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Post by 1finemrg on Jan 18, 2015 17:48:15 GMT -5
January 18: ...David Ruffin one of the lead singers of the Temptations would have been 74 today. Here's David on lead in the classic Temptations lineup with a song covered by the Rolling Stones. It would be their biggest hit on the on the R & B charts, spending 8 weeks at #1. Ain't Too Proud To Beg - Temptations
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Post by 1finemrg on Jan 19, 2015 5:32:18 GMT -5
January 19: ...Dewey Burnell who is 63 today. Dewey is one-third of America. He wrote and sang lead on some of their biggest hits including "A Horse With No Name", "Tin Man", and this drive-along classic. Ventura Highway - America
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Post by 1finemrg on Jan 20, 2015 6:16:37 GMT -5
January 20: ...Eric Stewart who turns 70 today. He assumed lead vocals in the 60s when Wayne Fontana split from the Mindbenders. They subsequently reached #2 with this classic. A Groovy Kind Of Love - MindbendersWritten by Carole Bayer Sager and Toni Wine, Phil Collins would take his version one notch higher in the 80s.
In the 70s, he teamed up with Graham Gouldman, Kevin Godley, and Lol Crème to form 10cc. In 1975, Eric's haunting lead vocals would again take him to the #2 position for three weeks. I'm Not In Love - 10cc
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Post by 1finemrg on Jan 21, 2015 6:17:02 GMT -5
January 21:...Les Charles who turns 65 today. It seemed that Les was doomed for one hit wonder status when his first hit peaked at #22 in 1976. It took eight years to chart a second time, but when he did he racked up seven top 10 singles in less than 4 years. Three of them peaked at #1. We'll go with the first of the bunch from late summer 1984, #1 for Leslie Sebastian Charles better known as... Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run) - Billy Ocean
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Post by 1finemrg on Jan 22, 2015 6:13:11 GMT -5
January 22: ...Steve Perry who is 66 today. Steve was the lead singer of Journey during their hit making years, and also had a half-dozen Top 40 solo hits including "Oh, Sherrie" and "Foolish Heart". Featuring a track from their only #1 album "Escape". It failed to chart as a single, but made #13 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Stone in Love - Journey
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Post by blackbowl68 on Jan 22, 2015 7:00:25 GMT -5
Jason Mizell, better known as Jam Master Jay, who would've turned 50 on January 21st. He was the DJ (and sometimes MC) of the pioneering hip hop group Run-DMC. He was killed in his recording studio on 10/30/2002. The guys frequently referenced him in their songs, but this one was the biggest praise of all. Jam Master Jay - Run DMCIt is still baffling that more than 12 years after he was gunned down, his murder remains unsolved.
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Post by 1finemrg on Jan 23, 2015 6:20:45 GMT -5
January 23: ...Robin Zander. Cheap Trick's lead singer turns 62 today. We're going to go with a song the band absolutely hated. Quote from co-writer Rick Nielsen: "Now that was a bad song! I co-wrote that... No, wait, let's see... I can't remember. Maybe I actually wrote that whole thing. Man! I must've been high. That was one of the worst songs - put it this way, it was one of the worst movies that's ever been out. Song-wise, it fit right in with the movie." They didn't like the video either. From Rick Nielsen again: "Our video was the worst video we've ever done. We've done some bad, bad ones, but that took the cake. The worst..." I happened to like the song, movie, and video. They're goofy on all accounts! Up The Creek - Cheap Trick
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Post by 1finemrg on Jan 24, 2015 6:56:06 GMT -5
January 24: ...Aaron Neville who is 74 today. Synonymous with New Orleans musically, Aaron revived his career commercially in 1989 in duets with Linda Ronstadt. "Don't Know Much" topped out at #2, and "All My Life" just missed the Top 10 (#11). Aaron reached the top 10 again in 1991, peaking at #8 with his cover of the Main Ingredient's "Everybody Plays The Fool". Before his revival, Aaron had been a one-hit wonder on the Hot 100 for 23 years. In 1966 he peaked at #2 with this classic, a song that would make the Top 10 a second time (#8) when covered by Heart in 1980. Tell It Like It Is - Aaron Neville
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Post by 1finemrg on Jan 25, 2015 6:55:48 GMT -5
January 25: ...Etta James who would have been 77 today. Known as "Miss Peaches", this Rock and Roll Hall Of Famer mostly scraped the lower rungs of the top 40. Her biggest hit was a cover of Clarence Carter's "Tell Daddy". Changing the gender, "Tell Mama" reached #23 on the Hot 100 in late 1967 / early 1968. Her classic "At Last" only reached #47 on the Hot 100. She scored 12 top 10s on the R&B chart. We'll go with her only #1 from 1955, another song whose title was changed. This time it was due to it being "suggestive". Trivia: The male vocalist on the song was Richard Berry, who never charted as a solo artist. A song he originally wrote and recorded as a "B" side became one of the essential rock and roll classics of all time. Several artists have covered "Louie Louie", with the Kingsmen spending 6 weeks at #2 in 1963. Etta James - The Wallflower (Roll With Me Henry)
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Post by 1finemrg on Jan 26, 2015 6:02:10 GMT -5
January 26: ...Corky Laing who turns 67 today. Corky was the drummer for this band whose only Top 40 hit from 1970 reached #21. More importantly, he is also a essential member of my CHOF (Cowbell Hall Of Fame) along with Albert Bouchard (Blue Oyster Cult) and Rick "Bell" Belanger (Five Man Electrical Band). Also Alex Van Halen (Tip of the cap to his brother Eddie whose birthday also is today!) Mississippi Queen - Mountain
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Post by 1finemrg on Jan 27, 2015 0:13:20 GMT -5
January 27: ...Kim Gardner who would have been 67 today. Kim was the bass player in a 1971 one hit wonder trio. Using the generally accepted definition of one hit wonder, they barely qualified reaching #40 with their only Hot 100 record. In Chicago, it was Top 10 peaking at #5. Put your hand on your hip...Let your backbone slip... Resurrection Shuffle - Ashton, Gardner And Dyke
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Post by 1finemrg on Jan 28, 2015 5:48:42 GMT -5
January 28: ...Rick Allen, bassist in the Box Tops turns 69 today. Rick joined the band after their #1 hit "The Letter", a song written by Wayne Carson. But Rick was on bass when this gem was recorded, another Carson classic which IMO was their best. Reach a disappointing #18 on the Hot 100. As rock critic Lester Bangs wrote in a review of the group's Super Hits album, "A song like 'Soul Deep' is obvious enough, a patented commercial sound, yet within these structures it communicates with a depth and sincerity of feeling that holds the attention and brings you back often." Soul Deep - Box Tops
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Post by 1finemrg on Jan 29, 2015 6:01:14 GMT -5
January 29: ...James Jamerson, legendary bassist for Motown's Funk Brothers. He would have been 79 today. The songs for Motown and other labels he laid his tracks down on his 1962 Fender Precision Bass are too numerous to mention. He pretty much influenced most bass players going forward from the early 60s including Paul McCartney, Jack Bruce of Cream, The Who's John Entwistle and their current bassist Pino Palladino, and Bootsy Collins. On the studio version of this song, Marvin Gaye supposedly searched several bars to find James. When he bought him into the studio, James played his bass lying flat on his back. He's standing upright for this version, from the "Save The Children" benefit concert in 1973. What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
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Post by 1finemrg on Jan 30, 2015 6:33:52 GMT -5
January 30: ... Steve Marriott who would have been 68 today. Marriott was the voice/guitarist for Humble Pie, whose classics such as "30 Days In The Hole" and "I Don't Need No Doctor" graced the FM radio airwaves in the early 70s. Prior to Humble Pie, he, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones, and Ian McLagan were highly successful in the UK as the Small Faces releasing 8 Top 10 singles. One of them, "Itchycoo Park" reached #16 in the US. Marriott wrote the follow-up to "Itchycoo Park", originally intending it for British female singer P. P. Arnold. He liked it so much, he decided to keep it for the band. The song reached #9 in the UK and #73 in the US. P. P. Arnold did contribute background vocals and is featured in the video. The song was covered as a "B" side to "Just Between You And Me" by Lou Gramm in the late 80s. Tin Soldier - Small Faces
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Post by 1finemrg on Jan 31, 2015 7:08:19 GMT -5
January 31: ...Terry Kath guitarist and vocalist for Chicago. He would have been 69 today. Terry added an edge to Chicago's music in their early years. His vocal style has been described as the "white Ray Charles", and Jimi Hendrix among many others has praised his guitar prowess. It was one of rock and roll greatest tragedies that he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1978, thinking that the gun wasn't loaded. An appropriately titled Terry Kath song kicks off track one, side one of Chicago Transit Authority's debut album. We'll go with a live version. Introduction - Chicago Transit Authority
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