Boston on the Billboard Charts
The artist was only in Boston long enough to drop out of both BU and Berklee, before returning home and creating this song, which was also the first YouTube video to reach 1 billion views (Peak: #2 single, 2012)
Gangnam Style
The advertising for this recent remake of a 2004 film largely avoided even mentioning that it was a musical remake
Mean Girls
Seattle SuperSonics
Oklahoma City Thunder
Amsterdam is technically the capital of the Netherlands, despite almost every government agency (including parliament and the royal residence) being located in this nearby major city.
The Hague
Flippity-floppity,
______
Dueled with his master on
Mustafar's shores.
Clad in black armor, his
Story continued: a
Mythopoetical
Saga of wars.
Anakin Skywalker
These 2001 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees gave a free reunion concert outside their old apartment on Commonwealth Ave in Allston in 2012 (Peak: #1 album, 1993 & 1997)
Aerosmith
"Cry-Baby" and "Hairspray" marked two successful movies-to-musicals for this notoriously avant-garde film director.
John Waters
Hartford Whalers
Carolina Hurricanes
A red star on an oval label is one of the world's longest-standing trademarks, symbolizing this Amsterdam-based beverage maker
Heineken
Riddledee-fiddledee,
______
Daughter of Amherst, a
Recluse, demure;
Verses of flowers and
Spirituality
All became known after
Death stopped for her.
Emily Dickinson
Disbanded (literally) in 2022, one might get the sense that this collection of musicians from the south suburbs was a big contributor the ska-punk boom of the 1990s (Peak: #23 single, 1997)
Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Moving from screen to stage in 1982 increased this musical's title by 5.9% (It stayed the same when the musical moved back to theaters in 2009).
Nine
Boston Red Stockings
A small public bench on the Leidsegracht canal became something of a tourist attraction in 2014 after the release of this film (an adaptation of a 2012 novel).
The Fault in Our Stars
Chiggedy-chuggedy,
______
Torrid affairs among
Russia's high class;
Trapped in a marriage most
Unsatisfactory
She fared no better with
Vronsky, alas.
Anna Karenina
This often-political band gave a benefit performance of their "Worker's Song" to support striking Newton, MA teachers in 2024. (Peak: #6 album, 2011)
Dropkick Murphys
Be patient, this 1996 film will eventually show you the fictional musical-within-a-movie Red, White, and Blaine!
Waiting for Guffman
Decatur Staleys
Chicago Bears
The Amstelhof complex on the Amstel river served as a subsidized retirement community for almost 300 years before becoming a branch of this other European museum--until relations were cut off on March 3, 2022.
State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg)
Hickory-dickory,
______
Studied a watch, built a
Clock out of wood;
Noted astronomer;
Almanac author; his
Bibliomania
Helped him make good
Benjamin Banneker
While individual (or trio) members had bigger hit singles after the group broke up, this six-member ensemble from Roxbury set the template for the "boy band" era that soon followed (Peak: #1 album, 1996)
New Edition
You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs, but a #1 hit from the 1982 "An Officer and A Gentleman" soundtrack finally ended up on Broadway in 2018...in an adaptation of this very different 2001 movie musical.
Moulin Rouge!
Newton Heath LYR F.C.
Manchester United
The aptly-named village of Halfweg lies halfway between Amsterdam and this other major historical Dutch city---even despite having no 48th Street.
Haarlem
Hammity-whammity,
______
Oscar performance: at
Mozart he raged.
Maybe you've seen him in
Homeland, White Lotus, or
Melodramatically
Acting on stage.
F. Murray Abraham