1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:18,440 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,119 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:39,880 Speaker 1: In nineteen sixty nine, the British rock band The Zombies 7 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:43,120 Speaker 1: scored a chart topping hit with Time of the Season. 8 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:46,120 Speaker 1: Hoping to capitalize on their fame, a US tour was 9 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:50,600 Speaker 1: quickly booked and tickets sold. The only problem the Zombies 10 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 1: no longer existed, but that, of course wouldn't stop the 11 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: managers at Delta Promotions. All they had to do with 12 00:00:56,960 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 1: the cash in was raised The Zombies from the Dead. 13 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:03,040 Speaker 1: The band that would become The Zombies, first met as 14 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:06,280 Speaker 1: schoolboys at Saint Albans, a city on the outskirts of London. 15 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 1: They had a few modestly successful hits in nineteen sixty four, 16 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:11,760 Speaker 1: but found it hard to get their songs on the 17 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:15,600 Speaker 1: charts in the UK and especially difficult in America. Seeing 18 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:17,640 Speaker 1: the writing on the wall, the band decided to call 19 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:21,240 Speaker 1: it quits in December of nineteen sixty seven, the band's 20 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,840 Speaker 1: American label, Date Records, released a few of the band's 21 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:28,119 Speaker 1: singles post breakup, hoping to recoup some of the cost 22 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 1: of recording. These failed to chart as well until a 23 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:34,400 Speaker 1: last ditch effort, A song called Time of the Season 24 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:37,640 Speaker 1: was released in the US in nineteen sixty eight, and 25 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:41,080 Speaker 1: suddenly the song was playing on every radio station and 26 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:45,640 Speaker 1: the name the Zombies was on every DJ's lips. Somehow, someway, 27 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 1: the Zombies finally had a hit. Unfortunately, they were already 28 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:52,840 Speaker 1: a ghost of a band. Most of the five members 29 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:55,720 Speaker 1: had moved on to other music projects, and as this 30 00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:59,520 Speaker 1: was nineteen sixty nine, word of their American success didn't 31 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:02,960 Speaker 1: reach me any of them for months. Back in the US, however, 32 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:07,040 Speaker 1: venues and tour managers wanted to capitalize on the Zombie success, 33 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: so one company, Delta Promotions, decided to fill the gap. 34 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:14,400 Speaker 1: They signed a four piece blues band from Texas, had 35 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:17,280 Speaker 1: them learn a handful of Zombie songs, and sent them 36 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:20,160 Speaker 1: on tour. You see, back in nineteen sixty nine, it 37 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:23,320 Speaker 1: was surprisingly easy to fake a band like this. The 38 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:26,720 Speaker 1: Zombies were an international band with a single hit, so 39 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:29,840 Speaker 1: their pictures hadn't really appeared in Rolling Stone or other 40 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:33,359 Speaker 1: music magazines. Not only that, but many ticket buyers had 41 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:36,240 Speaker 1: no idea what the real Zombies looked like. They'd only 42 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:39,120 Speaker 1: heard their music on the radio. But when these fans 43 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 1: arrived at the show, it became apparent that something was 44 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,000 Speaker 1: very wrong with the Zombies On stage. They sounded different 45 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:49,040 Speaker 1: from their recordings. They sometimes played completely different songs. Heck, 46 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 1: for a band that used piano on every track, they 47 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:54,839 Speaker 1: didn't even have a keyboard player on the band's part. 48 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:57,920 Speaker 1: Many of the musicians thought that this was perfectly on 49 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:00,760 Speaker 1: the level. Delta told them that the zo Bombies wasn't 50 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:04,240 Speaker 1: a real band. Their albums were created by studio musicians. 51 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:06,720 Speaker 1: Delta claimed that they had the touring rights for the 52 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:09,920 Speaker 1: Zombies in North America, so it was perfectly legal for 53 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:12,520 Speaker 1: them to assemble a band to play the zombies music. 54 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:16,840 Speaker 1: Delta Promotions ended up creating two different versions of the Zombies, 55 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:19,360 Speaker 1: which toured at the same time. But they weren't the 56 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: only fake band that Delta had assembled. Delta created an 57 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:25,359 Speaker 1: American lineup of The Animals, a British band which had 58 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:27,919 Speaker 1: gone gold with their version of the folk song House 59 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:30,959 Speaker 1: of the Rising Sun Heck. They also created a touring 60 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: band for the Archies. The Archies came from The Archie Show, 61 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:37,840 Speaker 1: an animated series based on Archie, Betty, Veronica, Juughhead, and 62 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 1: the other characters from the Archie comics. The fictional band 63 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:43,720 Speaker 1: scored a hit with the song Sugar Sugar, but it 64 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:46,760 Speaker 1: was never an actual touring act, at least not until 65 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:50,000 Speaker 1: Delta Promotions got their hands on it. The rain of 66 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 1: the Fake Bands lasted a good year before the walls 67 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:56,440 Speaker 1: came crashing down pretty quickly. The suits at Archie Comics 68 00:03:56,600 --> 00:04:00,280 Speaker 1: pursued legal action. In December of nineteen sixty nine, a 69 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:03,119 Speaker 1: member of the Real Zombies called the fake band out 70 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:06,480 Speaker 1: in Rolling Stone magazine, and in May of nineteen seventy 71 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:09,000 Speaker 1: a member of the Real Animals showed up at the 72 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 1: Copycats band's live show with a baseball bat. Delta Promotions 73 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:16,920 Speaker 1: folded soon after, and the fraudulent bands called it quit. 74 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 1: The Zombie con was over. While they were musical impostors, 75 00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:24,960 Speaker 1: some of the members of the False Zombies were real talents. 76 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:27,400 Speaker 1: Two of them decided to keep playing together as a 77 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:30,880 Speaker 1: Texas blues act and quickly found a singer and even 78 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 1: as the Zombies were finally put to rest. Former members 79 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 1: Frank Beard and Dusty Hill resurrected their careers with their 80 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:55,800 Speaker 1: new act, a Southern blues band called zz Top. Americans 81 00:04:55,839 --> 00:04:58,880 Speaker 1: are taught a lot about the Revolution, but history books 82 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:01,480 Speaker 1: tend to move quickly past the War of eighteen twelve. 83 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:05,800 Speaker 1: It's the disappointing sequel. Not because there weren't some exciting 84 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:08,880 Speaker 1: and dramatic events, but because the Americans came across looking 85 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:12,080 Speaker 1: much less impressive than they had in the previous war. 86 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:14,960 Speaker 1: But one climatic event toward the end of the War 87 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:18,640 Speaker 1: of eighteen twelve completely turned in the Americans favor and 88 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: seemed to shock them into improving their tactics. The War 89 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:25,719 Speaker 1: of eighteen twelve began in June of that year. The 90 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:29,200 Speaker 1: Americans declared war after months of British locking their trade 91 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:32,839 Speaker 1: ships and even kidnapping their sailors and forcing them into service. 92 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:36,680 Speaker 1: The Americans had almost no navy and so invading the 93 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:39,560 Speaker 1: British Isles was off the table. But they could march 94 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:43,119 Speaker 1: to Canada, which was fully under British control at this time. 95 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:46,640 Speaker 1: But this just wasn't a great plan. Canada is vast 96 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:50,200 Speaker 1: and the British had thousands of troops there, so, rather 97 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:53,240 Speaker 1: than attack the main British garrison at Kingston, Ontario, the 98 00:05:53,279 --> 00:05:56,520 Speaker 1: Americans opted to attack a small fort in Toronto in 99 00:05:56,560 --> 00:05:59,920 Speaker 1: April of eighteen thirteen. Although it was an easy fight, 100 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:03,320 Speaker 1: the British left a surprise for the Americans. They detonated 101 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:06,279 Speaker 1: the gunpowder in the fort while they were retreating. This 102 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:12,040 Speaker 1: killed American General Zebulon Pike and two hundred other American soldiers. Enraged, 103 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:14,960 Speaker 1: the American army then burned the nearby town of York 104 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:18,520 Speaker 1: to the ground. The invasion of Canada was already an 105 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:21,920 Speaker 1: unsympathetic act, and the Americans only made things worse by 106 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:24,880 Speaker 1: burning York. Yes, the British had played dirty with the 107 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:28,520 Speaker 1: gunpowder explosion, but they were on the defense. The Americans 108 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:32,000 Speaker 1: put them in that position, and so the British resolved 109 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:36,000 Speaker 1: to get their revenge. There were various skirmishes in Canada 110 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 1: and the US throughout the following months, but it wasn't 111 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:42,000 Speaker 1: until August of eighteen fourteen that the British were truly 112 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:45,760 Speaker 1: ready to avenge York. On August twenty fourth, five thousand 113 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:49,840 Speaker 1: British troops marched on Washington, DC. The Americans could only 114 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:53,200 Speaker 1: muster an army of mostly volunteers, as their troops were 115 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:56,839 Speaker 1: all engaged elsewhere. They hadn't expected a direct assault on 116 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:00,760 Speaker 1: the capitol. President James Madison watched for the rear as 117 00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:05,839 Speaker 1: more experienced British soldiers completely routed the American volunteers. Madison 118 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:08,760 Speaker 1: himself had to flee, nearly getting bowled over by his 119 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:12,440 Speaker 1: own men. And so now Washington belonged to the British, 120 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:14,560 Speaker 1: and they intended to treat it just as well as 121 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:17,800 Speaker 1: the Americans had treated York. They marched through the streets, 122 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:20,760 Speaker 1: setting fire to many of the buildings there. They then 123 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:23,200 Speaker 1: helped themselves to a meal in the White House before 124 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:26,120 Speaker 1: setting that building a flame as well. It would seem 125 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:28,920 Speaker 1: their victory was complete. They had proven that their former 126 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:31,240 Speaker 1: colony did not have what it takes to stand on 127 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:35,400 Speaker 1: its own. But then the sky turned dark. A massive 128 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:38,560 Speaker 1: wind kicked up throughout Washington, DC, and it only seemed 129 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:41,720 Speaker 1: to get worse by the second. At first, some carts 130 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:45,000 Speaker 1: and hay bales blew down the street. Then window shutters 131 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:48,559 Speaker 1: flew open, beds and pillows were sucked out into the sky, 132 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:52,560 Speaker 1: showering the city in down feathers. Before long shingles were 133 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:56,160 Speaker 1: ripped off roofs. Some of the flimsier buildings even fell down. 134 00:07:56,720 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 1: It wasn't just a wind, it was a Tornados looked 135 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:03,200 Speaker 1: on in shock as their heavy cannons were sucked into 136 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 1: the air and flung into the river. Officers who weren't 137 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 1: quick enough to get off their horses found themselves and 138 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:13,000 Speaker 1: their mounts pushed over into the dirt. Soon every soldier 139 00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:16,200 Speaker 1: clung to the ground, holding onto whatever they could. Some 140 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:19,720 Speaker 1: were sucked into the sky, some were crushed by flying debris. 141 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:21,880 Speaker 1: And in case you were worried that this wind might 142 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:25,320 Speaker 1: have caused the fires to spread, just as the tornado subsided, 143 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:29,920 Speaker 1: a torrential rain blanketed Washington, extinguishing all the burning buildings. 144 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:32,760 Speaker 1: It was hard for the Americans not to feel as 145 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:36,040 Speaker 1: if some divine force had sent the perfect storm to 146 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:39,640 Speaker 1: ravage the British army and save their city. A local 147 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:43,480 Speaker 1: reporter overheard a British admiral talking to an American woman saying, 148 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 1: Great God, madam, is this the kind of storm to 149 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:49,640 Speaker 1: which you are accustomed in this infernal country, to which 150 00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:53,160 Speaker 1: she replied, no, sir, this is a special interposition of 151 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:57,040 Speaker 1: providence to drive our enemies from our city. The British 152 00:08:57,280 --> 00:08:59,920 Speaker 1: soon retreated, only to find that their ships had all 153 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:04,120 Speaker 1: so been ravaged they practically limped back home. Divine intervention 154 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:06,960 Speaker 1: or not, the American had been handed a free win. 155 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:10,520 Speaker 1: They took this to heart and primarily focused on defending 156 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:13,439 Speaker 1: their own shores. Over the next years, the British failed 157 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:17,120 Speaker 1: to gain any traction, and by eighteen fifteen both sides 158 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:20,520 Speaker 1: agreed to peace. Oh and curiously, in the two hundred 159 00:09:20,559 --> 00:09:22,920 Speaker 1: plus years since the war, there have only ever been 160 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:27,120 Speaker 1: seven other tornadoes in Washington. If any foreign power tries 161 00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:34,360 Speaker 1: to invade again, they might just experience the aid. I 162 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:37,880 Speaker 1: hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. 163 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:41,320 Speaker 1: Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about 164 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:45,920 Speaker 1: the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show 165 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:49,360 Speaker 1: was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how 166 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:53,079 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, 167 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:56,920 Speaker 1: which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and 168 00:09:56,960 --> 00:09:59,200 Speaker 1: you can learn all about it over at the World 169 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:06,920 Speaker 1: of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious. MHM.