Brilliant guitarist and a self-taught expert in missile systems, Jeff 'Skunk' Baxter, was born on this day in 1948. A member of Ultimate Spinach for their last album, Baxter then joined Steely Dan for their first 3 releases before settling in as a Doobie Brother member in 1974. His fascination with technical aspects of audio algorithms and high capacity storage led to an interest in ways that technology could be a bridge developing defensive missile systems. He has been a go-to consultant for the Pentagon and several other agencies and companies involved in notional defense. Also born 12/13, Ted Nugent (1948) and the band Television's Tom Verlaine (1949). On this day in 1985, Phil Collins appeared on an episode of Miami Vice. In 2002 Zal Yanofsky of the Lovin' Spoonful died of a heart attack, and in 2010 Paul McCartney played the Appollo Theater in Harlem.