More Info on Wesley WillisSimilar Alternative MusicSearch Artistopia
Biography
Multiple issues|lead too short = December 2011|self-published = December 2011|refimprove = January 2009Infobox musical artist|name = Wesley Willis|image = Wesley Willis.jpg|caption = Willis in 2000|background = solo_singer|birth_name = Wesley Lawrence Willis|alias =|birth_date = Birth date|1963|5|31|death_date =Death date and age|2003|8|21|1963|5|31|origin = Chicago, Illinois |instrument = vocals, keyboards|genre = Outsider music , electronic music|electronic , punk rock , alternative rock|alternative |Movement = Outsider art , Landscape art |years_active = 1976–2003 (as artist) 1989–2003 (as musician)|label = Alternative Tentacles , American Recordings (record label)|American Recordings |associated_acts = Wesley Willis Fiasco Monster Voodoo Machine |website = http://www.alternativetentacles.com/bandinfo.php? band=wesleywillis Wesley Willis on Alternative Tentacles Wesley Willis (May 31, 1963& nbsp;– August 21, 2003) was a musician and artist from Chicago . http://www.alternativetentacles.com/bandinfo.php? band=wesleywillis Alternative Tentacles - Bands http://ymarksthespot.org/2010/07/31/say-rah-discussing-the-daddy-of-rock-n-roll-with-the-directors-of-wesley-williss-joy-rides-2/ Say Rah& #33; Discussing the Daddy of Rock n’ Roll with the Directors of “Wesley Willis’s Joy Rides” « Y Marks the Spot A diagnosed chronic schizophrenia|schizophrenic , he gained an enormous cult following in the 1990s after releasing several hundred songs of simple but unique music, with emphasis on his humorous, bizarre, and frequently obscene lyrics. http://wesleywillissjoyrides.com/site/? page_id=16 Wesley Willis’s Joy Rides · Wesley Willis Bio In addition to his large body of solo musical work, Willis fronted the punk rock band the Wesley Willis Fiasco . He was also a visual artist long before his forays into music, and produced hundreds of intricate, unusual, colored ink-pen drawings, most of them of Chicago streetscapes and Chicago Transit Authority|CTA buses.
Life
Willis was born in Chicago, Illinois on May 31, 1963. In 1989, Willis began hearing what he called "demons" and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia . He was institutionalized for two months after his diagnosis. He often mentioned that his demons were named "Heartbreaker", "Nervewrecker", and "Meansucker". He called his psychotic episodes "hell rides", and alternatively, he declared rock and roll to be "the joy ride music".
Willis sold fountain pen|ink pen drawings of the Chicago cityscape on the street. In '' The Daddy of Rock 'N' Roll '', Steve Albini tells an anecdote about how Willis was in one train station drawing a detailed picture of a different train station from memory. These works of outsider art appear on the covers of his albums. Willis joined musicians from the city's alternative rock scene to form the hard rock band The Wesley Willis Fiasco . Willis created a fervor in the Chicago music scene and soon caught the attention of American Recordings (US)|American Recordings , an independent label distributed by Warner Bros.|The Warner Group .
In early 1994, Willis recorded with the Canada|Canadian industrial music|industrial - heavy metal music|metal band Monster Voodoo Machine and appeared on their Juno Award winning debut album Suffersystem ( RCA Records ). In 1995, Willis was signed as a solo musician to American Recordings (US)|American Recordings and went on to record two albums while producing dozens of other albums independently, becoming a minor novelty song|novelty rock sensation. He toured frequently, was profiled on MTV and was a guest on Howard Stern|The Howard Stern Show on September 26, 1996 where he played nearly identical songs about Baba Booey and Howard Stern .
Rock critic and Okkervil River frontman Will Sheff wrote that Willis' "Periodic appearances for crowds of jeering white Fraternities and sororities|fratboys evoke an uncomfortable combination of Minstrel show|minstrel act and traveling freak show ." http://www.audiogalaxy.com/articles? & a=271 AG Essentials: Outsider Conversely, guitarist Scott Anthony, who toured with Willis in 1998, said "It's not frat boys coming to his shows and making fun of him; it's punk rock kids who appreciate that he sings stuff people are thinking." Willis was known for greeting people with a friendly headbutt, resulting in the notable callus on his forehead.
On August 21, 2003, Willis died due to complications from chronic myelogenous leukemia in Skokie, Illinois . He was 40 years old. A memorial service for him was held on August 27, in Chicago .
Hellride
"Hellride" is the term used by Willis to describe his encounters with " demon s" http://www.monzy.org/wesley/ Wesley Willis, which occurred mainly on the CTA bus lines in Chicago .Citation needed|date=February 2010 Willis, diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, often claimed that demons were trying to ruin his "Harmony Joy Music" or "Joy Rides". Willis also used the term to describe general harassment: In one of his songs he says, "He gave me a yelldown warhellride." When asked about the demons or Hellrides, Willis would often comment that he was trying to "stay the hell out of prison " by "not hitting people in the street with bricks." In several songs, both terms are used openly. One of Willis' songs is entitled "I Deserve a Warhellride".
Song style and structure
The Wesley Willis Fiasco songs were essentially punk rock songs with Willis howling his obscene, absurd rants as lyrics. Some called it exploitation; others dubbed it "savant-garde." The Wesley Willis Fiasco recorded at least three cover songs: Thin Lizzy 's "Jailbreak", http://www.hbdirect.com/album_detail.php? pid=207448 Various Artists: Vagabonds of the Midwestern World: Fighting Songs by Thin Lizzy - Anti Gravity - SMBY 6601 - 705236660126 - H& B Recordings Direct Pure Prairie League 's " Bustin' Out|Amie ", and Duran Duran|Duran Duran's " Girls on Film ", the last of which was recorded for a 1997 Duran Duran tribute album . Another song by the Wesley Willis Fiasco, "The Bar Is Closed", recreates a section of Rush (band)|Rush 's "Tom Sawyer"; the song "Casper the Homosexual Friendly Ghost" does the same with Van Halen 's "Jamie's Cryin'".
After the Fiasco broke up, Willis' popularity increased markedly. As a solo artist, Willis created more than 50 albums, each with over 20 tracks, full of bizarre, tense, and often obscene rants about crime, fast food, cultural trends, bus routes, violent confrontations with superhero es, commands for his "demons" to engage in bestiality (in '' The Daddy of Rock 'N' Roll '', Willis explained that these songs (e.g. "Drink a Camel's Cum, Suck a Cheetah's Dick") would "gross out" the demons enough to leave him alone), and praise for his favorite actors, friends (both platonic and romantic), politicians, and Hip hop music|hip-hop and rock and roll|rock artists. Songs about rock artists were usually confined to describing a show performed by the band that Willis had attended or opened for, recycling key phrases such as "The crowd roared like a lion," "A lot of people met the band," "The band got down like a Magikist ," and the opening couplet "This band played the venue of appearance / About number people were at the show," as well as uses of the phrases "rock show" and "jam session" in conjunction with "the (rock) show was..." or stating that the existence of one of these within the show "was awesome" or "whipped a(n) random animal, generally a non- human mammal s ass". Many songs end with the phrase "Rock over London , rock on, Chicago," followed by a product slogan, such as " Polaroid Corporation|Polaroid . See what develops."
Willis' keyboard of choice was the Technics KN series. Willis would obsessively trade in one KN model for the newest ones on the market during the time when he was making the most money (after his break-up with The Wesley Willis Fiasco). The KN1200 was the keyboard he was currently using, according to a Howard Stern interview.
Cultural impact
In 2003, Filmmaker Daniel Bitton released a film about Wesley Willis called '' The Daddy of Rock 'N' Roll ''. The documentary follows Willis around as he talks to himself and others, rides the bus, writes a song on a public computer at Kinko's , performs a concert, records a track, and visits his friends. Bitton also interviewed many people who commonly interacted with Willis. Willis and his band the Fiasco were also featured in the 1997 Chicago rock documentary Out of the Loop as well as in the German documentary Golden Lemons http://www.goldenlemons.de Golden Lemons a documentary roadmovie by Jörg Siepmannimdb title|0384138|Golden Lemons by Jörg Siepmann about the Wesley Willis tour supported by the German band Die Goldenen Zitronen (The Golden Lemons) and the group Grand Buffet .
In 2008, the documentary film ''Wesley Willis' Joy Rides'' made its public debut at the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah . The film comprises footage of Willis collected by the filmmakers over a period of five years, interviews of family and friends after Willis' death, and animations created from his artwork.
During his lifetime, he frequently drew and either gave his drawings away to friends or sold them for small amounts (typically $10 or $20) in Chicago parks. However, after his death, Willis began to receive recognition in the art community for his large body of visual art. In 2008 his artwork was exhibited at the Mohamed Khalil Museum of Egypt, and he was the subject of a special exhibit entitled Drawn By Wesley Willis at Dominican University (Illinois)|Dominican University .cite web|url= http://www.avclub.com/chicago/articles/its-drawn-by-wesley-willis,520/|title=It's drawn by Wesley Willis|last=Wolinsky|first=David|date=February 21, 2008|work=The A.V. Club Chicago|accessdate=12 March 2012
A song of Willis' about Star Wars was later included as an example of remix culture material in the documentary film The People vs. George Lucas .
http://www.alternativetentacles.com/bandinfo.php? band=wesleywillis Wesley Willis Biography and MP3s at Alternative Tentacles
http://www.monzy.org/wesley/ monzy.org Wesley Willis Biography including Wesley Willis Song Generator
http://www.alternativetentacles.com/jelloonwesley.htm Press release from Willis' good friend Jello Biafra in memory of Willis
http://www.artofwesleywillis.com Art of Wesley Willis, drawings by Willis of scenes in Chicago, as well as a sampling of his music.
http://www.wesleywillisart.com Wesley Willis Art, drawings by Willis of scenes in Chicago
http://www.archive.org/details/Loved_Like_a_Milkshake-A_Tribute_to_Wesley_Willis Loved Like a Milkshake A Wesley Willis tribute album by a variety of artists
http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=1Rzg51SMhEo Wesley Willis: Artist of the Streets (1988 video of Wesley Willis drawing and explaining his technique)
http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/music/artist/webs/0,,541980-7,00.html Wesley Willis on Artist Direct
http://boomp3.com/m/1a4c34d2089a Wesley Willis: Howard Stern Interview (listen online)
Persondata | NAME = Willis, Wesley | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = American musician | DATE OF BIRTH = May 31, 1963 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = August 21, 2003 | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Wesley Category:1963 births Category:2003 deaths Category:Deaths from leukemia Category:African American musicians Category:American electronic musicians Category:American singer-songwriters Category:Outsider music Category:Musicians from Chicago, Illinois Category:American male singers Category:People with schizophrenia Category:American buskers Category:Outsider artists Category:Cancer deaths in Illinois Category:Culture of Chicago, Illinois Category:Songwriters from Illinois
