Happy Birthday: Achille Claude Debussy (22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer, born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Born to a family of modest means and little cultural involvement, Debussy showed enough musical talent to be admitted at the age of ten to France's leading music college, the Conservatoire de Paris. He originally studied the piano, but found his vocation in innovative composition, despite the disapproval of the Conservatoire's conservative professors. He took many years to develop his mature style, and was nearly 40 when he achieved international fame in 1902 with the only opera he completed, Pelléas et Mélisande.

Debussy's orchestral works include Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894), Nocturnes (1897–1899) and Images (1905–1912). His music was to a considerable extent a reaction against Wagner and the German musical tradition. He regarded the classical symphony as obsolete and sought an alternative in his "symphonic sketches", La mer (1903–1905). His piano works include sets of 24 Préludes and 12 Études. Throughout his career he wrote mélodies based on a wide variety of poetry, including his own. He was greatly influenced by the Symbolist poetic movement of the later 19th century. A small number of works, including the early La Damoiselle élue and the late Le Martyre de saint Sébastien have important parts for chorus. In his final years, he focused on chamber music, completing three of six planned sonatas for different combinations of instruments.

With early influences including Russian and Far Eastern music and works by Chopin and Liszt, Debussy developed his own style of harmony and orchestral colouring, derided – and unsuccessfully resisted – by much of the musical establishment of the day. His works have strongly influenced a wide range of composers including Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky, George Gershwin, Olivier Messiaen, George Benjamin, and the jazz pianist and composer Bill Evans. Debussy died from cancer at his home in Paris at the age of 55 after a composing career of a little more than 30 years.

[I must admit that I only really started getting into Debussy after obsessively listening to my brother's Tomita record - yes, on vinyl - where they covered various of his pieces electronically. I loved it so much that it was one of my first CD purchases. It took me a little while to appreciate the original artist but once I did I loved it!]

Happy Birthday: Adam Fredric Duritz (born August 1, 1964) is an American singer, best known as the frontman for the rock band Counting Crows, for which he serves as a founding member and main composer. Since its founding in 1991, Counting Crows has sold over 20 million records, released seven studio albums that have been certified gold or platinum, and been nominated for two Grammy Awards and an Academy Award.

Duritz has recorded solo material of his own and has collaborated with other musical acts. He has also founded two record labels, E Pluribus Unum and Tyrannosaurus Records. His work scoring music for film earned an award from BMI for co-writing the song "Accidentally in Love" for the movie Shrek 2.

Duritz and producer/guitarist David Bryson formed Counting Crows in San Francisco in 1991. When Gary Gersh of Geffen Records heard the band's demo tape, he was "blown away". A bidding war between nine different record labels broke out in February 1992. In April, the band—which, by that time, included other members—"signed a deal with Gersh and Geffen believed to be so lucrative that industry wags dubbed them Accounting Crows".

The band's first album, August and Everything After, charted within the top five of the Billboard 200, and the single "Mr. Jones" (1993) was a number-one hit in Canada. After the band performed as the music guest on Saturday Night Live, "Mr. Jones" jumped 40 spots in the charts. The album has been certified 7× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Six of the band's albums have charted on the Billboard 200 and four have been certified gold or platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Counting Crows was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 1994. The band also received a 2004 Academy Award nomination for the song "Accidentally in Love", which was included in the film Shrek 2.

[My Uni friend introduced me to Counting Crows - and Rush... and U2.... and for several years they became my favourite band and I bought (or downloaded) everything they produced. I was lucky enough to see them perform live both at Glastonbury in 2000 - the reason we went - and at Cardiff Arena some years later. LOVE it and still love them.]

Happy Birthday: Robert Arthur Moog (May 23, 1934 – August 21, 2005) was an American electronics engineer and electronic music pioneer. He was the founder of the synthesizer manufacturer Moog Music and the inventor of the first commercial synthesizer, the Moog synthesizer, which debuted in 1964. In 1970, Moog released a more portable model, the Minimoog, described as the most famous and influential synthesizer in history. Among Moog's honors are a Technical Grammy Award, received in 2002, and an induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

By 1963, Moog had been designing and selling theremins for several years while working toward a PhD in engineering physics at Cornell University. He developed his synthesizer in response to demand for more practical and affordable electronic-music equipment, guided by suggestions and requests from composers. Moog's principal innovation was the voltage-controlled oscillator, which uses voltage to control pitch. He also introduced fundamental synthesizer concepts such as modularity, envelope generation and the pitch wheel. He is credited with introducing synthesizers to a wider audience and influencing the development of popular music.

Moog pursued his work as a hobby, and he is regarded as a poor businessman. His only patent was on his transistor ladder filter design; commentators have speculated that he would have become extremely wealthy had he patented his other innovations, but that their availability in the public domain helped the synthesizer industry flourish.

In 1971, Moog sold Moog Music to Norlin Musical Instruments, where he remained as a designer until 1977. In 1978, he founded the company Big Briar, and in 2002 he renamed it Moog Music after reacquiring the rights to the name. In later years, Moog taught at the University of North Carolina at Asheville and continued designing instruments for the revived Moog Music. He died at the age of 71 in Asheville from a brain tumor.

 Just because I can...... 

Happy Birthday: William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Piano Man" after his signature 1973 song of the same name, Joel has had a successful career as a solo artist since the 1970s. From 1971 to 1993, he released 12, entirely self written, studio albums spanning the genres of pop and rock, and in 2001 released a one-off studio album of classical compositions. With over 160 million records sold worldwide, Joel is one of the world's best-selling music artists and is the fourth-best-selling solo artist in the United States. His 1985 compilation album, Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II, is one of the best-selling albums in the U.S.

Joel was born in the Bronx in New York City and grew up in the Levittown portion of Hicksville on Long Island, where he began taking piano lessons at his mother's insistence. After dropping out of high school to pursue a music career, Joel took part in two short-lived bands, the Hassles and Attila, before signing a record deal with Family Productions and embarking on a solo career with his debut album, Cold Spring Harbor (1971). In 1972, Joel caught the attention of Columbia Records after a live radio performance of "Captain Jack" became popular in Philadelphia, prompting him to sign a new record deal with the company, through which he released his second album, Piano Man (1973). After Streetlife Serenade (1974) and Turnstiles (1976), Joel achieved his critical and commercial breakthrough with The Stranger (1977). It became Columbia's best-selling release, selling over 10 million copies and spawning the hit singles "Just the Way You Are", "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)", "Only the Good Die Young", and "She's Always a Woman", as well as the concert staples "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" and "Vienna"

Joel's 52nd Street (1978) was his first album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Glass Houses (1980) was an attempt to further establish him as a rock artist; it featured "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" (Joel's first single to top the Billboard Hot 100), "You May Be Right", "Don't Ask Me Why", and "Sometimes a Fantasy". The Nylon Curtain (1982) stemmed from a desire to create more lyrically and melodically ambitious music. An Innocent Man (1983) served as an homage to genres of music that Joel had grown up with in the 1950s, such as rhythm and blues and doo-wop; it featured "Tell Her About It", "Uptown Girl", and "The Longest Time", three of his best-known songs. He also released studio albums 'The Bridge' (1986) and 'Storm Front' (1989). After River of Dreams (1993), Joel largely retired from producing studio material, although he went on to release Fantasies & Delusions (2001), featuring classical compositions composed by him and performed by British-Korean pianist Richard Hyung-ki Joo. Joel provided voiceover work in 1988 for the Disney animated film Oliver & Company, performing the song "Why Should I Worry?", and contributed to the soundtracks to several films, including Easy Money (1983), Ruthless People (1986), A League of Their Own, and Honeymoon in Vegas (both 1992). Joel returned to composing new music with the 2024 single "Turn the Lights Back On".

Happy Birthday: Cerys Elizabeth Matthews MBE (born 11 April 1969) is a Welsh singer, songwriter, author, and broadcaster. She was a founding member of Welsh rock band Catatonia and a leading figure in the "Cool Cymru" movement of the late 1990s.

Matthews now hosts a weekly music show on BBC Radio 6 Music, a weekly blues show on BBC Radio 2, and from 2021-2024 co-hosted a weekly show on BBC Radio 4, Add To Playlist, which won the Prix Italia and Prix Europa 2022. She also makes documentaries for television and radio and was a roving reporter for The One Show. She founded "The Good Life Experience", a festival of culture and the great outdoors in Flintshire in 2014, and is author of Hook, Line and Singer, published by Penguin Books, and children's stories Tales from the Deep and Gelert, A Man's Best Friend, published by Gomer. Matthews' illustrated version of Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood was published, in November 2022, by Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

Catatonia were formed in 1992, after Matthews met Mark Roberts. She subsequently sang lead vocals on, and co-wrote the music and lyrics for, the band's hits. Songs she co-wrote included "You've Got a Lot to Answer For", "Mulder and Scully", "Dead from the Waist Down", and "Road Rage". Matthews also played guitar on the earlier material before second guitarist Owen Powell joined the band. She also performed a single with the band Space named "The Ballad of Tom Jones", which tells the story of two lovers who want to kill each other, but then hear a Tom Jones song that defuses their homicidal feelings. Matthews later collaborated with Jones to record a version of Frank Loesser's "Baby, It's Cold Outside" on Jones's 1999 album Reload. Matthews was voted the "Sexiest Female in Rock" in a 1999 readers' poll in the now-defunct magazine Melody Maker.

After Catatonia's rise to fame with their second album International Velvet, and subsequent success with Equally Cursed and Blessed, the band returned in 2001 with their fourth studio album, Paper Scissors Stone. In September 2001, the band officially split.

[I saw Cerys sing at Glastonbury in 2000 when she supported The Pet Shop Boys. My friend at the time (who is Welsh) was a HUGE fan of hers and he passed some of that on to me. They were a fun band while they lasted.]

How Well Does the Algorithm really know me? 

Whenever I’m too tired to read (or even Game) but don’t want to go to bed (yes, I’m stubborn that way) I often find myself listening to music on YouTube – in addition, it must be said, to the music emanating from my radio 15 hours a day. About a month ago I was doing this and after about 30 minutes I thought it would, actually would HAVE, made a decent Blog post if ONLY I had made a note of the actual music tracks. 

So, a few days ago I was idly checking my phone and was prompted to listen to ‘Sleeping on the Blacktop’ by Colter Ward, so I clicked on it. Just as it was going to go to the next track, I noticed what it was and let it run... Then I thought... THIS is what I meant a month ago and grabbed a nearby note pad. Two tracks in I started to wonder: How much of my favourite music will it give me. Just how well does the Algorithm really KNOW me? Quite well, it seems! This is what it presented me with... 

Sleeping on the Blacktop by Colter Ward 

No Roots by Alice Merton 

Smells like Teen Spirit by Nirvana 

Gangsters Paradise by Coolio 

7 Nation Army by The White Stripes 

Song 2 by Blur 

Wonderwall by Oasis 

Solitary Man by Johnny Cash 

Drops of Jupiter by Train 

Breakfast at Tiffanys by Deep Blue Something 

I Think I’m Paranoid by Garbage 

Human by Rag’n Bone Man 

Makeba by Jain 

Barracuda by Heart 

A Thousand Years by Christina Perry 

Home by Machine Gun Kelly, X Ambassadors & Bebe Rexha 

Smooth Criminal by Alien Ant Farm 

Roll the Bones by Shakey Graves 

Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol 

Broken People by Logic & Rag ‘n Bone Man 

Don’t Let me be Misunderstood by Nina Simone 

We Didn’t Start the Fire by Billy Joel 

Black Sheep by Metric (with Brie Larson) 

Creep by Radiohead 

My Silver Lining by First Aid Kit 

...and then it crashed out with something I didn’t like. Not BAD. 25 tracks in a row. I was honestly impressed.  

Happy Birthday: McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 – April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago blues". His style of playing has been described as "raining down Delta beatitude".

Muddy Waters grew up on Stovall Plantation near Clarksdale, Mississippi, and by the age of 17 was playing the guitar and the harmonica, copying local blues artists Son House and Robert Johnson. In 1941, Alan Lomax and Professor John W. Work III of Fisk University recorded him in Mississippi for the Library of Congress. In 1943, he moved to Chicago to become a full-time professional musician. In 1946, he recorded his first records for Columbia Records and then for Aristocrat Records, a newly formed label run by brothers Leonard and Phil Chess.

In the early 1950s, Muddy Waters and his band—Little Walter Jacobs on harmonica, Jimmy Rogers on guitar, Elga Edmonds (also known as Elgin Evans) on drums and Otis Spann on piano—recorded several songs that became blues classics, some with the bassist and songwriter Willie Dixon. These songs included "Hoochie Coochie Man", "I Just Want to Make Love to You" and "I'm Ready". In 1958, he traveled to England, laying the foundations of the resurgence of interest in the blues there. His performance at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1960 was recorded and released as his first live album, At Newport 1960.

Muddy Waters' music has influenced various American music genres, including rock and roll and subsequently rock.

Just Finished Reading: 1971 – Never a Dull Moment by David Hepworth (FP: 2016) [395pp] 

1971 was a big year for me as I transitioned from Junior to Senior/High school. It was quite the step change essentially from childhood to the start of the journey to adulthood. It was also, according to the author, quite THE year for music. 

Although I was certainly listening to music back then I was still a few years away from being a member of the record buying public. We had a few (old) records at home but most of my awareness of the music of the day came from the limited BBC radio output (I think we still listened to quite a bit of Radio Two around then before moving more onto Radio One with everything – naturally – being controlled by my parents choices) and, of course Top of the Pops on TV. I’m not sure when (or where!) I acquired a portable radio, but it was probably a few years later that I started listening to Radio Luxemburg and, a little later still, to Pirate Radio. I do also remember tagging along with my older brother and his friends to local record shops and browsing (plus listening!) through the Prog rock section stacked with the latest 33rpm vinyl.  

But what I didn’t know about or, to be honest, care about was who exactly made the tunes that I bopped to. Sure, I knew the bands names but more often than not I had no idea what all of the band members were called, where they came from or much of anything else. I just knew what I liked (if I’d heard it all all) and what I didn’t. So, as you might imagine, I ended up learning quite a bit in this excellent look at the music scene at the leading edge of the 1970’s. I’m glad to say that I had at least HEARD of most of the single artists and bands discussed here. A few of the more obscure (American) bands had obviously passed me by but the BIG groups were not only known to me but over the years I’ve accumulated a number of their most famous albums on CD. 

The author is a music lover and (later) music journalist of MANY years and it shows. Not only had he a deep knowledge of the subject but writes about it with style and a fair bit of humour. Even if I wasn’t as interested in music as I am I still think I would have enjoyed this slice of cultural history. There are many things to like here. Even if you are too young to remember the age (or indeed the specific year) the author provides a list of 10 tracks to listen to after each monthly section. Plus, at the end of the book, he lists THE 100 must listen to albums of the year. His encyclopaedic knowledge of the industry was impressive. Not only did I find his stories (and insights) about my favourite bands interesting (and often frankly bizarre) but he even managed to make the producers (previously completely unknown to me!) just as fascinating as they used the latest technology – both incredibly primitive and often hand-built – to produce sounds that have never been heard before. I really enjoyed it. Fortunately, this is not his only book, and I have (I think) at least two more to schedule in. I’m already looking forward to them so definitely more from this author and much more on music to come. Definitely recommended for lovers of the era's music, for those who lived through it and for those who want to see what they missed. 

Happy Birthday: Nina Simone (born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American pianist, singer, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and pop. Her piano playing was strongly influenced by baroque and classical music, especially Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied expressive, jazz-like singing in her contralto voice. Rolling Stone named Simone one of the greatest singers on various lists.

The sixth of eight children born into a respected family in North Carolina, Simone initially aspired to be a concert pianist. With the help of a local fund set up in her hometown, she enrolled at Allen High School for Girls, then spent a summer at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City, preparing to apply for a scholarship to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She failed to gain admission to Curtis, which she attributed to racism. She remained musically active until her death in 2003, a day or two after the institute awarded her an honorary degree.

Early in her career, to make a living, Simone played piano at a nightclub in Atlantic City. She changed her name to "Nina Simone" to disguise herself from family members, having chosen to play "the devil's music" or so-called "cocktail piano". She was told in the nightclub that she would have to sing to her own accompaniment, which effectively launched her career as a jazz vocalist. After making her debut with Little Girl Blue in 1958, she went on to record more than 40 albums up to 1974. She released her first and biggest hit single in the United States in 1959 with "I Loves You, Porgy", which peaked inside the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Simone became known for her work in the civil rights movement during the 1950s and 1960s, and she later left the United States and settled in France following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. She lived and performed in Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. In 1991, Simone published her autobiography, I Put a Spell on You (taking the title from her famous 1965 album), and she continued to perform and attract audiences until her death.

[I *think* I 'discovered' her - and fell in love with her amazing voice - when watching the Luc Besson French noir thriller La Femme Nikita as the assassin was obsessed with her music and played it LOUD all the time. Brilliant.]

Happy Birthday: Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 56.5 million records in the US alone, making him one of the best-selling musicians in history.

Diamond has written and recorded ten singles that reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts: "Cracklin' Rosie", "Song Sung Blue", "Longfellow Serenade", "I've Been This Way Before", "If You Know What I Mean", "Desirée", "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" (which he co-wrote with Marilyn Bergman and performed with Barbra Streisand), "America", "Yesterday's Songs", and "Heartlight (co-written with Carole Bayer Sager and Burt Bacharach). Thirty-eight songs by Diamond have reached the top 10 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, including "Sweet Caroline". He has also acted in films, making his screen debut in the 1980 musical drama film The Jazz Singer.

Diamond was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. He received a Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. In 2011, he was an honoree at the Kennedy Center Honors, and he received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.

Quite beyond brilliant..............

An interesting version..... 

Happy Birthday: Amy Lynn Lee (born December 13, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She is the co-founder, lead vocalist, lead songwriter, and keyboardist of rock band Evanescence. A classically trained pianist, Lee began writing music at age 11 and co-founded Evanescence at 13, inspired by various musical genres and film scores from an early age. Lee has participated in other musical projects, including Nightmare Revisited and Muppets: The Green Album, and composed music for several films, including War Story (2014), Indigo Grey: The Passage (2015), and the song "Speak to Me" for Voice from the Stone (2017). She has also released the covers EP Recover, Vol. 1 (2016), the soundtrack album to War Story, the children's album Dream Too Much (2016), and collaborated with various artists including Korn, Seether, Bring Me the Horizon, Lindsey Stirling, Body Count, Wagakki Band, Halsey (singer), Poppy, and Courtney LaPlante.

Alongside her awards and nominations with Evanescence, Lee's other accolades include: the Songwriter Icon Award from the National Music Publishers Association (2008); Best Vocalist at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards (2012); Rock Goddess of the Year at Loudwire Music Awards (2012); Best Film Score by the Moondance International Film Festival for Indigo Grey: The Passage (2015); and the Hollywood Music in Media Award for Best Original Song in Independent Film for "Speak to Me" (2017). In 2012, VH1 named Lee one of the top 100 greatest women in music. Lee is the American chairperson for the international epilepsy awareness foundation Out of the Shadows, and in 2012 was honored with United Cerebral Palsy's Luella Bennack Award for her work.

Happy Birthday: Jon Anderson (born John Roy Anderson, 25 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the progressive rock band Yes with bassist Chris Squire in 1968 and rose to prominence as their lead vocalist. The band pioneered progressive rock in the 1970s, particularly with their critically-acclaimed albums The Yes Album, Fragile (both 1971) and Close to the Edge (1972) which display Anderson's role in crafting the group's sound as one of the main songwriters and lyricists. Known for his countertenor vocal style, Anderson was a member of Yes across three tenures until 2004.

Born and raised in Accrington in northern England, Anderson gave up manual labour in the early 1960s in favour of singing in The Warriors with his brother. He moved to London and after several unsuccessful singles as a solo artist, co-formed Yes with Squire. Anderson left the band in 1980 due to growing internal friction and continued his solo career, which he had started in 1976 with his debut album, Olias of Sunhillow. He went on to collaborate with other musicians, including Greek keyboardist and composer Vangelis as Jon and Vangelis, Roine Stolt as Anderson/Stolt, Jean-Luc Ponty as the Anderson Ponty Band, and The Band Geeks as Jon Anderson and the Band Geeks, with whom he has toured repeatedly and released two albums in recent years. He has appeared on albums by King Crimson, Toto, Lawrence Gowan, Tangerine Dream, Iron Butterfly, Milton Nascimento, Battles, Mike Oldfield and Kitaro. Anderson was a member of the offshoot Yes groups Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe and Yes Featuring Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, Rick Wakeman.

In 2009, Anderson acquired American citizenship. In 2017, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Yes.

[LOVED his voice and have several of his CDs.... I was a BIG Prog-Rock fan growing up. It was, quite possibly, my first music love - until I completely fell in love with 80's music in many of its forms.]

Happy birthday: Fiona Apple McAfee-Maggart (born September 13, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. All five of her albums have reached the top 20 on the Billboard 200 since 1996, and as of 2021, she has sold over 15 million records worldwide. Apple has received numerous accolades, including three Grammy Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, and a Billboard Music Video Award. Three of her albums appear on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list.

The youngest daughter of the actor Brandon Maggart, Apple was born in New York City and was raised alternating between her mother's home in New York and her father's in Los Angeles. She studied piano as a child and began writing songs when she was eight years old. Her debut album, Tidal (1996), comprises songs written during her teens, and won Best Female Rock Performance at the 39th Annual Grammy Awards for its single "Criminal". Her second album, produced by Jon Brion, When the Pawn... (1999), was met with critical acclaim, and received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

For her third album, Extraordinary Machine (2005), Apple again collaborated with Brion and began recording the album in 2002. Apple, however, was reportedly unhappy with the production and opted not to release the record, leading fans to protest Epic Records, erroneously believing that the label was withholding its release. The album was eventually re-produced without Brion and released in October 2005. The album was certified gold, and nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. In 2012, she released her fourth studio album, The Idler Wheel..., which received critical praise and was followed by a tour of the United States, also receiving a nomination for Best Alternative Music Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. Apple's fifth studio album, Fetch the Bolt Cutters (2020), won two Grammy Awards: Best Alternative Music Album and Best Rock Performance for the lead single "Shameika."

[I *think* I first came across Fiona Apple on holiday playing in a store (on CD!!).. One of the first things I did when I got back was to buy her entire back catalogue. I think she's AMAZING.]