It’s fun on a random day to check out whose birthday it is. June 8 is pretty random — James Comey’s testimony in Washington notwithstanding — so I took a look at who was born on this day.
Some of the noteworthies are Nancy Sinatra (whose claim to being the biggest one-hit wonder ever is somewhat compromised because she had the headstart of being Frank’s daughter), trombonist Bill Watrous, Derek Trucks, Seu Jorge and many others. Seu Jorge may be unfamiliar to most folks, but his samba version of David Bowie’s “Changes” from the Bill Murray movie “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” is tremendous.
Two others are Kanye West, (turning 40), and Boz Scaggs (74).
Kanye Omari West was born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago. He was a producer for Jay Z, Alicia Keyes and others. West’s controversies, such as his interruption of Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, his denunciation of President Bush at a Hurricane Katrina benefit and his marriage to Kim Kardashian, have been covered to a fault.
The Wikipedia profile notes that he is widely acclaimed and one of the best selling artists of all time. He has won 21 Grammys, which is the most of anyone who won their first this century.
William Royce Scaggs was born in Canton, OH, in 1944 but grew up in Oklahoma and Texas. Boz is a shortening of “Bosley,” a nickname given to him by a classmate. Scaggs met Steve Miller when he was 12 and eventually joined his band.
The highlight of Scagg’s career was the 1976 album Silk Degrees which, according to Wikipedia, was recorded with session musicians who would go on to form the band Toto. Hits from that album include “Lido Shuffle,” “What Can I Say?” “We’re All Along” and “Low Down.”
Above is West’s “Stronger” and below is Scaggs’ “Georgia.”
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