Happy Birthday, Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels

Happy forty-eighth birthday today (May 31st) to American hip-hop pioneer Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels.

McDaniels grew up in New York City and attended Catholic school. After he enrolled in St. John's University. Inspired by the recordings of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, he taught himself how to DJ. By the end of the decade, along with friends Joseph "Run" Simmons and DJ Jam-Master Jay, he was preforming rap publicly.

A Very Special Christmas

Merry Christmas to all of you, my blog readers. Today (December 25th) also happens to be the fifty-seventh birthday of Annie Lennox of the Eurythmics.

In 1987, the first of what has turned into a sporadic series of A Very Special Christmas albums was released. The series, created by music producer Jimmy Iovine, takes popular music artists of the time and has them sing holiday favorites. The album sales go to benefit the Special Olympics charity. Each cover has been designed by artist Keith Haring.