1. Andrew W.K.
Teenage Andrew W.K. ran an Ann Arbor tape label called Rockside BK, which boasted such bands as Hot Milk, Stormy Rodent and the Malt Lickers, and The Portly Boys. The bands only existed as outlandish descriptions in an ornate handmade catalog. Only when someone ordered a tape — which happened twice — would Andrew write and record the music by himself.
2. Aretha Franklin
When Aretha Franklin recorded Amazing Grace at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church, attendees included Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts.
3. Kanye West
The original album title of Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was Good Ass Job.
4. Michael Jackson
Artist Gella De photoshops images to depict her and (an always older) Michael Jackson as lovers:
5. Sigur Rós
The nonsensical language heard on Sigur Rós's ( ) has only about thirty distinct syllables. For comparison, Japanese has around a hundred. English has over three thousand.
6. The Afghan Whigs
Elektra A&R Director Terry Tolkin, who claims to have coined the term "alternative music," attempted to sabotage The Afghan Whigs – a band he was paid to promote - by collaborating on the Fat Greg Dulli zine.
7. David Bowie
Brian Eno and David Bowie used "oblique strategy cards" to write "Warszawa." Watch the below cartoon for a semi-factual reenactment:
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Catch the David Bowie Is exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
8. Oasis
Did Oasis rip off an Italian acid house track in "Columbia"? Compare and Contrast.
9. Beach Boys
In the mid '60s, teens in communist Hungary would use home tape recorders to record Beach Boys songs broadcasted on Radio Free Europe, then secretly use state-owned recording facilities to transfer the music onto "discs" made of discarded x-rays, and then barter, sell, and trade the makeshift records throughout the country.
10. J Dilla
J Dilla enjoyed watching Napoleon Dynamite while he was in the hospital; he watched it "at least 15 times," according to a friend.
11. Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath's Masters of Reality by John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats is the #1 Bestseller in Heavy Metal Musician Biographies on Amazon.
12. The Beatles
The Beatles roof-top concert at Apple Records headquarters, their final performance and centerpiece of the Let It Be film, was named the greatest concert of all time by Rolling Stone.
The concert was originally going to happen in a ruined Roman Amphitheater in North Africa with an audience of 1,000 saffron-robed locals...
13. Elton John
When Bobbie Gentry hosted her own variety show on the BBC in 1968, one of her back-up singers was a guy named Reggie White, later known as Elton John.
14. Ween
If you're a fan of Ween's "Mister, Would You Please Help My Pony?" you can thank a fan who showed up to a Seattle gig with a gallon jug of mushroom tea, which was an immediate hit backstage.
15. James Brown
The screaming audience on James Brown's Live at the Apollo wasn't actually listening to James Brown in New York City: most of the cheers and applause came from the crowd at a sock hop in Cincinnati, recorded by the album's mastering engineer Chuck Seitz.
16. A Tribe Called Quest
The Fugees sampled A Tribe Called Quest's "Bonita" for their cover of Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly."
17. Madness
Despite having only one Number One hit, Madness spent more weeks on the UK singles charts than any other group in the 1980s.
18. Captain Beefheart
Before he wrote his 33 1/3 on Captain Beefheart, author Kevin Courier was fired as a film critic from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for not being "consumer-friendly."
19. Radiohead
Thom Yorke apparently almost drowned when he jumped into a pool after performing at an MTV beach party event in The Hamptons.
20. Aphex Twin
In advance of the release of Selected Ambient Works Volume II, Aphex Twin's record labels released a single. That single, titled "On," ended up not being on the album, but that the video was directed by Jarvis Cocker of the band Pulp.
21. Nas
There is only one guest rapper on Nas's Illmatic: AZ.
22. Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, known for this ukulele version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," weighed over 500 pounds and had to have his aloha shirts custom-made.
23. AC/DC
Bon Scott says "Shazbot Na-Nu Na-Nu" at the end of Highway To Hell because he was a big fan of Mork and Mindy.
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