Oct, 4: Singer Jon Secada is 48 today.

Source: University of Miami

Born Juan Secada in Havana, Cuba, and raised in Hialeah, Florida, Secada has won two Grammy Awards and sold 20 million albums since his English-language debut album in 1992. Secada's music combines funk, soul, pop and Latin percussion.

In the late 1980s, Gloria Estefan hired Secada as a background singer. He also started composing music for Estefan, including some of her best-known ballads, including "Coming Out of the Dark" Gloria's number one hit in 1991. During Estefan's tour to promote her album, Secada was given the opportunity of performing solo. The song was "Always Something." 

In 1992, Secada recorded his self-titled debut album Jon Secada which sold over six million copies worldwide and being certified triple platinum in the U.S., where it reached No. 15 among the Billboard 200 albums chart.

Secada scored a No. 5 Pop hit with his Gold single "Just Another Day," and three more top 30 hits, "Angel," "I'm Free" and "Do You Believe in Us?" The Spanish-language version of Secada's solo album, Otro Día Más Sin Verte (EMI-Latin), became the Number One Latin album of 1992 and earned Secada his first Grammy Award for "Best Latin Pop Album."

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In 1994 by Secada's second album, Heart, Soul & a Voice went Platinum in the US. One of its singles had a top ten Pop hit "If You Go." His third album on EMI, Amor, was released in 1995 and earned Secada his second Grammy for "Best Latin Pop Performance."

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Oct. 3: Chubby Checker is 69 today.

Chubby Checker, born Ernest Evans in Spring Gulley, South Carolina, was raised in the projects of South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he lived with his parents and two brothers.

By the age eight Evans formed a street corner harmony group and learned to play the piano and entertain his classmates by performing impressions of popular entertainers of the day, such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley and Fats Domino.

-- "Lets Twist Again"

-- "Limbo Rock"

--  "The Fly"

His boss at a local grocery store gave Evans the nickname "Chubby." The store owner of Fresh Farm Poultry, Henry Colt, was so impressed by Ernest's performances for the customers that he, with his colleague and friend Karl Mann, who worked as a song-writer for Cameo-Parkway Records, arranged for him to do a private recording for Dick Clark at American Bandstand. At the recording session Evans got his stage name from Clark's wife, who asked Evans what his name was. "My friends call me Chubby," he replied. Since he had just performed a Fats Domino impression, she smiled and said, "As in Checker?" That little play on words stuck, and from then on, Evans used the name "Chubby Checker."

Checker introduced his version of "The Twist" in July 1960 on The Clay Cole Show, a local New York City television program broadcast live from Palisades Amusement Park. "The Twist" went on to become the only single to top the Billboard Hot 100 twice.

Chubby then had a string of dance-related recording including "The Hucklebuck," "The Fly," "Dance the Mess Around," and "Pony Time," which became his second #1 single. Checker's follow-up "twist" single, "Let's Twist Again," won the 1961 Grammy Award for Best Rock and Roll Solo Vocal Performance. A 1962 duet with Dee Dee Sharp, "Slow Twistin'" reached #3 on the national charts. "Limbo Rock" reached #2 in the fall of 1962, becoming Checker's last Top Ten hit.

Checker is the only recording artist to place five albums in the Top 12 all at once. In 2008 Chubby Checker's "The Twist" was named the biggest chart hit of all time by Billboard magazine.

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Oct. 3: singer-songwriter Danny O'Donoghue of The Script is 30-years-old today.

Daniel John Mark Luke O'Donoghue was born in Dublin, Ireland. He met Mark Sheehan in a club in The Liberties area of Dublin, Ireland near the Guinness brewery. They became friends because of their similar taste in music, in particular a love of American soul and R&B. Mark and Danny were formerly part of a band called Mytown.

Striking up a songwriting and production partnership, O'Donoghue and Sheehan's talent was recognized early, and found themselves invited to Canada to collaborate with some of their production heroes, including such legends of modern R&B as Dallas Austin, Montell Jordan and Teddy Riley.

The duo were based in the U.S. for many years, but moved back to Dublin where they recruited drummer Glen Power for their new band. He had been playing sessions from the age of fifteen, using the money to work on a solo project in his home.

Glen, Mark and Danny produced three songs in one week. The band signed to Phonogenic in 2005, and released an EP on Last.FM. The band's influences include a diverse group of artists that include U2, The Police, The Neptunes, Timbaland, and Van Morrison, all of which contribute to their distinct sound. O'Donoghue also made a reference to Amy Winehouse and Stevie Wonder while discussing his personal voice while singing. He stated that the instrument he attempts to imitate is a violin, based on the string arrangements of Stevie Wonder, while Amy Winehouse is similar to a saxophone.

In the beginning years of the band, Mark Sheehan's mother fell terminally ill, and affected Sheehan's writing. With such strong emotional tension, the songwriter found new lyrics every day. Sheehan said that "That was the time when it finally came home to me how important music was to me, cos in my darkest moments that's what got me through."

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After Sheehan's mother's passing, ten months after her diagnosis, Danny's father died four months later of a heart attack. Even with such trying moments in their early years, the band was able to rise out of it, albeit with somewhat bleak lyrics in several songs.


The Script's first single "We Cry" was written about James's Street in Dublin and the different types of people there. The single peaked at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart, giving the band their first top 20 single. The track also performed well on the Irish Singles Chart, peaking at number 9 and giving the band their first top ten single in their home country.

Their second single, "The Man Who Can't Be Moved," was released on 15 September 2008. The single reached number 2 in Ireland, Denmark, and the UK. The band released their debut album, The Script, on 11 August 2008. Following the success of "The Man Who Can't Be Moved," the album entered the UK Album Chart at number one.

The band's third single, "Breakeven," was released in Ireland in November 2008 and in the UK in December 2008. The single was an instant success on the Irish Singles Chart. After entering the chart at number forty, it spent one week before entering the top ten at number ten giving the Script their third top ten single in Russia.

The single has, to date, spent 4 weeks on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 21. The band's fourth single "Talk You Down" was released in March 2009.

The Script received an award at the World Music Awards for 'Best Selling Irish Act' of 2008 and in February 2010, they won 'Best Live Performance' at the Meteor Ireland Music Awards.

The Script announced a new album and single on their website in July 2010. The first single from the album Science & Faith was the song, "For the First Time." Science & Faith was released in September 2010. "For the First Time" entered the UK charts at #5 and moved up to #4 the following week and entered the Irish charts at #1. The music video features Bono's daughter Eve Hewson.

The Script recorded their album in London, and vocalist Danny O'Donoghue says that the economic crisis in Ireland is "a microcosm for the rest of the world." He talks about people being stripped of everything that they own and how it inspired the band to write the songs for the new album.

"We're dealing with complex emotions in the simplest of ways, that's what we battle with in these songs," said O'Donoghue. He added that while the subject matter might sound bleak at first, Science & Faith is about optimism. "With Irish people, no matter how bad things get, you always pick yourself up and carry on."

Science & Faith entered the Irish Album Chart and the UK album chart at no.1.

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Oct. 2: Don McLean ("American Pie") is 65 today.

Donald McLean, Jr., born in New Rochelle, New York is best known for the 1971 album American Pie, containing the renowned songs "American Pie" and "Vincent."

As a teenager, McLean became interested in folk music, particularly the Weavers' 1955 recording At Carnegie Hall. By age 16 he had bought his first guitar and became friends with folk singer Erik Darling, a latter-day member of the Weavers. McLean recorded his first studio sessions, with singer Lisa Kindred, while still in school.

McLean graduated from Iona Preparatory School in 1963, and briefly attended Villanova University, dropping out after four months. While at Villanova he became friends with singer/songwriter Jim Croce.

After leaving college, for the next six years McLean performed at the Bitter End and the Gaslight Cafe in New York, the Newport Folk Festival, the Cellar Door in Washington, D.C., and the Troubadour in Los Angeles. After finishing his undergraduate degree, McLean turned down a scholarship to Columbia University Graduate School so he could become resident singer at Caffè Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY.

  (Follow links below to view You Tube Videos:) -- "American Pie"

-- "Vincent"

-- "Castles in the Air"

McLean recorded his first album, Tapestry, in 1969 in Berkeley, California during the student riots. After being rejected by 34 labels, the album was released by Mediarts and attracted good reviews but little notice outside the folk community.

McLean's major break came when Mediarts was taken over by United Artists Records. His second album, American Pie spawned two No. 1 hits; the title song and "Vincent." American Pie's success made McLean an international star and renewed interest in his first album, which charted more than two years after its initial release.

"American Pie" reached number one on the U.S. Billboard magazine charts for four weeks in 1972, and remains McLean's most successful single release. The single also topped the Billboard Easy Listening survey. It is also the longest song to reach No. 1 with a running time of 8:36. Some stations played only part one of the original split-sided single release.

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Oct. 2: Swedish singer Maja Ivarsson, lead vocalist of the Swedish New Wave band The Sounds, is 31 today.

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Born in Åhus, Scania, Ivarsson began playing the French horn at the age of 8, and at the same time studied karate, Thai boxing and kickboxing. At 14 she began learning to play the electric guitar.

MP3 Downloads
*No One Sleeps When I'm Awake
* Living In America *Painted By Numbers   *Rock N Roll
*Dying To Say This To You [Explicit]

The Sounds were formed  in 1998 in Helsingborg, by childhood friends guitarist and vocalist Felix Rodriguez and bassist Johan Bengtsson, along with drummer Fredrik Nilsson. Jesper Anderberg, who  plays piano, guitar, synthesizers and does back-up vocals joined the group later.

Ivarsson's striking presence and personality led to an invitation to be the lead singer of The Sounds.

The group's musical style has been compared to New Wave acts such as Blondie, The Cars, the Epoxies and Missing Persons.

Ivarsson is also a composer and lyricist even though most of The Sounds songs are written by the other band members. In 2002, Ivarsson collaborated with Andreas Mattson in the song "Free Free Free" which was released on the soundtrack for the German film Grosse Maedchen Weinen Nicht (Big Girls Don't Cry).

Ivarsson was featured in Cobra Starship's single and music video "Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)," for the 2006 film Snakes on a Plane. The popular film gave provided much needed publicity to Ivarsson and her band, especially in the USA. Maja is also featured on the song "We Are Rebels" by Alice in Videoland from their 2008 album She's A Machine!

The Sounds first US tour came after their 2003 song "Living in America" - both the song and the album - became hits. The band opened for No Doubt during a U.S. tour over the summer of 2009.

(Follow links below to view You Tube Videos:)

-- "Living in America"

-- "Night After Night"

-- "Song With A Mission"

 

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Ivarsson has three tattoos: a tribal sun on the inside of her left forearm, Modesty Blaise (a sixties British comic book character) on her right outer forearm and three dots between her right thumb and index finger. The three dot tattoo is in memory of her father, who was a sailor.

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