VH1 has started up a new round of the World Series of Pop Culture, a show my wife is convinced I should try out for because of my skads of useless knowledge. It's a fun show to watch, it's like Jeopardy for people who watched tv instead of studying during high school (people like me!). The show also does a great job of validating my knowledge of trivial matters like "1983: Rock of Ages, Rock Rock (til you drop), Stagefright" (the answer's Def Leppard Pyromania). I don't think I'll ever win a game show because I missed my chance by not trying out for Rock & Roll Jeopardy but this series has inspired me to spew some of my favorite needless trivia:
*Adrian Vandenberg was in Whitesnake for two years and the only thing he recorded with them was the guitar solo for "Here I Go Again". He was billed on the Slip Of The Tongue (1989) album but didn't actually play on it because of some type of hand injury.
*Actress Rosanna Arquette inspired not one but two classic 80's songs: Toto's "Rosanna" and Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes". She must really be something!
*Genesis is the only band I can think of where the established Lead Singer and Lead Guitarist quit, weren't replaced and the band became more successful as a result. Get out of Phil Collin's way, Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett!!!
*Journey's "Don't Stop Believin" says a city boy came from South Detroit. There is no South Detroit.
*X wing pilot Wedge Antillies appeared in all three of the original Star Wars films and survived two attacks on the Death Star. Good shooting Wedge!
*In the original Star Wars films only three human women were shown: Princess Leia, Aunt Beru and the girl who tells the Ion Cannon to fire in Empire Strikes Back. Now we know the true reason why there was a Star Wars-the Rebel Alliance and Empire were too horny to think straight. And none of them were as cute as that girl who tells the Vipers to launch in the original Battlestar Galactica.
*The communications station senior officer at the start of Star Trek:The Motion Picture (1979) that gets eaten up by V'Ger was originally hired to play Mr Spock's replacement in a second series of StarTrek TV shows starring the original crew (minus Leonard Nimoy 'cause He Was Not Spock at the time).
*Jean-Luc Picard is supposed to be French, not British. That's not really trivia, but you know that Star Trek episode where Picard returns home to visit his French brother at the family winery. Hilarious! Picard (Patrick Stewart) is about as French as Toad in a Hole and Queen Elizabeth. Tea. Earl Gray. Hot.
*Terri Nunn of the band Berlin was in the running for the Princess Leia role in Star Wars.
*James Marsden appeared in two superhero movies last year: X3 and Superman Returns
*Firing drummer Aynsley Dunbar leads to big success. He was fired from Journey after their first platinum album but before Escape (1981), he left Jefferson Starship shortly before it became the more successful Starship and he was fired from Whitesnake just before they hit it big as well. He's a great drummer but like the Tiki doll of rock.
Well, with Whitesnake I have come full circle and can stop for now. That's the power of Whitesnake people.
2 comments:
And just so your readers know- all of that came off the top of Mike's head.
There is nobody out there that knows more useless stuff than you. Get yourself on that show!!
But I don't think that "South Detroit" actually refers to a city with that name- just the southern part of Detroit.
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