Motown Birthdays - can you help?

[radionixon]

Hello!

I'm Steve. I run the Motown Junkies website [[http://www.motownjunkies.co.uk). Nice to meet you.

As part of my radio show, I've been asked to start a weekly feature called "Discovering Motown", where I play 3 Motown tracks with some connection to the week of broadcast.

I'm having trouble tracking down information on Motown figures' birthdays. I'm trying to basically compile a huge list of when the artists, writers, musicians, producers and executives were born, so that I can play a track by saying "and this week in 1943, so-and-so was born".

I'm looking for EVERYONE with a Motown connection - I've got lots of them already of course, and Wikipedia has been helpful, but there are also some big gaps on both sides of the glass and I don't like the idea of missing people out. [[And I need excuses to play the obscure stuff!)

I thought it would also be good to have a list like this so as to wish a Happy Birthday to those Motown folk who are still with us.

Can you help? Whether they had 12 Number Ones or shook a tambourine on one VIP B-side, if you know their birthday, please list it here.

Many many many thanks!

[radionixon]

[[edited on 13.1.13)

Thanks to everyone who's contributed! Here's what we've got so far - can anyone add to it please?

I'd particularly like to have dates for Cal Gill, Luvel Broadnax, James Dean and William Weatherspoon...

JANUARY
5: Jack Brokensha [[1926)
7: George Gordy [[1926)
13: C.P. Spencer [[1938)
14: Hubert Johnson [[Contours) [[1941)
15: Dave Hamilton [[1920)
15: Fonce Mizell [[1943)
16: Katharine A. Schaffner [[1944)
18: David Ruffin [[1941)
21: Edwin Starr [[1942)
29: James Jamerson [[1936)
29: Bettye LaVette [[1946)

FEBRUARY
1: Chris Clark [[1946)
1: Debbie Dean [[1928)
1: Rick James [[1948)
3: Dennis Edwards [[1943)
3: Johnny Bristol [[1939)
5: Barrett Strong [[1941)
6: Georgeanna Tillman [[1943)
8: Hal Davis [[1943)
15: Brian Holland [[1941)
16: Leon Ware [[1940)
18: Bobby Taylor [[1934)
19: Smokey Robinson [[1940)
19: Bobby Rogers [[1940)
20: Lynda Laurence [[1949)
28: Arthur T-Boy Ross [[1949)

MARCH
2: Lawrence Payton [[1938)
4: Barbara McNair [[1934)
5: Teena Marie [[1956)
6: Mary Wilson [[1944)
6: Kiki Dee [[1947)
8: Raynoma Liles Gordy [[1937)
9: Roy Brooks [[1929)
12: Marlon Jackson [[1957)
13: Frances Nero [[1943)
15: Rockwell [[1964)
19: Clarence Paul [[1928)
21: Choker Campbell [[1916)
23: Patrice Holloway [[1951)
26: Diana Ross [[1944)

APRIL
1: Amos Milburn [[1927)
1: Rudy Isley [[1939)
2: Marvin Gaye [[1939)
5: Ronnie White [[Miracles) [[1939)
10: Bobbie Smith [[1936)
11: Freddie Gorman [[1939)
12: Lois Reeves [[1948)
25: Esther Gordy Edwards [[1920)
27: Cornelius Grant [[1943)
29: Tammi Terrell [[1945)

MAY
4: Nickolas Ashford [[1941)
4: Jackie Jackson [[1951)
5: Barbara Randolph [[1942)
5: Beans Bowles [[1927)
6: Sandra Tilley [[1943)
7: Jimmy Ruffin [[1939)
7: Thelma Houston [[1946)
10: Henry Fambrough [[Spinners) [[1938)
11: R. Dean Taylor [[1939)
12: Henry Hank Cosby [[1928)
12: Norman Whitfield [[1940)
13: Mary Wells [[1943)
13: Stevie Wonder [[1950)
14: Bobby Darin [[1936)
15: Freddie Perren [[1943)
17: Pervis Jackson [[Spinners) [[1938)
18: Jack Ashford [[1934)
20: Shorty Long [[1940)
21: Blinky [[1944)
21: Ronald Isley [[1941)
28: Gladys Knight [[1944)
30: Gladys Horton [[1945)

JUNE
3: Janie Bradford [[1941)
3: Eddie Willis [[1936)
6: Levi Stubbs [[1936)
6: Popcorn Wylie [[1939)
12: Bertha Barbee [[?)
13: Marv Tarplin [[1941)
13: Uriel Jones [[1934)
14: Obie Benson [[1936)
14: Junior Walker [[1931)
16: Lamont Dozier [[1941)
20: Lionel Richie [[1949)
21: Brenda Holloway [[1946)
30: Florence Ballard [[1943)

JULY
2: Paul Williams [[1939)
4: Annette Beard [[1943)
8: Earl Van Dyke [[1930)
8: Billy Eckstine [[1914)
10: Johnny Griffith [[1936)
11: Billy Roquel Davis [[1932)
11: Bonnie Pointer [[1950)
17: Damon Harris [[1950)
18: Martha Reeves [[1941)
22: Chuck Jackson [[1937)
25: Benny Benjamin [[1925)
27: Harvey Fuqua [[1929)

AUGUST
3: Syreeta Wright [[1946)
7: George Bohanon [[1937)
9: Wanda Young [[1943)
9: Billy Henderson [[Spinners) [[1939)
10: Cal Gill [[1949)
13: Pistol Allen [[1932)
15: Paul Riser [[1936)
17: Huey Davis [[Contours) [[1939)
20: Tom Clay [[1929)
26: Valerie Simpson [[1946)
28: Ivy Jo Hunter [[1940)
29: Michael Jackson [[1958)

SEPTEMBER
1: Claudette Rogers Robinson [[1942)
2: Rosalind Ashford [[1943)
4: Merald Bubba Knight [[1942)
9: Fuller Gordy [[1918)
13: Eddie Bongo Brown [[1932)
16: Betty Kelley [[1944)
21: GC Cameron [[1945)
23: Paul Petersen [[1945)
28: Elbridge [[Al) Bryant [[1939)

OCTOBER
7: Tata Vega [[1951)
12: Melvin Franklin [[1942)
15: Marv Johnson [[1938)
15: Mildred Gill [[?)
15: Tito Jackson [[1953)
19: Gloria Jones [[1945)
21: Yvonne Fair [[1942)
24: Norma Barbee [[?)
30: Eddie Holland [[1939)
30: Otis Williams [[1941)

NOVEMBER
1: Andre Williams [[1936)
3: Mable John [[1930)
4: Scherrie Payne [[1944)
14: Joe Billingslea [[1937)
19: Pete Moore [[1939)
19: Robert White [[FBs) [[1936)
19: Joe Hunter [[1927)
25: Herman Griffin [[1936)
26: Jean Terrell [[1944)
26: Bob Babbitt [[1937)
26: Gwen Gordy Fuqua [[1927)
28: Berry Gordy Jr. [[1929)

DECEMBER
5: Frank Wilson [[1940)
6: Willie Hutch [[1944)
11: Jermaine Jackson [[1954)
12: Anna Gordy Gaye [[1922)
13: Joe Messina [[1938)
15: Cindy Birdsong [[1939)
17: Eddie Kendricks [[1939)
20: Kim Weston [[1940)
25: O'Kelly Isley [[1937)
26: Duke Fakir [[1935)
31: Jonah Jones [[1909)

[marv2]

Marlon Jackson, March 12, 1957
Scherrie Payne, November 4, 1944

[motownjohnny]

Hi Steve!

This looks like another ambitious project to add to "Motown Junkies"!

Anyway good luck with it, and here are a few more dates and names to add:

January

5 - Jack Brokenshaw [[1926)
14 - Hubert Johnson [Contours] [[1941)
15 - Dave Hamilton [[1920)

February

1 - Debbie Dean [[1928)
1 - Chris Clark [[1946)

March

9 - Roy Brooks [[1938)

April

11 - Freddie Gorman [[1939)

May

7 - Thelma Houston [[1946)

August

17 - Huey Davis [Contours] [[1939)
20 - Tom Clay [[1929)

October

21 - Yvonne Fair

November

3 - Mable John
14 - Joe Billingslea [Contours] [[1937)

I'll post some more soon.

[radionixon]

AWESOME, thank you both! This is shaping up really well. Keep 'em coming!

[calvin]

Hi Steve, great website you have there, Motown Junkies.

I have no special insight, but just thought of the following and all these birthdates are from Wikipedia.

Amos Milburn - 1 April, 1927
Arthur "T-Boy" Ross - 28 February, 1949
Barbara Randolph - 5 May, 1942
Bettye LaVette - 29 January, 1946
Bobby Darin - 14 May, 1936
Bobby Taylor - 18 February, 1934
Bonnie Pointer - 11 July, 1950
Chris Clark - 1 February, 1946
Chuck Jackson - 22 July, 1937
Gloria Jones - 19 October, 1945
Ron Isley - 21 May, 1941
Rudy Isley - 1 April, 1939
O'Kelly "Kelly" Isley - 25 December, 1937
Jermaine Jackson - 11 December, 1954
Jonah Jones - 31 December, 1909
Kiki Dee - 6 March, 1947
Leon Ware - 16 February, 1940
Mable John - 3 November, 1930
Patrice Holloway - 23 March, 1951
Rick James - 1 February, 1948
Tata Vega - 7 October, 1951
Teena Marie - 5 March, 1956
Thelma Houston - 7 May, 1946
Walter Luzar "Choker" Campbell - 21 March, 1916
Willie Hutch - 6 December, 1944
Yvonne Fair - 21 October, 1942

Also thought of Gordon Staples but couldn't find his birthdate.

[calvin]

a few more:

Jack Ashford - 18 May, 1934
Bob Babbitt - 26 November, 1937
Eddie "Bongo" Brown - 13 September, 1932
Johnny Griffith - 10 July, 1936
Joe Hunter - 19 November, 1927
Uriel Jones - 13 June, 1934

[radionixon]

No, Calvin, that's fantastic - it's filling in gaps that's the problem, beyond the obvious ones I kept thinking of new people literally all the time, so this is incredibly helpful!

Lynda Laurence: 20 February 1949
Paul Riser: 15 August 1936

[radionixon]

Johnny Bristol: 3 February 1939
Henry Cosby: 12 May 1928
Fonce Mizell: 15 January 1943
Freddie Perren: 15 May 1943
GC Cameron: 21 September 1945

Off the top of my head, still outstanding we've got... [[I know I'm *bound* to have left out several key people, there's no offence meant, my brain's just full of holes right now! Hence this crowdsourcing lark.)

Cal Gill [[Velvelettes)
Saundra Mallett Edwards [[Elgins)
Deke Richards
James Dean
William Weatherspoon
Luvel Broadnax
Sylvia Moy
Pam Sawyer
Gordon Staples
Mike Valvano
...and Russ and our very own Ralph Terrana!

[calvin]

I also couldn't immediately find birthdates for:

Mickey Stevenson
Singin' Sammy Ward
Linda Griner
Hattie Littles
George Bohannon
Liz Lands

[radionixon]

MICKEY STEVENSON, bloody hell. See what I mean about me missing people out?!

[theboyfromxtown]

Cal Street - 10 August
Bertha - 12 June
Millie - 15 October
Norma - 24 October

[westgrandboulevard]

theboyfromxtown

No years of birth mentioned for The Velvelettes, I see...:)

Well, when one is forever young, who needs them...LOL

[calvin]

Jackie Jackson - 4 May, 1951
Tito Jackson - 15 October, 1953
Randy Jackson - 29 October, 1961

Bobby Smith - 10 April, 1936
Billy Henderson - 9 August, 1939
Henry Fambrough - 10 May, 1938
Pervis Jackson - 17 May, 1938

[satipe]

This week on January 16, Kat Schaffner of The Marvelettes was born in 1944.

Thomas Beans Bowles was born May 5, 1927.

[motownjohnny]

Some more dates:

JANUARY
7 - George Gordy, 1926
13 - C.P [[Crathman Plato) Spencer 1938

FEBRUARY
6 - Georgeanna Tillman [[Marvelettes) 1943

MARCH
8 - Raynoma Liles Gordy Singleton [Miss Ray] 1937
13 - Frances Nero - 1943
15 - Rockwell [Kennedy William Gordy] 1964

APRIL
5 - Ronnie White [[Miracles) 1939
12 - Lois Reeves [Velvelettes / Vandellas] 1948
25 - Esther Gordy Edwards 1920
27 - Cornelius Grant 1943

AUGUST
9 - Wanda Young [Marvelettes] 1943

SEPTEMBER
9 - Fuller Gordy 1918
23 - Paul Petersen 1945
28 - Eldridge "Al" Bryant [Temptations] 1939

NOVEMBER
19 - [[Warren) Pete Moore [Miracles] 1939
25 - Herman Griffin 1936
26 - Gwen Gordy Fuqua 1927
28 - Berry Gordy 1929

DECEMBER
12 - Anna Gordy Gaye 1922

[theboyfromxtown]

Motown Johnny.

Lois Reeves wasn't a member of the Velvelettes.

[motownjohnny]

I stand corrected John - I was thinking of Sandra Tilley, whom I also omitted to include on the listing, so a double fault by me - the date for Sandra is 6 May 1943.

[radionixon]

Great stuff, thank you everyone - I've consolidated all the responses in the second post [[it wouldn't let me change the first one!) If anyone can fill some of the gaps, please keep 'em coming, I really appreciate it!

[144man]

There's a 24 hour limit for editing posts.

[sophisticated_soul]

Susaye Greene September 13, 1949

[motownjohnny]

Some more to add to the growing list:

FEBRUARY
2 - Jack Goga -1944
7 - James Dean - 1943
9 - Morris Luvel Broadnax 1931
13 - King Floyd - 1945
25 - William Weatherspoon - 1941

MARCH
11 - Al Cleveland - 1930

MAY
11 - Wes Henderson - 1942
24 - Tommy Chong [[Vancouvers) - 1938
30 - Maxine Powell - 1924

JUNE
2 - Sammy Turner - 1932
15 - Duris Maxwell a.k.a. Ted Lewis [[Vancouvers) - 1946
26 - Gene Purifoy [[Gino Parks) - 1933

JULY
19 - Suzanne De Passe - 1946

AUGUST
2 - Joe Harnell 1924

SEPTEMBER
13 - Charley "Cholly" Atkins 1913

OCTOBER
28 - David Van De Pitte - 1941

NOVEMBER
15 - Joe Hinton 1929

DECEMBER
25 - Tony Martin - 1913
28 - Dorsey Burnette - 1932

[stalebagel]

I am the third original Motowner with a February 19 birthday -- shared with two Miracles.
My year is 1941.
Cheers,
Al Abrams

[Methuselah2]

SOUPY SALES
Jan. 8, 1926
[[dec.: Oct. 22, 2009)

IRENE RYAN
Oct. 17, 1902
[[dec.: Apr. 26, 1973)

TONY MARTIN
Dec. 25, 1913
[[dec.: July 27, 2012)

I think what you're doing--and also trying to ensure that your list is all-inclusive--is a terrific endeavor.

P.S. I have mentioned being a great admirer of your remarkable MOTOWN JUNKIES site here before. I recently read your analysis of The Supremes' BACK IN MY ARMS AGAIN, one of my all-time favorities, the tune I would play for someone who had never heard of them simply because I think it captured the essence of the sound and style that they possessed in a way that best exemplifies it. So, although I didn't agree with your final rating of the recording, I must also say that I found your analysis of it fascinating--truly insightful and carefully considered in many unexpected ways that you delineated in a top-notch writing style. You made point after point that I simply could not ignore. So many aspects that I had never considered. And as always, you open up my eyes and ears--even when I have, perhaps, a differing opinion that I've long held. What you are attempting to do by your beautiful site is a mammoth undertaking; what you have already done on it to date is an amazing accomplishment: in-depth criticism and overwhelming perspective that only gets even further enhanced by your stellar way of expression. As one of your readers, I cannot begin to tell you what it feels like to witness the creation of what is unquestionably destined to be the primary resource on the Motown Sound. But it's very easy to thank you, and that I whole-heartedly do.
VERDICT: Infinity/10

[JL2648]

After seeing this thread a few weeks ago I've been searching for Saundra Mallett Edwards' birthday. This morning I found it: May 3 [[reference Billboard, May 4, 1963, p. 20). No year of birth was noted.

This same little piece indicated Edwards as her surname so she must have been married by this time. But she was probably still using her maiden name as an artist name. This, of course, would change once the Elgins came to be.

Steve, have you updated your birthday list such that you can share with the list?

Jeff

[JL2648]

A few more birthdays from the same source:

Billie Jean Brown, May 12

Barney Ales, May 13

Jeff