04-13-2013, 09:30 PM
The only band whose name to start with Z to have a number one hit song in the U.S. was a one hit wonder. They were a duo from Nebraska by the name of Zager and Evans, and in 1969 became famous for their song "In The Year 2525". The song is also odd because they are the only band to release a song that went to number 1 in both the US and UK without ever reaching the top 100 ever again in either country. The released multiple singles and 4 more albums after their big hit also, they just were never able to chart again.
The song "Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel was a thorn in the side of the band Genesis. It kicked their song "Invisible Touch" off the top spot on the Billboard hot 100. It also took music video of the year at the Grammys, beating out the Genesis video "Land of Confusion". What is funnier is the fact Peter Gabriel was the original lead singer of Genesis.
The song "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple is an entirely true story from a time the band was almost killed in a large casino fire watching Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention play a show (Thus the line: "Frank Zappa and the Mothers, they had the best place around"). Someone in the audience shot a flare gun that embedded in the ceiling, starting the fire ("Some stupid with a flare gun, burned the place to the ground.") The song also mentions a hero of the day who saved multiple lives from the rubble despite being covered in burns himself named Claude Nobbs ("That funky Claude was running in and out, pulling kids out of the ground.") The band had planned on recording at the casino, but finished recording the album in a nearby abandoned hotel ("We ended up at the Grand Hotel, it was empty, cold and damp")
The song "Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel was a thorn in the side of the band Genesis. It kicked their song "Invisible Touch" off the top spot on the Billboard hot 100. It also took music video of the year at the Grammys, beating out the Genesis video "Land of Confusion". What is funnier is the fact Peter Gabriel was the original lead singer of Genesis.
The song "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple is an entirely true story from a time the band was almost killed in a large casino fire watching Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention play a show (Thus the line: "Frank Zappa and the Mothers, they had the best place around"). Someone in the audience shot a flare gun that embedded in the ceiling, starting the fire ("Some stupid with a flare gun, burned the place to the ground.") The song also mentions a hero of the day who saved multiple lives from the rubble despite being covered in burns himself named Claude Nobbs ("That funky Claude was running in and out, pulling kids out of the ground.") The band had planned on recording at the casino, but finished recording the album in a nearby abandoned hotel ("We ended up at the Grand Hotel, it was empty, cold and damp")