Music

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  • In every show that Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt (The Fantasticks) wrote, there is at least one song about rain.


  • The tune for the "A-B-C" song is the same as "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."


  • "Mr. Mojo Risin" is an anagram for Jim Morrison.


  • Roberta Flack wrote "Killing Me Softly" about singer Don McLean.


  • Spencer Eldon was the name of the naked baby on the cover of Nirvana's album


  • The first video ever played on MTV Europe was "Money For Nothing" by Dire Straits.


  • The Basset Horn, a kind of alto clarinet, was named after its inventor -- a man named Horn. "Basset" is from "Basetto," or "little bass" in Italian.


  • The world's second largest pipe organ is located at the Organ Grinder on 82nd avenue in Portland, Oregon.


  • The music group Simply Red is named because of its love for the football team, Manchester United, who have a red home strip.


  • The band Duran Duran got their name from an astronaut in the 1968 Jane Fonda movie Barbarella.


  • Sting got his name because of a yellow-and-black striped shirt he wore until it literally fell apart.


  • Devo's original name was going to be De-evolution. They shortened it to Devo.


  • Steely Dan got their name from a sexual device depicted in the book 'The Naked Lunch'.


  • Bob Dylan's real name is Robert Zimmerman.


  • Andy Warhol created the Rolling Stone's emblem depicting the big tongue. It first appeared on the cover of the 'Sticky Fingers' album.


  • Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were the two left-handed Beatles.


  • Lenny Kravitz's mother played the part of "Helen" on "The Jeffersons."


  • Compact discs read from the inside to the outside edge, the reverse of how a record works.


  • The only member of the band ZZ Top without a beard has the last name Beard.


  • Some of Beethoven's symphonies were performed in Kentucky before they were performed in Paris, France.


  • Paul McCartney's mother was a midwife.


  • ABBA got their name by taking the first letter from each of their first names (Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny, Anni-frid.)


  • The Beatles song "Dear Prudence" was written about Mia Farrow's sister, Prudence, when she wouldn't come out and play with Mia and the Beatles at a religious retreat in India.


  • Lynyrd Skynard was the name of the gym teacher of the boys who went on to form that band. He once told them, "You boys ain't never gonna to nothin'."


  • The Grateful Dead were once called The Warlocks.


  • The license plate number of the Volkswagon that appeared on the cover of the Beatles Abbey Road album was 281F.


  • Jethro Tull is not the name of the rock singer/flautist responsible for such songs as "Aqualung" and Thick as a Brick. Jethro Tull is the name of the band. The singer is Ian Anderson. The original Jethro Tull was an English horticulturalist who invented the seed drill.


  • In 1976 Sarah Caldwell became the first woman to conduct the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.


  • The lead singer of The Knack, famous for "My Sharona," and Jack Kevorkian's lead defense attorney are brothers, Doug & Jeffrey Feiger.


  • Elvis had a twin brother named Jesse Garon, who died at birth, which is why Elvis' middle name was spelled Aron; in honor of his brother.


  • Elton John's real name is Reginald Dwight. Elton comes from Elton Dean, a Bluesology sax player. John comes from Long John Baldry, founder of Blues Inc. They were the first electric white blues band ever seen in England--1961


  • Elton John's uncle was a professional soccer player. He broke his leg playing for Nottingham Forest in the 1959 English FA Cup Final.


  • John Lennon's first girlfriend was named Thelma Pickles.


  • The Beatles song "Martha My Dear" was written by Paul McCartney about his sheepdog Martha.


  • "Ever think you're hearing something in a song, but they're really singing something else? The word formis-heard lyrics is 'mondegreen,' and it comes from a folk song in the '50's. The singer was actually singing "They slew the Earl of Morray and laid him on the green," but this came off sounding like 'They slew the Earl of Morray and Lady Mondegreen."


  • John Lennon's assassin was carrying a copy of "The Catcher in the Rye" when he shot the famous Beatle in 1980.


  • Don MacLean's song "American Pie" was written about Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens. All three were on the same plane that crashed.


  • They Might Be Giants is the first modern band with an Accordion and a Glockenspiel


  • "Video Killed the Radio Star" was the very first video ever played on MTV.


  • The 80s song "Rosanna" from the Eighties was written about Rosanna Arquette, the actress.


  • The first fossilized specimen of Austalopithecus afarenisis was named Lucy after the palentologists' favorite song, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, by the Beatles.


  • Most Americans' car horns beep in the key of F.


  • Hang On Sloopy is the official rock song of Ohio.


  • Cleo and Caesar were the early stage names of Cher and Sonny Bono.


  • The Velvet Underground's first manager was Andy Warhol, who also produced their first album and designed the cover artwork. The cover artwork for the album (called "The Velvet Underground and Nico") featured a bright yellow banana that could be peeled off to reveal a bright pink banana underneath, with the label "Peel Slowly and See." "Peel Slowly and See" is the title of the Velvet Underground comprehensive boxed set, which is the only currently-available Velvet Underground recording to feature a peelable banana. The peelable banana caused substantial delays in the production of the VU's first album and contributed to Lou Reed's firing Andy Warhol as the group's manager.


  • White Out was invented by the mother of Mike Nesmith (Formerly of the Monkees)


  • Glass flutes do not expand with humidity so their owners are spared the nuisance of tuning them.


  • The tango originated as a dance between two men (for partnering practice).