Today is the birthday of John Taylor, the bassist for Duran Duran and Neurotic Outsiders, who was born in 1960 in Birmingham, England. Duran Duran was well-known throughout the 1980s as the Brit-pop band with the pinup good looks. From its first album onward the band -- Taylor, singer Simon Le Bon, guitarist Andy Taylor, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and drummer Roger Taylor (none of the Taylors were related) -- was part of London's New Romantic scene, welding pop and disco to craft such hits as "Girls On Film," "Rio" and "Hungry Like The Wolf." The band's first four albums--its self-titled debut, Rio, Seven and the Ragged Tiger and Arena--sold phenomenally. By Arena Roger and Andy were feeling pressure; Roger to leave music for good, Andy to go solo. The remaining members hired guitarist Warren Cuccurullo after releasing their best-of retrospective, Decade. They made three more albums, Liberty, The Wedding Album and Thank You, as a foursome. A new album, Medazzaland, is in the works. Meanwhile, Taylor has been working on another project, the Neurotic Outsiders, with Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan and former Sex Pistol Steve Jones. Their self-titled debut was released last year to poor reviews. Other birthdays: Tim Barnes (Ditch Croaker), Brian Wilson (Beach Boys), Anne Murray, Alan Longmuir (Bay City Rollers), Lionel Richie, Michael Anthony (Van Halen), actor John Goodman ("Roseanne") and actress Nicole Kidman ("Far And Away," "To Die For").