32 Bits of Pop Music Trivia to Take in Like An Expertly Curated Playlist

Throw some headphones on for this journey
32 Bits of Pop Music Trivia to Take in Like An Expertly Curated Playlist

You’re here! And just in time. We were about to get some lava lamps going in the basement, lay back on a tweed couch and share in this listening party together. Our resident DJ, Fact Checka The Track Wrecka, threw together a music tidbit list that’ll have us groovin’ from start to finish. 

So close your eyes and slip these choice headphones on. We’re embarking on a sonic journey through the entire pop-music industry. 

Sarah McLachlan

Angel by Sarah McLachlan McLachlan revealed that the song now best known for SPCA commercials was inspired by Jonathan Melvoin, the Smashing Pumpkins keyboardist who died by heroin overdose. CRACKED.COM

Barry Manilow

CRACKED.COM Barry Manilow's Timeless Jingle Hits I am stuck on Band-Aid brand 'cause Band-Aid's stuck on me! STATE FARM date Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there... - No me It's a finger-lickin' good day. ентиску ried Chicken -

Puddle of Mudd

PUDDLE OF MUDD's REHEARSAL SPACE WAS TURNED INTO A LITERAL PUDDLE OF MUD. The band wound up naming itself after the flood that soaked the entire first floor of their rehearsal space, which was located next to the Missouri River. CRACKED.COM http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Puddle_of_Mudd.aspx

Deep Purple

CRACKED.COM Deep Purple's Smoke on the Water recounts a real tragedy. The story in the lyrics actually happened - the band was in Montreux, Switzerland, when some stupid with a flare gun burned down the casino where they were supposed to record an album using a mobile studio.

Elton John

Bennie And The Jets by Elton John isn't a live recording. CRACKED.COM Producer Gus Dudgeon wanted a live feel on the recording, so he mixed in crowd noise and whistles into the song.

Brian May

Brian May is an astrophysicist QUEEN CRACKED COM May had to choose between astrophysics and ROCK early in his career: When I was about to finish my thesis, it was just the beginnings of Queen, and I had to make a choice. And my choice was made on the assumption that I wasn't very good at physics and I might be quite good at music. Не completed his thesis 30 years later, and has since consulted with NASA.

Skrillex

Skrillex was Sonny Moore's old AOL name. It was a stupid old online AOL screen name. There really isn't a meaning behind it. CRACKED.COM

The Supremes

Cindy Birdsong became a nurse THE SUPREMES CRACKED.COM The Motown singer left the public eye in 1976 to work at UCLA Medical Center: People don't know where I am and what I'm doing. I haven't lived a fairytale lifestyle for many years. I've been up and down -- a roller coaster it's been.

Metallica

CRACKED.COM Metallica's Nothing Else Matters C.B.H came from thoughtless guitar fingering. Some people doodle on paper while on the phone. James Hetfield randomly plucked at his guitar's strings while talking to his girlfriend. That pattern became the song's opening bars.

Tommy Edwards

Billb ara The Recordings 1955 1960 TOMMY EDWARDS Charles G. Dawes IT'S was the 30th Vice ALL IN THE President of the GAME United States. - Не won the Nobel Prize for the Dawes Plan for World War I reparations and composed the melody for the song that became Tommy Edwards 1958 #1hit 'It's All in The Game. CRACKED.COM

Rush

CRACKED.COM The bells that begin Rush's YYZ are playing the song's title in morse code. Pilots approaching Toronto International Airport will hear this, as YYZ is that airport's letter code. Air A YYZ TORONTO 38-31-53 Flight

Vanilla Ice

Vanilla Ice flips houses CRACKED.COM Ice started studying real estate in the 90's, and became surprisingly adept at investing in and remodeling homes. Не now owns Vanilla Ice Real Estate, and has a show on the DIY Network.

311

311 is an Omaha police code for indecent exposure. The guitarist got arrested for skinny dippinng, so they used the citation code as a band name. CRACKED.COM

Johnny Cash

( JOHNNY CASH A BOY NAMED A BOY NAMED SUE, THE SUE BIGGEST HIT EVER DELIVERED BY THE DULCET TONES OF JOHNNY CASH Courtesy of the same mind that gave you this: EDGE WF Where the Sidewalk Ends the poems and drawings of Shel Silverstein CRACKED.COM

Ozzy Osbourne

IF YOU REVERSE THE FIRST FEW SECONDS OF OZZY OSBOURNE'S SONG 'BLOODBATH IN PARADISE' LOCAL CAUGHT Traditional SEA MAZE Fishmenger SHELLFISH FISH SPECIALITIES на Coca-Cola SEA HAZE SEA HAZE delection of Welcome to Locally Kingston upon Hull COCELES Caught WHELKS MUSSELS FRESH F PERMIS JELLIED EELS The Pioneering City SHE EDWARDS EXCELLENCE - TWINNED WITH YOUR DARKEST THOUGHT YOU WILL HEAR THE WORDS YOUR MOTHER SELLS WHELKS IN HULL. CRACKED COM

Toad the Wet Sprocket

TOAD THE WET SPROCKET TOOK ITS NAME FROM A MONTY PYTHON SKETCH. In the bit, which appeared on an album, Eric Idle was making fun of rock bands with ridiculous names. Не had no idea one of the names had been chosen by an actual band until he heard them on the radio. CRACKED.COM

Aaliyah

Age ain't nothing but a number by Aaliyah included the lines Throwing down ain't nothing but a thing. Take my hand and come with me, let me show you to ecstasy. & Tonight we're gonna go all the way. Aaliyah's age when she released the song? FIFTEEN! VIA Cherry 20ml The song's writer? SUGA A 26 year old... W Cherry Named R. Kelly! GRACKED.COM

The Clash

Terry Chimes gets his kicks cracking backs THE CLASH CRACKED.COM The sometimes Clash drummer became a chiropractor in 1993, and runs 5 clinics around London: People say 'how can you prefer treating patients to being on stage in front of 100,000 people?' But if you can get someone healthy, there's a satisfaction in that which is much more profound.

Beyonce

Beyoncé fired her dad after an audit of his conduct as her manager. According to Mathew Knowles, his daughter had been told lies about him stealing money from her and denies any wrongdoing. CRACKED.COM

Eminem

Debbie Mathers sued her son, rapper Eminem, for slander over lyrics he wrote about her for The Slim Shady LP in 1999. Their relationship improved a little after he released his apologetic track Headlights in 2013, but he still hasn't accepted any of her attempts at reconciliation. CRACKED.COM

The Jacksons

CRACKED COM According to record producer Clive Davis, Jermaine Jackson was so upset by his brother Michael hijacking Jermaine's producers to provide material for his own album, that he wrote Word to the Badd, a bitter criticism of Michael. When Michael heard the song he asked Davis to have the track removed from Jermaine's album. Wisely, Davis refused to get involved in the family squabble and told the brothers to work it out themselves.

Mariah Carey

CRACKED.COM Mariah Carey is currently in a feud with her siblings. Her older brother accuses her of being bipolar, alcoholic and self-centered. Не also labels her a monster for not helping their HIV-positive sister, Allison.

Weird Al

CRACKED COM WEIRD AL'S SONG, I LARRY, CONTAINS THE BACKWARD MESSAGE WOW, YOU MUST HAVE AN AWFUL LOT OF FREE TIME ON YOUR HANDS

Korn

Кояп NRON iSsues Interest If you listen to Am I Going Crazy? off of Korn's 1999 album Issues, you'll probably notice some eerie, peculiar noises in the background. Turns out, those noises are the song itself in reverse. In other words, if you play the track backwards it's pretty much the exact same song. Sources: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX7BxCecutw GRAGKED.COM http://www.youtube.com/atch?v=PEm5sXBhsCo

Beats by Dre

32 Bits of Pop Music Trivia to Take in Like An Expertly Curated Playlist

Adele

ADELE never had much of a relationship with her father since he left his wife and daughter when Adele was three. After he sold a story about her to a British tabloid in 2011, Adele stopped speaking to him altogether, swearing she'd spit in his face if she ever saw him again. CRACKED.COM

Queen

Не tried to change the bass riff for Under Pressure. CRACKED.COM In an interview, Queen guitarist Brian May said I David Bowie reaching over to John and saying, 'No, don't do it like that,' and John going, 'Excuse me? I'm the bass player, right? This is how I do it!

Heidi Montag

CRACKED COM ie TV ds Heidi Montag spent nearly $2 million of her own money on her first album, titled Superficial. The album, which she and her husband produced themselves, took three years to make. Despite boasts that it was comparable to Michael HETDI Jackson's Thriller in MONTAG of sound and quality, SUPERACIAL Superficial was met with poor sales and bad reviews. Au

Radiohead

In his spare time, Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood raises chickens. In an interview with music mag Uncut, he's complained about foxes. We get foxes every few years and it all goes a bit 'crime scene' when that happens - lots of burials. CRACKED.COM

Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston lip-synced her 1991 Super Bowl rendition of the U.S. National Anthem. The performance is fre- quently considered one of the best anthems in history but her micro- phone was turned off and a pre-recorded ver- sion was played. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Rick Allen

Rick Allen, the drummer for Def Leppard, lost his arm after a car accident in 1984. Не thought he could never play in the band again until a fellow drummer helped him design an electronic drum kit that could be played with one arm. Не returned to the band in 1986. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton's Jolene is about a red-headed clerk who had a crush on her husband. CRACKED.COM The song's title is named after one of her fans. Dolly told her, That is pretty. That sounds like a song. I'm going to write a song about that.

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