Happy Birthday to Jerry Garcia (1942-1995) - Grateful Dead - Sugar Magnolia

Birthday wishes to Jerry Garcia (1942-1995) - RIP

Sshhh! It's a Surprise! from the Working Families Party - Pete Seeger's 92nd Birthday

So, we pause from the hurly-burly of organizing and politics, the need for jobs and clean water, and even the antics of idiotic right-wing Presidential candidates to note something wonderful.

Today is Pete Seeger's 92nd birthday. Folk singer, song writer, activist – the man is a living legend and a friend to the Working Families Party.

Some younger folks may remember Pete as the guy in the flannel shirt joining Bruce Springsteen on stage to perform “This Land is Your Land” at Barack Obama’s inaugural concert two years ago.

Whether or not you know the impact that he has made, each of us knows of the gains that social movements have made – at the workplace, the lunch counter, on a fishing boat, or at a mass demonstration for peace – that came in part due to Pete and his banjo. 
Please join us in giving Pete a memorable birthday. Watch this video that Pete made for the WFP last year, and then add your name to our Birthday Card:





If there is an American alive who more deserves the good wishes and gratitude of his countrymen, we don’t know who that is. For 70 years, Pete has fought the good fight with music, wit, smarts and love.

Since before most of us were born, Pete’s shown us that things can improve, but only if we organize. Cynicism is the easy way out, he’s taught us.

Click here to add your name to the card, and add a message

Pete has always believed in the ability of ordinary people to change the world. And we believe in the ability of ordinary people to know when to stop and say thanks.

Please forward to anyone and everyone, and let's get thousands of Americans to let this wonderful man know how much we appreciate how hard he has worked to make America truly a land with liberty and justice for all.

Don’t forget to help us spread the word – we guarantee Pete will be surprised by your outpouring! We’ll send the card at the end of the week.

All the best,

Dan Cantor
Executive Director, WFP

Ringo Starr - John Lennon 70th Birthday Tribute

Yoko Ono - Happy 70th Birthday John!

Happy 70th Birthday, John - Working Class Hero - John Lennon

Happy Birthday, John...!

RIP - 9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980

Happy 69th Birthday Bob Dylan - May 24th, 1941...

Watch original...

Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone 1965

Bob Dylan was born on May 24th, 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota...Often called "the voice of his generation"...And, always a favorite of mine...

Happy 69th Birthday, Bob..!

Rep. Towns' Statement Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday

U.S. Rep. Edolphus “Ed” Towns (NY-10) issued the following statement today in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday:

“Today, we observe the birthday of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., one of America’s greatest civil rights activists whose struggle for equality forever impacted American social justice and civil rights.

“Dr. King’s fight for equality moved our nation to become one of ‘liberty and justice for all.’ Today, we honor his life of historic accomplishments such as the March on Washington, which called upon our nation to remember the principles of justice upon which this country was built.

“Let us continue to honor what Dr. King bravely and powerfully envisioned for this nation during his 'I have a dream' speech in 1963. From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., Dr. King called on all Americans to let freedom ring from every state and city.

“Dr. King’s legacy lives on in all of us. Let us continue to value diversity and make justice a reality for all.”

Happy Birthday-Stevie Wonder for MLK.wmv

"Happy Birthday" is a 1981 single written, produced, and performed by Stevie Wonder for the Motown label. Wonder, a social activist, was one of the main figures in the campaign to have the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. become a national holiday, and created this single to make the cause known.

The song, one of many of Wonder's songs to feature the use of a keyboard synthesizer, features Wonder lamenting the fact that anyone would oppose the idea of a Dr. King holiday, where "peace is celebrated throughout the world" and singing to King in the chorus, "Happy birthday to you". The holiday, he proposes, would facilitate the realization of Dr. King's dreams of integration and "love and unity for all of God's children".

Wonder used the song to popularize the campaign, and continued his fight for the holiday, holding the Rally for Peace Press Conference in 1981. United States President Ronald Reagan approved the creation of the holiday, signing it into existence on November 2, 1983. The first official Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, held the third Monday in January of each year, was held on January 20, 1986, and was commemorated with a large-scale concert, where Stevie Wonder was the headlining performer.

Although the single failed to reach the Billboard Hot 100, it became one of Wonder's biggest hits in the UK, reaching No.2 in the charts in August 1981.^[1]

In some African-American circles, the chorus of the song is sung in addition to, or in place of, the traditional "Happy Birthday to You".

Happy 99th Birthday to Yankees Legend & Hall of Fame Announcer Bob Sheppard

Happy Birthday to Richmond Hill's own Bob Sheppard...

Robert Leo "Bob" Sheppard (born October 20, 1910)^[1] has been the public address announcer for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball since 1951, and was the public address announcer for the New York Giants of the National Football League from 1956 to 2006. In his time with the Yankees, he has announced over 4,500 Major League Baseball games, and has seen the Yankees capture 22 American League pennants and 13 World Series championships.

View Full Wikipedia entry...

Happy Birthday to the Boss - Bruce Springsteen's 60th Bday...

Bruce Springsteen live at Hammersmith Odeon, 1975

Happy 90th Birthday to Pete Seeger (May 3rd, 1919) - Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

From Wikipedia: Peter "Pete" Seeger (born May 3, 1919) is an American folk singer, and a key figure in the mid-20th century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 50s as a member of The Weavers, most notably the 1950 recording of Leadbelly's "Goodnight, Irene" that topped the charts for 13 weeks in 1950.[1] In the 1960s, he re-emerged on the public scene as a pioneer of protest music in support of international disarmament and civil rights and, more recently, as a tireless activist for environmental causes.

As a song writer, he is best known as the author or co-author of "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?", "If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)" (composed with Lee Hays of The Weavers), and "Turn, Turn, Turn!", which have been recorded by many artists both in and outside the folk revival movement and are still sung throughout the world. "Flowers" was a hit recording for The Kingston Trio (1962), Marlene Dietrich, who recorded it in English, German and French (1962), and Johnny Rivers (1965). "If I Had a Hammer" was a hit for Peter, Paul & Mary (1962) and Trini Lopez (1963), while The Byrds popularized "Turn, Turn, Turn!" in the mid-1960s, as did Judy Collins in 1964. Seeger was one of the folksingers most responsible for popularizing the spiritual "We Shall Overcome" (also recorded by Joan Baez and many other singer-activists) that became the acknowledged anthem of the 1960s American Civil Rights Movement, soon after folk singer and activist Guy Carawan introduced it at the founding meeting of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1960.