31 08, 2023

To Get Out Of A Record Contract, Van Morrison Made A Malicious Compliance Album (Cool Weird Awesome 1077)

By |2023-08-31T08:47:05-04:00August 31, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

Today in 1945, the birthday of singer/songwriter Van Morrison. His biggest fans and his loudest critics can agree that the guy does not like being told what to do, and he proved it by recording one of the strangest albums in the history of music. 

28 08, 2023

Leon Theremin’s Musical Instrument Can Be Played Without Being Touched (Cool Weird Awesome 1074)

By |2023-08-28T07:49:09-04:00August 28, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

Today is, thanks to a long-ago calendar change, one of two birthdays in 1896 of Leon Theremin. He invented a very unusual musical instrument that you play without touching it. 

22 07, 2023

Among Other “Pranks,” Black Sabbath Once Set Their Drummer On Fire (Cruel Weird Awful 8)

By |2023-07-23T12:43:49-04:00July 22, 2023|Categories: Cruel Weird Awful, Podcasts|Tags: , , |

Rock bands are known for excess. Just ask Bill Ward, who, while drumming for Black Sabbath, got set on fire, poisoned (repeatedly) and knocked off the side of a hill. Because pranks.

11 07, 2023

Dick Roth Won Olympic Gold While He Had Appendicitis (Cool Weird Awesome 1045)

By |2023-07-11T11:10:29-04:00July 11, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , |

It's National Swimming Pool Day, so here’s a story of a guy who had to get into the pool: Dick Roth, who won an Olympic gold medal while trying to fend off appendicitis.

3 07, 2023

A Newspaper Called The Recycler Helped Bring Together Some Of The Biggest Rock Bands Of All Time (Cool Weird Awesome 1039)

By |2023-07-03T08:42:47-04:00July 3, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , , |

This month in 1973, a newspaper in California known as The Recycler started publishing. It was mostly a list of classified ads, but those ads have had a pretty big impact on music. 

17 03, 2023

How To Keep Flying Robots Flying Even When Their Wings Are Damaged (Cool Weird Awesome 972)

By |2023-03-17T08:53:18-04:00March 17, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

Drones are becoming increasingly useful, but they can get damaged and grounded pretty quickly. A team at MIT has found bee-inspired workarounds that would keep impaired robotic crafts flying.

8 12, 2022

Cheers To The First Woman To Perform Shakespeare Onstage, Whoever She Was (Cool Weird Awesome 900)

By |2022-12-09T16:12:14-05:00December 8, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , |

Today in 1660, for the first time a woman took to the stage in England and performed a role in a production of Shakespeare’s Othello. We know she was a trailblazer. We know she was a pioneer. We don’t know who she was.

3 11, 2022

The Worst Sandwich Ever Was A Way To Get Around Anti-Liquor Laws (Cool Weird Awesome 880)

By |2022-11-03T05:51:42-04:00November 3, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , |

It's National Sandwich Day, and there are lots of great ones out there. The worst sandwich has a pretty clear champion - the Raines sandwich. Though to be fair, it wasn’t ever really intended to be eaten.

25 10, 2022

Florence Foster Jenkins Stunned Carnegie Hall With Her Singing (Cool Weird Awesome 873)

By |2022-10-25T06:51:24-04:00October 25, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , , |

Today in 1944, the greatest concert in Carnegie Hall history, featuring a truly incomparable singer: the one and only Florence Foster Jenkins. Here's how the woman sometimes called the worst opera singer of all time ended up on one of the most famous stages of all time.

21 09, 2022

It’s September 21st, So Of Course We’re Doing A Show About Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September” (Cool Weird Awesome 849)

By |2022-09-21T08:51:49-04:00September 21, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , |

It was a hit when it was first released in 1978. Today it’s an anthem. Here's how Earth, Wind & Fire got everybody dancing and remembering each September 21st.

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