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33 Trivia Tidbits About Music History

Cherry-picking music’s history books

33 Trivia Tidbits About Music History

July 21, 2024

You guys probably haven’t received the most updated version of music’s history book yet, but man, there’s some great stuff in there. If you consider yourself a patient person and don’t want any spoilers, maybe skip this list. But if can’t help yourself, there a few doozies below to wet your whistle with. You’ll be immediately singing their tune.

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33

London Calling by The Clash The 1979 song is about climate change. The lyrics were inspired after the band read an article about the flooding of the Thames River. CRACKED.COM — Source

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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

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According to Bob Marley's girlfriend, I Shot the Sheriff was inspired by their fights over birth control. The Sheriff was the doctor who prescribed her the Pill. Sheriff John Brown always hated me, For what, / don't know. Every time / plant a seed, Не said Kill it before it grow. CRACKED.COM — Source

30

Poker Face by Lady Gaga The singer revealed the song is surprisingly about her bisexuality. The lyrics are about her hooking up with a man but fantasizing about being with a woman. CRACKED.COM — Source

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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 — Source

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NICKELBACK IS NAMED AFTER CHANGE FOR COFFEE. PLURIUUS QUILINO STATES and CANTY 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

26

DRUMMER KEITH MOON, WHEN INVITED TO PLAY FOR A NEW BAND, THOUGHT THE IDEA WOULD GO OVER LIKE A LEAD ZEPPELIN. They changed the spelling because they didn't want people to use the wrong pronunciation of lead. CRACKED.COM http://www.classicbands.com/names.html — Source

25

HELTER SKELTER IS THE BEATLES' ATTEMPT TO OUT-WHO THE WHO. Paul McCartney wrote it after hearing The Who's eardrum-shattering style, and figuring he could do better. CRACKED.COM wwww.thecurrent.org/feature/2013/07/16/today-in-music-history-the-beatles-record-helter-skelter — Source

24

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

23

Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen The song has a long history of being used in a patriotic fashion, despite it being about the difficult experiences of a Vietnam veteran returning home. CRACKED.COM — Source

22

CRACKED COM TICKET TO RIDE According to John Lennon, the ticket to ride was actually a card indicating a clean bill of health... ...carried by Hamburg prostitutes in the 1960s. .... TICKET — Source

21

Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler Songwriter Jim Steinman originally titled the song Vampires in Love while he was working on the vampire romance musical Nosferatu. CRACKED.COM — Source

20

Louie Louie by the Kingsmen SMEN Written by Richard Berry, the lyrics have were rumored to be so obscene that it caused an FBI investigation. But it's just a wholesome song about a Jamaican sailor returning to the island to see his lover. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Erykah Badu is a doula CRACKED.COM The Grammy-winning R&B star quit the biz to become a highly-trained birthing coach after hanging out with a pregnant pal of hers: I just continued to be present at different people's births, and I started studying on my own. — Source

18

CRACKED.COM Celine Dion's 1998 Christmas album features the heartfelt ballad The Magic Of Christmas Day (God Bless Us Everyone). The song was written by Twisted Sister frontman and hair metal icon Dee Snider. — Source

17

Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah became big because of Shrek. The song went mostly underappreciated for years, even as other artists kept covering it, until a version of it was used in a movie about an ogre, a princess, and a donkey. Then it started popping up everywhere. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Manic Monday was actually written by Prince. GRACKED.COM — Source

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Bob Dylan was an early pioneer of the music video. In 1965, 16 years before MTV, Dylan filmed a video for his song Subterranean Homesick Blues, where he held cue cards with lyrics. Several bands have used the cue card approach since, most notably INXS with 1987's Mediate. GET BORN CRACKED — Source

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Michael Jackson's THRILLER is so much more than a music video. In December 1983, the 13-minute short film was solely responsible for increasing MTV's ratings tenfold. It is the only music video to be inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress for being culturally, historically or aesthetically significant. CRACKED — Source

13

Elvis Costello had the first fully animated music video. Released in 1979, Accidents Will Happen was made by Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton, who created a cartoon version of the band using 35mm stills as reference. CRACKED — Source

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OK Go was a pioneer in viral music videos. Their treadmill choreography in 2009's Here It Goes Again was a massive hit that led to their rube goldberg machine video for This Too Shall Pass. With a crew of 60 people, the machine synced up with the song itself and took roughly 60 takes to complete. CRACKED — Source

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Pharrell's 24-hour music video. ISE 08:57 MM AM 08 SHARE THIS MOMENT Directed by We Are from LA, the full length version of Pharrell's 2014 hit Happy is 24 hours long. It filmed hundreds of regular people and celebrities dancing to the song overll days of shooting and 42 separate locations around L.A. CRACKED — Source

10

Axl Rose And Slash Glick Slash claimed that before a show, Axl refused to go onstage until the band agreed to sign away their rights to the band's name. After their 1993 tour, Axl referred to Slash as a cancer, the band broke up, and Axl didn't even attend their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. CRACKED — Source

9

The Everly Brothers After 20 successful years, Don Everly got so drunk at a show in 1973, that he couldn't remember the lyrics to their most popular songs. Phil Everly broke his guitar over his brother's head, stormed out of the venue, and they didn't speak again until their father died years later. CRACKED — Source

8

Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker of Cream. Bruce once played bass during Baker's drum solo, and Baker attacked him, claiming he had a knife and would kill him. Eric Clapton said they each played so loudly (in order to drown the other out), that Clapton would stop playing and they wouldn't even notice. Their 1969 album Goodbye was indeed their goodbye. CRACKED — Source

7

Wham! George Michael wanted to grow out of the teen pop phase and write more honest music. In 1986, even though their latest hit The Edge of Heaven hit No. 1 in the U.K., they played a farewell show at Wembley called The Final, and called it quits. CRACKED — Source

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Sonic Youth FLUIDE In 2011, after 27 years of marriage, Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore divorced when Moore cheated on her with Eva Prinz. Moore stated that he intended to keep the band together, but Gordon (and the rest of the band) clearly thought that was ridiculous. CRACKED — Source

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Noel and Liam Gallagher After 20 years of creative differences, drug use, and backstage brawls, their final breakup came in 2009 before a Parisian festival. In this physical fight, Liam smashed Noel's guitar, and Noel shared that he officially quit the band. They haven't spoken since. CRACKED — Source

4

THE DIXIE CHICKS SLAM GEORGE W. BUSH. CRACKED In 2003, radio stations pulled their music and fans were outraged after they said We do not want this war, this violence, and we're ashamed that the president is from Texas. Much worse is said about the current and recent presidents daily. — Source

3

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE HUNG AMERICAN FLAGS UPSIDE DOWN ON SNL. STERRILLA CRACKED They did this before performing, but the flags were quickly taken down, and they were asked to leave before performing a 2nd song. This was in 1996, and things have gotten a lot more political on the show since then. — Source

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COMEDIANS WERE ARRESTED FOR A FART SONG IN 1981. CRACKED Dallas police arrested comedy team Bowley & Wilson on stage after a woman complained that her 16 year old daughter was exposed to vulgarity. Comedy historian Kliph Nesteroff said, They were facing a year in prison for doing 'The Fart Song. — Source

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WHEN JOHN LENNON SAID WE'RE MORE POPULAR THAN JESUS. CRACKED Dubbed the Beatles Boycott, his offhand remark led to protests, album burnings, death threats, and since they feared for their safety, it effectively ended their touring career. What hasn't been said about Jesus since then? Lookin' at you, South Park. — Source

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