Song Trivia

Song Trivia

Hmm...some interesting song trivia!

Title	Artist	Info.
Money For Nothing	Dire Straits	A song about rock star excess and the easy life it brings compared with real work. Sting sings on this and helped write it. That's him at the beginning singing "I want my MTV." The innovative video was one of the first to feature computer generated animation. The characters were supposed to have more detail, like buttons on their shirts, but they used up the budget and had to leave it as is.
Mr Lonely	Bobby Vinton	The fourth and last of the No.1 singles by Vinton, it is the only one that was not a cover.
Over The Rainbow	Judy Garland	This was almost cut from the movie. Some executives from MGM thought the film was too long and wanted this removed. They thought it slowed down the action too early in the movie. This would have been sung by Shirley Temple if the producers could have gotten her to play Dorothy in the movie. She was their first choice.
Wonderful Tonight	Eric Clapton	About Patti Harrison, Clapton's love interest at the time. They were married from 1979-1988. Clapton wrote this in 1976 while waiting for Patti to get ready for a night out. They were going to a Buddy Holly tribute that Paul McCartney put together, and Clapton was in the familiar position of waiting while she tried on clothes. Patti insisted on trying out outfit after outfit and each time she came downstairs he would say 'You look wonderful'. Becoming tired of this he eventually picked up his guitar and wrote the song 'Wonderful Tonight'.
In The Air Tonight	Phil Collins	Collins' first single as a solo artist. All the original songs on the album, including follow up hit "I Missed Again," were intended to be "messages" to his first wife in an attempt to lure her back to him.
Needles & Pins	The Searchers	Two six-string guitars are playing in unison on the intro...it sounds like a 12-string guitar because an engineer accidentally left the echo switch on, but liked the result. Jackie DeShannon's recorded the original in 1963, but her version barely made it onto the Hot 100.
Don't Know Why	Norah Jones	This was almost the victim of record company stupidity. When the album started selling and the song was apparently a hit, Virgin Records, who owned Blue Note, thought radio stations would prefer a different version and remixed it with a dance beat and processed vocals. Norah Jones thought it sounded ridiculous and insisted on distributing the album version to radio stations.
I Don't Like Mondays	The Boomtown Rats	About Brenda Spencer, a San Diego high school student who, on Jan 29, 1979, brought a gun to school and killed 2 people. When asked why she did it, she replied, "Because I don't like Mondays."
Hello	Lionel Richie	This was the second No.1 song from Richie's second solo album after leaving The Commodores, and is the biggest selling album in the history of Motown Records.
Roxanne	The Police	About a man who falls in love with a prostitute. Sting got the idea for this after walking through the red-light district of Paris. He imagined what it would be like to fall in love with one of the prostitutes. Sting chose the name Roxanne because it has a rich history behind it. Roxanne was the name of Alexander The Great's wife and Cyrano DeBergerac's girlfriend. The laughing at the beginning is Sting. It was recorded when he tripped in the recording studio and fell over the piano.
I Love Rock 'n' Roll	Joan Jett	Originally recorded by British group The Arrows in 1975. By the time Joan Jett released this, very few jukeboxes took dimes, but "quarter" wouldn't sound good in the lyrics.
I Shot The Sheriff	Eric Clapton	Written and originally recorded by Bob Marley in 1973. A member of Clapton's band played the Bob Marley album for him and convinced him to record this. Clapton didn't want to use this on the album because he thought it might be disrespectful to Marley. Members of his band and management convinced him that it should not only go on the album, but also be released as a single. Marley called Clapton after this became a hit. Eric wanted to know if the story in the song was true, but Bob wouldn't tell him. Eric is also credited on the 'Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms' album due to the fact that he loaned Mark Knopfler one of his guitars the for the album.
Mrs Robinson	Simon & Garfunkel	Contains the famous line "Where have you gone Joe Dimaggio?" Dimaggio was a star baseball player for the New York Yankees who was briefly married to Marilyn Monroe. Simon was using him to represent heroes of the past. Dimaggio was a little miffed when he heard this, since he was still very much alive even though he retired from baseball in 1951.
Another Brick In The Wall	Pink Floyd	Roger Waters wrote this about his views on formal education. He hated his grammar school teachers, and felt they were more interested in keeping the kids quiet than teaching them. The chorus came from a school in Islington, England, and was chosen because it was close to the studio. It was made up of 23 kids between the ages of 13 and 15. They were overdubbed 12 times, making it sound like there were many more kids.
Dock Of The Bay	Otis Redding	When Otis recorded this, he didn't have a last verse written, so he whistled it. He planned to return to Memphis and fill in the verse after performing in Madison, Wisconsin, but he died before he had the chance. When Cropper produced the song, he left the whistling in, and it fit the mood of the song perfectly. It is probably the most famous whistling in any song.
Down Under	Men At Work	The lyrics were written by lead singer Colin Hay who says..."the chorus is really about the selling of Australia in many ways, the over-development of the country. It was a song about the loss of spirit in that country. It's really about the plundering of the country by greedy people. It is ultimately about celebrating the country, but not in a nationalistic way and not in a flag-waving sense. It's really more than that." Some translations: - Fried out combie - a broken-down van. Head full of Zombie - Zombie was a particularly strong batch of marijuana which was floating around Australia for a long time. People called it "Zombie Grass." Vegemite Sandwich - Vegemite is a fermented yeast spread that is pretty much a national institution in Australia. Some people love it and can't start the day without a piece of toast spread with Vegemite, and some go so far as to carry a small jar of it with them when they travel overseas. Some are indifferent to it, and others can't stand it. It kind of resembles smooth black tar, and is similar in taste to the English "Marmite," but Aussie's will always tell you that Vegemite is far superior.
Eleanor Rigby	The Beatles	The Beatles didn't play any of the instruments on this. As the string section this was difficult to play live, The Beatles never performed this track live. "Father Mackenzie" was originally "Father McCartney." Paul decided he didn't want to freak out his dad and picked a name out of the phone book instead.
Johnny B. Goode	Chuck Berry	"Johnny" is Johnnie Johnson, a piano player who collaborated with Berry on many songs. Berry got the word "Goode" from the street where he grew up, Goode Street in St. Louis. The word "go" is repeated in the song 45 times.
La Bamba	Los Lobos	The day after "La Bamba" peaked at No.22 on the Hot 100 (2 February 1959) Ritchie Valens was killed in the plane crash that also claimed the life of Buddy Holly. The 1987 biopic about Valens was called La Bamba, and screenwriter Luis Valdez pegged Los Lobos to perform the title song, originally an old Mexican marriage tune known for generations.
Yesterday	The Beatles	Paul McCartney's song 'Yesterday', which was recently voted the most popular song of the century by a BBC poll, had music written before the lyrics. Paul used the working words 'scrambled eggs' before coming up with 'yesterday' while composing this song.
Stairway To Heaven	Led Zeppelin	The most famous rock song of all time, it never charted because it was never released as a single to the general public. Radio stations received promotional singles which quickly became collector's items. This is about a woman who accumulates money, but finds out the hard way her life had no meaning and will not get her into heaven.
Walking In Memphis	Marc Cohn	This was the first single for Cohn, who was discovered by Carly Simon. He won the 1991 Grammy for Best New Artist.The song line "walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale" refers to Beale Street, an actual street in Memphis.
ABC	The Jackson Five	According to co-writer Freddie Perren, the music of this is the chorus of their previous hit, "I Want You Back."
What's Up	Four Non Blondes	Originally titled, "What's Going On," a line repeated many times throughout the chorus. By renaming it, they kept it from being confused with the 1971 Marvin Gaye classic.The group consisted of 4 women who really didn't have blond hair. They named the group Four Non Blondes because they wanted to be known for their music, not their looks.
Tequila Sunrise	Eagles	Glenn Frey came up with the title. He was up all night drinking tequila and the sun was rising when he finished the song. The line, "take another shot of courage" refers to how if you drink tequila, it will give you courage to talk to women (although maybe not coherently).
I Feel For You	Chaka Khan	Chaka Khan's biggest hit, "I Feel For You" was originally written by Prince (a.k.a. The Artist). In that same song, Stevie Wonder did the harmonica solos, and Melle Mel of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five did the rap breaks. Hence the infamous lyric: "Chaka Khan...Ch-ch-ch-ch-Chaka Khan."
Like A Prayer	Madonna	Pepsi's commercial featuring Madonna's single 'Like A Prayer' only aired once before the company pulled it after seeing her video for the single. It aired during the Cosby Show.
Rhinestone Cowboy	Glen Campbell	Rhinestones are fake jewels that are popular on Country-style clothing, but real cowboys would never wear them. A "Rhinestone Cowboy" would be like someone who wants to be a real cowboy, but isn't. This was written and originally recorded by a Nashville-based singer named Larry Weiss. When Campbell heard this on his car radio he thought it could be about him and wanted to record it.

Origination of Band Names

808 State - Named after the Roland TR-808 drum machine.
Abba - Acronym of the first letters of the bands christian names. Frida's christian name is Anni-Frid.
A-ha - The origin of the name a-ha comes from the title of an early song 'The Juicyfruit Song.' This name was chosen because the phrase means the same in a number of languages.
Ace Of Base - The bands first studio was in a basement, hence they became masters (ace) of their basement (base).
All Saints - Named after All Saints Road, London. They thought of 'Spice' as their original name but decided it wasn't good enough.
Aswad - Means 'Black' in Arabic.
Bachman Turner Overdrive - A combination of the band member's surnames and a trucker magazine.
Backstreet Boys - Named after Back Street Market, Orlando, Florida.
Bay City Rollers - Randomly named after sticking a pin in a map and landing on Bay City, Michigan (which incidentally is the birthplace of 'Madonna'.)
Bee Gees - Simply an acronym of the 'Brothers Gibb.'
Bob Dylan - Originally named Robert Allen Zimmerman, he thought this name was too long, and was electing to call himself Robert Allan (until finding that there was already a saxophonist with this name). Being inspired by the writings of Dylan Thomas, he decided on the surname Dylan and chose the forename Bob because there were several bobbies in popular music at the time.
Bon Jovi - A respelling of the lead singer Jon Bon Jovi's real name John Francis Bongiovi.
Boney M - The bands producer named them after Boney, the hero of an australian TV series.
Bush - Named after the district Shepherd's Bush in London.
Cranberries (The) - Originally called 'The Cranberry Saw Us' (a word-play on Cranberry Sauce), was shortened because the name was too long.
Crowded House - This name alludes to the cramped quarters the band were sharing whilst recording their album in L.A.
Cypress Hill - Named after a location where the first band members lived, Cypress Avenue, South Gate, Los Angeles.
David Bowie - Born David Robert Jones, he changed this to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of 'The Monkees'. The Bowie surname is a tribute to the Alamo hero Jim Bowie and his 'Bowie' knife.
Deacon Blue - Took their name from the title of a song by 'Steely Dan'.
Depeche Mode - Derived from the name of a French fashion magazine loosely translated meaning hurried or fast fashion.
Doors (The) - Jim Morrison took the name from a book called 'The Doors Of Perfection' by Aldous Huxley
Duran Duran - Named after the character Dr. Durand-Durand from the science fiction film 'Barbarella.'
Elton John - Originally named Reginald Dwight, he derived his stage name from the two British musicians Elton Dean and Long John Baldry.
Elvis Costello - Originally named Declan McManus, he derived the stage name from a combination of his grandmother's maiden name and Elvis Presley.
Engelbert Humperdinck - Born Arnold George Dorsey. Originally performed as Gerry Dorsey but latterly changed his name to that of the german 'Hansel and Gretel' composer.
Eurythmics - This is a respelling of a classical dance and music technique called 'Eurhythmics.'
Everything But The Girl - Named after the slogan of a shop in Hull, England.
Fleetwood Mac - Derived from the surnames of the rhythm section of the band Mick Fleetwood and John McVie.
Guns 'n' Roses - This originates from the names of the co-founders of the band Axl Rose and Tracii Guns
Herman's Hermits - The band commented on lead vocalist Peter Noone's resemblance to the character 'Sherman' in 'Peabody's Improbable History' (a cartoon in the 'Rocky and Bullwinkle' show), however the bassist Karl Green misheard the name as 'Herman', and it stuck ever since.
Jamiroquai - Jay chose this name, 'jam' relating to a favourite style of music and the remainder of the name referring to his empathy toward the Indian Iroquois tribe.
John Denver - Originally named Henry John Deutschendorf Jnr., he used the surname Denver as a tribute to the city he loved.
Keane - Originally named 'Cherry Keane', after an older lady the boys knew when they were younger. 'Cherry' was eventually removed from the name to just become 'Keane.'
Level 42 - Named after the supercomputer's response to the ultimate answer to life, the universe and everything, in 'Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy'. The response after 7.5 years calculation was...42.
Linkin Park - Named after Lincoln Park in Santa Monica. The band name was changed as the domain name lincolnpark.com was already taken and they couldn't afford to purchase it at the time.
Little River Band (The) - Named after Little River, Victoria, Australia.
M People - Short for Mike's People (referring to the band's founder member Mike Pickering).
Manhattan Transfer - Named after John Dos Passo's novel 'Manhattan Transfer', (which refers to the train station of the same name).
Marillion - Inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's book 'The Silmarillion.'
McFly - The band's founding member Tom Fletcher chose this name based on his love of the character Marty McFly from the film 'Back To The Future.'
Los Lobos - Translated in Spanish means 'The Wolves.' First album was suitably entitled 'How Will The Wolf Survive?'
Mott The Hoople - Derived from the title of a novel by Willard Manus which includes a character named Norman Mott.
Oasis - Named after the Oasis Leisure Centre in Swindon, England. Some sources claim that this is also a reference to a Manchester nightclub, taxi company, indian restaurant or clothing store.
Pet Shop Boys (The) - Originally called 'West End' they derived their current name from some friends who worked in a pet shop in Ealing.
Pink Floyd - Name after blues musician's Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.
Procul Harem - Named after the pedigree name of a Siamese cat owned by a friend of the band's songwriter Keith Reid.
Radiohead - Named after a song on the 'Talking Heads - True Stories' album.
Ray Charles - Originally named Ray Charles Robinson, he changed this to avoid confusion with the boxer Sugar Ray Robinson.
R.E.O. Speedwagon - This was the name of a 1930's fire engine made by Oldsmobile. The founder of the company's initials was R.E.O. (Ransom Eli Olds).
Rolling Stones (The) - Named after a line in a Muddy Water's song titled 'Mannish Boy.'
Savage Garden - Named after a quote in the book 'The Vampire Chronicles' by Anne Rice. 'The mind of each man is a Savage Garden'.
Simple Minds - Taken from a line in the David Bowie song Jean Genie. 'So simple-minded, he can't drive his module'.
Simply Red - Named after lead singer Mick Hucknall's red hair, allegiance to Manchester United football team, and left-wing political affiliation.
Smokey Robinson - Born 'William Robinson Jnr.', he attained the nickname 'Smokey' because of his fondness for Westerns as a child.
Steely Dan - Derived from the nickname of a giant steam-powered 'object' in William Burrough's book 'The Naked Lunch.'
Sting - Christened 'Gordan Matthew Thomas Sumner' his nickname was gained whilst with 'The Phoenix Jazzmen', as he once performed wearing a black and yellow hooped jersey. The bandleader Gordon Solomon thought he looked like a bumblebee, hence the name 'Sting'.
Styx - Named after a river in Greek mythology.
Supertramp - Named after the 1908 W.H.Davies novel 'The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp.'
Tears For Fears - The duo derived their name from Primal therapy treatment developed by Arthur Janov whereby the patient re-experiences early feelings, hence the name Tears For Fears.
Texas - Band name derived from the 1984 film 'Paris, Texas', by Wim Wenders.
Thompson Twins (The) - Took their name from the characters in the Herge comic strip 'The Adventures of Tintin.'
Toto - Chose this name after Jeff Porcaro, having watched 'The Wizard Of Oz', wrote this on demo tapes to make them easily identifiable. After realising that this word meant 'all encompassing' in Latin, the band decided this would be a suitable name.
T'Pau - Named after Spock's grandmother in 'Star Trek.'
Travis - Initially called 'Running Red' and then 'Glass Onion'. Eventually named themselves after the character played by Harry Dean Stanton in the film 'Paris, Texas' by Wim Wenders.
UB40 - Named after the UK unemployment social security form.
Ultravox - Translated in Latin as 'the greatest amount of voice.'

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