Like many young kids, I stumbled up on a Guinness Book of World Records in my school's library and was instantly enthralled by the photos of "world's tallest man" and "world's longest nails," as well as the hundreds of other unique talents or quirks from individuals across the globe. Of course, I also daydreamed about how I could get my name into those hallowed pages, too, but have yet to manage that esteemed accomplishment.
Unlike me, vocalist John Moschitta Jr. was more determined to find glory.
When Moschitta was 12 years old, a fundraiser for cerebral palsy offered to donate $2,000 to their cause for anyone who could break a world record. When his first attempt at riding a roller coaster at Coney Island backfired due to his young age, he decided to instead focus on training himself to speak faster than any individual ever had. After carefully honing his voice with plenty of practice, Moschitta achieved his goal by performing the song "You Got Trouble" from The Music Man at an incredible rate of 586 words per minute. (Yes, you read that correctly!)
As he got older, his skill only grew more refined and it was called on for use in several commercials for products like Minute Rice and FedEx delivery. He became so well-known that people would often stop him in the street to either babble incoherently in an impression of him or slow down their speech to a crawl as a joke.
While being interviewed for a local news network, Moschitta reprised his record-breaking recitation of the Broadway tune and went a step further with the lyrics from a popular Michael Jackson hit.
Take a look at the unforgettable flashback clip and be sure to SHARE with your friends if you're just as stunned!
