Before they chose the name Queen (which incidentally was chosen by Freddie Mercury) Messrs May, Mercury, Deacon and Taylor were at one point considering a very different name. They might well have been called Build Your Own Boat! Does that work for you? It doesn’t work for me. Would they have been as big with a name like that? Who knows?
Many of you will know the Vaselines song “Molly’s Lips” perhaps via the cover recorded by Nirvana on their ‘Incesticide‘ album. But did you know that the song was written as a tribute to a Scottish actress? The Molly in question is Molly Weir who played Hazel McWitch in the BBC children’s show Rentaghost.
Saul Hudson’s father designed album covers for many artists including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. But unless you know that Saul Hudson is legendary guitarist Slash that wouldn’t mean much to you would it? Do you know of any other rock stars parents that are also artistically talented in some way?
New Order’s classic single “Blue Monday” remains the biggest selling UK 12 inch single of all time. It is also one of the longest singles ever to chart in the UK as it clocks in at more than 7 minutes. Did you know where the song’s title came from? Apparently it came from the title of an illustration in Kurt Vonnegut’s book ‘Breakfast Of Champions’. The title of that illustration was ‘Goodbye Blue Monday’ and it referred to how the invention of the washing machine had improved the lives of housewives so much! So obviously it never changed the lives of us men much then did it?
For it’s UK release ELO’s first album was simply called ‘Electric Light Orchestra‘. But in the USA it was called ‘No Answer’. This came about because their US label, United Artists, were trying to contact the band’s manager Don Arden (Sharon Osbourne‘s Dad fact fans) to find out what the album was to be called. The US label Executives got through to Mr Arden’s secretary. She tried his line and got nos response and her reply to the US Executives was ‘no answer’. I wonder if there is a similar story around how Kanye West came up with the title for his current opus; ‘Yeezus’? Which is not a great title in my opinion.
After Bon Scott‘s death in 1980 AC/DC allegedly offered the lead singer role to Slade’s Noddy Holder. He turned it down and the band turned to Slade soundalikes Geordie for their lead singer Brian Johnson. I wonder how things would have progressed had Noddy accepted the job? Would have led to song mash-ups? How about “Cum On Feel A Whole Lotta Rosie”?
Did you know that there was a link between the Smiths self titled first album from 1984 and ‘Sticky Fingers‘ the Rolling Stones 1971 classic? Well there is and it’s down to the cover star Joe Dallesandro. It’s his bowed head and bare chest that adorns the cover of ‘The Smiths’ and it is his rather well packaged family jewels that stand proud on the cover of the Stones ‘Sticky Fingers’. Was he hung like ‘”Wild Horses“? The Stones album cover was famously designed by Andy Warhol using a picture he had taken earlier. Dallesandro was a Warhol superstar and appeared in many Warhol films. The picture on the Smiths album is a still from the Warhol movie ‘Flesh‘. Dallessandro’s nickname was ‘Little Joe’ and he is the ‘Little Joe’ that gets mentioned in Lou Reed‘s “Walk On the Wild Side”
Ringo Starr has made an appearance in an episode of the Powerpuff Girls show. I certainly never saw that coming, even after his role as narrator to the ‘Thomas The Tank Engine‘ animated series. But I suppose you could trace it back to his singing career right? I’d love to know what you think of Ringo’s Powerpuff performance. I have to share a joke I heard today too. What is the name of the drummer in the Mexican Beatles? Gringo Starr!
Have you ever wondered what the shortest song recorded and released by the Beatles was? Well wonder no more while I bring you the top five shortest Beatles songs; As is customary they are in reverse order and you should imagine a Ringo drum roll while you are reading the list.
5 “Mean Mr Mustard” from ‘Abbey Road‘ (1:06)
4 “Wild Honey Pie” from ‘The Beatles’ a.k.a ‘The White Album‘ (0:52)
3 “Dig It” from ‘Let It Be‘ (0:49)
2 “Maggie Mae” from ‘Let It Be’ (0:40)
1 “Her Majesty” from ‘Abbey Road’ (0:23)
While we’re at it do you know what the longest Beatles song to be released was? I bet you’re all thinking “Hey Jude” aren’t you? Well you’re wrong. The longest song the band ever released was “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” which takes up seven minutes and 47 seconds of ‘Abbey Road’. “Hey Jude” sits just behind at 7:11. However the longest track the group ever released was the rather weird and sometimes scary sound scape “Revolution No. 9” from ‘The White Album’. It lasts a whopping 8 minutes and 22 seconds. For me that track is best listened too at high volume with headphones in a dark room late at night. What do you think?
“Seven Nation Army” by the White Stripes is a great song isn’t it? But do you know where the phrase Seven Nation Army comes from? Apparently it’s what Jack White called the Salvation Army when he was a mere smudge and not a Stripe!
With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 