Quora: What song names have the coolest origin stories?

06 Feb 2024 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in General Posts Tags: ,

(Answered by Amy Christa Ernano)

My favorite is probably “For What It’s Worth”, by Buffalo Springfield.

Then-21-year-old Stephen Stills wrote the song in December of 1966 (and while many think it’s an antiwar song, it’s actually about the Sunset Strip curfew riots in Los Angeles that November), but when he presented it to Atlantic Records executive Ahmet Ertegun, it still didn’t have a title. Stills simply told Ertegun, “I have a song here, for what it’s worth, if you want it”.

Ertegun took that for the name of the song, and ultimately, it stuck, even though the phrase “for what it’s worth” has no relation or significance whatsoever to the song itself or its subject matter. The song’s refrain “Stop, Hey, What’s That Sound?” was subsequently added in parentheses to make it easier to recognize.

“For What It’s Worth” reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1967, and now, 53 years later, it’s perhaps one of the most iconic protest songs ever written.

The Top 20 Music Artists Who Put Out Only Two Albums, Ranked

06 Feb 2024 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in General Posts Tags:

(via Goldmine magazine) by Martin Popoff

On this day back in 1986, not so super supergroup The Firm issued their second and final album, Mean Business. So it got me thinking, who are the better bands or artists out there who put out just two studio albums and were gone? Longtime Goldmine writer Martin Popoff responds. —Pat Prince

Thanks, Pat. This was tough, but a pretty satisfying exercise. And I’m with you, The Firm weren’t so hot, so I’ve got them hanging on for dear life at the bottom. It’s only sensible. By the way, on my debatable and/or honorable mentions list were the likes of Elastica, Dead Cross, Witchfinder General (yeah, I know, a late cheat album), Red Dragon Cartel, Fist (the NWOBHM one), Kerbdog, Nailbomb, Killer be Killed, Syd Barrett, Tin Machine, Whitford St. Holmes, British Lion, Brian May, Chickenfoot, Walter Becker and Arcade. Don’t rake me over the coals if some of these happened to put out some late reunion thing. I didn’t vet them completely, given that they weren’t making the Top 20. But enough about them. Here’s the Top 20 two-album acts of all time (says I). —Martin Popoff

20. The Firm

Weird, but elastic bass maven Tony Franklin figures twice in this list. Here, he’s teamed up with Jimmy Page, Paul Rodgers and Manfred Mann drummer Chris Slade, and the results are weirdly stodgy and starchy, not impressing anyone, save perhaps for funky semi-disco novelty hit “Radioactive.” The first one went gold, pretty much from curiosity, and the second one, Mean Business died a death.

19. Damn Yankees

Damn Yankees consisted of future Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Michael Cartellone, Jack Blades from Night Ranger, Tommy Shaw from Styx plus The Whackmaster, The Tedinator, Deadly Tedly, otherwise known as Uncle Ted. Their completely and shamelessly hair metal debut went double platinum and their second and last, Don’t Tread, went gold. A third was shelved because everybody hated it. It’s become legend.

18. Streets

I quite appreciated the modern direction of Steve Walsh’s Schemer-Dreamer as well as Kansas’ Drastic Measures, and this fits right into that Sammy Hagar/Aldo Nova/Night Ranger/ Blue Öyster Cult The Revolution by Night zone. Streets featured as its rhythm section local drummer Tim Gehrt and future Kansas bassist Billy Greer, but the principles are City Boy guitarist Mike Slamer and Kansas vocalist Steve Walsh. What they come up with on their two albums is punchy ‘80s pop metal that is lively, catchy and guitar-charged, with the highpoint being their very first song, a chunky and quite likeable moderate hit called “If Love Should Go.”

Read more: https://www.goldminemag.com/music-history/the-top-20-music-artists-who-put-out-only-two-albums-ranked?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=https%3A//d31hzlhk6di2h5.cloudfront.net/20240205/79/d9/d9/1c/89eb2a0eb4fbc06ba0449250_1200x392.jpg&utm_campaign=UA-3083859-2

Video of the Week: Kansas ‘Miracles Out of Nowhere’ Full Documentary

05 Feb 2024 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Video of the Week Tags: ,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I53Y57OcRlo

Quora: What was Iron Butterfly referring to in the song ‘In A Gadda Da Vida’?

05 Feb 2024 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in General Posts Tags: ,

(Answered by James O’Connor)

Doug Ingle, keyboardist and vocalist for Iron Butterfly, wrote this tune and played it for Ron Bushy, the band’s drummer, who wrote it down as Doug slurred through his lyric, “In the Garden Of Eden”, after having consumed a gallon of Red Mountain wine. So the mondegreen stuck and became the accepted title and lyric to the song.

Considered one of the first Heavy Metal songs in Rock history, it was heavy psychedelic chaos and side two of the band’s second LP in 1968, clocking in at over 17 minutes. Since its release, it has become one of the most famous pieces in Rock history.

Quora: In the song ‘I Am The Walrus’, I’ve noticed that there is some sort of dialogue in the middle and at the end of the song which sounds like it comes from some sort of show or movie. Where exactly did The Beatles get the clips from?

05 Feb 2024 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in General Posts Tags: , ,

(Answered by Max Gretinski)

John Lennon happened to be present (on September 29, 1967) when the first mono mixes of the song were being made. He decided at one point to switch on the radio, and to mix in a broadcast of whatever was playing at the time. It happened to be a radio performance of Shakespeare’s King Lear, with John Gielgud playing Lear.

When the radio switched on, the play was at Act IV, scene vi. Oswald eventually dies in that scene.
In the earlier portion, they mix the radio in only at the end of lines:

“I am the egg man.” (mix in radio)
“They are the egg men.” (mix in radio)
“I am the walrus. Goo goo goo joob.” (mix in radio)

The lines that got mixed in are the ones that appear highlighted here.

During the song’s fade, Lennon simply had them mix in the radio from a certain point on. We hear a fight, and then …

They fade the song out just after the line, “Sit you down, father; rest you” — which creates a rather appropriate ending.

Video of the Week: ‘The Sound of Music’ Cast Returns to Salzburg for a 50th Anniversary Celebration

04 Feb 2024 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Video of the Week Tags:

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