Rock/Pop Tidbits

When Alice Cooper and his band mates auditioned for musician Frank Zappa, he put his hands over his ears and screamed: “Alright, alright I’ll sign you! I’ll sign you! Just stop playing!” He wanted the band to become a comedy act called Alice’s Cookies.

Alice Cooper’s band invited a prospective manager to attend on of their gigs and soon after the group started playing, the crowd of more than 3,000 people got up and left. This actually impressed the manager, he stated, “Do you know how hard it is to get three thousand people to do anything all at once!”

David Bowie proposed to his first wife Angie with the words: “Can you handle the fact that I don’t love you?”

Rocker John Mellencamp was born with spina bifida, a potentially crippling neural tube defect that required surgery and a lengthy hospitalization.

Despite having a long list of hit records to her credit, there were two more that Cher could have had. In 1973 she was offered "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia,” but turned it down. Vicki Lawrence took it to number one. She also had first crack at "Angie Baby" in 1974, but again felt it wasn't her kind of song. Helen Reddy's version would top the US chart.

The Strawberry Alarm Clock had a 1967, number one hit with "Incense and Peppermints.” As a part of their live act, drummer Randy Seol played the bongos with his hands on fire.

Apparently playing guitar for Fleetwood Mac drove musicians crazy. Guitarist Peter Green would cry while watching the TV news, wore white robes onstage and fought very hard to give all the band’s money away to charity. In fact, when the band’s manager tried to present Green with a royalty check, Green attached him with an air rifle and was sent away to a mental hospital.

Fleetwood Mac guitarist Jeremy Spencer was a bit eccentric. He traveled with a tiny bible sewn into the lining of his coat and he filled condoms with milk and would hang them from the pegs of his guitar. In Hawaii, he left the hotel where they were staying, stating: “I’ll be right back.” However, he changed his name to Jonathan and joined a religious cult known as the “Children of God.”

In 1972, Fleetwood Mac guitarist Danny Kirwan got so stressed out that five minutes before a gig, he vanished into a bathroom, bashed his head against the all, smashed his guitar, and stated: “I’m not going on.” He wound up watching the gig from the soundboard and was later admitted to a mental institution.

Before Neil Young joined Crosby, Stills and Nash, the original trio had already asked George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood to become the fourth member of their group.

Paul Simon took the title of his song "Mother and Child Reunion" from the name of a chicken-and-egg dish he saw on a Chinese restaurant's menu.

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch nails really disliked Axl Rose. According to Reznor, the Guns N’ Roses front man was surrounded by people who said things like: “Yes, Mr. Rose, that does smell good, can I flush it for you?”

If you listen carefully to Marvin Gaye's 1971 smash "What's Going On,” you can hear former Detroit Lions Mel Farr and Lem Barney talking and singing in the background.

During the recording of Ted Nugent's 1976 album "Free For All,” singer/guitarist Derek St. Holmes left the band for personal reasons. A singer named Marvin Aday, who would one day be known as Meat Loaf, replaced him on five songs.



After Nino Tempo and April Stevens hastily recorded a song called "Deep Purple", the master tape was sent to Atlantic Records producer Ahmet Ertegun, who said that the effort was not only embarrassing, but the worst thing Nino and April had ever done. After some pressure from Nino, Ertegun gave in and released the song as a single. It quickly soared to #1 on the Billboard Pop chart and enjoyed a twelve week run. The following year it won a Grammy Award for the Best Rock and Roll Recording of 1963.

Although she is mostly remembered for her hit "Stand By Your Man,” country singer Tammy Wynette has been married five times.

In the fall of 1958, Neil Diamond entered New York University on a fencing scholarship.

Brothers Ray and Dave Davies of the Kinks took sibling rivalry to new heights. Dining in a Manhattan establishment in 1971, Dave tried to steal one of Ray’s french fries and was promptly stabbed in the chest with a fork by Ray.