February is a very busy month. It’s Black History Month, which I’ll continue to celebrate throughout the month. And there are of course, several important birthdays that coincide and will be celebrating, as well.
- Big Boi, who also celebrated his 50th birthday on February 1
- Rick James, who was born 77 years ago on February 1
- Stan Getz was born on this day 98 years ago on February 2
- Graham Nash celebrated his 83rd birthday on February 2
- Stone Temple Pilots‘ Robert DeLeo celebrated his 59th birthday on February 2
- LCD Soundsystem frontman and DFA Records founder James Murphy celebrated his 55th birthday on February 2
- The Temptations‘ Dennis Edward, who also was born 82 years ago on February 3
- Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the godmother of rock ‘n’roll
- Bobby Brown, who also celebrated his 56th birthday on February 5
- The legendary Bob Marley was born 80 years ago on February 7
- Motley Crüe‘s Vince Neil celebrates his 64th birthday today
- French touch pioneer and one-half of acclaimed electronic outfit Daft Punk, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, celebrated his 51st birthday on February 8
- The legendary Roberta Flack celebrated her 88th birthday on February 10
- Bad Brains‘ founder and frontman H.R., who also celebrated his 69th birthday on February 11
- Acclaimed singer/songwriter, pop star and actor Brandy celebrated her 46th birthday on February 11
- The Doors‘ Ray Manzarek was born 85 years ago on February 12
- Michael McDonald, one of the kings of blue-eyed soul and yacht rock celebrated his 73rd birthday on February 12
- The Monkees’ Peter Tork was born 83 years ago today
- Peter Gabriel celebrates his 75th birthday today
- Joy Division and New Order co-founder Peter Hook celebrates his 69th birthday on February 13
- The legendary Maceo Parker celebrated his 82nd birthday on February 14
- Ice T, the controversial pioneer of West Coast gangsta rap and of rap metal with his equally controversial metal band Body Count celebrated his 67th birthday on February 16
- Duran Duran‘s Andy Taylor celebrated his 64th birthday on February 16
- Foo Fighters‘ Taylor Hawkins was born 53 years ago on February 17
- Acclaimed British singer/songwriter, musician and producer Seal celebrates his 62nd birthday on February 19
- The great Smokey Robinson celebrated his 85th birthday on February 19
- Steely Dan co-founder, co-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Walter Becker was born 75 years ago on February 20
- Nirvana‘s Kurt Cobain was born 58 years ago on February 20
- Nina Simone, the grand priestess of soul was born 92 years ago on February 21
- Jerry Harrison, the former guitarist and keyboardist of Talking Heads celebrated his 76th birthday on February 21
- Acclaimed singer/songwriter and musician, solo artist and frontman of the revered alt-rock/indie rock outfits The Dream Syndicate, Steve Wynn and The Miracle 3, and The Baseball Project, Steve Wynn celebrated his 65th — yes, y’all, 65th! — birthday on February 21
Howard Jones was among the most commercially successful artists of the early-mid 1980s. Between 1983 and 1986, Jones had ten Top 40 singles in the UK, with six reaching the Top 10, including “Like to Get to Know You Well,” “What Is Love?,” New Song” and “Things Can Only Get Better.” 1984’s Human’s Lib reached number one on the UK Albums Chart.
Globally, Jones had 15 Top 40 singles between 1983 and 1992 with 1986’s “No One Is To Blame,” reaching number 4 on the US Charts, Four others landed on the US Top 20. And as a result, he has sold over eight million albums globally.
As a child of the 80s, I have fond members of his smash hit tune “Things Can Only Get Better.”
Jones celebrates his 70th — yes, 70th, y’all — birthday. Happy birthday!
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