Born On This Day In Music, May 18th

1975
Jack Johnson, Hawaii born singer, songwriter, surfer who scored the 2006 UK No.1 album ‘In Between Dreams’, and the 2006 US & Australian No.1 album ‘Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George’. He is also known for organizing an annual event, the Kōkua Festival.

1969
Martika, American singer-songwriter and actress. Her biggest hit was ‘Toy Soldiers’ which peaked at No.1 for two weeks in the US in mid 1989.

1967
English keyboardist Martin Duffy, who originally played in Felt and later joined Primal Scream. Duffy also played with The Charlatans following the death of founder-member Rob Collins. Duffy died on 18 December 2022, aged 55. The cause of death was given as a brain injury suffered after a fall at home in Brighton, England.

1961
Hugh Whittaker, from English alternative rock band The Housemartins. The group’s a cappella cover version of ‘Caravan of Love’ (originally by Isley-Jasper-Isley) was a UK No.1 single in December 1986.

1961
Russell Senior, guitarist with English rock band Pulp, who had the 1995 UK No.2 single ‘Common People’. He quit the band in January 1997. Pulp were regarded among the Britpop “big four”, along with Oasis, Blur and Suede.

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04:15

1958
Toyah, (Victoria Wilcox), English singer and actress, who scored the 80s hits ‘It’s a Mystery’, ‘Thunder in the Mountains’ and ‘I Want to Be Free’. Toyah has released over 20 albums, written two books, appeared in over forty stage plays and ten feature films. Willcox married Robert Fripp of King Crimson in 1986.

1957
Romanian-German musician and producer Michael Cretu who who as Enigma had the 1991 UK No.1 & US No.5 single ‘Sadness Part 1’. Enigma has sold over 70 million worldwide.

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07:34

1956
Jim Moginie founding member, guitarist, keyboardist and songwriter with Midnight Oil. Moginie has worked with many notable musicians from Australia and New Zealand, including Silverchair, Sarah Blasko, End of Fashion, Neil Murray, Kasey Chambers and Neil Finn.

1954
Wreckless Eric (Eric Goulden), English singer, songwriter and Stiff Records artist who had the 1978 UK airplay hit ‘Whole Wide World’.

1953
Butch Tavares, from American R&B, funk, and soul group Tavares, who had the 1976 UK No.4 and US No.15 single ‘Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel’.

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03:27

1952
American country music singer, songwriter, actor George Strait. His 1992 album Pure Country spent 40 weeks on the US chart. He has the second most No.1 country hits among any artist in any musical genre in history, totalling 53 No.1 hit songs. Only Conway Twitty has more, with 55. Strait has sold more than 100 million records worldwide.

1950
American musician Mark Mothersbaugh, co-founder of the new wave band Devo. His other musical projects include work for television series, films, and video games. Devo had a No. 14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single ‘Whip It’.

1949
Rick Wakeman, English keyboardist, songwriter, television and radio presenter. As a session musician his early sessions included playing on “Space Oddity”, for David Bowie and songs by Junior’s Eyes, T. Rex, Elton John, and Cat Stevens. Wakeman became a member of Strawbs and then the classic line-up in Yes. As a solo artist he scored the 1974 UK No.1 album ‘Journey To The Centre Of The Earth’.

1949
William Wallace from Canadian rock band Guess Who who had the 1970 US No.1 & UK No.19 single ‘American Woman’.

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03:38

1946
George Alexander, from American rock band The Flamin’ Groovies who had the 1976 album ‘Shake Some Action. In addition to the band’s role in the advancement of power pop, the Flamin’ Groovies have also been called one of the forerunners of punk rock.

1942
Albert Hammond, Gibraltarian singer, songwriter, and record producer. In 1966 Hammond co-founded the British vocal group the Family Dogg, scoring a UK Top 10 hit with “A Way of Life” in 1969. As a solo artist he scored the 1972 US No.5 single ‘It Never Rains In Southern California‘, and the 1973 UK No.19 single ‘Free Electric Band’. Other hits Hammond has written with collaborator Mike Hazlewood include “Little Arrows” for Leapy Lee, “Gimme Dat Ding” for the Pipkins and “The Air That I Breathe” which was a hit for the Hollies.

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03:51

1912
American singer and television personality Perry Como, who had the 1957 US No.1 single ‘Round And Round’ and the 1958 UK No.1 single ‘Magic Moments’). Como has the distinction of having three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in radio, television, and music. He died on 12th May 2001 age 88.

1911
Joe Turner, (best known as Big Joe Turner), US blues songwriter. He wrote ‘Sweet Sixteen’ and was the first to record ‘Shake, Rattle and Roll’. Turner died on 23rd November 1985 at the age of 74 of heart failure, having suffered the earlier effects of arthritis, a stroke and diabetes and was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

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