Special thanks to generous readers Jeff and Lou for collectively hooking me up with the Musical Challenge stuff I’ve been looking for. They are now officially my Favorite People In The World for the next two weeks. Hopefully they won’t let that go to their heads.

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Today is my birthday. I’ve known for some time that I share a birthday with Dr. Suess and Lou Reed, but when I checked the Wikipedia entry for today’s date I found that a whole bunch of musical types were born today. So here’s a selection of their work.

Ska Cubano “Babalu” (Desi Arnaz)
People sometimes forget that Desi Arnaz was a well-respected Afro-Cuban jazz musician before he became Mr. Lucille Ball. This was his signature tune.

Nick Cave “Mack The Knife” (comp. Kurt Weill)
Happy birthday, Kurt Weill! Nick Cave is such a dramatic singer that he’s perfectly suited to this favorite from the Threepenny Opera. Bobby Darin sounded pretty chipper when he sang this song. Nick Cave, not so much.

Porno for Pyros “Satellite of Love” (Lou Reed)
This was a fairly obscure Lou Reed song until U2 started playing it during their concerts. Now there are lots of covers of it, most sounding like either the original or U2’s cover. This weirdo lounge/karaoke version is refreshingly different.

Dishwalla “It’s Going To Take Some Time” (The Carpenters)
It’s Karen Carpenter’s birthday too.

This song comes from the wonderful tribute album If I Were A Carpenter. There are some great performances on there and it also functions as a who’s who of “alternative” music in the early 1990s. What the hell ever happened to Dishwalla, anyway?

Pastel Vespa “Living On A Prayer” (Bon Jovi)
The fifth position this week was a tossup between birthday boys Jon Bon Jovi and Eddie Money. I went with the Bon Jovi because I really like this swinging take on his big hit.