# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/161 "2006-05-22T22:03:50Z")
It’s funny to consider that “Mony, Mony” and it’s coarse audience-participation bit is all owed to the **M** utual **O** f **N** ew **Y** ork Insurance Company. [Look.](http://www.tommyjames.com/photoshow.php?g=scrapbook&p=20&frpg=2&f=) ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/162 "2006-05-22T22:16:25Z")
[QUOTE=jsc1953] That is just wonderful…This really makes me wish I knew more Emily Dickinson poems. [/QUOTE] Have a party: [http://www.bartleby.com/113/4027.html](http://www.bartleby.com/113/4027.html) ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/163 "2006-05-22T22:16:32Z")
[QUOTE=edwino] Sting sings backup on Dire Strait’s "Money for Nothing. [/QUOTE] Not only that, but he got co-writing credit because the section he sings… _“I want my… I want my… I want my MTV.”_ is a note-for-note mimic of the Police’s _“Don’t stand so… don’t stand so… don’t stand so close to me.”_ ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/164 "2006-05-22T22:19:07Z")
Paul McCartney’s real first name was James. He changed it because there was already a semi-famous James McCartney in England at the time. [A website listing musician’s given names](http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/realname.html) ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/165 "2006-05-22T22:32:48Z")
In “Loving You” by Minnie Riperton, Minnie sings “…Maya, Maya, Maya…” in the outro. “Maya” isn’t just scat-singing, it’s the name of her [daughter.](http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/bios/Maya_Rudolph.html) ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/166 "2006-05-22T22:40:35Z")
In the intro to Aerosmith’s Sweet Emotion, those aren’t maracas or even a cabasa. Steven was shaking a sugar packet. ---
**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 22, 2006, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/167 "2006-05-22T22:44:42Z")
[QUOTE=Hey you!] Paul McCartney’s real first name was James. He changed it because there was already a semi-famous James McCartney in England at the time. [/QUOTE] I don’t think he ever “changed” it; AFAIK he was always known as Paul, just as his brother Michael has also always been known by his middle name (his first name being Peter). ---
**Author:** ![percussion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@percussion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percussion)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/168 "2006-05-22T22:56:09Z")
[QUOTE=Hey you!] In the intro to Aerosmith’s Sweet Emotion, those aren’t maracas or even a cabasa. Steven was shaking a sugar packet. [/QUOTE] Im really going to need a cite for that.. - Huge aerosmith fan/Percussionist ---
**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 22, 2006, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/169 "2006-05-22T22:57:23Z")
Speaking of McCarney’s brother, Mike McCartney changed his professional name to Mike McGear after the Beatles success so he wouldn’t be making it on Paul’s coattails. He played for a group called Scaffold, the only rock group to have one of their songs reprinted in **The Oxford Book of 20th Century Verse**. The song/poem “Goodbat Nightman” was written by noted poet Roger McGough, a member of Scaffold; McGear is credited, too, so probably helped with the music. The lyrics to Sheryl Crow’s “All I Want to Do” were found by Crow in a poetry book by [Wyn Cooper.](http://www.wyncooper.com/) Crow and her band added music to it, and tracked down Cooper and give him songwriter credit. He’s made somewhere around $50K from it, by far his best payday as a poet. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/170 "2006-05-22T23:10:57Z")
[QUOTE=percussion] Im really going to need a cite for that.. - Huge aerosmith fan/Percussionist [/QUOTE] I heard it on a radio show a long time ago. But in doing a Google search, a number of pages repeat the claim, including this [interview](http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0530/p20s01-almp.html) with Steven Tyler. ---
**Author:** ![krisolov](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/krisolov/32/3724_2.png) [@krisolov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/krisolov)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/171 "2006-05-22T23:11:23Z")
well, Don Maclean (of American Pie fame) tried to steal my dad’s guitar at a folk festival in the 60’s. Other than that, I got nuthin’. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/172 "2006-05-22T23:16:56Z")
Ringo is the only ex-Beatle to have back-to-back #1 hits: “Photograph” and “You’re Sixteen.” ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/173 "2006-05-22T23:19:36Z")
[highjack] This doesn’t really qualify as trivia, but does anyone else think that the background music to “Donkey Kong” arcade game sounds just like the bass line from the Beatles’ “The Ballad of John & Yoko”? [/highjack] ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/174 "2006-05-22T23:21:38Z")
[QUOTE=Hey you!] [highjack] This doesn’t really qualify as trivia, but does anyone else think that the background music to “Donkey Kong” arcade game sounds just like the bass line from the Beatles’ “The Ballad of John & Yoko”? [/highjack] [/QUOTE] It’s a good thing that Apple isn’t the type to file lawsuits. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/175 "2006-05-22T23:25:44Z")
[QUOTE=Hey you!] Ringo is the only ex-Beatle to have back-to-back #1 hits: “Photograph” and “You’re Sixteen.” [/QUOTE] Yeah, but since the other three stopped contributing good songs to his albums, he’s also the only ex-Beatle to have back-to-back _decades_ without a hit record. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/176 "2006-05-22T23:38:43Z")
[QUOTE=Gangster Octopus] The distinctive “Da-dum” guitar in Radiohead’s _Creep_ was an attempt by guitarist Johnny Greenwood to sabotage the song, which he did not really like. [/QUOTE] I’m sure you Radiohead fans already know this, but I was surprised to discover that they retooled the Hollies’ “The Air That I Breathe” for this song. So much so that they gave them partial songwriting credit. ---
**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 23, 2006, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/177 "2006-05-23T01:43:16Z")
More Police trivia… 1. The titles of the first three albums were an attempt to sound foreign and exotic, but in no particular language. So _Outlandos D’Amour_ = Outlaws of Love, _Reggatta de Blanc_ = White Reggae, and _Zenyatta Mondatta_… well, that’s a riff off of Jomo Kenyatta’s name, the concept of “zen,” and Mondatta means “world.” _Zenyatta Mondatta_ was at one time going to be called _Triblondo Mondo Domino_ (Three blonds rule the world.) 2. The members of the band were not naturally light blonds. They dyed their hair to get a gig in a Wrigley’s chewing gum commercial and continued to do so throughout their career. 3. Stewart Copeland’s dad, Miles Copeland, Jr., was a high-ranking CIA operative. Hence, the Copelands grew up in exotic locales like Egypt and Lebanon. The law enforcement theme runs deep in the Copeland brothers’ business ventures: Stewart founded **The Police** ; Miles III founded **IRS** - International Record Syndicate (home of R.E.M.); and Ian founded **FBI** - Frontier Booking International - a management agency. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/178 "2006-05-23T02:15:42Z")
Due to a plagarism allegation, Rod Stewart’s songwriting royalties for the song _Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?_ are donated to the United Nations Children’s Fund. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/179 "2006-05-23T02:22:34Z")
Here’s another Rod Stewart one. The original recording of “Tonight’s The Night” has Britt Ekland cooing and sighing on the coda. After they broke up, a version of this track was issued on a WB Back-To-Back Hits single minus her contribution (I have this one!). Britt threw a fit, and as a result, her cooing and sighing has been reinstated on every issue of that song, ever since. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/180 "2006-05-23T13:00:25Z")
OK, this one’s really weak but it’s all I have: the song “Happy Birthday” is not in the public domain- the rights are owned by two little old ladies (sisters), and if it is used on TV, in the movies, or sung in restaurants, they get royalties. Which is why family restaurants always make up their own cheesy birthday songs for the customers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273.md?page=10)