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

School Band Arrangements: 10 Unusual Choices

As a hard-core band-geek -- Marching Band, Orchestra, Jazz Band, Pit Band -- pretty much whatever band they had going at high school, I know what unusual musical arrangements sound like. I even made a few of my own back in the day. These, however, take un

9 Things You Probably Don't Know About The Beatles

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

What is a Mondegreen?

Long before I ever knew what a mondegreen was, I used to think the lyrics of David Bowie's "Suffragette City" went like this: Hey man, oh leave me alone, you know Hey man, oh Henry, get off the phone, I gotta Hey man, I gotta straighten my face This mal

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

3 Recycled Lyrics

There's something cool about musicians quoting themselves. While there are many more than three examples, these are just some of my favorites. How about you? Let's get a long list going so someone can write a book about the subject. Give us the lyric and

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

3 Pairs of songs played back-to-back on the radio

Before I even get into the subject, let me just state up front: I know there are plenty of other songs that are usually played back-to-back on the radio. These are just some of my favorites. How about you all? Let's hear what some of your favorite pairs a

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.

A cappella is alive and well! 3 great recordings

In Italian, a cappella literally means in chapel style. That's because back in the day, instruments were forbidden in the church (they still are in many orthodox churches, synagogues and mosques). Therefore, all music had to be sung, and only sung. These

On Music: What's Your Default Song?

Loyal readers of this blog will recall my post on default songs, a term I coined that refers to the song you default to when either there's no song in your head, or you want to get a lousy song OUT of your head. Default songs can change as you change, and

On Music: Brahms' Violin Concerto

I finally got around to seeing There Will Be Blood, by the unfairly talented, Paul Thomas Anderson. I'll admit it: I really did love it as much as everyone said I would. But unlike most of the rave reviews I'd heard from friends, it wasn't Daniel Day-Lewi

On Music: the wah-wah pedal

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

7 Songs That Show Off Flangers & Phasers

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: 6 Things You Need to Know about Jean Sibelius

1. Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) is arguably the greatest Finnish composer there has ever been, and perhaps one of the best examples of late Romanticism you can find. 2. He started picking out melodies on the family piano at age 5, but it wasn't until he too