[226]

In 2021, this band announced a 12-point plan to cut their carbon footprint of touring by 50%.
This included crating dance floor that generates electricity when fans jump up and down, to having cut down on air travel.
Over the last 3 years, they have achieved 59% reduction in direct CO2e emissions, planted 7 million trees & reused 86% LED wristbands at their concerts.
Can you identify the band?

Show Answer
Coldplay
Read More about their climate related initiatives.
You can also check out their Sustainability Website.

[196]

X is a song published in late 1800s and has previously been called the most recognizable song by Guinness World Records.
Despite its popularity the song was copyrighted by Warner Music Group, and has entered public domain only since 2015.
Identify the song.

Show Answer
Happy Birthday to You
Read More about the unique history of the song.

[194]

David Bowie 1980 single “Ashes to Ashes” was the first to start this trend. Since then Janet Jackson and Britney Spears are featured at top with six songs each. Michael Jackson and Ayumi Hamasaki have five each, while Madonna has 3 appearances in top 5.
Michael & Janet Jackson currently hold the top spot.
What am I talking about?

Show Answer
Most expensive music videos made.
The top 5 list includes (adjusted for inflation):
Scream by Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson for $14m
Express Yourself by Madonna for  $12m
Die Another Day by Madonna for $10m
Bedtime Story by Madonna for $10m
Estranged by  Guns N' Roses for $10m
Here's the Complete List.

[132]

On February 25, 1998, world-famous opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti was all set to perform the aria Nessun dorma from Giacomo Puccini’s opera Turandot at the 1998 Grammy Awards. That evening, after the show had already begun, he became too ill to perform as planned (which was frustratingly common with Pavarotti — he was called the “king of cancellations”). The producers of the show were desperate to find a way to fill Pavarotti’s time slot and approached X, who was also scheduled to perform one of their own wildly iconic hits that night.

X asked to listen to Pavarotti’s rehearsal once and agreed on the spot to perform in Pavarotti’s stead, with almost none of the meticulous prep that a performance this complex would’ve required – and they absolutely nailed it. Over a billion people worldwide watched the performance, and X was met with an instant standing ovation. X went on to record the aria and perform it live several more times in later years, most notably for Pope Francis in 2015.

Who is X?

Show Answer
Aretha Franklin, who was set to perform her smash-hit version of Otis Redding's Respect. To be fair, Aretha was good friends with Pavarotti and had performed the aria two nights prior at the annual MusiCares event, so she was technically prepared to do it, but this being the Grammys, she absolutely knocked it out of the park.

[122]

Apeks, Atomic Aquatics, Cressi, Mares, Sherwood, and Zeagle are all popular brands of scuba regulators — but arguably the oldest and best known is another brand that shares its name with a famous 1971 rock “concept” album (and its title song).

What brand?

Show Answer
Aqua-Lung, the first commercially successful scuba system that stemmed from a prototype designed and patented by none other than oceanographer Jacques Cousteau himself.

Aqua-Lung also lent its name to the seminal rock album (and song) Aqualung by Jethro Tull. According to frontman Ian Anderson, the inspiration for the name sparked when he saw a homeless man with breathing problems and likened him to the scuba-diving main character from the TV show Sea Hunt (who was wearing an Aqualung).

[114]

Following a rather tepid album release in 1986, influential English artist X had a bit of a brainwave and released a seventh solo album titled (in Cyrillic) СНОВА В СССР in 1988, consisting entirely of live-in-studio covers of older (English) rock and roll songs, and distributed only in the Soviet Union on the Soviet government-run Melodiya label.

Soon after, though, copies of the album began popping up outside the Soviet bloc (which, in a way, had been X’s initial intention), going for anywhere between $100-$250 in the US and up to £500 in the UK. This eventually led to a global release of the album in 1991, notably with the title misprinted as “СНОВА Б СССР”.

Who is X?

Show Answer
Paul McCartney, or "Пол Маккартни", as his name appears on the album cover.

"Снова в СССР" translates to "Back in the USSR" in English. McCartney had originally wanted to release the album outside of the usual distribution channels in the UK to make it look like copies were being smuggled in from the USSR, but his record label refused to allow that, so he decided to release it in the USSR itself as a gesture of peace, in keeping with the concept of glasnost.

Despite "Back in the USSR" being the title of a 1968 Beatles track, there are no Beatles songs on this album.

[108]

St. Burchardi Church is a nearly thousand-year old church in Halberstadt, Germany, just a short walk away from the famed Halberstadt Cathedral.

https://universes.art/fileadmin/_processed_/5/5/csm_02-IMG_5807-A_b232ff6011.jpg

On February 5, 2024, fans flocked to the church to bear witness to a moment they’d been waiting for for two years. Another such moment is expected to occur in 2026, and there will be quite a few more after that.

What’s going on behind that unassuming stone face?

Show Answer
A specially built organ in the church is currently playing a performance of the musical piece As Slow As Possible by composer John Cage (best known for his experimental piece 4'33" - 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence and ambient noise.) The performance is expected to last 639 years, having begun in 2001 and set to end on September 4, 2640.

February 5th this year marked the first time in exactly two years that a new note was played, and the next note change is expected on August 5, 2026.

 

[84]

What is the common thread here?

When pop went Desi - Seniors TodayStream Nazia Hassan - Disco Deewane (Tribal Mix) DJ Vipul by Vipul Pawar | Listen online for free on SoundCloudundefined

Show Answer
All three were produced by British Indian producer and composer Biddu Appaiah, who also engineered Nazia Hassan's meteoric rise to fame with Aap Jaisa Koi.

Fun fact: Biddu's production style inspired two of his session musicians to found the new wave band The Buggles, whose greatest hit was Video Killed The Radio Star -- which in turn "inspired" Bappi Lahiri to knock out Koi Yahaan Naache Naache from 1982's Disco Dancer.

Full circle.