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40 Trivia Tidbits About Popular, Classic and Obscure Music

These facts march to the beat of their own drum

40 Trivia Tidbits About Popular, Classic and Obscure Music

March 19, 2025

Look, just because a musician or a song didn’t become wildly popular, doesn’t mean that they’re not amazing. Good music will always be found by a select group of good-taste havin’, vinyl crate-diggin’, non-conformist types who’ll hold it near and dear to their hearts.

Music facts are no different, so for the lucky few music fact deep divers who picked out the few lesser-known gems in this crate, feel free to gatekeep the holy heck out of them. The normies wouldn’t understand them anyway.

40

Peter Dinklage

Peter Dinklage had a rap/rock band. Dinklage was a member of a kinda douchey college band called Whizzy in the '90s. He sang and played cornet on SONG

39

Eminem

Eminem sued iTunes for deductions on digital download royalties. CRACKED.COM In the early days of iTunes, Universal Music Group deducted artist's iTunes royalties for costs such as packaging and breakages on digital downloads. — Source

38

Powerline

BEHIND-THE-SCENES SFACTS An unlikely band inspired outfits for POWERLINE GRACKED.COM While Powerline's music sounded a lot like 90s pop and hip-hop stars, his haz-mat look was based on the wardrobe of a completely different group of musicians: surrealist rockers Devo. — Source

37

The Doors

GRACKED THE DOORS' SELF-TITLED ALBUM The Doors' self-titled first album was finished in a flash - only six days in the studio at Sunset Sound Recorders in LA. It's one of the fastest pieces of rock music ever made. — This is Dig

36

Biggie and Tupac

Biggie and Tupac started as friends. Their friendship changed to a rivalry when Tupac was robbed outside a recording studio and shot five times. Не suspected Biggie's crew knew something about it, and when Biggie released Who Shot Ya? only months later, the feud was cemented, changing hip hop forever. CRACKED.COM — Source: Rolling Stone

35

Free Bird

Ed King's guitar strings snapped, right in the middle of Free Bird CRACKED.co Lynyrd Skynyrd singer Ronnie Van Zant gave King holy hell after his strings broke on stage one night, causing King to quit the band.

34

Bob’s Burgers

They released an official vinyl album. MUSIC ALBUM The 112-track album of songs from the show c. which peaked at number 21 on the US Billboard 200 - was described by Clash magazine as at times both smart, sweet and very, very, stupid.

33

Metallica

Metallica gladly welcomed a new member of a different species, the Macrostylis metallicola, into their rock 'n' roll family. ETALICOLK MAICROSTYLIS ET

32

Rich Homie Quan

I GREATLY APOLOGIZE NOT ONLY TO BIGGIE SMALLS, BUT ALSO TO ALL OF MY FANS AND TO NEW YORK. While performing Get Money during a VH1 Hip Hop Honors tr

31

Lorne Michaels

The Bohemian Rhapsody opening sequence of Wayne's World was an instant pop culture hit and managed to revive the classic Queen single... ...but the song was almost cut in favor of Guns N' Roses. Producer Lorne Michaels wanted to use a Guns N' Roses tune because they had a #1 single at the time, but Mike Myers would have none of it, threatening to quit if they didn't use the 'inherently comedic' Queen song. (For which he had dozens of jokes, naturally.)

30

Richard Harris

The original live action Dumbledore, Richard Harris, was a charting musician. CRACKED.COM Не had a hit single back in the 1960s with the song MacArthur Park, which managed to reach number four on the UK charts and number two on the Billboard Hot 100. — Source

29

The Clash

Life is Wild By The Clash THE CLASH THE CLASH BAR ARO CUT THE CRAP You could really pick any song off the punk legend's abysmal 1985 album Cut the Crap, but the final track feels the most fitting. With Mick Jones fired, Joe Strummer took full creative control of the album, but disowned it shortly after release. The band dissolved soon afterward. CRACKED.COM — Source

28

Deep Purple

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. — Source

27

Under Pressure

CRACKED.COM Queen's collaboration with David Bowie on Under Pressure was pure impromptu. David Bowie just happened to be by the studio where Queen was recording tracks for their 10th studio album when both parties decided to work on an original piece during a 24-hour session. Mercury and Bowie even did their vocals separately without hearing each other as they sang their part. — Source

26

Nelly

CRACKED 2005 WAS LIKE THE EDGE OF A CLIFF FOR NELLY. From 2000 to 2004, Nelly was a mainstay in hip hop and pop music. His first 3 albums went multi platinum, and all hit #1 on Billboard. Then, because of experimental songs and oversaturation, his next 3 albums didn't even go gold, and he completely fell off. — Source

25

DJ Kool Herc

DJ KOOL HERC 1520 SEDGWICK AVE. CRACKED.COM Before you change the game, you need to first create the game. On Aug 11, 1973, DJ Kool Herc did just that with a block party at 1520 Sedgwick Ave in the Bronx. Using two turntables, Herc isolated the breakbeats of popular records, creating what he called The Merry-Go-Round. This innovation is considered the origin of hip hop music. — Source

24

Korn

Korn's album See You On The Other Side opens with the single Twisted Transistor, which clocks in at about 3 minutes and 9 seconds. However, if you pop the disc into a CD player and hit rewind as soon as the music starts playing, you'll find that there's a secret intro to the song, which adds a whole minute and 3 seconds to Кояп See Your the overall track length. a: The Ollow Side Source: ADVISORY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RLFWhYydqE EXPLICIO CONTENT CRACKED.COM — Source

23

The Traveling Wilburys

THE TRAVELING WILBURYS CRACKED.COM Side Project to Supergroup. George Harrison brought in Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, and Bob Dylan to record the track, Handle with Care. Having a blast in the studio, they formed The Traveling Wilburys, and took time away from solo work to record 2 full-length albums, tour, and win a grammy for Best Rock Performance in 1990. — Source

22

Joan Jett

CRACKED.COM A girl can do what she wants to do And that's what I'm gonna do Joan Jett's BAD REPUTATION isn't simply an anthem for outcasts. It's about sexism in rock 'n' roll. Jett had been rejected by 23 record labels - according to her, due to her reputation as a former member of an all-female band. — Source

21

The Voice

CRACKED THE VOICE OFFERING REAL RECORD DEALS Whoever wins The Voice gets a hundred grand and a recording deal with Universal Music Group, but a lot of the winners have left the company because they didn't get enough help with their first album. — Talent Recap / Style Caster

20

Nelly and Tim McGraw

CRACKED NELLY AND TIM MCGRAW In 2004, they teamed up on Over and Over, and were met with trepidation from their record labels. The rap/country track reached the Top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, far exceeding the naysayers' expectations. N416CG — The Boot / Taste of Country

19

Beastie Boys

CRACKED OSHKOSH Miller TE BEASTIE BOYS Originally a hardcore punk band called the Young Aborigines in the late '70s, they were still punk as The Beastie Boys until transitioning to hip hop in 1983. Their 1986 album Licensed to III became the first rap record to top the Billboard 200 chart. — God is in the TV Zine / Wired

18

Black Sabbath

Low-Effort Pop Culture Black Sabbath's Paranoid The legendary Black Sabbath track took only five minutes to write and two hours to record. It was the group's first ever single, and shot to number four on the UK chart. CRACKED — Warner Records
Far Out Magazine

17

Foo Fighters

David Grohl was the only band member of Foo Fighters when recording the first album. CRACKED.COM Не wrote and recorded all vocal, guitar, bass, and drum tracks himself. Many know Grohl as a frontman, but he actually played per- cussion in a small indie band before Foo Fighters, called Nirvana. — Foo Archive

16

Spotify

American funk band Vulfpeck released a completely silent album on Spotify. ZZEL ZZZEF ZZZZPP ZZZZZIE .... L GRACKED.COM Sleepify was a collection of ten, roughly 30 second long tracks of silence that the band asked fans to play on repeat as they slept. They earned $20,000 in royalties before Spotify closed the loophole. — Classicalite

15

Guns N’ Roses

Guns N' Roses' Sweet Child o' Mine began as a dumb joke. During a jam session, Slash started making faces while playing a silly melody. The other band members liked the tune and ran with it. Within an hour my guitar exercise had become something else, Slash wrote. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Of Our Favorite Songs (Have Surprising Backstories)

14

Amen Brother

The band never saw a cent CRACKED.COM The Winstons received zero royalties for the use of Amen, Brother as a sample in other songs. The band was unaware of the U.S. law that any civil and criminal case must be filed within 36 months of a song being sampled. — Source

13

The Wu-Tang Clan

THE WU-TANG CLAN CRACKED.COM In 1993, Protect Ya Neck became a hit single without a hook or a chorus. This cypher of 9 MC's rapping their verses was groundbreaking, but its success helped them land a game-changing deal with Loud records, where they signed as a group and were allowed to sign with other labels as solo artists. — Source: npr.org

12

Salt-N-Pepa and Queen Latifah

SALT-N-PEPA & QUEEN LATIFAH CRACKED.COM Salt-N-Pepa's 1987 debut album Hot, Cool & Vicious became the first rap album by female act to go gold and platinum. In 1995, Salt-N-Pepa won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Group, and Queen Latifah won a Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance, both becoming the first female hip hop acts to win Grammy Awards. — Source: dailyrapfacts/salt-n-pepa
dailyrapfacts/queen-latifah

11

RUN-DMC

RUN-DMC RUN MC NG OF ROCK CRACKED COM In 1986, Run-DMC's 3rd album, Raising Hell, gave hip hop so many firsts. It was the first hip hop album to go platinum (and multi platinum), the first to be nominated for a Grammy, and although their 1984 song Rock Box is credited as the first rap rock song, Walk This Way with Aerosmith brought rap rock to the masses. — Source: recordingarts
beats-rhymes

10

The NYC Rap Tour

THE NYC RAP TOUR CRACKED.COM In 1982, some of hip hop's most popular figures, DJ Africa Bambaataa, The Rock Steady Crew, Fab 5 Freddy, and many more, brought the culture across the Atlantic to cities like Paris and London, becoming the very first international hip hop tour. — Source: beats-rhymes

9

Kurtis Blow

KURTIS BLOW CRACKED.COM In 1979, Kurtis Blow became the first rapper to sign with a major label (Mercury Records). Then on June 14, 1980, he released The Breaks, which became the first hip hop song to be certified gold, proving to the music industry that hip hop was good for business. — Source: dailyrapfacts

8

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5

GRANDMASTER FLASH & & THE FURIOUS 5 CRACKED COM In the early years, hip hop lyrics were about having a good time or an MC's skills on the mic. On July 1, 1982, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious 5's hit single, The Message became the first mainstream rap song with social commentary, with Melle Mel & Duke Bootee painting an eye-opening picture of inner-city struggles. — Source: ultimatepopculture

7

Blinded by the Light

CRACKED COM MANFRED MANN'S EARTH BAND Manfred Mann's 1977 #I heavy synth-rock montage Blinded by the Light (you Know, that song that sounds like it's about wrapping up douches...) Columbia 4-45805 Bruce Springstun BLINDED BY THE LIGHT ...was written and originally performed as a sprawling Dylanesque-style song by iconic troubadour Bruce Springsteen. — 20 Eyebrow-Arching Authors Of Famous Songs

6

Fender

Leo Fender is a legend who perfected the electric guitar. But he couldn't play, and didn't like rock'n'roll. Despite the fact that his entire business revolved around manufacturing and constantly improving guitars and amps, Fender never actually got around to learning how to play them and didn't have any interest in doing so. When Fender was testing an amp with a guitar, other people in the shop had to go in and tune the instrument when they couldn't take the noise anymore. Yet his creations are the guitar of choice for legends such as Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix. CRACKED.COM — 21 Historical Figures Everybody Gets Wrong

5

Pink Floyd

They shared a studio with The Beatles. CRACKED.COM Pink Floyd recorded their first album, Piper at the Gates of Dawn, at Abbey Road studios only a few rooms away from the Fab Four, who were working on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Both albums used four track recording technology, which was space-age at the time. — Source: Guitar World

4

Xylophones

Many today think of the xylophone as the instrument of grade-school music class and dancing skeletons. But it was a very popular instrument in ragtime music... which is now mostly played by ice cream trucks. CRACKED.COM — Source: Oxford University Press

3

Hello Peril

ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE Randall Park was in a band growing up. Park said that, for his band Hello Peril in the movie, he drew inspiration from his younger days in a hip hop group called Ill Again. I was kind of like, 'Well, what if that band kept going — The Hollywood Reporter

2

Brian Wilson

BRIAN WILSON Beach Boy Life Lesson #23: If your therapist wants to cowrite a rap song and insists that you record it, it's time to find a new therapist. Smart Girls a cringetrack from the was never-released, aptly named Sweet Insanity. — Red Bull

1

Billy Idol

prastien Before he found success as a solo artist, Billy ldol was in the classic punk band Generation X. Their 1978 self-titled album is pure punk roc

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