Chapter 01 — Today in music
On a day like today November 12
1945
Neil Young is born, the eternal godfather of every rough guitar
Neil Young is born in Toronto: the Canadian who has spent six decades alternating between the acoustic campfire of “Harvest” and the electric storm of Crazy Horse. His refusal to repeat himself, even at the cost of being sued by his own label, made him rock's moral compass. All of grunge, Cobain included, claimed him as godfather.
Neil Young
1833
Alexander Borodin is born: a chemist by profession and a composer on Sundays
On November 12, 1833, Alexander Borodin was born in Saint Petersburg, the illegitimate son of a Georgian prince who registered him as the child of one of his serfs. He was a career chemist, a university professor and the author of a reaction that bears his name; he composed in his spare time and apologised for it. His opera "Prince Igor" was left unfinished and his Polovtsian Dances ended up in a Broadway musical.
Alexander Borodin
1930
Bob Crewe is born, who wrote the Four Seasons' hits and also "Lady Marmalade"
On November 12, 1930, Bob Crewe was born in New Jersey, a producer and lyricist who with Bob Gaudio built the Four Seasons' entire catalogue: "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Walk Like a Man", "Can't Take My Eyes Off You". A decade later he co-wrote "Lady Marmalade" for Labelle, a song about a New Orleans prostitute that went to number one and did so again thirty years later.
Bob Crewe
The Four Seasons
Labelle
1943
Errol Brown is born, whose band charted in Britain every year for fifteen years
On November 12, 1943, Errol Brown was born in Jamaica and arrived in London at twelve. His band, Hot Chocolate, did something no other British group managed: they placed at least one hit on the charts every year between 1970 and 1984, fifteen seasons running. "You Sexy Thing" played at weddings, discos and in films for half a century. Their first record was a reggae version of "Give Peace a Chance".
Errol Brown
Hot Chocolate
1944
Booker T. Jones is born, the organ that defined the Memphis sound
Booker T. Jones is born in Memphis; at 17 he had already recorded “Green Onions”, rock's most celebrated organ instrumental. With the M.G.'s, an interracial band in the segregated South, he was Stax's engine room, playing behind Otis Redding, Sam & Dave and dozens more. Southern soul bears his signature in every Hammond chord.
Booker T. Jones
Booker T. & the M.G.'s
1911
Buck Clayton is born: Basie's trumpeter who lost his lip and kept working
On November 12, 1911, Buck Clayton was born in Kansas, lead trumpeter in Count Basie's orchestra through its best years and a regular presence behind Billie Holiday in the studio. Before that he had led a band in Shanghai. In the sixties a lip problem stopped him playing; rather than retire he turned to writing arrangements and kept working for another three decades.
Buck Clayton
Count Basie
Billie Holiday
1917
Jo Stafford is born, who won a Grammy by singing appallingly badly on purpose
On November 12, 1917, Jo Stafford was born in California, the most popular singer among American soldiers in the Second World War. Her pitch was so exact that engineers used her to calibrate equipment. Which makes her other career funnier: with her husband she invented a fictional duo of terrible hotel musicians, singing deliberately out of tune. That record won the Grammy for best comedy album in 1961.
Jo Stafford
1968
Kathleen Hanna is born, who wrote on a wall the line that titled "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
On November 12, 1968, Kathleen Hanna was born in Portland, founder of Bikini Kill and a central voice of the riot grrrl movement, which filled the nineties with fanzines and women's bands. At her shows she asked the girls to come to the front. One night, drunk, she wrote a line about a deodorant on Kurt Cobain's bedroom wall; he used it as a title without knowing what it was.
Kathleen Hanna
Bikini Kill
Kurt Cobain
1976
Tevin Campbell is born, discovered singing by Quincy Jones at twelve
On November 12, 1976, Tevin Campbell was born in Texas, raised singing in a Baptist church choir. At twelve Quincy Jones heard him on a tape and put him on his own album. Before he turned twenty he had recorded with Prince, Warren G and Babyface. His boy soprano became the model later imitated by every teenage rhythm and blues singer.
Tevin Campbell
Quincy Jones
1984
Omarion is born, of the teen group that broke up at the worst possible moment
On November 12, 1984, Omari Grandberry was born in Los Angeles, eldest of eleven children. With B2K he became the teen idol of early 2000s rhythm and blues: posters, choreography and a film of their own. The group split in 2004, mid-tour and at their peak, over a dispute with their manager. He carried on alone and took an album to number one.
Omarion
B2K
One ephemeris a day, one editorial a week. Zero spam, pure archive.