10 Facts About the 10 Biggest Hits of 2014
Here are Billboard’s top 10 hits of the past year, and some interesting facts we found about them.
That’s Entertainment
The Springfield Nuclear Power Planet Softball Team and the Baseball Hall of Fame
On a 1992 episode of The Simpsons, Mr. Burns hires nine then-current Major League Baseball stars to be ringers on the company softball team, only to have nearly all be unable to play for various, bizarre reasons. With Baseball Hall of Fame inductees being announced this month, here’s a look at what happened to those players in real life (all of whom voiced their animated selves).
The Elvis Movie Generator
From 1956 to 1969, Elvis Presley (who would’ve turned 80 years today) made more than 30 movies, such as Roustabout, Girls! Girls! Girls! and Harum Scarum. They were low budget and formulaic: some songs, a pretty girl, a chase scene, and a fight. With our handy generator, you can make up your very own Elvis movie.
3 Weirdest “Elvis is Alive” Theories
Elvis Presley would turn 80 years old this week, had he not died in 1977. Or did he?
The Fraternity Boy Theory
In the 1970s, Presley supposedly got mixed up with a California crime syndicate called The Fraternity. After he lost $10 million to the organization in the bogus sales of real estate and private planes, Presley is said to have gone to the federal government for help, who was keen to dismantle The Fraternity. In exchange for helping bring them down, Presley was whisked into the Witness Protection Program. Two hours after Presley’s death was announced in 1977, a man named “John Burrows” boarded a plane for Buenos Aires, paying in cash. That man not only resembled Presley, but had the same name as an alias Presley often used to check into hotels.
The Doggone Song is Mine: Paul McCartney’s Most Unlikely Musical Collaborations
Over New Years, Paul McCartney and rapper Kanye West released a surprise joint effort called “Only One,” a song about West’s daughter. Surprise collaborations are kind of McCartney’s bag.
8 Ways That Elvis’s Records Broke Records
Some interesting music trivia about the astounding pop chart successes of the King of Rock n’ Roll, Elvis, who would turn 80 years old on January 8.
Daily Fun Facts: 4 Real Statues of Fictional Characters
Because why erect statues to honor only those who actually existed? Today’s Daily Fun Facts provides four examples of statues that honor TV and film characters.
The Most Watched TV Events of All Time, Around the World
The most watched TV show in American history is almost always the most recent Super Bowl—the last few have drawn more than 100 million viewers. Here’s what’s brought the most people to their TVs in countries around the world. (Hint: it’s more sports.)
Inside ‘The Star Wars Holiday Special’
The Star Wars Holiday special debuted on November 17, 1978, and it was…not what fans had in mind. The first 15 minutes showed Chewbacca’s family (without Chewbacca) arguing in Wookie language, without subtitles.
Pilot Lost! 3 TV Show Ideas That Were Abandoned, And Then Picked Back Up Years Later
The stories of how three current TV shows were cancelled before they aired. We can explain.
Fargo
In 1996, Joel and Ethan Coen’s comic-laced, Midwestern crime drama Fargo won two Academy Awards, one for the Coens for Best Original Screenplay and one for Frances McDormand for Best Actress. In 1997 CBS commissioned a pilot for a TV version. Marge Gunderson – McDormand in the film, Edie Falco in the show, years before she won Emmys for The Sopranos and Nurse Jackie – is still quite pregnant and still solving murders. It maintained the original’s quirky flavor, but CBS did not order the pilot to series.
6 Random Trivia About Ringo Starr
Here’s some interesting and random trivia about Ringo Starr, the funny Beatle.
- This week Ringo Starr earned induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist. He is the fourth of the four Beatles to be recognized as such for his solo work. The Beatles are the only band in the Hall who also have all four of its members in the Hall by themselves, too.
6 Actors Who Turned Down ‘Saturday Night Live’
For many comedians and actors, being offered a spot on SNL is a big break and the culmination of everything they’ve worked toward. Not these people.
6 Random Trivia Facts About ‘The Hobbit’
The third and final part of the fantasy trilogy is in theaters now. Here’s some random facts about the source novels and the movies, too.
- The Hobbit author J.R.R. Tolkien made up the word “hobbit,” which proved difficult for foreign-language publishers to translate. The Swedish edition of the book was called Hompen. In Portuguese, it was titled O Gnomo, or “The Gnome.” In the manufactured “universal” language of Esperanto, the novel is titled La Hobito.
How to Defeat Proprietary Technology In One Easy Step
When a company introduces a new product, they try to hold on to being the one-and-only manufacturer of that product for as long as possible, even introducing more technology to keep other companies out of the game. Someone always finds a way to beat the system.
7 Random Trivia About This Year’s Grammy Nominees
Looking for random trivia about this year’s Grammy nominees? Here are some interesting facts about the top honor in pop music.
Christmas Remakes of Non-Christmas Songs
If, for some reason, you’ve ever wondered if Santa Claus visited Kokomo, here’s your answer.
4 Pieces of Random and Weird Christmas Music
Are you dreaming of a weird Christmas? Here is some odd and random Christmas music.
3 One-Hit Wonders Who Wrote Broadway Shows
Scoring a hit song is hard, so what do you do when you can’t score another one? You go and score a Broadway musical. Literally.
