IN: Sir Wesley Winfield Hall (born 12 September 1937) is a Barbadian former cricketer and politician. A tall, strong and powerfully built man, Hall was a genuine fast bowler and despite his very long run up, he was renowned for his ability to bowl long spells. Hall played 48 Test matches for the West Indies from 1958 to 1969. Hall's opening bowling partnership with fellow Barbadian Charlie Griffith was a feature of the strong West Indies teams throughout the 1960s.

Hall was born in Saint Michael, Barbados--"just outside the walls of [HM Prison] Glendairy"--to a teenaged mother, his father a sometime light-heavyweight boxer. Hall began his schooling at St Giles' Boys' School and later obtained a place at the renowned Combermere School thanks to a free scholarship. At Combermere, he played for the school cricket team initially as a wicketkeeper/batsman. At the time the leading schools in Barbados played against grown men in the elite Division 1 of the Barbados Cricket Association and Hall was exposed to a high standard of cricket at an early age. One of his teammates at Combermere was the school groundskeeper, the West Indian Test cricketer Frank King. After completing his schooling, Hall found employment with the cable office in Bridgetown. Hall played for the Cable Office cricket team and it was there that Hall took up fast bowling. In a match against Wanderers, Hall was asked to fill in when his team's regular opening bowler was absent. He took six wickets that day and decided that bowling would be his path to the West Indies team. His talent was soon recognised and in 1956 he was included in the Barbados team to play E. W. Swanton's XI in 1956. Hall, still very young and inexperienced, did not take a wicket in the match, his first-class cricket debut. Hall was unlucky, however, not to pick up a wicket having Colin Cowdrey dropped by Kenneth Branker at first slip. Despite the lack of success Hall did catch the eye of Swanton who marked him down as a bowler of "great promise". Based partly on this promise, Hall was selected in the West Indian squad to tour England in 1957. Despite great enthusiasm, Hall struggled in the unfamiliar surroundings, unable to pitch the ball anywhere near the wicket. Hall remarked later "When I hit the softer wickets I was like a fish out of water." Hall did not play in any of the Test matches and in first-class matches on the tour as a whole took 27 wickets at an average of 33.55. Hall's lack of success in England saw him overlooked for the entire home Test series against Pakistan in 1957-58.

Did any team sign him?

OUT: Based partly on this promise, Hall was selected in the West Indian squad to tour England in 1957.

IN: Thomas Simpson (30 November 1937 - 13 July 1967) was one of Britain's most successful professional cyclists. He was born in Haswell, County Durham and later moved to Harworth, Nottinghamshire. Simpson began road cycling as a teenager before taking up track cycling, specialising in pursuit races. He won a bronze medal for track cycling at the 1956 Summer Olympics and a silver at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.

In April 1959, Simpson left for France with PS100 savings and two Carlton bikes, one road and one track, given in appreciation of his help promoting the company. His last words to his mother before the move were, "I don't want to be sitting here in twenty years' time, wondering what would have happened if I hadn't gone to France". The next day, his National Service papers were delivered; although willing to serve before his move, he feared the call-up would put his potential career at risk. His mother returned them, with the hope they would understand this. He applied to local cycling clubs, and joined Club Olympique Briochin, racing with an independent (semi-professional) licence from the British Cycling Federation. When settled with the Murphy family, 21-year-old Simpson met 19-year-old Helen Sherburn, an au pair from Sutton, Yorkshire. Simpson began attracting attention, winning races and criteriums. He was invited to race in the eight-day stage race Route de France by the Saint-Raphael VC 12e, the amateur club below the professional team Saint-Raphael-R. Geminiani-Dunlop. Simpson won the final stage, breaking away from the peloton and holding on for victory. After this win, he declined an offer to ride in the Tour de France for the professional team. Simpson had contract offers from two professional teams, Mercier-BP-Hutchinson and Saint-Raphael-R. Geminiani-Dunlop, which had a British cyclist, Brian Robinson; opting for the latter team, on 29 June he signed a contract for 80,000 francs (PS80 a month). On Simpson's return to Harworth for Christmas, the RAF were notified and the press ran stories on his apparent draft avoidance. He passed a medical in Sheffield, but history repeated itself and the papers arrived the day after his departure for his team's training camp in Narbonne in southern France. The French press, unlike the British, found the situation amusing.

Did they offer him more money in the end?

OUT: he signed a contract for 80,000 francs (PS80 a month

IN: Casablancas was born in New York City to business mogul John Casablancas, the founder of Elite Model Management, and Jeanette Christiansen, a Danish former model and Miss Denmark (1965). When Casablancas was eight, his parents divorced. He once stated that he wanted to be closer to his father, and this, "translated into teenage rebelliousness." His mother subsequently married painter Sam Adoquei.

Casablancas met guitarist Nick Valensi and drummer Fab Moretti and played together at the Dwight School in Manhattan. He reconnected with guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. when the latter moved to New York. The band was formed in 1998 when Hammond was accepted into the band, with Casablancas as the lead vocalist and main songwriter. The band began rehearsing a fourteen-song set which included "Alone, Together", "Barely Legal", "Last Nite", "The Modern Age", "New York City Cops", "Soma", "Someday", "Take It or Leave It" and "This Life" (an early version of "Trying Your Luck"). Most of these songs now feature different lyrics. A demo sent to the newly reformed Rough Trade Records in the UK sparked interest there, leading to their first release via the website of the UK magazine NME who gave away a free mp3 download of "Last Nite" a week prior to the physical release as part of The Modern Age EP in 2001. The EP sparked a bidding war among record labels, the largest for a rock and roll band in years. Shortly after, The Strokes' critically acclaimed debut album Is This It was released. After the release of two other albums Room on Fire and First Impressions of Earth and several major tours, the band took a 5-year break before returning with their fourth album Angles in 2011. This was followed by several headlining appearances at musical festivals, including Reading, Coachella, Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits. The band released Comedown Machine in 2013, as their last album under the contract with long-time label RCA, for which they did no promotion. The band released an EP, Future Present Past, on Casablancas' own label Cult Records in 2016.

Where there any noteable singles released from that album?

OUT:
"Alone, Together", "Barely Legal", "Last Nite", "The Modern Age", "New York City Cops", "Soma", "Someday", "Take It or Leave It" and "This Life