In exchange, he often did what many politicians do every day: connect donors up with other influential lawmakers, sing their praises to bureaucratic agencies and write letters of support.
A chorus of influential economists was singing the praises of central banking's flexibility and fine-tuning capacities.
Although reportedly missing both an eye and a leg, Billings was active as an itinerant singing master and was influential in furthering the singing-school tradition of American folk culture.
Van Niel's most influential role actually crossed the football and singing worlds.
Not long after, Schippers introduced Battle to the conductor James Levine, who was to become influential in her performing career, and by 1976 she was singing supporting roles in major American opera houses.
"The Singing Detective and The Naked Civil Servant were very influential for me.
Working with Stephenson (among others), he had toured three continents singing, being amusing, acting as a courier, filing eyes-only reports on influential people and probably meeting covert British contacts.
Performing a wonderfully loose set of songs from its influential two albums, the band at various times featured accordion, hard-strummed acoustic guitar, bowed banjo, singing saw, French horn, trumpet, toy saxophone and a general musical buoyancy.
But the number of people who get rich by singing or kicking a ball is tiny compared with the number who become wealthy or influential through brainpower.
After an exhaustive survey of the highest-selling and most influential papers across the world owned by Murdoch's News Corporation, it is clear that all are singing from the same hymn sheet.
