On June 8th, 1958, actor, 80's/90's comedic genius, writer, director, filmmaker, stand-up comedian, sketch comedy specialist, TV host, creator/executive producer of In Living Color, and older brother to Damon/Marlon/Shawn/Kim Wayans-Keenan Ivory Wayans (Keenen Ivory Desuma Wayans) was born in New York City, New York. I first saw Keenan Wayans in the 1987 Robert Townsend film Hollywood Shuffle. He played a worker at 'Winky Dinky Dog' with John Witherspoon. They did the whole ‘Hoe Cake’ routine…"hoes gotta eat too!"
After seeing him in the film, I started looking for him in other films, and spotted him a year later in 1988's I’m Gonna Git You Sucka. Written & directed by Wayans, it was a revamp take on 70's Blaxploitation Era movies-featuring Isaac Hayes, Jim Brown, Fred Williamson, Ja’Net DuBois, Bernie Casey, Antonio Fargas, and more. The skit that had me in stitches was when Chris Rock complained about the price of food in the restaurant "Good lord that’s a lot of money! How much for one rib?!" Chris even requested that the cashier pour his drink in his hand for a dime. Two years later, In Living Color debuted on The Fox Network. It was like SNL for people of color. Most of the skits and punchlines of jokes spoke to the non-white viewers Fox was known for having in the 90's. Keenan was the host and primary writer for the show. He also did hilarious imitations of Rick James, Mike Tyson, Arsenio Hall, and Jesse Jackson. Keenan Ivory Wayans is 61 today.
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On June 8th, 1941, singer, songwriter, drummer, guitarist, multi-label recording artist, and former member of the Parliament Funkadelic Collective-Fuzzy Haskins (Clarence Eugene Haskins) was born in Elkins, West Virginia. He’s the singer that The Native Tongues group Black Sheep sampled for their song To Whom It May Concern. They used the intro of Fuzzy’s song Love’s Now Is Forever, from his solo LP A Whole Nother Thang (Westbound Records, 1976). He was also the co-lead singer for The Parliaments, Parliament, Funkadelic (prior to Glen Goins-he joined in 1975), and The Original P. It’s safe to say that Fuzzy had the most versatile voice of all of the Parliament-related groups from the 1950's thru the mid 1970's.
Fuzzy started off with George Clinton, and the rest of the gang, in the barbershop style quintet-The Parliaments. They started singing around the Plainfiled, New Jersey area in the late 1950's. It took them nearly 10 years, with Fuzzy as lead vocalist, to make a hit (I Wanna Testify Revilot Records, 1967). The success of this single forced them to tour. They quickly formed a backing band of local musicians, and eventually renamed them Funkadelic. Legal issues forced them to change the name of The Parliaments to Parliament. By the early 1970's, they were nationally known and setting trends for future artists based in heavy funk and Afrofuturism. At the height of their popularity, Fuzzy released a solo LP (listed above), and followed it up with his second solo release in Radio Active (Westbound Records, 1978). This Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame musician is 78 today.
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On June 8th, 1940, singer, actress, model, pop culture icon, and daughter of Frank Sinatra-Nancy (Sandra) Sinatra was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. Nancy is most known for her 1966 hit These Boots Are Made For Walkin’ (Reprise Records). Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill Vol. I), and hip hop producers made her famous for Bang Bang-recorded that same year. As the child of The Rat Pack star Frank Sinatra, Nancy was born a celebrity. Frank sang Nancy (With the Laughing Face) in dedication to the then-five year old in 1945. She embarked on her own career when the family moved to California. She studied dance, piano, and drama-and after high school, she enrolled at UCLA to study dance and music, but dropped out a year later.
In 1960 she got a feature slot on her father’s The Frank Sinatra Timex Show: Welcome Home Elvis (he had just returned from military service). She cut her first single, Cuff Links And A Tie Cup, in 1961. It failed to chart, but she continued on and made a mark on UK & Japanese charts with other singles. Right before Reprise was going to drop her, songwriter/producer Lee Hazelwood stepped in and wrote These Boots Are Made For Walkin’. Her career took off after the song was released. This led to acting roles, photo shoots, singing the theme song for 1967’s James Bond film You Only Live Twice, and more. She later signed to RCA Records, and released both pop and country albums. She posed for Playboy, at age 54, in 1995. Nancy Sinatra turns 79 today.
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HONORABLE MENTION: On June 8th, 1951, singer, songwriter and multi-label recording artist-Bonnie Tyler (Gaynor Hopkins) was born in Skewen, Neath, Wales, UK. She started out as a backup vocalist for Bobby Wayne & The Dixies, and started her own soul-based band shortly after (Imagination). Her first stage name was Sherene Davis. In the 1970's she changed it to Bonnie Tyler, and hired jazz club owner Ronnie Scott as her manager. Her first Top 10 hit was Lost In France (RCA Records, 1976). In 1978 she had a Top 5 single with It’s a Heartache. She continues to sing, record, and tour still today. Bonnie Tyler is 68 today.
On June 8th, 1960, new wave musician, vocalist, pianist songwriter, bassist, guitarist, co-founder of The Frantic Elevators, and lead singer for Simply Red-Mick Hucknall (Michael James Hucknall) was born in Manchester, England. Mick is the voice of the seminal 1985 Blue-Eyed Soul Classic Holding Back The Years.
Interesting Fact: Hucknall wrote the song during the mid 1970's, when he was with his first band-The Frantic Elevators. He recorded a version with them, before creating a newer version with Simply Red. He replaced Rod Stewart, as the lead singer for Faces, in a reboot of the rock band in 2009. Mick Hucknall turns 59 today.
Interesting Fact: Hucknall wrote the song during the mid 1970's, when he was with his first band-The Frantic Elevators. He recorded a version with them, before creating a newer version with Simply Red. He replaced Rod Stewart, as the lead singer for Faces, in a reboot of the rock band in 2009. Mick Hucknall turns 59 today.
On June 3rd, 1966, singer, songwriter, and co-founder of The UK R&B group Five Star-Doris (May) Pearson was born in London, England. Doris was the choreographer for Five Star, and the eldest of the three sisters in the group. She also wrote their hits, including Someone’s In Love, Can’t Wait Another Minute, Knock Twice, and Don’t You Know I Love It. She sang lead for the first time in 1990-on the song Treat Me Like A Lady, and also the uptempo track I Give, You Give (1995). As a backup singer, lead singer, songwriter, and choreographer-Doris was a well-rounded artist. Doris Pearson is 53 today.
On June 8th, 1977, rapper, producer, pop culture icon, founder of the G.O.O.D (Getting Out Our Dreams) Music record label, and more recently lost somewhere in The Sunken Place-Kanye West was born in Atlanta, GA. Beloved for his production & solo work, from the late 1990's/early 2000's (The College Drop Out, Late Registration, Roc A Fella, Rawkus, etc). Nowadays however, he’s known for his public antics, bi-polar behavior, marriage to the Kim Kardashian, being Trump's token negro. and a bunch of other stuff that makes his earlier work look like it was done by an entirely different person. Following the death of his mother, Kanye went kind of crazy. The Trump visit and MAGA Hat was too much for me. He’s 42 today (insert The Editor's side-eye here).
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