hullabaloo

Hullabaloo is defined as a commotion, usually over something of little or no importance.
"There was a hullabaloo about who should cut the wedding cake."

The Cambridge Dictionary defines it a bit more seriously as "a loud noise made by people who are angry or annoyed; a lot of angry comments made in public about someone or something," so it might have a slightly different meaning in the UK. 

The origin is given as being mid-18th century as a reduplication of hallo, hullo, etc. I'm not sure that satisfies my curiosity. 

It is a word I associate with an old American TV show that I have seen clips of on YouTube. Wikipedia says it was "an American musical variety series that ran on NBC from January 12, 1965, through April 11, 1966 (with repeats to August 1966). Similar to ABC's Shindig! and in contrast to American Bandstand, it aired in prime time."

At the drop of a hat

“At the Drop of a Hat” is an expression that means to do something without delay, warning or much preparation.

In the 19th century, a hat was often used to indicate the start of a race or a fight. A hat would be dropped or swept in a downward arc and participants would begin.This was particularly in usage in the American West.

If you do something at the drop of a hat, you do it immediately without really stopping to think about it:

"Do you think I can just meet you at the drop of a hat?"  Though in a usage such as "People will file lawsuits at the drop of a hat these days," there must have been some thought beforehand. 

King Crimson

 

King Crimson was a rock band founded in Dorset, England in 1969. The band has been labeled as a progressive rock group (prog-rock) but included influences and instrumentation from jazz, folk music, classical and experimental music, psychedelic rock, hard rock, heavy metal, new wave, gamelan, and electronica.

The band has been influential on many contemporary musical artists and has a cult following despite the fact that they had little radio or music video airplay.

Founded by Robert Fripp, Michael Giles, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield, the band initially focused on a dramatic sound layered with Mellotron.

The band's lineup centered on guitarist Robert Fripp, but has changed over the years with 18 musicians and two lyricists. The debut lineup of the band was influential (and well-received by critics) but short-lived, lasting for just over one year. The band was later fronted by Adrian Belew.

In the Court of the Crimson King (subtitled An Observation by King Crimson) is their debut studio album released on 10 October 1969 by Island Records. The album is one of the earliest and most influential of the progressive rock genre, where the band combined the musical influences that rock music was founded upon with elements of jazz, classical, and symphonic music. The album reached number five on the UK Albums Chart and number 28 on the US Billboard 200, where it was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Barry Godber, a computer programmer friend of Sinfield's, painted the design for the iconic first album cover (shown above). He used his own face, viewed through a mirror, as the model. Godber died shortly after the album's release and it was his only album cover. The original painting is now owned by Robert Fripp.

Several sources (including the band website at http://www.elephant-talk.com) give the band's name origin as coming from the original lyricist Peter Sinfield. Sinfield says, "The name King Crimson was mine. I wanted something like Led Zeppelin, something with a bit of power to it. Anything better than Giles, Giles, and Fripp. King Crimson had arrogance to it."

King Crimson can be considered a synonym for Beelzebub, the prince of demons, which is an anglicized form of the Arabic phrase B'il Sabab. Fripp has said that the Arabic means "the man with an aim" but it literally means "with a cause".

A more common etymology of "Beelzebub" is that it is Hebrew for "Lord of the Flies." In John Milton's Paradise Lost, Beelzebub was Satan's chief lieutenant among the fallen angels. He is often portrayed as a red (crimson) figure and is the King of the Underworld.

ALBUMS

• In the Court of the Crimson King
• In the Wake of Poseidon
• Islands: 40th Anniversary Series
• Red 30th Anniversary Edition Remastered
• Lizard (CD + DVD Audio)
• Larks Tongues in Aspic - 30th Anniversary Edition Remastered