George Harrison originally wrote “All Those Years Ago” for Ringo. Although he recorded it, Ringo thought it too high for his voice. When John Lennon got murdered, George altered the words and made it a tribute to John. Although the band had split up, all 3 remaining Beatles plus Linda McCartney are are featured on the track.
Sheryl Crow started her singing career as a backup singer on Michael Jackson’s Bad tour; also she was a backup singer on tours for George Harrison, Joe Cocker, and Rod Stewart before starting her solo career.
When Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side Of The Moon” finally fell off of Billboard’s Hot 200 Album list in October 1988, it had set a record of 741 weeks on the chart.
Bob Dylan’s first professional performance was as opening act for John Lee Hooker at Gerde’s Folk City in New York, 1961.
The piano player on Art Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” is Larry Knechtel of the group “Bread”.
Despite all of the hits that they’ve had, The Who have never had a number one record in the UK or the US.
Iron Butterfly’s hit “In A Gadda Da Vida”, was originally called “In The Garden of Eden”. Singer Doug Ingle, was so trashed on LSD one rehearsal that it came out “In A Gadda Da Vida”, and the band decided that was a better name for the song.
Elvis Costello worked as a computer operator for a cosmetics company while trying to make it as a musician and in 1977 he was arrested for performing outside a Hilton Hotel where there was a conference of Columbia Records executives. Shortly after he was signed to that label.
Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys died in 1983, he drowned while swimming near his boat in California, US; Ronald Reagan, then President of America gave special permission so Dennis’s body could be buried at sea
Pink Floyd were the first band to use a quadraphonic sound system at their concerts. Using 4 different channels of audio, it was an early version of surround sound.
I Fought The Law, a hit for The Clash was written by Sonny Curtis of Buddy Holly’s Crickets.
The Animals 1964 single ‘House Of The Rising Sun’ was the first Number 1 to have a playing time of more than four minutes.
At the end of the Beatles’ song “A Day in the Life,” an ultrasonic whistle, audible only to dogs, was recorded by Paul McCartney for his old English sheepdog “Martha”.
In 1955, while still at Brooklyn’s Abraham Lincoln High School, Neil Sedaka formed the group The Tokens (originally called the Linc-Tones). Neil recorded their debut single, “While I Dream” before he left the band in 1957, who went on to have the major hit in 1961 with “The Lion Sleeps To-night”.
The first video to premier on MTV was ” Video Killed The Radio Star” by Buggles on August 1st 1981. The most aired video in MTV’s history is Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer”.