On this day in 1966, indie-rock mainstay Lou Barlow was born in

Northampton, Mass. Bassist Barlow formed guitar-heavy

underground rock band Dinosaur Jr with guitarist J Mascis in 1983.

The band released their debut album, Dinosaur, in 1985 and

soon developed a following with their mind-blowingly loud concerts.

Their 1987 album, You're Living All Over Me, became an indie

sensation; the 1988 single "Freak Scene" was adopted as an anthem

of sorts by the post-punk underground music movement. After

Dinosaur Jr released Bug in 1988, tensions between Barlow and

Mascis reached a fevered pitch and Mascis booted Barlow from the

band, citing the latter's "excessive social ineptitude."

Following the break with Mascis, Barlow began recording with

Sebadoh, which played music ranging from melodic R.E.M.-like

pop/rock to experimental noise. The band featured

drummer/songwriter Eric Gaffney, with whom Barlow had been

collaborating since 1987. After adding bassist/songwriter Jason

Loewenstein in the early '90s, Sebadoh became popular among

indie-rock fans, though they were also known for the inconsistent

quality of their output. Released in 1991, Sebadoh III featured

some of Loewenstein's songwriting and sounded more polished than

earlier albums from the band.

But Gaffney soon became upset with the media's attention to Barlow,

who was also issuing solo albums under the name Sentridoh.

Following Gaffney's 1994 departure from Sebadoh, the band (which

now included drummer Bob Fay) began to make more mainstream

music, in the form of 1994's Bakesale (including moody tracks

such as "Together or Alone" and "Not a Friend") and 1996's

Harmacy. The band's cult following grew to a great extent

because of the accessibility of the latter record, which made the

Billboard 200 albums chart.

During the same period, Barlow began a side project, the Folk

Implosion, with John Davis, which gained attention in pop circles. The

Folk Implosion released three records in 1994, including The

Electric Idiot EP, and in 1995 they contributed almost the entire

soundtrack to the controversial movie "Kids." From this work came a

top 30 pop hit, "Natural One." In 1997, the Folk Implosion released

the single "Pole Position," from Dare To Be Surprised, an album

with a pop/dance feel similar to the "Kids" soundtrack, but which did

not expand Barlow or the band's audience beyond their cult.

Nevertheless, Barlow's multifaceted work in the independent music

world has inspired many rockers.

Norman Blake, leader of Teenage Fanclub, commented on Dare To

Be Surprised: "I like the Folk Implosion LP a lot ... I think Lou

Barlow is brilliant, y'know, he's a great songwriter -- people like him

influence me."

Other birthdays: Terry "Geezer" Butler (Black Sabbath), 49; and Ed

Kowalczyk (Live), 27.