Happy New Year, Happy Same Galactic Year
Today marks the start of another Earth orbit around the sun, but there's also something called the galactic year, and that one just keeps going and going and going.
Chas Newby, Beatle Bassist For Two Weeks
Today in 1960, Chas Newby of Liverpool got a temp job that would he could dine out on for the rest of his life: for two weeks, he played bass for the Beatles.
Pink Floyd’s Inflatable Pig Once Got Loose Over London
Today in 1976, Pink Floyd was trying to take a photo of an inflatable pig flying over a power plant for one of its iconic album covers… only the situation literally got out of hand.
Clyde Stubblefield, Music’s Original Funky Drummer
Today in 1969, at a session for soul and funk icon James Brown, drummer Clyde Stubblefield laid down what's probably the most sampled beat of all time.
The Black Dog That Helped Inspire Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog”
Today in 1971, the release of the fourth Led Zeppelin album. The opening track, "Black Dog," still gets played and shared today, and it got its name from a very unusual visitor to the studio.
In Post-War Yugoslavia, Mariachi Music Was A Huge Hit
For Mexican Independence Day, the story of how Mexican music and movies found fans in a place you might not expect: post-war Yugoslavia.
Musician Gram Parsons’ Remains Went On One Extra Strange Trip
Gram Parsons saw his life take some strange turns... but nothing as strange as what happened in his afterlife.
The Grateful Dead Once Jammed With Live Crickets
Today in 1975, a famous concert by the Grateful Dead at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall. And if you look closely at the credits, you’ll see a peculiar listing that reads “Mickey Hart - percussion and crickets.”
Taco Bell Once Trolled America By Claiming It Had Bought The Liberty Bell
More than two centuries after the first Independence Day, a fast food giant put out fake ads claiming that it had acquired the Liberty Bell to help pay off the national debt.
The Treaty That Ended World War I Also Set The International Standard For Musical Pitch
Today in 1919, the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, which ended the massive conflict known today as World War I and set a lot of postwar international standards, including standard musical pitch.