Weird Music History
The Flintstones (1960-1966)
The familiar theme song, “Meet the Flintstones,” was
not heard until Episode 3 of Season 3. Composed by
Hoyt Curtin, it was recorded with a 22-piece jazz band,
and a five-voice singing group known as the Skip Jacks.
The melody is possibly derived from (or at the least
resembles) the ‘B’ section from the 2nd movement of
Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 17
Source: Wikipedia
The weird history of London music venues
1. Blur got maced by security on stage at Dingwalls
Despite the Camden venue’s punk credentials, their security guards weren’t ready for the on-stage antics of Colchester’s most famous sons. Damon, Alex, Graham and Dave – then known as Seymour – played their first London gig at Dingwalls, and back in the day they were regularly drunk and uncontrollable on stage – which goes some way to explain why security decided to spray the band with mace. The lyrics to Blur's 1992 B-side ‘Mace’ – ‘No-one can see when they get mace in their eyes’ – were presumably drawn from personal experience.
2. The Electric Ballroom used to be a Masonic lodge
It may be hard to believe, but this bastion of the Camden music scene was originally a Masonic lodge with a swimming pool and steam bath. If only these features had been kept they would surely have given the Electric Ballroom the most luxurious backstage area in London.
3. The Beatles played to an all-Jewish audience at the Pigalle Club
On April 21 1963, The Beatles went straight from playing to 10,000 people at Wembley Arena show to a second gig at the Pigalle Club in the West End. Because it was a Jewish charity event and the only advert for the gig had appeared in the Jewish Chronicle, the audience was almost entirely Jewish. (Side-note: that year The Beatles also played Finsbury Park’s Majestic Ballroom – now better known as Rowan’s bowling alley.)
4. REM once played The Borderline as Bingo Hand Job
This small basement venue off Charing Cross Road booked the strangely named Bingo Hand Job for two nights in March 1991, but why were people queuing round the block for tickets? It might have had something to do with the fact that BHJ were actually one of the biggest bands in the world, playing under a sniggery one-off pseudonym. The merch stand even sold Bingo Hand Job hand towels.
Source: Timeout