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45 Little-Known Bits of Trivia About Pop Stars and Their Craft

The real Zoot Suit Riots weren’t nearly as fun as the song

45 Little-Known Bits of Trivia About Pop Stars and Their Craft

March 16, 2024

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45

Excitable Boy WARREN ZEVON CRACKED.COM This bluesy tune starts off talking about a guy who's a bit goofy, but ends up describing what he did to a date: Не raped her and killed her then he took her home. — Source

44

Copacabana BARRY MANILOW CRACKED.COM What a cool bar the Copacabana must be: the hottest spot North of Havana houses a sad old lady whose lover was shot dead, and now wastes her time getting drunk. — Source

43

Wrong Way SUBLIME CRACKED.COM Everything was going fine till the day she met me, says the singer. Well you said earlier she was forced into prostitution by her awful family, so how much worse could it get? — Source

42

Girl BECK ARANOS TO DE CALZA ГАР DE SHINE CRACKED.COM Known for his obtuse lyrics, it's still a bit haunting to hear Beck, potentially stalking a woman, say I know I'm gonna make her die, take her where her soul belongs. — Source

41

Hey Ya! OUTKAST CRACKED.COM The widely-played and loved single from Andre 3000 reminds us that love is awful, we know we're not happy here, and people used to shake photographs. — Source

40

The Macarena LOS DEL RIO CRACKED.COM The female singer gives he was out of town, and his two friends were so fine as a reason for why she cheated on her boyfriend. — Source

39

Zoot Suit Riot CHERRY POPPIN' DADDIES CRACKED.COM Now you sailors know where your women come for love says the singer of this 90s swing tune, referencing the real 1943 Zoot Suit Riots where Navy servicemen assaulted minorities. — Source

38

Bad Moon Rising CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL a CRACKED GOM Your dad's favorite song is actually about the end of days, with such hauntingly-prophetic lines as I fear rivers overflowing, I hear the voice of rage and ruin. — Source

37

Pumped-Up Kicks FOSTER THE PEOPLE GRACKED.COM Kids in this song better run better run, faster than my bullet because yes, this ethereal tune that topped pop charts is about a school shooting. — Source

36

Goodbye Earl THE (FORMERLY DIXIE) CHICKS CRACKED.COM Killing an abusive husband with your best friend is empowering, but this revenge tale gets creepy when the singer keeps asking Ain't it dark wrapped up in that tarp, Earl? — Source

35

MMMBop HANSON CRACKED.COM Those adorable Hanson Brothers were telling us how depressing our lives would be, asking when you get old and start losing your hair, can you tell me who will still care? — Source

34

Semi-Charmed Life THIRD EYE BLIND CRACKED.COM A tune meant to get people dancing hits you over the head with the warning that doing crystal meth will lift you up until you break, it won't stop. — Source

33

CRACKED THE BLACK STRAT (DAVID GILMOUR) The 1969 Fender Stratocaster had been with the Pink Floyd guitarist since 1970, appearing on every album between 1970 and 1983. It was recently sold at a charity auction for $4 million to Colts owner Jim Irsay, because a piece of music history should definitely be in some rich dude's living room. — Source

32

CRACKED GIBSON LES PAUL (LES PAUL) Sometimes, you just can't beat the original. Music wouldn't be what it is today without the work of guitarist and engineering pioneer Les Paul, who developed the original Gibson Les Paul electric guitar in 1952. From Jimmy Page to Slash to Duane Allman, the Les Paul has remained ubiquitous. — Source

31

CRACKED TRIGGER (WILLIE NELSON) Country singer Willie Nelson went through a number of different models before settling on the nylon-string Martin N-20, which he affectionately dubbed 'Trigger.' The battle-damaged guitar has a regular maintenance regiment, and visits Nelson's longtime friend and luthier Mark Erlewine once a year. Callawo — Source

30

CRACKED FENDER PRECISION BASS (JAMES JAMERSON) The early years of Motown would not have been the same without the steady thumping of James Jamerson, one of the grandfathers of modern bass playing. Jamerson was a devotee of the Fender Precision, which can be heard through iconic records such as Marvin Gaye's What's Going On. — Source

29

CRACKED 'TIGER' (JERRY GARCIA) Custom built by Luthier Doug Irwin, who also built instruments for 'Tiger' was Grateful Dead maestro Jerry Garcia's instrument of choice from 1979 to 1989. We assume it was built entirely out of spent hash pipes. — Source

28

CRACKED MARTIN D-28 (JONI MITCHELL) While Mitchell used a number of different instruments throughout her career, the canadian song-writing icon had a soft spot for Martin acoustic guitars, specifically the Martin D-28. One of her favorite D-28's was stolen from an airport luggage carousel while Mitchell was on tour in Hawaii. — Source

27

CRACKED RIC 4001 (GEDDY LEE) To non-bassists, the Rickenbacker 4001 looks more like a coffee table than a proper instrument. The gargantuan bass's grindy tone was especially favored by the Rush frontman, becoming a staple instrument of the band's live shows. — Source

26

CRACKED DOUBLE-NECK GIBSON (DON FELDER) Though it wasn't part of the original process of writing the song, Eagles guitarist Don Felder's super-sized white EDS-1275 double-neck Gibson has become synonymous with Hotel California after hundreds of live performances. In 2019 the guitar was put on display at the Play it Loud exhibition at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. — Source

25

CRACKED FRANKENSTRAT (EDDIE VAN HALEN) All modern guitar virtuosos can trace their lineage back to this iconic heavily modified Fender Stratocaster, which Eddie Van Halen constantly tweaked and modified throughout the 70s and 80s. Despite its legendary status, Van Halen reportedly treated the guitar like garbage. — Source

24

The Beatles

CRACKED HOFNER 500/1 BASS GUITAR (PAUL MCCARTNEY) The instantly recognisable bass has been with McCartney from The Beatles early days playing clubs in Germany to their final rooftop concert in London, and beyond, with it making several appearances throughout his solo career. — Source

23

CRACKED MONTEREY STRATOCASTER (JIMI HENDRIX) Hendrix's 1965 Fender Stratocaster was set on fire by the iconic guitarist before making it to the end of the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. It's sacrifice wasn't in vain though, as the performance launched Hendrix into legend. — Source

22

CRACKED HOHNER MAD CAT (PRINCE) Prince was nothing short of perfectionist, so it's a bit of a head scratcher to hear that he allegedly purchased this Telecaster lookalike at a gas station. Then again, every guitar can sound amazing when in Prince's hands. — Source

21

CRACKED LUCILLE (B.B. KING) 'Lucille' was the name given to many of the Gibson ES-335 and ES-355's owned by the Blues Legend. When a fire at a venue started by two men fighting over a woman nearly killed him, King chose her name, Lucille, as the nickname for his guitars. — Source

20

Charli XCX was her MSN messenger name. XCX as in Kiss, Charli, Kiss. CRACKED.COM — Source

19

Coldplay was named after a book of poems. The book? Child's Reflections: Cold Play. The original name? Starfish. Seems like they made the right choice. CRACKED.COM — Source

18

First Aid Kit was inspired by the dictionary. Klara Söderberg said, I was 13...and looking through a dictionary, looking for a name...I think music should be like a consolation to help you get through everyday life... CRACKED.COM — Source

17

Paramore was an original member's mother's maiden name. When they learned the meaning of paramour, they took on the name, using the spelling of the maiden name. CRACKED.COM — Source

16

Daft Punk was based on a bad review of the pair's earlier project. The pair was originally named Darlin', and a critic called their work a daft punky thrash. CRACKED.COM — Source

15

Fountains of Wayne was named after a lawn ornament store. In Wayne, NJ, there was a store with the name, and the band thought it was amusing. CRACKED.COM — Source

14

Cardi В based her name off Bacardi alcohol. Her sister's name is Hennessy so people used to call her Bacardi, which she shortened. CRACKED.COM — Source

13

Halsey is an anagram of her first name, Ashley. It's also the subway stop in Brooklyn, New York, where she grew up. CRACKED.COM — Source

12

Jimmy Eat World was making fun of the guitarist's little brother's weight. Tom Linton's younger brother Jimmy was the subject of childhood taunting, which is how the band eventually acquired its mean-spirited name. CRACKED.COM — Source

11

Skrillex was Sonny Moore's old AOL name. It was a stupid old online AOL screen name. There really isn't a meaning behind it. CRACKED.COM — Source

10

Childish Gambino came from a random name generator. To Donald Glover's credit, it was a Wu-Tang name generator so ... nice. CRACKED.COM — Source

9

311

311 is an Omaha police code for indecent exposure. The guitarist got arrested for skinny dippinng, so they used the citation code as a band name. CRACKED.COM — Source

8

David Bowie named himself after Jim Bowie and Bowie knives. Не was worried that if he used his real name David Jones would be confused with Davey Jones of The Monkees. CRACKED.COM — Source

7

The Cure was originally named after one of their first songs Easy Cure. Robert Smith thought the name Easy Cure was too American and hippie-ish so they shortened it. CRACKED.COM — Source

6

The 1975 was named after a journal entry. Matty Healy found an old book in a yard sale that had an entry dated 1st June, The 1975. CRACKED.COM — Source

5

Avicii came up with his name because his real name was taken on Myspace. Avici is the the lowest level of Buddhist hell, according to Tim Bergling. CRACKED.COM — Source

4

Lizzo was inspired by Jay-Z's song Izzo. Her real name is Melissa so instead of shortening to Lissa, she went with Lizzo. CRACKED.COM — Source

3

Lady Gaga was inspired by Queen. She was first called Gaga as a reference to Queen's song Radio Ga-Ga. CRACKED.COM — Source

2

Blondie was a common catcall to Debbie Harry. You can thank uncreative, creepy truckers for this band name. CRACKED.COM — Source

1

BTS stands for Bulletproof Boy Scouts. illbc b rc S S 10 -10 SIC A CA RDS na The Korean expression is Bangtan Sonyeondan. CRACKED.COM — Source

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