Keith Richards arrest anniversary. Foreigner & the Songwriters Hall Of Fame.  The Who benefit concert. The length of a ring finger can predict success. Thin models & celebrities don't sell products. Why songs get stuck in our heads. Smartphone users would rather give up water than mobile apps. Pet food stamps.

KEITH RICHARDS

It was 36 years ago today (February 27th, 1977) that Keith Richards was arrested in Toronto for possession of heroin. Richards, who was in town to perform with the Rolling Stones at the El Mocambo Club for their upcoming concert album, Love You Live, was awakened by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who found five grams of cocaine and 22 grams of heroin in his room, among other substances. Richards was charged with "possession of cocaine and heroin with intent to traffic."

Richards recalled being awoken by the officers smacking him conscious so that they could formally arrest him: "That took them about two hours to drag me out -- pow, pow. I woke up with, like, rosy cheeks. 'Oh, he's awake: You are under arrest!' (Laughs) 'Oh, great!' I looked at the old lady and I said, 'I'll see you in about seven years, babe.'"

Although Richards was eventually released on $25,000 bail, due to the trafficking charge, he faced a minimum seven-year prison term if found guilty. Richards, who due to his growing and public drug use had been on the wrong side of the law since 1967, was now facing the most serious criminal charge of his life.

• He eventually received a suspended sentence after the court concluded that Richards did not bring the drugs into the country, but rather purchased them while in Canada.
• During the trial later that year, a blind woman and die-hard Stones fan privately appealed to the judge and explained how Richards had always looked out for her when the band was on the road in Canada, making sure she was safe and cared for, and often helping find her a ride home after the shows.
• Richards credits her for single-handedly helping find a way to get him on the right side of the law: ["This chick went to the judge's house in Toronto, personally, and she told him this simple story, y'know? And from there I think he figured out the way to get Canada and himself and myself off of the hook. And so I was sentenced to a concert for the blind -- which I gladly performed, y'know? And my blind angel came through, bless her heart, y'know?"] SOUNDCUE (:21 OC: . . . her heart, y'know)
• Part of Richards' sentence involved playing a local charity concert for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind in 1979 with his and fellow Stones guitarist Ron Wood's side band the New Barbarians -- along with the Rolling Stones, who performed a show closing set. By that time, Richards had been heroin-free for two years, having quit the drug cold turkey.

FOREIGNER

Foreigner's Mick Jones and Lou Gramm will reunite in June for their induction into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame, according to Ultimate Classic Rock. Both Jones and Gramm, who parted ways in 2003 when Gramm quit the band, have suffered from health problems over recent years, with Gramm surviving a brain tumor and Jones recently undergoing open heart surgery. Gramm, who still performs and is a born again Christian, was replaced by current lead singer Kelly Hansen in 2005.

Mick Jones said that he and Gramm have decided to perform "Juke Box Hero" and "I Want To Know What Love Is" at Gramm's suggestion, adding that he's ""very much looking forward" to the reunion.

• Jones went on to say: "I'm so proud of what Lou and I achieved in those early years and throughout the time that we were together. I think it's the first time that we've been recognized for our work and our writing, which was really the foundation of what we did together, as much as the performing. . . I think this band has always been a song-driven band and so that has its place for me and it's very important and it's going to be great to share that with Lou. It will help us to move along in our relationship, which has been fairly quiet in the last seven or eight years."
• Mick Jones said that "Juke Box Hero" was actually inspired by a fan who stuck around after soundcheck and was spotted by him when the band came back to the venue hours later. Jones recalls how he gave the lucky fan a night to remember: "We went to the soundcheck and it was pouring with rain and there was one sort of sad, lonely fan left, and he was standing there drenched. And I kind of took pity on him and invited him in and really gave him, like, backstage experience. We had them put him on the side of the stage, and I looked at the kid and I could see his mind whirling. I was just trying to imagine what was going through his head that's how it gave me the nucleus of the song."
• Mick Jones, who is the sole original member of Foreigner still recording and touring with the band, explained that he had sensed for a while that original frontman Lou Gramm was seeking greener pastures: "Through the '90s, y'know, Lou and I were kind of really not seeing eye-to-eye. And I always felt since the late-'80s and '90s that Lou was far more interested in doing a solo career. So I'd been fighting a long time and I just wanted to resuscitate the band and see if I could really present a band like I felt Foreigner deserved to be."

THE WHO

It's looking as though the Who's New York City benefit concert tomorrow night (February 28th) in New York City will see the band dip into their back catalogue. Elvis Costello is also on the bill at Manhattan's Theater At Madison Square Garden for the Teen Cancer America Benefit. According to fan posts from TheWho.com, guitarist Simon Townshend has posted on Facebook and told fans that some key classics absent from the current tour will get an airing, including "You Better You Bet," "The Kids Are Alright," and "I Can See For Miles" -- which the Who hasn't performed live since 1989.

Simon, who's Pete Townshend's younger brother, is currently out promoting his new album, Looking Out Looking In. We asked him if he found it tedious having to play such a powerful and rigid piece as Quadrophenia night after night: "Well, it's cool when the music's that good. I think if the music wasn't that good, it would just become a day job, being onstage having to do everything so rigidly. Yeah, it could become mundane in other bands, but in the Who it doesn't. Anything can happen (laughs) anytime." 

THE LENGTH OF A RING FINGER CAN PREDICT SUCCESS

Research from two Italian economists finds that the length of a woman's ring finger can predict how successful she will be in her career, or even sports. For their research, economists Aldo Rustichini and Luigi Guiso interviewed over two-thousand male and female small business owners and photographed their hands halfway through the interview. Researchers found that longer ring fingers equated with skills like spatial ability, risk-taking assesment, assertiveness, and success in competitve sports. They also found that the most successful entrepreneurs had ring fingers ten-to-20-percent longer than their index finger. (Daily Mail)

STUDY FINDS THAT THIN MODELS AND CELEBRITIES DON'T SELL PRODUCTS

A new study from the Warwick Business School in the UK finds that women are turned off by the sight of products placed next to images of female models and celebrities. Researcher Dr. Tamara Ansons says this is because seeing a pretty model triggers scorn in regular women, which they use as a coping mechanism to feel better about their own appearance. Ansons said that models used in a more subtle manner usually made female shoppers respond more favorably. For the study researchers showed participants advertisements for vodka. One group saw the vodka ad without a model and the other group saw the vodka ad opposite a bikini-clad model on the opposite page, and the third group was shown the vodka ad with a model next to the product. Researchers say they found that a woman's self-perception and consequent effects on product evaluation depend on the degree of attention paide to the idealized image of a woman in advertisements. (Daily Mail)

STUDY FINDS WHY SONGS GET STUCK IN OUR HEADS

A recent study finds that songs we like are the most likely to get stuck in our heads. Head researcher Ira Hyman Jr. of Western Washington University and his colleagues exposed subjects to popular songs while asking them to complete various tasks. Researchers found that songs usually get stuck in a person's head when they are doing a task that is either too difficult, or too easy. Difficult tasks cause the mind to wander, while easy thoughts create a mental opening for reptitive thoughts, Hyman says. The research suggests we're most likely to get a song we like stuck in our heads, and Hyman says to get a song un-stuck you should do something that engages the auditory and verbal components of your memory, such as reading a good book or watching a favorite show. (NY Times)

SMARTPHONE USERS SAY THEY WOULD RATHER GIVE UP WATER THAN MOBILE APPS

In a new survey from the company Apigee, researchers find that of about 760-smartphone users surveyed, 85-percent said they would rather go without water than their mobile apps. Eighty-two-percent of respondents said there are certain apps they couldn't live without for even 24-hours-- 57-percent identified e-mail as their vital app, while 41-percent named Facebook and 31-percent said alarm clock apps. The survey covered smartphone owners in the U.S., UK, Germany, France, and Spain. (Mashable)

PET FOOD STAMPS EXIST: People who fall on hard times may turn to food stamps for help, but now there are pet food stamps as well. Pet Food Stamps is a donation-based program that aims to help pets of low-income families and those who already receive food stamps but cannot afforad to feed pets. Program founder Marc Okan says to utilize the service, pet owner's first have their income verified. They then will be given pet food each month by pet food retailer Pet Food Direct for six-months. The program is still waiting to be approved as an official nonprofit. (Opposing Views).

Thanks for listening to The Eagle while you work. Keep it fabulous, Houston!

xoxo,

Jennifer Tyler

Fabulous Mid-Day Diva