Show me the MONY
QUESTION What is known of pop songwriter Tommy James?
Despite selling 100 million records and having 23 hit singles in the U.s. with his backing group the shondells, tommy James charted only twice in the UK.
Hanky panky, from 1966, is largely forgotten, but he is remembered for the pulsating Mony Mony, which reached No 1 in 1968. He was inspired to write the song by neon lights on top of the Mutual of New York building, which he could see from his Manhattan apartment. the initial of each word was enlarged, so it flashed ‘MONY’, with a dollar sign inside the ‘O’.
it was a hit again in 1981 for Billy idol (who also released a live recording in 1987), reaching No 1 in the U.s. and No 7 here.
surprisingly, James’s biggest hit, the psychedelic-influenced Crimson And Clover in 1968, which sold five million copies and reached No 1 in the U.s., failed to chart in Britain. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts had a minor success with it here and reached the top ten in the U.s.
the hits dried up in the 1970s and, owing to difficulties obtaining royalties from a record label with alleged links to the Mafia, the shondells broke up.
As a solo artist, James had another million-seller with three times in Love in 1980. tiffany topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic in 1987 with her cover version of i think We’re Alone Now, the title of a 1967 album by the shondells. she was knocked off the U.s. top spot by Billy idol’s version of Mony Mony.
in 2019, tommy James released the album Alive, featuring new songs and re-recordings of his classics.
the Lp Rock party appeared in 2021, as well as a six-CD catalogue of his pop, rhythm and blues and hard rock music from the 1960s, and country music from the 1970s. Next month he begins a tour of the U.s. to mark his 75th birthday.
Michael Brooks, Kendal, Cumbria.
QUESTION Are there species of bird known to start forest fires?
THIS idea was popularised by Australian ornithologist Bob Gosford. in 2018, there
were reports of bushfires being spread by birds of prey. this claim has been repeated for subsequent fires.
it is true that when an Australian bushfire starts, raptors gather to catch the small animals forced into the open as they run for their lives. this behaviour has been filmed.
it’s been claimed that the black kite, Milvus migrans, picks up burning twigs, flies with them some distance and drops them to start a new fire in the dry savannah to flush out more prey.
there are eyewitnesses to this behaviour, including Aboriginal people, who called the birds firehawks. But this has not been caught on film.
Complex bird behaviour, such as nestbuilding, is instinctive. However, complex learnt behaviour, such as blue tits pecking milk-bottle tops and tool use by crows, indicates that birds are capable of using and passing on accidental discoveries.
so the idea that birds could start fires is plausible. it could be an explanation for the spontaneous generation of fresh outbreaks of fires in the bush.
Phil Alexander, Farnborough, Hants.
QUESTION Does the soil on Easter Island have antibiotic qualities?
EASTER island’s volcanic soil contains a potent antibiotic used as an immunosuppressant in kidney transplant patients.
in 1965, a Canadian medical expeditionary team collected a soil sample from the island. When the microbes were grown in culture, the resulting supernatants (residual liquid) demonstrated potent antimicrobial activity. this was later called rapamycin in honour of the Rapa Nui people (Rapa Nui being the native name of the island) who had erected the world-famous stone moai monuments.
in 1972, rapamycin was isolated from Streptomyces hygroscopicus, a bacteria that secreted the chemical to fend off its bacterial and fungal rivals.
Rapamycin was developed into the drug sirolimus, which has been used to prevent organ rejection in kidney transplant patients and to retard the growth of some cancerous tumours. the compound works by inhibiting mtOR, a protein that regulates cell growth and survival.
in 2009, rapamycin was reported to increase the lifespan of mice and it is thought that it could conceivably extend human life.
Sandy Hales, Edinburgh.
QUESTION Was there a serial killer in the 1950s with the same modus operandi as Harold Shipman?
i WAs fascinated to read the earlier answer on Dr John Bodkin Adams and the possibility he was a serial killer.
in the early 1950s, my parents split up and my mother and i moved into my grandparents’ house in eastbourne, east sussex. i recall lying in my bed, overlooking the south Downs, not feeling too good. Mum rang the family doctor, Dr Adams, to visit and diagnose the problem.
A rotund man came into my room. With an irish twang, he said: ‘Well now, let’s see what is going on here.’
He put his Gladstone bag on the bed, then placed his hands around my neck, pressing here and there.
‘i’m afraid he has mumps,’ he said, before sweeping out.
My grandfather was a successful business owner and my grandma was being treated for a heart problem. Make of that what you will in light of the 1957 court case when Dr Adams was acquitted of killing a patient.
Between 1946 and 1956, it was alleged that 163 of Adams’s elderly patients died while in drug-induced comas, with 132 leaving money to him in their wills.
the memory of Adams’s podgy hands around my neck is chilling.
Bill Hotchkiss, Sudbury, Suffolk.
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