On May 7th, in 1946, seminal soul singer, former Motown Records recording artist, songwriter, gospel vocalist, actress and disco Queen-Thelma Houston (Thelma Jackson) was born in Leland, Mississippi. She’s most known for her 1977 hit single-Don’t Leave Me This Way. The Grammy Award-winning artist also is well-known for her gospel work with the Art Reynolds Singers. Thelma isn’t related to Whitney Houston. She grew up singing gospel and started venturing into secular music in her teens. She signed to Dunhill Recordsm (ABC) in 1968 and released her solo debut in 1969-Sunshower. It was mostly produced by Jimmy Webb (songwriter of Wichita Lineman, MacArthur Park, By the Time I Get to Phoenix). The success of this release caught the attention of Motown Records executive Berry Gordy, who signed her two years later in 1971.
Houston’s releases on the imprint didn’t do as well as her Dunhill work. She got lost in the Motown Machine that had several great singers on their roster during the early 70s. She was supposed to be the starring actress in a 1973 Motown produced biopic film on Dinah Washington. However, it was never released. In 1974, she stayed with acting and started working on the Marty Feldman Comedy Machine-sketch comedy show. The show folded in August and Thelma returned to singing. From late 1974 to mid 1976, Houston studied acting, recorded demos, did session vocals and performed live. She got a role in the 1975 film-Death Scream, and was the first artist to sing: Do You Know Where You’re Going To-which was given to Diana Ross for the theme song for Mahogany. In 1976, she released her third LP-Any Way You Like It which contains-Don’t Leave Me This Way. It’s her staple song. She’s 73 today.
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On May 7th, in 1951, seminal 60s/70s funk musician, prog rock innovator, trumpeter, composer, East Bay Sound pioneer, trombonist, arranger, tuba player, flugelhornist, session musician, son of the infamous trombonist Ray Gillette (Stan Kenton, Tommy Dorsey), baritone horn player, former member of Cold Blood, Sons of Champlin and Tower of Power-Mic Gillette was born in Oakland, California. Gillette is most known for playing several brass instruments on Tower of Power, Cold Blood and Pointer Sisters recordings. He’s considered a child prodigy that was playing trumpet and reading music as early as 4 years old. He joined a band called the Motowns that had several future Tower of Power members when he was 15.
They officially changed their name to Tower of Power around 1970 right before they dropped their debut LP-East Bay Grease. Gillette then left Tower of Power to tour and record with Cold Blood. They were performing songs off their first self-titled LP (1969) and Gillette is featured on their sophomore release-Sisyphus. He returned to Tower of Power in 1971. They recorded a few LPs during the 70s that are definitely worth buying-Bump City (1972), Tower of Power (1973, it went gold), Back to Oakland (1974) and Urban Renewal (1975). The last 3 titles all feature Lenny Williams. During this time, Gillette also did session work for San Francisco artists like Sylvester, the Pointer Sisters and rockers like the Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart and Heart. He quit performing in the early 80s and returned to music in the late 90s. He was 64 when he passed.
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On May 7th, in 1956, innovative New Wave artist, pianist, electronic music pioneer, composer, singer, songwriter, producer, arranger and founding member of the Art of Noise-Anne (Jennifer) Dudley was born in Beckenham, Kent, England, UK. She’s most known in the hip hop community for co-writing Buffalo Gals with Malcolm McLaren. She’s most known in the New Wave world for her association with the Art of Noise and their seminal song-Moments in Love (1985). In the acting world/Hollywood, she’s most known for scoring Les Miserables and The Full Monty, although she’s scored more than 50 films and television shows. BBC Radio fans know her as the Composer in Association with the BBC Concert Orchestra.
Needless to say, Anne’s musical talents have been used by just about every popular form of media/communications that exist. She’s a classically trained pianist that got her master’s from King’s College in London (1978). She started working with English bassist, songwriter, singer and producer-Trevor Horn in the early 80s. He’s responsible for introducing her to other artists like Robbie Williams, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Cathy Dennis, Debbie Harry, Tom Jones, Malcolm McLaren and Rod Stewart. In 1983, she co-founded the Art of Noise. They were one of the first pop/New Wave bands to use sampling in their compositions. In turn, they helped pioneer the art-form of sampling and the technology used to carry it out. She’s 63 today.
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HONORABLE MENTION: On May 7th, in 1936, singer, songwriter, soul vocalist, older brother of Davd Ruffin and multi-label recording artist-Jimmy (Lee) Ruffin was born in Collinsville, MS. TOV covered the artist’s death on the November 17th post. Please refer to it for more information. He’s most known for his version of the popular Spinners’ song-What Becomes of the Brokenhearted (1966). He's also known for his duet LP with his brother David (former lead singer of the Temptations)-I Am My Brother’s Keeper (Soul/Motown, 1970). Jimmy was much more popular as a vocalist in the UK than in the US. His success boomed overseas where they named him the Governor of the Groove and the World’s top vocalist. He was 78 when he passed.
On May 7th, in 1945, seminal session musician, saxophonist, pianist, composer, singer, arranger, keyboardist, former member of the Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan-Cornelius Bumpus (Jr.) was born in Dallas, TX. Hes most known for his sax and keyboard playing on Steely Dan, Doobie Brothers, Moby Grape and Clifford Coulter recordings. He started on sax when he was 10. He took a liking to the instrument and learning it quickly. By the time he was 12, he was performing professionally. He started his own band in high school-Corny and the Corvettes. He joined Bobby Freeman’s outfit in 1966. He was 58 when he passed.
On May 7th, in 1946, seminal drummer, percussionist and djembe drum player for the Grateful Dead from the time the band was formed in 1965 to the current date-Bill Kreutzmann (William Kreutzmann Jr.-l) was born in Palo Alto, CA. He had a love for R&B, blues and jazz music as a child. He started playing drums when he was 13 and co-founded the Warlocks (pre-Grateful Dead) when he was 19 (1964). Original members included: Jerry Garcia, Ron Pigpen McKernan, Bob Weir and Phil Lesh. They changed their name to the Grateful Dead in 1965. In 1967, they started a new trend in rock with two drummers (Kreutzmann & Mickey Hart). He’s 73 today.
On May 7th, in 1968, singer, songwriter, rock musician, composer, pianist, arranger, producer, rock icon, and pop music innovator-Elton John AKA Reginald Dwight came up with his stage name. As the story goes, Elton was returning from a gig with his band Bluesology. He needed a new name for his solo career. He ran into Bluesology horn player Elton Dean and asked could he use his first name for his new first name (as a solo performer). He agreed. He then went to Long John BaLdry-Bluesology lead singer, and asked him could he use the John in his name for his surname. He also agreed. Thus, Elton John was born.
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