Genevieve Alison Jane Moyet was born on this date in 1961 in the UK to a French father and English mother. She's noted for her bluesy contralto singing voice that's often mistaken for a male voice by those not familiar with her work.
After spending time with pub rock, punk rock and blues bands in the Essex area in the late 70s and early 80s, she connected with ex-Depeche Mode member Vice Clark at the age of 21.
Together they formed Yazoo, later shortened to just Yaz. They recorded two albums that produced a few hits including 1982's "Situation" before disbanding and going their own ways.
As a solo artist, she recorded seven albums. Moyet has been candid about her ongoing battles with weight, bipolar disorder and agoraphobia.
Mike Rutherford had a successful career as founding member/bassist and songwriter for the group Genesis. In 1985, he split off from Genesis to form his own band, Mike + The Mechanics, with an ensemble cast.
The band actually had two lead singers; journeyman vocalist Paul Carrack, who handled mostly ballads and pop stuff while Paul Young (not to be confused with soloist Paul Young who sang "Oh, Girl" and "Every Time You Go Away") handled the heavier stuff.
Rutherford said of Young, "He had a fantastic voice, one of the best rock voices of his generation...a complete natural."
Paul Young was born on this date in 1947, he died in 2000 after a series of heart attacks at the age of 53.
Young provided the vocals for the band's first top five hit, 1985's "All I Need is a Miracle."
He was born George Alan O'Dowd on this date in 1961 and after his style of dressing caught the attention of a music executive, he became a member of the early 80s new wave band Bow Wow Wow.
Disagreements with band member lead him leave and start his own group called In Praise of Lemmings they abandoned that name as well as another. Realizing they had a cross-dressing Irish singer, an African, a Jewish drummer, and an Anglo-Saxon Englishman, they settled on the name Culture Club, referring to the various ethnic backgrounds of the members.
Their debut album went platinum thanks to the success of three singles including 1982's "Time (Clock of the Heart)."
Formed in 1977, The Police became globally popular in the late 1970's and were actually considered one of the first "new wave" groups to go mainstream.
They only recorded five studio albums before calling a hiatus in 1986.
Their biggest single was 1983's "Every Breath You Take." Sting said he woke up in the middle of the night, sat down at the piano and wrote the song in a half an hour. The Grammy Award winning song is said to generate between a quarter and a third of Stings music publishing income annually.
"Every Breath You Take" started a nine week run at the top of the Rock Charts on this date in 1983.
To say Rocky Burnette was born into rock & roll would be an understatement. His father, Johnny Burnette and uncle Dorsey Burnette we're Rock & Roll pioneers. Rocky's cousin Billy Burnette (Dorsey's son) replaced Lindsey Buckingham in Fleetwood Mac from 1987 to 1995.
Rocky stayed close to his rockabilly roots (the same-age cousins names Rocky and Billy was no coincidence), in 1979 he released his first album "Son of Rock ‘n' Roll" which earned him a top 10 hit in the summer of 1980 with "Tired of Toein' the Line."
Rocky Burnette turns 60 years old today, one month behind cousin Billy.
Originally formed in London in 1979 as The Portraits, they released a couple of singles then underwent some minor personnel changes. With that they changed their name to The Fix (one ‘x').
After gaining some traction with some exposure in the BBC, they were offered a contract from record giant MCA, who were nervous about the band's name having drug connotations. The record label insisted they change their name before signing the contract.
They compromised by simply adding and 'x' and become The Fixx. They began charting songs with 1982's "Stand or Fall." 1983 saw their most successful single "One Thing Leads to Another."
With the release of their fourth album in 1985 came their last top 20 pop hit, "Secret Separation," also a No. 1 on the rock charts on this date in 1986.
According to the official Def Leppard FAQ, the four words that you hear at the start of "Rock of Ages," mean nothing, though the band sometimes jokingly claims it means "running through the forest silently."
It's actually just German sounding gibberish, said producer Mutt Lange.
According to the liner notes of the compilation release Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection, the band was at a recording studio when lead vocalist Joe Elliott stumbled upon a hymn book left by a member of a children's choir that had just used the studio. In the book, he saw the words "Rock of Ages," which prompted him to write the lyrics of the song.
"Rock of Ages" became the second No. 1 on the rock charts for the band, it was No. 1 on this date in 1983.
Prince Rogers Nelson wrote his first song at the age of seven. He released his first album at the age of 20, a year later his second album ‘Prince' went double-platinum.
He has since won seven Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe, an Academy Award and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame the first year he was eligible in 2004.
Prince was born in Minneapolis to a songwriting father and jazz singing mother on this date in 1958.
His father, John Nelson, used the stage name Prince Rogers. His Purple Rain album from 1984 is regularly ranked among the best albums of all time and has sold over 20 million copies worldwide to date.
"Take Me With U" was the fifth and last single from the album. Prince turns 55 today.
