Bathroom Readers' Institute's Blog, page 116

Music Trivia: 8 Awesome Facts About Hall and Oates

Whoa-oa, here they come…Ready for some music trivia? Here are some awesome facts about Hall and Oates.

Hall and Oates were formed in the Philadelphia soul music scene of the 1960s and 1970s. The duo was embraced by soul and R&B radio, too—along with Robin Thicke and Lisa Stansfield, Hall and Oates are the only Caucasian act to ever top Billboard’s R&B singles chart.


Hall and Oates, the band, isn’t really called “Hall and Oates.” Technically, the duo is known as “Daryl Hall and John Oates.”

They’re the most successful duo of all time, selling 40 million albums and scoring six #1 hit singles.


While Hall was the lead singer, Oates was the rhythm guitarist and co-writer of most of the duo’s songs. He also sang lead on more than 40 Hall and Oates, including their hit cover of “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’.” In 1987 he wrote and sang backup on one-hit-wonder Icehouse’s single “Electric Blue.”

In 1983, Hall and Oates recorded a cover of the Christmas pop classic “Jingle Bell Rock.” One side of the 45 features Hall singing lead; the other side has Oates.


The group made some memorable, and pretty bad music videos in the 1980s. Oates has said many times that they were kind of bad on purpose, because he resented having to suddenly be an actor for the new medium …and he wasn’t a very good actor.

Hall and Oates are highly influential on modern musicians. Questlove, drummer for the hip-hop group the Roots and The Tonight Show bandleader, inducted Hall and Oates into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and said that their music “could cure all illness.” “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” has been sampled often in rap music, by acts including De La Soul, the Notorious BIG, and 2 Live Crew. Michael Jackson approached Hall at the recording session for “We Are the World” to tell him that he stole the song’s bass line and used it for “Billie Jean.”

This week Hall and Oates filed suit against a granola company who was selling a product called…Haulin’ Oats.

Looking for more music trivia, check out Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Plunges into Music.

The post Music Trivia: 8 Awesome Facts About Hall and Oates appeared first on Trivia Books and Facts | Uncle John's Bathroom Reader.

The Owl That’s Terrorizing Holland

Purmerend is a small town with a big problem.

Don’t mess with eagle owls. They have a wingspan of more than six feet, and their size enables them to eat everything from rabbits to small deer. Unfortunately for the citizens of Purmerend in the Netherlands, one owl has decided to raise a little hell. On the night of Feb. 24, “The Horror Owl,” as it’s been nicknamed by the Dutch press, swooped down and attacked two joggers. Both were rushed to a hospital; one was treated for five separate head wounds. But they aren’t the owl’s only victims. Earlier that same day, the big bird assaulted three other humans. To date, the owl has been blamed for 15 attacks.

The locals, needless to say, are on high alert and officials have warned to them to stay on their guard while walking outdoors, especially at night. As Purmerend resident Liselotte de Bruijn told the press: “The problem is that you don’t hear the owl before it strikes. Its claws are razor-sharp.” To help keep everybody safe, the Dutch bank chain Rabobank donated dozens of umbrellas.

Purmerend officials are also giving a hoot and they’re doing what they can to end the owl’s reign of terror. They think that the bird must have been raised in captivity and it now associates humans with food—it may not be trying to hurt humans, so much as it’s looking for something to eat. It’s illegal for people to hunt owls in the Netherlands but the town was given an exemption. On March 4, a falconer was hired to bring the owl to justice.

This isn’t the first time this winter an owl has caused trouble. A similar bird recently created lots of problems in Salem, Oregon’s Bush Pasture Park. So if you’re jogging there looking out for “Owl Capone.”

It’s a wild world out there. For more nature/animal trivia, check out Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Nature Calls.

The post The Owl That’s Terrorizing Holland appeared first on Trivia Books and Facts | Uncle John's Bathroom Reader.

The Wild World of Syndicated Television

The shelf life of your favorite show is often extended by syndication, but how much do you know about this niche of the TV world?

All TV programs eventually get cancelled. (Except for The Simpsons.) Reruns of the longest lasting can air for decades after their initial runs, typically if they banked at least 100 episodes. This is called “off-network syndication” and it refers to shows that originally aired on a major network.

There’s also something called “first-run syndication,” which describes stuff like game shows that are produced fresh and sold directly to local stations. Almost since the dawn of television, TV stations have relied on syndicators to fill spots in their programming during non-primetime hours. In the 1950s, Ziv Television Programs pioneered the idea of first-run syndication with the 1950-56 show The Cisco Kid. Even though TV wasn’t yet broadcast in color, Cisco was filmed in color. When the rest of the country adopted color TV, Cisco reruns aired into the 1970s.

Years later, shows that were cancelled by networks actually went the opposite route. Silver Spoons, Charles in Charge, and Too Close For Comfort lived on with new episodes in syndication. But those shows’ popularity paled in comparison to the two biggest ever hits in first-run syndication: Star Trek: The Next Generation and Baywatch. The first season of the latter was a huge flop on NBC back in 1989, but in syndication it became the most watched show on the planet and ran for 11 years.

But let’s not forget about off-network syndication, which can also be a big money earner. For the syndication rights to ER, TNT paid $1.2 million per episode. The USA Network, meanwhile, paid about $750,000 to air reruns of Walker: Texas Ranger. Why cough up all of that money? Because the more popular the show, the higher its potential ad revenue, especially when networks edit or even speed up reruns to fit in more commercials. And even at a million bucks an episode, it’s still cheaper than producing new shows.

The post The Wild World of Syndicated Television appeared first on Trivia Books and Facts | Uncle John's Bathroom Reader.

6 Highly Logical Facts About Leonard Nimoy

RIP Spock.

Leonard Nimoy invented the Vulcan Hand Salute during the filming of a Star Trek episode. The gesture was borrowed from the Jewish High Holiday services. The Kohanim (priests) bless the congregation by extending “the palms of both hands…with thumbs outstretched and the middle and ring fingers parted.” Nimoy used the same gesture, only with one hand.


Before he played Mr. Spock, Leonard Nimoy owned a pet store.


The role of Spock was first offered to Martin Landau. He turned it down, and it went to Nimoy…would later replace Landau when he quit Mission: Impossible.


In 1973, Nimoy starred in a TV pilot called Baffled! The premise: a race-car driver (Nimoy) gets injured in a crash and suddenly begins receiving visions of murders that haven’t occurred yet. He solves the crimes before they happen with the help of a female student of psychic phenomena. (The show was not picked up to series.)


At his first Star Trek convention in 1973, Nimoy’s presence caused such chaos that he had to be rushed out by an army of security guards. Nimoy grew reluctant to appear at Star Trek and other science fiction fan conventions because he feared being typecast. He even wrote a book entitled I Am Not Spock. He later came to embrace his popularity, however, and in 1993 wrote another book: I AM Spock.


Nimoy appeared in costume as Spock in public just once: In 1967, when he was the celebrity grand marshal of the Pear Blossom Parade in Medford, Oregon.


And then there’s this:

The post 6 Highly Logical Facts About Leonard Nimoy appeared first on Trivia Books and Facts | Uncle John's Bathroom Reader.

The Thunder Down Under

For 14 years, a very strange (and stinky) museum in Tasmania has been freaking out visitors and locals.

The first thing you’ll notice at the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart is the smell of poop. That’s because the underground museum is the current home of Belgian artist Wim Delvoye’s Cloaca. The totally bizarre contraption/art piece mimics the human digestive system. Its system of tubes and bags creates imitation doodie that smells just like the real deal. For obvious reasons Cloaca is housed in a custom-built room in one of MONA’s lower levels. Nevertheless, that isn’t enough to keep the smell it cranks out from drifting far beyond its gallery.

The museum is owned by eccentric Hobart native David Walsh, who has made a killing as a professional gambler. When he’s not betting on horse racing and other sports, he likes to collect and display art. Those willing to shell out $75,00 can also enjoy “Eternity Membership.” One of the benefits? Having your ashes put on permanent display after you kick the bucket. To date, only two of Walsh’s dearly departed family members have signed up. Still-living Tasmanian residents, meanwhile, can visit the museum for free.

Still, lots of locals can’t stand the bizarre museum, which is “devoted to sex and death,” but it has helped boost tourism in Tasmania. Say what you will about Walsh but he’s definitely committed to the project. Over the years, he’s sunk around $200 million into MONA. While that might sound totally crazy, over 330,000 people passed through the museum’s turnstiles in 2014.

Plus, MONA serves as a safe haven for truly freaky artists and artwork (like Cloaca) that might not find a home anywhere else. The museum’s annual summer festival attracts performance artists like Li Binyuan, who once hosted a “piece” that involved him smashing 250 hammers with another hammer.

The post The Thunder Down Under appeared first on Trivia Books and Facts | Uncle John's Bathroom Reader.

Things You Should Know: 7 Facts About Greenland

As winter winds down, here are things you should know about the place where the season never quite ends.

Greenland isn’t very green. According to legend, it was named to trick Viking raiders into going there instead of the comparatively rich hills and plains of Iceland.


The first inhabitants of Greenland were Paleo-Eskimo nomads, who arrived in about 2,500 B.C. Descendants shared the island with Viking leader Erik the Red and his descendants into the 13th century, but a “Little Ice Age” ravaged the island’s settlements 200 years later. Extreme famine reportedly led to the elderly and infirm being flung off cliffs in order to save food.


American troops were sent to protect Greenland from the Nazis in 1941. Two air bases were established and “Bluie” served as the island’s official codename during WWII.


Greenland has been a territory of Denmark since the 18th century, but in 2008, locals approved the Self-Government Act. This began a gradual process that will slowly enable the island to one day become its own sovereign nation.


Life in Greenland is pretty cold. Average January temperatures range from −22°F to −13°F. But in July, it shoots all the way up to 32. Frigid temperatures are thought to be one of the reasons why Greenland has the highest suicide rate on the planet.


The largest city and capital is Nuuk (population: 15,666). Nuuk is the native word for “cape,” because the city is on a cape.


Greenland has a thriving music scene that has yielded popular acts like Siissisoq, Chilly Friday and Nuuk Posse. (You probably haven’t heard of them, but they’re a very big deal in Greenland.)

 

The post Things You Should Know: 7 Facts About Greenland appeared first on Trivia Books and Facts | Uncle John's Bathroom Reader.

3 Musicians Who Went Country…And Stayed There

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again (with a cowboy hat on).

Conway Twitty

In the mid-‘50s, every record label wanted their own Elvis Presley. MGM hired Harold Jenkins, a singer-songwriter from Mississippi just home from fighting in the Korean War. Thinking his real name was boring, he renamed himself “Conway Twitty” (after towns in Arkansas and Texas, respectively). MGM released several Elvis-esque Twitty rockabilly singles, but none were hits. Then in 1958, an Ohio DJ played a B-side of one of those, a country song Twitty wrote called “It’s Only Make Believe.” It went to #1. Within a few years, Twitty had gone country full time. By the time of his death in 1993, Twitty amassed 75 top 10 hits on the country chart, including 40 #1 hits.

Jessica Simpson

Like Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears, Simpson rode the wave of blonde-teen-pop stars to fame in the late 1990s. She’s probably better known for her reality show, Newlyweds, because she scored just one top hit 10 (“I Wanna Love You Forever.”) In 2008, she made a country single called “Come on Over,” which hit. A full country album called Do You Know debuted at #1.

Darius Rucker

Hootie and Blowfish sold a staggering 16 million copies of their debut album Cracked Rear View in the mid-‘90s. They won a Grammy for Best New Artist, but album sales dropped off substantially ever since. Lead singer Darius Rucker took a stab at R&B in 2002 to little attention, and so the South Carolina native signed with Capitol Nashville.

Learn to Live came out and Rucker became a star again. The first three singles from the album all hit #1 on the country chart. Only three other country stars had had their first three singles reach the top: Clint Black, Wynona, and Brooks & Dunn.

The post 3 Musicians Who Went Country…And Stayed There appeared first on Trivia Books and Facts | Uncle John's Bathroom Reader.

5 New Weird Magazines

Think print media is dead? Well, an impressive 234 new magazines launched in 2014. Here are some the most notable (and weirdest) to hit newsstands in recent months.

Mud & Obstacle

There’s a magazine out there for seemingly every past time (see above), and there are plenty of outdoors and motor sports magazine. This one caters to those who enjoy mud running, which is driving through muddy outdoor obstacle courses with all-terrain vehicles.

8 by 8

A high-end magazine heavy on art and graphic design…and dedicated solely to soccer.

Vapor Lives

“Vape” was the Oxford English Dictionary’s 2014 “Word of the Year.” It means to smoke an electronic cigarette (because the robotic smokes emit water vapor, not smoke). It’s obviously a pretty big cultural phenomenon because there’s now a magazine for the vaper, or vaping enthusiast.

SIFT

King Arthur Flour has produced and sold baking products through its thick catalog for more than a century. Now the company is offering up more reading material with a magazine aimed at “foodies.”

Dinosaur

It’s a culture, arts, and lifestyle magazine…unfortunately not a magazine for or about actual dinosaurs. But at least it has a clever name, defying the idea that magazines are going the way of, well, the dinosaur.

The post 5 New Weird Magazines appeared first on Trivia Books and Facts | Uncle John's Bathroom Reader.

Tallest, Shortest, Biggest, Youngest, Oldest: Major League Baseball Trivia

We’ve given you weird sports statistics about football and basketball . Now here’s some great Major League Baseball Trivia.

Tallest: Relief pitcher Jon Rauch debuted with the Chicago White Sox in 2002. He’s played for seven teams, won an Olympic gold medal in baseball in the 2000 Olympics, and at a height of 6’11” he’s the tallest player in MLB history.

Shortest: As a publicity stunt in 1951, St. Louis Browns owner Bill Veeck hired a 26-year-old little person named Eddie Gaedel to take the plate in a game. Walked on four straight pitches, the 3’7″ Gaedel took his base and was replaced by a pinch runner. The shortest “everyday” player? There have been 11 players that stood 5’3″, and curiously all played before 1960.

Biggest: First baseman and designated hitter Walter Young was called up to the Baltimore Orioles in the final month of the 2005 season. It was the last big-league action he saw, but he made history as the biggest man to ever take the field: Young stands 6’5″ and at the time was listed at 322 pounds.

Youngest: World War II depleted the major leagues of a lot of its players, meaning that a good player who was too young to fight good feasibly make it to the big leagues. That was the case with Joe Nuxhall, who in June 1944 took the mount for the Cincinnati Reds. He was just 15 at the time, the beginning of a two-decade-long career.

Oldest: After an outstanding career in the Negro Leagues spanning the 1920s through the 1940s, pitcher Satchel Paige joined the Major Leagues for five seasons, once they were integrated. In 1965, Kansas City Athletics owner Charles Finley held a celebration of the Negro Leagues, and invited several old stars to attend. He capped it by signing Paige to pitch. Comically sitting in a rocking chair between innings, he pitched to nine batters, with nine outs.

For more MLB Trivia, check out Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Sports Spectacular.

The post Tallest, Shortest, Biggest, Youngest, Oldest: Major League Baseball Trivia appeared first on Trivia Books and Facts | Uncle John's Bathroom Reader.

Random Trivia: 5 Bands That Had to Change Their Names

Trying to describe your band’s sound through a name is tough—which is why sometimes bands don’t quite nail it the first time. Here is some random trivia about bands that changed their names.

When the ‘80s hair metal band Skid Row got successful, a punk-influenced rock band from Washington also named Skid Row had to changes its name. After rejecting Pen Cap Chew, the band went with…Nirvana.


The band Seymour formed in England in 1988, named for J.D. Salinger’s story “Seymour: An Introduction.” Food Records signed them a year later, but insisted the group change its name. A label employee gave them a list to choose from, including Sensitized, Whirlpool, and the one they went with, Blur.


Canadians take their beer very seriously, which is why a Canadian pop band called Free Beer had trouble booking gigs—bar patrons would complain to bar owners about being tricked. Members of the group settled on another, but still silly name: Barenaked Ladies.


Gene Simmons of KISS discovered a hard rock band playing around Southern California in 1976. They were going by the name Mammoth, until Simmons convinced them to change it to something closer to home: the last name of the Scandinavian drummer and guitarist. That band did pretty well as Van Halen.


Guitarist Jimmy Page had already established himself as a rock star with the Yardbirds when he formed a new band with Robert Plant in 1968. Page named it the New Yardbirds to capitalize on his prior success. But then Keith Moon of the Who told Page that the group’s experimental, very heavy rock band would “go over like a lead balloon.” It was a short leap for Page and Plant from lead balloon to Led Zeppelin. (The spelling of “led” was done to make sure it was pronounced correctly.)

Want more random trivia like this? Check out Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Plunges into Music.

The post appeared first on Trivia Books and Facts | Uncle John's Bathroom Reader.