Amazing facts!!! A new occasional series

[michael_churchill]

On a very few occasions, there have been double A-sided singles in the charts where each side was by different artists. The only one that reached number one was "With A Little Help From My Friends" by Wet Wet Wet / "She's Leaving Home" by Billy Bragg in 1988 (from the charity album "Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father"). "Wand'rin' Star" by Lee Marvin was originally listed in the charts as a double A-side with "Talk To The Trees" by Clint Eastwood, but not by the time it reached number one. Perhaps the strangest was "Woman (Uh Huh)" by Jose Ferrer / "Man (Uh Huh)" by Rosemary Clooney, which reached no.7 in 1954, which is the same tune with lyrics from the different point of view of the sexes. Each sang backing vocals on the other's side and appeared at the end imploring the listener to turn the record over for the other point of view. Ferrer and Clooney were married.

[RJSRdg]

"I talk to the trees....
That's why they put me away..."

- Eccles

[Lunaticonthegrass]

"I talk to the trees....
That's why they put me away..."

- Eccles

Dear Lord, you're worse than my dad.

[RJSRdg]

Blame Spike Milligan!

[michael_churchill]

The link between Tony Hancock and George Michael...
In 1961, Tony Hancock re-recorded two classic episodes of his TV show, "The Blood Donor" and "The Radio Ham" for Pye Records and they were released on an LP that reached number 12 in the charts. A sample from "The Radio Ham" of actress Annie Leake, who played Hancock's landlady, saying "Would you stop playing with that radio of yours, I'm trying to get some sleep!" appears at the end of George Michael's song "Too Funky".

[michael_churchill]

Do you remember the 2011 Comic Relief sketch featuring Smithy from "Gavin and Stacey" with cameos from the likes of Paul McCartney, Gordon Brown and George Michael? That was directed by Ben Winston (who therefore directed his own father, Lord Robert Winston). He also directed the pre-recorded segment of the LA 28 handover at the Olympic closing ceremony featuring Tom Cruise.

[michael_churchill]

Only two athletes have competed at the Olympics in Beijing twice - that is the 2008 Summer Games and the 2022 Winter Games.
Jaque Mourao of Brazil was a mountain bike cyclist and a cross country skier. She has competed at three summer games and five winter games since 2004.
Montell Douglas of Team GB was a sprinter and competed in Bobsleigh. They were her only two games. She is now better known as Fire in Gladiators and will be a contestant in Strictly Come Dancing this year.

[michael_churchill]

The white Rolls Royce in the swimming pool on the cover of "Be Here Now" by Oasis was given the same number plate (SYO 724F) as a black police van seen in the background on the cover of "Abbey Road" by the Beatles.

[michael_churchill]

Jon Bon Jovi's first professional recording was for the 1980 album "Christmas in the Stars: Star Wars Christmas Album". Jon had a part-time janitor's job at the Record Plant studio in New York, which was managed by his cousin Tony. Producer Meco, who'd had a number one single with his disco version of the Star Wars theme, asked Jon to sing on "R2-D2 We Wish You A Merry Christmas"!

[michael_churchill]

This season Danny Jensen became the first Major League Baseball player to play for both teams in a game.

In baseball, when a game is stopped, usually because of rain, they try to complete the game after a delay if the weather clears up. If they can't continue, and at least 5 of the 9 innings have been completed, there is the option to call the game complete - whoever was leading when they stopped is declared the winner. If 5 innings haven't been completed, the game is "suspended" and they will try to complete it later. Because teams play each other many times a season, they might be able to complete the game before their next game the following day, or later in the season when the same teams are due to play each other. Incidentally, this where the term "rain check" comes from - it was the part of the game ticket that you kept to allow you to attend the completion of the game.

The suspended game should be resumed at the point of suspension, with the same score and the same players on the field. However, if the game is completed later in the season, players may have been traded to other teams. There have been many occasions when a player plays for a team that he wasn't a member of when the game started, but Danny Jensen is the first to finish a game for the team he was playing against when it started.

On 26 June, Danny was playing for the Toronto Blue Jays against the Boston Red Sox when it was suspended due to rain in the second inning. On 27 July, Danny was traded to the Boston Red Sox. On 26 August, the game was resumed. Danny was batting when the game was suspended, so the Blue Jays had to send on a pitch hitter for him when the game resumed. His first plate appearance for the Red Sox was in the bottom half of the second inning, so he actually batted for both teams in the same inning.

[michael_churchill]

In the James Bond film "You Only Live Twice", the henchman that Bond fights in Mr. Osato's office at Osato Chemicals (finally defeated by having a sculpture broken over his head) was played by Peter Maivia, a professional wrestler. His son-in-law, Rocky Johnson, was also a wrestler. Rocky's son and Peter's grandson is Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Dwayne's daughter Simone now appears in WWE as Ava, the first fourth-generation wrestler to work for the company.

[michael_churchill]

In 1958 when the Gibb family, including the Bee Gees, emigrated from Britain to Australia, on the same ship was Welsh woman Carol Ann Jones who later married Ronald Minogue and had three children, Kylie, Brendan and Dannii.