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For the ravers and the music-fact cravers

36 Bits of Music Trivia for Your Friendly Neighborhood Melophile

August 20, 2024

In case you happen to be at a wedding or your kid’s friend’s birthday party where you don’t know anybody, we wanted to supply you with this batch of music facts. After all, everybody loves music facts. They’re the great stranger connector. Because even if those strangers have totally different music tastes, facts about prominent musical figures are interesting enough to pique anyone’s interest.

Here, spout these off and watch all the nods of approval…

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36

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

35

CRACKED COM WEIRD AL'S SONG, I REMEMBER LARRY, CONTAINS THE BACKWARD MESSAGE WOW, YOU MUST HAVE AN AWFUL LOT OF FREE TIME ON YOUR HANDS — Source

34

KINKS LEAD SINGER RAY DAVIES DATED THE REAL LOLA. The official Kinks biograpy stated in 1985 that the song was about the night Kinks manager Robert Wace spent an evening with a transvestite, despite Lola sporting a visible stubble. But in a later Rolling Stone story, it was revealed that the song was about the night Davies went out with Candy Darling, without realizing Candy was in drag. CRACKED.COM Thomas Kitts 2008 Cooooo-Not Like Everybody Else — Source

33

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

32

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

31

Paper Planes by MIA The song satirizes negative stereotypes about immigrants. MIA herself was denied entry to the US, even when she was signed to Interscope Records. CRACKED.COM — Source

30

CRACKED.COM N A The world's most heard tune comes from a Spanish 19th century composer you probably never heard of. The Nokia tune is a phrase from Francisco Tárrega's Gran Vals for guitar. It was the idea of a marketing guy to make the phone play a tune and the lawyers' advice to chose a composer dead for 75 years or more because there are fewer royalties to pay and clearances to get. — Source

29

CRACKED.COM BACK THE TO FUTURE JUST SHY OF 3 MINUTES INTO THE HUEY LEWIS SONG BACK IN TIME, YOU CAN HEAR A VOICE IN THE BACKGROUND WHISPER, GET BACK, MARTY. — Source

28

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

27

Sometimes things just work out

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

26

Blackbird by Beatles Paul McCartney has said the song is about race relations in the United States, specifically inspired by the Little Rock Nine, Black children who on the forefront of desegregation. CRACKED.COM — Source

25

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

24

Animator Xavier X Atencio co-wrote much of the music and songs used for the rides in Disneyland, including Yo-Ho, A Pirates Life For Me for Pirates of the Caribbean and Grim Grinning Ghosts for The Haunted Mansion. Не had no previous musical experience before Walt Disney tapped him for the job. GRACKED.COM — Source

23

JAMES HETFIELD WROTE NOTHING ELSE L MATTERS 5 7 7 WITHOUT THINKING. IL L L He's the guitarist for Metallica. Не was 8 mindlessly plucking his 5 guitar strings while he was 6 8 0 on the phone with his girlfriend, and a little tune came out. Не liked the way it sounded, and wrote an entire song around it. 5 5 5 SUN 3 U CRACKED.COM http://metallica.wikia.com/wiki/Nothing_Else_Matters_%28song%29 — Source

22

21

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

20

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

19

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

18

Celine Dion

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

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

16

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

15

Al Green is an ordained pastor CRACKED.COM After his girlfriend assaulted him with a pot of boiling grits in 1974, he was inspired to become a reverend, and continues to preach weekly at the Memphis church he established. — Source

14

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. — Source

13

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

12

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

11

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

10

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

9

Stevie Nicks wrote Landslide when she was 27. The song is about growing older, even though the songwriter wasn't even 30. Nicks explains, You can feel really old at 27. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

8

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

7

Bryan Adams Summer of '69 In the summer of 1969, Bryan Adams was 10 years old. The upbeat nostalgia of this song wasn't inspired by an actual year, but rather Mr. Adams' fondness for a certain sexual position. CRACKED.COM — Source

6

Paul Shaffer

The Weather Girls It's Raining Men The Weather Girls' It's Raining Men was co-written by actor, producer and long-time musical director for David Letterman, Paul Shaffer. CRACKED.COM — Source

5

Katy Perry

4

lan Anderson was a fish farmer JETHRO TULL CRACKED.COM At one point in the 90's, he employed 400 people at the salmon farm he ran out of his home. Salmon breeding and rock flute have more in common than you might think: It's not a million miles away from rock and roll. There's a little bit of theatricality about it, too. — Source

3

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

2

Steven Tyler

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 9169 97 — Source

1

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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