Born On This Day In Music, March 16th

1979 – Leena Peisa
Leena Peisa, keyboards, Lordi. Became Finland’s first ever Eurovision Song Contest winners after their song ‘Hard Rock Hallelujah’ won the contest held in Athens in 2006.

1972 – Andrew Dunlop
Andrew Dunlop, guitarist with Scottish rock band Travis. Their 1999 UK album The Man Who spent nine weeks at No.1 on the UK Charts and one-hundred and thirty-four weeks in the top 100 of the chart. Travis had and 1999 UK No.10 single ‘Why Does It Always Rain On Me’, plus over 10 other UK Top 40 singles.

1970 – Alex Lee
Alex Lee, guitarist who has worked with Goldfrapp, Suede, Placebo, Strangelove and The Blue Aeroplanes.

1967 – Tracy Bonham
Tracy Bonham is born in Boston. After studying classical violin, she enters the world of pop music, using the instrument on her hit song “Mother Mother.”

1966 – H.P. Baxxter
H.P. Baxxter (born Hans-Peter Geerdes in Leer), German techno group Scooter who have sold over 14 million records and are considered the most successful single-record German act with 20 top ten hits. 2008 UK No.1 album ‘Jumping All Over The World.’

1964 – Aziz Ibrahim
British musician Aziz Ibrahim. He is best known for his work as guitarist with Simply Red, The Stone Roses (post-John Squire) and their former vocalist Ian Brown. He has also worked with Paul Weller.

1963 – Stuart Kerr
Stuart Kerr, drummer with Love & Money and then Texas who had the 1989 UK No.8 single ‘I Don’t Want A Lover’.

1959 – Flavor Flav
American musician, rapper, Flavor Flav who rose to prominence as a member of the hip-hop group Public Enemy. They had the 1991 US No.4 album Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black.

1954 – Jimmy Nail
English singer-songwriter, actor, film producer, and television writer Jimmy Nail who had the
1985 UK No.3 hit ‘Love Don’t Live Here Anymore’ and the 1992 UK No.1 single ‘Ain’t No Doubt’. Nail also appeared in the TV series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, Spender and Crocodile Shoes.

1954 – Nancy Wilson
American musician, singer, songwriter, Nancy Wilson who with Heart had the 1986 US No.1 single ‘These Dreams, and the 1987 US No.1 & UK No.3 single ‘Alone’.

1950 – Matt Irving
Scottish musician Matt Irving best known as the bass guitar player for Manfred Mann’s Earth Band between 1981 and 1986. Irving has also worked with with The Lords of the New Church, Squeeze, Chris Rea, Paul Young and Roger Waters. He died on 3 April 2015.

1948 – Michael Bruce
American rock musician Michael Bruce, guitarist with the Alice Cooper Band, who had the 1972 UK No.1 & US No.7 single ‘School’s Out’ and the 1973 US & UK No.1 album Billion Dollar Babies.

1942 – Jerry Jeff Walker
American country music singer and songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker. He wrote ‘Mr Bojangles’ a hit for The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970. Since then Walker’s song has been recorded by many popular artists, including Garth Brooks, Chet Atkins, Jim Croce, Jamie Cullum, John Denver, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Elton John, Don McLean and Dolly Parton. He died of throat cancer on 23 Oct 2020 age 78.

1936 – Fred Neil
American folk singer-songwriter Fred Neil who wrote ‘Everybody’s Talkin”, which became a hit for Harry Nilsson after being used for the film Midnight Cowboy. His song ‘The Other Side of This Life” was covered by the Lovin’ Spoonful, The Animals, The Youngbloods, Peter Paul & Mary and Jefferson Airplane. Neil died of natural causes on July 7th 2001, as he battled skin cancer.

1929 – Betty Johnson
Singer Betty Johnson is born in North Carolina. Her biggest hit is “I Dreamed,” which hits #9 US in 1957. She died November 6, 2022.

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