# Share Some Little-Known Trivia About Popular Songs....... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 17, 2008, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-little-known-trivia-about-popular-songs/477494 "2008-12-17T01:11:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2023, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-little-known-trivia-about-popular-songs/477494/121 "2023-10-09T23:48:06Z")
No idea why I remembered this: Commodores got their name randomly from the dictionary: > [@](#): > > To choose their name, William King opened a dictionary and randomly picked a word. “We lucked in,” he remarked with a laugh when telling this story to People magazine. “We almost became ‘The Commodes.’” > **[Commodores](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodores)** > > Commodores, often billed as the Commodores, is an American funk and soul group. The group's most successful period was in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Lionel Richie was the co-lead singer. > The members of the group met as mostly freshmen at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in 1968, and signed with Motown in November 1972, having first caught the public eye opening for the Jackson 5 while on tour. > The band's biggest hit singles are ballads such as "Easy", "Three Times a Lady"... ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2023, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-little-known-trivia-about-popular-songs/477494/122 "2023-10-10T12:05:30Z")
The Canadian band Crowbar was named after they were fired as Ronnie Hawkins’s backup band and Mr Hawkins remarked: “Those boys could fuck up a crowbar in fifteen seconds”. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-little-known-trivia-about-popular-songs/477494/123 "2023-10-11T16:51:11Z")
Another Canadian band, the Guess Who (most famous for “American Woman” ) were originally known as Chad Allan and the Expressions. Their record label released one of their first singles with the band’s name listed as “Guess Who?” as a publicity stunt, perhaps with the idea that the public would think that the song was by a more famous group playing incognito. I don’t know if anyone was actually fooled, but the new name stuck and the band was known as the Guess Who from then on. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-little-known-trivia-about-popular-songs/477494/124 "2023-10-11T21:25:16Z")
By 1969 Paul Revere and the Raiders’ shtick of Revolutionary War costumes and first-glass garage rock was losing its appeal. In an attempt to get their music played on the radio, they tried sending out demo records under the alias Pink Puzz. (The album’s one hit single, “Let Me” clearly sounded like old school Raiders, however.) It sort of worked. The group got some FM radio airplay in Los Angeles until the stations discovered who they really were. The group then released the music under the PRR name, but titled the album “Alias Pink Puzz.” Similarly, the single “Deseri” from The Mothers of Invention was originally credited to an unknown doo-wop group called Reuben and the Jets. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-little-known-trivia-about-popular-songs/477494/125 "2023-10-11T22:53:48Z")
The Emmylou Harris song _Boulder to Birmingham_ is about the death of Gram Parsons. The Boomtown Rats song _I Don’t Like Mondays_ is based on a quote from a teenage school shooter, who replied to the question of why she did it with “I don’t like Mondays.” ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-little-known-trivia-about-popular-songs/477494/126 "2023-10-12T00:03:45Z")
There was also a David Bowie version. Apparently, record producers realised the song could be a hit in America, so asked for some english lyrics, Paul Anka wrote the ‘My Way’ version. > **[Even a Fool Learns to Love Bowie lyrics to My Way](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uhoMHDd6uk%2F)** > > Everyone knows "My Way", massive hit for Frank Sinatra. Few know that David Bowie wrote the lyrics to it before producers decided to use Paul Anka's words. H... ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-little-known-trivia-about-popular-songs/477494/127 "2023-10-12T01:32:48Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Similarly, the single “Deseri” from The Mothers of Invention was originally credited to an unknown doo-wop group called Reuben and the Jets. And the album cover asked the question “Is this just The Mothers of Invention recording under another name in a last ditch attempt to get their cruddy music on the radio?” [![](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81HU+YGlsUL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg) ](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81HU+YGlsUL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-little-known-trivia-about-popular-songs/477494/128 "2023-10-13T12:35:06Z")
I may be the only Rolling Stones fan that this trivia was ‘little known’ to, but I just recently heard that the ‘Dead Flowers’ in the titular Stones song refers to heroin. Dead flowers = the dried opium poppy that the drug is derived from. I know, duh, right? It’s not like I’m some innocent just learning “the Stones wrote songs about _ **drugs** _?!? Heavens to Betsy!” There’s clear heroin use _ **right there** _ in the lines: _I’ll be in my basement room_ _with a needle and a spoon_ So I’ve known since I first heard the song that it was at least partially about heroin use. I just always assumed that the ‘dead flowers’ that ‘Little Susie’ sends the singer was some sort of ironic ‘fuck you’ to him. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-little-known-trivia-about-popular-songs/477494/129 "2023-10-13T13:40:00Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I just always assumed that the ‘dead flowers’ that ‘Little Susie’ sends the singer was some sort of ironic ‘fuck you’ to him. The same. “Now that you think you’re better than me, you can act shitty and catty (sending ‘dead flowers’) all you want but I’m not going to really care or let it ruin my memories of who you were (‘put roses on your grave’)” is a much more satisfying read on the song lyrics than “Gimme heroin, gimme more heroin, send heroin to my wedding, I need more heroin now” ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-little-known-trivia-about-popular-songs/477494/130 "2023-10-13T16:10:50Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > By 1969 Paul Revere and the Raiders’ shtick of Revolutionary War costumes and first-glass garage rock was losing its appeal. In an attempt to get their music played on the radio, they tried sending out demo records under the alias Pink Puzz… Here’s the radio spot [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/8-yM7OQDs2A/maxresdefault.jpg "Old Time Radio Commercial Raiders Alias Pink Puzz LP Promo # 1") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-yM7OQDs2A) ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2023, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-little-known-trivia-about-popular-songs/477494/131 "2023-10-14T17:29:49Z")
The name of the CCR song _Green River_ does not come from an actual river, but from a lime flavored soft drink called Green River which I believe is sold mainly in the Chicago area. I remember both the drink and the song from my childhood but didn’t know of the connection until recently. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2023, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-little-known-trivia-about-popular-songs/477494/132 "2023-10-17T18:47:12Z")
**Step On** by **The Happy Mondays** is a cover of **He’s Gonna Step On You Again** by **John Kongos**. Two snippets about the Happy Mondays’ cover: Their recording was originally intended for the compilation _Rubáiyát: Elektra’s 40th Anniversary_ for their US label, Elektra. However, having completed the recording, the decided to keep it for themselves and record something else for Elektra (Kongos’ Tokoloshe Man). Good call - Step On became their biggest hit. The Mondays’ version begins with something not found in the original: > You’re twistin’ my melon man, you know you talk so hip man > You’re twistin’ my melon man, call the cops This it transpires, was a something Steve McQueen used to say. Shaun Ryder is quoted as saying > The documentary [_Steve McQueen: A Man on the Edge_] was first broadcast on PBS in the US in 1988, before it was aired in the UK. Of its influence on ‘Step On’, Ryder told _Uncut_ : “Where did ‘twisting my melon’ come from? A Steve McQueen documentary I saw. Apparently, he used to walk into his director’s office and argue. And there was this guy doing an impression of him saying, ‘Oh man, he’s twisting my melon’. So I thought, ‘Oh, I’ll just have that.’ It’s a great phrase, innit?” Source: [https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/happy-mondays-inspired-steve-mcqueen/](https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/happy-mondays-inspired-steve-mcqueen/) Song: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/mFBQ0PH5rM4/maxresdefault.jpg "Happy Mondays - Step On (Official Music Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFBQ0PH5rM4) j ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-little-known-trivia-about-popular-songs/477494/133 "2023-10-19T03:13:38Z")
The opening guitar riff in **Life in the Fast Lane** originated as a limbering-up exercise Joe Walsh had learned somewhere. When he had just joined the Eagles, he was idly playing that in the rehearsal studio. “What’s that? Did you write it?..So it’s not copyrighted?” And a song was built around it. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-little-known-trivia-about-popular-songs/477494/134 "2023-10-19T09:37:23Z")
So basically, almost exactly like the opening riff of “Sweet Child o’ Mine”. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-little-known-trivia-about-popular-songs/477494/135 "2023-10-19T12:13:35Z")
Except that the “Sweet Child o’ Mine” riff sounds exactly like what it started as, a simple limbering-up riff, and the ‘Fast Lane’ riff sounds like a fully-formed, actual song riff. Guess what I’m saying is, Joe Walsh \> Slash. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-little-known-trivia-about-popular-songs/477494.md?page=6)