Falsetto

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Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild.

Our world is full of the unexplainable.

And if history is an open book, All of these amazing tales are right there on display, just waiting for us to explore.

Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities.

In 1969, the British rock band The Zombies scored a chart-topping hit with Time of the Season.

Hoping to capitalize on their fame, a U.S.

tour was quickly booked and tickets sold.

The only problem?

The zombies no longer existed.

But that, of course, wouldn't stop the managers at Delta Promotions.

All they had to do to cash in was raise the zombies from the dead.

The band that would become the zombies first met as schoolboys at St.

Albans, a city on the outskirts of London.

They had a few modestly successful hits in 1964, but found it hard to get their songs on the charts in the UK, and especially difficult in America.

Seeing the writing on the wall, the band decided to call it quits in December of 1967.

The band's American label, Date Records, released a few of the band's singles post-breakup, hoping to recoup some of the cost of recording.

These failed to chart as well, until a last-ditch effort, a song called Time of the Season, was released in the U.S.

in 1968.

And suddenly the song was playing on every radio station, and the name The Zombies was on every DJ's lips.

Somehow, some way, the Zombies finally had a hit.

Unfortunately, they were already a ghost of a band.

Most of the five members had moved on to other music projects.

And and as this was 1969, word of their American success didn't reach many of them for months.

Back in the U.S., however, venues and tour managers wanted to capitalize on the zombies' success.

So one company, Delta Promotions, decided to fill the gap.

They signed a four-piece blues band from Texas, had them learn a handful of zombie songs, and sent them on tour.

You see, back in 1969, it was surprisingly easy to fake a band like this.

The zombies were an international band with a single hit, so their pictures hadn't really appeared in Rolling Stone or other music magazines.

Not only that, but many ticket buyers had no idea what the real zombies looked like.

They'd only heard their music on the radio.

But when these fans arrived at the show, it became apparent that something was very wrong with the zombies on stage.

They sounded different from their recordings.

They sometimes played completely different songs.

Heck, for a band that used piano on every track, they didn't even have a keyboard player.

On the band's part, many of the musicians thought that this was perfectly on the level.

Delta told them that the zombies wasn't a real band, their albums were created by studio musicians.

Delta claimed that they had the touring rights for the zombies in North America, so it was perfectly legal for them to assemble a band to play the zombies' music.

Delta promotions ended up creating two different versions of the zombies, which toured at the same time.

But they weren't the only fake band that Delta had assembled.

Delta created an American lineup of The Animals, a British band which had gone gold with their version of the folk song House of the Rising Sun.

Heck, they also created a touring band for the Archies.

The Archies came from The Archies Show, an animated series based on Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead, and the other characters from the Archie Comics.

The fictional band scored a hit with the song Sugar Sugar, but it was never an actual touring act, at least not until Delta Promotions got their hands on it.

The reign of the fake bands lasted a good year before the walls came crashing down.

Pretty quickly, the suits at Archie Comics pursued legal action.

In December of 1969, a member of the Real Zombies called the fake band out in Rolling Stone magazine.

And in May of 1970, a member of The Real Animals showed up at the Copycats Band's live show with a baseball bat.

Delta promotions folded soon after, and the fraudulent bands called it quit.

The zombie con was over.

While they were musical imposters, some of the members of the false zombies were real talents.

Two of them decided to keep playing together as a Texas blues act and quickly found a singer.

And even as the zombies were finally put to rest, former members Frank Beard and Dusty Hill resurrected their careers with their new act, a southern blues band called ZZ Top.

Life's messy.

We're talking spills, stains, pets, and kids.

But with Anibay, you never have to stress about messes again.

At washablesofas.com, discover Anibay sofas, the only fully machine washable sofas inside and out, starting at just $699.

Made with liquid and stain-resistant fabrics.

That means fewer stains and more peace of mind.

Designed for real life, our sofas feature changeable fabric covers, allowing you to refresh your style anytime.

Need flexibility?

Our modular design lets you rearrange your sofa sofa effortlessly.

Perfect for cozy apartments or spacious homes.

Plus, they're earth-friendly and built to last.

That's why over 200,000 happy customers have made the switch.

Upgrade your space today.

Visit washable sofas.com now and bring home a sofa made for life.

That's washablesofas.com.

Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply.

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In a good way, he'd also tell you that this podcast is his favorite podcast, too.

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Americans are taught a lot about the Revolution, but history books tend to move quickly past the War of 1812.

It's the disappointing sequel, not because there weren't some exciting and dramatic events, but because the Americans came across looking much less impressive than they had in the previous war.

But one climatic event toward the end of the War of 1812 completely turned in the Americans' favor and seemed to shock them into improving their tactics.

The War of 1812 began in June of that year.

The Americans declared war after months of British locking their trade ships and even kidnapping their sailors and forcing them into service.

The Americans had almost no navy and so invading the British Isles was off the table.

But they could march to Canada, which was fully under British control at this time.

But this just wasn't a great plan.

Canada is vast and the British had thousands of troops there.

So, rather than attack the main British garrison at Kingston, Ontario, the Americans opted to attack a a small fort in Toronto in April of 1813.

Although it was an easy fight, the British left a surprise for the Americans.

They detonated the gunpowder in the fort while they were retreating.

This killed American General Zebulon Pike and 200 other American soldiers.

Enraged, the American army then burned the nearby town of York to the ground.

The invasion of Canada was already an unsympathetic act, and the Americans only made things worse by burning York.

Yes, the British had played dirty with the gunpowder explosion, but they were on the defense.

The Americans put them in that position.

And so the British resolved to get their revenge.

There were various skirmishes in Canada and the U.S.

throughout the following months, but it wasn't until August of 1814 that the British were truly ready to avenge York.

On August 24th, 5,000 British troops marched on Washington, D.C.

The Americans could only muster an army of mostly volunteers, as their troops were all engaged elsewhere.

They hadn't expected a direct assault on the capital.

President James Madison watched from the rear as more experienced British soldiers completely routed the American volunteers.

Madison himself had to flee, nearly getting bowled over by his own men.

And so now, Washington belonged to the British, and they intended to treat it just as well as the Americans had treated York.

They marched through the streets, setting fire to many of the buildings there.

They then helped themselves to a meal in the White House before setting that building aflame as well.

It would seem their victory was complete.

They had proven that their former colony did not have what it takes to stand on its own.

But then, the sky turned dark.

A massive wind kicked up throughout Washington, D.C., and it only seemed to get worse by the second.

At first, some carts and hay bales blew down the street.

Then, window shutters flew open.

Beds and pillows were sucked out into the sky, showering the city in downed feathers.

Before long, shingles were ripped off roofs.

Some of the flimsier buildings even fell down.

It wasn't just a wind, it was a tornado.

The British looked on in shock as their heavy cannons were sucked into the air and flung into the river.

Officers who weren't quick enough to get off their horses found themselves and their mounts pushed over into the dirt.

Soon every soldier clung to the ground, holding on to whatever they could.

Some were sucked into the sky, some were crushed by flying debris.

And in case you were worried that this wind might have caused the fires to spread, just as the tornado subsided, a torrential rain blanketed Washington, extinguishing all the burning buildings.

It was hard for the Americans not to feel as if some divine force had sent the perfect storm to ravage the British Army and save their city.

A local reporter overheard a British admiral talking to an American woman, saying, Great God, madam, is this the kind of storm to which you are accustomed in this infernal country?

To which she replied, No, sir, this is a special interposition of Providence to drive our enemies from our city.

The British soon retreated, only to find that their ships had also been ravaged.

They practically limped back home.

Divine intervention or not, the American had been handed a free win.

They took this to heart and primarily focused on defending their own shores over the next years.

The British failed to gain any traction, and by 1815, both sides agreed to peace.

Oh, and curiously, in the 200-plus years since the war, there have only ever been seven other tornadoes in Washington.

If any foreign power tries to invade again, they might just experience the eighth.

Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts or learn more about the show by visiting CuriositiesPodcast.com.

This show was created by me, Aaron Mankey, in partnership with How Stuff Works.

I make another award-winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show.

And you can learn all about it over at theworldoflore.com.

And until next time, stay curious.

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