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37 Fascinating Facts About the Music Industry

November 05, 2023

What do you do when a critic calls your music “daft punky trash”? What do the Talking Heads, U2, Coldplay, Devo and the Windows startup music all have in common? Which of Michael Jackson’s songs took up so much mental real estate that he didn’t realize his car was on fire while he was driving it? Which book was the band Coldplay named after? What in the world has the oldest Jonas been up to for the last few years?

The answers to these questions, and so many more, below!

37

CRACKED.COM BRIAN ENO One time keyboardist of ROXY MUSIC, glam rock solo artist, superproducer of the best work of TALKING HEADS, U2, COLDPLAY, DEVO, collaborator with the likes of DAVID BOWIE, PETER GABRIEL, and all around intellectual artsy weirdo, also wrote the 6 seconds of music you heard whenever you opened up... Microsoft Windows95 Fun fact: Не wrote it on a Mac. — 20 Eyebrow-Arching Authors Of Famous Songs

36

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. — Moonwalk: A Memoir, by Michael Jackson (via Google Books)

35

Harder to Breathe by Maroon 5 It may seem like a relationship song, but it's actually about the band feeling suffocated by their record label who was making them write more songs. It paid off. CRACKED.COM — MTV

34

MEN ATWORK Down Under I come from a land down under Where beer does flow and men chunder chunder: Australian slang GRACKED COM for vomit — 20 Backstories To Lyrics In Famous Songs

33

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 — 20 Surprising Reasons Behind Musicians' Stage Names

32

Kevin Jonas builds custom homes DIGIT RONT 2011 T RONT 2011 ITAS IGITAS CRACKED.COM The oldest Jonas set popstardom aside to profit from suburban sprawl. Не started up Jonas Werner Fine Custom Homes, where he designs and builds massive, fancy houses: I like to get my hands dirty. I've been blessed in my life where I get to say 'You know what? I want to do this. — Fox News

31

Исать All I Want To Do Is Make Love TO You A cover of a Dobie Gray song about wanting to sex up the love of your life, Heart had a different take on the subject. Their version tells a tale of a woman who picks up a man by the side of the road and takes him to a motel for the night. 'Oh, he did everything right.. Не brought the woman out of me. So many times, easily...' MOTEL She was gone by the morning. Turns out... She's married. OFFICI Seduced the guy because her hubby is sterile — 17 Famous Love Songs Written By Sociopaths

30

WHEN RECORDING PRETTY VACANT JOHNNY ROTTEN EMPHASISED THE LAST SYLLABLE So HE COULD ON THE RADIO GRACKED.COM — 23 Eyebrow-Arching Facts About Famous Songs

29

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 — 29 Bizarre True Stories Behind the Most Popular Music Ever

28

Tool

CRACKED.COM TOOL'S UNSETTLING SONG 'DIER VON SATANI FROM THE ALBUM AENIMA IS SPOKEN IN GERMAN. BUT WHEN TRANSLATED IT REVEALS... ...A cookie recipe. http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2900 — 20 Spirited Easter Eggs Hiding On Famous Albums

27

Celin Dion

GRACKED.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. — 20 Eyebrow-Arching Authors Of Famous Songs

26

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. — Brian Jones: The untold life and mysterious death of a rock legend, by Laura Jackson (via Google Books)

25

...Baby One More Time by Britney Spears Hit me, baby isn't sexual or abusive but just strange phrasing by Swedish songwriter Max Martin, who thought hit was synonymous in English with call (as in hit me up.) CRACKED.COM — Billboard

24

Kenny's lines in the South Park theme song varies every few seasons. with Season deep 1-2: vaginas I love SOUTH girls with big fat titties, I love girls if you Season want 3: I to have clean got TARK a 10-inch penis, mouth use your 8 GRACKED.COM — 20 Backstories To Lyrics In Famous Songs

23

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 — 20 Surprising Reasons Behind Musicians' Stage Names

22

David Lee Roth dabbled in emergency medicine CRACKED.COM During his 20-year hiatus from Van Halen, he mostly pursued a solo career. But he carved out 2 full years to serve as an EMT in New York City. Не reportedly went on over 200 emergency ambulance calls. — People

21

In 1981, new wave rockers Oingo Boingo released Little Girls, in which the lead singer declares his love for, you guessed it, small female children. I, I, I love little girls They make me feel so good I love little girls They make me feel so bad The singer explains his attraction, saying he is particularly drawn to their innocence (They don't care about my inclinations/ They're not frightened by my revelations) and trusting nature. Fun bonus fact: Oingo Boingo's creepy, partially-undressed lead singer is Danny Elfman, who went on to compose the theme tune for CRACKED.COM The Simpsons. — 17 Famous Love Songs Written By Sociopaths

20

Pink Floyd

PINK FLOYD'S COMFORTABLY NUMB ISN'T ABOUT RECREATIONAL DRUGS. Pink Floyd didn't do drugs. The song is about the time Roger Waters was given heavy sedatives against his will, and had to perform despite being barely able to lift his arm. http://web.archive.org/web/20090429063944/http:/ CRACKED.COM rollingstone.com/news/story/6596159/comfortably_numb — 29 Bizarre True Stories Behind the Most Popular Music Ever

19

Robbie Williams regularly sing when you're winning robbie williams uses hidden tracks on his albums. Sing When You're Winning's final track has 25 minutes of silence, followed by Williams saying No, I'm not doing one on this album. Robbie Williams made his fans listen to silence for 25 minutes for hidden content that wasn't there. CRACKED.COM — 20 Spirited Easter Eggs Hiding On Famous Albums

18

Mark Mothersbaugh, the co-founder and lead singer of the band Devo (those guys who did the song Whip It) This guy right here Press Did the ENTIRE soundtrack to P PlayStation NT&CT WC CRASH BANDICOOT. PlayStation KOS TO ADULTS SONY KA AND it's first 2 sequels. Universal interactive-Rodios CONTENT - .. .. NAUGHTY DOG TM SCUS-94900 CRACKED.COM GENDO — 20 Eyebrow-Arching Authors Of Famous Songs

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 — The Atlantic

16

Closing Time by Semisonic D U 20A - PU Although the song seems to clearly be about leaving a bar, it's actually a metaphor for being born, in anticipation for frontman Dan Wilson's upcoming fatherhood. CRACKED.COM — NPR

15

CRACKED.COM In 2004, Chevrolet used the Ice Cube song Roll All Day in a commercial for the newly-released Aveo. While they focused on the lyrics We can roll all day if I can ride all night in the ad, the song is not about cruising in a car with a good MPG rating. The song is about Cube cruising around looking for sex, eventually telling the girl she needs to get out of his car after she rejects Ice Cube's request. The song ends with Ice Cube's car stolen. 'She jumped want in my car, took off, now I'm stuck, — 20 Backstories To Lyrics In Famous Songs

14

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 — 20 Surprising Reasons Behind Musicians' Stage Names

13

Bruce Dickinson is my copilot IRON MAIDEN CRACKED.COM Dickinson has flown the band's jet while on tour on multiple occasions. Не even became a pilot (and marketing director!?) of an airline that, bewilderingly, no longer exists. — BBC

12

I swore I'd never let her go... How sweet. Brandon Flowers of The Killers must really love Jenny in their hit, Jenny Was a Friend of Mine. Except the full song is about him being investigated by the police after Jenny's disappearance... She couldn 't scream while ...perhaps I held her close, understandably. I swore I'd never let her go CRACKED.COM — 17 Famous Love Songs Written By Sociopaths

11

CRACKED.COM There is no such place as south Detroit. The area just south of downtown Detroit is across the border in Windsor, Ontario. Harper PISON DETROIT Cks WIROSOR OHN star D Linepin Park Taylor I tried north Detroit, I tried east and west and it didn't sing, but south Detroit sounded so beautiful. I loved the way it sounded, only to find out later it's actually Canada. -- Steve — 23 Eyebrow-Arching Facts About Famous Songs

10

STEELY DAN was a jazz-rock duo from the late 1970s. GIANT, They were named STEAM-POWERED after a DILDO from the book Naked Lunch, by William S. Burroughs. CRACKED.COM http://www.steelydan.com/faq.html — 29 Bizarre True Stories Behind the Most Popular Music Ever

9

The ultimate Easter Egg? It wasn't even intended for humans. At the end of their iconic album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Beatles recorded a high-frequency note and added it to the run-out groove of the 2nd side of the album. At 18 kilocycles per second, the note was not audible to humans. It was, however, audible to dogs. GRACKED.COM — 20 Spirited Easter Eggs Hiding On Famous Albums

8

Manic Monday was actually written by Prince. GRACKED.COM — 20 Eyebrow-Arching Authors Of Famous Songs

7

Jolene

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.) — NPR

6

Hall & Oates

Rich Girl by Hall & Oates The song was originally written about a guy who was a fast food heir and was Hall's girlfriend's ex-boyfriend, but the gender flip sounded better. CRACKED.COM — Billboard's Number One Hits

5

2Pac's Changes includes a reference to the Black Panther Party. The lines 'It's time to fight back', that's what Huey said / 2 shots in the dark, now Huey's dead refers to Huey Р. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panthers. Newton was shot by a drug dealer in Oakland in 1989. 2Pac Kill changes 2Pac's parents were active members of the Black Panther Party. CRACKED.COM — 20 Backstories To Lyrics In Famous Songs

4

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 — 20 Surprising Reasons Behind Musicians' Stage Names

3

The Rolling Stones

Bill Wyman is a metal detector guy THE ROLLING STONES CRACKED.COM The bassist tapped out of the rockstar life in the 90's, and has since become a serious detecting enthusiast. Не even created his own top-of-the-line instrument, the Bill Wyman Signature Metal Detector. — BBC

2

GRACKED.COM Train's Marry Me Seems like a sweet love song. Promise me You'll always be Happy by my side I promise to Sing to you When all the music dies. But the truth is, the singer has never spoken to this woman before in his life! Не wants to spend the rest of his life with a girl that doesn't even know he exists. Marry me Today and every day If I ever get the nerve to say Hello in this cafe Say you will. — 17 Famous Love Songs Written By Sociopaths

1

Fastball's chart-topping 1998 single The Way was inspired by a series of newspaper articles about a missing elderly couple from Texas who drove off one morning to attend a festival and never returned. fastball You can see their shadows wandering off somewhere They won't make it home but they really don't care... the way It was only after bassist Tony Scalzo had written the song that the couple was found dead, hundreds of miles off course. CRACKED.COM — 23 Eyebrow-Arching Facts About Famous Songs

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