To-do about ding-a-ling!

QUESTION

David Bowie’s best-selling album is Let’s Dance. Which other artists found their greatest success with arguably their worst creation? CHUCK Berry was one of rock ’n’ roll’s greatest original innovators, but his biggest commercial success was a piece of juvenile fun.

The American singer-songwriter, who died last year aged 90, had his first hit with Maybellene in 1955, which established him as one of the rock ’n’ roll trailblazers. Some rock historians consider his 1958 song Johnny B. Goode as the best rock ’n’ roll track ever.

This makes it hard to believe that the peak of Chuck Berry’s success came in 1972 with the No.1 song My Ding-A-Ling – a lightweight piece of musical frivolity.

Tex Waite, Trowbridge, Wiltshire. IN 1972, rock band Roxy Music released their first album. This eponymous LP did not include their first single Virginia Plain, even though they were in the music charts around the same time.

The band’s next albums For Your Pleasure and Stranded were seen as ground-breaking. Roxy Music were glam, though not in the same vein as other emerging pop bands of the time.

Singer Bryan Ferry reinvented the band more than once and by the end of the Seventies, they specialised in slick ballads and mood music. However, for many fans from the early days, this was not what they saw as the ‘real’ Roxy Music.

Following the death of John Lennon in 1980, Roxy Music released a cover version of Jealous Guy, a song from Lennon’s highly rated 1971 album Imagine.

This was to become the band’s only No.1 – a travesty in the eyes of many who see Roxy Music’s early work as among the most influential of the era. Martin Smith, Ryton, Tyne & Wear. STEVIE Wonder produced some of the greatest songs of all time yet his only UK solo No.1 was the cheesy ballad I Just Called To Say I Love You.

In film, director Tim Burton has been responsible for spectacular films such as Sleepy Hollow and Big Fish, yet his most successful box-office hit was a mediocre version of Alice In Wonderland.

Similarly, Denzel Washington’s only Best Actor Oscar was for the average crime thriller film Training Day. This is despite amazing performances in many other films including Malcolm X.

S. Fletcher, Wigan.

QUESTION

A popular internet quote, ‘To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticise,’ is attributed to the philosopher Voltaire. Did he actually say this? VOLTAIRE, the 18th-century French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher, is famous for fine quotes including ‘Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers’ and ‘Love truth, but pardon error’.

However, he is not responsible for the quote in question. It was written by Kevin Alfred Strom, an American white nationalist, neoNazi and Holocaust denier. In 2008, he pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography.

The quote, which has spread across the internet, was deliberately attributed to Voltaire to give it credence.

Gavin Holnes, Cromer, Norfolk.

QUESTION

Which bird has the largest nest? ACCORDING to Guinness World Records, the largest single bird’s nest recorded was built by a pair of bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in Florida in 1963. It was 9ft 6in wide, 20ft deep and estimated to weigh more than two tons. The golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) also builds huge nests. One that was 15ft deep was reported in Scotland in 1954. The Sociable Weaver (Philetairus socius) is an African bird that nests and broods in groups. Gigantic nests-within-a-nest attached to trees and poles can house more than 100 breeding pairs and weigh several tons.

Stephen Figgis, Gloucestershire.

QUESTION

Does every element in the periodic table have a use? FURTHER to the earlier answer, many obscure elements are so hazardous to humans they have a limited practical use. These include polonium, of which 1g could kill 10 million people. Arguably the most practical use for all the elements is as exhibits within a collection of the periodic table. As a hobby, people collect pure, refined samples, natural ores or items made from each element. However, a serious collector will need deep pockets as Californium-252 costs £18million (€21million) for 1g – only 8g have ever been produced in the West. Don Trower, Braintree, Essex.

QUESTION

How did The Confession Box pub beside Boyers in Dublin get its name? Is it down to its diminutive size or is there a religious link? FURTHER to the previous answer, the building that the Confession Box pub is in also has lots of historical connections, going back to the late 18th century.

Dionysius Lardner was born there in 1783 and he went on to become a famous scientist, infamous for his rivalry with the 19thcentury English railway engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Lardner was also reported to have been the father of a renowned 19th-century Irish playwright, Dion Boucicault, although this has never been definitively proved.

The present-day pub has had at least three changes of names in the past century. When a noted sportsman, Michael O’Flanagan, took over the pub, he renamed it O’Flanagan’s. Michael O’Flanagan was the younger brother of Dr Kevin O’Flanagan; the two brothers are unique in Irish sport, as they are the only brothers who have represented their country at senior level in both soccer and rugby.

Michael O’Flanagan’s tenure of the pub lasted until 1965 and the pub was also the birthplace of the Soccer Writers’ Association of Ireland.

Since then, the pub has been given its present name, representing a religious link with the War of Independence.

The pub may be small, but it’s packed with history and is noted for serving a good pint.

It’s also considered to be the second smallest pub in Dublin, after the Dawson Lounge. The Dawson Lounge is equally venerable, also dating back to the 19th century; it’s in a basement at the top of Dawson Street and can accommodate just 40 pint worshippers.

But it’s the historical links the Confession Box has with the War of Independence, prompted by its closeness to the pro-Cathedral, that have prompted the present unforgettable name. Many of its regulars are delighted to tell people that they are dropping into the Confession Box for a jar! Darren McKenna, via email.

IS THERE a question to which you have always wanted to know the answer? Or do you know the answer to a question raised here? Send your questions and answers to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Irish Daily Mail, Embassy House, Herbert Park Lane, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. You can also fax them to 0044 1952 510906 or you can email them to charles.legge@dailymail.ie. A selection will be published but we are not able to enter into individual correspondence.