In all of their years spent as a comedy rock band, The Axis of Awesome never once had a hit. It’s hard to think that could even be possible with such a perfect name as The Axis of Awesome, a play on the phrase Axis of Evil which was coined by former U.S. President George W. Bush.
The Austrialian musical comedy act formed in 2006 and perform in a variety of styles doing parody covers and their own original songs.
The Axis of Awesome was involved in improv theatre at the University of Sydney, according to Wikipedia, before forming their band. They would perform at comedy nights, improv nights, and non-profit radio stations.
They began growing their fan base after releasing some rap parodies poking fun at the 2007 Australian Federal Election. But still… no major hit.
Bandmates Jordan Raskopoulos and Lee Naimo pondered their lack of a hit on stage during their sketch at the 2009 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
Their keyboardist, Benny Davis, who they so lovingly refer to as Chicken Little, claimed to know the reason why.
“Yea, but you guys know why?” he says. “It’s because we never wrote a four chord song. All the greatest songs from the past 40 years just use four chords. The same four chords for every song. It’s dead simple to write a pop song.”
His bandmates look extremely surprised by this.
“Alright let me get this straight, Chicken Little,” Raskopoulos says. “What you’re trying to say is you can take those four chords, repeat them and pump out every pop song ever? Is that what you’re saying?”
Davis confirms that that is exactly what he is saying.
“Oh, F*ck off!” Raskopoulos says in disbelief.
Now it was up to Davis to prove it to his bandmates. He starts playing Journey’s song “Don’t Stop Believing,” and asks if they recognize it and they do. He then morphs the song into Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours,” and Elton John’s “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.”
Their one song turns into 38 other pop hits. There are several hilarious moments that include Men at Work’s “Land Down Under,” Aqua’s “Barbie Girl,” and a kazoo for MGMT’s “Kids.”
Magically, the act, which is known as “Four Chords,” turned into their big hit.
The song got some airplay on BBC Radio 1 which sent listeners to YouTube to check out the song. That song now has more than 48 million views on YouTube. It’s now one of their best-known hits that they performed on various radio and television shows.
They released an official music video for “Four Chords in 2011, which you can watch below.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
