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We'll tell what the sleeve of X&Y means

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12. 'Irish' band U2 aren't really all Irish. Adam Clayton was born in Oxfordshire, England, to English parents. The Edge (David Evans) was born in Barking, east London, to Welsh parents.

13. The world's official fastest rapper is Ricky Brown. He holds the Guinness World Record by rapping 723 syllables in 41.27 seconds on his track No Clue, in January 2005, in front of a licensed speech therapist.

14. Public Image Limited bassist Jah Wobble (John Wardle) worked for a while, post-PiL, for the London Underground. He allegedly once made an announcement over the PA system at London's Tower Hill underground station: "I used to be somebody. I repeat, I used to be somebody."

15. The 15 May 1997 was declared official 'ZZ Top Day' in the band's home-state of Texas. Who would pass such bizarre legislation? The Texas State Governor at the time, George W Bush.

16. In his teens, Johnny Marr had trials as a footballer for Manchester City FC. "I was good enough for City," he reckons, "but they didn't follow up because I was probably the only player wearing eyeliner."

17. Whereas Damon Gough - aka Badly Drawn Boy - had trials for Manchester United.

18. Veteran gangsta rapper Ice-T's birth name is Tracy Lauren Marrow. So you're named after two girls and a vegetable, hard man?

19. Brian Eno partly-produced Dido's new album, Safe Trip Home. Which makes for a full-name collaboration between Brian Peter George St John Le Baptiste de la Salle Eno and Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O'Malley Armstrong. That's posh parents for you.

Coldplay say "make trade fair"

20. The seemingly-random block artwork on Coldplay's third album album uses the Baudot code. It spells out 'x and y', in Emile Baudot's pioneering code used for early telegrams. The code spells out 'Fair Trade' on the CD inner-booklet.

21. Crooner Engelbert Humperdinck was born Arnold George Dorsey. He borrowed his stage name from a German composer who died in 1921. Weirdly, Arnold Dorsey sounds much cooler.

22. The original Village People line-up was recruited via an advert that read "Macho types wanted: must have moustache".

Dapper gent Graham Coxon

23. Blur's Graham Coxon models for Cordings, an upmarket London gentleman's tailor, part-owned by Eric Clapton.

24. Before Pearl Jam, Eddie Vedder was the singer in Bad Radio, a progressive funk rock band heavily influenced by early Red Hot Chili Peppers.

25. Over the years, Pete Best, Stuart Sutcliffe, Brian Epstein, George Martin, George Best and Billy Preston have all been referred to as The Fifth Beatle.

Go to Part 2 of 101 facts.