Throwback: Happy 54th Birthday, LL Cool J!

As it turns out, the first couple of weeks of this month are rather auspicious in music history: 

• John Paul Jones’ birthday was on the third, 
• Michael Stipe‘s birthday was on the fourth
• David Bowie‘s and Elvis were born on the eighth
• Jimmy Page‘s and Robby Krieger‘s birthdays were on the ninth 
• Donald Fagen’s birthday was on the tenth
• Zack de la Rocha and Raekwon’s  birthdays were on the twelfth

Today continues an impressive array of music birthdays: The G.O.A.T. emcee LL Cool J turns 54 today. His influence on hip-hop and pop culture is massive — and it shouldn’t be surprising that he’s a Kennedy Center Honors recipient and a recent inductee into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame.

When I was 12 year-old the Mama Said Knock You Out was the album: I bought a copy of it on cassette at the Nobody Beats the Wiz. I remember going to a girl’s house party: I bought my tape, because — well, it was a party and that was the album, to have at a party. So at some point, my tape was played . . . and the tape wound up getting caught in her tape player. A nightmare for a broke kid, who saved up allowance to buy a tape. I still have that tape!

Naturally, some years later, I bought a copy on CD.

Happy birthday, LL! May there be many, many, many more!