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35 Music Secret Histories We Thought Were Just Legends

March 03, 2024

We love music. Who doesn’t? But ‘round these parts, we value music facts a whole heck of a lot more than the music itself. We’re weird like that. Yep, you can catch us bopping our heads and playing air facts to the hit single, “Charles Manson Was Once a Dear Friend of The Beach Boys.” Give it a read!

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35

ANGIE WAS THE NAME OF THE WOMAN WHO CAUGHT MICK JAGGER AND DAVID BOWIE IN BED TOGETHER. Angela Bowie was David's wife at the time, and she says she walked in on the pair naked in bed together when she returned from a trip. I think they were composing 'Angie, she quipped. Bowie and Jagger deny the story. CRACKED.COM http://articles.latimes.com/1990-05-04/entertainment/ca-450 1_angela-bowie — Source

34

THE GUESS WHO WROTE AMERICAN WOMAN ON THE SPOT AT A DIVE BAR. Guitarist Randy Bachman broke a guitar string during their set, and after he'd restrung it he was at the piano tuning his guitar. The audience started responding to the tuning sounds, so the band worked them into a song, right then and there. CRACKED.COM music.cbc.ca/#/blogs/2013/2/Randy-Bachman-takes-us-behind-the-writing-of-American-Woman — Source

33

You AIN'T SEEN NOTHING YET WAS RECORDED TO MAKE FUN OF A STUTTERER. ana The stutterer was Randy Bachman's brother Gary, and Bachman Turner Overdrive recorded the song to poke fun at him. The song was never intended for commercial release, and Bachman re-recorded it without the stuttering. The record company insisted on releasing the original, and it became the band's only number one hit. CRACKED.COM http://www.stutteringhelp.org/btos-song-unique — Source

32

DEPECHE MODE IS NAMED AFTER A FRENCH MAGAZINE. The name literally means Fashion Update. CRACKED.COM http://www.eightyeightynine.com/music/depeche-mode.html — Source

31

DURAN DURAN NAMED ITSELF AFTER THE VILLAIN IN CHEESY SCIFI FLICK BARBARELLA. The villain was actually named Durand Durand. Also in Barbarella: Jane Fonda, pictured above in the Orgasmatron. CRACKED.COM http://www.bandnameexplained.com/2013/07/duran-duran-band-name-meaning.html — Source

30

Taylor Swift grew up on Christmas tree farm She spent some of childhood on Pine Ridge Farm in Pennsylvania, which she honors in her Christmas single aptly called Christmas Tree Farm. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

29

J. Cole was a first-chair violinist in high school. From 5th to 12th grade, the emcee played violin, earning the top spot at Terry Sanford High School. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

28

Drake got his high school diploma at 25-years-old. Не had dropped out of high school to play a high schooler in Degrassi. Не returned to school in 2012, after he was already Grammy-nominated. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

27

In 2016, Mozart outsold Beyonce, Adele, and Drake in CDs Universal released a 200-disc box set for the 225th anniversary of Mozart's death, meaning that each purchase counted for 200 disc sales. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

26

Terrible weather hit the UK, New Zealand, and Romania when Umbrella topped their charts This became known as the Rihanna curse. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

25

The Church of England co-owns Beyoncé's Single Ladies The church has invested in Hipgnosis, a company that owns the rights to thousands of songs. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

24

CRACKED.COM Paul McCartney was afraid he was plagiarizing Yesterday. After dreaming up the melody, McCartney wasn't sure it was actually his creation. For a time he went around asking people in the business if they had heard it before. I thought if no one claimed it after a few weeks then I could have it, he said. — Source

23

CRACKED.COM Deep Purple's Smoke on the Water recounts a real tragedy. The story in the lyrics actually happened - the band was in Montreux, Switzerland, when some stupid with a flare gun burned down the casino where they were supposed to record an album using a mobile studio. otour — Source

22

The Beastie Boys' (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)' was supposed to be a parody. The Beasties were poking fun at 1980's frat culture. Except that no one got the joke, and the song was adopted as an anthem celebrating the kind of debauchery it was sending up. CRACKED.COM — Source

21

CRACKED.COM Metallica's Nothing Else Matters G.B.W came from thoughtless guitar fingering. Some people doodle on paper while on the phone. James Hetfield randomly plucked at his guitar's strings while talking to his girlfriend. That pattern became the song's opening bars. — Source

20

Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline is named after JFK's daughter. Diamond needed a three-syllable name to fit the song he was writing. Then he remembered a photo of 7-year-old Caroline Kennedy he had seen in a magazine. CRACKED.COM — Source

19

CRACKED.COM Bon Jovi's You Give Love a Bad Name was a different song (by Bonnie Tyler). Tyler's If You Were a Woman (And I Was a Man) didn't do as well as songwriter Desmond Child expected - so he rewrote the lyrics, changed the song's title, and gave it to someone else to prove it could be a hit. — Source

18

17

CRACKED.COM Dolly Parton's Jolene was a real woman. Parton kept teasing her husband about a red-headed bank teller who gave him a lot of attention. (Her name wasn't Jolene, though t that name came from a little girl Parton met while signing autographs.) — Source

16

CRACKED.COM Keith Richards literally composed (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction in his sleep. Richards woke up in the middle of the night, recorded about 30 seconds of the song on a tape recorder, and then fell back asleep. In the morning he didn't remember any of it, until he played the recording. — Source

15

CRACKED.COM Billie Jean almost got Michael Jackson killed. Jackson was so absorbed in the song, working on it in his head while driving, that he didn't notice his car was on fire. Someone on a bike had to point it out to him. — Source

14

THE HALLELUJAH CHORUS ISN'T ABOUT THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. It's about the Second Coming, and by extension, the end of the world. It's based on scriptures from the book of Revelation, which is the apocalyptic part of the Bible. CRACKED COM Revelation 19615 — Source

13

NICKELBACK IS NAMED AFTER CHANGE FOR COFFEE. UNION INTERNATIONAL GLUTINO MONTICH.RU STATES FLUE CANTS ORANGE Lead singer Chad Kroeger was having trouble coming up with a name, so he approached his brother, who worked at a Starbucks. Coffee was $1.95, which meant every customer who paid two bucks got a nickel back. CRACKED.COM http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/nickelback — Source

12

PUDDLE OF MUDD's REHEARSAL SPACE WAS TURNED INTO A LITERAL PUDDLE OF MUD. The band wound up naming itself after the flood that soaked the entire first floor of their rehearsal space, which was located next to the Missouri River. CRACKED.COM http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Puddle_of_Mudd.aspx — Source

11

10

THE RIFF FROM SWEET CHILD O' MINE IS A GUITAR EXERCISE. When Axl Rose heard Slash's string-skipping exercise, he insisted it be spun into a song, using a poem he'd written to his girlfriend as the lyrics. When it came time to record it, their producer asked for a dramatic breakdown for the middle. Rose's Where do we go now? was literal-he didn't know where to go with the lyrics. CRACKED.COM http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=628 — Source

9

TOAD THE WET SPROCKET TOOK ITS NAME FROM A MONTY PYTHON SKETCH. In the bit, which appeared on an album, Eric Idle was making fun of rock bands with ridiculous names. Не had no idea one of the names had been chosen by an actual band until he heard them on the radio. CRACKED.COM http://youtu.be/DR22krUkBc — Source

8

STEVEN TYLER WROTE THE SONG WALK THIS WAY WHEN НЕ HEARD MARTY FELDMAN USE THE PHRASE IN YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN. Not unironically, it was Run-DMC's cover of the song that brought Aerosmith back from the dead in the 1980s. CRACKED.COM 9109 97 — Source

7

WHO ARE You IS ABOUT CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS. Who? 013 NHOB K who? Specifically, it's about Pete Townshend hashing out royalties for The Who's American sales. After 14 hours of negotiations, the execs handed Townshend a check, and he went on the bender described in the song. CRACKED.COM Geoffrey Giuliano, 1996. Behind Blue Eyes: The Life of Pete Townshend. — Source

6

THE Goo Goo DOLLS WERE ORIGINALLY CALLED SEX MAGGOT. Their manager balked at the name, so they picked the name Goo Goo Dolls when they spotted an ad for a doll with a moveable, rubber head in True Detective magazine. CRACKED.COM http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/The_Goo_Goo_Dolls.aspx — Source

5

DUDE LOOKS LIKE A LADY IS ABOUT VINCE NEIL, FROM MÖTLEY CRÜE. According to Steven Tyler, the boys from Aerosmith spotted Neil from the back, in a bar, and assumed he was a woman. When he turned around, they realized their mistake and started riffing with the phrase, dude looks like a lady. CRACKED.COM http://wwwchuffingtonpost.com/sue-kerr/aerosmith-dude-looks-like-a-lady_b_3848538.html — Source

4

CRACKED SHADY TIES THE BEACH BOYS so VENTURA CAL 47623 AND CHARLES MANSON 22 APR 1968 Manson supplied Dennis Wilson with girls and drugs, and was a frequent guest in his home. One of Manson's disciples even babysat Mike Love's children. — Source

3

SHADY TIES TONY BENNETT AND THE MOB While performing in mob-owned nightclubs, Bennett dated the then-girlfriend of Anthony Spilotro (the inspiration for Joe Pesci's character in Casino), who knocked Bennett out with a phonebook. CRACKED — Source

2

SHADY TIES FRANK SINATRA AND THE MOB His close ties to Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana were well documented by the FBI, and many say that The Godfather character Johnny Fontane was clearly based on Sinatra. CRACKED — Source

1

SHADY TIES NEIL YOUNG so VENTURA CAL 47623 AND CHARLES MANSON 22 A P R 1968 Manson had dreams of a music career, and Young really supported him. Impressed by Manson's improvised lyrics, Young suggested his work to record exec Mo Ostin. CRACKED — Source

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