100 Fun Facts About 70s Rock

Which band released an untitled 1971 album marked by four symbols, one chosen by each member?

Led Zeppelin left both its name and any title off the sleeve, so the record picked up names instead: Led Zeppelin IV, Four Symbols or 'Zoso', after the way Jimmy Page's symbol reads.

Despite constant FM airplay, what was true of 'Stairway to Heaven' in the United States in the 1970s?

Never sold as a single in the US: radio stations got promotional copies, and anyone else who wanted the song had to buy the whole album.

Who wrote the first lyrics of 'Stairway to Heaven' beside a log fire at Headley Grange?

Robert Plant was sitting by the fire with pencil and paper when, he recalled, his hand suddenly began writing out the opening lines; much of the lyric came that same evening.

What was the title of John Bonham's drum-solo showcase, often 20 minutes long live?

Moby Dick sent the rest of the band offstage for a break while Bonham soloed, at times dropping his sticks to play the drums with his bare hands.

Who designed the prism sleeve of The Dark Side of the Moon?

Storm Thorgerson's studio, Hipgnosis, was answering Richard Wright's request for something 'simple and bold'; offered several designs, the band chose the prism at once and unanimously.

Who suggested session singer Clare Torry for Pink Floyd's 'The Great Gig in the Sky'?

Alan Parsons, the album's engineer, brought in Torry, who improvised the wordless vocal for a flat £30; a 2005 settlement finally gave her a co-writing credit.

Over which power station did Pink Floyd float an inflatable pig for the Animals cover?

Battersea made the news when the pig broke its moorings during the shoot, drifted through Heathrow's flight lanes and came down that night on a farm in Kent.

Which former Pink Floyd member unexpectedly visited the studio during the Wish You Were Here sessions?

Syd Barrett arrived overweight, with his head and eyebrows shaved, and his old bandmates did not recognise him at first; the album's 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond' is their tribute to him.

What was Pink Floyd's only UK and US number-one single?

Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2 has a chorus sung by 23 pupils from a London school near the studio; in 2004 a royalties agent began tracing the grown-up singers so they could claim payment.

What returned Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' to UK number one in 1991?

Freddie Mercury's death that November prompted a reissue whose proceeds went to the Terrence Higgins Trust, an AIDS charity; the single had already spent nine weeks on top in 1975–76.

In which country is Rockfield, near Monmouth, where Queen began recording 'Bohemian Rhapsody' in 1975?

Wales: the first sessions were at Rockfield, a studio in converted farm buildings; the opera section's roughly 180 overdubs wore the tape so thin that Brian May could see light through it.

Which guitarist joined the Eagles for Hotel California, replacing Bernie Leadon?

Joe Walsh and Don Felder play the long guitar duel that closes the album's title track, taking turns on lead before harmonising together.

The Eagles' founding members had all been recruited as band members by which singer?

Linda Ronstadt hired them for her backing band in 1971, and the future Eagles first shared a stage behind her at a Disneyland concert before all appearing on her 1972 album.

Which album was the first ever to receive the RIAA's new Platinum certification in 1976?

Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) took the first award because record sales had grown so much that the RIAA added Platinum in 1976, for albums shipping a million copies.

Which Fleetwood Mac album won Album of the Year at the 1978 Grammys?

Rumours was recorded while the band's couples were breaking up, and the members turned the splits into songs such as 'Dreams' and 'Go Your Own Way'.

Which two musicians joined Fleetwood Mac for their 1975 self-titled album?

Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks came as a pair: Mick Fleetwood heard their duo album at a studio and invited the guitarist, who agreed only on condition that his partner joined too.

A fire during whose concert inspired 'Smoke on the Water'?

Frank Zappa and the Mothers were playing when someone fired a flare gun at the ceiling; the lyric's 'Funky Claude' is the festival director who helped pull fans out of the burning hall.

In which Swiss town did the casino fire of 'Smoke on the Water' happen in 1971?

Montreux's casino burned down just before the band was due to record there, so they made the album in a hotel closed for the winter, using the Rolling Stones' mobile studio.

Which band did Guinness list as the world's loudest after a 1972 London concert?

Deep Purple earned the listing at the Rainbow Theatre, where the sound was measured at 117 decibels and three people in the audience are said to have passed out.

Which Black Sabbath single was the band's only UK top-ten hit, reaching number four in 1970?

Paranoid was written in the studio in under half an hour as a three-minute filler for the album, with Ozzy Osbourne reading the lyrics off a sheet as he sang.

Who replaced Ozzy Osbourne as Black Sabbath's singer after he was fired in 1979?

Ronnie James Dio wanted his own answer to Ozzy's peace signs, so he greeted fans with the 'devil horns' and made the salute famous; he said his Italian grandmother used the gesture against the evil eye.

Which Southern rock band's plane crashed in 1977, days after releasing Street Survivors?

Lynyrd Skynyrd's chartered plane ran out of fuel over Mississippi, killing singer Ronnie Van Zant and five others; the label then withdrew the album's cover, which showed the band in flames.

'Sweet Home Alabama' was written as a response to songs by which artist?

Neil Young's 'Southern Man' and 'Alabama' drew the reply, but it was no feud: the band's singer often wore Neil Young T-shirts on stage, and Young later wrote that 'Alabama' deserved the shot.

Who's Next grew out of which abandoned Who rock-opera project?

Lifehouse was Pete Townshend's science-fiction rock opera, shelved when he could not get it finished; the band salvaged eight of its songs, 'Baba O'Riley' among them, for a conventional album.

In which country did the Rolling Stones, living as tax exiles, hold the main sessions for Exile on Main St.?

France: owing more tax than they could pay, the band left Britain in 1971 and recorded through the night in the basement of Nellcôte, a villa Keith Richards rented in the south of the country.

On the Born to Run cover, Springsteen leans on the shoulder of which E Street Band member?

Clarence Clemons, the band's saxophonist, came to the shoot because Springsteen wanted him on the cover; the photo wraps around the sleeve, so he appears in full only when it is turned over.

Which critic wrote in 1974 of seeing 'rock and roll future' in Springsteen?

Jon Landau wrote the line in Boston's Real Paper, then crossed from critic to insider: he co-produced Born to Run and went on to manage Springsteen.

Roughly how much did the Ramones' 1976 debut album cost to record?

About $6,400 was a tiny budget even then, so producer Craig Leon and the band finished the whole album in a single week in January 1976.

Which New York City borough, home to the Forest Hills neighborhood, produced the Ramones in 1974?

Queens: the four met around Forest Hills and all took the same stage surname, borrowed from 'Paul Ramon', an alias once used by Paul McCartney.

Which album was the only studio LP the Sex Pistols ever released?

Never Mind the Bollocks came out in October 1977, and a Nottingham record-shop manager was arrested for displaying its title; a court found him not guilty, and the band split within months.

The Sex Pistols' 'God Save the Queen' came out in the run-up to which 1977 event?

The Silver Jubilee: on the Jubilee holiday the band tried to play the song from a boat on the Thames beside Parliament, and police arrested several of the party when it docked.

Which member of the Clash wrote and sang 'The Guns of Brixton' on London Calling?

Paul Simonon, the bassist, grew up in Brixton and turned to songwriting after noticing that the songs, not his artwork and clothes designs for the band, were what earned the money.

Who wrote and produced Boston's 1976 debut, largely from demos made in his basement?

Tom Scholz, an MIT-trained engineer, let the label believe the band was recording in Los Angeles while he tracked most of the album alone in his Massachusetts basement.

Frampton Comes Alive! was recorded primarily at which San Francisco venue?

Winterland Ballroom supplied most of the album, which was planned as a single disc until the label suggested recording more shows; the double LP became America's best-selling album of 1976.

Which instrumental on Van Halen's 1978 debut popularized two-handed tapping?

Eruption was not planned for the record: producer Ted Templeman overheard Eddie Van Halen running through it in the studio and decided it belonged on the album.

Which persona did Bowie adopt on 1976's Station to Station?

The Thin White Duke is named in the album's title track; Bowie was using so much cocaine in Los Angeles that he later said he remembered only flashes of making the record.

Who produced AC/DC's Highway to Hell, the first of three albums he made with the band?

Mutt Lange was brought in because the band's American label wanted a producer who could give them a radio-friendly sound; he stayed on to make Back in Black.

Eric Clapton's 'Layla' was inspired by his secret love for the wife of which musician?

George Harrison was Clapton's close friend; Clapton took the title from a Persian tale of a man driven mad by love for a woman he cannot have, and he married Pattie Boyd in 1979.

In which Georgia city did Duane Allman die in a 1971 motorcycle accident?

Macon was the Allman Brothers' home base, and a year later bassist Berry Oakley died there in another motorcycle crash, three blocks from where Duane had been killed.

Which drummer joined Rush in July 1974, two weeks before the band's first US tour?

Neil Peart replaced original drummer John Rutsey after an audition he drove to in a Ford Pinto; he soon became the lyricist too, because his bandmates had little interest in the job.

Which Kiss member breathed fire on stage as 'the Demon'?

Gene Simmons, the bassist, and his bandmates kept their faces hidden behind the make-up for a decade, until the band finally appeared unmasked on MTV in 1983.

Which nickname was given to Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry?

The Toxic Twins got the name in the 1970s for their rampant drug use on and off stage; the singer went through rehab in 1986, just before the band's comeback.

Journey was formed in 1973 by former members of which band?

Santana alumni Gregg Rolie and Neal Schon started it as a backup group for other Bay Area acts, then turned to jazz fusion; the radio hits came only after singer Steve Perry arrived in 1977.

Where did the founders of Talking Heads meet as freshmen?

Byrne and Frantz played in a band called the Artistics there before forming Talking Heads in 1975.

Which artist designed Yes's elaborate album covers?

Roger Dean began with Fragile in 1971 and drew the band's bubble logo; in 2013 he sued director James Cameron, claiming the film Avatar had copied his floating landscapes.

Greg Lake joined Emerson, Lake & Palmer from which band?

King Crimson toured America in 1969 with the Nice on the bill; in San Francisco Lake and the Nice's keyboardist Keith Emerson hit it off and talked about starting a new band.

Who co-wrote Patti Smith's 1978 hit 'Because the Night'?

Bruce Springsteen had left the song unfinished; Jimmy Iovine, who was working on both artists' albums, passed Smith the tape and she wrote her own verses.

Which Janis Joplin single reached number one posthumously in March 1971?

Me and Bobby McGee was written by Kris Kristofferson, who did not know Joplin had recorded it until he was played the tape after her death.

In which city did Jim Morrison die in July 1971?

Paris: Morrison was found dead in his apartment bathtub, and because no autopsy was performed the cause is still disputed; he is buried in the city's Père Lachaise Cemetery.

Which 1971 T. Rex hit was retitled 'Bang a Gong' for its American release?

Get It On was renamed to avoid confusion with a song of the same title by the American band Chase, out the same year; it became T. Rex's only US top-ten hit.

Which Southern rock band took its name from a Jacksonville gym teacher who policed boys' long hair?

Lynyrd Skynyrd respelled the name of teacher Leonard Skinner as a mocking tribute, after guitarist Gary Rossington quit school, tired of being hassled about his hair.

Which comedy team's 1935 film gave Queen the title of their album A Night at the Opera?

The Marx Brothers comedy was watched by the band during the recording sessions, and Groucho later sent Queen a letter praising the follow-up, A Day at the Races.

In which ruined Roman city did Pink Floyd film a 1971 concert with no audience?

Pompeii's deserted amphitheatre was the stage because director Adrian Maben wanted the opposite of crowd-filled films like Woodstock, so only the crew watched.

Which pop artist conceived the working-zipper cover of the Rolling Stones' album Sticky Fingers?

Andy Warhol's zipper really opened, revealing a picture of white briefs, but the sleeve was costly to make and the metal damaged the vinyl inside.

Don McLean's 1971 hit American Pie mourns the 1959 plane crash that killed which early rock star?

Buddy Holly's death reached McLean at 13, when he cut open his bundle of newspapers for delivery and saw the crash in the headlines.

Which Black Sabbath founder lost two fingertips at a factory and played wearing homemade thimbles?

Tony Iommi shaped the thimbles from a melted washing-up liquid bottle, then tuned his guitar down to ease the pain, which gave the band its heavier, darker sound.

Which Kinks single of 1970 had a soft-drink brand name re-recorded so the BBC would play it?

Lola named Coca-Cola in its first take, so Ray Davies flew from New York to London and back in the middle of an American tour to sing a generic drink instead.

Which shock rocker behind 1972's School's Out staged a mock execution by guillotine on tour?

Alice Cooper began as the name of the whole band; singer Vincent Furnier legally made it his own in 1975 before going solo.

Which James Bond film of 1973 took its theme song from Paul McCartney and Wings?

Live and Let Die reunited McCartney with the Beatles' old producer and became the first Bond theme nominated for the Best Original Song Oscar.

Which Rod Stewart hit of 1971 was released as a B-side until radio stations flipped the record?

Maggie May overtook its A-side, Reason to Believe, and went on to top the British and American charts at the same time.

Which piano-playing star sold out two shows at Los Angeles's Dodger Stadium in October 1975?

Elton John was at his commercial peak: earlier that year his Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy had become the first album to enter the US chart at the top.

Which singer, born Marvin Lee Aday, teamed with songwriter Jim Steinman for Bat Out of Hell?

Meat Loaf said the name began at birth, when his father had hospital staff write Meat on the crib of his bright red newborn son.

Which band fronted by Debbie Harry topped the US and UK charts in 1979 with Heart of Glass?

Blondie had toyed with the tune since 1974, trying it as a ballad and as reggae, and for years the band simply called it The Disco Song.

Which debut single by the Knack led the Hot 100 for six weeks and was Billboard's top song of 1979?

My Sharona was written about Sharona Alperin, a teenager singer Doug Fieger had fallen for, and she posed on the single's picture sleeve.

Which Genesis member took over as lead singer after Peter Gabriel left the band in 1975?

Phil Collins had joined as the drummer in 1970, winning the job after memorising the audition pieces while swimming in the pool at Gabriel's parents' house.

Which instrument does Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson famously play while balancing on one leg?

The flute replaced an electric guitar he traded in, and the one-legged pose was a habit carried over from gripping a microphone stand while playing harmonica.

Which guitarist drew eerie drones from his guitar with a cello bow in Led Zeppelin's live shows?

Jimmy Page developed the bowing trick in his days as a session player, then made it a showpiece of the band's long live versions of Dazed and Confused.

Which drummer died in September 1978, three weeks after the release of the Who's album Who Are You?

Keith Moon died from an overdose of a drug meant to ease alcohol withdrawal, in the same London flat where singer Cass Elliot had died.

Which Beatles album, released in May 1970 weeks after the band's break-up, was their last to appear?

Let It Be was mostly taped in early 1969, before Abbey Road, then sat in limbo for a year while bootlegs of its rough mixes passed among fans.

Which reggae star wrote I Shot the Sheriff, which gave Eric Clapton a US chart-topper in 1974?

Bob Marley had released the song with the Wailers on the album Burnin' only a year before Clapton's cover went to the top of the Hot 100.

Which flamboyant singer fronted Van Halen from 1974 until 1985, including their 1978 debut album?

David Lee Roth met Eddie and Alex Van Halen while he was attending Pasadena City College.

Which Aerosmith song from 1975's Toys in the Attic was remade with Run-DMC in 1986?

Walk This Way got its name after the band broke off recording to see a Mel Brooks horror spoof in Times Square, and their producer suggested borrowing a gag from the film.

Which Sex Pistols member replaced original bassist Glen Matlock and died in 1979 at just 21?

Sid Vicious was picked for his attitude; manager Malcolm McLaren claimed Matlock had been thrown out of the band because he liked the Beatles.

New York club CBGB was named for country, bluegrass and which other style its owner hoped to book?

Blues completed Hilly Kristal's plan for the Bowery bar he opened in 1973, but punk and new wave acts such as the Ramones and Television took over its stage instead.

The Clash's London Calling borrows its pink and green lettering from which singer's debut album?

Elvis Presley's self-titled debut had the same pink letters down the side and green across the bottom; the Clash wrapped them around a photo its photographer thought too blurry to use.

Which Texas trio broke through with the 1973 album Tres Hombres and its signature song La Grange?

ZZ Top sang about a real brothel on the edge of the Texas town of La Grange, the same Chicken Ranch behind The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

Which Dire Straits debut single was inspired by a band playing to almost nobody in a south London pub?

Sultans of Swing was the name the pub band announced at the end of its set, and Mark Knopfler was amused by how grand it sounded against their dowdy look.

Which band's 1979 album Breakfast in America shows a diner waitress posing as the Statue of Liberty?

Supertramp's sleeve had actress Kate Murtagh as a waitress called Libby, raising a glass of orange juice in place of the torch, and it won a Grammy for its packaging.

Which Queen member built his Red Special guitar as a teenager with help from his father?

Brian May and his father carved the guitar's neck from the wood of an old fireplace mantel that a family friend was about to throw away.

Which 1973 Mike Oldfield album launched Virgin Records and supplied the theme for The Exorcist?

Tubular Bells was the first release on Richard Branson's new label, and Oldfield, 19 when recording began, played almost all of the instruments himself.

Which Pink Floyd member financed the demo tape that won a teenage Kate Bush her record deal?

David Gilmour got her home recordings from a family friend, was impressed, and paid for a professional demo when she was 16, which led EMI to sign her.

Which Led Zeppelin double album of 1975, the first on their own label, features the epic Kashmir?

Physical Graffiti ran just under three LP sides when finished, so the band stretched it to a double with unreleased tracks from earlier album sessions.

Which 1975 David Bowie single, co-written with John Lennon, became his first US chart-topper?

Fame grew out of a one-day session in New York, where Lennon sang over a guitar riff by Carlos Alomar and Bowie turned what he heard into the title.

Which director filmed the Band's 1976 farewell concert and released it as The Last Waltz?

Martin Scorsese was recommended by the group's former tour manager, who had produced his film Mean Streets; the Thanksgiving show featured over a dozen guests.

Which effect, worked by a tube in the mouth, shapes Peter Frampton's guitar on Show Me the Way?

The talk box pipes the guitar's sound up the tube so the player can shape it with the mouth in front of a microphone, which is how the instrument seems to form words.

Which English factory city, home of Black Sabbath, is credited with shaping heavy metal's sound?

Birmingham's bleak landscape of noisy factories and metalworking shops is credited with inspiring the band's heavy, chugging sound, and the whole genre's with it.

Under which band name did Eric Clapton release the 1970 double album containing Layla?

Derek and the Dominos made only that album, with Duane Allman guesting on slide guitar, and Layla itself took until 1972 to reach the top ten.

Which city's Comiskey Park hosted 1979's Disco Demolition Night, when a DJ blew up disco records?

Chicago's White Sox let shock jock Steve Dahl blow up a crate of records between games; the crowd overran the field and the team had to forfeit the second game.

Which synthesiser player quit Roxy Music in 1973 and went on to pioneer ambient music?

Brian Eno at first worked the mixing desk off-stage at the band's shows, then joined them in front of the crowd in flamboyant costumes and makeup.

Which Hull-born guitarist starred in David Bowie's early-1970s backing band, the Spiders from Mars?

Mick Ronson went on to co-produce Lou Reed's Transformer with Bowie, playing guitar and piano on it and writing its string arrangements.

In which African city did Paul McCartney and Wings record most of the 1973 album Band on the Run?

Lagos proved a rough choice: two band members quit before the flight, and the McCartneys were robbed at knifepoint of a bag of lyrics and demo tapes.

Which university's marching band joined Fleetwood Mac on the 1979 single Tusk?

USC's Trojan Marching Band was drummer Mick Fleetwood's idea, hatched after a local brass band woke him on holiday, and its parts were taped at Dodger Stadium.

Which band's 1976 release New Rose, on Stiff Records, was the first single by a British punk group?

The Damned beat the Sex Pistols' debut single, Anarchy in the U.K., into the shops by about five weeks.

Which Paul Rodgers supergroup's debut was the first US release on Led Zeppelin's Swan Song label?

Bad Company's self-titled debut arrived in June 1974, months before the label threw a lavish Halloween party in the Chislehurst Caves in Kent for its first British release.

Which British band, about to split in 1972, was saved by David Bowie's gift of All the Young Dudes?

Mott the Hoople had already turned down his Suffragette City and told him they had broken up; two hours later he phoned back to say he had written them a new song.

Which New York venue run by Bill Graham hosted the Allman Brothers Band's landmark 1971 live album?

Fillmore East hosted the band for three nights that March, and the album cut from two of them became their artistic and commercial breakthrough.

Which Jackson Browne album was recorded entirely on tour, including in hotel rooms and on the bus?

Running on Empty even includes a song taped aboard the moving tour bus, with the engine audible in the background throughout.

Which 1979 musical comedy film features the Ramones playing themselves?

Rock 'n' Roll High School is set at Vince Lombardi High, where the band's biggest fan, Riff Randell, has a disciplinary record that fills a whole filing cabinet.

In which Ohio city did a crush at the doors before a 1979 concert by the Who kill eleven fans?

Cincinnati answered by banning unassigned festival seating for the next 25 years; only a few of the arena's doors had opened to the waiting crowd.

Which mogul co-founded Asylum Records in 1971 after failing to win Jackson Browne a deal elsewhere?

David Geffen and partner Elliot Roberts were former talent agents; the first act he asked to join, his friend Laura Nyro, backed out, and he said he cried for days.