When Guns ‘N Roses broke down on their way to a gig in Seattle in 1985, they ate raw onions from a field at the side of the road, managed to hitch a ride to the club and, when afterwards the owner refused to pay them, they tried and failed to burn the club down.
In 1982, two ex-members of the band Yes…
In 1982, two ex-members of the band Yes started a new band, Cinema. The actual band Yes still existed at that point, but broke up shortly afterward. Two of Yes’s ex-members then joined Cinema. At that point Cinema just decided to become the band Yes.
This Woman Is 106-Years-Old and Has Been a Drummer for 80 Years
This 106-year-old lady is one of the most well-known drummers in the world — because she’s been doing it for 80 years.
Viola Smith was born in Mount Calvary, Wisconsin, as one of ten kids. Her drumming career began in the 1920s when she formed a family band with six of her sisters, the Smith Sisters Orchestra. She later started the all-women orchestra The Coquettes with her sister, saxophonist Mildred.
Over the ensuing decades, Viola lived through several eras of music, including jazz, swing, rock and roll and beyond.
Who says only boys play drums?! Viola Smith, 1939 #throwbackthursday http://t.co/YnD8aekQtV pic.twitter.com/jINGglOHOK
— Drummer Talk (@DrummerTalk) October 9, 2014
She appeared on the cover of Billboard, played on television with the swing orchestra Hour of Charm, and played with the NBC Symphony Orchestra, among a long list of other accomplishments. She even played for President Harry Truman’s inauguration in 1949.
Viola eventually formed her very own band called Viola and Her Seventeen Drums. After that, she took her talents to Broadway to perform for the original production of Cabaret.
Photo Credit: Billboard
Now 106, Viola was still actively drumming until very recently. She even played in a band in Costa Mesa called Forever Young Band.
So how has she managed to stay active for so long? Well, Viola smoked, but only briefly. She also enjoys some wine, though she says, “I’m a drinker, but definitely always in moderation.”
Really she credits her long, healthy life in large part to her drumming, which helped her stay physically fit.
“It is very healthful; all that exercise…and I had tom-toms up here,” Viola told Syncopated Times, gesturing to above her shoulders.
What an impressive woman!
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After the breakup of the Soviet Union…
After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the Lithuanian basketball team couldn’t afford to participate in the 1992 Olympics, so the Grateful Dead funded the team’s expenses, and the team wore tie-dye uniforms.
Beethoven overcame deafness by biting…
Beethoven overcame deafness by biting a metal rod attached to his piano to hear his work. It’s called bone conduction, and can also be used to help divers talk and hear underwater, and is also used by elephants to communicate.
Gwen Stefani’s brother Eric…
Gwen Stefani’s brother Eric was originally the keyboardist for No Doubt but left to become an animator for The Simpsons. He was able to put No Doubt into the background of the Lollapalloza episode when they were still pretty much an unknown band.
Behold the Octobasse: an Enormous Stringed Instrument with Sounds Too Low for Humans to Hear
How familiar are you with all the stringed instruments out there? Sure, you probably know violins, guitars, cellos, and basses. But I’m betting few of you are familiar with the granddaddy of them all – the octobasse, which genuinely sounds more like a legendary monster than a string instrument.
The octobasse is a string instrument that can create sounds so low, humans can’t hear them. What is the point of that, you ask? Maybe to feel the vibrations? Unclear, but it’s pretty metal.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Though this totally sounds like the invention of a bored millennial, the octobasse was built in 1850 by the French instrument maker Jean-Baptise Vuillaume. The octobasse is quite a lot larger than a human and not very practical to transport; also, there are rumored to only be seven in existence. But there is a playable replica at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. The octobass is in use by exactly one (1) orchestra in the world: the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.
Playing an octobass is different than playing other stringed instruments, because it’s too big for musicians to use their hands on the strings. Instead, there’s a system of levers and pedals that create each note.
Watch some musicians experimenting with the octobasse in Phoenix:
Is it amazing or is it terrifying? Maybe a little of both.
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James Jamerson, regarded as…
James Jamerson, regarded as the greatest electronic bass player ever, recorded Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, while being flat on his back as he was too intoxicated to stand upright. He was the uncredited bassist on most of the Motown Records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s.
In 2008 and at the age of 45…
In 2008 and at the age of 45, Flea, bass player of the multiplatinum rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, enrolled as a freshman at University of Southern California’s music program to learn the academic side of music.
In 1973 the members of Led Zeppelin…
In 1973 the members of Led Zeppelin gave drummer John Bonham a Harley Davidson for his 25th birthday, which he promptly rode up and down the hallways of his hotel, causing thousands of dollars in damage. The next day, he wrote a check for the damages and said “Oh, and keep the bike.”