beat’).

1969
Acoustic rocker Jeff Russo (of Tonic) is born. Composer for the FX series Fargo.

1967
Gerard Love, bass, Teenage Fanclub, (1992 UK No.31 single ‘What You Do To Me’).

1963
Keyboardist/pianist Larry Waddell (of Mint Condition) is born in St. Paul, Minnesota. Wrote the group’s gold-certified single “What Kind of Man Would I Be” (1996).

1961
Songwriter/producer Wayne Kirkpatrick is born in Greenville, Mississippi. Raised in Louisiana, he authors Eric Clapton’s “Change The World,” Little Big Town’s “Boondocks,” The Wreckers’ “My, Oh My” and Garth Brooks’ “Wrapped Up In You”

1959
Tony DeFranco, from family pop group The DeFranco Family, who scored the 1973 US No.3 single ‘Heartbeat-It’s A Lovebeat’, the biggest selling US single of 1973. Based on The Osmonds.

1957
Gina Schock, drummer from all-female American rock band The Go-Go’s, who had the 1982 US No.2 single, ‘We Got The Beat’, and the 1982 UK hit single ‘Our Lips Are Sealed’. Their 1981 debut album, Beauty and the Beat, is considered one of the “cornerstone albums of US new wave music”.

1957
British singer and guitarist Glenn Tilbrook, who was a founding member of Squeeze. Some of their best-known songs are ‘Tempted’, ‘Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)’, ‘Cool for Cats’ and ‘Up the Junction’.

1955
Anthony Thistlethwaite, The Waterboys, (1991 UK No.3 single ‘Whole Of The Moon’, first released in 1985).

1948
Cyril Jordan guitarist and founding member of San Francisco cult band The Flamin Groovies who had the 1976 album ‘Shake Some Action.

1948
German guitarist Rudolf Schenker from Scorpions, who he formed in 1965 when he was 17 years old. Their 1990 power ballad ‘Wind Of Change’ topped the European charts and was a No.4 hit in the US. The Scorpions hold the record for the best-selling single by a German artist and band.

1945
Northern Irish singer, songwriter and musician Van Morrison. Who had with Them, the 1965 UK No.2 single ‘Here Comes The Night’, and the solo, 1970 album Moondance, plus over 15 other UK Top 40 albums. He has received six Grammy Awards, the 1994 Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, and has been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

1945
Bob Welch, American musician. A former member of Fleetwood Mac, Welch had a briefly successful solo career in the late 1970s. His singles included Hot Love, Cold World, Ebony Eyes, Precious Love, and his signature Sentimental Lady. Welch committed suicide in his Nashville home on 7th June 2012. He was found by his wife with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest.

1944
Roger Dean, English artist. Designed album covers for Yes, Atomic Rooster, Uriah Heep, Gentle Giant, Greenslade, Steve Howe and Asia.

1940
Wilton Felder, American saxophone and bass player with The Crusaders, (1979 UK No.5 & US No.36 single ‘Street Life’). Felder played bass on the The Jackson 5 hits ‘I Want You Back’ and ‘ABC’ and on the Marvin Gaye hit ‘Let’s Get It On’. He died on  September 27, 2015 age 75.

1939
Jerry Allison, drummer from American rock and roll band The Crickets, who had the 1957 US No.1 single ‘That’ll Be The Day’, the 1959 UK No.1 single ‘It Doesn’t Matter Anymore’ plus over 15 other UK Top 40 singles. Died August 22, 2022.

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