Wesley Willis

Wesley Willis
Willis in October 2000
Background information
Birth name Wesley Lawrence Willis
Born (1963-05-31)May 31, 1963
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died August 21, 2003(2003-08-21) (aged 40)
Prospect Heights, Illinois, U.S.
Genres
Instruments Vocals, keyboards
Years active 1976–2003 (as artist)
1989–2003 (as musician)
Labels Alternative Tentacles
American Recordings
Cornerstone R.A.S.
Fuse Records
Ghetto Love Records
Oglio Records
Typhoid Mary Records
Associated acts Wesley Willis Fiasco
Monster Voodoo Machine
Website Wesley Willis on Alternative Tentacles

Wesley Lawrence Willis (May 31, 1963 – August 21, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter and visual artist. Diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1989, Willis began a career as an underground singer-songwriter in the outsider music tradition, with songs featuring his bizarre, humorous and often obscene lyrics sung over the auto accompaniment feature on his Technics KN keyboard.[1][2][3]

Willis gained a large cult following in the 1990s, particularly after the release of his 1995 Greatest Hits album on the Alternative Tentacles label. Jello Biafra compiled the album's track list.[2][3] In addition to a large body of solo musical work, Willis fronted his own punk rock band, the Wesley Willis Fiasco, during the 1990s.[3] He was also a visual artist long before he developed an interest in music, and produced hundreds of intricate, unusual, colored ink-pen drawings,[3] most of them of various Chicago streetscapes; he frequently sold these on the street for between $20 and $40.[1]

Despite his mainly underground career, Willis has influenced a variety of media: for example, music software company Nullsoft took their slogan "It really whips the llama's ass!" for Winamp from Willis's song "Whip The Llama's Ass".[4][5]

Life and career

Willis was born in Chicago, Illinois on May 31, 1963, to Walter[6] and Annie Willis.[7] According to the Los Angeles Times, "Willis grew up in Chicago's projects as one of 10 children of parents who had a violent relationship and separated when he was young; he spent time in several foster homes and was essentially raised by two older brothers, who went with him from home to home."[8] Willis began hearing voices during a period of living at his mother's home in the 1980s, when her boyfriend held a gun to his head and robbed him of $100 Willis had saved.[9] By the end of the 1980s, he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia[10] and institutionalized for two months after his diagnosis.[11]

During childhood, Willis developed an interest in art, and in 1988, he was featured in a Chicago public access documentary feature entitled Wesley Willis: Artist of the Streets.[12] In Artist of the Streets, he was shown walking through Chicago's Loop neighborhood, producing his ink pen drawings outside of the Marshall Field and Company Building, and interacting with people curious about his art.[12] The drawings typically encompass detailed Chicago streetscapes, including buildings, vehicles, trees, and landmarks. Willis was known for his ability to draw from memory a completely different location than the one in which he was sitting.[11] During his lifetime, he frequently 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.[13]

In 1991, after befriending some musicians from Chicago's alternative rock scene and recording several solo albums, he formed the punk rock band The Wesley Willis Fiasco. The band developed a popular underground following as well as attention from musicians such as Eddie Vedder, Henry Rollins, Mike D., Jello Biafra, and the members of White Zombie;[14] and soon caught the attention of Rick Rubin at American Recordings,[14] an independent label distributed by The Warner Group. In early 1994, Willis recorded with the Canadian industrial-metal band Monster Voodoo Machine and appeared on their Juno Award-winning debut album Suffersystem (RCA Records). In 1995, American Recordings signed Willis as a solo musician; the Wesley Willis Fiasco subsequently broke up in 1996. He went on to record numerous solo albums of novelty rock (two for American Recordings and the remainder for several independent labels or recorded, marketed and released independently by Willis himself), toured frequently, and was profiled on MTV.[15] On September 26, 1996, he was a guest on The Howard Stern Show where he played nearly identical songs about Baba Booey and Howard Stern. During his many tours and live appearances, Willis became "famous for greeting fans with a headbutt"; this left him with a distinctive permanent bruise on his forehead.[15]

In early 2003 the documentary The Daddy of Rock 'n' Roll was released, chronicling Willis' daily life and interests.

On August 21, 2003, Willis died due to complications from chronic myelogenous leukemia in Skokie, Illinois.[2]

In 2013, a supporting character named Milan was introduced for the ongoing Wonder Woman comic. A blind demigod with the power of far-sight and half-brother to Wonder Woman, his physical appearance and mannerisms are based on Wesley Willis.[16]

Song structure and themes

"Hellride" is the term used by Willis to describe his encounters with "demons",[17] which occurred mainly on the CTA bus lines in Chicago.[11] According to Willis, his demons were trying to ruin his "Harmony Joy Music" or "Joy Rides".[2] He uses the term in many of his songs, such as "I Deserve a Warhellride".

The Wesley Willis Fiasco songs were punk rock songs with Willis howling his obscene, absurd rants as lyrics. The band recorded three cover songs: Thin Lizzy's "Jailbreak",[18] Pure Prairie League's "Amie", and 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's "Tom Sawyer"; the song "Casper the Homosexual Friendly Ghost" does the same with Van Halen's "Jamie's Cryin'".

As a solo artist, Willis filled his albums with funny, bizarre, tense, and often obscene statements about crime, fast food, cultural trends, bus routes, violent confrontations with superheroes, commands for his "demons" to engage in bestiality (in The Daddy of Rock 'n' Roll, Willis explained that these songs would "gross out" the demons enough to leave him alone),[11] and praise for his favorite actors, friends, politicians, and hip hop and 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," or "The band got down like a Magikist". Many songs end with the phrase "Rock over London, rock on, Chicago," followed by a product slogan, such as "Wheaties. Breakfast of Champions" or "Blockbuster. Wow! What a difference."

Critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic wrote that despite Willis' prolific output his songs were essentially variations on the same simple structure, melody and lyrical themes. He also questioned record company motives for releasing albums by Willis: "It's certainly admirable that Willis has decided to not be tied down by his schizophrenia, but it often seems that his audience is laughing at him, not with him."[19] Erlewine also wrote that listening to a Willis record felt "exploitive".[19]

Partial discography

References

  1. 1 2 "Wesley Willis's Joy Rides · Wesley Willis Bio". Wesleywillissjoyrides.com. Archived from the original on 2013-10-04. Retrieved 2013-11-21.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Bands". Alternative Tentacles. Archived from the original on 2006-04-19. Retrieved 2013-11-21.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Say Rah! Discussing the Daddy of Rock n' Roll with the Directors of "Wesley Willis's Joy Rides"". Y Marks the Spot. 2010-07-31. Archived from the original on 2014-11-06. Retrieved 2013-11-21.
  4. ↑ DEMO.MP3 15592 bytes, 32 kbit/s, 22 kHz, recorded in "1997" "Exclusively for Nullsoft" by JJ McKay. Voice only, no music stinger.
  5. ↑ Kushner, David (January 13, 2004). "The World's Most Dangerous Geek". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2007-03-21. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
  6. ↑ Knight, Michael (March 26, 2009). Blue-Eyed Devil: A Road Odyssey Through Islamic America. Soft Skull Press. p. 10. ISBN 9781593763510.
  7. ↑ Copel, Lib (November 24, 2000). "Songs in His Head". Washington Post. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  8. ↑ Lewis, Randy (August 25, 2003). "Wesley Willis, 40; Schizophrenic Found 'Joy' as Rock Performer". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  9. ↑ Chusid, Irwin (2000). "10". Songs in the Key of Z: The Curious Universe of Outsider Music. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 9781569764930.
  10. ↑ Cunningham, Taylor (September 28, 2001). "El 'N' Gee Hosts Head-Butting Superstar Wesley Willis". The College Voice. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Bitton, Daniel (April 22, 2003). "The Daddy of Rock 'n' Roll". Mvd Visual.
  12. 1 2 Hart, Carl. "Wesley Willis: Artist of the Streets". Chicago Public Access TV. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  13. ↑ Wolinsky, David (February 21, 2008). "It's drawn by Wesley Willis". The A.V. Club Chicago. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  14. 1 2 Weisbrod, Aaron (June 26, 1996). "Wesley Willis Fiasco uses music for inner peace". The BG News. p. 6. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  15. 1 2 "Wesley Willis, Schizophrenic Street Singer, Dies". MTV News.
  16. ↑ "Wesley Willis Wonder Woman: Iconic Artist Appears In New DC Comic As Heroine's Half-Brother". Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  17. ↑ "Wesley Willis". Monzy.org. Retrieved 2013-11-21.
  18. ↑ "Various Artists: Vagabonds of the Midwestern World: Fighting Songs by Thin Lizzy - A - HBDirect Rock". Hbdirect.com. 2003-01-03. Archived from the original on 2014-05-08. Retrieved 2013-11-21.
  19. 1 2 https://www.allmusic.com/album/feel-the-power-mw0000648886
  20. ↑ "Take A Harmony Joy Ride". Derekerdman.com. Retrieved 2013-11-21.
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