On June 11th, in 1950, multi-genre singer, songwriter, recording artist and one of the co-founding members of the seminal soul vocal quartet-The Pointer Sisters-Bonnie Pointer (Patricia Eva Pointer, both-2nd r) was born in Oakland, CA. She’s most known for co-writing The Pointer Sisters’ Grammy winning country song-Fairytale (1974) with her sister Anita. They became the first Black female group to win a Grammy for a country song, going on to appear at the Grande Ole Opry in Nashville, TN. Bonnie started singing when she was very young. Music was ever present in her home, and she and her sisters-Anita-Ruth-and June would often harmonize while listening to the radio. Bonnie sang in church, at school and at social gatherings during her elementary years.
She was heavily influenced by the Andrew Sisters and similar vocal groups of the ‘barbershop quartet’ era. She and her sister June started a duo group called the Pairs when they were in their teens (1969). The duo became a trio when Anita was added and they renamed themselves-The Pointer Sisters. They funk scene in the Bay area was booming with groups like Cold Blood and Tower of Power, they sang backing vocals for both. In 1971, they got signed to Atlantic and added Ruth to the group in 1972. The quartet released their debut LP in 1973-Yes We Can Can (ABC/Blue Thumb Records). In the 70s, The Pointer Sisters released several LPs, did session vocals for others and appeared on TV and in films (Soul Train, Car Wash). Bonnie married Motown producer-Jeffrey Bowen in 1978 and continued to have a successful career in the 80s. She’s 69 today.
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On June 11th, in 1953, funk musician, disco pioneer, singer, keyboardist, audio engineer/recorder, percussionist, seminal songwriter, producer, drummer and house music innovator-Peter Brown was born in Blue Island, Illinois (Southwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois). He’s most ‘unknown’ for writing Madonna’s 80s pop hit-Material Girl. Brown also had his own 70s disco/funk hit-Do You Wanna Get Funky with Me (1977). The multi-instrumentalist got his start via his mother Virginia teaching him piano, and vocals when he was a child. During his elementary years, he got into electronics and technology. His father taught him the ins and outs of the TEAC A-1200 2-track, a classic tape recorder used for making simple demos, loops and overdubs of existing tracks. In the early 70s, Brown got interested in the budding funk scene and started learning the drums.
He graduated high school, enrolled at The School of Arts Institute of Chicago and began playing synthesizer. Cory Wade of TK Records got wind of Brown’s musical abilities and signed him to the imprint. However, Brown didn’t view himself as an ‘artist’ and wanted to be a producer. Once Wade heard the demo track Brown created-Do You Wanna Get Funky with Me (1977), he made Brown the frontman and released the single. Interesting fact: the cover art for the single is made from cardboard, ribbons and pantyhose. Brown recorded the rest of his first LP-A Fantasy Love Affair (1977) in less than 6 months. He appeared in several films and TV shows as a performer and actor. In the early 80s, he started working with Madonna and continued to pioneer the sound of dance music. He’s 66 today.
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On July 11th, in 1974, controversial hip hop musician, actress, 90s pop culture figure, model, rapper and former member of Junior M.A.F.I.A.-‘Lil Kim (Kimberly Denise Jones) aka Queen Bee was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York. Love her or hate her, but if you were around in the mid to late 90s, you know exactly who ‘Lil Kim is. She was the feisty, explicit, unfiltered alleged lover of Biggie Smalls. Kim rhymed for the women from the street hustle scene. She represented a mixture of loyalty, official gangster-ism and sexual freedom. She met Biggie around 1992 as he was gearing up to release his debut. He put Kim is his splinter group-Junior M.A.F.I.A. and they released an LP in 1995-Hard Core. It sold moderately well, but Kim by far was a standout based not so much on her gender, but her flow, which Biggie was penning (for the most part).
Her delivery wasn’t Biggie’s style, but he did coach her on how to spit her own style better. I raise this point to illustrate that she had raw talent, in cadence and flow, she only needed help with her lyrics at first and shortly after Get Money and Player’s Anthem blew up, she started penning her own lyrics. By popular demand, Lil’ Kim released her solo debut-Hard Core (1996), becoming one of the few Junior M.A.F.I.A. members to do so. Around the same time, Biggie and Kim were having a romantic falling out and some of the lyrics on her songs speak on it. In 1998, she started her own label-Queen Bee Entertainment. It folded shortly after. She also modeled for several companies like Baby Phat, Versace and Candie’s. After Biggie’s death, she continued to have success and appeared in films, on commercials, magazine covers, and recorded a theme song for Trish Stratus (WWE Champion)-Time to Rock ‘n’ Roll (2002). She’s 45 today.
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HONORABLE MENTION: On July 11th, in 1947, reggae musician, entertainer, radio personality, songwriter and former member of the Paragons-John (Kenneth) Holt was born in Kingston, Jamaica. Holt’s professional career started when he was 12, appearing on Radio Jamaica. He initiated his recording career in 1963 at seminal studios like Studio One and Treasure Isle. Leslie Kong, Duke Reid and Coxsone Dodd were some of his close associates. Holt wrote songs for others like Prince Buster, Bunny Lee and Alvin Ranglin. His solo music and songs with the Paragons were very successful. In the 70s and 80s he released over 40 albums. He was 67 when he passed.
On July 11th, in 1951, the term ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’ was made popular by infamous DJ Alan Freed on station WJW in Cleveland, OH. Freed didn’t invent the term, but rather popularized it. Freed was well-known for his Moondog House Rock and Roll Party program. He played mostly R&B, jump blues and soul, introducing Black artists to a largely White audience that had no other means of hearing the music. Louis Jordan, Ray Charles, Muddy Waters, Ike Turner, Elmore James, Bo Diddley, and Ruth Brown are a few of the artists that stayed on heavy rotation. Freed went on to promote Rock ‘n Roll shows all around the Midwest.
On July 11th, in 1958, jazz musician, saxophonist, composer, sideman, flautist, songwriter, film scorer, solo artist and seminal session musician-Kirk Whalum was born in Memphis, TN. He’s most known for playing sax on hits by-Bob James, Donny Hathaway, Luther Vandross, Johnathan Butler, Babyface and Whitney Houston. He also released over 30 solo albums ranging from jazz to gospel. His style can be categorized as smooth jazz with a hard bop backdrop. He started playing professionally in the Texas Southern Marching Band aka the Ocean of Soul. The Grammy Award winning artist is 61 today.
On June 10th, in 2014, we lost a seminal punk musician, producer, drummer, songwriter, guitarist and co-founding member of the Ramones-Tommy Ramone (Thomas Erdelyi, Tamas Erdelyi) was born in Budapest, Hungary. Tommy’s first band was called the Tangerine Puppets with Johnny Ramone. He played guitar and wrote some of the songs He also worked as a producer with the Band of Gypsys (Jimi Hendrix, Billy Cox, Buddy Miles). In the mid 70s, he co-founded the Ramones with Dee Dee, Joey and Johnny. Tommy became the drummer by default after the band needed a drummer to replace Joey who became lead singer. Originally, Tommy was supposed to be their manager. He was 65 when he passed.
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