Today is the birthday of Tony! Toni! Tone! vocalist

Timothy Christian Riley. Tony! Toni! Tone! arrived on the music scene in the

late 1980s as one of the first groups to combine hip-hop rhythms with

multi-voiced harmony. Their first album, Who?, was released in 1988 and

spawned a number of successful singles including "Little Walter," which went to

number one on the Billboard charts. They released a second album,

Revival, in 1990 which was equally popular, and went on to sell two

million copies. Members of Tony! Toni! Tone! did some solo work around the turn

of the decade, including two singles by Raphael which charted in soundtracks

for Boyz N The Hood and Higher Learning. Sons of Soul was

released in 1993 to considerable critical acclaim; they were nominated for a

Grammy award and earned a Rolling Stone Critic's Award. Tony! Toni! Tone!'s

latest album, House of Music was released in mid-November. Other

birthdays: Brenden Harkin (Kool & the Gang), Pepsi Demacque (Pepsi & Shirley),

Gloria Loring and J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr). -- Beth Winegarner