Comments on: Don't get fooled again

Don't get fooled again

psmealey — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 13:50:10 -0800

What are the greatest hoaxes in rock history? [MP3 links] They Might be Giants' John Flansburg tells John Schaefer what he knows, and Rolling Stone readers weigh in as well. Was it Mama Cass choking on a sandwich? Jack and Meg White as siblings? Paul dead (again)? Keith Richards getting his blood replaced? Or snorting his father's ashes? Oh, wait, that last one was true.

By: Dr-Baa

Dr-Baa — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 13:58:34 -0800

Milli Vanili.

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 13:58:50 -0800

Oh, wait, that last one was true. Or was it?

By: Dr-Baa

Dr-Baa — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 13:59:23 -0800

And by that, I mean "great" as in "quite large" rather than "quite good."

By: Burhanistan

Burhanistan — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:00:18 -0800

One of the greatest hoaxes was tricking people into thinking Foreigner and Journey are separate bands. ducks

By: drezdn

drezdn — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:00:51 -0800

To me, the greatest hoax was that no one realized Britney Spears was actually a 38-year-old pipe fitter from New Jersey named Russ.

By: drezdn

drezdn — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:01:31 -0800

Or, Joey Ramones' faked death and subsequent re-emergence as jonmc.

By: MythMaker

MythMaker — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:01:56 -0800

According this this, Keith Richards was kidding. On preview... sigh.. beaten to it again...

By: Lentrohamsanin

Lentrohamsanin — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:03:40 -0800

That the make up of Golden Smog was a great big secret, and that anyone would actually care when they found out who they were.

By: psmealey

psmealey — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:04:25 -0800

I don't think jonmc is a Ramone. I think he's actually Stiv Bators.

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:05:19 -0800

I didn't see the Rolling Stone follow-up post linked where they give the top 25 myths. Apologies if it was already linked.

By: four panels

four panels — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:07:20 -0800

The Sex Pistols.

By: dios

dios — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:17:49 -0800

I can't believe that the Rolling Stone article calls it a myth that Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil. I wonder how they came to that determination.

By: COBRA!

COBRA! — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:18:20 -0800

That the make up of Golden Smog was a great big secret, and that anyone would actually care when they found out who they were. That sounds perilously close to Golden Smog-disrespect. And if you diss the Smog, you fluff my hogg. my votes for biggest hoaxes: well, Led Zep would like you to believe the shark thing's a hoax, and I suppose it probably is. Also, the myth that Billy Corgan has an ounce of talent is pure bunkum.

By: Dr-Baa

Dr-Baa — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:19:24 -0800

The Sex Pistols. Is a swindle the same as a hoax?

By: COBRA!

COBRA! — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:19:36 -0800

I can't believe that the Rolling Stone article calls it a myth that Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil. I wonder how they came to that determination. Their office is just down the hall, they just walked over and asked Satan if they could look at his receipts.

By: Steven C. Den Beste

Steven C. Den Beste — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:23:30 -0800

Milli Vanilli?

By: eyeballkid

eyeballkid — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:29:20 -0800

Biggest hoax? Radiohead. Also, Xiu Xiu is a joke Pitchfork is playing on you.

By: ZenMasterThis

ZenMasterThis — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:31:54 -0800

Your favorite band hoax sucks.

By: cortex

cortex — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:33:23 -0800

That whole thing where Chris Gaines convinced everybody that he was dead and being impersonated by Garth Brooks was pretty amazing.

By: drezdn

drezdn — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:44:36 -0800

I've got one, Man... Or Astroman's Clone Project tour.

By: drezdn

drezdn — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:44:56 -0800

Though I'm not sure it would actually count as a hoax.

By: teleskiving

teleskiving — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:48:38 -0800

The urban myth about Bob Holness playing the sax solo on "Baker Street" is a bit tame compared to these, but I still remember it fondly.

By: psmealey

psmealey — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:58:26 -0800

The one I had totally forgotten about that they debunked on the radio show was David Bowie playing saxophone on Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side (wasn't him). I also have a distinct recollection of the Rod Stewart/gallon of semen story when I was a kid. That always struck me as gross, stupid and unbelieveable, yet the story was everywhere. Apparently the story was resurrected recently, with Lil Kim in the starring role this time.

By: maxwelton

maxwelton — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:59:15 -0800

John Sex was actually hugely popular, with his own top-rated network TV Show ("The Hustle with the Muscle Hour") and fan club. A vast right-wing conspiracy involving dark satellites and fluoride in the water allowed us to be universally affected by retrograde amnesia that has successfully reduced his influence. That's what I heard, anyway.

By: thirteenkiller

thirteenkiller — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 15:25:48 -0800

Scissor Sisters. A brilliant joke on straight society by gay society.

By: basicchannel

basicchannel — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 15:27:20 -0800

Correction: Lil Kim had 3 gallons of semen in her gizzard.

By: psmealey

psmealey — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 15:31:12 -0800

That's just inflation, basicchannel. 1 gal. 1978 semen = 3 gal. 2001 semen.

By: thirteenkiller

thirteenkiller — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 15:51:37 -0800

How did the semen remain undigested in Lil Kim for 23 years?

By: drjimmy11

drjimmy11 — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 16:02:23 -0800

Keith Moon never drove a car into a swimming pool, or did a lot of those other things (although he did do a lot of crazy things) I'm not so sure about "Jack and Meg White as siblings?" How about "Meg White as a drummer?" And then there's, "grunge as a distinct musical genre and not just poorly-executed, humorless Black Sabbath retreads?"

By: notmydesk

notmydesk — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 16:10:07 -0800

Paul from Wonder Years is Marilyn Manson.

By: 2sheets

2sheets — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 16:14:03 -0800

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

By: Huplescat

Huplescat — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 16:22:14 -0800

Frank Sinatra, the legendary "chairman of the board", once snorted a very dry martini. Michael Jackson, the legendary "king of pop" snorted his own nose. Elvis, "the king", snorted a peanut butter and banana sandwich and three pairs of crotchless snortable panties.

By: tehloki

tehloki — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 16:39:59 -0800

Contrary to popular belief, Elvis was, indeed, not.

By: Listener

Listener — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 16:47:20 -0800

I thought the biggest hoax was drugs and partying are cool, fun, or interesting.

By: tehloki

tehloki — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 16:50:49 -0800

Listener, you're doing it wrong.

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 17:05:03 -0800

Scissor Sisters. A brilliant joke on straight society by gay society. Some would argue that could define "culture" in its entirety that way...

By: deCadmus

deCadmus — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 17:11:07 -0800

> I can't believe that the Rolling Stone article calls it a myth that Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil. I wonder how they came to that determination. In the wide-ranging interview, Dick Cheney denied having ever purchased such a thing. "No. No. No. Shot a lawyer. But never cared for bluesmen." So, there you are.

By: hal9k

hal9k — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 17:17:41 -0800

KLAATU Yeah, yeah, practically need to bank some kind of carbon isotope off that one.

By: piratebowling

piratebowling — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 17:20:42 -0800

My favorite is Bowie and Jagger being caught screwing by Bowie's (now) ex-wife Angela. (It's my favorite because I want it to be true so badly.) The story then continues into Jagger writing "Angie" about her.

By: Devils Rancher

Devils Rancher — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 18:56:57 -0800

Well, it's not a hoax, but the persistent myth that Iggy Pop smashes a bottle and slashes his chest with the shards regularly as part of his stage act -- I had the opportunity to ask him about that in 1978. He said basically "Oh, god. ONE TIME, I accidentally broke a glass on a mic stand in the middle of a show, and somehow managed to cut myself." There was a heavy rolling of the eyes to accompany this. Isn't it weird how things like that get handed around the planet year after year? I guess it kinda bums me out that humanity is gullible and credulous enough to just accept as fact something "they say." Like even if we knew who They were, who's to say They weren't just making shit up? Real hoax? Triumph.

By: not_bitter

not_bitter — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 20:21:27 -0800

Sigue Sigue Sputnik, sort of. They weren't really a band, but then they were.

By: spish

spish — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 20:21:48 -0800

Keith Richards didn't snorthis father's ashes...

By: Goofyy

Goofyy — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 22:56:08 -0800

Once upon a time there was a mysth circulating that Alice Cooper was really Jerry Mathers (Beaver Clever).

By: vbfg

vbfg — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 02:02:52 -0800

Well, it's not a hoax, but the persistent myth that Iggy Pop smashes a bottle and slashes his chest with the shards regularly as part of his stage act Funnily enough, I met someone at a party last year who copied that on stage once. A bloke called Tyla who was in a band called Dogs D'Amour at the time. Almost bled to death.

By: Uther Bentrazor

Uther Bentrazor — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 05:24:19 -0800

I'm still waiting for the punchline on Eminem. Seriously, dude's whole career feels like I'm watching a bad Adam Sandler movie.

By: drezdn

drezdn — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 06:19:37 -0800

Everyone knows it was Joey from the New Kids on the Block who had 15 gallons of sperm pumped from his stomach. Andy told me in 5 grade, and Andy would never lie.

By: Windigo

Windigo — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 07:13:03 -0800

Everyone knows it was Joey from the New Kids on the Block who had 15 gallons of sperm pumped from his stomach. Andy told me in 5 grade, and Andy would never lie. Ha! I remember that rumor! That's what destroyed NKotB in my elementary school as the cool band to like. Also: Radiohead is not a hoax. Radiohead says you are the hoax, and now Thom Yorke will go write a anxiety-filled song about the whole experience.

By: winks007

winks007 — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 07:14:18 -0800

Although a long time ago, I was at the Alice Cooper concert at the old Warehouse in New Orleans for the Black Widow tour (or something like it) and I remember a stoned Uncle told me that Mr Greenjeans of Captain Kangaroo Fame was Vincent Furnier's father. Sounded plausible. Shit, when your 12 at an Alice Cooper concert in a hot assed venue where the whole place smelled like puke, warm beer and piss, anything is possible.

By: psmealey

psmealey — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 07:27:24 -0800

All about Frank Zappa and Hugh Brannum ("Mr. Greenjeans"). Re: Alice Cooper, a story I recall from when I was around that age was that Alice himself pass a bucket around the concert hall to have every spit in it, and then he drank it. This, like the various semen stories above, also seemed too stupid and wantonly gross to be believeable.

By: winks007

winks007 — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 07:35:19 -0800

Correction: Welcome to my Nightmare, not the black widow. Must...get...more...coffee.

By: merelyglib

merelyglib — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 08:40:27 -0800

Damn. Now I'm going to have to stop saying 'If Mama Cass had given half her sandwich to Karen Carpenter, they'd both be alive today.'

By: 1f2frfbf

1f2frfbf — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 10:26:50 -0800

I can't believe that the Rolling Stone article calls it a myth that Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil. I wonder how they came to that determination. I thought that Tommy Johnson originally claimed to have sold his soul, and Son House stole his story to keep Hammond interested about Robert Johnson. Maybe that's the "debunking" of the myth? Anyway, even the devil wouldn't set foot in Mississippi, folks there are baaad.

By: Rashomon

Rashomon — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 11:25:12 -0800

What is no hoax is the folks at Disney have no sense of humor and have disinvited Richards to the opening of the new 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movie. One more reason to dislike Disney.

By: kuppajava

kuppajava — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 12:11:08 -0800

speaking of Iggy Pop, I have a vague recollection of a myth floating around about "The Iggy Pop Museum" in Ann Arbor, MI. One would usually send gullible people in search of it... or offer free tickets!

By: tehloki

tehloki — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 13:05:46 -0800

I always used to think that Aphex Twin and Axl Rose were the same person. Just look them together: Aphex, Axl

By: tehloki

tehloki — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 13:13:35 -0800

Actually, scratch that, they look like "before and after meth addiction" pictures of each other.

By: Burhanistan

Burhanistan — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 13:14:11 -0800

I always used to think that Aphex Twin and Axl Rose were the same person. But tehloki, Axl doesn't have a chest like this.

By: tehloki

tehloki — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 13:57:22 -0800

You have no idea how hard it was to find a picture of Richard D. James that wasn't either garbled into unrecognizeability by Chris Cunningham, or endowed with a lovely set of breasts.

By: psmealey

psmealey — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 14:33:25 -0800

Holy crap. That picture of Keef is just awful. He had looked like the Crypt Keeper for at least a couple decades, but with that disgusting orange-ish skin tone, he now literally looks like a cadaver.