Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2012 June 4

= June 4 =

Sports and politics
Have there been any active sportsmen to becomes politicians/members of parliament? I ask because i was wondering if Sachin Tendulkar is the first?Lihaas (talk) 12:34, 4 June 2012 (UTC)


 * In Canada, Red Kelly was a member of Parliament while playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs, from 1962-1965. Adam Bishop (talk) 12:37, 4 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Sebastian Coe. Or do you mean that they became politicians while still active in sport? If so then you can strike Coe. --Viennese Waltz 13:37, 4 June 2012 (UTC)
 * In the U.S. at least, there is a long tradition of people who were active in sports and later became active in politics. Popular athletes provide instant recognition for voters, and thus are highly desirable comodities for political parties.  In the U.S., I can think of dozens upon dozens of notable ex-professional athletes who became prominent politicians.  Off the top of my head, there's Bill Bradley, Jack Kemp, Heath Schuler, etc.  Actors, musicians, and other celebrities make instant politicians for much the same reason as well.  -- Jayron  32  13:48, 4 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Ooh, i had thought Sachin was first but it seems Kelly did it before.
 * The link above lists some...but if yall \have more you should add them to the link.Lihaas (talk) 14:06, 4 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Ah. If you are looking for active atheletes, if you consider a "Crown Prince" to be a politician, then Albert II, Prince of Monaco, who was a bobsledder in the Olympics, may qualify.  -- Jayron  32  14:36, 4 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Sachin was nominated to the Rajya Sabha, India's upper house. The UK's upper house is the House of Lords, which until recently was populated by Hereditary peers. According to this article there have been 2 members of the House of Lords who have played test cricket - the Lords Hawke and Harris - both of whom captained England. Harris in particular had a notable political career, which seems to have run concurrently with his cricketing career, as Under-Secretary of State for War and Governor of Bombay among other positions. Hawke was the president of the MCC during the First World War. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 14:47, 4 June 2012 (UTC)
 * And in today's House of Lords, there sits Baroness Grey-Thompson, the ex-Paralympic athlete Tanni Grey-Thompson. --TammyMoet (talk) 15:07, 4 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Wow, lots of good einfo..keep it coming and feel free to add it to the above pageLihaas (talk) 15:22, 4 June 2012 (UTC)
 * There's also Colin Moynihan, now Lord Moynihan, Olympic rower (well, coxswain), who went on to become an MP in 1983 and later a cabinet minister. --Michig (talk) 15:27, 4 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Famously referred to as "The Miniature for Sport" in the House of Commons ISTR! --TammyMoet (talk) 16:57, 4 June 2012 (UTC)

J.C. Watts played football for the [|Ottawa Roughriders] before representing the Oklahoma's 4th Congressional District.


 * People, did you think Wikipedia would let you down? Check out Category:Sportsperson–politicians by nationality.   --  ♬  Jack of Oz  ♬  [your turn]  19:27, 4 June 2012 (UTC)

Does Manny Pacquiao count? We call our legislature a Congress instead of Parliament though. Narutolovehinata5 tccsdnew 15:53, 5 June 2012 (UTC)

There is Menzies Campbell also. --TrogWoolley (talk) 23:06, 5 June 2012 (UTC)

Fridtjof Nansen once held the world 1 mile skating record, and he was Norwegian national cross-country skiing champion 12 times. I don't think one could fairly call Nansen a politician, but he was an ambassador, League of Nations delegate, held a number of positions in kinda-political organisations, and latterly was a remarkably effective statesman in various capacities. And all in his spare time, in between the exploring, the oceanography, and the neuroscience. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 00:43, 6 June 2012 (UTC)

Looking for "A Trip to Tilsit" and "Day of Atonement"
Are the short stories "A Trip to Tilsit" by Hermann Sudermann and "The Day of Atonement" by Samson Raphaelson available to read either in print or online? Also, what medium (short story, play, etc.) is "Portrait of John Garnett" by Erwin S. Gelsey? I'm interested in the art of film adaptation and these works were the basis of the classic films "Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans," "The Jazz Singer," and "Swing Time," respectively. 108.78.58.9 (talk) 15:48, 4 June 2012 (UTC)
 * The only published English translation of Sudermann's story ("Die Reise nach Tilsit") I can locate is An Excursion to Tilsit (New York: Horace Liveright, 1930)—there are a number of publications in German (of course) and in Spanish translation (see here for some). "The Day of Atonement" was apparently originally published in Everybody's Magazine, January 1922, and I'm unable to locate any later publications. I can find nothing on the Gelsey story; but since he also had a hand in films such as Gold Diggers of 1933 and Flying Down to Rio, it looks as though he may have specialized in writing story treatments for films and not for publication. Deor (talk) 19:08, 4 June 2012 (UTC)

Longest continuous band line-ups
With Rush releasing a new album and heading back on tour, I was reading where Neil Peart, discussing how Rush's present line-up has been together since 1974, said that "has to be some kind of record". I figured he was wrong; ZZ Top (current line-up since 1970) came quickly to mind. Golden Earring sort of qualifies (present line-up also since 1970, but with a couple of extra members during stints as a 5-piece). I can't think of any others. Are there any other bands, past or present, who had a line-up that played together for as long or longer? Joefromrandb (talk) 18:46, 4 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Link to discussion the last time this came up. ZZ Top is certainly the winner if you're talking about current bands who have never had a line-up change in their entire history. U2 would be up there as well.  --Viennese Waltz 19:02, 4 June 2012 (UTC)
 * I think ZZ Top still has a year or so to go before beating the Four Tops, who had the same lineup for just over 44 years. U2 is 7 years younger than ZZ Top, and there are several bands which are between those two, including the aforementioned Rush.  Better than all of them was Peter, Paul, and Mary which was formed in 1961, and had the same three members until Mary died in 2008, which is 47 years by my count.  Of course, they aren't active currently, being impossible to be so.  -- Jayron  32  19:11, 4 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Another near miss: Aerosmith still has its same 5 founding members, which formed the band in 1970, but for 5 years the two guitarists had left the band. They later returned, and the original lineup has been back in place since the mid-80s.  -- Jayron  32  19:14, 4 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Don't know how I missed The Four Tops! Also, "never had a line-up change in their history" isn't correct in ZZ Top's case. While Dusty Hill and Frank Beard joined in time for the first album, ZZ Top released several singles with different members before that. Joefromrandb (talk) 19:22, 4 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Good call with Peter, Paul, and Mary. I guess Crosby, Stills and Nash should qualify too. Joefromrandb (talk) 19:42, 4 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Only if you don't count Neil Young. -- Jayron  32  20:00, 4 June 2012 (UTC)
 * I don't know if you count bands where the number of members have shrunken over the years, but the Moody Blues have retained 3 of the 5 members since 1966 and are still active today. The history is a bit chequered, though, but those 3 have been in the band since 1966 (46 years). 3 of the members of Status Quo are still touring under than name, and I note that the "original" lineup (including John Coghlan and Alan Lancaster) has reformed and is touring. Rossi and Parfitt have been playing together since 1962 (50 years). --TammyMoet (talk) 19:42, 4 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Some of these things get hard to determine. Steely Dan has basically been the duo of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen with about a million session musicians (if you played any musical instrument between 1970-1980 and lived within 50 miles of Los Angeles, you probably played on one of their albums).  There was a semi-regular touring band that played when the band toured in the early 1970s, but really, its just been the two of them since 1967 as regular band members.  -- Jayron  32  20:05, 4 June 2012 (UTC)
 * In Steely Dan's earlier days, the other musicians were listed as "members" (Skunk Baxter, for example). As far as Neil Young goes, I'm counting CSNY as a separate band (just like Crosby & Nash, the Stills-Young Band, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash, and other variations). Though I guess if they're separate entities, CSN couldn't be considered "active" during the times CSNY was/is. As Jayron says, it gets complicated.Joefromrandb (talk) 20:10, 4 June 2012 (UTC)
 * See, this is why bands like U2 and Rush and ZZ Top seem to count as different from others. Rush, for example, AFAIK doesn't use  supplemental/session musicians on either a recording or in a live performance (excepting that awful duet with Aimee Mann... ugh).  Everything they create is done by the three members, making them a cohesive band for their history.  Other "bands" make liberal use of session players and touring musicians, so the line between what the band is, and what is just a music making company with a public face for marketing purposes, well, that's were things get "complicated".  -- Jayron  32  20:23, 4 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Awful? It's one of my favorites!! Chocolate and vanilla, I suppose. Joefromrandb (talk) 21:25, 4 June 2012 (UTC)

Just chiming in here from the world of real music. :)  The Amadeus Quartet was formed in 1947 and had no changes throughout its entire 40-year history.  When the first member died in 1987, they disbanded because they felt he was irreplaceable. --  ♬  Jack of Oz  ♬  [your turn]  20:19, 4 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Must... not... take the bait...Mingmingla (talk) 01:55, 5 June 2012 (UTC)

peter godwin solo records
A SIDE "THE ART OF LOVE"   B SIDE "SOUL OF LOVE" RELEASED ON POLYDOR CAT NUM POSP 632 IN 1983 I KNOW AS I HAVE IT. PETER GODWIN IN A PICTURE SLEEVE. HOPE THIS HELPS YOU. ALL THE BEST RICH
 * Presumably the OP is informing us of an omission from the discography of Peter Godwin (singer). To the OP, if you come back and see this again, the best thing to do in cases like this is to add the information to the page yourself. That's the idea of Wikipedia, anyone can edit it. --Viennese Waltz 21:54, 4 June 2012 (UTC)