Pick a Day

Music History Events: Births

January 23, 1940 Pop singer Joe Dowell is born in Bloomington, Indiana, but grows up in Bloomington, Illinois.

January 22, 1940 Addie "Micki" Harris (of The Shirelles) is born in Passaic, New Jersey.

January 8, 1940 Jerome "Little Anthony" Gourdine of Little Anthony & the Imperials is born in Brooklyn, New York.

January 6, 1940 Van McCoy is born in Washington, D.C. Known for the 1975 disco hit "The Hustle," he also writes a string of '60s hits, including "Giving Up" (Gladys Knight & the Pips and, later, Donny Hathaway) and "I Get the Sweetest Feeling" (Jackie Wilson).

December 30, 1939 Felix Pappalardi (bassist, vocalist for Mountain) is born in the Bronx, New York.

December 29, 1939 Country singer Ed Bruce is born William Edwin Bruce Jr. in Keiser, Arkansas, but is raised in Memphis, Tennessee.

December 22, 1939 James Gurley (guitarist for Big Brother & the Holding Company) is born in Detroit, Michigan.

December 20, 1939 Soul singer Kim Weston is born Agatha Nathalia Weston in Detroit, Michigan. She signs with Motown Records in 1961.

December 17, 1939 Eddie Kendricks (of The Temptations) is born in Union Springs, Alabama. Kendricks' famous falsetto takes the lead on "The Way You Do The Things You Do" and "Just My Imagination."

December 15, 1939 Cindy Birdsong is born in Mount Holly, New Jersey. One of the original members of Patti LaBelle & The Blue Belles, she quits the group in the mid-'60s to join The Supremes as a replacement for Florence Ballard. The remaining Blue Belles rebrand themselves as Labelle.

December 9, 1939 Sam Strain (Little Anthony & The Imperials, The O'Jays) is born in Brooklyn, New York.

December 8, 1939 Jerry Butler (lead singer of The Impressions) is born in Sunflower, Mississippi. He moves to Chicago, where he sings in a church choir with future bandmate Curtis Mayfield.

December 6, 1939 '60s teen idol Steve Alaimo, who becomes host of Dick Clark's Where the Action Is, is born in Omaha, Nebraska.

December 1, 1939 Dianne "Dee Dee" Lennon is born in Venice, California. She and her sisters form the pop vocal group The Lennon Sisters, known for the 1956 hit "Tonight, You Belong To Me."

November 29, 1939 Domenico "Meco" Monardo is born in Johnsonburg, Pennsylvania. His space disco version of the Star Wars Theme / Cantina Band hits #1 in 1977.

November 28, 1939 Gary Troxel (of The Fleetwoods) is born in Centralia, Washington.

November 26, 1939 Doo-wop singer Dave White of Danny and the Juniors is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He co-writes the group's "At the Hop" and Lesley Gore's "You Don't Own Me."

November 24, 1939 Guitarist Jim Yester (of The Association) is born in Birmingham, Alabama.

November 23, 1939 Betty Everett ("The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)") is born in Greenwood, Mississippi.

November 19, 1939 Soul singer Warren "Pete" Moore (of Smokey Robinson & The Miracles) is born in Detroit, Michigan.

November 12, 1939 Ruby Nash Curtis (of Ruby & the Romantics) is born in Akron, Ohio.

November 10, 1939 Rock singer Tommy Facenda is born in Portsmouth, Virginia.

October 30, 1939 Grace Slick (of Jefferson Airplane) is born in Highland Park, Illinois.

October 28, 1939 Jim Post of Friend & Lover is born in Houston, Texas.

October 23, 1939 Soul singer/guitarist Charlie Foxx is born in Greensboro, North Carolina.

October 9, 1939 Blues/soul singer O.V. Wright is born Overton Vertis Wright in Lenow, Tennessee. Among others, known for the 1964 hit ballad "That's How Strong My Love Is," covered the following year by Otis Redding.

October 7, 1939 Colin Cooper (vocalist, saxophonist and harmonica player for The Climax Blues Band) is born in Stafford, England.

October 5, 1939 Musician/dancer Abi Ofarim is born Abraham Reichstadt in Safed, British Mandate of Palestine. Known for the 1967 Barry Gibb-penned song "Morning of My Life," later recorded by the Bee Gees.

October 2, 1939 Lolly Vegas (guitarist/vocalist for Redbone) is born Candido Vasquez in Coalinga, California. One of the biggest acts of Native American heritage, Redbone has a huge hit in 1974 with "Come and Get Your Love."

September 29, 1939 Songwriter Tommy Boyce (Boyce & Hart) is born Sidney Thomas Boyce in Charlottesville, Virginia. Co-wrote the Monkees' "Last Train to Clarksville."