There was a myth that Blue Oyster Cult would perform in small clubs using the name Soft White Underbelly. That wasn’t a myth, it was completely true. By the mid 80s it wasn’t a secret and clubs that advertised Soft White Underbelly performances were overrun with fans. I remember hearing ads on radio for clubs in the NYC area saying they were playing. Soft White Underbelly was the original name of the band.
Yep, I remember hearing kids spreading this one about Rod Stewart like back in 4th grade, which would have been '74-'75.
I hadn’t heard this one. I wonder if some microbrewer somewhere ever named their stout line ‘Cully Stout Beer’ in tribute.
Yeah, I remember hearing that, and even who told me. I had their first few albums, and I’m sure that must have fueled my interest. As it turned out, some of the albums were pretty good on their own.
I don’t think I heard the rumor, or if I had a long time ago, I since forgot. But I just listened to “Sub Rosa Subway”, and yeah, that does sound like late-period Beatles. The singer sounds a little like Paul as well.
Note that the group had nothing to do with the rumor. It was started by a DJ, and the record company ran with it. “Sub Rosa Subway” and “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft” sounded something like the Beatles, but few really thought they were, and the backlash against the rumor hurt the group.
I make that joke every so often. Then i get slapped. 
The Beatles cheerfully admitted that several of their songs were about drugs.
“Got To Get You Into My Life” for example.
Why would George Michael be scandalous, isn’t he openly gay? I, too, heard it about Rod long ago ('73?), but it was a wild rumor because he was presumably straight.
Or have I got that wrong?
George Michael didn’t come out until after his arrest. So that was 10-15 years of fame. I don’t remember my feelings at the time but I don’t think I was surprised
At least they didn’t have to have a gerbil removed from their colons like Richard Gere.
Just the year. The rumor was that he serviced a gay bar full of sailors (thus the massive volume of jizz purported) while on tour in San Diego in 1981. According to Stewart, the rumor was cooked up by a publicist who he fired for entertaining a boyfriend in the same room where he/she (not certain) was supposed to be babysitting Stewart’s 7 year old step-son.
ETA: I looked it up and the publicist was a man. I got it mostly right, but see for yourself:
Not sure if this is a sidebar or not, but I wonder if music biopics contribute to some of these myths getting created. The factual and chronological errors in Bohemiam Rhapsody are endless; it’s practically fiction. But will young Queen fans think it’s a fact that Live Aid was a big reunion for the band after nearly breaking up over Freddie Mercury’s solo career? Or that Jim Morrison’s death was foretold by a Native American shaman (or whatever the hell was going on in that movie)? That Dewey Cox met the Beatles in India?
Not a myth, but a funny story David Lee Roth told on himself.
Van Halen was on tour, and one morning Roth woke up in his hotel bed with scratches all over his body, and leaves and twigs in his hair. He called a roadie/the band’s manager/somebody and said “What did I do last night?”
The guy said, “We were partying after the concert, and you were wasted. You started yelling you could fly, and you bet everybody you could do it. Everyone thought you were joking until you opened the window and jumped out.”
Roth couldn’t believe it. “I jumped out the window?!”
The guy said, “Yep. Fortunately we were only on the second floor, and there were some bushes below the window. You landed in them and passed out. We went downstairs, picked you up, and put you in your bed to sleep it off.”
Roth said, “Man, why didn’t you stop me!”
The guy said, “I bet somebody $100 that you could do it.”
Around 1970, I read an article attributing that story to early 20th century baseball madcap Rube Waddell.
In junior high (1972), it was Elton John.
Keith Moon actually drove his car into the pond at his own home, Tara in Chertsey, Surrey. He later sold the house to Kevin Godley of 10CC.
Moon died in the same Mayfair flat in which Cass Elliott had died 4 years before. The flat was owned by Harry Nilsson who had loaned it to them. Did Keith Moon and Mama Cass really die in the same apartment?
It is/was widely believed that Ed Sheeran’s “Don’t” was about a messy breakup with Ellie Goulding, and that her “On My Mind” was her answer. In fact, they were never in any kind of relationship and the songs have nothing to do with each other, but they certainly do sound like a he-said she-said about the same events.
Yes, Klaatu was doing prog rock. And they were pretty good on their own.
One you should find, if you like Klaatu, is the album Magentalane. Pretty much a Canada-only release, it was their final hurrah. They go back to their roots of 3:47 EST, with late-Beatles production. The title track is particularly cheerful, and reminiscent of “Puff the Magic Dragon,” but is a lot more positive. Here, check it out:
Link below (I hope). [Edit: no, it’s not, because of Discourse.]
Watch out for those rosé-coloured bainrows—I mean rainbows.
(Damn, Discourse, why can I not embed a YouTube video?) Anyway, folks, follow the link to a Klaatu delight.
Well, it seems that no amount of trying will get the Youtube to show here, not even the link, so just Google “Magentalane Klaatu,” and the YouTube should become available.
This one ?
