Weird Music History
Some music videos really should get their own sitcom.
Think you know everything there is to know about music? Prepare to be blown away as we take a look at some of the most interesting, unbelievable facts about musicians and the music industry.
1. American composer John Cage (1912–1992) composed a work in 1952 entitled 4′ 33″, which consists of four minutes and thirty-three seconds of silence.
2. Louis Armstrong holds the record of oldest chart topper. Having reached number one in the UK in 1968 with the song ‘What A Wonderful World’. He was 67 at the time.
3. The longest rendering of a national anthem was ‘God Save the King,’ performed by a German military band on the platform of Rathenau railway station in Brandenburg, on February 9, 1909. King Edward VII was struggling inside the train to get into his German Field-Marshall uniform, so the band had to play the anthem 17 consecutive times.
4. At only four lines long, the Japanese national anthem is the shortest national anthem. The longest is the Greek national anthem at 158 verses long.
5. Melba toast is named after Australian opera singer Dame Nellie Melba (1861-1931)
6. Tap dancing originated from Irish clog dancing and what is called the Irish reel and jig
7. At the first Grammy Awards, held on 4 May 1959, Domenico Modugno beat out Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee for the Record of the Year, with “Volare.”
8. A piano covers the full spectrum of all orchestra instruments, from below the lowest note of the double bassoon to above the top note of the piccolo.
9. Themes from movies Unforgiven, A Perfect World, The Bridges of Madison County, and Absolute Power were all written by Clint Eastwood.
10. The Star-Spangled Banner became the US national anthem in 1931. Prior to that, it was My Country ‘Tis of Thee,” which had the same melody as Britian’s national anthem God Save the Queen, which is based on music written by John Bull in 1619. Bull’s melody has been used more than any song in national anthems.
Oliver Tree looks like a meme come to life with his trademark bowl cut, JNCO jeans, bright sunglasses and windbreaker. His style is enough to make listeners smile and wish they shared his confidence. Tree knows how to make a good music video, as each visual has the power to go viral. In “Cash Machine,” he rides in a huge pink limousine before taking to the water where he runs over some older people while they kayak and flips off a fellow rider. The end is quite literally explosive, making this perfect for anyone with a dark and quirky sense of humor. Other videos such as “Hurt” and “All That X Alien Boy” give off the same funny and well-directed energy.