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101 facts you never knew about music: part 4
The final instalment of MusicRadar's New Year trivia-thon!
The MusicRadar Team, Sun 4 Jan 2009, 12:10 am UTC
Happy new year, Mr Apollo C Vermouth
84. Pseudonyms used by Paul McCartney in his career include Paul Ramone, Bernard Webb, A Smith, Apollo C Vermouth, Country Hams, Percy 'Thrills' Thrillington... and, of course, The Fireman.
85. Monaco's orchestra is bigger than its army.
86. Prog rockers Emerson Lake And Palmer knew how to tour. In 1977, they had 63 roadies, including a karate instructor for drummer Carl Palmer and the band's own doctor. It's rumoured they also had a 'carpet roadie', whose job was to transport and sweep the Persian rug that Greg Lake stood on during the shows. A 70 piece orchestra joined that lot.
Axl Rose: will smoke for food
87. Axl Rose used to earn $8 an hour for smoking cigarettes, for a science experiment at California's UCLA.
88. Prince played 27 different instruments on his debut album For You.
89. In an official PR biography, Martial arts actor Steven Segal once claimed to have played guitar with John Lennon. Why? How? When? Further details from Segal are 'sketchy'.
90. Keith Richards' preferred tipple is vodka (2 measures) with Sunkist orange soda (1 measure), plus ice. He calls this refreshing drink Nuclear Waste.
91. A concert promoter in Hawaii once sold a thousand tickets to a Spice Girls concert. However, the concert never existed. When arrested, the man told police he needed the money for a nose job and a sex change. That's a damn ambitious excuse, whatever else you think.
Queen Elizabeth II photographed by Bryan Adams. Is there no beginning to his talents, etc?
92. Gruff-voiced rocker Bryan Adams photographed Queen Elizabeth II for this Canadian stamp.
93. In 1996, Ringo Starr appeared in a Japanese advertisement for apple sauce, which is what "Ringo" means in Japanese.
94. When The Offspring's early drummer James Lilja left the band, he retrained as a gynaecologist. A kinda suitable career swap, maybe?
95. Pete Townshend has smashed more than 90 guitars in his Who career, including at least 23 Fender Stratocasters, 12 Gibson Les Pauls and 21 Gibson SGs.
96. The Beastie Boys is an acronym for Boys Entering Anarchistic Stages Towards Internal Excellence. Well, that's what Mike D says.
Trisha Yearwood - has not covered Sex On Fire just yet
97. Kings Of Leon's regular co-writer Angelo Petraglia has also written songs for country stars Martina McBride, Tim McGraw and Trisha Yearwood. Seriously: does this ruin Kings Of Leon's cred?
Hello Alice Cooper, you old swinger
98. Creaky goth rocker Alice Cooper has a golf handicap of only three. Which is pretty good.
99. The Strokes' Albert Hammond Jr plans to release his own line of men's suits, which he will co-design along with stylist Ilaria Urbinati.
Old Bear Stories... sang by Alison Goldfrapp
100. Alison Goldfrapp sang vocals for children's TV series Old Bear Stories, which ran in the UK from 1993-1997.
101. Hip-hop mega-producer Dr Dre, born Andre Young, was a diver in his school swimming team.
And that's MusicRadar's 101 facts for 2009 new year done!
Or is it? Because you surely know some more...?
