FACTS
Hanson is a band consisting of three brothers, Isaac, Taylor, and Zachary. They are from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and there first major-label CD is called Middle of Nowhere.
Hanson either wrote or co-wrote all the songs on Middle of Nowhere
All of the Hanson Kids are home-schooled by there mother Diana because when they were younger there family had to move around allot because of there father's job.
The rollerblading accident in the MmmBop video was real!
The car used in the MmmBop video was the same car Sandra Bullock drives in Speed 2.
Hanson calls there fans "The Screem Squad".
Isaac, Taylor, and Zac wear ear plugs while on stage! According to Zac, "We'd go deaf from all the fans screaming if we didn't!"
The boys first called themselves "The Hansons"
The Time/Life compileation records the boys listened to spanned the years of 1957-1969
Middle of Nowhere was released on May 6 in North America.
One of the song wrighters the boys worked with on the Middle of Nowhere, Mark Hudson, helped wright songs for Aerosmith.
Hanson often played in a bar called "The Blue Rose Cafe", located in Tulsa, OK.
According to Taylor Hanson the hit single "MmmBop", is about friendships.
It took the brother only 30 minutes to wright the first track on the CD, Thinking of You.
The Hanson Family stayed in a rented house in the Hollywood Hills while the boys recorded "Middle of Nowhere"!
Before recording "Middle of Nowhere the boys wrote more than 100 orginal songs.
Hanson got rejected 14 times before they nabbed a record contract with "Mercury Records".
The guys gave there deepest thanks to "The One" on the CD liner notes of Middle of Nowhere.
Hanson's parents first met at the University of OK.
Hanson are expecting a younger brother or sister in January
Hansons first T.V. appearence was on "The Late Show with David Letterman".
Hanson has a new dog named Wicket.
The Hanson brothers were born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Since 1992 the brothers have recorded two self-distributed CD's, written more than 100 original songs, and performed in public hundreds of times!
You wouldn't guess their ages from listening to Middle of Nowhere, their debut for Mercury Records -- an album chock full of jubilant pop, modern rock, '70s soul and even a gospel influence that has crossed over from a teen audience to appeal to listeners twice their own age. When they played at The Blue Rose Cafe, a hip Tulsa bar, they had to perform outside. That's because Isaac is 16, Taylor is 13, and Zac is 11. They weren't old enough to get in!
The boys' career may well have started when their father's job took the family to live in Trinidad, Ecuador and Venezuela. They developed an obsessive love for the Time/Life compilation records covering the years 1957 - 1969. "The first music we started listening to was late '50s, early '60s rock and roll," Isaac says. "Chuck Berry, Bobby Darin, and the Beach Boys". We also love '60s soul records like Johnnie Taylor's 'Who's Making Love' and anything by Otis Redding or Aretha -- The Queen of Soul."
Taylor, who sings lead on many of the tracks, stresses "Part of what Hanson is, is that there's not just one guy who sings. Having three voices is what makes us Hanson."
"MMMBop" and three other songs on Middle of Nowhere are written entirely by the brothers. The CD was written and recorded in Los Angeles over a period of five months, and released this past May (1997). What does Zac remember most fondly about that time? "We jumped in the Dust Brothers' pool with our clothes on!"
All three brothers say that music was unavoidable growing up in their household, with both parents singing and making up songs constantly. "Singing is in our genes," Isaac says. He wrote his first song when he was eight, and Taylor started to harmonize shortly after.
On Middle of Nowhere Isaac plays guitar, Taylor plays keyboards, and Zac plays drums.
So what do they write about? Well, friendship, girls, loneliness, girls, family members, girls, and aliens. Aliens? Zac's composition "Man From Milwaukee" was inspired by his sitting by the side of the road in Albuquerque, waiting for his family to fix their broken down van. But 'Albuquerque' didn't quite have the right ring to it, so he went with Milwaukee and turned it into a song about Aliens! "The songs are inspired about every day life," Taylor says. "Originally we would write about our brothers and sisters (there are three younger Hanson siblings). Just whatever we were thinking about. And, of course, girls."
OH THAT GRAVITATIONAL PULL:
Ever think about jumping out of an airplane? Isaac has. For his 18th birthday, Isaac and his friends wanted to go sky-diving, but chickened out! Come on Isaac.. so you're hurdling to the ground at an unbelievably fast rate.. what's a little gravity gonna do to ya huh? hehe.
HANSON BOOTS:
Hanson went shopping at a huge boot store.. Doc Martens, a European boot store and bought so many boots, their hotel rooms are full of boots! (Like those awesome yellow ones of Zac's!!)
BROKEN BONES:
Isaac sprained his ankle from his tree house when he was about 15 or 16 years old.
Tay broke his arm right in half when he was riding his bike to go see the new house his parents were going to buy. He was riding down the hill, and his parents were coming up the hill in their car.. he realized he was headed straight for them, slammed on the brakes, and flew right over the handle bars!! When his parents rushed out to poor Taylor.. all that was broken was his arm!
Zac broke his nose.. or should we say Tay broke Zac's nose by slamming a seesaw into his face! Vicious Taylor!!! *L*
CLEAN YOUR MOUTH OUT:
Taylor admits that if he ever saw the perfect girl come up to him and ask for an autograph, or standing in line to buy tickets for their concert, he would definitely ask her out! Do you think you're Taylor material?? Then make sure you look GOOD standing in line!!!!
THOSE DARLING HANSON GIRLS:
Aren't Jessica and Avery adorable?? Tamra Davis, the video director for Mmmbop thinks so. When they were recording Middle Of Nowhere in LA, Jessica and Avery would work hard drawing and colouring pictures in the dressing room, and give them to Tamra. Tamra said they made her so many drawings, and they were so precious, that they're hanging on her walls at home now.
TAKE AWAY HANSONS LICENCE:
The European version of the video Mmmbop is different from the American version. Why, you ask?? Well, the car scene, where Hanson is driving the car and having fun is edited out. Why, you ask again?? European officials decided that it was unacceptable to show kids driving a car so recklessly!! Ohh.. those crazy rebellious Hanson boys!!! Setting such a baaaaaad example.. whatever shall us North Americans do??
EMBARASSING MOMENTS:
On an interview on national TV, Isaac told Taylor to blow his nose! "It was running" Isaac said. But don't worry, in another interview on national TV, Taylor told Isaac that no one cares how he used to wear his hair, after Isaac was describing an old hairstyle of his. Crazy boys!
STAY OUT OF MY ROOM!!:
Those Hanson boys must do everything together right?? Well not everything. When it comes to sleeping at night.. they prefer their own hotel rooms! Tsk! Making good ol' dad fork out the extra cash eh boys??
NEED A CHANGE??:
Can you change a diaper?? Isaac sure knows how!!! He says that he's changed so many diapers.. he's changed the last four Hanson kids that were born!!! *L* Yikes!!! He's a natural with the babes.. er.. I mean babies.
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