Even More Useless Information

[This is the column that ran in the print editions of many Metro newspapers on Friday. -AC]

While researching material for my radio show, The Secret History of Rock, I often run across information about music that’s utterly fascinating but doesn’t fit into anything I’m doing at the moment.  Because it seems a shame not to use this stuff, I hereby present it to you.  

• Plastic surgeons are developing new techniques for restoring a youthful appearance to ageing female hands that have become veiny with loose skin.  Physicians and clients are referring to this condition as “Madonna hands.”

• When Pete Townshend of The Who appeared as a character on The Simpsons, the role was actually voiced by Pete’s brother Paul.

• Geddy Lee of Rush donated his entire collection of 200 autographed baseballs from the old Negro

Baseball League to their hall of fame in Kansas City.

• Back in the 1960s, David Bowie appeared in a TV commercial for an ice cream bar call Luv.  The ad was directed by a young Ridley Scott.  Yes, him.

• The first hit single to run more than four minutes was Harry Belafonte’s “Mary’s Boy Child.”  When it was released in 1957, it ran a scandalous four minutes and 12 seconds.

• Paul McCartney has had hit singles as a solo artist as well a member of a duo, trio, quartet, quintet and sextet.

• The common housefly buzzes in the key of F.

• Metal fans can burn up to 150 calories an hour just through the act of headbanging.

• The Blur song “Song 2” was the second song to be recorded for that album.  It was track two on the CD and the second single from the record, reaching #2 on the British charts.  And the song is exactly two minutes long.

• Thomas Dolby—Remember the song “She Blinded Me With Science?”—moved to Silicon Valley where he invented a tiny synthesizer-on-a-chip that makes ringtones possible.  It’s been installed on more than three billion cell phones around the world.

• The first person to utter the words “Elvis has left the building” was Horace Lee Hogan.  On December 15, 1956, Elvis played in front of 10,000 fans who mobbed the doors to backstage when the performance was over.  Horace, who was in charge of the gig, grabbed the microphone in an effort to regain control.  He screamed “Please, young people!  Elvis has left the building!”