Happy Birthday today (Sept. 8) to Dokken drummer ‘Wild’ Mick Brown. He’s 61. Also celebrating today is Great White keyboardist Michael Lardie (59) and we remember Cars bassist, vocalist Benjamin Orr who would have been 70 today. He died in 2000 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Mick Brown, in addition to Dokken has also played with Lynch Mob and Ted Nugent. Dokken formed formed out of Los Angeles, California in 1979. The classic lineup consisted of Don Dokken on lead vocals, George Lynch on guitar, Jeff Pilson on bass, and “Wild” Mick Brown on drums. The band’s album Tooth and Nail was released in 1984 and featured several hits including “Just Got Lucky”, “Alone Again”, and “Into the Fire”. It sold over a million copies in the U.S. alone. 1985 saw the release of Under Lock and Key which would also go on to sell over a million copies with hits “In My Dreams”, “The Hunter”, and “It’s Not Love”. Dokken toured with bands like Judas Priest, AC/DC, Aerosmith, and Dio, among other during this successful time for the band. The band returned to the studio in 1986 and recorded the track “Dream Warriors” for the Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors soundtrack after touring with the Scorpions. 1987’s Back for the Attack album would be Dokken’s best selling release reaching number 13 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart with singles “Burning Like a Flame” and Heaven Sent”. The band spilt up in 1989 and would reunite in 1993, recording many new albums with several lineup changes.

The original Dokken lineup is reuniting for 6 shows in Japan last Fall. The band will play The Chance in Poughkeepsie on Sunday, Oct. 15. Cheers to 'Wild' Mick Brown on his birthday today! For more on Dokken, check out the official band website here.

Michael Lardie
Michael Lardie/Youtube
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Benjamin Orr
Benjamin Orr of the Cars/Youtube
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