BIRTHDAYS
1960     Jeff Andrews, bass, Percussion, electric bass, guitar, keyboards, b. Baltimore, MD, USA
1922     Ray Anthony, leader, Trumpet, b. Bentleyville, PA, USA. né: Raymond Antonini
1971     Gary Barlow, vocals, b. Cheshire, Manchester, England. Member group: 'Take That'
1952     John Campbell, guitar, b. Shreveport, LA, USA.
1946     Jimmy Chambers, drums, b. Trinidad. Member group: 'Londonbeat', and 'Mercury Rev'.
1929     Jimmy Cobb, Drums, b. Washington, DC, USA. Cobb is the last living member of the Miles Davis Quintet ("Kind of Blue"). He has worked with Sarah Vaughn, John Coltrane, Gil Evans, Wes Montgomery, and the Adderly Bros.(Nat and Canonball)
1956     Riccardo Del Fra, bass, b. Rome, Italy
1920     Gene Dennis, harmonica, b. Mt. Pleasant, TN, USA.
1944     'Chuck' Domanico, Bass, b. Chicago, IL, USA. d. ca. Oct 17, 2002
1918     Juan Garcia Esquivel, leader, b. Jan. 20, 1918, Tampico, Mexico, d: Jan. 3, 2002, Jiutepac, Morelos, Mexico (age: 83). Often called "King of Space Age Pop". However, his most played composition is perhaps the "Universal Emblem," a three-second-long flurry of sound that has for decades accompanied the Universal Studios logo at the end of hundreds of television shows. For the last 10 years of his life, a broken hip and aggravated spinal injury left him bedridden and unable to walk. In May 2001, at the age of 82, he married his 25-year-old home health care worker, Carina Osario, his sixth wife. In September 2001, he suffered a stroke that left him unable to speak and caused paralysis in one-half of his body. He had a second stroke on December 30 that led to his death
1919     Lucille Dumont, singer b. Montreal, PQ, Canada. (but found fame singing in Quebec.).
1943     Rick Evans, vocals, b. USA. Member group: 'Zager and Evans'
1966     James Genus, bassist, b. Hampton, VA, USA
1933     Earl Grant, (R&B/Lounge) organ, b. Oklahoma City, OK, USA, d. June 11, 1970, Lordsburg, NM, USA. (car wreck) Age: 39.
1947     George Grantham, vocals/drums, b. ,Cordell, OK, USA. Member group: 'Poco', originally, Rusty Young formed Poco with George Grantham, Richie Furay, Jim Messina and Randy Meisner.
1922     Connie Haines, Vocals, b. Savannah, GA, USA. née: Yvonne Marie Jamais
1924     Johnny Hawksworth, Bass/Piano/Composer, b. London, England, UK.
1959     Antoine Herve, Piano, Composer, keyboards, synthesizer, vibes, arranger, b. Paris, France
1952     Ian Hill, bass guitar, b. Birmingham, England. Member group: 'Judas Priest'
1895     Eva Jessye, (gospel) vocals, b. Coffeyville, KS, USA. (Eva Jesse Gospel Choir)
1930     Jimmy Johnson, Drums, b. Philadelphia, PA, USA.
1969     Nicholas Allen Jones, bass guitar/backing vocals, b. Tredegar, South Wales, UK. Member group: 'Manic Steet Preachers'
1941     Pierre Lalonde, vocals, b. Montreal, PQ, Canada.
1888     "Leadbelly", vocals/guitar, b. (on a plantation near) Mooringsport, LA, USA. d. Dec. 6, 1949, New York, NY, USA (Lou Gehrig's disease).. né: Huddie William Ledbetter. A primitive Folk/Blues singer first discovered by Alan Lomax and his father while they were touring Southern U.S. Prisons. (Leadbelly was serving a term for his second murder.) Some of the songs for which he will always be remembered are "Goodnight Irene," "Rock Island Line," and "The Midnight Special"
1927     Bill LeSage, Piano/Vibes/leader, b. London, England. d. Oct 31, 2001, London, England, UK.
1965     John Michael Montgomery, C&W Vocals, b. Danville, KY, USA. (1992's "Life's A Dance" was his first hit.)
1940     Jorge Navarro, Jazz piano, b. Capital Federal, Spain
1969     Tina O'Neill, vocals/drums, b. ?Birmingham, England. Member group: 'We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It', are: Victoria Perks (vocals), Maggie Dunne (vocals/keyboards/bass), Jo Dunne (guitar) and Tina O'Neil (vocals/drums).
1943     Valery Ponomarev, Trumpet/leader, b. Moscow, Russia
1948     Melvin Pritchard, drums, b. Oldham, England. Played with Barclay James Harvest.
1957     Andy Sheppard, Tenor-soprano Sax/Flute, b. Warminster, England
1965     Heather Small, Singer/Songwriter, b. West London council estate, England. Member group: 'M People', a group formed in 1990 by DJ Mike Pickering (keyboards/programming, b. Michael Duncan Pickering, Feb. 24, 1958, Accrington, Lancashire, England ), Heather (herself an ex-Hot! House vocalist), and former 'Orange Juice', and 'Working Week' member Paul Heard (keyboards/programming, b. Oct. 5, 1960, Hammersmith, London, England). Heather's best quote: "Everyone has an ego: and I get so much pleasure singing in front of a large group of people. I don't sing to be famous or rich, I sing because it's what I love to do. I want people to understand and enjoy my singing."
1950     Paul Stanley, guitar/vocals, b. New York (Queens), NY, USA. Member group: 'Kiss'
1945     Eric Stewart, guitar, b. Manchester, England. Member groups: '10cc', 'Mindbenders' and 'Hotlegs'
1941     Giovanni Tommaso, Bass, b. Lucca, Italy
1941     Ron Townson, vocalist, b. St. Louis, MO, USA, d. August 2nd, 2001 in Las Vegas, NV, USA (renal failure). Member of 'The Fifth Dimension'
1936     Luther Tucker, guitar, b. Memphis, TN, USA (raised Chicago's South side ), d. June 18, 1993, Greenbrae, CA, USA. Luther's mother was a Boogie Woogie pianist, and his father, a carpenter, built Tucker his first guitar. His mother introduced him to 'Big' Bill Broonzy and Luther went on to study guitar with Robert Lockwood Jr. Subsequently, Tucker worked with 'Little Walter' for seven years, -playing on many of 'Little Walter's' classic sides. Over his career, Tucker has recorded with Otis Rush, Robben Ford, Sonny Boy Williamson [II], Jimmy Rogers, Snooky Pryor, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Elvin Bishop, and James Cotton. During the mid-1960s, Tucker toured extensively with the James Cotton band. In 1973, he relocated to Marin County, CA, and formed the 'Luther Tucker Band', which played in the San Francisco Bay area until his death.
1960     Jeff "Tain" Watts, Drums, b. Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
1924     "Slim" Whitman, C&W vocals. b: Tampa, FL, USA. né: Otis Dewey Whitman Jr. "Slim", one of the world's greatest yodelers, has a range of over 3 octaves. He performs all over the world with his talented son Byron, and during recent (1998) years Slim and his son Byron have released gospel music that's heard on christian radio stations. Slim's music has been heard in four films; 1957's "Disc Jockey Jamboree" featuring Slim singing Rock and Roll at London's famed Palladium; then "Who'll Stop the Rain," followed by "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." The fourth was the Tim Burden sci-fi spoof "Mars Attacks." This yodeler has sold 70,000,000 records world wide.
1968     "Xavier", guitar, b. Memphis, TN, USA. né: Dominic Arguelles. aka: Xavier S. "Dom" was taught to play by his guitarist father. In 1996, he hooked up with his future spouse, vocalist Stacie (Gathright) Sustaita (b. 1968, Pasadena, CA, USA), and formed the band 'Xstacie'. A few years later, they found themselves in a band that came to be known as 'The Hotrod Betties', that played the throughout the Houston, TX area, After the 'Betties' broke up in late 2001, 'The Volumizers' came into existence! Currently (2003) Xavier S. is the guitarist and vocalist with 'The Volumizers'.

         Notable Events occuring this date include:
1906.    Alexander Muir, who wrote the "The Maple Leaf Forever," died in Toronto, Canada. Age: 75.
1930.    Will D. Cobb, songwriter, died in New York, NY, USA. Age: 53
1957.    Dean Benedetti, vocals, died in Italy. Age: 34
1965.    Alan Freed, New York city DJ, died in Palm Springs, CA, USA (uremia). Age: 43. Freed was said to have coined the term 'rock 'n' roll'
1974.   Stevie Wonder was back at work, playing a gig at the Rainbow Theatre in London, after an auto accident (five months earlier) almost ended his life.
1981.    Rick Whitesell, author/editor (Goldmine), died in New York, NY, USA. Age: 25
1989.    "Whistling" Alex Moore, piano, died in Dallas, TX, USA. Age: 89
1989.    Steve Brown, vocals, died in New York, NY, USA.
1989.    Bob King, Canadian C&W singer, died in an Ottawa, Canada, hospital. Age: 55. He enjoyed a string of hit records beginning in the mid-1950's
1991.    Stan Szelest, piano, died in Woodstock, NY, USA. Age: 48
1993.    U.S. President Bill Clinton picked up his saxophone and jammed with Herbie Hancock, Ben E. King, Clarence Clemons, Dionne Warwick and Chuck Berry and others while visiting several of the dozen balls honoring his inauguration.
1996.    Gerry Mulligan, bari sax, died in Darien, CT, USA. Age: 68. (complications from a knee infection).
1996.    Buster Benton, guitar, died in Chicago, IL, USA. Age: 63
2000.    Don Abney, piano, died
2007.    Esmond Edwards, producer, photographer, died

         Songs Recorded/Released this date include:
       1944    Cherry, - Harry James Orch.
       1944    Speak Low, - Guy Lombardo Orch.
       1950    Sentimental Me, - Ames Brothers
       1950    I Said My Pajamas (& Put On My Prayers), - Martin, Tony
       1958    Oh Julie, - Crescendos
       1958    Magic Moments, - Perry Como
       1958    26 Miles (Santa Catalina), - Four Preps
       1958    Get A Job, - Silhouettes
       1958    Witchcraft, - Frank Sinatra
       1962    Break It To Me Gently, - Brenda Lee
       1968    I Wonder What She's Doing Tonite, - Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart
       1973    Could It Be I'm Falling In Love, - Spinners
       1979    I Will Survive, - Gloria Gaynor
       1979    Heaven Knows, - Donna Summer
       1990    Roam, - B-52's
       1990    Price Of Love, - Bad English
       1990    Escapade, - Janet Jackson
       1990    No More Lies, - Michelle