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Rock and Roll Birthdays

Today's Rock and Roll Birthdays

February 18th

February 18th Birthday, Conceptual artist, musician Yoko Ono, born in 1933 in Tokyo, Japan.

February 18th Birthday, The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers and The New Riders Of The Purple Sage bass player and singer Skip Batton, born Clyde Battin in 1934 in Gallipolis, Ohio. Battin sang in the duo, Skip and Flip, with Gary Paxton. He passed away with Alzheimer’s disease on July 6th, 2003 at the age of 69.

February 18th Birthday, Singer, songwriter and one half of the hit songwriting team Boyce and Hart with Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart, born Robert Luke Harshman in Phoenix, Arizona in 1939. Bobby Hart’s tunes have sold over forty million records.

February 18th Birthday, Soul, gospel singer Irma Thomas, born in 1941 in Ponchatoula, Louisiana.

February 18th Birthday, Styx singer, pianist, songwriter and solo artist Dennis DeYoung, born in Chicago, Illinois in 1947.

February 18th Birthday, The Doobie Brothers drummer and vocalist Keith Knudsen (pronounced keh-nude-sen), born in 1952 in Le Mars, Iowa. He passed away from pneumonia on February 5th, 2005 at the age of 56.

February 18th Birthday, Singer, songwriter Juice Newton, born Judith Newton in Lakehurst, New Jersey in 1952.

February 18th Birthday, Bachman-Turner Overdrive drummer Robbie Bachman, born in 1953 in Winnipeg, Canada. He passed away on January 12th, 2023 at the age of 69.

February 18th Birthday, Guitarist Brian James from The Damned, born in Hammersmith, London, England in 1955. James was also a member of the Lords Of The New Church.

February 18th Birthday, Punk rock guitarist from The Dead Boys, Cheeta Chrome, born Eugene Richard O’Conner in Cleveland, Ohio.

Today In Rock and Roll History

February 18th

February 18th, 1959 Ray Charles and His Orchestra record “What’d I Say” with producer Jerry Wexler and engineer Tom Dowd in New York City. Written by Charles, the song was first improvised onstage in 1958 when the band had already played their set with time left. There were issues with the recording. First the track was twice as long as a typical single, which was solved by dividing it into Pts. 1 and 2. Secondly, Atlantic was concerned about sexual innuendos in the call and response section. In the editing process, some of the “Shake That Thing” vocals were removed. Atlantic Records released “What’d I Say” on June 15th on 45. The record peaked at No. 6 on August 22nd.

February 18th, 1960 The Everly Brothers record “When Will I Be Loved” with producer Archie Bleyer at RCA Studio in Nashville. Written by Phil Everly, the recording featured Chet Atkins on guitar, Buddy Harmon on drums and Floyd Cramer on piano. The track was issued on Cadence Records in May reaching No. 8 on July 23rd.

February 18th, 1967 “Kind Of A Drag” by The Buckinghams is the No. 1 record in the US.

February 18th, 1967 Laurie Records release “The Return Of The Red Baron” by The Royal Guardsmen on 45. The song was co-written by James Lee McCullough, John Y. McCullough and Phil Gernhard. Produced by Gernhard Enterprises, the record spent seven weeks on the charts, “The Return Of The Red Baron” peaked at No. 15 on March 25th.

February 18th, 1967 Dunhill Records release “Dedicated To The One I Love” by The Mamas & The Papas on 45. Co-written by Lowman Pauling and Ralph Bass for The Five Royals in 1959, the Mamas and Papas’ version was the first of the group’s recordings to feature Michelle Phillips on lead vocals. The record went to No. 2 in both Britain and, in the US, on March 25th.

February 18th, 1969 Columbia Records release “Are You Ready” by The Chambers Brothers on 45. Written by Julias Chambers, the record was produced by Tim O’Brien. Lester Chambers claims he wrote the song. The record peaked at No. 113 on March 15th.

February 18th, 1970 Rare Earth Records release “Get Ready” by Rare Earth on 45. Covering The Temptations’ hit from 1966 written by Smokey Robinson, the single was an edit from the side-long album track live recording. The Rare Earth single peaked at No. 4 on June 13th.

February 18th, 1971 Tamla Records release Stevie Wonder’s cover version of the John Lennon and Paul McCartney song “We Can Work It Out” on 45. The record reached No. 13 in the United States on May 1st and earned Wonder his fifth Grammy Award nomination in 1972, for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. The single’s B-side, co-written by Wonder and his wife Syreeta Wright, “Never Dreamed You’d Leave In Summer” charted as well and went to No. 78 on July 3rd.

February 18th, 1972 Parrot Records release “Hellbound Train” by Savoy Brown. Recorded at Trident Studios in London, England with producer Neil Slaven and engineer Roy Thomas Baker, the album reached No. 34 on May 27th.

February 18th, 1972 Irish singer Gilbert O’Sullivan’s “Alone Again (Naturally)” is released on 45 in Britain, written by O’Sullivan and produced by Gordon Mills. Following its American release in May the song became a No. 1 record on July 29th, selling over two million copies.

February 18th, 1972 Neil Young was awarded a Gold Record for “Harvest,” the only No. 1 album of his career.

February 18th, 1974 Apple Records release “Oh, My My” by Ringo Starr, the third hit single from his “Ringo” album. The recording was produced by Richard Perry and includes backing vocals by Merry Clayton and Martha Reeves. Billy Preston played keyboards on the session. The record came out nearly two years later, January 9th, 1976, on 45 in Britain. In America, “Oh My My” peaked at No. 5 on April 27th.

February 18th, 1974 Casablanca Records release the self-titled first album by Kiss. Most of the songs on the record were written by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley during their tenure in the pre-Kiss lineup Wicked Lester. The LP was recorded at Bell Sound Studios in New York City, a studio owned by the company that owned Buddah Records. Neil Bogart, who signed the band, was an executive at Buddah prior to forming his own Casablanca label. The record was co-produced by Kenny Kerner and Ritchie Wise and peaked at No. 87 on June 8th.

February 18th, 1974 Yes performed the first of two sold out nights at Madison Square Garden.

February 18th, 1976 Columbia Records release “Silk Degrees,” the seventh album by Boz Scaggs. Recorded at Davlen Sound Studios and Hollywood Sound Studios in Los Angeles, playing on the sessions were David Paich, Jeff Porcaro and David Hungate, who became members of Toto and Fred Tackett, who became a member of Little Feat. The album went to No. 2 on September 18th and the single “Lowdown” won a Grammy Award for Best R&B song of 1976 and was nominated for four others.

February 18th, 1977 Stiff Records in Britain release “Damned Damned Damned” the debut album by The Damned. The record was produced by Nick Lowe at Pathway Studios in London from September 1976 through January 1977. The record went to No. 36 in Britain.

February 18th, 1977 Charisma Records in Britain release “Your Own Special Way” by Genesis on 45. The record entered the charts in the US on March 12th on Atco Records. Written by bassist Mike Rutherford, the record was Genesis’ first charting 45 in America, peaking at No. 62 on April 2nd.

February 18th, 1977 Island Records in Britain release “Everything I Need” by Bad Company on 45. The song was co-written and produced by the four members of the band. Recorded in July 1976, the song was released from Bad Company’s “Burnin’ Sky” LP.

February 18th, 1977 Manfred Mann’s Earth Band’s cover of the Bruce Springsteen song Blinded By The Light hits No. 1 in the US.

February 18th, 1978 “Sweet Talkin’ Woman” by The Electric Light Orchestra enters the singles charts. Initial copies of the 45 came in a full color picture sleeve on translucent purple vinyl. Written and produced by ELO’s Jeff Lynne, the record was a Top Ten hit in Britain and went to No. 17 in the US, on April 29th.

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 Vincent. 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.