ON-MUSIC

5 Legendary Keyboards (and the Songs They Made Famous)

[This post was originally published on August 4th, 2008] These days, there's no distinguishing one keyboard from the next because all they really do is act as computer trigger devices. But in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and even the early 90s, keyboards and their

9 Things You Probably Don't Know About The Beatles

Today is 09/09/09, and you know what that

6 Legendary Guitars/RIP Les Paul

[It is with sadness that we report Les Paul's death today, at the age of 94. I had the pleasure of meeting Les a couple times when I was playing guitar with Pat Martino. Pat and Les were good friends, and the three of us had drinks once when Les had his s

5 Cover tunes that rank with the originals

Some of you may recall my post last year about original recordings that were better than their covers. Well now it's time to honor some covers that, at least by my way of thinking, rank right up there with the originals. Unfortunately, the floss is no lon

4 Stories about 4 musicians who married their cousins

We've written before about famous folk who married their cousins. But it's such a great subject, and there are more stories to tell, so we thought we'd dive back in with another post today, and keep the focus on famous musicians. 1. Igor

Introducing: Nadia Sirota (and the chance to win a free album!)

Ed. note: If you missed our first post earlier this week on New Amsterdam Records, be sure to check it out here. Part 2 in the mini-series, on Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, can be found this-a-way. Today, we continue with Part 3 by introducing you t

Introducing: Darcy James Argue's Secret Society

Ed. note: If you missed our first post on New Amsterdam Records yesterday, be sure to check it out here. Today, we continue with Part 2 of our little series by introducing you to one of their exciting, new artists, Darcy James Argue. By the way, Darcy and

How to Start a Record Label, with New Amsterdam Records

Ed. note: We love New Amsterdam records, so we're thrilled to be teaming up with them. This Thursday night from 6-8 pm, mental_floss is co-hosting a party at the Galapagos Arts Space called Pollinate with a whole bunch of exciting arts groups. The Wassaic

The strange history of "Mahna Mahna"

Who doesn't love that great song "Mahna Mahna" from Sesame Street? As funny as it is earwormy, as adorable as it is cool, the song appeals to each generation anew and never gets tiring. But guess what? Neither Sesame Street nor The Muppet Show can take cr

The instrument behind the adults on the Peanuts

Ever wonder what instrument was used to make that funny sound of the adults talking on the Peanuts cartoons? It's a trombone with the rubber end of a toilet plunger over the instrument's bell. By opening and closing the plunger with the hand, thereby allo

7 Planets, as composed by Holst

The English composer Gustav Holst completed his most famous work, The Planets, about 15 years before Pluto was discovered. The piece was inspired by astrology, not astronomy (though he wasn't eager to reveal his main influences because the most famous ast

Kevin Winter / Getty Images for Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest / EA SPORTS BOWL

6 Pop songs that Rip Off Classical Music

Musicians have always taken inspiration from each other, but sometimes it's a little too on the nose.

7 Songs That Show Off Flangers & Phasers

All this month I'll be looking at some of the more popular audio signal processing effects out there, which I'm sure you'll recognize from some of the most successful songs ever recorded. Impress your friends next time one of these babies comes on the rad

6 Songs that are Hard to Dance to (and 1 that isn't)

Most pop songs are written in what is known as 4/4 time, meaning the quarter note is equal to one beat and there are 4 beats in every bar of music. Because of this, when a band plays in concert, you'll often here a drummer count 1, 2, 3, 4 before starting

On Music: 7 Songs with Fewer Than 35 Words

I love me a song with a lot of words in it. For example, Genesis wrote one in the 1970s called "Supper's Ready" that has a whopping 997 words - that's a whole lotta lyric. At the other end of the spectrum are the ones with supper minimalistic lyrics. Als

On Music: Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" - Was it partly plagiarized?

Was the unofficial national anthem of the United States lifted from a couple different sources? Consider the following: In 1906 a trio of Irish songwriters scored a minor vaudeville hit with the song "When Mose with his Nose Leads the Band." An eighteen

On Music: 5 Peculiar Instruments

My interest in musical oddities dates back to high school, when I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to invent an original instrument. The closest I ever came was an alarm clock that could almost play do-re-mi on command. I say almost because it st

Hulton Archive / Stringer (Getty Images)

5 Famous Christmas Songs Written by Jewish Songwriters

Some of the most famous Christmas songs are actually written by people who don't even celebrate Christmas!

On Music: Three Rock Stars who Died Choking on Vomit (and a 4th who might have)

Ransom broke new ground a couple weeks ago with his, shall we say, colorful Big D. With one mighty post, he flushed away taboos, opening up new avenues for us to write about. So, with a nod to the big R, here's one on vomit, particularly rock stars who've

Weekend Word Wrap: Your Default Song

I'm nearly certain I've invented something original here and wanted to share it for two reasons: a) how many times do you really get to be self-congratulatory in life, eh? And b) if I'm wrong, and someone else has already coined this phrase, I'm hoping on