Sept. 5: Dean Ford, lead singer for The Marmalade is 64 today.

Born Thomas McAleese in Coatbridge, Scotland, Dean Ford was the long-time lead singer for The Marmalade, a successful Scottish pop rock group, from the east end of Glasgow. In 1961 they were named "The Gaylords," then "Dean Ford and The Gaylords," In 1966, they changed the group name to "The Marmalade."


There biggest hit in the US and the UK was "Reflections of My Life" written by lead guitarist Junior Campbell and Ford in 1969. It featured a backwards guitar solo by Campbell.

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Reflections of My Life" has recorded over two million sales and the writers were awarded a Special Citation of Achievement in 1998 by BMI in attaining radio broadcast performances in excess of one million in the US alone. Other US and UK hits included "Rainbow" (UK #3) and "My Little One" (UK #15).

The most successful period for the band, was between 1968 and 1972. A later version of the exists to this day, with only Graham Knight remaining from the original members.

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Sept. 5: Songwriter, folk singer, humorist, and actor Loudon Wainwright III is 64 today.

Loudon was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He is the father of musicians Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche, and the former husband of the late folk singer Kate McGarrigle. He is a direct descendant of Peter Stuyvesant, the last Director-General of of what us now known as New York State.

Wainwright's career began in the late 1960s. One of early songs he is remember for is the 1972 novelty song Dead Skunk (in the Middle of the Road). He also played Captain Calvin Spalding (the "singing surgeon") on the American television show, M*A*S*H in its third season during 1974-1975.

Daughter Martha

Wainwright has recorded over twenty albums on eleven different labels. Two of his albums have been nominated for Grammy Awards: I'm Alright (1985) and More Love Songs (1986). Wainwright has also wrote songs for and appeared in a number of films, including small parts in The Aviator, Big Fish, Elizabethtown, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up and the television series, Undeclared and Parks and Recreation.

With his son Rufus

Wainwright has claimed that he was inspired musically by seeing Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival in 1962. He was one of many young folksingers tagged as the "new Dylan" in the early 1970s, a fact that he later satirized in his song, "Talking New Bob Dylan", from History (1992).

With daughter Lucy 

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Sept. 5: Terry Ellis of female R&B group En Vogue is 44 today.

After receiving a degree in Marketing from Prairie View A&M University, Terry joined En Vogue. Originally formed to be a trio, the group's producers were so impressed by Terry's voice, they made the group a quartet.


Terry Ellis has a 5 octave vocal range which was displayed in the En Vogue song, "Don't Go." She often shared leads, or lead the group songs that were funky, and soulful. In group harmonies, Terry usually sings the Alto arrangement, which is above Maxine Jones, but under Dawn Robinson, or Cindy Herron.

In 1995 Ellis, who was originally from Houston, Texas took time during the group's hiatus to release her solo CD, Southern Gal. The CD included the moderate hits "Where Ever You Are" (r&b #10) and "What Did I Do To You?" (r&b top 40). She also contributed a track called "Call on me" for the Soundtrack for the HBO Film "Disappearing Acts" with Wesley Snipes.

The group have won more MTV Video Music Awards than any other female group in MTV history, a total of seven, along with four Soul Train Awards, six American Music Awards, and seven Grammy nominations. According to Billboard Magazine they were the 18th most successful act of the 1990s, and one of the most popular and successful female groups of all time. En Vogue have accumulated over 2,800 weeks on various Billboard charts.

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Sept. 4: Curaçaon born singer Daisy Dee is 40 today.

Born on Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles, Daisy moved to Europe at the age of 8. Her mother is from Netherlands and her father is half African, half Spanish. Apart from Dutch, she learned to speak English, German and Spanish fluently.


While she considered studying interior decoration, and working at a discotheque , one evening the band quit performing after their first song. When the audience grew angry, Daisy grabbed the microphone and belted out a song. Her performance not only impressed the audience, but also executives of a record company who happened to be there. As a result, she started working with a number of different projects, which made it high into the Billboard dance charts, like "This Beat is Technotronic" and "Crazy" (six weeks at # 1 in the US dance charts).

In 1998, together with Toni Cottura she founded her own production company Booya Music, featuring artists like Nana, the Backstreet Boys, NSYNC and her brother Pappa Bear.


In 2005, together with her team she founded the television production company D.D.Productions, making Fashion and Music Programs for Belgium, France and The Netherlands.

 

 

 

 

 

Press links below to view You Tube videos:

-- "Crazy"

--  "Hey You"

-- "Move It to the Rhythm"

 

Sept. 4: Soundgarden lead guitarist Kim Thayil is 50 today.

Soundgarden is an American heavy metal/rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984. They were one of the originators of "grunge," a style of alternative rock that developed in Seattle, and was the first grunge band to sign to a major record.


Although he was born in Seattle in 1960, Thayil grew up in the Chicago suburb of Park Forest. Thayil's parents are from the state of Kerala in India.

Thayil met Hiro Yamamoto at Rich East High School in Park Forest. After graduation, they moved to Washington, where Thayil studied philosophy at the University of Washington. There they met Chris Cornell, a roommate, and the three formed Soundgarden in 1984.


Soundgarden's biggest success came with the release of their 1994 album Superunknown, which debuted at number one on the Billboard charts and yielded the Grammy Award-winning singles "Black Hole Sun" and "Spoonman." In 1997, the band broke up due to internal strife over its creative direction.


As of 2008, Soundgarden had sold over eight million records in the United States, and an estimated twenty million worldwide.

Press links below to view You Tube videos:
-- "Fell on Black Days"
-- "Black Hole Sun"
-- "Spoonman"
 

Sept. 4: Carmit Bachar of the Pussycat Dolls is 46 today.

A singer, dancer, model and actress, Carmit, who was born on Los Angeles, was a member of the successful pop/R&B group, The Pussycat Dolls and one of the main vocalists of the group, along with Nicole Scherzinger and Melody Thornton. Bachar left the group in February 2008 and has been busy recording her debut album.


The Pussycat Dolls are an R&B girl group and dance ensemble founded by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995 in Los Angeles. After attracting national attention, Antin turned the group into a music franchise, which originally included Bachar, Nicole Scherzinger, Melody Thornton, Ashley Roberts, Jessica Sutta and Kimberly Wyatt. The group in essence became a "commercial brand," diversifying into reality television programs, a Las Vegas act and product endorsements.

Success as a music group came in 2005 with their first album PCD which debuted at number five in the US producing three successful singles "Don't Cha," "Buttons," and "Stickwitu"; the latter earned the group a Grammy Award nomination. Following the departure of Carmit Bachar in March 2008, the group continued as a quintet and in September of that year they released their second album, Doll Domination.

Press links below to view You Tube videos:
-- "Stickwitu"
-- "Buttons"
-- "Don't Cha"
 

Sept. 4: Merald “Bubba” Knight of Gladys Knight & The Pips is 78 today.

"Bubba" Knight, Jr. , from Atlanta, Georgia, is the older brother of lead singer R&B and Soul singer Gladys Knight. Bubba was the unofficial leader of the group, and was instrumental in handling the Pips' business matters.


The musical careers of Gladys Knight & The Pips spanned from 1953 to 1989. The group was best known for their string of hit singles from 1967 to 1975, including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (1967) and "Midnight Train to Georgia" (1973). The longest-lived incarnation of the act featured Gladys Knight on lead vocals, with The Pips, who included Bubba, and their cousins Edward Patten and William Guest, as backup singers.


Gladys Knight & the Pips embarked on their final tour in 1988. The Pips retired, while Gladys Knight began scoring hits of her own with singles such as "Men" (1991) and "I Don't Want to Know" (1994).

The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2001 and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhythm & Blues Foundation in 1998. Ms. Knight, continues to tour and record occasionally. Edward Patten died in February 2005, of complications from his long bout with diabetes.


Gladys Knight & the Pips are ranked as the ninth most successful act in The Billboard Top 40 Book of R&B and Hip-Hop Hits (2005). They were also ranked #91 on VH1's Top 100 Artists of Rock n' Roll. In June 2006,


Gladys Knight & the Pips were inducted into the Apollo Theater's Hall Of Fame in New York City.

Press links below to view You Tube videos:
-- "Midnight Train to Georgia"
-- "I Heard It Through The Grapevine"
-- "I've Got To Use My Imagination"