Music Trivia Thread

[Attyla]

I have been putting this in other threads, but am afraid I am just cluttering up those threads, so I will stop doing that and just do stuff in this one. Care to join in? I am all about learning more about music. So here we go.

Here are five artists from the UK who are really well known, and they had hits on both sides of the Atlantic, but had a lot more success in the US than in their home countries. There may be more and if you know one, feel free to join in.

First, we start with Ringo Starr of the Beatles. He had a lot of success as a solo artist in the US with a number of top 40 singles, far more in the US than in the UK. Songs like Photograph did quite well in the US, but not so much over seas

Second, Sheena Easton, she did well on both sides, but had a lot more success in the US with songs like Sugar Walls

Third, the Alan Parson's Project. They did OK in the UK but had a lot of success in the US, with songs like Games People Play

Next we have Steve Winwood who was quite successful as a solo artist, but much more so in the US

And finally, we have George Harrison, another Beatle. Had a lot of success as a solo artist in the US and was also a part of the Traveling Wilbury's.

[Attyla]

The music landscape is full of rags to riches stories and also full of artists who never wanted the level of fame they achieved. Guys like Mark Knopfler who disbanded their groups simply because they wanted to just create music and did not want the stadium tour life. And then there is the Shaggs. Here is their story.

Formed in 1965 the sister group created exactly one album at the demands of their father. And they did not know how to play the very instruments they were assigned to by their overpowering patriarch. The album, Philosophy of the World contains 12 tracks that can only be described as either sheer garbage or genius on a level rarely achieved. The time signatures shift within the songs, they did not know how to tune their instruments and the vocals are often out of tune. The lyrics are strange revolving around everything from their pets to their families. They actually did try to write pop songs but either failed miserably or succeeded on a scale we may never see again. Why the huge gap between terrible and great? Well, that is based on their fan base. The record was released on a very small scale but found its ways into the hands of such artists as Frank Zappa and Kurt Cobain who were big fans. And those influences got the album rereleased in 1980 which expanded their fan base. To say they were ever going to be mainstream is a stretch but in 1997 the girls reunited to perform and to their surprise, they not only sold out but fans flew in from other countries just to see them sing their out or tune and out of rhythm songs. And they did not disappoint. They are almost certainly the original creators of "outsider music" which has a big following even today. Frank Zappa may be the biggest of the genre but many reggae artists fall into that subgroup as well. It is certainly not on everyone's radar but the Shaggs do get their place of honor at the table of music so bad that it might be great. Of the three girls, only Dot, the oldest still performs on occasion and plays the hand bells at church. Helen passed away in 2006 and Betty is on disability suffering from depression. Rachel only added bass guitar to one track and did join the trio for live performances before they disbanded. And to be quite honest, this is not a rags to riches story, and they did not achieve any level of fame other than their cult following. But maybe that is exactly how it should have happened.

This may be painful to some but here they are performing My Pal Foot Foot

[mstrbass2000]

Aerosmith?

judas priest

[Dr Death]

judas priest

That makes more sense...lol.

[Hellbound]

ozzy's prefferred guitarist was gary moore but he turned ozzy down cause he had just left thin lizzy and wanted to do his own thing

teh guitarist that replaced randy rhoads was berne thorms (sp) he lasted like a week before getting fired and was replaced by brad gillis whom left cause he had night ranger ready to go and was replaced by george lynch whom was fired and replaced by jake e lee

I never got much into solo Ozzy but he always had some insane guitarist by his side

[raider_kin]

I never got much into solo Ozzy but he always had some insane guitarist by his side

I think his voice peaked with 'Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath'. Great album.

[Attyla]

When a rock band was working on their album, their producer convinced them to create a disco song, and it became their only number one hit. And no, this is not about Kiss. Here is the story.

They were working on their 11th studio album. And they were mega stars so they could do whatever they wanted. But their producer heard the tracks to a very dark song. So he asked them to add a disco beat. They said no, but the producer convinced them. And then he wanted to add a choir in the background. And again, they said no. And he not only convinced them, they ended up adding a children's choir to this very dark song. And it worked, and it shot up to number one. I think I gave away enough hints for you to figure out the rest.

[Dr Death]

The only mega band I can think of that experimented with "disco type" stuff was Pink Floyd on "The Wall".

[Attyla]

The only mega band I can think of that experimented with "disco type" stuff was Pink Floyd on "The Wall".

That would be correct. There were others, Kiss being one that is mentioned far more often with "I Was Made For Loving You" but The Wall was originally did not have that signature beat and the choir in the background. Without those components, it likely would have been a fairly forgotten track.

[mstrbass2000]

KISS ...at the time paul stanley was hanging out at studio 54 all the time with desmond child and vinny poncia, they were regulars, paul stanley was also fan of disco and a #1 song was written, i actually hated that album cause it sucked ass

id rather listen to their concept album "the elder" which while different was actually pretty good

[mstrbass2000]

I think his voice peaked with 'Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath'. Great album.

black sabbath early stuff was awesome...right up there with led zep early, huge impact on music even now

[Attyla]

So what does Maurice Gibb, of all people, have to do with saving a song from destruction. And not only a song, but one of the biggest hits of the early 80's? And not even a song that he wrote, or sang on? And how did an emerging technology play into it?

Well this one comes from a small town for sure.

He was writing his first big hit and he could play it perfectly on his acoustic guitar and he thought this would break him out from the rest and start his career flying. He was not wrong, so he brought it to his band. They also thought it was great so they tried to lay it down. But the drummer, Kenny Aronoff was having a hard time with the changing time signature on the track which caused them all to speed up. Frustration set in and John was set to scrap the song and move on. But the band pressed him to find a way to make it work. Enter Maurice Gibb. The technology they needed was very new, and very rare. But Gibb owned a prototype of the Linn LM-1 Drum computer capable of creating drum loops. John's people contacted Gibb and he agreed to let them use it. The original plan was to create hand claps and use that to keep the group in time and then remove it from the final mix. And it worked, they laid down the track and then removed the artificial drum parts. But then the song sucked again without those tracks. So it was added in, and the world now knows what "sucking on a chili dog" means. John Cougar Mellencamp went on to fame and fortune all because of a disco star.

Bonus, there is a tie to David Bowie on the track as well. Mick Ronson who played for Bowie as part of the Spiders from Mars era was brought in to save the track yet again. He suggested adding a baby rattle sound to the percussion which confused Mellencamp at first until Ronson himself laid it down. He also knew the song needed a sharp bridge and he personally pushed the "Let it rock, let it roll" lyrics to add a flavor to the song.

Jack and Diane was most definitely a collaboration and its unusual time signature is rarely found in rock music. I am personally not a huge fan of John's but that does not take away from the creative efforts that went into that particular song

[Xramfan]

The music landscape is full of rags to riches stories and also full of artists who never wanted the level of fame they achieved. Guys like Mark Knopfler who disbanded their groups simply because they wanted to just create music and did not want the stadium tour life. And then there is the Shaggs. Here is their story.

Formed in 1965 the sister group created exactly one album at the demands of their father. And they did not know how to play the very instruments they were assigned to by their overpowering patriarch. The album, Philosophy of the World contains 12 tracks that can only be described as either sheer garbage or genius on a level rarely achieved. The time signatures shift within the songs, they did not know how to tune their instruments and the vocals are often out of tune. The lyrics are strange revolving around everything from their pets to their families. They actually did try to write pop songs but either failed miserably or succeeded on a scale we may never see again. Why the huge gap between terrible and great? Well, that is based on their fan base. The record was released on a very small scale but found its ways into the hands of such artists as Frank Zappa and Kurt Cobain who were big fans. And those influences got the album rereleased in 1980 which expanded their fan base. To say they were ever going to be mainstream is a stretch but in 1997 the girls reunited to perform and to their surprise, they not only sold out but fans flew in from other countries just to see them sing their out or tune and out of rhythm songs. And they did not disappoint. They are almost certainly the original creators of "outsider music" which has a big following even today. Frank Zappa may be the biggest of the genre but many reggae artists fall into that subgroup as well. It is certainly not on everyone's radar but the Shaggs do get their place of honor at the table of music so bad that it might be great. Of the three girls, only Dot, the oldest still performs on occasion and plays the hand bells at church. Helen passed away in 2006 and Betty is on disability suffering from depression. Rachel only added bass guitar to one track and did join the trio for live performances before they disbanded. And to be quite honest, this is not a rags to riches story, and they did not achieve any level of fame other than their cult following. But maybe that is exactly how it should have happened.

This may be painful to some but here they are performing My Pal Foot Foot

1965`s female version of Nirvana? lol

[mstrbass2000]

dolly trivia ....we all know she wrote the mega hit song "i will always love you" which whitney houston went on to record and make a global smash hit that sold over 10 million copies

how much royalties were paid to dolly ??? and what did dolly use this money for ???

bonus question: what other mega famous artist wanted to use this song but dolly refused !!!

[Dr Death]

dolly trivia ....we all know she wrote the mega hit song "i will always love you" which whitney houston went on to record and make a global smash hit that sold over 10 million copies

how much royalties were paid to dolly ??? and what did dolly use this money for ???

bonus question: what other mega famous artist wanted to use this song but dolly refused !!!

The other mega famous artist was Elvis.

[mstrbass2000]

The other mega famous artist was Elvis.

ding ding ding elvis's management wanted 50% ownership of the song...dolly refused