33 Harmonious Bits of Trivia About Music, Lyrics and the Industry

Facts in the key of Gee, that’s interesting!
33 Harmonious Bits of Trivia About Music, Lyrics and the Industry
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We don’t know if your brain has ever had the pleasure of harmonizing with a talented bunch of music facts, but if not, it better do a few vocal warm-ups before stepping into the booth. 

Not that it’s a competition or anything, but time is money and we only have the studio for the next hour. They’re always on key, and they know how to deliver, so if your brain can’t keep up, we’ll just have to find one that can!

Steel Drums

Steel drums were created as a way around a ban on traditional skin drums. After a riot in 1881, Trinidad authorities flat out banned native music. Metal instruments were devised to replace the banished ones, forged out of tin cans, oil drums, and other rubbish. CRACKED.COM

Jazz Was Banned in New Orleans Schools

Jazz was banned in New Orleans schools in 1922... and only unbanned recently. Board minutes from March 24, 1922, said it was decided that jazz music and jazz dancing would be abolished in the public schools. With its president saying it had racist origins, the New Orleans school board has unanimously reversed the century-old ban on jazz in schools.0M

Soul’s Score

CRACKED.COM PIXAR MOVIES SOUL WAS SCORED BY NINE INCH NAILS. Trent Reznor, best known for lyrics we're not sure we're legally allowed to repeat, scored the cute jazz film about a jazz man' soul.

Hip Hop Making That Cheddar

A study says that hip hop makes cheese taste better. CRACKED.COM Researchers found that the music had an impact on the strength of the smell, taste, and flavor of the cheeses. A group of food professionals declared that the cheese ex- posed to A Tribe Called Quest tasted best.

Pat Smear

Pat Smear is punk rock royalty. CRACKED.COM Smear was a founding member of the legendary Los Angeles punk band Germs, which also featured Go Go's frontwoman Belinda Carlisle.

Nirvana

Music memorabilia that sold for top dollar $4.5 million The Smells Like Teen Spirit guitar Kurt Cobain's iconic guitar was sold at auction for $4.5 million. The Fender Competition Mustang was owned by the Cobain family, and was previously displayed as part of Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay's extensive collection of rock memorabilia. CRACKED

Un-Punk Moments

UN-PUNK PUNK MOMENTS DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL CAVES TO CENSORSHIP When Vans Warped Tour began catering to younger audiences, they discouraged foul language. In 2004, Chris Carrabba of Dashboard actually muted himself during his crass lyrics. CRACKED

The Breeders

THE BREEDERS CRACKED.COM Bassist Kim Deal hated her lack of creative input in The Pixies, and started The Breeders in 1989. Their 2nd album, The Last Splash, went platinum thanks to Cannonball reaching #2 on Billboard, and they opened on Nirvana's In Utero tour after Kurt Cobain called their first album, Pod, one of his all-time favorite albums.

The Brain’s Response to Singing

Our brains respond differently to singing than other music Neuroscientists have found neurons in the human brain that light up when we hear singing but not other music. CRACKED.COM

Schoolly D

SCHOOLLY D Marshall CRACKED.COM In 1985, Philly rapper Scoolly D's, P.S.K. What Does It Mean? is credited as the first gangsta rap song. The drums and hardcore lyrics inspired Ice T's, 6 In The Mornin, which became the defining gangsta rap record and paved the way for N.W.A and 90s gangsta rap that incorporated gang culture.

Sublime

Wrong Lyrics Sublime April 29, 1992 (Miami) The title (and the lyrics) incorrectly state the date of the Rodney King riots as April 29, 1992, when in fact the riots began on April 26, 1992. CRACKED

Extreme Music

CRACKED.COM Trying to calm that stress down with some relaxing music? DON'T BLAST SOME AWESOME METAL INSTEAD Research has found that extreme music works better to decrease stress than any other type of music.

Marlon Brando and the Drums

Marlon Brando was super into playing the drums. Не actually patented several drum-related inventions. Brando was an avid drummer, and holds four different patents on assorted drum maintenance knick-knacks. Perhaps his most inspired invention was a drum-tuning lever for congas. CRACKED.COM http://www.npr.org/2011/07/03/137558144/marlon-brandos-lost-musical-innovation

Joe Strummer

CRACKED.COM Joe Strummer, lead singer and rhythm guitar player of legendary punk band the CLASH had to identify the body of his older brother, David, after he committed suicide. His body had been exposed to the elements for three days.

Dogs and Music

Like humans, dogs have their own music preferences. Research shows that most dogs prefer listening to reggae and soft rock than to pop or classical music. GRAGKED.COM

Dexter Holland

Dexter Holland's Molecular Biology Doctorate CRACKED.COM Though many know The Offspring for goofy punk music, the lead singer was serious about his studies and research into HIV.

Hulk Hogan’s Bands

Hulk Hogan played in several rock bands. Before he got into wrestling, he spent 10 years in the rock scene (he played guitar and fretless bass). CRACKED.COM

Metallica

Metallica's only Top 10 charting single was off Load. CRACKED.COM The '90s transition from thrash metal to hard rock didn't delight all of their fans, but Until It Sleeps, with its Soundgarden-like quality, was Metallica's first and (as of yet) only song to hit the top ten of the US Billboard charts.

Willie Nelson

CRACKED TRIGGER (WILLIE NELSON) Country singer Willie Nelson went through a number of different models before settling on the nylon-string Martin N-20, which he affectionately dubbed 'Trigger.' The battle-damaged guitar has a regular maintenance regiment, and visits Nelson's longtime friend and luthier Mark Erlewine once a year. Callawa

Dee Dee Ramone

UN-PUNK PUNK MOMENTS DEE DEE KING Standing TASHI Sparking DEE DEE RAMONE OUIT THE RAMONES FOR A RAP CAREER On Rolling Stone's list of Worst Decisions in Music History, he released the rap album Standing in the Spotlight as Dee Dee King. A commercial and critical bomb, he returned to punk music, but never re-joined the Ramones. CRACKED

Paul McCartney

CRACKED HOFNER 500/1 BASS GUITAR (PAUL MCCARTNEY) The instantly recognisable bass has been with McCartney from The Beatles early days playing clubs in Germany to their final rooftop concert in London, and beyond, with it making several appearances throughout his solo career.

Aerosmith

CRACKED COM The iconic drum beats at the end of Livin' On The Edge by Aerosmith... were played on a bass drum that Steven Tyler stole from his high school after senior prom.

Pop Punk in Movies

'90s Teen Rom-Coms The Pop-Punk Connection Not as good as grunge yet not as lame as nu metal, '90s teen rom-coms saw a bunch of pop and ska-punk bands rocking their proms. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones were in Clueless, Letters to Cleo in 10 Things / Hate About You, and The Donnas in Drive Me Crazy. CRACKED.COM

The Beatles

Iconic by random chance The feedback in The Beatles' I Feel Fine John Lennon accidentally created a feedback sound when he leaned his electric-acoustic guitar against Paul McCartney's bass amp. They decided to keep it in for the song. CRACKED

Let him cook…

Lil’ Bow Wow

Lil' Bow Wow got his name from Dr. Dre Не makes an apperance in Snoop Dogg's Gin and Juice music video. CRACKED.COM

Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Freddie Mercury wrote Crazy Little Thing Called Love in ten minutes on a guitar despite only knowing a few chords. CRACKED COM

Cream

Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker of Cream. Bruce once played bass during Baker's drum solo, and Baker attacked him, claiming he had a knife and would kill him. Eric Clapton said they each played so loudly (in order to drown the other out), that Clapton would stop playing and they wouldn't even notice. Their 1969 album Goodbye was indeed their goodbye. CRACKED

Beastie Boys

CRACKED 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.

The Early Years of Punk

Punks wore I Hate Pink Floyd T-shirts. I HATI I HATE КК The emerging punk rock movement of the 1970s was in part a reaction to the dominance progressive rock bands had over music, and Pink Floyd was considered one of the worst offenders. Ironically, many of the political ideas and grievances of punk would make their way onto 1977's Animals.

Amen, Brother

The sample is only six seconds long CRACKED.COM The most sampled song in music history-over 5000 times-is Amen, Brother by The Winstons. Recorded in 1969, drummer Gregory G.C. Coleman's 6 second drum break in the middle of the song became known as the Amen Break in the 198os.

Van Halen

Van Halen and Sammy Hagar. After their break up in 1996, Van Halen reunited with Hagar in 2004 and clashed immediately. Hagar even quit, but was legally forced to stay. The last show saw a drunk Eddie Van Halen smash his guitar, and yell You don't understand! to fans and storm off stage. CRACKED

Sinatra Hated Elvis

CRACKED FRANK SINATRA HATED ELVIS PRESLEY AND ROCK 'N' ROLL. About Elvis' music, Sinatra said, It's the most brutal, ugly, desperate, vicious form of expression that has been my misfortune to hear. Presley called a press conference to defend himself and his music.

Vegetable Instruments

An Austrian group plays music on instruments made from vegetables, and turns them into soup after the show. CRACKED.COM A pumpkin works very well on its own as a bass drum, and you can make all sorts of instruments-like flutes, recorders and xylophones-from carrots, says Jörg* Piringer, a musician in Austria's Vegetable Orchestra.

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