- Contrary to popular belief, his #1 1960 hit, "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini", was not written about a teenage girl's first day at the beach in a bikini. The songwriter wrote it after watching his two-year-old daughter playing at the beach in her bathing suit.
- Producer of the acclaimed HBO TV documentary Brooklyn Dodgers: The Ghosts of Flatbush (2007).
- In 1963 featured the electric guitar on his "Country Meets Folk " album, two years before Bob Dylan's famed folk rock synthesis at "The Newport Jazz Festival".
- In 1963 Brian played electrical guitar on his cover of "If I Had A Hammer" .The recording was played on NYC radio by a late night DJ at faster speed. Listerners were asked to call and identify the singer for a prize. At that late hour, one did. based on the distinct sound of the guitar.
- Sang in the choir at Saint Thomas the Apostle Church.
- Has three older brothers and a sister.
- A cover version of "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" was featured in Billy Wilder's One, Two, Three (1961). Communist interrogators used it on a prisoner as a torture device.
- Father John Hyland was a bookkeeper for the Trommer Brewing Co. His mother Gladys Kelly was a homemaker.
- Lived at 78-14 87th Road in Woodhaven, Queens, New York.
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