Rock & Roll Tidbits

Before assembling AC/DC, Malcolm Young played with the Velvet Underground- not THE Velvet Underground; Young’s band mates were Australians who simply stole the name.

One of Motley Crue’s earliest stage gimmicks was to light their pants on fire. Brings new meaning to the term- ‘liar, liar-pants on fire.’

In 1963, the brother and sister team of Nino Tempo and April Stevens took "Deep Purple" to Billboard's number one position. The same song had topped the charts for Larry McClinton in 1939 and would become a #14 hit for Donny and Marie Osmond in 1976.

1950s crooner Perry Como, who scored many hits including "Round and Round", "Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes" and "Hot Diggity", was the seventh son of a seventh son.

The Righteous Brothers' hit "Unchained Melody" was never intended to be a single. It was recorded as an album cut and later pressed on the "B" side of the 45 "Hung On You". When it was released, DJs flipped the disc over and "Unchained Melody" quickly rose to #4 in the US and #1 in the UK.

Barry Manilow recorded his vocal and piano parts for "Mandy" in just one take.

Elvis Presley was a devoted animal lover. He owned dogs, mules, horses, peacocks, chickens, a turkey and had a silly mynah bird that said, “Elvis! Go to hell!”

We all know that Elvis loved his food. “I like it well-done,” the legendary icon stated. “I ain’t ordering a pet.”

While we are on the subject, it seems that rowdy Allman Brother Dickey Betts was out riding his motorcycle one day and he was hungry. So he stopped his machine, jumped a fence and killed a cow. As he was butchering the animal, a cop passed by and quickly arrested the bloody Brother.

The first known million selling recording was by Ben Selvin and his Orchestra. It was a two sided hit featuring "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" and "Darandella", recorded in 1919.

Guitarist Henry Gross, who hit the US charts in 1976 with "Shannon", was one of the founding members of the rock and roll revival group, Sha Na Na.

For the year 2005, the top earning dead celebrity in the US was Elvis Presley, who still generated $45 million worth of business. John Lennon was third with $22 million.

The Beatles 4th UK #1 single, "Can't Buy Me Love", had advanced sales of over 2.1 million, setting the record for the greatest advanced orders in the UK.

The most expensive guitar in the world is a Fender Stratocaster once owned by Eric Clapton. Nicknamed "Blackie", it sold at auction for $959,500. on June 25th, 2004.

In early 1957, RCA Records released two versions of a song called "Young Love", one by Tab Hunter, the other by Sonny James. Both records caught on and by the first week of March, Hunter's rendition was number one in the US, while James' version was number 4.

When Cher topped the Billboard Hot 100 with "Believe" in March, 1999, she became the first female over the age of 50 to have a chart topping record.

When Elvis was drafted into the US Army in March, 1958, his monthly pay went from $100,000 to $78.

Bobby "Boris" Pickett, who topped the Billboard Pop chart in 1962 with "The Monster Mash", once had his tour bus break down outside of a town called Frankenstein, Missouri.

When asked about their controversial hit song "One Toke Over The Line" during an interview with Brewer and Shipley, they said that "toke" had nothing to do with marijuana, but meant token or ticket. Hence the line about "sittin' downtown in a railway station."

When The Beatles' single "Ticket To Ride" was first issued, the fine print under the title said "From the United Artists Release Eight Arms To Hold You", which was the original name for the film Help!