When Creston Spiers and Paul Trudeau were forming Harvey Milk they made a load of musicians wanted ads with a long list of cool bands they were into, like Zappa, Sabbath, etc. One of them argued with the other until they put Kiss on the list as he was a huge fan.

They put one up in a local record store and as they were walking away from the place Stephen Tanner came out the door shouting "Hey, wait up! You guys like Kiss?!"

---

Neil Young and Rick James were in a band together back in Canada before either one became famous. Apparently James even encouraged Young to start singing and go solo as Young wasn't really confident about his voice.

Alice Donut got their name by calling a random phone number and asking a complete stranger what they should call their band.

andyman wrote: Thu Apr 10, 2025 9:01 am Neil Young and Prince were in a band together back in Canada before either one became famous. Apparently Prince even encouraged Young to start singing and go solo as Young wasn't really confident about his voice.

The Myna Birds, though it was Rick James and not Prince. You can find a few tracks on YouTube. It’s honestly not all that great, though perhaps it could’ve become that eventually.

After Television called it quits, Billy Ficca joined The Waitresses. So “Marquee Moon” and “Christmas Wrapping” feature the same drummer.

Toni Basil has one of the most fascinating careers in the arts. She was nearly 40 years old when “Mickey” hit. Prior to that, she choreographed and danced on Shindig! and in Elvis and Monkees movies and appeared in non-dancing small parts in Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces. She also choreographed David Byrne’s famous moves in the “Once in a Lifetime” video.

Wood Goblin wrote: Thu Apr 10, 2025 9:51 am

andyman wrote: Thu Apr 10, 2025 9:01 am Neil Young and Prince were in a band together back in Canada before either one became famous. Apparently Prince even encouraged Young to start singing and go solo as Young wasn't really confident about his voice.

The Myna Birds, though it was Rick James and not Prince. You can find a few tracks on YouTube. It’s honestly not all that great, though perhaps it could’ve become that eventually.

Crap, good catch! I don't know why I thought it was Prince.

From another thread recently: Joe Lally's Fugazi-era Ernie Ball Music Man bass was a gift from Flea.

Another funny Fugazi trivia I remember from an interview somewhere: They said that during the recording of 'Repeater' they were really into 'Infected' by The The.

That D. Boon and Mike Watt met after Boon fell out of a tree near (or was it onto?) Watt.

Mugger—the dogfood-eating former Black Flag roadie, homeless teen runaway, and wild-ass vocalist in the delightfully tongue-in-cheek punk-meal band the Nig-Heist—is now some kinda millionaire investor, father, and Iron Man athlete living in a SoCal gated community.

Wood Goblin wrote: Thu Apr 10, 2025 9:57 am After Television called it quits, Billy Ficca joined The Waitresses. So “Marquee Moon” and “Christmas Wrapping” feature the same drummer.

Billy was also drummer for the Washington Squares! There have to be some other bands he was in then as well.

Some of you already know this one, but after the British band The Zombies broke up, pre-ZZ Top Dusty and Frank toured America as part of an imposter group claiming to be The Zombies and playing their music.

What's more, apparently there was a another fake group touring as The Zombies at the same time... and both were managed by the same company.