Now that’s a stylish No 1
QUESTION How many foreign language Number Ones have there been in the UK hit parade? Just nine foreign language songs have topped the uK charts.
the most recent was Gangnam style by Psy, which was Number One for a week in september 2012.
the south Korean rapper became a global sensation following the release of his video, which featured his much mimicked horse-whip dance. the video was the first to get more than one billion hits on Youtube.
In August 2010, Australian electronic band Yolanda Be Cool, with DJ and producer DCuP, spent a week at Number One with We No speak Americano.
the song sampled a 1956 jazz number by Ranato Carosone called tu Vuo Fa L’Americano ( You Want to Be An American) in the Neapolitan dialect.
Las Ketchup is a spanish girl group comprising the Munoz sisters, Lucia, Lola and Pilar. In 2002 they had a worldwide hit with the novelty song the Ketchup song, which spent a week at the uK top spot that October.
Enigma is a German ambient band founded in 1990 by producer Michael Cretu. In December 1990, it spent a week at the top of the charts with the enigmatic sadeness-Part 1, featuring Gregorian chant combined with breathy French and a dash of English.
In 1987, Mexican/American band Los Lobos released La Bamba as the title track for a 1987 biopic of Ritchie Valens. Valens’s original had been adapted from a Mexican folk song. It spent two weeks at Number One in June 1987.
In March 1986, Austrian pop star Falco spent a week at the top of the charts with Rock Me Amadeus, his mostly German homage to the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Former Real Madrid footballer and law graduate Julio Iglesias is better known as one of the world’s great crooners. In October 1981, he spent a week at Number One with Volvar A Empezar, a spanish language version of Begin the Beguine.
In March 1977, vocal group Manhattan transfer spent three weeks at Number One with Chanson D’Amour, a FrenchEnglish hybrid.
Finally, and most famous of all, there is serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin’s Je t’Aime ... Moi Non Plus, which spent a week at Number One in October 1969.
Its breathy exhortations saw it banned by several countries and denounced by the Vatican. the cheesy organ intro ensured it has become one of the most parodied records of all time.
Andrew O’Keefe, Pembroke.
QUESTION Is there evidence that hookworms can be used to cure Crohn’s disease?
CROhN’s disease is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease. symptoms include abdominal pain, severe diarrhoea, fatigue, weight loss and malnutrition.
It is thought to be caused by an abnormal immune response against micro-organisms in the intestine. Crohn’s is treated by the use of anti-spasmodic medicines, steroids or in extreme cases by removing sections of the intestine.
there has been interest in helminthic treatment, which involves infecting a patient with intestinal worms such as hookworm ( Ancylostoma duodenale) or whipworm ( Trichuris trichiura).
hookworm infections in humans were once common in the West, but have been eradicated through good hygiene.
scientific evidence suggests helminths can contain, not cure, the disease by inhibiting the body’s immune response.
however, it is not widely recommended. there are good reasons why we have attempted to eradicate helminth infections. they can cause a rash, respiratory and gastrointestinal problems, and iron deficiency due to ongoing loss of blood.
Furthermore, having people with the disease might trigger its spread among the general population. Consequently, such treatment is banned in Britain and the u.s., though there is a helminthic treatment centre in Mexico.
Dr Ian Smith, Cambridge.
QUESTION Dick Van Dyke has appeared in the two Mary Poppins films 54 years apart. Have any other actors appeared in remakes or sequels long after the original?
FuRthER to the earlier answer about Cape Fear, War Of the Worlds and Invasion Of the Body snatchers, an unusual example is 1941’s Maltese Falcon and its spoof 1975 sequel the Black Bird.
the original starred humphrey Bogart as gumshoe sam spade. the madcap sequel starred George segal as sam spade Junior 36 years on.
It featured two of the original cast. Lee Patrick, who played sam spade senior’s secretary Effie, was also sam spade Junior’s secretary, working long past her retirement. the great character actor Elisha Cook Jnr returned to his original role as gangster Wilmer Cook.
Danny Darcy, Reading, Berks.