Chapter 01 — Today in music
On a day like today November 1
1962
Anthony Kiedis is born, the survivor who taught funk rock to rap
Anthony Kiedis is born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, raised in wildest Hollywood by a father who dealt to the stars. With the Red Hot Chili Peppers he turned that life on the edge into raw material: “Under the Bridge” is an addict's confession written as an anthem. Four decades later he is still standing, something not even he would have bet on.
Anthony Kiedis
Red Hot Chili Peppers
1898
Sippie Wallace is born, who returned to the stage fifty years after retiring
On November 1, 1898, Beulah Thomas was born in Houston, one of thirteen children. As Sippie Wallace she recorded in the 1920s with Louis Armstrong and King Oliver. When the fashion for women's blues ended she went to play the organ at a Detroit church and stayed there for decades. In the seventies Bonnie Raitt sought her out, took her on tour and gave her back a career: at 84 she was nominated for a Grammy.
Sippie Wallace
Bonnie Raitt
1951
Ronald Bell is born, author of the song that plays at every party on earth
On November 1, 1951, Ronald Bell was born in Ohio. With his brother he founded Kool & the Gang as a teenager in New Jersey. He wrote "Jungle Boogie", "Ladies' Night" and, in 1980, "Celebration", a song that had been going round his head for years and ended up playing at weddings, stadiums and parades across the planet. He converted to Islam and credited part of his work as Khalis Bayyan.
Ronald Bell
Kool & the Gang
1957
Lyle Lovett is born, the Texan who mixed country, jazz and rare elegance
Lyle Lovett is born in Klein, Texas: the songwriter with the impossible hair who never fit a single label. His Large Band blends country, swing, gospel and blues with finely ironic lyrics, earning him four Grammy awards. He is living proof that Nashville also has room, however grudgingly, for eccentrics with talent.
Lyle Lovett
1926
Lou Donaldson is born, one of the most sampled musicians in hip-hop without knowing it
On November 1, 1926, Lou Donaldson was born in North Carolina, an alto saxophonist who recorded dozens of albums for Blue Note. In 1967 he released "Alligator Bogaloo", crossing jazz with Latin boogaloo rhythm and the Hammond organ. Twenty years later hip-hop producers found those records and plundered them: his bars sit underneath songs by A Tribe Called Quest and Nas.
Lou Donaldson
1943
Salvatore Adamo is born: the Sicilian miner's son who sang in six languages
On November 1, 1943, Salvatore Adamo was born in Sicily; his family emigrated to Belgium when he was three so his father could work in the coal mines. He won a radio contest at seventeen and became one of Europe's best-selling singers. He recorded his songs in French, Italian, Spanish, German, Japanese and Dutch, and in Latin America whole generations grew up listening to him.
Salvatore Adamo
1947
Jim Steinman is born, who wrote seven-minute songs when radio wanted three
On November 1, 1947, Jim Steinman was born in New York, a writer who treated every song as an operatic scene: giant choruses, thunderous pianos and lyrics about desperate teenagers. With Meat Loaf he made "Bat Out of Hell", which no label wanted and which ended up selling more than forty million copies. "Total Eclipse of the Heart" is his too, originally written for a vampire musical.
Jim Steinman
Meat Loaf
Bonnie Tyler
1949
David Foster is born: the producer who turned the ballad into an industry
On November 1, 1949, David Foster was born in Victoria, Canada; at thirteen he was already studying at a university music school. He settled in Los Angeles as a session keyboard player and became the go-to producer for the big voices: Whitney Houston, Céline Dion, Chicago, Andrea Bocelli. His formula — piano, strings and a final chorus that jumps up a key — won sixteen Grammy awards.
David Foster
Whitney Houston
Céline Dion
1963
Rick Allen is born, who lost an arm and played again on a kit invented for him
On November 1, 1963, Rick Allen was born in Sheffield, Def Leppard's drummer since he was fifteen. On the last day of 1984 a car crash cost him his left arm. Rather than replace him the band waited: with an instrument maker they designed an electronic kit with pedals that did with his foot what that hand used to do. He returned in 1987, and "Hysteria" sold more than twenty million copies.
Rick Allen
Def Leppard
1966
Willie D is born, of the Houston group their own distributor refused to ship
On November 1, 1966, William Dennis was born in Houston, an amateur boxer before joining the Geto Boys. In 1990 the company distributing their records refused to ship the group's album over the content of the lyrics, something almost unheard of in the industry. The scandal made them famous across the country and turned Houston into a rap centre nobody had been watching until then.
Willie D
Geto Boys
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