On July 28th, in 1948, Gerald Casale, the bassists/guitarist, vocalist, and synthesizer player for Devo was born in Ravenna, Ohio. He was a founding member of the group and directed most of their videos, along with videos for other bands like: The Foo Fighters, The Cars, Soundgarden and Rush.
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On July 28th, in 1992, the battle between the American urban police officer and the Hip Hop community over the frequency of police brutality against people of color, reached an epic high. FTP was in full rage. The Rodney King beating had taken place a year prior, the Watts riots over the verdict had recently ended, and the gang truce was still strong. During this time, Hip Hoppers were revolutionary and more political. The Emcee turned actor/rock musician-Ice T-let the world know that Warner Brothers Records (Warn a brother wreck cores) was taking his heartfelt song ‘Cop Killer’ off the Body Count album because it encouraged killing cops (Pause). Ironically, he debuted his acting career as a cop (New Jack City).
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On July 28th, in 1995, Al Hendrix, Jimi Hendrix’s father, legally won the rights to his son’s name, likeness, image and music after numerous businesses/companies had profited off of it for decades. It's sad to ponder that a man, a father, had to go to court, to get the rights back of his own creation, his son. To a lesser extent, the music industry and publishing companies should have no legal ownership of any musician’s creation. In my opinion.
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On July 28th, in 2004, the vocalist for the soul group The Tymes, George Williams (center), died from cancer in Maple Shade, New Jersey. The Philadelphia based band had a 1963 million selling single ‘So Much in Love’, and in ‘75 they hit number 1 on the UK chart with ‘Ms Grace’. I have a few of their albums. They remind me of a funkier and more politicized version of Friends of Distinction or The Independents. George Williams died at age 68.
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Honorable mention: Exactly 22 years and one day after Prince’s Purple Rain film debuted (July 28th, 2006), his current second wife, Manuela Testolini Nelson filed for divorce. Prince’s first wife was Mayte Garcia. They married in 1996 and split up after two years. He married Manuela in 2001 and they were together for 5 years (2006). Five years later, Manuela married R&B crooner Eric Benet (2011). They’re still married and have two children.
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