Random Facts and Trivia

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"Louie Louie" is an American rhythm and blues song written by Richard Berry in 1955 and best known for the 1963 hit version by The Kingsmen. It has become a standard in pop and rock, with hundreds of versions recorded by different artists.  The song is about a lovesick sailor’s lament to a bartender named Louie. Hear it by clicking on:  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V1p1dM3snQ

At the time of the 1963 release, there was a myth, promoted by teenagers to put the wind up their parents, that if the 45rpm record was played at 33 1/3, it revealed dirty lyrics.  There are several aspects of the recording that make interpretation difficult: 

·       -  the lyrics are in pidgin English

·       -  lead singer Jack Ely was singing with a strained voice

·       -  he was singing with braces on his teeth

·      -  the boom microphone was strung up too high so that Ely had to stand on his toes

·       -  what was intended as an instrumental was turned into a singing version at the last moment

·       -  only one take was made, what the band thought was a rehearsal run through.

In 1964 an outraged parent wrote to Robert Kennedy, then the Attorney General of the United States, alleging that the lyrics of "Louie Louie" were obscene. The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the complaint. In June 1965, the FBI laboratory obtained a copy of the Kingsmen recording and, after four months of investigation, concluded that it could not be interpreted, that it was "unintelligible at any speed," and therefore the Bureau could not find that the recording was obscene.

The lyrics:

Louie Louie, oh no, you take me where ya gotta go, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, baby

Louie Louie, oh baby, take me where ya gotta go

A fine little girl, she waits for me

Me catch the ship across the sea

Me sailed the ship all alone

Me never think I'll make it home

Louie Louie, oh no no no, me gotta go, oh no

Louie Louie, oh baby, me gotta go

Three nights and days I sailed the sea

Me think of girl constantly

On the ship, I dream she there

I smell the rose in her hair

Louie Louie, oh no, me gotta go, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, baby

Louie Louie, oh baby, me gotta go

Okay, let's give it to 'em right now

Me see

Me see Jamaica, the moon above

It won't be long me see me love

Me take her in my arms and then

I tell her I'll never leave again

Louie Louie, oh no, me gotta go, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, baby

Louie Louie, oh baby, me gotta go

I said me gotta go now

Let's hustle on out of here

Let's go

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John Billington and his family travelled from England to America aboard the Mayflower. Even aboard the Mayflower Billington caused problems, forcing the capatin at one stage to order him to be bound.  The family came to be known as troublemakers, which continued after settling in the New World.  Ten years later Billington ended up in a dispute with his neighbour, Jiohn Newcommen, and shot him dead.  He was tried, convicted, sentenced to death and hanged.  This was by being dragged aloft and strangled, the drop did not happen until 200 years later.  Billington has the dubious distinction of being America’s first murderer and the first first man hanged.

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Long before rap battles (see M & M’s biopic 8 Mile) there was “flyting”, a contest consisting of the exchange of insults, often conducted in verse, between two parties. It was practised mainly between the 5th and 16th centuries.  The exchanges would become extremely provocative, often involving accusations of cowardice or sexual perversion. 

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Konrad Lorenz (1903 – 1989), animal and human behaviourist, proposed the concept of Kindchenschema, a set of facial and body features, that make a creature appear "cute" and activate ("release") in others the motivation to care for it.   In other words, cuteness generates affection and caring.

"Humans feel affection for animals with juvenile features: large eyes, bulging craniums, retreating chins (left column). Small-eyed, long-snouted animals (right column) do not elicit the same response." —Konrad Lorenz

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Boring, a town in Oregon, is named after William Harrison Boring, a Union soldier and pioneer whose family first settled the area in 1856.  The town often makes puns based on its name. Boring's town motto is "The most exciting place to live" and it has taken Dull, Scotland as its sister city, followed by a grouping with with Bland, New South Wales, Australia.  Bland Shire is named after Dr. William Bland, who was sent to Australia in 1814 as a convict. He died in 1868.