Music Friday: 'Bad, Bad Leroy Brown' Shows Off His Diamond Rings in Jim Croce's 1973 Chart Topper

Welcome to Music Friday when we celebrate classic songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today the late, great Jim Croce sings about a giant man with an affection for diamond jewelry in his 1973 chart topper, "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown."

In this song inspired by a friend he met while working as a lineman for the U.S. National Guard, Croce tells the fateful story of one of the toughest guys from the South Side of Chicago. Leroy Brown stood 6'4" and had a reputation of being "meaner than a junkyard dog." He was also a flashy dresser, loved his jewelry and was quite the ladies' man.

Croce sings, "Now Leroy, he a gambler / And he like his fancy clothes / And he like to wave his diamond rings / In front of everybody's nose."

At the end of the song, Leroy approaches Doris at a local bar and learns a tough "lesson about messin' with the wife of a jealous man."

Written by Croce, "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" spent two weeks at the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in July of 1973. The song also netted Croce two Grammy Award nominations in the categories of Best Pop Male Vocalist and Record of the Year.

Born in South Philadelphia in 1943, Croce expressed a love for music at a young age. He played his first song, "Lady of Spain," on the accordion at the age of 5. While attending Villanova University, he performed with two singing groups, the Villanova Singers and the Villanova Spires. Croce graduated with a degree in psychology in 1965.

He joined the U.S. National Guard in 1966, and while stationed in Fort Jackson, S.C., he befriended the larger-than-life Chicagoan who would inspire his 1973 hit.

Croce struggled early in his music career, appearing at large coffee houses, on college campuses and at folk festivals. In 1972, he scored a three-record deal with ABC Records.

Later that year, he made his national debut on American Bandstand, which sparked appearances on The Tonight Show, The Dick Cavett Show, The Helen Reddy Show and The Midnight Special.

Sadly, at the peak of his fame, in September 1973, Croce perished in a plane crash near Natchitoches, La. He was 30 years old.

In a letter to his wife, Ingrid, that arrived after his death, Croce told her that he was homesick and couldn't bear the pain of being away from her and their infant son. He was planning to stop touring and to concentrate, instead, on writing short stories. It was never to be.

Please check out the video of Croce's live performance of "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...

"Bad, Bad Leroy Brown"
Written and performed by Jim Croce.

Well the South side of Chicago
Is the baddest part of town
And if you go down there
You better just beware
Of a man named Leroy Brown

Now Leroy, more than trouble
You see he stand 'bout six foot four
All the downtown ladies call him "Treetop Lover"
All the men just call him "Sir"

And it's bad, bad Leroy Brown
The baddest man in the whole damned town
Badder than old King Kong
And meaner than a junkyard dog

Now Leroy, he a gambler
And he like his fancy clothes
And he like to wave his diamond rings
In front of everybody's nose
He got a custom Continental
He got an Eldorado too
He got a 32 gun in his pocket for fun
He got a razor in his shoe

And it's bad, bad Leroy Brown
The baddest man in the whole damned town
Badder than old King Kong
And meaner than a junkyard dog

Now Friday 'bout a week ago
Leroy shootin' dice
And at the edge of the bar
Sat a girl named Doris
And oo that girl looked nice
Well he cast his eyes upon her
And the trouble soon began
'Cause Leroy Brown learned a lesson
'Bout messin' with the wife of a jealous man

And it's bad, bad Leroy Brown
The baddest man in the whole damned town
Badder than old King Kong
And meaner than a junkyard dog

Well the two men took to fighting
And when they pulled them off the floor
Leroy looked like a jigsaw puzzle
With a couple of pieces gone

Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com.

Domino's in the UK Just Gave Away a 22K Pizza-Slice Engagement Ring Topped with Diamond Pepperoni

Domino's in the UK just celebrated Valentine's Day by giving away a one-of-kind, 22-karat pizza-slice engagement ring topped with diamond pepperoni.

The fast-food chain delivered nearly a half-million pizzas throughout the UK yesterday, and the company was certain that a significant portion of those dining in would be proposing to their significant others on the most romantic day of the year. Domino's own study revealed that 72% of Brits were planning to eat in on Valentine's Day, with 6% of men planning to pop the question during the meal.

The unusual ring was introduced on Domino's Facebook page under the title "DOUGH-MANTIC ANNOUNCEMENT."

The company posted a series of pizza-ring photos along with this teaser: "Fancy popping the BIG question to your pizza lover while you #ValenDineIn this year? Comment below for your chance to win our one-off, unique pizza engagement ring. Probably the most taste-ful way to seal the deal, ever!"

Contestants were required to comment on the post between noon and 10 p.m. on February 13. The company promised to pick a winner and deliver the engagement ring on Valentine's Day.

The yellow gold ring is designed to look like a lifelike slice of pizza topped with four round diamonds that are made to appear as if they are pepperoni slices.

Domino's did not reveal the individual diamond sizes nor their quality characteristics. Still, this item was a must-have for the 500-plus participants who left clever comments on the Domino's Facebook post. Here's a sampling of what they wrote...

Penned Kate Smith, "My fella has just proposed to me, but this would be a true symbol of our love. Our first Valentine's Day was actually spent with a Domino's pizza and watching football on TV nearly five years ago now. This would be the topping on the pizza if I had this ring."

Added Shannon Wilmot, "I just showed my husband this ring and his response was "WHY ARE WE MARRIED ALREADY!?" When I then explained [the contest is] open to everyone, he told me I had to enter. I think he'd probably end up wearing it more than me or we could share if it fit both of us."

Founded in 1960, Domino's Pizza has 11,000 stores in 75 countries. The company employs 260,000 and generates annual sales of $2.2 billion. That's a lot of pizza.

Credits: Photos courtesy of Domino's.

Showing Your Love by Literally 'Giving Her the Moon' May Be a Reality Sooner Than You Think

Moon Express, a private company charged with unlocking the immense potential of the moon's valuable resources, has gotten approval from the U.S. government to begin lunar exploration before the end of this year. The company will be looking to mine gold, platinum, moon rocks and other materials with an estimated potential value of $16 quadrillion. (One thousand trillion is a quadrillion.)

Before long, it's conceivable that the center stone of your engagement ring could be a moon rock instead of a diamond and that the precious metal used for that ring may have originated on the lunar surface.

Moon Express co-founder and chairman Naveen Jain sees it this way: "Today, people look at diamonds as this rare thing on Earth," he said. "Imagine telling someone you love her by giving her the moon."

Jain expressed two major goals of moon exploration. On one hand, he recognizes the huge commercial upside, and on the other, he sees the settlement of the Moon as a way to ensure the continuation of the human race in the event of a cataclysmic disaster on Earth.

"In the immediate future, we envision bringing precious resources, metals and Moon rocks back to Earth," the billionaire entrepreneur noted. "The sky is not the limit for Moon Express — it is the launchpad. This breakthrough ruling is another giant leap for humanity. Space travel is our only path forward to ensure our survival and create a limitless future for our children."

Far from being made from green cheese, the moon is rich in gold, cobalt, iron, palladium, platinum, tungsten and Helium-3, a gas that could be used in fusion reactors, providing nuclear power without radioactive waste.

"We shouldn't only be mining the Earth," he said. "We should be thinking of the moon as our eighth continent."

Getting the green light to explore the moon was no easy task for the Moon Express team. It required in-depth consultations with the FAA, the White House, the State Department, NASA and other federal agencies. The group also had to demonstrate to NASA experts at Kennedy Space Center in Florida how its robotic spacecraft would operate on the moon's surface. Moon Express is the only private firm to have been granted permission to leave the Earth and land on the moon.

Moon Express, which is based in Cape Canaveral, Fla., is competing for Google's Lunar XPRIZE, a $20 million award for the first team to put a robotic spacecraft on the moon and deliver data, images and video from the landing site and from 500 meters away. The Moon Express lander is named MX-1 and is about the size of a washing machine.

Within 10 years, Moon Express expects to offer a whole new category of tourism — holidays to the moon. Jain also noted that the moon could act as a fueling station, enabling easier travel for exploration to and from other planets.

"We went to the moon 50 years ago, yet today we have more computing power with our iPhones than the computers that sent men into space," Jain told CNBC.com. "That type of exponential technological growth is allowing things to happen that [were] never possible before."

Credits: Renderings courtesy of Moon Express; Screen capture via cnbc.com.