1979 – Ariel Rechtshaid
American Grammy-winning record producer Ariel Rechtshaid, who has worked with many artists including Adele, Brandon Flowers, Vampire Weekend, Madonna, Tobias Jesso Jr., Usher, We Are Scientists, Plain White T’s and Kylie Minogue.
1977 – Andy Crofts
English musician, singer-songwriter and photographer Andy Crofts. He was the founding member of psychedelic indie rock band The Moons and has been a member of Paul Weller’s touring band since 2008.
1971 – Abe Laboriel
American session drummer Abe Laboriel, Jr. Has worked with Paul McCartney for many years as well as many other artists including Shakira, B.B. King, Sting, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Les Paul, Ashlee Simpson and LeAnn Rimes.
1968 – Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. With Blur he scored the 1994 UK No.1 album Parklife, which spent over 2 years on the UK chart, and the 1995 UK No. 1 ‘Country House’. Albarn along with Jamie Hewlett formed the ‘virtual band’ Gorillaz who had the 2001 UK No.4 single, ‘Clint Eastwood.’ Other projects include The Good, The Bad & The Queen, (2007 self-titled album with Paul Simonon, Tony Allen and Simon Tong). Albarn’s debut solo studio album Everyday Robots was released in 2014.
1967 – John Stohm
John Stohm, from American alternative rock band The Lemonheads. A cover of Simon And Garfunkel’s ‘Mrs. Robinson’, became one of the band’s most successful single in the early 90s.
1965 – Marti Pellow
Mark McLoughlin, (Marti Pellow), singer with Scottish band Wet Wet Wet who formed in 1982. They are best known for their 1994 cover of The Troggs’ 1960s hit ‘Love Is All Around’, which spent 15 weeks at No.1 on the UK charts.
1959 – Kevin Godfrey
Kevin Godfrey is born in Surrey, England. Taking the name “Epic Soundtracks,” he forms the group Swell Maps and plays drums in Crime & the City Solution and These Immortal Souls.
1953 – Chaka Khan
American singer Chaka Khan, (Yvette Marie Stevens), who was the lead vocalist and focal point of the 1970s funk band Rufus. Khan was the first R&B artist to have a crossover hit featuring a rapper, with ‘I Feel for You’ in 1984. She has collaborated with Ry Cooder, Robert Palmer, Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Guru, and Mary J. Blige, among others.
1952 – Dave Bartram
Dave Bartram from English revival group Showaddywaddy who had the 1976 UK No.1 single with their version of ‘Under The Moon Of Love’. Showaddywaddy spent 209 weeks on the UK Singles Chart, and had 10 Top Ten singles.
1951 – Phil Keaggy
Contemporary Christian musician Phil Keaggy is born in Youngstown, Ohio.
1948 – David Olney
Nashville folk singer David Olney. He formed the band The X-Rays, which released two albums and opened for Elvis Costello, before splitting up in 1985. Numerous artists, including Emmylou Harris, Del McCoury, Linda Ronstadt and Steve Earle, have covered his songs. He died on 18 Jan 2020 age 71 after suffering a heart attack during a performance in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida.
1944 – Tony McPhee
English blues guitarist, and founder of The Groundhogs Tony McPhee. They had three UK Top 10 hits in the UK Albums Chart in the early 1970s.
1944 – Ric Ocasek
American singer, songwriter, musician, producer Ric Ocasek from The Cars. Their early hits included ‘Just What I Needed’, ‘My Best Friend’s Girl’ and ‘Good Times Roll’. Their 1984 US No.3 & 1985 UK No.4 ‘Drive’ was used as part of the soundtrack for the Live Aid concert. Ocasek was found dead in his New York City apartment on 15 September 2019, he was 75.
1944 – Michael Nyman
English composer Michael Nyman best known for numerous film scores, including the 1993 The Piano film soundtrack. Nyman who has released over 20 albums has also worked with Damon Albarn from Blur.
1942 – Jimmy Miller
Jimmy Miller, New York-born record producer and musician. He is best known for his lengthy association with The Rolling Stones, for whom he produced a string of singles and albums during the band’s career: Beggars Banquet (1968), Let It Bleed (1969), Sticky Fingers (1971), Exile On Main Street (1972) and Goats Head Soup (1973). Miller died on 22 October 1994.
