Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2011 July 10

= July 10 =

First nontheist to have song go Number One on US Charts
I was listening to a radio interview with Men at Work front man Colin Hay when he mentioned in passing that he'd never been religious. This led me to wonder who was the first nontheist to have a No. 1 song on the US charts; John Lennon would be one possibility but is there an earlier artist? --Roisterer (talk) 07:13, 10 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Well, as another Australian I simply ask, did any other Australians top the charts? Many Australians would say the same as Hay. Otherwise, your question is a big ask. There may have been many, but for cultural reasons unable to say so. HiLo48 (talk) 07:40, 10 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Looking through our List of atheists in music, there's no-one listed there, so far as I can see, who would beat Lennon in terms of performing on a No. 1 record. But an honourable mention should go to Bjorn Ulvaeus of ABBA (no.1 in 1977), who if anything has been more explicitly non-theist than Lennon.  Ghmyrtle (talk) 17:22, 10 July 2011 (UTC)


 * Artie Shaw, a secular Jew, communist, and life-long trouble-maker, was probably an atheist, although the closest I can get to a reliable source is this quote from Shaw: "If somebody said, 'What is a Jew?' I couldn't have answered. I didn't have their religion; I didn't belong to any Zionist movements; anything that had to do with being Jewish, I had nothing to do with." Shaw was the third artist to have a number one in the USA, with "Frenesi" in December 1941, following Tommy Dorsey and Bing Crosby. --Colapeninsula (talk) 13:48, 11 July 2011 (UTC)

First theist to have song go Number One on US Charts
Given Wikipedia's love of reliable sources and balance, do we actually have evidence for the first theist to top the charts? The question is written as if being a theist is a "given" for a chart topping artist. But is it? HiLo48 (talk) 07:52, 11 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Going through List of number-one hits (United States), one contender might be Kay Kyser (no.1 in 1942 with "Jingle Jangle Jingle" - no article! ). His predecessors to the no.1 spot, according to our list which starts in 1940, were Tommy Dorsey, Bing Crosby, Artie Shaw, Glenn Miller, Jimmy Dorsey, Sammy Kaye, Freddy Martin, Woody Herman, and Harry James - none have whom seem to have had religious convictions of sufficient notability to be mentioned in their articles (though I haven't checked off-wiki sources).  Kyser became a member of the Church of Christ, Scientist, though that was after 1942. Ghmyrtle (talk) 09:09, 11 July 2011 (UTC)
 * The article on Bing Crosby mentions his Roman Catholicism, which was apparently sufficiently strong that his wife Kathryn Grant converted to the religion prior to marrying him. A number of sites of uncertain reliability confirm this, Cemetery Guide stating that he was buried in a Catholic ceremony.  He had the second-ever number one, following Tommy Dorsey.  I can't find any information on the beliefs of Dorsey, who shouldn't be confused with blues musician and prolific gospel composer Thomas Andrew Dorsey. --Colapeninsula (talk) 13:19, 11 July 2011 (UTC)

Anthony Philip Heinrich. 99.24.223.58 (talk) 20:15, 11 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Heinrich, of course, predates the charts, which begin with Tommy Dorsey. According to Peter J. Levinson, Tommy Dorsey:  Livin' in a Great Big Way, Dorsey was Catholic, but being Catholic was not important to him and he only went to church on Palm Sunday.  That seems to leave some uncertainty as to whether he was a theist or atheist.  Bing Crosby, the second chart-topper, was well-known as a committed Catholic, as you can see from pretty much any biography of him, so I would consider him the first confirmed theist to top the charts.  John M Baker (talk) 19:20, 13 July 2011 (UTC)
 * What are "the" charts? I always assumed that expression meant the top sellers. 99.24.223.58 (talk) 19:30, 13 July 2011 (UTC)
 * There are a number of record charts, which typically do rank sales. Using the link provided above by Ghmyrtle, I'm referring to the Billboard charts for 1940, apparently the earliest year available.  John M Baker (talk) 00:12, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

What is this building?
In the intro sequence of Die Kommissarin, a tall skyscraper with a blinking white pyramid on top of it can be seen. Presumably this building is in Frankfurt am Main. Which building is it? J I P &#124; Talk 07:33, 10 July 2011 (UTC)
 * The Messeturm, perhaps? Tevildo (talk) 10:13, 10 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Yes, the intro at shows File:Frankfurt am Main Messeturm bei Nacht.jpg. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:56, 12 July 2011 (UTC)

PURULIA-[WEST-BENGAL]
Purulia is the most popular city is in there Art dance.Purulia is mostly famous for Chho- naach. it is the most cultural dance and programmed for Purulia's people like it very much.Purulia is a very backward area. 70%[percent] people is depending in the agriculture. Saheb-Bandh is a famous tank of Purulia city.[FOOD AND DRINKS;]-CHOP-MURI Is the famous food of Purulia And Hadiya and Mohul is the famous drink of Purulia.[SCHOOL-COLLEGES]:-ST.XAVIER'S, ASSEMBLY OF GOD CHURCH,PURULIA-ZILLA SCHOOL AND GOVERNMENT GIRL'S And some famous school is in these city.J.K. COLLEGE, RAGHUNATHPUR COLLEGE IS The famous college of Purulia. — Preceding unsigned comment added by James000007 (talk • contribs) 10:04, 10 July 2011 (UTC)
 * If you can provide reliable sources for this information, you can add it to our Purulia article. Tevildo (talk) 10:11, 10 July 2011 (UTC)

Heritage teams in North America
I know the NHL has the Original Six (even if it isn't really the original Original Six; read the article). What are considered the "main" heritage teams in the other US leagues (NBA, MLB, NFL)? Mingmingla (talk) 16:50, 10 July 2011 (UTC)
 * The other leagues don't have quite the same concept. But the Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears, Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers come to mind from the NFL since they're some of the oldest teams (see History of the National Football League for more).  For baseball, teams like the Cincinnati Reds have been around forever and other teams have been around for 100+ years. (see History of baseball in the United States).  As for basketball, there isn't much heritage associated with that sport, though the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers are the two most storied franchises. Hot Stop (c) 17:28, 10 July 2011 (UTC)
 * I'd question whether the Philadelphia Eagles should be included, as they didn't even come into existance until the Frankford Yellow Jackets folded. Joefromrandb (talk) 03:35, 11 July 2011 (UTC)
 * The Eagles should definitely be included. If one were to count the "heritage teams" of the NFL, one should look to the league as it existed at the end of World War II.  At that time there were 10 teams, nine of which are still in operation today.  Those teams would be the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Chicago Cardinals, Detroit Lions, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Rams and the Washington Redskins.  The tenth team was the Boston Yanks, which were always the "vagabonds" of the NFL, and through a rather complicated route, are an ancestor of the modern Indianapolis Colts.  You could also possibly include the two AAFC teams which later merged into the NFL, those being the Cleveland Browns and the San Francisco 49ers, though the modern Browns have a rather convoluted history and tenuous connection to the original Browns.  -- Jayron  32  16:36, 11 July 2011 (UTC)
 * In MLB, you will sometimes here refered to the "pre-expansion" teams, sometimes called the "16 teams from 10 cities" in some sources. Those 16 teams are:
 * AL:
 * Boston Red Sox
 * New York Yankees
 * Philadelphia Athletics
 * Cleveland Indians
 * St. Louis Browns
 * Chicago White Sox
 * Detroit Tigers
 * Washington Senators
 * NL
 * Boston Braves
 * New York Giants
 * Brooklyn Dodgers
 * Cincinnati Reds
 * St. Louis Cardinals
 * Chicago Cubs
 * Philadelphia Phillies
 * Pittsburgh Pirates
 * For over 40 years, this alignment was stable, baseball played a regular 154 game season (playing 11 home games and 11 away games against every team in their own league) followed by a 7 game World Series between the regular season champs of each league. The first "break" in this system were the moves of the Braves to Milwaukee in 1953, the Browns to Baltimore in 1954, and the Athletics to Kansas City in 1955.  In 1958 the Dodgers and Giants both moved to California, and in 1961 the original Senators moved to Minneapolis.  That same year, in 1961, featured the first two "expansion" teams, the Los Angeles/California/Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Orange County and Surrounding Environs excepting Dodger fans, and the second Washington Senators, who later moved to Arlington and became the Texas Rangers.  The NL followed suit and expanded in 1962 with the New York Mets and Houston Colt 45's (today Astros).  Since then, the leagues have expanded fairly regularly, adding 2 teams every few years until the modern 30-team alignment.  -- Jayron  32  19:01, 10 July 2011 (UTC)


 * I concur with Jayron's answer. --M @ r ē ino 19:17, 11 July 2011 (UTC)

Who is Will Continue?
To use last night's WMYT-TV 8:00 movie as an example, at the beginning of each commercial break, this man said, "The Sentinel will continue." Sometimes he said "The Sentinel, starring Michael Douglas, will continue" or "The Sentinel, starring Kiefer Sutherland, will continue." At the end of commercial breaks he usually said, "The Sentinel continues." Toward the end he said, "Closed captioning is sponsored by." I think it is safe to assume that this man's voice is heard in lots of movies shown on local broadcast stations all around the United States. These movies tend to have lots of national commercials, as if they were on network TV, so they must be put together in a package that includes this man's voice. Vchimpanzee ·  talk  ·  contributions  · 21:54, 10 July 2011 (UTC)
 * These people are called "Voice actors" who specialize in Voice-overs and you can start your own search for particular ones at Category:Voice actors. Though, now I note that it is far from complete.  I don't see either Peter Coyote or David Attenborough or John Facenda, three of the most famous voice-over artists I can think of from my own memory.  -- Jayron  32  22:24, 10 July 2011 (UTC)
 * I thought someone who heard the same voice might have recognized it. Vchimpanzee ·  talk  ·  contributions  · 22:27, 10 July 2011 (UTC)
 * It could be someone nearly anonymous; someone working for the local station and/or the company that packaged the movies for syndication who is not otherwise notable under Wikipedia guidelines. Merely being heard publicly doesn't make someone automatically a well known name.  Which isn't to say that no one here will know his name; just that there is a distinct possibility that very few people would.  -- Jayron  32  22:43, 10 July 2011 (UTC)
 * It's too professional-sounding a voice to be a local person. He sounds kind of familiar. Vchimpanzee ·  talk  ·  contributions  · 17:06, 11 July 2011 (UTC)