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STRATEGY FOR THE DAY: Be extravagant for five minutes.

Time to play Song Trivia!

Question: What Elvis Presley hit features the melody of an 18th-century French ballad?
Answer: The hit song "Can't Help Falling in Love" sung by Elvis Presley in Blue Hawaii is based on the melody of "Plaisir D'Amour" written in 1775 by Jean-Paul Martini.

Question: What song was almost cut from the classic movie "The Wizard of Oz"?
Answer: One of the greatest ballads ever penned - "Over The Rainbow" - was almost axed. Proving once again that studio execs are a bunch of idiots, the head honchos at MGM felt that a ballad early in the film would slow down the pace and bore the audience. Obviously, the paying customers disagreed.

Question: Who wrote the Hokey Pokey?  
Answer: Although many people think this song is in the public domain, it is not. It was written by Roland Lawrence LaPrise, Charles Macak, and Tafit Baker for a party of skiers in Sun Valley, Idaho. They recorded it under their band name, the Ram Trio, in 1949. It is published by Acuff-Rose Music.

Question: What huge Beatles hit began life with the title "Scrambled Eggs"?
Answer: Paul McCartney wrote the melody for "Yesterday" before he had the lyrics. He used the phrase "scrambled eggs" as a 'dummy lyric' while working out the melody. He also sang it that way for several friends and asked if they recognized the melody. He was trying to determine whether it was original to him or he had unconsciously picked it up somewhere else. George Harrison did exactly that in his song "My Sweet Lord" which used the melody of the Chiffons' 1962 hit, "He's So Fine".

Question: Who wrote the melody of Procol Harum's 1967 rock classic "A Whiter Shade of Pale"?
Answer: Contrary to popular belief, it was not Johann Sebastian Bach, although the melody certainly bears a striking resemblance to Bach's "Air on a G-String." Were Bach still alive, he might have filed a copyright lawsuit as Procol Harum's organ player, Matthew Fisher, did in 2005. Fisher claimed he co-wrote the music for the song and the court agreed. He won the case but it was hollow victory. Although the judge awarded him a 40% share of the copyright, it was NOT retroactive. Just imagine what he would have made if he could have collected almost half of the past royalties on that song!

Question: Where is the real "Hotel California"?
Answer: While there actually is a Hotel California located in Santa Monica, California, and there are several urban myths that are absolutely certain it was a mental hospital or a sinister mansion in Scotland once owned by satanist Alistair Crowley or the Playboy Mansion, the song lyrics themselves are a metaphor for Hollywood life in the 1970's. The hotel on the album's cover, however, fits the bill pretty well, both literally and metaphorically. The Beverly Hills Hotel, aka the Pink Palace, has a long history as a hangout for the rich and famous, a magnet for the kind of characters that appear in the song. Ultra Trivia: The cover photo was taken by David Alexander and John Kosh, who sat in a cherry-picker 60 feet above Sunset Boulevard to get the shot of the hotel at sunset from above the trees. More Ultra-trivia: The hotel was originally owned by my roommate's grandmother, Margaret J. Anderson. I met her on one occasion. She was elderly but still had the air of 'steel and magnolias' that one would expect.

Well, that's about as trivial as it gets. I'm outta here, folks. And so is 2006! Happy New Year!!!

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Read A Brief History Of Love Songs by Robin Frederick at the Sound Experience Music web site.

Copyright 2006 Robin Frederick. All rights reserved.