There are many interesting facts about the Idol auditioner General Larry Platt you may not know. Platt has amused us all for the last 48 hours as we have watched him on YouTube. Long before there was an American Idol show Larry Platt was already quite famous as a Civil Rights activist.

• he was shot in the eye as a child and has been attacked by police dogs and suffered beatings in past civil rights efforts
• made the news during former Mayor Bill Campbell’s federal corruption trial
• marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma
• he was a teenage crusader for the Civil Rights Movement in Georgia
• was even honored with his own holiday in Atlanta, Larry Platt Day, on September 4, 2001, for his “priceless and immeasurable contributions to society”

Platt sang his song as the judges watched in interest, amazement and -- evidently according to Simon Cowell’s lack of humanity -- disgust. The lyrics to the song Pants on the Ground are:

Lookin’ like a fool with your pants on the ground
With the gold in your mouth, hat turned sideways
Pants hit the ground, call yourself a cool cat
Lookin’ like a fool, walkin’ to the town
With your pants on the ground!

Resources:

http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/realityrocks/301708/general-larry-platt-a-real-american-idol/

http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2010/01/general-larry-platt-pants-on-the-ground-highlight-american-idol/

http://www.accessatlanta.com/atlanta-music/274897.html