Background: Willson was born in Mason City, Iowa, to John David Willson and Rosalie Reiniger Willson, and he had a brother two years his senior, John Cedrick, and a sister 12 years his senior, the children's author Dixie Willson. He attended Frank Damrosch's Institute of Musical Art (which later became the Juilliard School) in New York City. He married his high school sweetheart, Elizabeth "Peggy" Wilson, on August 29, 1920. A flute and piccolo player, Willson was a member of John Philip Sousa's band (1921-1923), and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini (1924-1929).
Context: Willson penned a number of very well known songs, such as "You and I," which was a No. 1 for Glenn Miller in 1941 on the Billboard charts. It was also recorded by Bing Crosby, and by Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra on vocals. Three songs from The Music Man have become American standards: "Seventy-Six Trombones," "Gary, Indiana," and "Till There Was You." The last was recorded by The Beatles for their 1963 UK album With The Beatles. (The album's American equivalent, Meet The Beatles!, was issued in 1964.) Other popular songs composed by Willson include "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" (published as "It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas"), "May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You," and "I See the Moon." He wrote the University of Iowa's fight song Iowa Fight Song, and Iowa State University's "For I for S Forever." He also wrote the fight song for his hometown high school "Mason City, Go!" He honored The Salvation Army with a musical tribute, "Banners and Bonnets." An oddity in Willson's body of work is "Chicken Fat," written in 1962. In school gymnasiums across the nation, this was the theme song for President John F. Kennedy's youth fitness program. It was time to get the country's youth into shape, and Willson's song had youngsters moving through basic exercises at a frenetic pace: push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, torso twists, running in place, pogo springs, and plenty of marching. With an energetic lead vocal by Robert Preston, orchestral marching band, and full chorus, it was likely recorded during sessions for the Music Man film. Two versions of the song exist: a three-minute, radio-friendly length, and a longer, six-minute version for use in the gymnasium. In 2014 "Chicken Fat" was used in a television commercial for the iPhone 5S. In 1974 he offered a marching song, "Whip Inflation Now," to the Ford Administration, but it was not used.
Question: Why is this considered an oddity?
Answer: In school gymnasiums across the nation, this was the theme song for President John F. Kennedy's youth fitness program.

Background: Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (; May 3, 1903 - October 14, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark warm bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of all time, having sold over one billion analog records and tapes, as well as digital compact discs and downloads around the world.
Context: Crosby was born on May 3, 1903 in Tacoma, Washington, in a house his father built at 1112 North J Street. In 1906, his family moved to Spokane, and in 1913, his father built a house at 508 E. Sharp Avenue. The house sits on the campus of Gonzaga University, his alma mater. He was the fourth of seven children: brothers Larry (1895-1975), Edward (1896-1966), Ted (1900-1973), and Bob (1913-1993); and two sisters, Catherine (1904-1974) and Mary Rose (1906-1990). His parents were Harry Lillis Crosby Sr. (1870-1950), a bookkeeper, and Catherine Helen "Kate" (nee Harrigan; 1873-1964). His mother was a second generation Irish-American. His father was of English descent; an ancestor, Simon Crosby, emigrated to America in the 17th century, and one of his descendants married a descendant of Mayflower passenger William Brewster (c. 1567 - April 10, 1644). In 1910, seven-year-old Harry Crosby, Jr. was forever renamed. The Sunday edition of the Spokesman-Review published a feature called "The Bingville Bugle". Written by humorist Newton Newkirk, The Bingville Bugle was a parody of a hillbilly newsletter, filled with gossip, minstrel quips, creative spelling, and mock ads. A Crosby neighbor, 15-year-old Valentine Hobart, enjoyed reading "The Bugle", and noting Harry's laugh, took a liking to him and called him "Bingo from Bingville". Eventually, the last vowel was dropped and the nickname stuck. In 1917, Crosby took a summer job as property boy at Spokane's "Auditorium," where he witnessed some of the finest acts of the day, including Al Jolson, who held him spellbound with ad libbing and parodies of Hawaiian songs. He later described Jolson's delivery as "electric." Crosby graduated from Gonzaga High School (today's Gonzaga Prep) in 1920 and enrolled at Gonzaga University. He attended Gonzaga for three years but did not earn a degree. As a freshman, he played on the university's baseball team. The university granted him an honorary doctorate in 1937.
Question: what else is interesting about this article?
Answer: The Bingville Bugle was a parody of a hillbilly newsletter,

Background: Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 - February 27, 2003) was an American television personality, musician, puppeteer, writer, producer, and Presbyterian minister. Rogers was famous for creating, hosting and composing the theme music for the educational preschool television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1968-2001), which featured his kind-hearted grandfatherly personality, and direct connection to his audiences. Originally trained and ordained as a minister, Rogers was displeased with the way television addressed children at the time, and made an effort to change this when he began to write for and perform on local Pittsburgh-area shows dedicated to youth. Rogers developed his own show on WQED in 1968, and it was distributed nationwide by Eastern Educational Television Network.
Context: During the controversy surrounding the introduction of the household VCR, Rogers was involved in supporting the manufacturers of VCRs in court. His 1979 testimony, in the case Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc., noted that he did not object to home recordings of his television programs, for instance, by families in order to watch them together at a later time. This testimony contrasted with the views of others in the television industry who objected to home recordings or believed that devices to facilitate it should be taxed or regulated. When the case reached the Supreme Court in 1983, the majority decision considered the testimony of Rogers when it held that the Betamax video recorder did not infringe copyright. The Court stated that his views were a notable piece of evidence "that many [television] producers are willing to allow private time-shifting to continue" and even quoted his testimony in a footnote: Some public stations, as well as commercial stations, program the Neighborhood at hours when some children cannot use it ... I have always felt that with the advent of all of this new technology that allows people to tape the Neighborhood off-the-air, and I'm speaking for the Neighborhood because that's what I produce, that they then become much more active in the programming of their family's television life. Very frankly, I am opposed to people being programmed by others. My whole approach in broadcasting has always been "You are an important person just the way you are. You can make healthy decisions." Maybe I'm going on too long, but I just feel that anything that allows a person to be more active in the control of his or her life, in a healthy way, is important.
Question: What was Roger's role in supporting the VCR
Answer:
His 1979 testimony, in the case Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc.,