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. The Nokia ringtone is a Chopin piece...Here the bizarre event mixes with musical plagiarism. The original Nokia sound has long been a cult classic, being simultaneously irritating and nostalgic. But where does the melody come from and who composed it? Indeed, the Nokia melody is the melodic line of a piece by the Spanish composer and guitarist Francisco Tárrega. The piece dates back to 1902 and is called “Gran Vals”, which is why Nokia named the ringtone “Grande Valse”. However, this is only half the truth, because Tárrega was directly inspired by Frédéric Chopin’s composition of the same name “Grande Valse”. The melodic line is found near the end of the video below, and was composed in 1833.
2. “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” was never supposed to be released...Unthinkable today, but times were different then. Although his intentions were not bad, “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” was recorded to make fun of a stutterer. The stutterer was Randy Bachman’s brother, Gory, and Bachman Turner Overdrive recorded the song to tease him. The song was never intended for a commercial release and Bachman later re-recorded it without the stutter. However, the record company insisted on releasing the original. The result: it became a worldwide hit and the band’s only number one! A weird-themed music hit!
3. The “My Way” Murders – the deadliest song in the history of music...Who doesn’t know the phrase of the verse of “I Did It My Way”? In the Philippines this way seems to be cruel; actually a social phenomenon. The phrase “My Way” Murders refers to a series of deadly fights in karaoke bars. Officials say at least 12 people died singing Frank Sinatra’s hit song between 2002 and 2012. Nobody knows if there is an aggressively interpretable connection with the text or if the connection is purely coincidental. Out of context, “My Way” is apparently one of the riskiest songs out there.
4. Roy Orbison was by no means blind...Roy Orbison, the singer known as “The Big O”, was said to be blind. After all, dark, oversized sunglasses were his trademark. Somehow no one could imagine that anything could still be seen through those deep, dark glasses. But it is true that in normal life he wore ordinary glasses and one day lost them at a support concert during a Beatles tour. On stage he had to wear sunglasses as a backup. At first it was a gimmick, but later it was impossible to imagine his stage presence without them. Another bizarre event in the history of music.
5. The “Sweet Child o ‘Mine ” riff is a guitar exercise...Everyone thinks that the “Sweet Child o ‘Mine” riff is the fruit of Slash’s elaborate ingenuity. In reality, the riff was born out of a guitar exercise that aimed to jump the strings. Slash was just warming up his fingers! Axl Rose was listening and started singing over him using the text of a poem he had written to his girlfriend at the time. An interesting curiosity: Axl’s exclamation “Where do we go now?” it was meant literally, as he didn’t know how to proceed with the text.
Weird Music History
Randy Bachman experiences a musical miracle
In 1976, then 32-year-old Canadian rock musician Randy Bachman had his beloved guitar, an orange Gretsch 6120, stolen from a Toronto hotel. A bitter loss, after all, he had babysat, delivered newspapers, mowed lawns and cleaned cars until he raised the $400 for his first guitar.
He later wrote hits like “American Woman”. Then in 2021, 45 years later, a fan spotted a Gretsch in a YouTube video, compared the grain and texture of its wood and confirmed that it was Bachman’s! It turns out that the Japanese musician Takeshi bought it in a Tokyo shop. Bachman – moved to tears – and Takeshi agreed to an exchange with an identical model of the guitar and played a few
songs together before getting his guitar back. After 46 years, Randy can play
his “first love” again. A truly miraculous musical event!
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