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Must confess to being a bit of a nerd when it comes to music trivia,and thought I'd post a different fact every day. But then I thought I'd probably run out after a week or so,so maybe I'll post one a week.

Feel free to jump in...

Song Fact number 1...

Turn up the volume for the piano fade out of David Bowie's 'Life on Mars' where you can hear a phone ringing...turns out somebody left the studio door open...

Oh no! This is like those mistakes you see in movies. Once you see them, you can't UNsee them. Ok...how many songs are going to be ruined for me now.

Jen

Hence also the song MLK on the same album Pete?

Not necessarily mistakes Jen-just what a song might be about or why a certain noise or sound might be on it.

But while on the subject... ( ! )

The drummer on Van the man's Moondance song admitted to missing a snare drum beat on the intro just before the lyrics start. (except it's not a snare drum beat it's a 'rim shot',where the stick strikes the steel rim of the snare drum.)

However,he 'missed' the rim on the second bar just before the vocals. Like you say Jen-when you notice it first it never goes away then!

Floyd wrote: Hence also the song MLK on the same album Pete?

Yeah Martin he got two songs which reminds me too. Pride was originally meant for Thatcher and Reagan originally and not to glorify them..

In case anyone wondering(I doubt it) about the "Early Morning April 4" lyric, It would have Early morning here in Ireland when MLK was shot

Rick Wakeman released a single called "Animal Showdown" (Martin, you'll remember this).  Anyway, the song is instrumental but God only knows why Rick plays a piece from "...Yes, we have no bananas" right in the middle of of the track..must play again to make sure..

Rolling Stones 'Satisfaction'.

At the end of each verse,just before the guitar riff comes back in,you can hear an audible 'click' each time as Richards puts his foot on an effects pedal...

Brunswick wrote: Rick Wakeman released a single called "Animal Showdown" (Martin, you'll remember this).

I remember the picture disc,Mel-has Rick in front of a snowcapped mountain or a blue sky???

Bono has since held his hand up about this one (early morning april 4th)and has stated he got it wrong ,and when he sings it live now he says (early evening april 4th) 

On Journey,s song ,Dont stop believing,they say ,(Just a city boy/born and raised in South Detroit),,,,thing is their is no South Detroit,otherwise you would be in Canada,,,God i need to get out more often 

Floyd wrote: Brunswick wrote: Rick Wakeman released a single called "Animal Showdown" (Martin, you'll remember this).  I remember the picture disc,Mel-has Rick in front of a snowcapped mountain or a blue sky???

Thats the one.  Rick in front of a snowcapped mountain with a blue sky behind.  Some weird pic on side B with a guy and his dog wrapped in silver cloth in a snow scene (God only knows what thats about!).

The Rolling Stones classic album Sticky Fingers with it's iconic Andy Warhol concept cover caused more than a few upsets on it's first release.

The album was (at great cost) designed with a real zip on a pair of trousers (thought to be worn by Jagger but was later revealed to be a model) which you could zip up and down.

Apart from the sexist and pornographical implications it was found that when packaged in large amounts,the zip would push into the record above it,damaging it's cover and the vinyl within,typically scratching the grooves on 'Sister Morphine'.

After nearly coming to legal costs with Atlantic,the answer was staring the designers in the face-simply unzip the zipper before shipment...

Don't fear the Reaper Blue Oyster Cult

This was written by lead guitarist Donald Roeser, also known as Buck Dharma. He contributed his vocals to this track and also wrote Burnin' for you' another BOC hit.

It was rumored to be about suicide, but it actually deals with the inevitability of death and the belief that we should not fear it. When Dharma wrote it, he was thinking about what would happen if he died at a young age and if he would be reunited with loved ones in the afterlife.

Some of the lyrics were inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet. In Shakespeare's play, Romeo swallows poison when he believes Juliet is dead. Juliet responds by taking her own life. This led many people to believe the song was about suicide, but Dharma was using Romeo and Juliet as an example of a couple who had faith that they would be together after their death. (Romeo and Juliet are together in eternity...)

For the lines that begin, "40,000 men and women," Dharma  believed this was the number of people who died every day.

I always associated the song with the classic "Grim Reaper" image (somewhat reinforced by the picture of the "death on his horse" painting which is displayed on the "Some Enchanted Evening" album, which the song is taken from).  Disappointed to hear that its actually based on reality!

The Beatles

Songs by solo Beatles...about being in the Beatles...

Isn't it a Pity...George

'...how everyone's started treating each other like t**sers...' Ends with Hey Jude quote.

God ...John

'...I don't believe in Beatles,just Yoko and me...'

How do you sleep?...John

'...The sound you make is muzak to my ears...'

Dear Friend...Paul (Wings)

Pauls response was '...Don't hate me...'

When we was Fab...George

'Back then long time ago when we was fab...'

All those Years Ago...George

...'You said it all though not many had ears All those years ago

You had control of our smiles and our tears All those years ago. . .'

Smoke on the Water...Deep Purple.

You probably know this already,but listening to the lyrics of this (not just the guitar riff) tells the story of how they wrote it.

The band were in Monteux,Switzerland to record Machine Head album. They had the Rolling Stones mobile truck (referred to in the song as the Rolling Truck Stones Thing) but had to abandon this as the noise was keeping the town awake. They retreated to the empty Montreux Grand Hotel (...'we ended up at the Grand Hotel...')at the behest of Claude Nobs (referred to as 'Funky Claude in the song) to finish recording and ended up filling the rooms where they were playing with mattresses for sound dampening and red bulbs for atmosphere ('with a few red lights,a few old beds,we made the place just swell...).

During recording,Frank Zappa and the mothers of invention were playing a matinee concert at The Casino, which the band were invited to. 'Some stupid with a flare gun' actually did fire two fireworks right into the stage where the curtaining immediatley caught fire and 'burnt the place to the ground'

'...It burnt down the gambling house...' causing flames 30 feet in the air and the smoke billowed accross Lake Geneva,inspiring Roger Glover with the title.

Roger awoke some days later in his hotel room with the sound of something being said resonating in the room. He was alone and realised he had said something in his sleep which woke him. He had said 'Smoke on The Water'. Ritchie Blackmore had been playing the now famous riff for some time but didn't know what to do with it so the title was put to the music and the band wrote about what had happened to them while they were there.

On the 20th Anniversary release of Machine Head,a mix of the song includes vocalist Ian Gillan uttering '...Break a leg,Frank...',again referring to Frank Zappa who broke his leg ostage at a London show on the same tour of the fire.

Pink Floyd ... Shine On You Crazy Diamond...

This opus from the 1975 album Wish You Were Here is a hymm to the bands original singer,songwriter and guitarist Roger Keith (Syd) Barrett. He brought the band to the fore of 60's pop with songs like Bike,See Emily Play and Arnold Layne. He didn't take well to pressures of the music biz and fell foul of LSD problems.

After making just one and a half albums with the band (The first,Piper at the Gates of Dawn and he appears on some songs on the second,'Pink Floyd') the band were on the way to a gig and in the car they 'deliberately forgot' to pick up Syd and carried on with his replacement,David Gilmour.

Syd became a recluse and lived a quiet life in his mothers home in Cambridge. No one saw him for years.

Fast forward to 1975 and the band record a whole album in Abbey Road dedicated to Syd called Wish You Were Here,and during the sessions for Shine On,the key homage to their former leader,who turns up in the studio only Syd himself-declaring he was ready to play with the band again.

He was fat,bald and kept brushing his teeth. No one recognised him at first. He had no idea what they were recording-or why.

Having been missing for years he suddenly turns up during the recording of a song dedicated to him...strange but true.

The Book of Rock

Songs and the books they were based on...

Kate Bush...Wuthering Heights...Wuthering Heights

Sting...Moon Over Bourbon St. ... Interview With The Vampire

Jefferson Airplane...White Rabbit...Alice in Wonderland

Led Zep...Battle of Evermore...Lord of the Rings

Genesis...Mama...The Moon's a Balloon

Metallica...For Whom the Bell Tolls...For Whom the Bell Tolls

The Stones...Sympathy for the Devil...The Master and Margarita

Studio bickering,private jokes,advice for the listener-

Songs and albums which have pieces of speech.

Zeppelin-Black Country Woman. ('Shall we roll it Jimmy?' 'We're rolling on what, one?' Then an airplane)

R.E.M. Radio Song. ('Hey-I can't find nothing on the radio-Yo-turn to that station!')

AC/DC Night prowler. (' Nanu Nanu!' in reference to Mork and Mindy)

The Smiths. I started something I couldn't finish. (Morrisey calls to producer 'OK Stephen-do that again?')

John Lennon Well,Well,Well. (' OK-OK- me hands killing me')

Pink Floyd High Hopes. (a phone call from manager Steve O'Rourke to David Gilmours son Charlie is recorded and is added to the end of the song as a gag at O'Rourke's constant requests to appearing on a song.)

The Beatles

After Paul's song, "Penny Lane" became a Beatles hit, the street signs for the actual Penny Lane in Liverpool disappeared with such regularity (as they did on the real Abbey Road), that the town reverted to simply painting 'Penny Lane' on the buildings, rather than have street signs.

"Strawberry Fields" was named after a real place, Strawberry Field, a children's home run by the Salvation Army in Liverpool.

Though there was a woman named Eleanor Rigby in Liverpool, she was not the inspiration for the song. Paul simply made up the name. The Father McKenzie in "Eleanor Rigby," was almost called Father McCartney, when Paul first composed the lyrics. However, he searched in the phone book yielded the more general name McKenzie.

Contrary to popular belief, the title for "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" was prompted by 4-year-old Julian Lennon's description of a painting he brought home from school, not the drug, LSD.

Paul McCartney wrote "Hey Jude" for the abovementioned Julian Lennon.

Crazed serial killer Charles Manson believed that the Beatles' "White Album", particularly the songs Revolution 9 and Helter Skelter. spoke directly to him. "Revolution 9" was mostly John and Yoko Ono's sound collage with only nominal participation from George Harrison. Manson believed that this song in particular contained secret messages like "Charlie, Charlie, send us a telegram".

John Lennon wrote "A Day in the Life", which many music critics consider to be the Beatles' masterpiece, after reading a newspaper obituary for his friend, Guinness heir Tara Browne, who had died in a car accident. Thus, the lyric: "He blew his mind out in a car/ He didn't notice that the lights had changed".

Bands Banned.

Songs with an airplay ban slapped on them.

A Day in the Life...The Beatles.

The BBC initially missed the line 'I'd love to turn you on',but banned it believing 'Holes in the Albert Hall' was a drug reference.

Lola...The Kinks.

Banned not for it's transvestism but for mentioning Cocoa Cola in the first verse,infringing the BBC's advertising ban. Lyrics were later changed to 'Cherry Cola' to gain airplay.

Love to Love you Baby...Donna Summer.

The BBC again banned this on the grounds she was simulating an orgasm.

Friggin' in the Riggin' and God Save the Queen...Sex Pistols.

Reasons speak for themselves...

Invisible Sun...The Police.

Banned for it's reference to the troubles in the North.

The Ballad of John and Yoko...The beatles.

Still reached nr 1 despite being banned for mentioning 'Christ' ('...you know it ain't easy...')

On The Cover of Rolling Stone...Dr. Hook.

The Beeb deemed this 'advertising' a magazine,so banned it in the UK. They had no problems,however,playing a re-recorded version called 'Cover of the Radio Times'.

Peaches...The Stranglers.

Changing 'clitoris' to 'bikini' meant it was allowed to be played on UK radio.

Can't stand losing you...The Police.

A suicide letter-in-song was considered too nuch for impressionable teenagers but still made number two despite an all out ban.

The Millenium Prayer...Cliff Richard.

Who'd have thought one of Sir Cliff's attempts at a Christmas Nr 1 would have a ban on BBC's stations? Putting the Lord's Prayer to Auld Lang Syne was thought to have an overtly religious message but it still made nr. 1 in 1999.

I know I'm going off topic but I never liked that Je T'aime song.  Just always sounded a bit sleazy to me.  That said, I'm an innocent sort..

Nice link,Petey...

                            The Eagles...Hotel California

"Colitas," in the line "Warm smell of colitas," is often interpreted as a flower or a sexual reference. It is a Spanish word translated to Henley by the Eagles Mexican-American road manager meaning "Little Buds," (right,Mins?) and is a reference to marijuana.

The line "They stab it with their steely knives but they just can't kill the beast" is a reference to Steely Dan. The bands shared the same manager and had a friendly rivalry. The year before, Steely Dan included the line "Turn up the Eagles, the neighbors are listening" on their song "Everything You Did."

The line 'She's got the Mercedes Bends' was not a typo or misspelling. It was in fact a play on words (she's got the bends of a high class nature) and Don Henley got a lot of mail complaining about the supposed error,not least from Mercedes Motor Company.

In June 2006, some Australian officials blasted Barry Manilow’s music between 9pm until midnight every Friday, Saturday and Sunday to deter gangs of youths from congregating in a residential area late at night (there was no mention of what the residents thought of having Manilow music blasted around their homes all night, but I assume it was preferred).

"Could it be magic"    I ask...........................

On the Who,here's a couple of songs about,erm...'self love'...

Pictures of Lily...The Who

Willie and the Hand Jive...Johhny Otis

My Ding a ling...Chuck Bery

Teenage Kicks...Undertones (lyrics changed from 'I wanna hold it,wanna hold it tight...)

Turning Japanese...The Vapours

Slow Hand... The Pointer Sisters

Icicle...Tori Amos

Dancing with Myself...Billy Idol

I Touch Myself...Divinyls

And,as I probably get barred from here after that,thanks to Q's Greatest Rock Lists,before anyone thinks I have a reason for knowing all those songs and what they're about...

Jeez

I hope there's nothing this Hard in Petes Quiz

Robbie63 wrote: The writer of "Whiter Shade Of Pale" was once asked what it was actually about. His reply was "I dont know. I was stoned when I wrote it."

That's right Robbie-Gary Brooker from Procol Harum did admit in an Uncut interview recently he did 'borrow' or 'lean on' Bach's Air on a G-String' (the Hamlet cigar ad?) when writing this.,although he has also admitted to similiarities to the chord progression from 'When a Man Loves a Woman'.

The "Vestal Virgins" were the virgin holy priestesses of Vesta, the goddess of the hearth and home. There were six of them chosen and they were sworn to celibacy. Their main task was to maintain the sacred fire of Vesta. The Vestal duty brought great honor and afforded greater privileges to women who served in that role. The Vestals lived in the Atrium Vestae near the circular Temple of Vesta at the eastern edge of the Roman Forum. Now you know!

The lyrics, "As the miller told his tale" could be a reference to "The Miller's Tale," from the English novel The Canterbury Tales. This tale is well known to English students as a vulgar or bawdy story, told by the miller. Given this, the line, "And so it was that later as the miller told his tale, that her face, at first just ghostly, turned a whiter shade of pale" is an attempt by a young man, who has just caused a girl to turn pale by telling some vulgar story, to explain away her signs of disgust as due to other things. Such as the dancing, the drinking.

(Thanks to Q and Uncut interviews)

                                      10 Great Laughs in Songs in Rock

1 David Bowie 'Andy Warhol' (genuinely)

2 Frankie Goes to Hollywood 'Welcome to the Pleasure Dome (Scarily)

3  Morrisey 'We Hate it When Our Friends Become Successful' (Mockingly)

4 Sex Pistols 'Anarchy in the UK' (Maniacally)

5 Genesis 'Mama' (Trollishly-ha-ha-ha...Oww!)

6 Micheal Jackson 'Thriller' (Vincent Pricely)

7 Kate Bush 'Love and Anger' (Seductively)

8 Ozzy Osbourne 'Crazy Train' (Demoically.'All Aboard ha ha ha ha!')

9 Dylan 'Bob Dylan's 115th Dream' (Stonedly)

10 Aerosmith 'Love in an Elevator' (Lecherously)

Floyd wrote: Robbie63 wrote: The writer of "Whiter Shade Of Pale" was once asked what it was actually about. His reply was "I dont know. I was stoned when I wrote it." That's right Robbie-Gary Brooker from Procol Harum did admit in an Uncut interview recently he did 'borrow' or 'lean on' Bach's Air on a G-String' (the Hamlet cigar ad?) when writing this.,although he has also admitted to similiarities to the chord progression from 'When a Man Loves a Woman'. The "Vestal Virgins" were the virgin holy priestesses of Vesta, the goddess of the hearth and home. There were six of them chosen and they were sworn to celibacy. Their main task was to maintain the sacred fire of Vesta. The Vestal duty brought great honor and afforded greater privileges to women who served in that role. The Vestals lived in the Atrium Vestae near the circular Temple of Vesta at the eastern edge of the Roman Forum. Now you know! The lyrics, "As the miller told his tale" could be a reference to "The Miller's Tale," from the English novel The Canterbury Tales. This tale is well known to English students as a vulgar or bawdy story, told by the miller. Given this, the line, "And so it was that later as the miller told his tale, that her face, at first just ghostly, turned a whiter shade of pale" is an attempt by a young man, who has just caused a girl to turn pale by telling some vulgar story, to explain away her signs of disgust as due to other things. Such as the dancing, the drinking. (Thanks to Q and Uncut interviews)

 I was waiting for the Mark Limarr punchline there Martin.

The Doors

Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)

as a cover of a german opera song, (brecht & weil), ray manzarek was a keen opera fan, and got the idea through listening to german songs, song was originally used in opera called, rise and fall of the city of mahogony!

Never knew,JMC...

5 songs containing 'backward' messages...

Empty Spaces...Pink Floyd.

('Congratulations,you have just discovered the secret message')

Still Life...Iron Maiden

(What Ho! said the monster with the three heads-don't meddle with things you don't understand...)

Matchstick men...Ozzy Osbourne

(You in the sky,you whip this guy,you make me cry,you lie)

No Anchovies Please...J.Geils Band

'It doesn't take a genius to know the difference between chicken sh-t and chicken salad' (!)

Karate...Tenacious D

(Eat Donkey Crap)  (!!)

                                 skcolloB   etelpmoC 

 And 5 songs that don't,but sound like they do...

Another one bites the Dust...Queen

(It's fun to smoke marijuana)

Baby One More Time...Britney Spears

(Sleep with me,I'm not too young)

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap...AC/DC

(Yeah I'm the Nazi and I love it...who the f--k are you?)

I Am Tired... The Beatles

(Paul is dead now...miss him,miss him,miss him)

Locomotive Breath...Jethro Tull

(Satan isn't nice at all)

Bo Diddley introduced the song that would make him a star on The Ed Sullivan show in 1955.

Ed Sullivan giving Bo D a career making shot told him to sing Tennessee Ernie Ford's "Sixteen Tons" but Bo decided to introduce his song "Bo Diddley" (Live TV)

The audience went wild and Sullivan fumed swearing to blackball Bo Diddley. Says Sullivan to Diddley "You're the first clored boy to ever double cross me on a song, you'll NEVER appear on television again". Bo Diddley slugged Sullivan for calling him a "colored boy". The "Diddley Beat" became an influence to people like The Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Clapton and countless others who give him credit for their careers including The Edge.

The DOORS also defied Sullivan by not singing the song HE had told them to sing. Sullivan told them that they were finished.

Elvis Presley when appearing on said show was only filmed from the waist up.

The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan show on their first trip to the USA.

I got my Info from the Bo Diddley web site. But maybe they lied.

May 1, 1972 The London Chuck Berry Sessions is released; it becomes Berry's top-selling album, hitting No. 8 on the charts.

Pogue, I suppose he also recorded The London Sessions from his car.

QUOTE
"If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry'."
-- John Lennon

1964 and 1971 and Without BO.

NUFF SAID....now Feck Off.

Pogue....to think I played with you as a kid....JEEZ.

Suite Judy Blue Eyes was SS's dedication to Judy Collins.

I think all of CSN had an affair with Jony Mitchell

http://www.weboshawa.com/the_monkees_bio_and_pictures.htm - The Monkees were the brainchild of television producers Bert Schneider and Bob Rafelson, who decided to emulate the zany, madcap humor of the http://www.chordsandtab.com/the_beatles.htm - Beatles ' A Hard Day's Night for the small screen. In September 1965, they placed in ad in Variety for four " http://www.chordsandtab.com/ - folk & rock musicians " to appear in a TV series.

 Over 400 applied for the job, including Stephen Stills and Harry Nilsson.......

Did they really sing or were they just mimers like the Bay City Rollers.

  "Hands up who has a tartan scarf"

LOL  Mel

I think they sang half the time.....LOL

Now, when they weren't singing was it their voices dubbed in or someone elses?...Does it matter??....

Here I always wanted to be the most UN talented super star in the world.

They were   Don't knock it.

( problem was the management got all the money )