Books

Writings of Note

When a city is as littered with intriguing curiosities as this one, you need a framework to make sense of it all. What better framework than the Underground system? We'll take a stroll along a stretch of Tube line, learning about the secrets and oddities we pass along the way.Walks

Strolls through time

Sick of doing quizzes that ask ‘what’s the capital of Albania?’ You either know it or you don’t, and either way there’s no fun. A really good question should be one you can work out, a challenge you enjoy even if you don’t get the answer in the end. For example:Quizzes

For the curious

Blog

Musings & trifles

Magic

Team-building through tricks

Follow:       
Books

Writings of Note

When a city is as littered with intriguing curiosities as this one, you need a framework to make sense of it all. What better framework than the Underground system? We'll take a stroll along a stretch of Tube line, learning about the secrets and oddities we pass along the way.Walks

Strolls through time

Sick of doing quizzes that ask ‘what’s the capital of Albania?’ You either know it or you don’t, and either way there’s no fun. A really good question should be one you can work out, a challenge you enjoy even if you don’t get the answer in the end. For example:Quizzes

For the curious

Blog

Musings & trifles

Magic

Team-building through tricks

How Chas and Dave ended up on an Eminem track

Gertcha lugs round this

Some sniffy reactions to Chas and Dave's appearance on the Today programme this morning, but I don't care (I don't care, I don't care if he comes round here …) The doyens of pub rock can do little wrong in my opinion. And if you don't trust that, maybe you'll trust the opinion of Eminem. He sampled their work for his first hit ‘My Name Is …'

How Chas and Dave ended up on an Eminem track

Or rather he sampled Labi Siffre's work, in the form of the track I Got The ... from Siffre's 1975 album Remember My Name. But who are two of the session musicians on that track? None other than Chas Hodges and Dave Peacock, in the days before they teamed up and consigned their surnames to obscurity. Chas played guitar, Dave bass.

Chas confirmed the story when I checked it during research for my book The Importance of Being Trivial. The first he heard of his connection with rap royalty, he told me, was from his son. ‘He came into the room and said, “I can't believe it - my dad's on a worldwide hit!"' What about royalties? ‘We ain't had any yet,' said Chas, ‘but someone's chasing it up. We've signed something, anyway.'

You can hear the track in question here (the relevant section starts at 2'08"). And once you have, you'll never listen to Rabbit in the same way again ...

Content

London Bus

A London double decker bus can lean further from the vertical without falling over than a human can. What a great way of learning about centres of gravity. The reason a Routemaster can lean so far is that there's a great long strip of pig-iron welded to its base, keeping you top-deckers safe as you go round corners. If you want reassuring photographic evidence, click here