In honor of my very own birthday, I thought I’d share a playlist of songs featuring my name.  How much more vain can I get (see Carly Simon reference below, lol!)?  I was named after my Great Uncle Bill, who was a marine infantry veteran of WWII, stationed in the Pacific.  I love that I am his namesake, as he was a wonderful, caring, loving presence in my life.

Born March 30th, National Doctor’s Day, I suppose I was destined to be a doctor.  The first Doctor’s Day observance was March 28, 1933 in Georgia.  It was decreed a national day by George Bush in 1990.  March 30th was chosen to commemorate the first use of general anesthesia in surgery in 1842 in Jefferson, GA.

I was also destined to be a lover of music, with several great musicians born the same day as me:

1913 – Frankie Laine
1942 – Graeme Edge, The Moody Blues drummer
1945 – Eric Clapton, solo as well as with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers,
Yardbirds, Cream, Blind Faith, Derek and the Dominoes
1962 – MC Hammer
1964 – Tracy Chapman
1968 – Celine Dion
1979 – Norah Jones, daughter of Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar
1984 – Justin Moore
1990 – Thomas Rhett

Also a few prominent artists were born on this day:

1746 – Francisco de Goya

1853 – Vincent Van Gogh

Not to mention some prominent actors:

1930 – Jon Astin , Gomez Addams in the Addams Family

1937 – Warren Beatty, actor in “Bugsy,” “Dick Tracy,” and “Reds,” a legend in his own mind, prompting Carly Simon to pen the song “You’re So Vain” about him

1950 – Robbie Coltrane, Hagrid in the Harry Potter movies

1957 – Paul Reiser, of “Mad About You” fame

1964 – Ian Zeiring, of “Beverly Hills 90210” fame

1971 – Marc Consuelos, husband to Kelly Ripa, both former costars on “All My Children”

Also on this day:

“Jeopardy!” premiered in 1964

“Romancing the Stone” was released in 1984

“Beetlejuice” was released in 1988

“Spy Kids” was released in 2001

The playlist includes songs featuring Bill, Billy, William, and Willie in their title.  Some prominent songs when I was growing up included Bo Donaldson’s “Billy Don’t Be A Hero,” Billy Joel’s “Ballad Of Billy The Kid,” Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Willie The Wimp,” Sweet’s “Little Willie,” Van Halen’s “Big Bad Bill Is Sweet William Now,” and though not in the title of The 5th Dimension’s “Wedding Bell Blues” it certainly figures in the refrain “’till you marry me Bill.”

There are 4 versions of the song “Willie and Laura Mae Jones.” I first heard this song as the Persuasion’s version when visiting a girlfriend at the time in Tacoma, WA. I was amazed at the vocal performance that seemed to come from the basement. This acapella style singing group with some other great songs on the album Chirpin’, including “Papa Oom Mow Mow,” “Moonlight And Music,” “Sixty Minute Man,” “Win Your Love For Me,” and “To Be Loved.” Check them out. The other versions were included as they were excellent and very different sounding interpretations of this song, originally performed by Tony Joe White.

I also included a song from each of the artists born on my birthday.  Additionally, a pediatric colleague of mine with whom I worked 20 or so years ago was also born on the 30th. I couldn’t find any songs with “Hector” in the title but did find an artist named Hector with 45+ million listens to some of his songs, so I included one here. Happy Birthday Hector (and me)! Definitely a playlist with some obscure songs, though the first and last handful of songs on the list are pretty great.

I hope that this music and my blog truly serve as a “revival: a new presentation of something old,” a springboard to return to the music of your youth, or perhaps to find artists you want to discover anew.  Rediscover the passion of music in your life.

Live in the moment.

Enjoy the moment.

Love the moment.

Listen to the MUSIC!