50 Fun Facts About Alternative Rock

Which organization's name did a young Jack White mishear, giving The White Stripes the title of a stadium anthem?

The Salvation Army became 'Seven Nation Army' to a small boy in Detroit. Jack White kept the mishearing as a title, and sports crowds now chant the song's riff note for note.

Nirvana's breakthrough single 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' unknowingly took its title from a brand of which product?

Deodorant called Teen Spirit inspired a joke that a friend wrote on Kurt Cobain's wall. He read it as a revolutionary slogan and only learned it was a brand months after the single came out.

Which country legend's 2002 cover of Nine Inch Nails' 'Hurt' led Trent Reznor to say the song was no longer his?

Johnny Cash won over a wary Trent Reznor, who had feared the idea of the cover sounded gimmicky. Reznor later praised the recording for its sincerity and meaning.

Weezer's 'Buddy Holly' video, directed by Spike Jonze, drops the band into the diner from which classic sitcom?

Happy Days footage was spliced with the band playing at Arnold's Drive-In, and cast member Al Molinaro introduced them in character. Microsoft then shipped the video on the Windows 95 CD-ROM.

Which Glasgow band behind 'Take Me Out' picked its name after watching a racehorse win a big race in 2001?

Franz Ferdinand saw a horse called Archduke Ferdinand win the Northumberland Plate in 2001. Talk turned to the real archduke, whose assassination helped set off World War I, and the alliteration sealed it.

A 1988 Pixies song reached a new generation by playing over the final scene of which 1999 film?

Fight Club ends with 'Where Is My Mind?' playing over its last scene. Black Francis wrote the song at university after a small fish kept trailing him while he was scuba diving in the Caribbean.

The Verve gave up the royalties to 'Bitter Sweet Symphony' over an orchestral sample of a song by which band?

The Rolling Stones song 'The Last Time', in an orchestral version, supplied the sample, and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards took the writing credits. They handed them back to Richard Ashcroft in 2019.

Which instrument was Peter Buck teaching himself when he stumbled on the riff for R.E.M.'s 'Losing My Religion'?

Mandolin practice tapes gave the band its biggest hit: Buck found the riff among recordings of himself learning the instrument. The title is a Southern expression for losing one's temper.

Which band did Blur's Damon Albarn form with comic artist Jamie Hewlett, who draws its four members?

Gorillaz came out of an evening watching MTV, which the pair found empty of substance. Their answer was a virtual band of four fictional members, with Albarn supplying the voice of singer 2-D.

A 2009 Facebook campaign sent Rage Against the Machine to the UK Christmas number one to protest which TV talent show?

The X Factor winner had taken the Christmas top spot four years running when DJ Jon Morter and his wife Tracy began the campaign. 'Killing in the Name' won the race, and Simon Cowell called the stunt cynical.

The cover of Nirvana's album 'Nevermind' shows a swimming baby reaching for what object on a fishhook?

A dollar bill hangs just out of the baby's reach. Within months the album had replaced Michael Jackson's 'Dangerous' at the top of the Billboard chart, in January 1992.

Which band began as a one-man project, with Dave Grohl playing nearly every instrument on its 1995 debut album?

Foo Fighters was a name Dave Grohl took from a UFO book so that nobody would guess the tape was his alone. World War II airmen had used the term for unidentified flying objects.

Which Manchester band, led by brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher, played to 125,000 fans a night at Knebworth in 1996?

Oasis drew 250,000 people across two August nights, then the largest outdoor concerts in UK history. The brothers' public feuds kept them in the tabloids for the rest of the decade.

Which California punk trio started a mud fight with the crowd at Woodstock '94 while touring the album 'Dookie'?

Green Day's set ended in an infamous mud fight, and 'Dookie' went on to diamond sales in the US. In 2010 a later album, 'American Idiot', opened as a Broadway musical.

Which US city was home to the label Sub Pop and the bands Soundgarden, Mudhoney and Alice in Chains?

Seattle became a brand in Sub Pop's hands: the label set out to market a 'Seattle sound', much as Motown had done for Detroit. Sales of Nirvana's 'Bleach' helped keep it going for years.

Which Canadian singer won the Album of the Year Grammy for 'Jagged Little Pill', her furious 1995 breakthrough?

Alanis Morissette was the youngest artist to have won Album of the Year at the time. The record also took Best Rock Album, and its single 'You Oughta Know' won Best Rock Song.

Which band, formed by students at University College London, broke through in 2000 with the single 'Yellow'?

Coldplay first went by Big Fat Noises and then Starfish. The singer and guitarist had met in their first week at university in September 1996.

Which Las Vegas band behind 'Mr. Brightside' took its name from a fictional group in a New Order music video?

The Killers appear as a made-up band in the video for New Order's 'Crystal', a song Brandon Flowers loved. He and guitarist Dave Keuning borrowed the name when they formed the group in 2001.

Which Los Angeles band, anchored by bassist Flea, reached number two in the US with the ballad 'Under the Bridge'?

Red Hot Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis wrote it as a private poem and thought it too emotional for the band. Producer Rick Rubin found it in his notebook and urged him to record it.

Which touring festival did Perry Farrell launch in 1991 as a farewell for his band Jane's Addiction?

Lollapalooza took its name from an old-fashioned word Farrell said he had heard in a Three Stooges short, though nobody has found the scene. The tour outlived the farewell and settled in Chicago in 2005.

Which Radiohead album was first released in 2007 as a download that fans could pay any price for?

In Rainbows was the first pay-what-you-want release by a major act, and it set off a debate about what recorded music is worth. Radiohead never used the system again.

Which singer fronted both Soundgarden and Audioslave and performed the theme song for the Bond film 'Casino Royale'?

Chris Cornell co-wrote 'You Know My Name' with the film's composer for the 2006 opening titles. Audioslave teamed him with three members of Rage Against the Machine.

Which Irish band's singer Dolores O'Riordan wrote the 1994 protest song 'Zombie' about two children killed by a bomb?

The Cranberries recorded it after IRA bombs hidden in litter bins exploded in Warrington, England, in 1993. It later became a stadium anthem for teams from the band's hometown, Limerick.

Which California band, first called Xero and then Hybrid Theory, kept that second name as the title of its debut album?

Linkin Park's debut went on to diamond sales in the US. Its earliest demos were made in Mike Shinoda's bedroom, when the band was still called Xero.

R.E.M. and the B-52's both came out of the music scene in which Georgia college town?

Athens gave R.E.M. its first stage in April 1980: a friend's birthday party in a church building where members of the band were living. Its bassist and drummer had played together since high school in Macon.

Which mid-1990s UK movement, led by Blur, Pulp and Suede, was seen as a reaction against American grunge?

Britpop groups sang in regional accents about British places and everyday culture. That was a deliberate contrast with the darker American rock that had taken over the charts.

Which post-punk band regrouped as New Order after singer Ian Curtis died on the eve of a first American tour?

Joy Division had been together only four years when Curtis died at 23. The three survivors added keyboardist Gillian Gilbert and returned under the new name within months.

Nirvana's 'MTV Unplugged' set featured 'The Man Who Sold the World', a cover of a song by which artist?

David Bowie's song was one of several covers in a set built mainly on lesser-known material. Nirvana also played songs by Lead Belly, the Vaselines and their guests the Meat Puppets.

Which ska-punk band fronted by Gwen Stefani named the album 'Tragic Kingdom' after a teacher's nickname for Disneyland?

No Doubt grew up in Anaheim, California, the home of Disneyland, and the nickname came from guitarist Tom Dumont's seventh-grade teacher. The album went on to diamond sales.

Which Sheffield band's 2006 debut became the fastest-selling debut album in British chart history at the time?

Arctic Monkeys sold more than 360,000 copies in the first week, outselling the rest of the top 20 combined. The songs sketch teenage nights out in their home city, from bouncers to taxi queues.

Which grunge band, first named after basketball player Mookie Blaylock, took on Ticketmaster over its service charges?

Pearl Jam found a service charge had been added to tickets for two charity shows in Chicago, then refused to play venues tied to the company. Almost no other bands joined the boycott.

Which Chicago band led by Billy Corgan made the diamond-selling double album 'Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness'?

The Smashing Pumpkins planned a double album from the outset, partly inspired by the Beatles' self-titled double record. Its singles included '1979' and 'Tonight, Tonight'.

Which artist broke through with the slacker anthem 'Loser', recorded at a hip-hop producer's home?

Beck judged himself the worst rapper in the world when producer Carl Stephenson played the tape back, and that verdict became the chorus. He had been trying to rap like Public Enemy's Chuck D.

Which English band behind 'Just Like Heaven' and 'Friday I'm in Love' began with school friends in the town of Crawley?

The Cure's founders met at Notre Dame Middle School, and early gigs went out under the name Easy Cure. The album 'Wish' later reached number one in the UK and number two in the US.

Which Manchester band paired singer Morrissey with guitarist Johnny Marr and chose its name for sounding ordinary?

The Smiths got going when Marr turned up unannounced on Morrissey's doorstep, copying the way songwriters Leiber and Stoller had met. Morrissey called the name the most ordinary he could find.

Which Ohio duo took its name from a tragic plot point in Arthur Miller's 1947 play 'All My Sons'?

Twenty One Pilots is the number of airmen who die after the play's main character ships faulty aircraft parts. Singer Tyler Joseph was struck by its choice between the easy decision and the right one.

Which singer won the first Grammy for alternative music in 1991 but refused to attend or accept the award?

Sinéad O'Connor wrote an open letter to the Recording Academy accusing the industry of prizing material values over art. Her winning album held 'Nothing Compares 2 U', a song written by Prince.

Which 1995 single by the Gallagher brothers' band borrows its title from a George Harrison solo album?

Wonderwall takes its name from Harrison's album 'Wonderwall Music'. Noel Gallagher has described the song as being about an imaginary friend who comes to save you from yourself.

Which New York band's 2001 debut 'Is This It' had its cover photo replaced for the American release?

The Strokes swapped a photo of a gloved hand on a woman's hip for an image of particle tracks in a bubble chamber. After September 11 the US edition also dropped the song 'New York City Cops'.

Fall Out Boy took its name, after a vote among friends, from a character in which animated TV series?

The Simpsons had two die-hard fans in the band, Joe Trohman and Patrick Stump, so the name stuck. It had won a vote among friends over a short list of other ideas.

Radiohead, first called On a Friday, renamed itself after a song by which New York band?

Talking Heads put the song 'Radio Head' on their 1986 album 'True Stories'. The English group had been named for its rehearsal day at school until its label, EMI, asked for a change.

Weezer's self-titled 'Blue Album' was produced by Ric Ocasek, the frontman of which new wave band?

The Cars' singer had the younger band move their guitar pickups from the neck to the bridge for a brighter sound. Most of the album was recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York in 1993.

Which singer's 1994 album 'Grace' includes a celebrated cover of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah'?

Jeff Buckley made only one studio album before he drowned while swimming in the Wolf River in 1997. His 'Hallelujah' reached number two in the UK singles chart in 2008.

Which Canadian band won the 2011 Album of the Year Grammy for 'The Suburbs', inspired by a childhood near Houston?

Arcade Fire recorded much of it at the Montreal home of Win Butler and Régine Chassagne. The songs look back on the Butler brothers' upbringing in The Woodlands, Texas.

Which genre links My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive and Ride, bands of the early 1990s known for washes of guitar effects?

Shoegaze began as an insult: in 1991 music executive Andy Ross mocked bands whose motionless guitarists looked down at their effects pedals. The British music press spread the name.

Which band did 'Nevermind' producer Butch Vig form in Madison, Wisconsin, with Scottish singer Shirley Manson?

Garbage found Manson after guitarist Steve Marker saw her previous band, Angelfish, on MTV's '120 Minutes'. The name came from a friend's hostile verdict on an early recording.

Which band is named after a Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band song performed in the Beatles film 'Magical Mystery Tour'?

Death Cab for Cutie was written by Neil Innes and Vivian Stanshall for the Bonzos' 1967 debut album. Singer Ben Gibbard borrowed the title when the band formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997.

Which engineer and Shellac frontman recorded Nirvana's 'In Utero' and refused royalties on every album he worked on?

Steve Albini charged a fixed fee instead, so even hit records earned him little afterward. He also engineered the Pixies' 'Surfer Rosa' and PJ Harvey's 'Rid of Me'.

Which Minnesota punk trio, led by Bob Mould and Grant Hart, took its name from a 1950s memory board game?

Hüsker Dü means 'do you remember?' in Danish and Norwegian. The trio hit on it at a rehearsal while shouting any foreign words they could recall in place of a song's French lines.

Which band's 'Peek-a-Boo' was the first number one on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart in 1988?

Siouxsie and the Banshees held the top spot for two weeks on a chart that began with just 30 positions. Billboard later renamed it Alternative Songs and then Alternative Airplay.