Born On This Day In Music, June 4th

1990
Zachary Farro, drummer, from American rock band Paramore, who had the 2009 UK No.1 album Brand New Eyes and their 2013 self-titled fourth studio album hit No.1 on the US chart.

1987
Mollie King, best known for being a member of girl group The Saturdays who scored the 2013 UK No.1 hit single ‘What About Us’ featuring Sean Paul.

1976
Kasey Chambers, Australian country musician who has scored three successive Australian No.1 albums.

1974
Stefan Lessard, bassist with the Dave Matthews Band who had the 1998 US No.1 album ‘Before These Crowded Streets’ and the 2001 US No.1 album ‘Everyday’. Dave Matthews Band are the first group to have six consecutive studio albums debut at the top of the US charts.

1964
Chris Kavanagh, drums, Sigue Sigu Sputnik, Big Audio Dynamite, who scored the 1986 UK No.11 single ‘E=MC2.

1962
Steve Grimes, of Liverpool-based group The Farm who had the 1990 UK No.4 single ‘All Together Now’.

1961
El Debarge, DeBarge, singer from American family group DeBarge who had the 1983 US No.17 single ‘All This Love’, and the 1985 UK No.4 single ‘Rhythm Of The Night’.

1958
Selwyn Brown, from roots reggae group Steel Pulse who had the 1978 UK hit single ‘Prodigal Son’. Steel Pulse were the first non-Jamaican act to win the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album.

1956
Reeves Gabrels, American guitarist, songwriter and record producer who worked with David Bowie from 1987 to 2000. He has been a member of The Cure since 2012.

1954
Raphael Ravenscroft, musician, composer and author. Ravenscroft played the sax riff on the Gerry Rafferty hit ‘Baker Street’. He was only paid £27.50 for the ‘Baker Street’ session, and it has been reported that the cheque bounced and that it was kept on the wall of Ravenscroft’s solicitors; by contrast the song is said to have earned Rafferty £80,000 a year in royalties. Ravenscroft died on 19th October 2014.

1954
Jamaican singer, producer, and broadcaster Mikey Dread who was one of the most influential performers and innovators in reggae music. Lee “Scratch” Perry produced his signature tune ‘Dread at the Controls’ and he collaborated with former Guns N’ Roses. guitarist Izzy Stradlin on a duet entitled ‘Can’t Hear ‘Em.’ Dread died on 15 March 2008 from a brain tumour.

1953
Jimmy McCulloch, guitarist, who was a member of the Glasgow psychedelic band One in a Million. With Thunderclap Newman he had the 1969 UK No.1 single ‘Something In The Air’. He also worked with Wings, John Entwistle, Stone The Crows and The Bluesbreakers. McCulloch died on September 27 1979, aged 26.

1945
Gordon Waller, British singer, songwriter, guitarist with Peter and Gordon who had the 1964 UK & US No.1 single ‘A World Without Love’. Waller died aged 64 of a heart attack on 17 July 2009.

1944
Roger Ball, saxophonist, with Scottish funk and R&B group the Average White Band who scored the 1975 US No.1 and UK No.6 single ‘Pick Up The Pieces’.

1944
Michelle Phillips is born Holly Michelle Gilliam in Long Beach, California, from American folk rock vocal group The Mamas & the Papas who had the 1965 hit ‘California Dreamin”, the 1966 US No.1 single ‘Monday Monday’ and the 1967 hit ‘Dedicated to the One I Love’.

1940
Cliff Bennett, singer with British rhythm and blues beat group Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers who scored the 1966 UK No.6 cover of The Beatles track ‘Got To Get You Into My Life’, first released on the album Revolver .

1937
American Tejano, country and rock and roll musician Freddy Fender, (Baldemar Huerta), who scored the 1975 US No.1 single ‘Before The Next Teardrop Falls’. He died on 14th Oct 2006 age 69.

1931
Grammy-winning English pianist, orchestrator, music producer and songwriter Jeremy Lubbock. He moved to Los Angeles with his family in 1977, and worked on Joni Mitchell’s album Mingus, and Minnie Riperton’s final album Minnie. In following years, he worked with David Foster, Quincy Jones, Chicago, and many others. He won Grammy Awards for his arrangements on Chicago’s ‘Hard Habit to Break’ in 1984, and for Celine Dion’s ‘When I Fall in Love’. He died on 29 January 2021.

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