Peak UK Chart Position: #19 in December 2003.

As well as January 25th being the birth date of singer Etta James (born 1938, died January 20th 2012), and singer-songwriter Ewan MacColl (born 1915, died October 22nd 1989), it sees the birthdays of the following:

• Andy Cox – born in Birmingham, England – guitarist, turns 61 today (with The Beat: “Can’t Get Used To Losing You” UK #3 in 1983; with Fine Young Cannibals: “She Drives Me Crazy” UK #5 in 1989; with Two Men, A Drum Machine, And A Trumpet: “Tired Of Getting Pushed Around” UK #18 in 1988)
• Carl Fysh – born Carl Anthony Fysh – musician/songwriter, turns 56 today (with Brother Beyond: “The Harder I Try” UK #2 in 1988, “He Ain’t No Competition” UK #6 in 1988)
• Christian Ingebrigtsen – born in Oslo, Norway – singer/songwriter/producer, is 40 today (as member of A1, two UK number ones: “Take On Me” and “Same Old Brand New You” in 2000, “Caught In The Middle” UK #2 in 2002)

Last on the list for today is Alicia Keys – born Alicia Augello Cook, in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan, New York – who celebrates her 36th birthday today. In a career spanning a little over twenty years, she has managed to win fifteen Grammy Awards, and has sold over 35 million albums and 30 million singles worldwide. “Fallin'” was her first singles success, a number three hit in the UK, and a chart-topper in America, New Zealand, and the Netherlands. It remains her biggest solo success in Britain, although “Empire State Of Mind” in 2009 on which she featured alongside Jay-Z got to number two.

“You Don’t Know My Name”, co-written and co-produced with Kanye West, was the first track from her second album “The Diary Of Alicia Keys”, and fared less well than expected in the UK, although its pre-Christmas release may have had a bearing. Here, she performs it live on German-language entertainment show ‘Wetten, dass..?’ (translating to ‘Wanna bet, that…?’ and the basis for UK show ‘You Bet’) in 2004.