Pick a Day

Born on December 15

1955 Paul Simonon (bassist for The Clash) is born in Thornton Heath, Croydon, England.

1946 Drummer Carmine Appice of Vanilla Fudge is born in Brooklyn. He does a lot of work with Rod Stewart, co-writing his hit "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?"

1946 R&B singer Harry Ray (of The Moments) is born in Long Branch, New Jersey.

1942 Dave Clark (of The Dave Clark Five) is born in Tottenham, North London, England.

1939 Cindy Birdsong is born in Mount Holly, New Jersey. One of the original members of Patti LaBelle & The Blue Belles, she quits the group in the mid-'60s to join The Supremes as a replacement for Florence Ballard. The remaining Blue Belles rebrand themselves as Labelle.

1934 Opera singer Raina Kabaivanska is born in Burgas, Bulgaria.

1932 Jesse Belvin, known for the 1956 R&B hit "Goodnight My Love," is born in Texarkana, Texas.

1928 Ernest Ashworth is born in Huntsville, Alabama. Known for the 1963 chart-topping country hit "Talk Back Trembling Lips."

1921 Alan Freed is born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. At the Cleveland radio station WJW, he becomes the first white disc jockey to play upbeat rhythm and blues records north of the Mason Dixon line. At the time, they are called "race" records, but Freed calls the music "rock and roll." Freed attracts a large following on WJW, and his late-night radio show, the Moondog Rock 'n' Roll Party, helps increase the popularity of rhythm and blues and makes Cleveland a trendsetter in Midwestern pop culture.

1916 Buddy Cole is born Edwin LeMar Cole in Irving, Illinois. The jazz pianist will accompany the likes of Rosemary Clooney and Bing Crosby.

1911 Jazz pianist/composer Stan Kenton is born in Wichita, Kansas.

1910 Producer and record executive John Hammond is born in New York City. A mainstay at Columbia Records, he champions jazz music at the label, and in 1961, signs Bob Dylan.