Fun Music Stuff

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1731941

It's very rare for Prince to perform other people's songs, but he did so at the 2007 Superbowl, covering Foo Fighter's "Best Of You". Controversy abounds, as the Purple One was reportedly upset that they covered his "Darling Nikki", and his halftime show was perhaps revenge. He reportedly hates other people covering his songs.

* Speaking of Foo Fighters, when two miners became trapped underground in Australia in 2006, they requested iPods be sent down to them loaded with Foo Fighters songs. Dave Grohl sent a message of support, and offered them free tickets to any Foos show, and cold beers with the band afterwards. Grohl made good on his offer at a Sydney Opera House show later that year.

*When music industry giants Universal and Polygram merged in 1999, it was estimated that this new alliance would end up controlling about 25% of the global music market.

*The Country Music Hall of Fame had its first inductees in 1961. There were only three that year: Jimmie Rodgers, Fred Rose and Hank Williams.

*Of the 50 original recordings selected by The Library of Congress for its National Recording Registry, only one is from a genre that your grandparents don't listen to: "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five.

*Beach Boy Brian Wilson's 2004 release "Smile" was an album 38 years in the making. Recording for the album began in 1966, but Wilson's well-documented breakdown delayed it indefinitely.

*A judicial ruling stated that George Harrison 'unintentionally' plagiarized The Chiffons' 1963 hit "He's So Fine" when he wrote "My Sweet Lord", released in 1971. The Chiffons turned around and recorded it in 1975.

*"The Twist" by Chubby Checker is the only song to hit #1 twice on two separate occasions (one week in 1960 and two weeks in 1962).

*'70s musician Tim Buckley died prematurely at the age of 28, due to a drug overdose. His son Jeff also had his promising career truncated, after drowning in a river in Memphis, Tennessee at the age of 30.

* Lisa Loeb is the only artist to hit #1 ("Stay") on Billboard before being signed to a record label.

*According to the RIAA, Garth Brooks is the second-biggest-selling solo artist in american history, only surpassed by Elvis Presley.

*After 27 years of recording music, Weird Al Yankovic finally scored a Top Ten hit with "White & Nerdy", his take on the Chamillionaire/Krayzie Bone song "Ridin'".

*There has not been a Rock N' Roll band with a #1 hit in the U.S. in over five years. The last band to top the charts was Nickelback, in January of 2002. Five years… sad, isn't it?

*Despite having eight #1 singles in the U.K. charts over the years, Oasis could do no better than #8 in the U.S. with "Wonderwall".

*The Official UK Charts Company's list of the biggest-selling singles in UK history features only one artist that has two singles in the Top Ten. The artist is… Boney M.

*One of Elvis' favorite foods was the Fool's Gold Loaf, which was comprised of a whole loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter, a jar of grape jelly and one pound of bacon. The entire loaf is intended for 8 to 10 people, or one Elvis.

*Eric Clapton's only #1 was a song written by Bob Marley, "I Shot The Sheriff".

*"Tunnel Of Love", by Bruce Springsteen, is about an amusement park ride in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Many of his songs contain references to New Jersey.

*Stone Temple Pilots' song "Too Cool Queenie" is allegedly about Courney Love.

*The late Screamin' Jay Hawkins has fathered over 50 children. A subsequent, posthumous investigation by his biographer Maral Nigolian, has revealed that this number may be perhaps closer to 75.

*John Lennon reportedly wrote "Good Morning, Good Morning" after hearing a TV commercial jingle for Corn Flakes cereal.

*Otis Redding's "Dock Of The Bay" was released after he died in a plane crash. It would be his only #1 hit.

*Oasis's song "Cast No Shadow" was written by Noel Gallagher in tribute to his friend, The Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft.

*The Van Halen legend about their requesting M & M's with the brown ones removed is true, but not because of rock-star-excess reasons. Their logic was that they could gauge the reliability of the promoters. If there were brown M & M's present, it would prove that the promoters didn't read the contract thoroughly, and this would likely mean problems with the rest of the show.*The 33 1/3 rpm "Long-Playing" record was introduced in 1948. It boasted a whopping 25 minutes of music per side, as opposed to a paltry 4 minutes per side on the laughable 78 rpm. The 7" single was introduced a year later.

*Billboard's Hot 100 Chart debuted in 1958. The first recording to go #1 on this chart was Ricky Nelson's "Poor Little Fool."

*The first punk single is considered to be "Hey Joe" by Patti Smith. It was released in 1974.

*The compact disc was introduced in 1983, but only started to outsell vinyl records by 1988.

*Stephen Stills of Buffalo Springfield/Crosby, Stills and Nash, originally tried out to be a Monkee, but producers thought his hair was getting too thin and that his teeth were too bad.

*The Sugarhill Gang is credited with scoring the first-ever commercial rap hit, with their song "Rapper's Delight" in 1979.

*The first foreign-language song to top Billboard's charts was "Sukiyaki", in 1963, recorded by Japanese artist Kyu Sakamoto.

*The first album to ever be released in CD format was Billy Joel's 52nd Street, in 1982. It was initially only released in Japan. The first CD pressed and released in The U.S. was Born In The U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen in 1983.

*Pete Townshend has smashed at least 87 guitars since his early days with The Who. Most were not cheap guitars either: at least 23 Fender Stratocasters, 12 Gibson Les Pauls, and 21 Gibson SGs have been destroyed at his shows.

*On Jan. 20, 2002, George Harrison's 'My Sweet Lord' usurped Aaliyah's 'More Than A Woman' at the top of the British charts. This marks the only time in chart history that one deceased artist has replaced another at the Number 1 position.

*Speaking of which, "My Sweet Lord" and "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen are the only two songs to ever chart at Number 1 in The UK twice. "My Sweet Lord" peaked in 1971 and again in 2002. "Bohemian Rhapsody" reached #1 in 1975 and again in 1991.

*Singer/songwriter Jim Croce died in a plane crash the day before his album "I Got A Name" was released. It spawned three posthumous hit singles.

*The Ramones and AC/DC both have composed music for writer Steven King's movies.

*Queen have decided to reunite, replacing the late great Freddie Mercury with Paul Rodgers.

* James Brown holds the record for most entries into the Billboard Hot 100 chart (99 total songs entered into the charts) without making it to #1.

*Jerry Lee Lewis is related to both Mickey Gilley and evangelist Jimmy Swaggart.

*Chrissie Hynde has children with two famous rock stars: Jim Kerr of Simple Minds and Ray Davies of the Kinks.

*Harry Connick Jr. was once busted for taking a firearm through the airport.

*According to RIAA data, Rush is the biggest selling Canadian band in the world.

*The 40-Watt club in Athens, Ga., was so-named because of a single 40-watt lightbulb that illuminated the place.

*The album with the most Top Ten singles charted is Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814. The album the most #1 singles charted is Michael Jackson's Bad.

* Creedence Clearwater Revival holds the record for most #2 hits (5 different songs) that never made it to #1.

*The Beatles' first #1 hit was "From Me To You" (1963). Their last #1 hit was ironically titled "The Ballad Of John and Yoko".

*Pete Anderson, who served as guitarist for Dwight Yoakam, also produced an album for indie-rock legends The Meat Puppets.

*The Ryman Auditorium, home of the Grand Ole Opry, was originally named the Union Gospel Tabernacle, and is said to have the second-best acoustics for a theatre in the entire world.

*R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe is the godfather to Kurt Cobains' daughter Francis Bean.

*Mariah Carey is the only artist ever to have a #1 hit in every year of a decade (the 1990's).

*The Who has never scored a #1 hit in either North America or the U.K. Guitarist Pete Townshend was reportedly 'crushed' when their song "I Can See For Miles" stalled just at the bottom of the Top Ten.

*After Michael Jackson's arrest on child molestation charges in 2003, many radio stations across the U.S. pulled his songs from their playlists.

*"House of the Rising Sun" by The Animals took all of 15 minutes to record (they were on a tight budget), and went all the way to #1 in 1964. *Bob Dylan became the oldest person to top the American album charts in 2006, when his album "Modern Times" debuted at #1 in March of that year. At the time, he was 65 years old.

*The werewolf who was looking for a place called "Lee Ho Fook" in Warren Zevon's song Werewolves of London was indeed looking for a real place. Lee Ho Fook's is located on Gerrard Street in London, U.K. A picture of Mr. Zevon is proudly on display at the restaurant.

*Speaking of Mr. Zevon, his last album, The Wind, was recorded while he was dying of lung cancer. He did manage to live longer than his doctors' prognostications, but finally succumbed in 2003.

*The song "Happy Birthday To You" is not a public-domain composition. The publishing rights are owned by a subsidiary of Warner Communications, and a performance fee must be paid every time it is used for commercial purposes.

*Zakk Wylde has two signature model Gibson guitars that bear his name. Neil Schon of Journey has one. Neil Young, who has been associated with the same black Gibson Les Paul for the bulk of his four-decade-long career, has zero.

*Stevie Wonder's album "Talking Book" had its title written in both print and braille.

*Not only did Michael Jackson use a pseudonym for his appearance on The Simpsons, he never actually sang either. The voice heard on that particular episode is a sound-alike singer. Apparently the producers of the show paid just enough for Jacko to speak, but not enough for him to sing.

*Miles Davis was the first jazz artist ever to be inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

*The most-aired video in the history of MTV is Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer". *"Ring Of Fire" was written by June Carter, about her affair with a married man. That married man, Johnny Cash, would later become her husband.

* Speaking of "Ring Of Fire", Johnny said that the mariachi horns in the song were first conceived when he heard them in his sleep.

*Chicago's lead singer Terry Kath died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in 1978. It appeared to be purely accidental, as he was cleaning the weapon and believed it to be not loaded.

*Beethoven's composition "Fur Elise" is now believed by scholars to be actually titled "Fur Therese". Beethoven was dating a woman named Therese at the time he wrote the piece, and historians have blamed the composers' extremely poor penmanship for this misnomer.

*The movie Velvet Goldmine was loosely based on David Bowie's 'Ziggy Stardust' persona. Apparently Bowie was not so enamored with the script, and declined to allow any of his songs to be used in the film.

*Eric Clapton has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times-once as a member of Cream, once as a member of The Yardbirds, and once as a solo performer.

*Toto's hit Rosanna was written for actress Rosanna Arquette.

*Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' is MTV's most-requested video ever.

*The first rap album to reach #1 on the US album charts was The Beastie Boys' "Licensed To Ill".

*Liam Gallagher of Oasis was voted third in a list of "Most-hated exhibits" at Madame Tussaud's wax museum in 1991. He finished behind Adolf Hitler and Slobodan Milosevic.

*The first time KISS appeared without makeup was on an MTV show in 1983.