4 Hit Songs From Flop Movies
When a pop song is released from a movie, it’s meant to promote the movie. But sometimes the song is a huge hit in its own right…and the movie bombs.
Music
They Did ‘The Monster Mash’
And it was, by all accounts, a graveyard smash. Here is the story of The Original Monster Mash.
The Cassette Makes a Comeback
The mix tape had fallen out of cultural prevalence until the release of last summer’s Guardians of the Galaxy. The movie’s soundtrack is those songs, and it was released, almost in its entirety as an album called Peter Quill’s Awesome Mix Vol. 1.
The 3 Weirdest, Most Inconsequential Conspiracy Theories Of All Time
You’ve got your moon landing hoaxers and JFK assassination theorists, but there are groups out there devoted to exposing the “truth” about anything. And we mean anything.
Another Side of Bob Dylan
“Hidden messages” are typically the sort of thing that rock musicians hide in their songs, and studious individuals track down. This time, the opposite is true.
5 Bands Whose Members Were Romantically Involved
It’s said that musicians play music to, uh, attract others. These musicians didn’t have to go very far.
Impossible Questions: Minnie Pig Edition (Answer)
What musical achievement links Minnie Mouse and Miss Piggy?
They are fictional anthropomorphic characters, of course…and both have performed a duet of “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” with Elton John.
3 Novelty Songs From the ’80s…That Don’t Make Sense Outside of the ’80s
Novelty songs are the product of their times, responding humorously to the concerns of the day…and then they’re quickly forgotten, like these.
(Almost) One Night Only: Bands That Played Lived Extremely Rarely
In 1966, the Beatles decided to quit touring and playing live in favor of crafting intricate albums in the studio. They’d played hundreds of concerts by then—way more than these other bands that probably won’t be coming to your town anytime soon.
The Hard Luck of an ‘American Idol’ Reject
In 1996, Joanna Pacitti was a 12-year-old girl with a tremendous singing voice and landed the title role in a touring production of Annie. Here is another entry in our series on musicians who just couldn’t get the fair shake they deserved.
A Look Back at Early ‘90s NBA Fight Songs
Here’s a truly forgotten fad: NBA teams would release slickly produced rap songs to gear fans up for the playoffs. The songs would be played everywhere—but only in the team’s home city—on the radio, at the games themselves, and proceeds from sales of the tapes would go to charity. Prepare to get nostalgic…and cringe.
5 Stars Who Got Their Start on Talent Shows
You know that Kelly Clarkson got her start as an unknown singing on a TV talent show, but how about the rest of these celebrities?
The Hard Luck of Walter Egan
Another entry in our series on musicians who just couldn’t get the fair shake they deserved.
The Life and Times of the Sexy Sax Man
You probably don’t know who Timmy Cappello is, but you’ve seen his work if you’ve ever seen a movie or TV show with a sexy saxophone player in it.
We Are (Also) the World
It was about 30 years ago that “We Are the World” took the country by storm to raise awareness of—and funds to help combat—African famine. It was among many all-star charity singles at the time. Here are a couple others that time forgot.
Cloning Around: A Dentist’s Quest to Make a New John Lennon
This story was not “imagined” by a “paperback writer.” It’s the honest tooth. It is about a dentist’s quest to clone John Lennon.
“Weird” Numerology: “Weird Al” Yankovic and the Number 27
It started off as a coincidence—perhaps it just has a good rhythm—but the number 27 makes many, many appearances in the works and life of so-hot-right-now parody rock star “Weird Al” Yankovic.
When a Hootie Isn’t a Hootie
Band names can be very misleading. Here are some bands in which many people thought that the name of the band referred to the lead singer…but didn’t.
