Born on March 5th in music

Born Today In Music, March 5th

1982 – Russell Leetch
Russell Leetch, bassist with English rock band The Editors, who had the 2007 UK No.1 album An End Has a Start and earned the band a Brit Awards nomination for best British Band.

1970 – John Frusciante
John Frusciante, guitarist with Red Hot Chili Peppers who had the 1992 UK No.26 single with ‘Under The Bridge’, the 1991 US No.3 album Blood Sugar Sex Magik and a 2002 UK No.1 album By The Way.

1964 – Bertrand Cantat
Bertrand Cantat, French musician and former frontman of rock band Noir Désir. In 2003, he was sentenced to eight years in prison for killing his actress girlfriend during a fight after a violent row in a Lithuanian hotel.

1962 – Craig and Charlie Rei
Identical twin brothers, Craig and Charlie Reid from the Scottish band The Proclaimers, who had the 1987 UK No.3 single ‘Letter From America’, 1988 UK No.6 album ‘Sunshine Over Leith’ as well as the 2007 UK No.1 single with the Comic Relief charity hit ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles).’

1958 – Andy Gibb
Andy Gibb, younger brother of The Bee Gees. He had a 1978 UK No.10 single with ‘An Everlasting Love’ and a 1978 US No.1 single with ‘Shadow Dancing’, which spent seven weeks at the top, plus two other US No.1 singles. Gibb died on March 10th 1988.

1957 – Mark E. Smith
Mark E. Smith, singer from Manchester post-punk band The Fall. Smith formed the Fall in 1976 and was the only constant member of the band. He was known for his tempestuous relationship with his bandmates, and frequently fired them – there have been 66 different members over the years. Smith died on 24 January 2018 aged 60 after a long illness with lung and kidney cancer.

1956 – Teena Marie
Teena Marie, US singer who had the 1980 UK No. 6 single ‘Behind The Groove’. In 2004, while Teena Marie was sleeping in a hotel room, a large picture frame fell and struck her on the head. The blow caused a serious concussion that would result in momentary seizures for the rest of her life. Marie died on December 26th 2010.

1952 – Alan Clark
Alan Clark, English musician who was the first and main keyboardist for the rock band Dire Straits. In 1983 he played on Bob Dylan’s album Infidels and toured and recorded extensively with Eric Clapton. Clark has also played and recorded with other artists, including the Bee Gees, Billy Joel, Lou Reed, Prefab Sprout, Robert Cray, Al Green, Van Morrison, Roger Daltrey, George Harrison, Elton John, Phil Collins.

1951 – Elaine Page
Elaine Page, UK singer who had the 1985 UK No.1 single ‘I Know Him So Well’.

1948 – Eddy Grant
Eddy Grant, singer with The Equals who had the 1968 UK No.1 single ‘Baby Come Back’, and as a solo artist scored the 1982 UK No.1 single ‘I Don’t Wanna Dance’.

1946 – Murray Head
English performer Murray Head is born in London. Has a big hit in 1984 with the single “One Night In Bangkok”, from the musical Chess.

1939 – Johnny Jenkins
Johnny Jenkins, American left-handed blues guitarist, who helped launch the career of Otis Redding. His flamboyant style of guitar playing also influenced Jimi Hendrix. In 1970, Jenkins released the album Ton-Ton Macoute! The opening track, a cover of Dr. John’s ‘I Walk on Guilded Splinters’ has been sampled by numerous musicians, including Beck (Loser), and Oasis (Go Let It Out). Several tracks on Ton-Ton Macoute! featured Duane Allman. He died on 26 June 2006.

1938 – Paul Evans
Paul Evans is born in Queens, New York. He charted 34 times as a songwriter and 7 times as a singer between 1958 and 1990, all as co-writer. His top singing song came in 1959 with “Seven Little Girls (Sittin’ in the Back Seat)”–it landed at #9 in the U.S. and #25 in the U.K.