Birthdays on the Tube, 13-19 December

reviews, news & interviews

A continuing series celebrating musicians' birthdays.

16 December 1899: Noel Coward, sharing a birthday with Beethoven, an early English rapper of the silk polka dot dressing gown and cigarette holder school.

{youtube width="400" height="300"}vdEnxNog56E{/youtube}

16 December 1770: Not sure whether to admit this, but I can't have been the sole Sex Pistols fan who only became enamoured of the second movement of Ludwig Van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony as a teenager after watching Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, with Alex and fellow droogs discussing the magnificence of Ludwig and ultraviolence in the Moloko milk bar. And who better than Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic in full flow to do it justice?

{youtube width="400"}IFMF5N7rZFA{/youtube}

14 December 1946: Jane Birkin is still producing not unimpressive music, but she will forever be associated with this scandalous duet with the only credible French musician of the '60s, Serge Gainsbourg. In retrospect, it all seems rather sweet, really, especially the video.

{youtube width="400" height="300"}sHiMDB19Dyc{/youtube}

15 December 1936: Eddie Palmieri, at the peak of his considerable salsa powers in Central Park New York in 1972 with "Vamonos Pal Monte". Distorted but thrilling.

{youtube width="400" height="300"}eozZ_f9YVk0{/youtube}

18 December 1980: Christine Aguilera goes 1940s retro with "Candyman".

{youtube width="400" height="300"}DdygrRU1HqU{/youtube}

19 December 1885: Joe "King" Oliver's Jazz band are often considered the greatest of them all. No videos on YouTube on his birthday is a decent excuse listen to "Riverside Blues" from 1923.

{youtube width="400" height="300"}j_WbQYdQty0{/youtube}

Support the future of arts journalism

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thanks so much for choosing genuinely independent arts journalism theartsdesk’s mission has never been more important – in an age of relentless algorithmic recommendation, sponsored content and unreliable AI, the expertise and discernment of individual critics deeply embedded in their specialist areas is absolutely vital.

If you want more of that in your life, why not subscribe now?

If you do this before the 31st August, you’ll be able to keep at this “founders rate” for life: your subs will never increase! You can choose to subscribe annually for just £40 simply click here
or monthly for £5 per month simply click here.

Not ready to subscribe?

If you want to support with a little extra or aren’t ready to subscribe just yet, there’s also the option to give direct to our crowdfunder to support our imminent redesign and exciting expansion with new features and collaborations Simply contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d.

However you choose to be involved, you can proudly say that you are picking the right side in the battle for truth and humanity in the modern information landscape. And we will be very glad to have you on board!