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Rock and Roll Birthdays

Today's Rock and Roll Birthdays

February 5th

February 5th Birthday, Wrecking Crew drummer and session musician Hal Blaine, born Harold Simon Belsky in 1929 in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Blaine played on fifty No. 1’s and over one hundred and fifty Top Ten hits. He died on March 11th, 2019, aged 90.

February 5th Birthday, Singer, songwriter, guitarist Alex Harvey from the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, born in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland, in 1935. He died on February 4th, 1982 of a heart attack, one day before his 47th birthday.

February 5thBirthday, Record producer and songwriter Phil Gerhart, born in 1940 in Evanston, Illinois. His list of hits included collaborations with Maurice Williams and The Zodiacs, The Royal Guardsmen, Dion, Lobo, Jim Stafford and The Bellamy Brothers.

February 5th Birthday, Early Motown star and staff writer Barrett Strong, born in 1941 in Westpoint, Mississippi. He passed away on January 29th, 2023 at the age of 81.

February 5th Birthday, Bassist Rick Laird from The Mahavishnu Orchestra, born in Dublin, Ireland in 1941. He passed away on July 4th, 2021, aged 80.
February 5th Birthday, Three Dog Night founder and vocalist Cory Wells, born Emil Lewandowski in 1941 in Buffalo, New York. He died on October 20th, 2015, aged 74.

February 5th Birthday, Blood Sweat and Tears trumpet and flugelhorn player Chuck Winfield, born in Monesen, Pennsylvania in 1942.

February 5th Birthday, Singer, songwriter, session man and founding member of The Blues Project and Blood Sweat and Tears, Al Kooper, born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt in 1944 in Brooklyn, New York City.

February 5th Birthday, J.R. Cobb from Classics IV and The Atlanta Rhythm Section, born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1944. He died on May 4th, 2019, aged 75.

February 5th Birthday, David Denny, guitarist with the Steve Miller Band, born in Berkeley, California in 1948.

February 5th Birthday, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer and film score composer Cliff Martinez, born in The Bronx, New York City in 1954.

February 5th Birthday, Guns and Roses guitarist Duff McKagen, born Michael Andrew McKagan in Seattle, Washington in 1964.

February 5th Birthday, Spin Doctors singer Chris Barron, born Christopher Barron Gross in 1968 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Today In Rock and Roll History

February 5th

February 5th, 1958 Coral Records release “I’m Gonna Love You Too” by Buddy Holly on 45. Co-written in 1957, the song is credited to Holly’s bassist Joe B. Mauldin, Crickets’ guitarist Niki Sullivan and Holly’s manager Norman Petty. Cricket’s drummer Jerry Allison refutes the claim and stated the song was a co-write by he and Buddy Holly. A number of artists covered the song. The Hullabaloos charted with it in 1964. Blondie covered “I’m Gonna Love You Too” in 1978.

February 5th, 1965 Guitarist Jimmy Page releases his first solo single, “She Just Satisfies” backed with “Keep Moving” on Fontana Records in Britain. Both songs were co-written by Page and Barry Mason and Page played all the instruments except for drums on the tracks. Page would soon join The Yardbirds and became a founding member of Led Zeppelin.

February 5th, 1966 “My Love” by Petula Clark is the No. 1 record in the US, Clark’s second US No. 1.

February 5th, 1966 Bang Records release “Up And Down” by The McCoys on 45. Co-written by Dennis Lambert and Louis Pegues, the single was produced by Robert Felman, Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gottehrer, The Strangeloves. The record peaked at No. 46 on March 12th.

February 5th, 1966 “Red Hot” by Sam The Sham and The Pharaohs enters the singles charts. A cover of the Billy Lee Riley song from 1956, the record spent five weeks on the charts and peaked at No. 82 on February 26th.

February 5th, 1966 “Since I Lost The One I Love” by The Impressions enters the singles charts on ABC Paramount Records. Written by Curtis Mayfield, who sang lead on the track, with a string arrangement conducted by Johnny Pate, the single peaked at No. 90 on February 12th.

February 5th, 1966 “Lost Someone” by James Brown and The Famous Flames enters the singles charts. Issued as the B-side of the single “I Go Crazy,” the song was co-written by James Brown, Baby Lloyd Stallworth and Bobby Byrd. The single charted for twelve weeks and peaked at No. 48 on February 24th.

February 5th, 1966 “Batman Theme” by The Marketts enters the singles charts. The all-instrumental group were mostly a band of studio musicians that included drummer Hal Blaine and led by Michael Z. Gordon. Gordon had a dual career with a second band he formed called The Routers. Written by Neil Hefti and produced by Dick Glasser for Warner Brothers Records, “Batman Theme” charted for nine weeks and peaked at No. 17 on March 12th.

February 5th, 1967 February 5th, 1969 Atco Records in the US release “Goodbye,” the fourth album by Cream, out a day later in Britain. Produced by Felix Pappalardi, the LP included three studio tracks and three songs recorded live. The record went to No. 1 in the UK and No. 2 in America, on March 15th.

February 5th, 1969 Liberty Records release “Time Was” by Canned Heat on 45. Co-written by Heat members Alan Wilson, Bob Hite, Henry Vestine, Larry Taylor and Fito De la Para. The record entered the singles charts in March and peaked at No. 67 on April 5th.

February 5th, 1969 Columbia Records release “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy” by Blood Sweat and Tears. A 1967 single for Brenda Holloway on the Tamla label, co-written by Holloway, Patrice Holloway, Frank Wilson and Berry Gordy Jr., the Blood Sweat and Tears version entered the charts in March and reached No. 2 on April 12th.

February 5th, 1970 David Bowie appears on BBC Radio performing fifteen songs that included “Amsterdam,” “God Knows I’m Good,” “Memory Of A Free Cloud,” “The Cygnet Committee,” “The Width Of A Circle” and “Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed.” The session took place at the BBC’s Paris Theatre on Lower Regent Street in London for John Peel’s The Sunday Show, broadcast three days later. It was Bowie’s first appearance live with guitarist Mick Ronson. Also in the band were bassist Tony Visconti and drummer John Cambridge.

February 5th, 1971 Black Sabbath started recording what would be their third album, “Master Of Reality,” at Island Studios in London, England.

February 5th, 1972 Spindizzy Records release “1+1,” the second album by Grin. Guitarist and singer Nils Lofgren wrote all the songs for the album, produced by David Briggs. The LP peaked at No. 180 on February 26th.

February 5th, 1972 “Baby I’m-A Want You,” the fourth studio album by Bread enters the album charts following a January release on Elektra Records. The LP featured four hit singles, the LP’s title track, “Everything I Own,” “Mother Freedom” and “Diary.” The record went to No. 3 on March 25th.

February 5th, 1972 T Rex were at No. 1 on the British singles chart with “Telegram Sam,” the group’s third UK No. 1.

February 5th, 1972 “Get Out Of Bed” by Livingston Taylor enters the singles charts following a December release on Capricorn Records. Written by Taylor, the record was produced by Jon Landau. The 45 charted for two weeks and peaked at No. 97 on February 12th.

February 5th, 1972 Polydor Records release “Living Without You” by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band on 45. The song was written by Randy Newman and the record produced by David Mackay. “Living Without You” charted for seven weeks and peaked at No. 69 on April 8th.

February 5th, 1972 Sussex Records release “Taurus” by Dennis Coffey and The Detroit Guitar Band on 45. Coffey played on a number of hit records for Motown artists, The Temptations, Freda Payne and others. “Taurus” was the follow-up to the Top Ten instrumental hit, “Scorpio.” Written by Dennis Coffey, the record entered the charts in February and peaked at No. 18 on April 15th.

February 5th, 1977 “Do Ya” by The Electric Light Orchestra enters the singles charts. The song had charted for The Move in December 1971 while songwriter Jeff Lynne was a member of the group. Now the guitarist and songwriter for ELO, the band re-recorded the song for their LP “A New World’s Record.” “Do Ya” spent twelve weeks in the charts and peaked at No. 24 on April 2nd.

February 5th, 1977 Private Stock Records release the self-titled debut album by Blondie. The record was produced by Richard Gottehrer at Plaza Sound Studios in New York City in August through September 1976. The LP would be re-issued by Chrysalis Records in September and charted in Australia and Britain.

February 5th, 1977 “Here Comes Those Tears Again” by Jackson Browne enters the singles charts. The song was co-written by Browne and Nancy Farnsworth. Keyboardist Billy Payne from Little Feat played on the session, along with guitarist John Hall and Bonnie Raitt on harmony vocals. The record peaked at No. 23 on March 19th.

February 5th, 1980 Fiction Records in Britain release “Boys Don’t Cry,” the fifth studio album by The Cure. The record’s title track was the new single, along with tracks from the band’s first album “Three Imaginary Boys,” and four other new songs. The LP went to No. 71 in the UK and produced a string of British hits.

February 5th, 1990 Parlophone Records release Paul McCartney’s “Put It There” on 45 backed with a previously unreleased 1972 Wings recording, “Mama’s Little Girl.” Both songs were written and produced by Paul McCartney. The twelve-inch single included another previously unreleased Wings’ track, “Same Time Next Year,” recorded in in May 1978. Capitol Records in the US had issued “Put It There” as a promotional only 45 in July. The record peaked at No. 32 in Britain.

Miscellaneous February

February 1957 Gale Records release “Chickee Wah Wah” by Bobby Marchan on 45. The song was co-written by Huey “Piano” Smith and John Voncent. Smith played piano on the track. Marchan was the lead singer in Smith’s band Huey “Piano” Smith and The Clowns, a popular live attraction in New Orleans in the 1950’s and 1960’s.

February 1964 Polydor Records in Britain release “I Just Wanna Make Love To You” backed with “Let The Good Times Roll,” the first single by Scottish singer Alex Harvey and His Soul Band. Harvey wrote the A-side lyrics, reworking the Willie Dixon song. The flip side was penned by Leonard Lee, a cover version of the Shirley and Lee song from 1961.

February 1968 Lee Hazelwood’s LHI Records release “Safe As Home” by The International Submarine Band. Led by twenty-one-year-old Gram Parsons, the LP was recorded at Western Sound (Studio B) in Hollywood with producer Suzi Jane Hokom. Parsons had accepted the offer to join The Byrds before the album was released.

February 1973 Harvest Records release “Lifemask,” the sixth album by Roy Harper. Produced by Peter Jenner at Abbey Road Studios in London, Jimmy Page and Nice drummer Brian Davidson were among the studio musicians on the record.

February 1973 John Martyn’s “Solid Air” album is released. Recording began in July 1972 at Sound Techniques in Chelsea with producer John Wood. Further sessions took place in September and recording was completed by December 9th, 1972.

February 1974 A&M Records release “When The Morning Comes” by Hoyt Axton on 45. Written by Axton who co-produced the track with Allan McDougall, the song features Linda Ronstadt on backing vocals.

February 1975 Warner Brothers Records release “Rock The Nation,” the debut single from Montrose. Co-produced by the band and Ted Templeman, the band included lead vocalist Sammy Hagar, guitarist Ronnie Montrose, Bill Church on bass and Denny Carmassi on drums.

February 1976 RCA/Equinox Records release “Jamaica Farewell” by California Music on 45. The traditional song was co-credited to Terry Melcher, Curt Boettcher and Gary Usher. Usher and Melcher were in the group along with Beach Boy Bruce Johnston.

February 1977 DEVO release their first single on their own record label, Booji Boy Records. “Mongoloid” backed with “Jocko Homo” was co-credited and produced by the band. Both songs would be rerecorded for the group’s first LP “Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are DEVO!” in 1978.

February 1978 Columbia Records release “Godzilla” by Blue Öyster Cult on 45. The song was written by Cult guitarist Donald Roeser from Blue Öyster Cult’s fifth album “Spectres.” The record was co-produced by the band, Murray Krugman, Sandy Pearlman and David Lucas.

February 1980 CBS Records in Ireland release “Another Day” backed with “Twilight” by U2 on 45. The group co-wrote the LP collectively and co-produced the disc with Chas De Walley.

February 1980 Virgin Records in the US release the first stateside single by XTC. “Ten Feet Tall” was written by bassist Colin Moulding and produced by Phil Wainman, While the label copy states the song is from the band’s “Drums And Wires” LP, the version issued on the 45 in not the same as the one on the album.

February 1987 Legacy Records in Britain release “Staring Up” by Roy Wood. The LP was written produced and arranged by Roy Wood, playing and singing all the instruments and vocals himself.