JANUARY 27, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!
1895 - Buddy DeSylva, songwriter (alone and as part of the writing and publishing partnership DeSylva, Brown and Henderson), singer, Broadway and motion picture producer, and one of Capitol Records three founders, is born George Gard DeSylva in New York City, New York
95 Years Ago Today In 1916 - Milt Raskin, lyricist (with Pete Rugalo for Stan Kenton's Capitol Records album "Artistry in Voices and Brass"), composer with lyricist and Capitol Records co-founder Johnny Mercer ("I Never Wanna Look Into Those Eyes"), session pianist for Billie Holiday, Gene Krupa, and Capitol Records artists Wingy Manone and Anita O'Day, arranger and conductor for Capitol Records artists Peggy Lee, Nat "King" Cole, and Vic Damone, conductor for M-G-M, Columbia and Disney's studio orchestras, arranger for the soundtracks to the motion pictures "The Agony and the Ecstacy" and "Lawrence of Arabia" and the television shows "Naked City" and "The Fugitive", is born Milton W. Raskin in Boston, Massachusetts
1918 - Skitch Henderson, pianist, bandleader ("The Tonight Show" orchestra, with both Steve Allen and Johnny Carson, until 1966), composer, and Capitol Records artist, is born Lyle Russell Cedric Henderson
1930 - Dick Meldonian, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophone player, flute and clarinet player, with both Capitol Records artists Freddie Slack and Stan Kenton's orchestras, is born in Providence, Rhode Island
1945 - Nick Mason, composer and drummer with the Tower, Harvest, Columbia (UK and US) and Capitol Records band Pink Floyd (and its only remaining original member), is born Nicholas Berkeley Mason in Birmingham (Downshire Hills), England
65 Years Ago Today In 1951 - Seth Justman, songwriter, record producer, keyboardist and vocalist with the Capitol Records group The J. Geils Band, is born in Washington, DC
1957 - Janick Gers, composer and guitarist with the Capitol Records band Iron Maiden, is born Janick Robert Gers in England

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1944 - Ella Mae Morse (with the Dick Walters Orchestra)'s Capitol Records single "No Love, No Nothin'", the flip side of "Shoo Shoo Baby", enters the top 40 of the U.S. Pop singles charts
1947 - The King Cole Trio's Capitol Records Single "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons", the flip side of "The Best Man" is still #1 on the U.S. Pop singles chart and Johnny Mercer's Capitol Records single "A Gal In Calico", the flip side of "Winter Wonderland" is still #2
1969 - The Beatles record tracks for the songs "Get Back" and "I've Got A Feeling" that will be released on their Apple Records album "Let It Be" and distributed by Capitol Records in the United States
1979 - Little River Band's Harvest Records (a subsidiary of Capitol Records) single "Lady", with "Take Me Home" on the flip side, enters the top 40 of Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart
1998 - Capitol Records Nashville artist Trace Adkins and his wife welcome a new baby girl, Mackenzie Lynn Adkins, at 3:44 p.m. at Baptist Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. Mackenzie weighs 5 lbs., 15 1/2 oz. and measures 19 inches in length.
2005 - Capitol Records artist Houston attempts to jump out of a London hotel window, is prevented from doing so by his security staff, is locked in his room, and then gouges out one of his eyes

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1919 - Ross Bagdasarian (aka David Seville), singer, songwriter ("Come On A My House", "Witch Doctor", "The Chipmunk Song [Christmas Time Is Here Again]"), actor, creator of Alvin and The Chipmunks, and Liberty Records artist, is born in Fresno, California
50 Years Ago Today In 1961 - Martin Degville, guitarist for the EMI America group Sigue Sigue Sputnik, is born somewhere in England. If anyone knows for sure where, please leave a comment

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
255 Years Ago Today In 1756 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composer and pianist, is born in Austria
1885 - Jerome Kern, composer (Broadway shows including "Sunny", "Show Boat" and "Roberta", motion pictures "Love Me Tonight", "Swing Time", "Cover Girl") is born Jerome David Kern in New York City, New York. His life was the basis for the M-G-M motion picture musical "As Clouds Roll By" which had segments that feature future Capitol Records artists Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland and future United Artists Records artist Lena Horne. In 1992, Capitol Records releases "The Song Is You: Capitol Sings Jerome Kern", a compilation of various Capitol Records artists singing Kern's best known works, on CD and cassette as part of its "Capitol Sings" series.
1895 - Harry Ruby, pianist, Broadway and motion picture songwriter ("I Want To Be Loved By You" and for the Marx Brothers films "Animal Cracker", "Horse Feathers", and "Duck Soup" with partner Bert Kalmar) and screenwriter, is born in New York City. His life would become the basis of the 1950 M-G-M motion picture musical "Three Little Words"
1997 - Gerald Marks, composer (best known for the song "All of Me" that's been covered by many Capitol Records artists including Frank Sinatra and Nat "King" Cole) dies at age 96