IN: Dan Gerhard Brown was born on June 22, 1964 in Exeter, New Hampshire. He has a younger sister, Valerie (born 1968) and brother, Gregory (born 1975). Brown attended Exeter's public schools until the ninth grade. He grew up on the campus of Phillips Exeter Academy, where his father, Richard G. Brown, was a teacher of mathematics and wrote textbooks from 1968 until his retirement in 1997.

In August 2005 author Lewis Perdue unsuccessfully sued Brown for plagiarism, on the basis of claimed similarity between The Da Vinci Code and his novels, The Da Vinci Legacy (1983) and Daughter of God (2000). Judge George Daniels said, in part: "A reasonable average lay observer would not conclude that The Da Vinci Code is substantially similar to Daughter of God."  In April 2006 Brown's publisher, Random House, won a copyright infringement case brought by authors Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, who claimed that Brown stole ideas from their 1982 book Holy Blood Holy Grail for his 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code. It was in the book Holy Blood Holy Grail that Baigent, Leigh, and co-author Henry Lincoln had advanced the theory that Jesus and Mary Magdalene married and had a child and that the bloodline continues to this day. Brown apparently alluded to the two authors' names in his book. Leigh Teabing, a lead character in both the novel and the film, uses Leigh's name as the first name, and anagrammatically derives his last name from Baigent's. Mr Justice Peter Smith found in Brown's favor in the case, and as a private amusement, embedded his own Smithy code in the written judgment.  On March 28, 2007, Brown's publisher, Random House, won an appeal copyright infringement case. The Court of Appeal of England and Wales rejected the efforts from Baigent and Leigh, who became liable for paying legal expenses of nearly US$6 million.  Brown has been sued twice in U.S. Federal courts by the author Jack Dunn who claims Brown copied a huge part of his book The Vatican Boys to write The Da Vinci Code (2006-07) and Angels & Demons (2011-12). Both lawsuits were not allowed to go to a jury trial. In 2017, in London, another claim was begun against Brown by Jack Dunn who claimed that Justice was not served in the U.S. lawsuits.

Anything interesting about this time in his life?

OUT: On March 28, 2007, Brown's publisher, Random House, won an appeal


IN: Alkaline Trio is an American punk rock band from McHenry, Illinois. The band consists of guitarist and lead vocalist Matt Skiba, bassist and co-vocalist Dan Andriano, and drummer Derek Grant. Founded in late 1996 by Skiba, bassist Rob Doran, and drummer Glenn Porter, Alkaline Trio released its debut single, "Sundials", in 1997. Following its release, Doran departed from the band and was replaced by Andriano.

In 2001, the band released From Here To Infirmary on Vagrant Records. This album inspired music videos for the singles "Stupid Kid" and "Private Eye." The album was the band's first album to reach above Billboard top 200 mark and the first to gross six figures in sales.  Their next full-length album was Good Mourning, released in 2003, with the album's launch single "We've Had Enough" seeing much the same success as the previous single "Stupid Kid". The album was something of a departure from earlier works, featuring greater production values.  The band appeared on various compilation albums, notably Plea for Peace Vol. 1, Vagrant Records: Another Year on the Streets Vol. 1, 2, and 3, and Rock Against Bush Vol. 1. Matt Skiba and Dan Andriano have both independently recorded split records, Skiba with Kevin Seconds on Asian Man Records and Andriano with Mike Felumlee on Double Zero Records, as well as jointly performing backing vocal duties on the album This is Unity Music by Common Rider. They recorded two split EPs: one with Hot Water Music in 2002 and the other with One Man Army in 2004.  In 2004, Andriano became a member of The Falcon, a group consisting of The Lawrence Arms' bassist Brendan Kelly, previously of Slapstick (alongside Andriano) and The Broadways, and drummer Neil Hennessy. The Falcon also saw contributions from Todd Mohney of The Killing Tree and formerly Rise Against. The band released an EP, God Don't Make No Trash / Up Your Ass With Broken Glass in 2005 and its first full length, Unicornography in September 2006.

What was From Here to Infirmary and Good Mourning all about?

OUT: 


IN: Miami Sound Machine is an American band of Latin-influenced music featuring the vocals of Cuban-born Gloria Fajardo Garcia (later Gloria Estefan). The band was established in 1975 originally as Miami Latin Boys by Emilio Estefan Jr. and became very successful after joining with Gloria Fajardo (Estefan) in 1977. The band had a number of albums and a string of hit singles until 1989. The band's 1985 album Primitive Love credited the band whereas their follow-up album Let It Loose in 1987 adopted the name Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine.

In 1980, MSM added a more complete horn section primarily consisting of trumpet players Fernando Garcia and Victor "Papito" Lopez, plus trombonist Louis Perez. The permanent addition of a full horn section added a new dimension and would become a future MSM musical trademark. Early 1982, a second keyboardist, Roger Fisher was added, as well as the virtuoso harmonica player Gustavo Lezcano. But at the end of 1982, Gloria's cousin Merci and her husband Raul Murciano left the band, just prior to the recording of the third CBS International LP Rio. Once painfully shy, Gloria was now the lone lead vocalist on stage and in the studio, and began to both systematically and stylistically evolve on all levels. Fisher stepped up to Murciano's piano duties. At the same time, Betty Cortes was brought in as replacement for Fisher's second keyboardist role and to sing background vocals live and occasionally in the studio. During the same time period, Elena Stracuzzi was brought in to sing background vocals for live performances. In 1983, Leo Villar was added as second trumpet to replace Fernando Garcia who had left the previous year.  MSM was now quite a large ensemble. With both an expanding and sometimes changing lineup, MSM was now being focused around the primary core founding members: Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Enrique "Kiki" Garcia, Juan Marcos Avila, and frequently, founding guitarist Wesley B. Wright. By the early '80s, MSM had established themselves as major musical artists in Latin America with a strong presence in both the media and on the radio. The next major hurdle was conquered in early 1984 when a Dutch DJ began playing "Doctor Beat" in Amsterdam. Garcia's catchy lyrics, Gloria's sassy vocals, Wright's funky guitar, and Emilio's infectious conga drums took Europe by storm with the tune eventually reaching #1 in the UK and most of Continental Europe, finally causing record labels in the US Market to take notice of the group's strong musical prowess.  In late 1984, the group released their first Epic/Columbia album, Eyes of Innocence, which contained the Garcia-penned classic, previously released, single and dance hit "Dr. Beat" as well as the ballad "I Need Your Love".

Who did they add to their line-up?

OUT:
Roger Fisher