Muses "music", and "musing upon". In current literature, the influential role that the Muse plays has been extended to the political sphere. In "Down to Earth", the Muses, espcially Terpsichore (Rita Hayworth), are offended by a vulgar Broadway musical called "Hot Muses", in which they are portrayed as besotted by two American flyers who crash-land on Parnassus. Terpsichore masquerades as a mortal to get the show "improved". All nine Muses appear in the 1980 film "Xanadu", with actress Olivia Newton-John as Terpsichore. Many of the Greek gods, including five of the Muses (Thalia, Clio, Calliope, Melpomene, and Terpsichore) appear in the
Throwing Muses first, in 1994, which delayed the release of "University" until 1995. "University" gave the band their first national U.S. hit, "Bright Yellow Gun". The album was very favorably reviewed but it did not sell well, which resulted in them being dropped from Sire. Throwing Muses released their seventh album, "Limbo", which was followed by a tour. However, the band disbanded in 1997 as Kristin Hersh went on to continue her solo career. In March 2003 Throwing Muses came back with their eighth album, "Throwing Muses", which also saw the return of Tanya Donelly who provided backing vocals on the album.