I'll start.... The American Breed are best known for their smash single "Bend Me Shape Me." Did you know that the core members of American Breed went on to form.... Rufus featuring Chaka Khan! And now you know. What surprising musical fact do you have for me today?
Dethklok recorded an entire album on water, using H.E.A.R.D., which stands for Hydro-Electric Audio Recordinational Device. Unfortunately in the weeks following the album's mastering, the band ended up drinking the majority of the tracks.
That made me think of one that might be well known around here, but shocked me when I heard it. Jimmy Johnson went AWOL from the Navy and fled to Canada, where he was helped out in a street fight by Levon Helm and Garth Hudson. He became a part of that band for a while before forming the Mynah Birds with Neil Young. He changed his name to Ricky James Matthews to avoid the authorities but was eventually caught and served prison time for draft dodging. About 10 years later he had his first hit as Rick James. So kind of the opposite of the OP.
Joe Satriani sang background vocals on the first Crowded House album. Rick Nielsen played keyboard on the Yardbirds "Ha Ha Said the Clown" George Harrison played guitar on Cheech and Chong's " Basketball Jones'.
John Paul Jones was the arranger on Herman's Hermits "There's a Kind of Hush". Donald Fagen and Walter Becker were once in Jay and the Americans backing band.
I'm not sure how surprising this is per se. Most Bruce fans would probably just say this sums up what we knew all along about the man's drawing power and greatness, but... The Bruce Springsteen Live 1975-1985 5 LP box set, released in 1986, was the first ever five disc release to sell over a million copies. - It also debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 - a rarity that hadn't happened in ten years (the last one was Stevie Wonder's "Songs In The Key Of Life" in 1976). The stunning thing about Bruce's achievement though is his release was a five record set being sold at a high price! - It also reportedly had the highest advance orders in the history of pop music, at that time. - Stores in New York reported that people were actually lined up outside the door the night before it went on sale, and one store sold out their entire stock right off the truck without one copy even making it onto the shelves! Many albums have of course have had anticipated releases or shipped platinum, but I just thought that the fact that a high-priced 5 LP set could do this kind of thing was astonishing. It speaks to the popularity and spell Bruce holds over his many fans. Especially when releasing a live release that largely captured the bulk of his best years on stage.
Edward James Olmos sings backing vocals on Todd Rundgren's Something/Anything? album (on "Slut," I believe).
well he (olmos) was the lead singer for the Pacific Ocean (the biggest thing on the west coast)----another rundgren factoid: he once rented kareem abdul jabbar's house in hawaii to record an album in....
Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga preform together on Lady Gaga's fourth studio album, Cheek to Cheek, which is actually a full on JAZZ record! It seems like no one knows this album exists, and it's incredible!
Music has a history of thousands of years and is performed by people all over the world in every culture, however most people restrict themselves to listen to music from a period of less than 50 years centred around only two countries.
Harry nilsson and George Harrison, on separate nights, joined monty python dressed as Canadian mounties for the lumberjack song during python's mid 70s run at the new York city center. I attended one of the shows but with neither guest as far as I know.
A Christmas Gift For You From Philles Records was released the day President Kennedy was shot (11/22/63). It sold poorly and the single taken from the album, the future perennial Letterman classic Darlene Love - "Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)", failed to chart.
The Cardigans song "Lovefool" was never released as a single in the USA. Months after the song had been released in other parts of the world, promos were sent out in the USA by Mercury Records and the song became a monster radio hit on the back of the success of the Baz Luhrmann film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet (Romeo + Juliet), in which the song had been featured. It was also re-released as a single outside the USA to capitalise on the renewed interest. They even made a less risqué video especially for the US market - but no single was issued: The Cardigans - Lovefool (International Version) »
Punky Meadows was in the band The Cherry People who had a hit called And Suddenly. He went on to play guitar in the band Angel.
