Born Today In Music

March 24th

1935 - Carol Kaye

Carol Kaye one of the most prolific and widely heard bass guitarists, who has played on an estimated 10,000 recordings in a career spanning over 50 years. Kaye was the bassist on many Phil Spector and Brian Wilson productions in the 1960s and 1970s. She is credited with the bass tracks on several Simon And Garfunkel hits and many film scores by Quincy Jones and Lalo Schifrin. She contributed to The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds. Kaye also performed on many American TV themes including The Streets of San Francisco, Mission: Impossible, M*A*S*H and Kojak.

1937 - Billy Stewart

American rhythm and blues singer and pianist Billy Stewart who had the 1966 US No.10 single with his version of the George Gershwin song 'Summertime'. Stewart and three of his band were killed on 17 January 1970 when the Ford Thunderbird that Stewart was driving crashed off a bridge and plunged into the Neuse River near Smithfield, North Carolina.

1938 - Don Covay

Don Covay, American R&B, rock and roll and soul singer and songwriter. His most successful recordings included 'Mercy, Mercy' (1964), and 'See-Saw' (1965). He wrote 'Chain of Fools', a Grammy-winning song for Aretha Franklin. Covay died on Jan 30th 2015.

1938 - Holger Czukay

German musician, Holger Czukay, best known as a co-founder of the krautrock group Can. Czukay is notable for creating early important examples of ambient music, for exploring 'world music' well before the term was coined, and for being a pioneer of sampling.

1946 - Lee Oskar

Danish harmonica player Lee Oskar from American funk band War. Their album The World Is a Ghetto was the best-selling US album of 1973. They also scored the 1973 US No.2 single 'Cisco Kid'. In 1983 Oskar formed a company Lee Oskar Harmonicas to manufacture high-quality harmonicas.

1949 - Steve Lang

Canadian musician Steve Lang best known for his role as a bassist in the rock band April Wine from 1976 to 1984. Their 1976 album The Whole World's Goin' Crazy reached No.1 in Canada and was the first in Canadian history to have platinum advanced sales orders. He died on 4 February, 2017 aged 67.

1949 - Nick Lowe

English singer-songwriter, musician, and producer Nick Lowe who was a member of the pub rock group Brinsley Schwarz and Rockpile and is now a solo artist. Lowe had the 1978 UK No.7 single 'I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass' and 1979 UK No.12 single 'Cruel To Be Kind'.

1951 - Dougie Thompson

Scottish musician, Dougie Thompson who was the bassist with progressive rock band Supertramp. Thomson played with Supertramp on all of their most famous albums: Crime of the Century, Crisis? What Crisis?, Even in the Quietest Moments, Breakfast in America.

1960 - Nena

German singer-songwriter, actress, and comedian Nena, who became a UK One Hit Wonder with the 1984 UK No.1 '99 Red Balloons'.

1964 - Patterson Hood

Patterson Hood lead singer with the alternative country-Southern rock band Drive-By Truckers who had the 2014 US top 20 album with English Oceans. 

1970 - Sharon Corr

Sharon Corr, vocals, violin, with Irish band The Corrs, who had the 1998 UK No.3 single 'What Can I Do'. Talk On Corners was the best selling UK album of 1998 spending 142 weeks on the UK chart. The Corrs have sold 40 million albums worldwide.

1970 - Pasemaster Mace

Pasemaster Mace, from American hip hop trio De La Soul who had the 1990 UK No.7 single 'The Magic Number'.

1974 - Chad Butler

Chad Butler drummer with Switchfoot. Their 2014 album Fading West reached No.6 on the US album chart.