# What I didn't know about the singers of these songs. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 21, 2011, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-didnt-know-about-the-singers-of-these-songs/568506 "2011-01-21T22:45:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-didnt-know-about-the-singers-of-these-songs/568506/21 "2011-01-22T12:42:21Z")
[Not an Eddie Kendrick lookalike](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhSjwU8gEsI) ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-didnt-know-about-the-singers-of-these-songs/568506/22 "2011-01-22T13:04:14Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > [Tom Jones is black](http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/louis-theroux-on-black-nationalism/) according to the Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge. Also, I didn’t know Idi Amin was the last king of Scotland. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-didnt-know-about-the-singers-of-these-songs/568506/23 "2011-01-22T13:33:34Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > [Recorded in 1995; singer was 45 years old at the time.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpYG5okq1ag) > > When I first heard it on the college radio station last year, I assumed it was a local indie band. [The same singer](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQaUs5J2wdI) (recorded when Chilton was 16)! ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-didnt-know-about-the-singers-of-these-songs/568506/24 "2011-01-22T13:46:25Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I immediately knew that was going to be Nick Gilder before I even clicked the link. It felt good to be proven correct. Same here, and same with Dobie Gray. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-didnt-know-about-the-singers-of-these-songs/568506/25 "2011-01-22T13:58:43Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > [Recorded in 1995; singer was 45 years old at the time.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpYG5okq1ag) > > When I first heard it on the college radio station last year, I assumed it was a local indie band. > [@Bumbershoot](#): > > [The same singer](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQaUs5J2wdI) (recorded when Chilton was 16)! [Here he is again](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT8ihOjOf1g&feature=related). This one was recorded in 1972, and re-recorded years later by Cheap Trick as the theme song for That 70’s Show. Apparently Chilton’s voice went _up_ an octave or two as he got older. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-didnt-know-about-the-singers-of-these-songs/568506/26 "2011-01-22T14:08:11Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > My niece was shocked when I told her Cher is a woman. To be fair, she isn’t really a woman anymore. She is more machine than man. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-didnt-know-about-the-singers-of-these-songs/568506/27 "2011-01-22T14:51:50Z")
Everybody knows this now, but I had no idea the first time I heard it. [Not black.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vo23H9J8o8) ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-didnt-know-about-the-singers-of-these-songs/568506/28 "2011-01-22T14:57:17Z")
Surprise for my husband, who was a Doobie Brothers (and Steely Dan - yes, he worked with them) fan: [Not black](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk9mmto2Cdw) I got a “Michael McDonald is white?!” E-mail at work one day when those phone commercials featuring McDonald were on TV. Also adding: [Not black, not middle-aged](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g03JgYdf45I&ob=av2el) ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-didnt-know-about-the-singers-of-these-songs/568506/29 "2011-01-22T15:03:59Z")
[Not a woman.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HagzTRmUBIE) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-didnt-know-about-the-singers-of-these-songs/568506/30 "2011-01-22T15:19:06Z")
[Not a woman](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1odvp-_bhk) Cut me some slack, I just checked and I would have been about 10 the first time I heard it (based on the movie it was in). OTOH, I just found out it wasn’t a woman, oooh, sometime last week when I asked my sister. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-didnt-know-about-the-singers-of-these-songs/568506/31 "2011-01-22T16:32:49Z")
> [@Sir\_Prize](#): > > [Not a woman.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HagzTRmUBIE) I knew it was a dude, but I thought he was white… ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-didnt-know-about-the-singers-of-these-songs/568506/32 "2011-01-22T16:41:32Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Forgot one. [Jewish.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPPlGFh6OpQ) You didn’t realize that Norman Greenbaum was a Jewish name? What does it take, Israel Rabbison? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-didnt-know-about-the-singers-of-these-songs/568506/33 "2011-01-22T16:57:01Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > You didn’t realize that Norman Greenbaum was a Jewish name? > > What does it take, Israel Rabbison? 🙂 I didn’t know his name. Also, Greenbaum is a German name. I know a Catholic Kleinmann, Stein and Cohen. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-didnt-know-about-the-singers-of-these-songs/568506/34 "2011-01-22T17:02:11Z")
This one surprised me: [not black](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN2qImB0sT0&feature=feedf). ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-didnt-know-about-the-singers-of-these-songs/568506/35 "2011-01-22T17:03:39Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I immediately knew that was going to be Nick Gilder before I even clicked the link. It felt good to be proven correct. I thought it was going to be Silversun Pickups. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-didnt-know-about-the-singers-of-these-songs/568506/36 "2011-01-22T17:52:45Z")
> [@AppallingGael](#): > > This one surprised me: [not black](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN2qImB0sT0&feature=feedf). Holy crap. Now that one did surprise me. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-didnt-know-about-the-singers-of-these-songs/568506/37 "2011-01-22T18:16:07Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > Well, generally you \*don’t \*sing about how you’ve “got a friend in Jesus”… No cite for this, but I’ve heard that “Spirit in the Sky” was written as a kind of joke, almost a parody of religious songs. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-didnt-know-about-the-singers-of-these-songs/568506/38 "2011-01-22T18:22:21Z")
Until long after he died, I had no idea that Freddie Mercury was Indian. When I was a teenager, I thought [this guy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvjDgAhG9JI) was a woman until some DJ used the pronoun “he”. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-didnt-know-about-the-singers-of-these-songs/568506/39 "2011-01-22T18:59:49Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Until long after he died, I had no idea that Freddie Mercury was Indian. He was actually Parsi, a minority group within India that originally came from Persia. The Parsis have been in India for over a thousand years so there has of course been some mixing; [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsi#As_an_ethnic_community) tells me that different genetic studies have come up with different answers to the question of whether the modern Parsi are more closely related to modern Iranians or modern Gujarati Indians. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-didnt-know-about-the-singers-of-these-songs/568506/40 "2011-01-22T19:17:27Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > He was actually Parsi, a minority group within India that originally came from Persia. The Parsis have been in India for over a thousand years so there has of course been some mixing; [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsi#As_an_ethnic_community) tells me that different genetic studies have come up with different answers to the question of whether the modern Parsi are more closely related to modern Iranians or modern Gujarati Indians. I knew he was Parsi, but as a general classification, he’s Indian. Much the same way that Sioux are Americans. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-didnt-know-about-the-singers-of-these-songs/568506.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-didnt-know-about-the-singers-of-these-songs/568506.md?page=3)