26 Karaoke Cover Outcharted Kid Rock
When Kid Rock kept his 2008 hit “All Summer Long” off iTunes, karaoke company Hit Masters offered its own cover for download. Rock’s recording reached No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 through radio airplay, while downloads pushed the Hit Masters version to No. 19. Rock began selling new music on iTunes in 2012; his earlier albums followed in 2013.
27. American composer Kevin MacLeod lets people use his music for free under a Creative Commons license, provided they credit him. Creators who cannot include a credit can buy a separate license. MacLeod says this approach has put his music in thousands of films and millions of YouTube videos.
28. Stevie Nicks became the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. She entered with Fleetwood Mac in 1998 and was inducted again for her solo career in 2019. She is no longer the only woman to hold that distinction: Tina Turner and Carole King both received second inductions in 2021.
29. The Beatles were all still in their 20s when their breakup became public in April 1970. George Harrison and Paul McCartney were 27, while John Lennon and Ringo Starr were 29.
30. American singer Cass Elliot disliked the “Mama Cass” nickname that followed her from the Mamas & the Papas into her solo career. In a 1968 interview, she said she hoped her Las Vegas marquee would simply say “Cass Elliot,” though some early solo releases still used the old name. She made her preference unmistakable in 1973 by naming both a live album and a television special Don’t Call Me Mama Anymore.
31 SpongeBob’s Sweet Victory Download Surge
For the 2001 SpongeBob SquarePants episode “Band Geeks,” the writers considered several marching tunes for the Bubble Bowl finale. They chose “Sweet Victory” instead and built the triumphant performance around it. Co-writer Bob Kulick later said the song reached more than 300,000 downloads.
32. When Jack Gillis married Meg White in 1996, he took her surname. They formed the White Stripes the following year and divorced in 2000 but continued to tell the public they were siblings. Jack later explained that the story helped keep attention on their music instead of inviting questions about their relationship.
33. Michael Jackson once showed Rolling Stone reporter Gerri Hirshey a photograph of a woman who claimed he had fathered her child. He said she sent him a weapon and instructions to kill himself and that he kept her picture to memorize her face in case she even appeared near him. Jackson called her the real “Billie Jean” at the time, although he later wrote that the song’s character was a composite of people who had troubled his family.
34. At Hawthorne High School, Brian Wilson received an F from music teacher Fred Morgan for a composition that later became “Surfin’.” The Beach Boys released it as their first single in 1961. When Wilson returned to the school in 2018, principal Vanessa Landesfeind changed his grade to an A.
35. Robert Plant’s five-year-old son, Karac, died of a stomach infection in 1977 while Led Zeppelin was on tour. Plant and John Paul Jones wrote “All My Love” in his memory, and the band released it on In Through the Out Door in 1979. Plant recorded his vocal in one take.
36 Hurricane Benefits Funded Carter’s Defense
Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy wrote the song “Hurricane” about boxer Rubin Carter, who had been convicted of murder in New Jersey. Dylan’s performances at benefit concerts drew attention and funds to Carter’s defense, but Carter and co-defendant John Artis were convicted again at a 1976 retrial. A federal court set aside their convictions in 1985 because of racial prejudice and concealed evidence; New Jersey dismissed the charges in 1988.
37. In 2006, “Weird Al” Yankovic recorded “You’re Pitiful” after, he says, James Blunt approved the parody of “You’re Beautiful.” Yankovic planned to make it the lead single from Straight Outta Lynwood, but Blunt’s label, Atlantic Records, objected to a commercial release. Yankovic’s label left it off the album, so he offered it as a free download instead.
38. In 1969, the occult rock band Coven released Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls, an album steeped in Satanic themes. Its opening song was called “Black Sabbath,” and its bassist was credited as Oz Osborne. The following year, a different band called Black Sabbath released its debut album with Ozzy Osbourne as its singer. Coven’s Oz and Black Sabbath’s Ozzy were different musicians.
39. Michael Jackson’s 1985 purchase of ATV Music included publishing rights to Little Richard songs such as “Tutti Frutti.” A CNN reporter who spoke with Little Richard said Jackson offered to give him control of his music, but the arrangements were never completed.
40. While filming 14 music videos back to back, Ed Sheeran used his one day off to fly out and perform “Stan” with Eminem at the rapper’s 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction. Sheeran said he flew back that night. When Eminem learned about the trip, he told Sheeran, “Anything you ever need,” and Sheeran asked him to appear at his upcoming Detroit concert. Eminem joined him at Ford Field in July 2023 for “Lose Yourself” and “Stan.”
41 Aretha Franklin’s Emergency Grammy Aria
At the 1998 Grammys, Luciano Pavarotti withdrew from a planned performance of Puccini’s “Nessun dorma” because of a severe sore throat. Producer Ken Ehrlich asked Aretha Franklin to fill in: she had sung the aria at a dinner honoring Pavarotti two nights earlier. Aretha Franklin filled in for him at “literally a moment’s notice” and sang an acclaimed rendition of the aria and received a standing ovation.
42. In 2004, Eminem dissed Michael Jackson in the video for “Just Lose It,” prompting Jackson to object publicly and consider legal action. Three years later, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, a venture co-owned by Sony and trusts formed by Jackson, bought the Famous Music catalog. Its 125,000 works included Eminem’s “The Real Slim Shady.” So he ended up making money off it every time Eminem performed it.
43. In 2003, Rihanna and two school friends auditioned for American producer Evan Rogers while he vacationed in Barbados. They sang together and individually, but Rogers wanted to help Rihanna pursue a solo deal. He later recalled, “The minute Rihanna walked into the room, it was like the other two girls didn’t exist.” She went on to record a demo that included her first hit, “Pon de Replay.”
44. Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” video opens with all four band members appearing to sing in harmony. On the recording, Freddie Mercury sang all five parts of the opening harmony, layering his own voice to create the effect. Brian May and Roger Taylor joined him for the song’s later operatic section.
45. Led Zeppelin planned to play an outdoor concert in Singapore on February 14, 1972, while traveling to Australia. Singapore’s “Operation Snip Snip” immigration policy denied entry to men with long hair unless they got haircuts. Officials refused the band entry, and the concert was canceled. According to biographer Stephen Davis, the musicians were not even allowed off their plane.
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
46 Brian May Discouraged Concert Smoking
Queen guitarist and astrophysicist Brian May grew up with a father who smoked heavily. May said Harold smoked about 40 cigarettes a day and attributed his death from cancer to smoking. In 2005, Queen and Paul Rodgers asked audiences not to smoke at their concerts, ahead of England’s 2007 indoor smoking ban.
47. Soul Asylum’s 1993 video for “Runaway Train” showed the names and photographs of missing children and asked viewers to report sightings. Different versions featured 36 children in total. Director Tony Kaye said 21 were eventually found, and the video was updated as cases were resolved. Some discoveries were tragic, so “found” does not mean every child returned home.
48. In 1988, British indie and punk musicians released ‘Til Things Are Brighter, a Johnny Cash tribute album benefiting the Terence Higgins Trust’s HIV/AIDS work. Cash welcomed the younger artists’ interpretations; his daughter Rosanne later said the album renewed his enthusiasm. It also introduced his music to alternative audiences ahead of his 1994 comeback with producer Rick Rubin and American Recordings.
49. Michael Jackson wanted to play Willy Wonka in the 2005 film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. According to his former collaborator Marc Schaffel, Jackson recorded an original soundtrack in hopes of winning the role. Warner Bros. wanted the music but declined to cast him, so Jackson shelved it. Johnny Depp played Wonka, and Danny Elfman composed the film’s soundtrack.
50. Brian Wilson abandoned the Beach Boys’ Smile, the planned follow-up to Pet Sounds, in 1967. On February 20, 2004, he finally performed a completed version at London’s Royal Festival Hall and received a ten-minute standing ovation. Bandmate Darian Sahanaja recalled Wilson rocking back and forth backstage afterward, exclaiming, “Darian! Darian! We did it! We did it!” Wilson recorded and released the studio album later that year.
RE: Fact #4 (ABBA Declined Disney’s Lion King) – Of course! Because when I think of Africa, the first person who comes to mind is Elton John.
RE: Fact #8 (Sum 41’s Chuck Honored Pelletier) – They named that album All Killer No Filler because every track was a hit with zero dead weight.
I don’t know, the first 20 seconds of “Introduction to Destruction” are kind of a drag, and the end of “Handle This” feels repetitive. Even so, I’ve been listening to this album six days a week for over a year now.
RE: Fact #11 (Raincoats’ Nirvana Tour Never Happened) – They did an incredible cover of “Lola.” They are such a fantastic band. Kurt was a Riot Grrrl through and through.
Here’s a recommendation for anyone searching for something new. That album is honestly excellent and definitely deserves a listen.
RE: Fact #27 (Kevin MacLeod’s Free Music License) – Wow, I’ve used his site for graph paper for years and never knew about the music license.
I used his music for my early YouTube videos, which actually helped me land a marketing job at a concrete company. Later on, I returned to his site to use the graph paper tool for our estimate forms. I really owe Kevin a lot for how my career turned out.
RE: Fact #46 (Brian May Discouraged Concert Smoking) – One of my favorite things about him, other than his physics degree, is that he built his own guitar from an old fireplace mantel with his dad. The guy is seriously cool.
RE: Fact #3 (Michael Jackson’s Posthumous Album Deal) – Those songs must be bottom-of-the-barrel if Sony hasn’t found a way to squeeze more money out of the fans yet.
RE: Fact #37 (Yankovic Released “You’re Pitiful” Free) – I liked it when artists threatened to leave Spotify over Joe Rogan’s misinformation, and James Blunt threatened to release more music instead.
RE: Fact #21 (Beat It Cast Rival Gangs) – If we could all just come together and “beat it, ” the world would be much better.
If we could all beat it and unite, the world would definitely be a better place.
RE: Fact #23 (Brenda Lee’s 47 Sixties Hits) – Lee is actually the only woman inducted into both the Rock and Roll and Country Music Halls of Fame. She stood only 4’ 9”, which is how she earned the nickname “Little Miss Dynamite.” Her biggest pop hits were in the early 60s, right before the Beatles took over. She set a record for a female solo artist with nine consecutive top 10 Billboard hits between 1960 and 1962, a record that wasn’t touched until Madonna in 1986. While her last top ten hit in the US came in 1963, she kept charting for a long time and found plenty of success as a country artist in the 70s and 80s.
RE: Fact #12 (Rick Astley Rickrolled Macy’s Parade) – You wouldn’t believe the backlash it got from certain groups of people.
RE: Fact #26 (Karaoke Cover Outcharted Kid Rock) – Does anyone know WHY he refused to sell his music on iTunes in the first place? I’m genuinely asking.
He apparently had an anti-corporate stance against Apple and wanted people to visit physical record stores. He even went through a phase where he encouraged piracy and sold his music through places like Amazon and Walmart before finally agreeing to put it on iTunes.
RE: Fact #50 (Brian Wilson’s Smile Premiere Ovation) – Was the original stress of that ordeal part of what led him to fall under Landy’s abusive control?
No, that didn’t happen until about a decade later. This was, however, the first time Brian’s mental health struggles were really brought into the public eye.
That definitely played a role, along with having an abusive father and struggling with schizoaffective disorder that caused paranoia, depression, and mania. Landy was a greedy, manipulative parasite who isolated Brian to exploit his mental health for personal gain, completely betraying the doctor-patient relationship. I hope he burns in hell.
RE: Fact #45 (Singapore Turned Away Led Zeppelin) – People often overlook that while Singapore is wealthy, it is also pretty authoritarian and has some very strict laws. They are incredibly harsh on drugs and the system is fairly biased against anyone without Chinese heritage.
They also rely on a huge migrant worker population that often lives in dormitories with very few rights. I bring this up because people praise Singapore’s success without acknowledging it is built on the labor of non-citizens who accept poor treatment for better pay than they would get at home. Nearly 30% of the population are migrant workers with very limited legal protections.
RE: Fact #29 (Beatles Broke Up Before Thirty) – It’s wild to think about what they achieved by 26. What do you even do with the rest of your life after that?
Actually, George Harrison had a solid solo career where he managed to step out from the shadows of Lennon and McCartney.
I personally think Harrison’s solo work was the best out of all of them, even better than their group output. He definitely lived a full life afterward, though it ended way too soon.
RE: Fact #45 (Singapore Turned Away Led Zeppelin) – It wasn’t just them. South Korea had the Minor Offenses Act in the 70s to limit hair and skirt lengths, with police cutting hair on the spot. Albania under Hoxha banned beards and long hair. Czechoslovakia harassed long-haired men as western dissidents. Iran cracked down after the 1979 revolution. Japan had strict grooming standards in schools. In the US and UK, schools and workplaces often enforced short hair as a sign of conformity. West and East Germany, France, China, and Vietnam all had periods where long hair on men was seen as a sign of western, rebellious, or capitalist influence. It didn’t matter the political system; the 1970s were just a rough decade for anyone with long hair.
That’s confusing because I always thought hippie culture stood in solidarity with Vietnam and against the war.
RE: Fact #11 (Raincoats’ Nirvana Tour Never Happened) – His liner notes for their record are incredibly touching. For those who haven’t read them: > “I don’t really know anything about the Raincoats except that they recorded some music that has affected me so much that, whenever I hear it I’m reminded of a particular time in my life when I was extremely unhappy, lonely, and bored. If it weren’t for the luxury of putting that scratchy copy of the Raincoats’ first record, I would have had very few moments of peace. I suppose I could have researched a bit of history about the band but I feel it’s more important to delineate the way I feel and how they sound. When I listen to the Raincoats I feel as if I’m a stowaway in an attic, violating and in the dark. Rather than listening to them I feel like I’m listening in on them. We’re together in the same old house and I have to be completely still or they will hear me spying from above and, if I get caught , everything will be ruined because it’s their thing.”
He highlights two things people rarely talk about regarding music: the emotional impact and the connection to a specific time in your life. It isn’t just about “good or bad” or “old or new.” It makes the music feel like a living thing, a mirror of sorts. It really shows he was a deeply serious listener.
RE: Fact #10 (Tracy Chapman Replaced Stevie Wonder) – I’m not sure if he “refused” to play. I read that he left the stage in tears, and it seemed more like he just wasn’t in a state to perform.
RE: Fact #31 (SpongeBob’s Sweet Victory Download Surge) – I love that song, but I was so let down by Maroon 5. They completely ignored why people wanted them to perform it. I honestly would have preferred they just ignored the petition entirely rather than teasing a few seconds of the video and then not actually playing the song.
He seems more focused on showing off his physique to teenagers and singing in a falsetto than anything else.
RE: Fact #25 (Hans Zimmer’s Lion King Requiem) – The opening lyrics are ‘Look, it’s a lion, father, yes, it’s a lion.’ I’m pretty sure that’s just a metaphor for a guy seeing a lion.
RE: Fact #20 (Silverstein’s Country And Children’s Grammys) – Don’t bother with the follow-up sequel to “A Boy Named Sue” that’s sung from the dad’s perspective. It gets pretty disturbing by the end.
Wow, that is wild. [Lyrics excerpt preserved]
RE: Fact #36 (Hurricane Benefits Funded Carter’s Defense) – There’s a pretty good movie about this too, featuring Denzel Washington as Hurricane.
RE: Fact #33 (Billie Jean Claimant Threatened Jackson) – I always enjoyed this song as a kid! Looking at the lyrics now, though, I can’t believe I didn’t realize how literal they were: “Billie Jean is not my lover. She’s just a girl who claims that I am the one, but the kid is not my son. She says I am the one, but the kid is not my son.”
RE: Fact #4 (ABBA Declined Disney’s Lion King) – ABBA would have been a great choice; they’re incredibly talented songwriters. People seem to think they’d just churn out a ‘Dancing Queen’ clone for a movie about a lion, but that’s not how songwriting works. You pay for the talent, not the specific sound. Elton John did a great job, but ABBA would have killed it too. If they had done it, the comments would be full of people saying how lucky we were to avoid an Elton-scored movie.
Look at Daft Punk on the TRON: Legacy soundtrack. That was a killer score. It had that Daft Punk vibe, but it sounded completely different from their usual albums.
RE: Fact #17 (Danny Elfman’s Airplane Bathroom Recordings) – “Muffled sounds through the door” “BUNN, BUNNN, BUN BUMM BUN BUUM BUN BUMM BUN BUM BUMMMMmmm dadeelada da dee dada d, ” “KNOCK KNOCK” “Sir? Sir, are you alright in there?” “Uh, yeah, yeah I’m fine “snifffffff” Dee didddly da lee lee da lee la, I’ll just be a minute!”
RE: Fact #50 (Brian Wilson’s Smile Premiere Ovation) – I’ve always thought the biggest problem for The Beach Boys was their name. People talk about how the Beatles completely changed their persona for Sgt. Pepper’s because they didn’t want to just be seen as a boy band. But The Beach Boys could never shed that label. They were forever stuck as a “boy band” in the public eye, and their music got pigeonholed as just “beach music”, even though it was often far more beautiful than that. It’s a shame.
RE: Fact #9 (Bohemian Rhapsody’s Wayne’s World Comeback) – The fact that Freddie Mercury passed away the year before probably helped boost the song’s popularity too.
I recall reading that Freddie actually saw the movie clip before he died and gave it his stamp of approval.
RE: Fact #46 (Brian May Discouraged Concert Smoking) – ’39 is one of my all-time favorite songs. I was a kid who devoured sci-fi books and physics back when it first came out, and I immediately took it for a story about love and time travel. Finding out later that Brian May actually had a background in physics just confirmed that’s exactly what it is. I still get a little misty-eyed whenever I hear it.
RE: Fact #22 (Nirvana’s Cheerleaders Returned For Yankovic) – Fun fact: when Weird Al called Kurt for permission, Kurt said he was honored and felt like he’d officially made it. After they chatted for a bit, Kurt called back and asked, “Your song isn’t going to be about food, is it?” Al replied, “Nope, it’s about how no one can understand what you’re saying!”
Yet the following year, Weird Al put out “The Food Album” with hits like “Fat, ” “Lasagna, ” “Eat It, ” and “My Bologna.”
RE: Fact #20 (Silverstein’s Country And Children’s Grammys) – Because of the author photo on his books, I actually thought he was African American until I was in my 20s.
My son reads the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, and there’s a part where the kid is scared of that author photo. It’s hilarious knowing who it is.
RE: Fact #6 (Queen’s Predecessor Sculpted Thomas Faces) – Fun fact: rumor has it the Thomas the Tank Engine crew kidnapped Ringo Starr to narrate the early seasons as revenge. They supposedly planned to off him at the wrap party, but Led Zeppelin saved him using a dragon-pulled leather zeppelin loaded with frozen cod, since lead is too heavy for flight. And that, as they say, is history.
RE: Fact #42 (Jackson’s Venture Acquired Eminem’s Song) – That is the best kind of revenge. I hope I can pull off a power move like that one day.
RE: Fact #34 (Brian Wilson’s Surfin’ Grade Reversal) – The school can just change grades decades later? How do I file an appeal? My ninth-grade essay on Christopher Columbus was a total joke.
Did you have a teacher who taught the “1492” stuff “after” the one who taught that Columbus was essentially “Boat Hitler”? They usually do that the other way around.
RE: Fact #47 (Runaway Train’s 21 Resolved Cases) – This song really messed with my head when I was a kid. I didn’t fully grasp the lyrics, but I understood those kids were missing, and it made me terrified that I might go missing from my own family.
RE: Fact #28 (Stevie Nicks Earned Double Induction) – Quick Stevie Nicks story: I was grabbing a drink at a swanky hotel bar in Scottsdale. A father and daughter were playing music, and she sang a beautiful version of Landslide. Almost as if the song summoned her, Stevie Nicks walked out from the dining room, sat right next to me, and watched the performance with so much enthusiasm. The singer didn’t realize who it was until the end, when Stevie gave her a standing ovation. She looked like she was about to pass out from shock! Stevie was incredibly kind and encouraging. I’ve met a few rock stars in random places, but Stevie genuinely seemed like a sweet person.
RE: Fact #30 (Cass Elliot Rejected Mama Nickname) – She didn’t die from choking on a sandwich or from drugs. It was heart failure caused by crash dieting.
RE: Fact #7 (Sarah McLachlan’s Angel Saved DMC) – She even turned her stalker’s letters into a song.
RE: Fact #35 (Karac’s Death Inspired Zeppelin’s Ballad) – A beautiful but devastating song. It has the same emotional weight as “Tears in Heaven.”
RE: Fact #15 (Freddie Mercury Thanked Noninterfering Bandmates) – If you want a comparison, the members of Metallica are actually under contract not to release solo records.
RE: Fact #21 (Beat It Cast Rival Gangs) – If I were a gang member in LA and Michael Jackson and the police asked me to perform a West Side Story routine with my enemies, I wouldn’t know whether to laugh or get aggressive.
RE: Fact #41 (Aretha Franklin’s Emergency Grammy Aria) – She performed in Pavarotti’s key, which wasn’t her natural range, so the orchestra wouldn’t have to scramble to transpose everything at the last second.
RE: Fact #26 (Karaoke Cover Outcharted Kid Rock) – Kid Rock makes music for people who know exactly how much Sudafed you can buy at one time.
RE: Fact #11 (Raincoats’ Nirvana Tour Never Happened) – They actually get a mention in “10 Things I Hate About You!” When Patrick Verona is at Club Skunk, he drops the names of The Raincoats and Bikini Kill to try to impress Kat.
RE: Fact #49 (Michael Jackson’s Shelved Wonka Soundtrack) – Wait, the only choice was Depp, but The Rock was the backup? That doesn’t make any sense.
RE: Fact #12 (Rick Astley Rickrolled Macy’s Parade) – I remember seeing this live! My brother and I were watching the parade before heading to grandma’s house. When Rick Astley popped out and the song started, we just looked at each other in total disbelief like, “Dude, did we seriously just get rickrolled by the parade?” Thankfully our parents already knew about rick-rolling, so we didn’t have to explain it. We still bring it up whenever we talk about memes or Thanksgiving. Such a fun holiday memory, Mr. Astley.
RE: Fact #42 (Jackson’s Venture Acquired Eminem’s Song) – He did the exact same thing to Paul McCartney. After McCartney told him that owning publishing rights was where the real money was, he went out and outbid him for the entire Beatles catalog.
RE: Fact #30 (Cass Elliot Rejected Mama Nickname) – Fun fact: Mama Cass died in the exact same apartment and bed where Keith Moon later passed away.
RE: Fact #20 (Silverstein’s Country And Children’s Grammys) – I grew up listening to that Sidewalk Ends tape. Even now, I can recite “The Crocodile’s Dentist” and “Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too” by heart. It is a fantastic audiobook, I highly recommend it.
I fell asleep to that tape every night as a kid. It had a haunting, comforting quality. The reverb made it sound like he was in a massive room, and the recording was so crisp you could hear every detail. It deserved that Grammy.
RE: Fact #37 (Yankovic Released “You’re Pitiful” Free) – If Weird Al wants to parody your music, it’s a huge achievement and a real testament to the song’s impact. It’s definitely an honor. 🙂
RE: Fact #12 (Rick Astley Rickrolled Macy’s Parade) – Haha, I remember watching this live on TV and losing it. It was great seeing Rick handle it with such a sense of humor, especially after the internet basically claimed him.
RE: Fact #38 (Coven’s 1969 Black Sabbath Song) – Several independent bands in the 60s had songs featuring “Black Sabbath” in the lyrics or title. There were two unsigned bands with that name before the famous group got signed. Also, people with the last name Osbourne have been nicknamed Oz or Ozzy for over a century. Why bring this up? I’m tired of misinformation.
RE: Fact #27 (Kevin MacLeod’s Free Music License) – I’m just wondering how he puts out ideas that fast? The guy releases like an album a month and the music is actually decent.
RE: Fact #16 (Eddie Van Halen’s Secret Solo) – Eddie really thought nobody would notice him playing on that kid’s record. There is a great interview online where he talks about the whole experience.
RE: Fact #29 (Beatles Broke Up Before Thirty) – Writing a few songs is common, and writing a hit or two isn’t all that rare. But the sheer volume of great songs they put out in such a short time is what makes The Beatles special.
RE: Fact #17 (Danny Elfman’s Airplane Bathroom Recordings) – If you ever saw him back in his Oingo Boingo days, yeah, I can definitely see why people might think he was a junkie.
RE: Fact #5 (Ariana Grande’s 7 Rings Royalties) – T-Pain actually explains why she probably isn’t bothered by it:
RE: Fact #16 (Eddie Van Halen’s Secret Solo) – A fun detail about Beat It is that the gang leader, Vince Patterson, was actually the choreographer. He appeared in the same role for Weird Al’s Eat It, too.
RE: Fact #30 (Cass Elliot Rejected Mama Nickname) – Cass Elliot actually came up with the name ‘Mamas & the Papas’ while they were watching TV. She was born Ellen Naomi Cohen; ‘Elliot’ was just a friend’s last name, and ‘Cass’ was a nickname she picked up at school, maybe from a movie star. Regardless of the name, she seemed like an amazing person and an incredible singer.
RE: Fact #24 (Autechre’s Flutter Challenged Rave Law) – They tried that same kind of nonsense in Tampa back in the mid-90s. They passed a law saying the only places allowed to stay open after 3 AM were things like gas stations and hotels. So, two clubs just opened right outside the city limits. They’d open their doors at 3 AM and close at 10 AM. Those were good times.
RE: Fact #21 (Beat It Cast Rival Gangs) – When Michael Jackson let Weird Al use the original set and cast for his parody, were those same gang members involved?
RE: Fact #34 (Brian Wilson’s Surfin’ Grade Reversal) – Since when does a high schooler get an F for writing a song? That’s ridiculous. These days, we’re lucky if we can find students who can write a complete sentence.