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Category: Music

By The Generalist Posted on June 22, 2022June 21, 2022

Star Wars disco

At the 1978 Grammy Awards, in the category Best Pop Instrumental Performance, John Williams’ famous Star Wars soundtrack faced off against… a disco funk cover of the Star Wars soundtrack that had outsold and out-charted the original.

Categories: 20th century history, Film & television, Music, North & Central America
By The Generalist Posted on May 19, 2022May 18, 2022

The band prophecy

In the mid-20th century, Austin Wiggin’s mother predicted that her son would have daughters, and those daughters would form a famous band. He did, and they did, in the most surprising way possible.

Categories: 20th century history, Music, North & Central America
By The Generalist Posted on February 23, 2022February 22, 2022

First piano

The arpicembalo (harp-harpsichord) of Bartolomeo Cristofori could play notes both loud and quiet, which the harpsichord could not. It was the first piano.

Categories: Early modern history, Europe, Music, Technology
By The Generalist Posted on February 22, 2022February 22, 2022

The Phony King of England

Disney’s Robin Hood features a song about the “Phony King of England.” That song is based on an old (and very bawdy) English folk ballad about “The Bastard King of England.”

Categories: 20th century history, Europe, Film & television, Music, North & Central America, Politics & law
By The Generalist Posted on February 15, 2022February 14, 2022

Constipation Blues

The blues music genre at its core is about hardship, oppression, and suffering. But it took Screamin’ Jay Hawkins to sing about that real pain down inside.

Categories: 20th century history, Health & medicine, Music, North & Central America
By The Generalist Posted on January 11, 2022January 10, 2022

The Sorabji opus

Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji was so incensed at a poor 1936 performance of his epic work Opus clavicembalisticum (at that time the longest piano piece in history) that he banned it for forty years.

Categories: 20th century history, Europe, Music
By The Generalist Posted on December 27, 2021December 26, 2021

Lords of the Windrush

On June 22, 1948, eight hundred and two African-Caribbean migrants arrived in Britain on the HMT Empire Windrush. Amongst this historic first wave of “reverse colonization” were the soon-to-be-famous calypsonian singer Lord Kitchener.

Categories: 20th century history, Europe, Music, North & Central America
By The Generalist Posted on December 23, 2021December 21, 2021

Posthumous King Wenceslas

The Christmas carol Good King Wenceslas has a deceptive title. The real Wenceslas’ reputation for goodness was mainly posthumous, as was his rank and title. Also he may have been murdered by his brother after a drunken fight.

Categories: Europe, Medieval history, Music, Politics & law, Religion & belief
By The Generalist Posted on December 17, 2021December 16, 2021

Theatre of silence

Andrea Bocelli’s Teatro del Silenzio only hosts one concert a year; every other day, the open-air theatre is silent.

Categories: 21st century history, Architecture, Europe, Music, Theatre
By The Generalist Posted on December 7, 2021December 6, 2021

The riff repeats

The opening riff of Nirvana’s “Come as You Are” bears a strong resemblance to the 1984 song “Eighties”… which in turn bears a strong resemblance to the 1982 song “Life Goes On.”

Categories: 20th century history, Europe, Music, North & Central America
By The Generalist Posted on November 19, 2021November 18, 2021

Stalactite music

Within the Luray Caverns in Virginia, United States, is an electric organ made of stalactites. It literally makes rock music.

Categories: 20th century history, Earth science, Music, North & Central America, Prehistory
By The Generalist Posted on October 14, 2021October 12, 2021

Calypso queen

From 1939 until 1977, the winner of the annual Trinidad calypso competition was crowned the Calypso King. In 1978 Calypso Rose won the title, so they had to change the name.

Categories: 20th century history, Music, North & Central America, Politics & law
By The Generalist Posted on October 1, 2021September 30, 2021

Who was the real Betty Boop?

A 1932 lawsuit attempted to answer the question “who was the real Betty Boop?”

Categories: 20th century history, Film & television, Music, North & Central America, Politics & law
By The Generalist Posted on August 10, 2021August 9, 2021

The pictures of Pictures at an Exhibition

Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky composed Pictures at an Exhibition based on a journey through his late friend’s art exhibit – but what happened to the pictures?

Categories: 19th century history, Art, Europe, Music, North & Central Asia
By The Generalist Posted on August 2, 2021September 9, 2021

Burning a million pounds

In 1994 the art duo K Foundation burned a million pounds in cash. They did it on purpose.

Categories: 20th century history, Art, Europe, Film & television, Music
By The Generalist Posted on July 27, 2021January 25, 2023

The do in do-re-mi

The solfège system teaches Western music scales: do re mi fa sol la ti do. But who is “do”?

Categories: Early modern history, Europe, Medieval history, Music

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