On October 29th, in 1916, songwriter, pianist and singer Hadda Brooks AKA the Queen of Boogie (Hattie L. Hapgood) was born in Los Angeles, California. Her parents were migrants from the South. Her mother was a doctor and her father was a deputy sheriff. She was a student of classical music, being trained for over two decades by Italian piano teacher-Florence Bruni. She went to the University of Chicago, then came back to LA. She started her professional career as a dance studio pianist in 1940. She married in 1941, a Harlem Globetrotter named Earl Morrison. He passed a year later.
In 1945 she made her first recording for Modern Records-Swingin’ the Boogie. She made her first vocal recording in 1947: You Won’t Let Me Go. She had a couple cameos in movies in the 50s: In a Lonely Place & The Bad and the Beautiful. She moved to Australia in the 70s and lived there for several years. From 1970 to 1986 or so, she was a ‘retired’ musician. She made her official comeback at Perino’s in Los Angeles in 1986. She continued to perform in the area up to the late 90s. She was one of the originators for the Boogie sound and swinging ballads, she also pioneered the performance scene for women. She passed away in 2002 at age 86.
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On October 29th, in 1955, the Cure’s keyboardist-Roger O'Donnell was born in London, England. O’Donnell was a big fan of the Sequential Circuits brand of synthesizers, amassing a very large collection. His first gig came about in the mid 70s, when he played as part of the backing band for Arthur Brown. By the time the 80s hit (1983), Roger would become the keyboardist for the Thompson Twins. He was mostly a touring & session musician during the early part of the decade leading up to 1985 (playing live for the Psychedelic Furs & Berlin). Two years later, in 1987, he joined the Cure.
He (c) is not recorded on the Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me LP, but he did act as live keyboardist during the tour. He began writing for the group on their next LP-Disintegration (1989). He penned two songs: Freak of Ghosts & Out of Mind. You can also catch him on the live LP-Entreat (1989). He left the band for 4 years and returned in 1994 for three LPs: Wild Mood Swings (1996), Bloodflowers (2000) and The Cure (2004). A year later, in 2005, he released his first solo LP-The Truth in Me. Rumors swarmed that he’d been fired from The Cure by lead singer Robert Smith via email, but those were just rumors. In 2011, he returned to the Cure lineup again, touring with them in Australia. He’s 63 today.
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On October 29th, in 1970, producer, songwriter and keyboardist with Jamiroquai-Toby (Grafftey) Smith was born in London, England. He is an original member of the band (1992), who had to leave in 2002 to handle some familial situations. He was in the middle of Jamiroquai’s Funk Odyssey tour when he left. However, he never stopped working on music. He used his songwriting and production skills to help The Hoosiers put together some songs. He also worked with the UK band Absent Elk on their 2009 LP-Caught in the Headlights. Vocalist Matt Cardle hired Smith to co-produce his Porcelain LP in 2013.
He (l) was sole owner of Angelic Recording Studios in the Bandury area of London, where he penned and recorded several songs for other acts. I believe he’s one of those artists that has roots in Funk and world music, but is able to put a Pop twist to it all, making it sound original. Jamiroquai’s first two LP-Emergency on Planet Earth & Return of the Space Cowboy have a lot of his input, writing, production and of course keys all over it. His involvement with the writing process for the group is one of the major reasons of their success. He wasn’t a frontman, but he had the knowledge on what a good frontman needs, providing this for Jay Kay. He passed in 2017 at age 46.
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On October 29th, in 1972, former model and television and movie actress-Gabrielle (Monique) Union was born in Omaha, Nebraska (once a childhood city of Malcolm Little). Before she was 10, her family moved to California. She had some self-esteem issues rooted in ethnicity when she was young. She believed that because the image of beauty in America was blonde hair and blue-eyes, and she looked nothing of the sort, then she was unattractive. Her victimization doesn’t stop there. When she was 19, she was raped at the Payless store she worked in, surviving the attack, she sued Payless for negligence and won. Interesting fact: Gabrielle knows a lot about football, specifically Nebraska Cornhusker football.
She was a Big 8 conference fanatic and knows all the defensive and offensive formations. He first major movie roles were in Bring it on & Love & Basketball, both of which came out in 2000. Bring it on was the movie that would solidify her mainstream status. She’d appeared in plenty of TV shows during the late 90s (Star Trek, Smart Guy, Sister Sister & 7th Heaven). In 2004 she was in Bad Boys II with Will Smith and Breakin’ All the Rules with Jamie Foxx. She also had a major role in Something the Lord Made, playing Mos Def’s wife. By 2006, her career was in full swing. You can catch her in just about everything. She’s 46 today.
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On October 29th, in 1990 Cleveland, Ohio was definitely Rockin’ in with the 1990 class of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame inductees. This was the 6th class to be inducted and they included artists like: The Impressions, John Lee Hookeer, The Byrds, Wilson Pickett, Jimmy Reed, Ike and Tina Turner and LaVern Baker. The Impressions had some real talent come out of the group that could hold their own on the solo tip: LeRoy Hutson, Jerry Butler, Curtis Mayfield. Wicked Pickett (above) had hits like Mustang Sally that kept dance floors packed. John Lee Hooker would become one of the first contemporary Blues artists to make the roster.
Proud Mary, Funkier than a Mosquito’s Tweeter and Doin’ it would be the staples that folks remember from Ike & Tina (Annie Mae!). The 60s Pop tunes of the Byrds & LaVerne Baker (l), plus the guitar playing of Jimmy Reed all helped bring the class of ’99 in with style. I’d put any of these inductees up against contemporary artists of the same genre and they’d burn em all, easily…S.O. to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame for immortalizing these acts. It’s a tremendous honor to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, and all are worthy of it.
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Honorable Mention: On October 29th, in 1946, singer, harmonica player, guitarist, songwriter and the original founder of the band Fleetwood Mac-Peter Green was born in Bethnel Green, London, England. Originally the band was called Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac featuring Jeremy Spencer. Mick Fleetwood was the drummer and Jeremy Spencer was on guitar. This was around the mid to late 60s. By 1970, Green would no longer be a member of the band. However, he laid the foundation for their Blues Rock sound. He’s 72 today.
…‘float like a butterfly, sting like a bee…rumble young man, rumble…ahhhhhh!’…On October 29th, fourteen years apart, two major things happened for Muhammad Ali. First, in 1960-then Cassius Clay would win his first professional bout in his home city of Louisville, Kentucky. Soon after this he’d change his name to Muhammad Ali, via the Nation of Islam’s Elijah Muhammad giving him the name. Next, in 1974, Ali regained his heavyweight title from heavily favored George Foreman, using the Rope-a-Dope style that he invented. This was the infamous Rumble in the Jungle match that went down in Zaire. Technically the fight was on the 30th in Zaire (4AM), but it was 10PM in the US when it aired.
On October 29th, in 1969, the highest court in the land-The Supreme Court mandated that segregation in all public schools in America was outlawed, ‘at once’. The order assured a Free and Appropriate Public Education for all students, regardless of gender, ethnicity, income or disability. As an educator, I find the desegregation mandate a step in the right direction, but it lacks the foresight to see how the public school system would become less valued by the masses and lack of support would lead to disgruntled educators and rest havens for untapped minds.
On October 29th, in 2014, former Genesis lead singer, guitarist, bassist, keyboardist, songwriter and drummer-Phil Collins parted ways with a valuable collection of items he’d been acquiring since childhood. Collins owned a large collection of authentic Alamo artifacts for 60 years and donated them all to the museum in Texas. He had items like Jim Bowie’s knife and a leather pouch worn by Davy Crockett. He stated that he started his collection when he was 5 or 6 years old. Not sure why a child from the UK would be so interested in the Alamo, but obviously he was…
For more information on any musician or event reviewed in posts, or for additional information on the Wandering Eyes Blog overall, use the search bar and search the artist or event using keywords. It’s like a Google search for the site. A myriad of information, covering several topics exists on this site going back to 2013 when it was created. PEACE!