TL;RD:
- Jimi Hendrix used profanity to require radio stations to play a psychedelic rock song.
- The song in question became a memorable one-hit wonder.
- The wonderful one-hit band had a massive impact on other classic rock artists.
Jimi Hendrix had a massive influence on classic rock songs. For example, he demanded that radio stations play a certain psychedelic song. The song subsequently became one of the most memorable one-hit wonders of the 1960s.
The psychedelic song that Jimi Hendrix liked was not a success at first
Arthur Brown is the leader of the psychedelic rock band The Mad World of Arthur Brown. The band is best known for their smash hit: 1968’s “Fire.” During a 2022 interview with NMEtalked about the song’s popularity.
“It all opened up when ‘Fire’ became a hit and I went from being an underground figure who was considered an outsider to singing and playing with people who were my influences and heroes, like John Lee Hooker and Frank Zappa,” he said.
“When the underground radio stations first rejected the song for not being a ‘hit,’ the label took it to the major stations who saw someone with flames coming out of their head and thought it was an outrageous novelty that would work well on summer,” he added. For context, Brown would wear a helmet that would catch fire during his live performances.
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Jimi Hendrix used profanity to promote the most famous song from The Crazy World of Arthur Brown on radio stations.
Brown revealed how Hendrix changed everything for The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. “At the same time, Jimi Hendrix helped break up ‘Fire,’ because he was on the same American label as me, and he took the record to the stations demanding, ‘Play this son of a bitch.’*****!'” he said.
Brown said that the song’s crossover appeal had something to do with her makeup, which covered her entire face. “With the makeup he was wearing, no one could tell where he was from or my race, so all the stations were playing it,” he said.
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The crazy world of Arthur Brown impacted The Who, Alice Cooper, Bruce Dickinson, Kiss and others
“Fire” had a huge impact on pop culture. The Who covered the song, as did instrumental rock band The Ventures. Marilyn Manson sampled “Fire” for the controversial song “Lunch boxfrom the band’s debut album Portrait of an American family. Like Brown, the members of Marilyn Manson focused on occult themes and often wore kabuki-like facial makeup during their performances.
In his interview with NME, Brown said he inspired other artists, including Alice Cooper, Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson and Kiss. Brown said that he inspired Kiss’s world-famous makeup.
Brown inspired many rock stars and is only famous for Hendrix.
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