Throwback: Happy 75th Birthday, Bootsy Collins!

Welp, we’ve survived through October. It’s been a bit of a brutal slog of a year. But there’s postseason baseball. Hockey season just started. Basketball season will start in a few weeks. 

October is also a busy month in music history. 

• The legendary Donny Hathaway was born 81 years ago on October 1
• The Human League‘s Philip Oakey celebrated his 71st birthday on October 2
• Sting celebrated his 75th birthday on October 2
• Motley Crüe co-founder and drummer Tommy Lee celebrated his 64th birthday on October 3
• Chubby Checker, one of the pioneers of rock ‘n’ roll and R&B celebrated his 85th on October 3
• One of the greatest guitarists and bluesmen ever, Stevie Ray Vaughan was born 72 years ago on October 3
• The Roots‘ Black Thought, arguably one of the greatest living emcees celebrated his 53rd birthday on October 3
• AC/DC‘s Brian Johnson celebrated his 79th birthday on October 5
• Singer/songwriter, actor and television personality Toni Braxton celebrated her 59th birthday today
• Radiohead and The Smile frontman Thom Yorke celebrated his 58th birthday on October 7
• One of this country’s finest and somewhat under-appreciated, underrated singer/songwriters, and one of my personal favorites, John Mellencamp celebrated his 75th birthday on October 7
• Kool and the Gang founder Robert “Kool” Bell celebrated his 76th birthday on October 8
• PJ Harvey celebrates her 57th birthday today
• The Who bassist John Entwistle was born 82 years ago on October 9
• The legendary John Lennon was born 86 years ago on October 9
• David Lee Roth, one of the greatest rock/metal frontman to ever live, and a member of the most beloved Van Halen lineup, ever, celebrated his 72nd birthday today
• Thelonious Monk was one of the most dynamic and eccentric figures in jazz was born 109 years ago on October 10
• MC Lyte is one of the pioneers of hip-hop and just as important, one of the greatest emcees to ever do it, male, female or non-binary celebrated her 56th birthday on October 11.
• Hall & Oates‘ Daryl Hall celebrated his 80th birthday on October 11
• The legendary Art Blakey, was born on this day 107 years ago on October 11
• The Smithereens‘ founder and first frontman, Pat DiNizio was born 71 years ago on October 12
• Sam Moore, best known for being one-half of the legendary soul and R&B duo Sam and Dave, was born 91 years ago on October 12
• Sammy Hagar, one of rock’s great frontmen celebrated his 79th birthday on October 13
• Thomas Dolby, who had a smash-hit with 1982’s “She Blinded Me With Science” celebrates his 68th birthday today
• Art Tatum, one of the greatest jazz pianists to ever live was born 117 years ago today.
• The godfather of Afrobeat, Fela Kuti was born 88 years ago on October 15
• Jazz great Roy Hargrove was born 57 years ago on October 16
• Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ Flea, one of the greatest bassists in rock celebrated his 64th birthday on October 16
• The co-founder of the legendary Grateful Dead, Bob Weir was born 79 years ago on October 16
• Eminem celebrated his 54th birthday on October 17
• One of the legendary pioneers of rock ‘n’ roll, Chuck Berry was born 100 years ago on October 18
• Snoop Dogg celebrated his 55th birthday on October 20
• Tom Petty, arguably one of the greatest singer/songwriters in rock history was born 76 years on October 20
• The legendary and pioneering jazz man John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie was born 109 years ago on October 21
• The incomparable, legendary Queen of Salsa, Celia Cruz was born on this day 102 years ago.
• The Staple Singers‘ Yvonne Staples was born 89 years ago on October 23
• Former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman celebrated his 90th birthday on October 24
• The legendary jazzman Jimmy Heath was born 100 years ago on October 25
• YES frontman Jon Anderson celebrated his 82nd birthday on October 25
• Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ Chad Smith celebrated his 65th birthday on October 25

Bootsy Collins is arguably one of the most important and preeminent bassists of the last 50 years. Collins first came to prominence for being a member of The Pacemakers, James Brown’s backing band after The J.B.’s. Although he only played with Brown for about 11 months, Collins recorded some of Brown’s funkiest and meanest work of catalog. In 1972, he joined Parliament Funkadelic — and the rest, as we all know is history.

Bootsy celebrates his 75th birthday today. Let’s celebrate the man’s life and music today. Happy birthday, legend!

 ______

____

The Joy of Violent Movement is a completely independent and completely D.I.Y. media outlet. Over the course of this site’s 16 year history, I’ve used my fiercely independent stance to cover music with an eclectic and global perspective that a lot of other publications just don’t have — and will likely never have. 

To that end, I could use your support to continue to keep bringing you my unique global perspective on music. There are a number of ways that you can support this work. 

I’ve been told that some people would prefer to make a one-time donation because it’s easy and less of an obligation. So, if you’re able to make a one-time donation, there’s a donation box below.

If you can give more regularly, please feel free to check out my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheJoyofViolentMovement. 

Anything you can give is very much appreciated. It can and does make a real difference, y’all. 

I know that a lot of folks are struggling to make ends meet in an uncertain and tumultuous economic climate. So there are other, non-financial ways in which you can support this work. 

You can follow me on the following social platforms:

X/Twitter: @yankee32879 and @joyofviolent 

Instagram: @william_ruben_helms

Threads: @william_ruben_helms

Bluesky: @williamrubenhelms.bsky.social

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheJoyofViolentMovement

As always, if there are posts that you dig, share them with your friends. The more eyeballs on my work, the better.