# What's your favorite random piece of musical trivia? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 18, 2006, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273 "2006-05-18T16:25:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/101 "2006-05-19T21:14:12Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] Herman’s Hermits two biggest hits were both accidental. … The other time he needed a short song to fill some vinyl he reverted to a silly ditty he and his band used to sing whenever they played a teenaged girl’s birthday or batmitzvah or graduation party or whatever, “Mrs. [hostess’s surname] You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter”. (On an interview program he talked about how hard it was when the girl was named something really long like Shostakovich or whatever, but they did it.) He went with “Brown” because it was generic and he had friends named Brown and never expected anybody to like the song anyway but it way outsold the expected hits. [/quote] Well, maybe. But when I first read this it sounded as if they had written the song. They didn’t. [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004OCPR/104-4748366-7635906?v=glance&n=5174](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004OCPR/104-4748366-7635906?v=glance&n=5174) > [@](#): > > The song, written by Trevor Peacock, was written for a television play starring Tom Courtenay, and originally sounded like it should be performed in an English music hall. But for Herman’s Hermits the song was stripped down to a simple banjo accompaniment in order to better feature Noone’s simple and rather shy vocals, complete with his Manchester accent. Ironically, the song was not released in the United States but disc jockeys started playing it and a single version was rushed out. > [@sampiro](#): > > Once they needed a flip side and another time they needed filler for an album (I forget which was which), but for one Peter “Herman” Noone remembered an old drinking song his grandpa used to sing about a widow who married 8 men named Henry, so he called him up and asked how it went pretty much as a lark and recorded it, and of course it was a huge hit. Absolutely not. Mrs. Brown came out _before_ Henry the Eighth, which was included on their next album as a true music hall song to respond to the [14 million copies Mrs. Brown sold](http://www.answers.com/herman's%20hermits). And for the trivia, who was Mrs. Brown’s daughter in the movie version? Sarah Caldwell. Hah. The trivia mavens amongst you probably thought I was going to say a greyhound because the movie was about a racing dog. But the dog’s name was Mrs. Brown. Sarah Caldwell played girl-next-door Judy Brown, daughter of Mona Washbourne who played Mrs. George Brown. Don’t worry, **sampiro**. If you remember 60s trivia correctly, you weren’t really there. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/102 "2006-05-19T22:00:22Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] “Elton” comes from saxophone player Elton Dean, who played with Soft Machine and other British groups. “John” is from Long John Baldry, a British blues singer. [/QUOTE] Both of whom died within the last ten months. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/103 "2006-05-19T23:08:27Z")
[QUOTE=Gangster Octopus] Well here is a [link](http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/soldonsong/songlibrary/creep.shtml) that supports what I said. But apart from an actual quote from one of the bandmembers, it is hard to say whther this is urban legend or not. [/QUOTE] Yep - my Googling supports your statement. I read what I countered with in a music magazine way back in '93 when Pablo Honey came out, so can’t come back with a counter-cite… ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/104 "2006-05-19T23:26:29Z")
The Beatles appeared on an episode of **Dr. Who** (“The Chase” with the First Doctor). It was taken from one of their other BBC appearances and written into the story: Vicki sees the performance and says she really doesn’t like classical music. The Mothers added “of Invention” to their name on the insistance of the record company. Hot Tuna also changed their name; they originally called themselves “Hot Shit.” Singer-songwriter Janis Ian is an active member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and has at least [seven stories](http://www.janisian.com/scifi.html) published in pro anthologies. ---
**Author:** ![mojave66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mojave66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mojave66)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/105 "2006-05-19T23:58:49Z")
More Dolly & Porter trivia: When Wagoner was in his 70’s, he was so in debt he was literally impoverished. Parton bought the whole Porter Wagoner songbook for a couple of million, mainly to ensure that he wasn’t destitute in his old age. The first time Hank Williams sung at the Grand Ol’ Opry he did seven encores with only one song-- “Hey Good Lookin’.” Bonnie Owens was married to both Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. Although she had lived in Missouri since the 70’s, she died only weeks after Buck Owens did. Rose Maddox started singing with The Maddox Bros and Rose at the age of 11. The radio station wouldn’t hire The Maddox Brothers without a girl singer, so despite her only knowing the lyrics of three songs, Rose was drafted. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/106 "2006-05-20T00:52:57Z")
[QUOTE=edwino] … Three of the founding members of the Turtles (treacly sweet “Happy Together”) joined Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention. They were contractually prohibited from using the name “The Turtles” so they referred to themselves as “Flo and Eddie.” … [/QUOTE] “Flo and Eddie” sing backing vocals on the Bruce Springsteen song “Hungry Heart”. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/107 "2006-05-20T01:02:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders was in a band with at least one member of DEVO back in Ohio - Mark Mothersbaugh? - called SatSunMat, which was short for “Saturday Sunday Matinee” which is what they did to kill time as kids… Chrissie was also in an early version of The Clash and The Damned, I believe… Sting wrote most of what became the Synchronicity album at the same desk where Ian Fleming wrote the James Bond novels, in Jamaica. ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/108 "2006-05-20T01:18:46Z")
[QUOTE=Laughing Lagomorph] “Flo and Eddie” sing backing vocals on the Bruce Springsteen song “Hungry Heart”. [/QUOTE] … as well as on the **Psychedelic Furs’** _Love My Way_. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/109 "2006-05-20T05:56:51Z")
In the movie _To Have and To Have Not_, nineteen year old Lauren BaCall sings a song while standing at a piano played by Hoagy Carmichael. Her voice was dubbed by another teenager – Andy Williams. ---
**Author:** ![edwino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/110 "2006-05-20T06:15:12Z")
Liz Phair sings backup on Sheryl Crow’s “Soak Up the Sun.” Sting sings backup on Dire Strait’s “Money for Nothing.” Laurie Anderson’s “Excellent Birds” with Peter Gabriel became Peter Gabriel’s “This Is The Picture” with Laurie Anderson. Brigitte Bardot’s then-husband Gunter Sachs (who has made some news recently with “scientific” studies of astrology) forbid her from singing with Serge Gainsbourg on his song “Je T’aime…Moi Non Plus.” She was replaced by his lover, Jane Birkin. ---
**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:** [May 20, 2006, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/111 "2006-05-20T06:35:05Z")
Rod Argent had a group that began with **A** (rgent) and a group that began with **Z** (ombies). ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/112 "2006-05-20T07:17:04Z")
> [@](#): > > **blueserge** : Bagdasarian is the “songwriter over there in the studio apartment” in Rear Window. One of the pretty girls that joins him is Kathryn Grant who soon became Mrs. Bing Crosby. > [@](#): > > **Ceejaytee** : Barry Manilow’s “Could It Be Magic” is based on Chopin’s Prelude in C Minor (Opus 28, No. 20). Another that he recorded, “All By Myself,” was written by Eric Carmen with a great deal of assistance from Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Piano Concerto. Much of the old standard [“Moonlight in Vermont”](http://www.spiritofsinatra.com/pages/Lyrics/m/Moonlight_In_Vermont.htm) by John Blackburn is made up of haiku. For example: > [@](#): > > Pennies in a stream > Falling leaves, a sycamore > Moonlight in Vermont ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/113 "2006-05-20T11:46:37Z")
[QUOTE=Zoe] … Another that he recorded, “All By Myself,” was written by Eric Carmen with a great deal of assistance from Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Piano Concerto. …: [/QUOTE] Are you sure Manilow recorded this? The only version I am aware of is the one recorded by Carmen himself. ---
**Author:** ![blueserge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@blueserge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blueserge)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/114 "2006-05-20T12:06:58Z")
[QUOTE=Zoe] In the movie _To Have and To Have Not_, nineteen year old Lauren BaCall sings a song while standing at a piano played by Hoagy Carmichael. Her voice was dubbed by another teenager – Andy Williams. [/QUOTE] The legend lives on. > [@](#): > > **Andy Williams dubbed Lauren Bacall’s singing** > According to legend, Andy Williams sang for Bacall in _To Have and Have Not_. Not true. According to _Bogart_, by (A. M.) Sperber & (Eric) Lax, “Some later accounts alleged that the actual singing was done by a very young Andy Williams, dubbed in for Bacall. But studio memos and production reports make it clear that the voice in the film is her own.” [http://bogart-tribute.net/legends.shtml](http://bogart-tribute.net/legends.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/115 "2006-05-20T18:21:38Z")
[QUOTE=Zoe] Much of the old standard [“Moonlight in Vermont”](http://www.spiritofsinatra.com/pages/Lyrics/m/Moonlight_In_Vermont.htm) by John Blackburn is made up of haiku. [/QUOTE] That’s nuthin’—the entire song “Bob” by Weird Al Yankovic is made up of palindromes. ---
**Author:** ![marque\_elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71c47a/32.png) [@marque\_elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marque_elf)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/116 "2006-05-20T21:27:47Z")
John Prine wrote a song titled “Goof Old World” which had as its working title “if the whole world was as flat as an oyster, everyone would be happy as a clam.” The song’s lyric are almost all cliches. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/117 "2006-05-20T21:31:25Z")
[QUOTE=Hippy Hollow] Chrissie was also in an early version of The Clash and The Damned, I believe… Sting wrote most of what became the Synchronicity album at the same desk where Ian Fleming wrote the James Bond novels, in Jamaica. [/QUOTE] No, but she rehearsed with Mick Jones, before The Clash was formed. Possibly apocryphal: She was briefly engaged to Sid Vicious. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/118 "2006-05-21T01:07:22Z")
Young-Holt Unlimited had a big hit in the late 60’s with the instumental “Soulful Strut”. The exact tune, with vocals added, was previously a hit for Barbara Acklin as “Am I the Same Girl” (later covered by Swing out Sister). ---
**Author:** ![Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ass_For_A_Hat)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/119 "2006-05-21T03:08:00Z")
[QUOTE=WordMan] Yep - my Googling supports your statement. I read what I countered with in a music magazine way back in '93 when Pablo Honey came out, so can’t come back with a counter-cite… [/QUOTE] For what it’s worth…I remember seeing a television interview with Thom Yorke from back when Pablo Honey came out, and he told a story that was pretty much the same as the one you referenced. Jonny had a habit of checking that his guitar was live by making that “ka-chunk” sound. They thought it was a cool sound and decided to put it on the record. Dunno if it’s really true, but I definitely remember hearing the story. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/120 "2006-05-21T04:07:47Z")
I never believed the “sabotage” story w/r/t Creep - they came to hate the song, I’m sure, but they were nobodies when they recorded it and I don’t think they would have screwed up their own work. Either way, I think we can all agree it’s the coolest part of the song. 😉 [QUOTE=Ceejaytee] Billy Joel’s “This Night” is based on Beethoven’s “Pathetique.” Beethoven even got a songwriting credit for it. Barry Manilow’s “Could It Be Magic” is based on Chopin’s Prelude in C Minor (Opus 28, No. 20). [/QUOTE] The Beatles’ “Because” is, more or less, based on the chords of Moonlight Sonata played backwards. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273.md?page=7)