Today is the birthday of booming baritone Barry White, who was born 53 years ago in Galveston, Texas. Best known for his husky-voiced R&B love songs with lush arrangements, such as "Can't Get Enough Of Your Love Babe" and "You're The First, The Last, My Everything," White actually got his start as many other singers of the genre did -- in a church choir at the age of 8. White joined the Los Angeles R&B group the Upfronts when he was 16 and two years later he helped arrange the Bob and Earl hit "The Harlem Shuffle." In 1966, having honed his production skills, White started working as an A&R man for Mustang Records. It was there that he discovered Love Unlimited, which featured his future wife Glodean James, and produced their 1972 hit "Walking In The Rain With The One I Love."

White got his own recording contract with 20th Century Fox Records in 1973 and immediately started burning up the charts with his seductive soul music. I've Got So Much To Give was packed with carnal hits such as "I'm Gonna Give You Just A Little More Baby" and "Never Never, Gonna Give You Up." White also started writing for the Love Unlimited Orchestra, with which he made the string-heavy disco hit "Love's Theme." By the time the end of 1974 rolled around, White had written, produced or performed on 16 million dollars' worth of songs. The rest of the '70s were kind to White, with the rise of disco and funk catapulting his brand of sonic sweet talk to the top of the charts again and again. When disco fell out of fashion in the '80s, so did Barry White. The late '80s brought a resurgence to his career, with "Sho' You Right" and "For Your Love (I'll Do Most Anything)" both hitting the R&B charts in 1987. When the '70s revival began in the early '90s, White rode the cresting wave with hits such as 1990's "Sweet Seduction Suite," 1991's "Put Me In Your Mix" and 1994's "Practice What You Preach."

Other birthdays: Barry Andrews (King Crimson/XTC), 41; Tony Bellamy (Redbone), 54; Colin Young (Foundations), 53; Gerry Beckley (America), 42; Neil Peart (Rush), 45; Brian Robertson (Thin Lizzy/Motorhead), 41 and Larry Lalonde (Primus), 29.