Today is the birthday of Wendy Smith, vocalist and

guitarist for Prefab Sprout, who was born in 1963 in Durham, England. Founded

by charismatic songwriter Paddy McAloon, Prefab Sprout was well-loved in

England for their lush postmodern sound and jazzy undertones even though they

never found big-time commercial success. The McAloon brothers had grown up

listening to the Beatles and the Who, Burt Bacharach and Jimmy Webb. Starting a

band seemed the obvious choice. By the end of 1982 the duo had recorded a

single, "Lions in my Own Garden (Exit Someone)," under the name Prefab Sprout.

A local record dealer found them a recording contract, and the McAloon brothers

hired on fan Wendy Smith; soon after, they brought in Neil Conti to play drums.

The band's debut, Swoon, was released in 1984. It caught the

attention of Thomas Dolby, who met up with the band and produced some of their

followup work, including 1985's Two Wheels Good (which was released

under the name Steve McQueen outside the U.S.). With 1988's From

Langley Park to Memphis the group enjoyed a top-ten hit , "The King of Rock

'N' Roll." Since then, however, the group has failed to make an appearance on

the charts. Their most recent release is 1992's A Life of

Surprise.

Other birthdays: Augie Meyers (Texas Tornados), the late John

Bonham (Led Zeppelin), Johnny Paycheck, Mick Ralphs (Mott The Hoople/Bad

Company), Charles Miller (War), Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul, & Mary), Corey Hart,

Johnny Diesel, D.M.C. (Run-D.M.C.), Dan Pearson (American Music Club), actors

Clint Eastwood, Joe Namath and Chris Elliott and actresses Lea Thompson and

Brooke Shields. -- Beth Winegarner