The most interesting pieces of pop music trivia that you know (that are 100% false)

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Not all messages are displayed: show all messages (1679 of them)

45. Luke Vibert stood as a candidate for Fianna Fail in the last Irish elections, missing out on a seat by just 42 votes.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 11 July 2005 22:17 (twenty years ago)

46. Ray Charles lost his eyesight after he and some schoolfriends attempted to emulate a famous scene from the movie Un Chien Andalou.

― Taste the Blood of Scrovula (noodle vague), Monday, 11 July 2005 22:18 (twenty years ago)

48. The Dropkick Murphys invited Anadin.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 11 July 2005 22:19 (twenty years ago)

49. Production chores on Kajagoogoo's 1983 smash "Too Shy" were handled by Professor Julius Norwich.

― Taste the Blood of Scrovula (noodle vague), Monday, 11 July 2005 22:22 (twenty years ago)

50. Bloc Party were originally going to be called The Small Faces, before drummer Matt Tong remembered that he owned a copy of 'Ogden's Nut Gone Flake'. He would later claim that he thought it was by Amen Corner.

― William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Monday, 11 July 2005 22:22 (twenty years ago)

51. Canada's Prime Minister is the lead singer of Moist.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 11 July 2005 22:24 (twenty years ago)

51. The members of Franz Ferdinand, The Bravery, The Killers, The Strokes, and Interpol are all actually incredibly lifelike Russian nesting dolls, called matryoshka, who sought to escape the limited earnings potential of the souvenir industry by forming various 'bands'.

― cdwill, Monday, 11 July 2005 22:24 (twenty years ago)

53. Cave-In and Sparta are actually the same band.

― William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Monday, 11 July 2005 22:26 (twenty years ago)

54. George W. Bush roadied for Black Oak Arkansas on their "Keep the Faith" tour of 1972.

― Taste the Blood of Scrovula (noodle vague), Monday, 11 July 2005 22:27 (twenty years ago)

x-post

52, sorry.

― cdwill, Monday, 11 July 2005 22:29 (twenty years ago)

55. Brody Dalle is a lesbian.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 11 July 2005 22:31 (twenty years ago)

56. Buddy Holly faked his own death and emigrated to England. In a desperate attempt to cover his tracks, he formed Freddie & The Dreamers.

― William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Monday, 11 July 2005 22:34 (twenty years ago)

56. "serge gainsbourg" is actually an elaborate hoax perpetuated by european zionists. there have been numerous "serge gainsbourg"s over the years. the hoax was called off--but not revealed--after the fall of the soviet union, for reasons still unclear.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Monday, 11 July 2005 22:36 (twenty years ago)

58. 'Blinded By The Light' was originally written with the intention of being the theme music for The New Avengers.

― William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Monday, 11 July 2005 22:41 (twenty years ago)

59. Phil Collins wrote that song because he saw that one guy let that other guy die.

60. Marilyn Manson is actually the actor who played the nerd on the Wonder Years.

― Kim (Kim), Monday, 11 July 2005 22:46 (twenty years ago)

61. Aerosmith wrote "Love in an Elevator" after encountering Arthur Lee on the way up to a meeting at the offices of Sony Music in New York.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Monday, 11 July 2005 22:51 (twenty years ago)

7. Gwen Stefani has no idea why those Japanese women are following her around.

I couldn't read past this one because I was laughing too hard.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 11 July 2005 22:51 (twenty years ago)

62. Chicago White Sox third basemen Joe Crede changed the pronounciation of his name from "creed" to "CREE-dee" in 1999, in order to avoid any unfortunate association with the Scott Stapp-led band.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Monday, 11 July 2005 22:53 (twenty years ago)

i think several of these are actually true

― shine headlights on me (electricsound), Monday, 11 July 2005 22:58 (twenty years ago)

Bloc Party were originally going to be called The Small Faces, before drummer Matt Tong remembered that he owned a copy of 'Ogden's Nut Gone Flake'. He would later claim that he thought it was by Amen Corner.

I think this is my new favorite.

― Cunga (Cunga), Monday, 11 July 2005 23:00 (twenty years ago)

63. The 'keyboard sound' on Saint Etienne's version of 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart' was actually a looped sample of Pete Wiggs honking the horn of his Citroen BX outside Neil Tennant's house at 3AM on Christmas morning 1987 in a mildly petty act of revenge for the Pet Shop Boys having kept 'Fairytale Of New York' off the Christmas number one. However, Tennant was not home at the time, and Wiggs therefore decided to incorporate the sound in one of his records "just so the bastard knew." To date, Neil Tennant has never knowingly listened to a Saint Etienne record.

― William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Monday, 11 July 2005 23:04 (twenty years ago)

64. Britney Spears was enrolling at Notre Dame the same fall as I was (I subsequently heard the same thing about Miami of Ohio and Oberlin, so that nicked it).

65. "Fire and Rain" was about how James Taylor's girlfriend died in a fiery plane crash.

66. Billy Corgan played the little kid on that robot girl sitcom "Small Wonder."

― PB, Monday, 11 July 2005 23:09 (twenty years ago)

67. The working title of Blur's "Song 2", was "Mr. Robinson's Day Trip In a Jumbo Jet".

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Monday, 11 July 2005 23:10 (twenty years ago)

68. Billy Corgan played the robot girl on the sitcom "Small Wonder."

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Monday, 11 July 2005 23:10 (twenty years ago)

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA NEW WINNER IS MICHAEL DADDINO

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 11 July 2005 23:11 (twenty years ago)

69. George W. Bush listens to Sigur Ros.

― PB, Monday, 11 July 2005 23:14 (twenty years ago)

70. Rock 'n roll is still strictly outlawed in Liechtenstein on the grounds that The Rubettes were shit.

― William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Monday, 11 July 2005 23:18 (twenty years ago)

71. Kraftwerk had originally intended to write a song about the Giro D'Italia (NOT the Tour de France). However, the idea was scrapped following a series of band-only meetings during which the foursome realized that none of them could speak a word of Italian.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Monday, 11 July 2005 23:28 (twenty years ago)

72. Pavements first UK gig took place at The Working Men's Club in Stoke, according to eye witness reports they were watched by a crowd of six. One of the crowd is said to have described them as "a bit noisy". Stephen Malkmus later explained this odd venue choice in a 1998 Select interview with the words; "y'know it was like what The Fall did."

― elwisty (elwisty), Monday, 11 July 2005 23:29 (twenty years ago)

72. A defective typewriter at the Capitol Records head office is to blame for the Beach Boys' inability to spearhead the "Smurf Music" craze.

73. Geir Hongro is the Seventh Beatle.

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Monday, 11 July 2005 23:30 (twenty years ago)

74. In a 2004 poll the readers of Scandinavian music magazine Yo! Yo! Hot Pop Boys! voted lo fi king Daniel Johnston the 23rd hottest man in the history of pop.

― elwisty (elwisty), Monday, 11 July 2005 23:32 (twenty years ago)

75. The Flaming Lips, sans Wayne Coyne, are the Residents. Coyne doesn't know.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Monday, 11 July 2005 23:37 (twenty years ago)

76. Van Morrison only started making music in the hope that he would one day be famous enough to go out with Sandie Shaw.

― William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Monday, 11 July 2005 23:37 (twenty years ago)

77. Your favourite band are Blood, Sweat, and Tears.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 11 July 2005 23:39 (twenty years ago)

78. The original version of "Scenario (Remix)" featured eight MCs, with the verse from a 13 year old Roy Carroll being cut due to reasons of length.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 11 July 2005 23:41 (twenty years ago)

79. According to a secret newsletter that was leaked to the blogosphere in February 2005, Godspeed You! Black Emperor will change their name to Godspeed, You Black: Emperor the night before the next winter solstice.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Monday, 11 July 2005 23:46 (twenty years ago)

80. An unnamed member of Girls Aloud baffingly insists on writing the groups to write it as "Girls Allowed". This has resulted in a number of financial mishaps. The annonymous member is unrepentant claiming; "I always was against the name, the lacklusture punning was what did for Hear'Say." Adding mysteriously "It is only my correct use of the English language that prevents us from sliding down a slippery slope that ends with us fobbing sob stories to Frank Skinner."

― elwisty (elwisty), Monday, 11 July 2005 23:49 (twenty years ago)

81. Howard Jones would like to get to know you well.

― elwisty (elwisty), Monday, 11 July 2005 23:50 (twenty years ago)

82. Haddaway is the majority shareholder in Yates' Wine Bars.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 11 July 2005 23:58 (twenty years ago)

83. Aphex Twin is really just Paul McCartney's horticulturist, taking the piss. All Aphex Twin records are just Macca screwing around.

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 00:17 (twenty years ago)

84. Aphex Twin is actually an octet.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 00:29 (twenty years ago)

85. "We are the World," despite being one of the best-selling records of its time, never hit #1 in the U.S., having the misfortune of being released during Scritti Politti's thirteen-week reign on the top of the charts with "Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)"

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 00:52 (twenty years ago)

86. Aretha Franklin is 35% nachos.

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 00:58 (twenty years ago)

77. Your favourite band are Blood, Sweat, and Tears.
-- Dom Passantino

My new favourite!

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 01:08 (twenty years ago)

(Piece of trivia, that is.)

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 01:08 (twenty years ago)

God, I wish it were so! re: 85 (Cupid and Psyche!)

― Ian Riese-Moraine: that obscure object of desire. (Eastern Mantra), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 01:12 (twenty years ago)

87. Rod Stewart did not actually sing "Hot Legs". At a hastily arranged recording sesion in 1976 while Rod was having his stomach revived, which everybody already knows about, his sister Kim ( Carnes ) stood in for him and no one could tell the difference.

― jim wentworth (wench), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 01:27 (twenty years ago)

88. will oldham had the tires slashed on his 2001 bentley by nicole hilton after a rough breakup.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 01:32 (twenty years ago)

89. The White Stripes are named after an obscure Estonian terrorist group.

― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 03:24 (twenty years ago)

90. Eminem has a master's in biology from Loyola University.

― Bruce Bwned (Matt Chesnut), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 03:32 (twenty years ago)

Skipping 1579 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

If you were to listen to one Guided by Voices/Robert Pollard song per day, Bob would keep up and you would never finish.

― Hideous Lump, Tuesday, 4 November 2025 21:34 (seven months ago)

^is this false, tho?

― dentist looking too comfortable singing the blues (hardcore dilettante), Saturday, 8 November 2025 02:54 (seven months ago)

two months pass...

Carly Simon spent 1971 obsessively playtesting Atari's upcoming arcade smash Pong, and in her downtime was inspired to write the song You're So Vain, including the withering line "I bet you think that Pong is about you". Simon later reluctantly replaced this line with a confusingly self-referential alternate lyric after risk-averse creator Allan Alcorn reached out to advise her that there were no circumstances in which Pong could ever be about anything.

― Sgt. Biscuits, Sunday, 18 January 2026 21:36 (five months ago)

Awesome fact, Sergeant.

It's interesting that so many of her biggest hits started out as odes to video games.

For example, I heard that the song "Anticipation" was originally called "A New Playstation."

― calmer chameleon (Ye Mad Puffin), Sunday, 18 January 2026 22:16 (five months ago)

two months pass...

Nudie Suits, the wonderfully colorful and gaudy western getups worn by many Country stars from the midcentury onwards, were named in reference to the colorful and gaudy forms of the mollusk order of Nudibranch, which Porter Wagoner was studying while working towards a marine biology degree before his singing career took off.

― bendy, Wednesday, 15 April 2026 14:08 (two months ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.