On July 9th, in 1950, 70s soul musician, songwriter, session vocalist, pianist, composer, arranger, co-founding member of the funk outfit-East Coast, house music pioneering vocalist and 80s dance music icon-Gwen Guthrie (Gwendolyn Guhtrie) was born in Newark, New Jersey. TOV covered the artist’s death on the February 3rd post. Please refer to it for more information. Gwen is most known for her early and mid 80s dance hits like-Ain’t Nothin’ Going on But the Rent (1986), Say Yeah (duet with The Limit, 1984), Padlock (1985) and Nothing But Love (duet with Peter Tosh formerly of Bob Marley & the Wailers, 1981). She also has a lengthy discography as session vocalist, working with Aretha Franklin, Ashford & Simpson, Stevie Wonder, Roberta Flack, Billy Joel, Angela Bofill, Madonna and Ben E. King.
Many may be unfamiliar with her work as a songwriter, composer, arranger and lead singer of the band named East Coast. This band contained future members of Cameo like-Larry Blackmon, Gregory Johnson and seminal songwriter/composer-Patrick Grant. They had a debut LP in 1973 on the Encounter Records imprint. Their early sound can be compared to Funkadelic and Earth Wind & Fire’s work on Warner Brothers-the dark, dank, gritty funk, not the commercial/polished funk. Guthrie wrote one of my favorite songs on the LP-an instrumental funk smash-Miss Gigi. She also sings lead on my favorite song on the LP-the varied tempo and dark sounds of-You Can’t Let it Get You Down. East Coast by far, in my opinion is her best work. I dig her 80s dance hits ,but this LP captures the funk sound of the early 70s very well. She was 48 when she passed.
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On July 9th, in 1954, singer, dancer, and eldest member of the seminal disco female quartet-Sister Sledge-Debbie Sledge (Debra Sledge-c seated) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Debbie is probably the most recognizable of the sisters, being one of the tallest and thinnest in the group. She got into music with her younger sisters Joni, Kim and Kathy during her childhood. Her grandmother-infamous Civil Rights figure and former opera singer-Viola Williams taught the sisters how to sing. They honed their chops in the church choir and Viola formed a group-Mrs. Williams’ Grandchildren. They would sing at local events and social functions. Their mother Florez Sledge was a former actress that managed the group, taking them up and down the east coast. Debbie was given the responsibility of watching her younger siblings, and acted as musical director on their tours.
In the early 70s, while all of them were still teens, they got a small deal with local indy label-Money Back Records (what a name!) and released their first single-Time Will Tell (1971). Their popularity continued to grow, being that they were all extremely beautiful and could sing. They were an updated version of classic 60s female acts like-The Supremes, Martha & the Vandellas and the Three Degrees. They released another single in 1973 that became a top 20 hit in the UK-Mama Never Told Me. This set the stage for Patrick Grant & Gwen Guthrie-former members of East Coast to pen the hit-Love Don’t Go Through No Changes on Me (1974). This single furthered their international fame, making them celebrities in Japan, and giving them access to the Zaire ’74 concert in Africa for the Muhammad Ali & George Foreman fight. Debbie is 65 today.
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On July 9th, in 1964, grunge musician, punk rock pioneer, singer, actress, keyboardist, songwriter, guitarist, former lead singer of Hole and spouse of Kurt Cobain-Courtney Love (Courtney Michelle Harrison) was born in San Francisco, California. Courtney is most known for being the ‘bad girl’/lead singer of Hole and Kurt Cobain’s wife. She grew up in the center of the Summer of Love counterculture movement-Haight & Ashbury (San Francisco). In 1970, her mother divorced her father a moved Courtney to Oregon. She was misdiagnosed as having autistic tendencies and her mother sent her to school in New Zealand. She was expelled by 1973 and returned to the states. Courtney always struggled academically and to some-socially, but she was not disabled, she just didn’t want to assimilate into the dominant culture like many rebels that go against the common thread of American middle-class norms and society.
She grew up in an ‘unconventional’ home where gender based rules-like clothing, demeanor and décor were shunned/not allowed. This helped shape her rebellious nature that fully blossomed during her late teens and early 20s. In her teens, she moved to Liverpool and lived with Julian Cope who introduced her to the Punk scene via his band-The Teardrop Exploded. Courtney would run errands for them and sit in on their rehearsals soaking up all that she could. When she returned to the states in the early 80s, she hit the ground running and formed her first band-Sugar Babylon/Sugar Babydoll (1981). She joined and recorded with Faith No More (1982) and formed the Pagan Babies in 1984. In the late 80s, she moved to L.A., taught herself guitar, joined the local punk scene and started Hole (1988/1989). The rest as they say, is history. She’s 55 today.
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HONORABLE MENTION: On July 9th, in 1929, country musician, pop innovator, DJ, songwriter, guitarist, Korean War veteran, baritone vocalist, producer, frequent collaborator with Nancy Sinatra and Duane Eddy-(Barton) Lee Hazelwood was born in Mannford, OK. He’s one of the major pioneers of the ‘saccharine underground/cowboy psychedelia’ sound that came out of the late 60s LSD/hippie counterculture. He updated the pop and country sound to reflect the changing times. He’s most known for penning Nancy Sinatra’s hit song-These Boots Are Made for Walking. He also composed several instrumental guitar-based tracks during the mid to late 50s. He was 78 when he passed.
On July 9th, in 1946, seminal rock musician, songwriter, bagpipes player, heavy metal pioneer, drummer, recorder player, co-founder of the Spektors, Fraternity, The Valentines and second lead singer of AC/DC-Bon Scott (Ronald Belford Scott) was born in Forfar, Scotland. He’s most known for bringing AC/DC-largely an infamous Australian band, to international stardom following the release of their 7th LP-Highway to Hell. He’s the featured lead vocalist on their previous LPs, the first two being released exclusively in Australia. AC/DC helped shape the sound of hard rock/heavy metal. Scott passed away in 1980 due to alcohol poisoning (age 33).
On July 9th, in 1946, rock musician, fusion jazz innovator, prog rock pioneer, co-founder of the Soul Messengers, psychedelic rock trailblazer and original drummer with the Jimi Hendrix Experience-Mitch Mitchell (John Graham Mitchell-l) was born in Ealing, Middlesex, UK. TOV covered the artist’s death on the November 12th post. Please refer to it for more information. Mitchell was a unique drummer in that he used jazz patterns and techniques in rock music much like Clyde Stubblefield did with James Brown and Ginger Baker did with Cream. He’s most known for his work with Jimi Hendrix and the gigs that came after (Larry Coryell, Gypsy Sun Experience and Noel Redding-r). He was 62 when he passed.
On July 9th, in 1971, reggae musician, guitarist, singer, solo recording artist, brother of Michael Grant (l) and co-founding member of Musical Youth-Kelvin Grant (r) was born in Birmingham, UK. He’s most known for playing guitar and singing backing and co-lead vocal on Musical Youth’s 1982 smash single-Pass the Dutchie (Dutchie is a UK term for Dutch oven-a pot for cooking). This was a ‘mash-up’ of the Mighty Diamond song-Pass the Koutchie (bong/marijuana pipe). The band had a few minor hits after that and dissolved in the mid 80s. Kelvin moved to the states and released a solo LP in 2018-Defend Them. He’s 48 today.
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