clipped from: blog.wired.com 
Many compelling musicians share a May 17 birthday, including Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor, Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme, blues titan Taj Mahal and more. But longevity is the ultimate present, so Listening Post is making its cake for self-described French "phonometrician" Erik Satie.
Satie's minimalist innovations and artistic experimentation can be found in the work of artists as different as Harold Budd, Mogwai and Frank Zappa. But the pianist ran with his own crowd of even bigger names, including Tristan Tzara, Jean Cocteau, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and many more. His left-field composition fit perfectly with the early 20th century's burgeoining dada and avant-garde movements.
So happy 148th birthday, Erik Satie! I would say I hope you're happy in heaven, but as you once said, "Why attack God? He may be as miserable as we are."