0
The number of encores Elvis Presley gave in his career.
0
The number of weeks the following songs spent in the British Top 20 – between them. Angel Of The Morning (P.P. Arnold), Year Of The Cat (Al Stewart), What A Fool Believes (The Doobie Brothers), Someone Saved My Life Tonight (Elton John), We’ve Only Just Begun (The Carpenters), Stop Your Sobbing (The Pretenders), Last Train To Clarksville (The Monkees), I Don’t Believe In Miracles (Colin Blunstone) and Wouldn’t It Be Nice (The Beach Boys).
1
The number of songs written by Larry Williams, a roadie for Neil Diamond, that were ever recorded (The Bellamy Brothers song Let Your Love Flow).
2
The number of fingers Django Reinhardt had missing on his right hand. He still became one of the greatest guitarists of all time.
The number of recorded tenors in the 20th century who were capable of singing E over high C (Enrico Caruso and Roy Orbison).
2
The highest number reached in the British charts by Brown Sugar by The Rolling Stones, Golden Brown by The Stranglers, The Jean Genie by David Bowie, Delilah by Tom Jones, Lazy Sunday by The Small Faces, In The Air Tonight by Phil Collins, Oliver’s Army by Elvis Costello and the Attractions, God Only Knows by The Beach Boys, When A Man Loves A Woman by Percy Sledge and In The Ghetto by Elvis Presley.
3
The number of consecutive Christmas Number Ones the Spice Girls had – 1996: 2 Become 1; 1997: Too Much; 1998: Goodbye.
3
The number of Gershwin songs that contain the phrase ‘Who could ask for anything more?’ I Got Rhythm, Nice Work if You Can Get It, and I’m About to Become a Mother.
The number of acts that had British Number Ones with Spirit In The Sky (Norman Greenbaum (1970); Doctor And The Medics (1986); Gareth Gates featuring The Kumars (2003)).
3
The number of times ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ reached number one in the UK (1984, 1989 and 2004).
4
At the 2010 Grammy Awards, Taylor Swift won four Grammys – one more than Elvis did in his entire career.
5
Sir Cliff Richard had British Number One singles in five different decades (the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s).
5
The Beatles held the Top Five spots on the 4 April, 1964 US Billboard singles chart. To date, they’re the only band to have accomplished that feat.
6
Karen Carpenter’s doorbell chimed the first six notes of We’ve Only Just Begun.
6
The length in hours of the longest opera performed at the Royal Opera House (Richard Wagner’s Götterdämmerung).
The number of countries that participated in the very first Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in Lugano, Switzerland, on 24 May 1956 and each country sang two songs (the only time this has happened). The host nation won.
10
The number of minutes it took George Gershwin and Irving Caesar to write the song Swanee – which sold over two million copies in 1919 after being recorded by Al Jolson.
19
The number of Hungarian rhapsodies written by Franz Liszt.
20
The number of years ago today that Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play (in Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band).
24
The number of consecutive Top 5 singles in the US achieved by Elvis (his run ended with Return To Sender in 1962).
29
The number of the track from where the Chattanooga Choo-Choo could be boarded in the 1941 song.
30
The number of artistes who turned down the song Bye, Bye Love before The Everly Brothers recorded it. It became their first big hit.
47
The number of strings on a harp.
49
The number in the UK charts reached by the group Jet Bronx And The Forbidden – featuring Loyd Grossman as the singer and guitarist – with Ain’t Doin’ Nothin’ in 1977.
50
The number of ways to leave your lover, according to Paul Simon.
60
The number of vocalists The Drifters have had.
76
The number of trombones that led the big parade in The Music Man.
88
The number of keys on a piano.
104
The number of symphonies composed by Haydn.
120
The number of hours it would take to play the complete works of Beethoven.
The (record) number of curtain calls received by Luciano Pavarotti, in 1988 in Berlin.
175
The number of hours of music composed by JS Bach.
202
The number of hours of music composed by Mozart.
273
The number of seconds of silence in John Cage’s composition 4’33’’.
447
The length in seconds of the shortest opera ever published (The Deliverance of Theseus by Darius Milhaud).
461
On 14 February, 1977, singer/songwriter Janis Ian received 461 Valentine’s Day cards after the success of her song At Seventeen, which contained the lyrics ‘The valentines I never knew’.
4,000
The number of holes in Blackburn, Lancashire in A Day in the Life.