Talk:Wesley Willis/Archive 1

Archive 1

Monzy.org

I removed the monzy.org link mainly because it contained false statements, such as that Wesley was ever homeless and that he used a Casio keyboard. —Taco Deposit 19:46, Apr 18, 2004 (UTC)

Covers

The trivia section contains the false statement that WW only did one cover song. In addition to "Girls On Film", he covered Pure Prairie League's "Amie". (I've heard it; it's definitely Willis.) -- Antaeus Feldspar 03:31, 28 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Additions

Any objections to some reorganization and addtions of sections one generally finds on other band/artist pages? Discography, Singles, etc..., maybe use some infoboxes and other stylizations? --Tarc 14:16, 21 October 2005 (UTC)

Other songs about Wesley and reciprocal artist compositions.

PLease note: I am not 100% positive on wich Rob Crow band incarnationactually recorded the song, but Rob's devotion to Wesley goes way back. That bveing said, I'm pretty sure it was the San Diego band Thingy which recorded possibly the best (and sweetest) song about him, on their second album. I believe the song was simply titled "Wesley Willis", which was also the chorus of the song. The song was penned by Rob Crow, subject of the Willis Song, "Rob Crow", and formerly of the bands Heavy Vegetable, Physics, Optigonally Yours (showcasing the home-organ-like keyboard instrument the Optigon which played pre-recorded samples from optical disks, using similiar technology to optical sound track(s) on the edges of older film prints), and Fantasy Mission Force, probably inspired as much musically as in name by the so-titled Jackie Chan film. Crow is now half of the creative team behind the supercool indie band Pinback, touring April and May 2006 in the US and Canada.

I've added this to the references list-- it may have been released in other forms, but I know it was released as "Song for Wesley" on HV's "Frisbie." 68.35.68.100 20:41, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

The following has been moved from the main article to here-- this should be clarified before it's part of the article. 68.35.68.100 20:43, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

Wesley Willis also did a spoken introduction for a band from Chicago called The Blue Meanies. He would introduce them, and then they would immediately start playing right after. Not sure if he actually introduced them more than once, and I'm pretty sure they just played a recording of him at their shows. You can hear the intro on their live CD.

---Also, Willis was an "artist" no matter what his medium was (music, VISUAL art, etc). Remember - artist is a generic term for any person engaged in arts endeavors - an actor is an artist, a writer is an artist. If you want to talk about his marker drawings, then these are visual arts/visual media. hmj — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.108.29.22 (talk • contribs) 10:27, October 18, 2006 (UTC)‎

Relationships with other artists?

Willis was pretty well respected in the underground scene, for several reasons, and formed real friendships and financial relationships with several well-known recording artists, most notably Jello Biafra. I think the article would be well served by including those artists, and the details of their relationships with Willis, to provide readers a greater context to understand Willis's character. HavePatience 01:45, 2 October 2006 (UTC)

"African American artist"

I have a small style point to pick at, and I may be unclear about Wikipedia's style. Wesley Willis is described in the first sentence here as an "African-American musician." Generally it is not preferable to identify a person's ethnicity unless that is especially pertinent (for example, identifying the ethnicity of an accused perpetrator or victim in what is perhaps a racially-motivated crime, or identifying the ethnicity of someone who broke some cultural stereotypes relating to ethnicity). One could perhaps make an argument that Willis' being African American is significant, but nothing else in the article suggests that. Other artists with Wikipedia articles only bring up that person's ethnicity when it is newsworthy (or encyclopedia-worthy). Until something is written in the article about how Willis' blackness affected him or others, I think that is irrelevant information. I think the first sentence should read, "Wesley Willis (May 31, 1963 – August 21, 2003) was a musician and artist from Chicago, Illinois."

Rock over London, rock on New Orleans. Taco Bell: think outside the bun. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.227.68.28 (talk) 10:27, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

I agree with you, and removed the unnecessary adjective. --supspirit 16:11, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

Sources

Since this article bears the {{unreferenced|date=June 2006}} tag, I am going to try and dig out an issue of the Short-lived early '90s Chicago magazine Pure that had the first interview with WW I ever read, even before I ran into him (ouch!) at Metro. If anybody has access to old issues of NewCity Chicago, there was an interview with WW circa 1998.--Theodore Kloba 14:47, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

The book Songs in the Key of Z by Irwin Chusid is also a possible source. — Gwalla | Talk 07:34, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

Nonsense deleted

Deleted the following:

as.no/emneomrader/media/tre+ganger+feil+p%E5+vg-lista/art311194.html "Three times error on 'VG-lista'", an from that period, stating "The Fiasco are crooks. They stole all my money. I don't do Fiasco songs no more."

Hope you don't mind.— Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.62.8.83 (talk • contribs) 21:02, May 12, 2007 (UTC)

"Winamp, it really whips the llama's ass".

The Willis-inspired demo.mp3 that one gets upon intallation of Winamp is referenced twice in the Winamp article but not here. Any reason? I'd add it but have yet to edit any Wiki article myself.. --Villemar —Preceding comment was added at 19:16, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

Lets this article good. (The chicken cow)

I'm gonna try to get some cites for this article and would appreciate any help. —Preceding unsigned comment added by UhOhFeeling (talk • contribs) 06:39, 30 October 2010 (UTC)

Artist

I really think that this articles focus is only on Wesley as a MUSICIAN when he was also a fantastic ARTIST way before and right up until his death and his output of his street art was affected by his mental condition. There is no mention of his ART which is collected and sold in major galeries all around the world today. There is only a link to a site at the bottom of the article. Wesley Willis was far more than a musician and until this article states this it is incomplete.Caniman 07:00, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

Word, dude. ~ RLD(user:RDSVN01)

Thirded.Brakoholic (talk) 06:33, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

Demons

I agree with the suggestion that the article about Warhellrides be added to the general Wesley Willis article (perhaps on the first paragraph where it describes his "demons"). --psychicbooty 15:58, 09 February 2006 (EST)

I remember him using the term "demon hellride" -- Gerkinstock 02:48, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

I've heard them referred to simply as "hellrides", although i wouldn't be at all surprised if Willis used all three and more. Gilgamesh Rex (talk) 17:19, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

My old band played with Wesley Willis in PDX, Oregon around 1997. I was told by his "handlers" that the instigators behind his "hellrides" was paranoia about demons. They were always following him, but since he became a "rock star" they had a harder time getting to him. Unlike some schizophrenics who fear government, secret societies, and whatnot, Wesley was basically a minstrel living with a "Seventh Seal" type worldview. His "handlers" explained that he'd sometimes refuse to board airplanes, in which case they'd suggest that the demons had taken the wrong plane. As long as he knew he was on his way to a performance, he seemed much better. Wesley's illness is a good example of art therapy and socialization, as opposed to the isolation the "do-gooders" would've prescribed him. He willed himself a performer and had a better time than most normal people. Suck a Zebu's asshole. Rock over Portland. Wheaties, breakfast of champions. 76.115.63.153 (talk) 11:44, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

Afro-punk recognition?

I don't really know how to link articles with other articles and lists, to please excuse me for demanding that other people do the following work: I think that Wesley Willis should be mentioned in the article on Afro-Punk, as well as any lists relating to Black/African American punk artists. His contribution to punk music is notable, as is the fact that he is African American, which is a rarity in punk music. If somebody with wiki skills/time could do this, I would love them a lot! Thank you!

Nigel Robles (Punk of Color) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.174.90.231 (talk) 19:21, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Google "blacks in punk rock" and you'll find an encyclopedia full of black punk rockers. Wesley Willis is not included, because except for a basically a few guest shots with a satirical noise band (not a punk band), Wesley functioned as a one-man band. He has more in common with hip-hop than punk. You can call him "punk"...I've heard people use that label to describe paper towels. But he isn't a punk rock musician. He made no contribution to punk rock music, even if there were punks amongst his audience. He did other things. There are too many other notable black punk musicians who deserve your attention. Maybe if enough of them are covered, a link could be added to Wesley Willis. But it's pointless and it stretches the definition of punk rock to the point of being meaningless. 76.115.63.153 (talk) 11:56, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

Live

I saw Wesley Willis in concert once, in San Diego, California. I had no idea what I was in for, as I was there for a different band. My business partner Tim Shell's brother (Scott Shell) was touring with Wesley Willis, and drove across country with him. I went to see Scott.

Anyhow, from the first yelled "Don't make me madder than I already am" to the last song about licking Bactrian camel's asses, it was jaw-dropping. I'm not saying it was good, because it certainly wasn't. But I will say that I don't expect to ever see another show like that in my entire life. Jimbo Wales 22:48, 2 Sep 2003 (UTC)

• As the head of the page says "This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject." But then, perhaps, this talk page edit is from the Good Old Days when Wikipedians were Wikipedians and pigs could fly. Piyush (talk) 21:08, 17 June 2012 (UTC)

Wesley Willis Records?

Is "Wesley Willis Records" an label which actually existed(exists)? I did not find any informations about it. If these CDs were produced without any label, it should not be called "Wesley Willis Records". --79.255.114.87 (talk) 07:24, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

Link to artofwesleywillis.com

Just for what it's worth I got a '403 - access forbidden' message when I tried to access this page, and McAfee SiteAdvisor gives it a negative rating - see here. Double Happiness (talk) 16:38, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

At the moment, it has neither a DNS record. Maybe there is a copy of the page in the wayback machine: http://archive.org/web/web.php . Alas, the wayback machine does not work at the moment. --79.255.114.87 (talk) 07:28, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

Wesley Willis's beginnings as a musician

Wesley Willis was a Chicago artist who did pen and ink drawings on poster board (write Carla Winterbottom for more details) during the 1980s and 1990s. There were certain corners in Chicago and L Stations where he sat and worked and sold his goods. His mental illnesses were borne out of damaging experiences that happened to him while at home. (There is no need for details, but his experiences were of the most unimaginable kind.) I was introduced to Wesley by Dale Meiners, the eventual founder of the Wesley Willis Fiasco, in 1990 after I had returned home from a year of studies abroad in Germany. (I am a veteran of the early Chicago punk and hardcore punk movements; but my home at the time of my return was Green Bay Wisconsin where I was studying.) A month or so later we moved Wesley out of the Roger Taylor Homes and up to a safer neighborhood on the Northside. Eventually, within a short time, Wesley and Dale, along with a now "ex" friend, Phil Pennington, were spending more time in Green Bay. It was in Green Bay Wisconsin, along with the drummer and bassist from Boris the Sprinkler, Ron Kispert and Erik Lee, where Wesley began to play music. This was all documented on a VHS camera by a Russian exchange student, Pavel Porochin, who was in Green Bay at the University on an exchange program from the university in Germany where I'd done my year stay. Pavel Porochin now lives in Berlin and has never released the dozens of hours he'd recorded of Wesley Willis transformation from street artist to recording artist. On the tape there is even a recording of Wesley holding a cheap keyboard at Ron Kispert's home, saying, for the first time, "I'm going to write songs on this keyboard and become a rock star." (Please feel free to find Pavel on Facebook and to pressure him into releasing the footage.) For the following two years Dale and Wesley lived part-time in Green Bay and part-time in Chicago, but it was in Green Bay where Wesley's "music" was developed. Phil Pennington is not usually mentioned, but Phil did write most of Wesley's first songs, and thereby defined the caustic yet humorous nature of what would become Wesley's recognized style. It could be said that Phil was (and still is, I assume) a sociopath and thus a dangerous person, and this is why his name is left out the “history books”. On numerous occasions, Phil stole and pawned Wesley's keyboards, as well as stole money Wesley had earned from selling drawings. Phil did eventually end up in jail for a number of years for other crimes. Why was Phil even there? Phil was (and still is, I assume) a musical genius and in “our” earlier years, anarchy and chaos were greatly appreciated… musical sociopaths are more fun. One of Wesley's first recognized "humorous songs", Casper the Friendly Homosexual Ghost, like most of his earlier songs, was written, in fact by Phil Pennington. The first demo tape was recorded in Chicago by Dale, Dave Nooks, Erik Lee, Ron Kispert and perhaps Pat Barnard and Brendan Murphy were there, as well: I’m not sure, it was long time ago. But with the exception of "Doing it well on the side of the rhee" and "Jesus is the answer" all other songs were written by other musicians. "Pop That Pussy", a song that went over quite well upon release of the demo, was, for example, written by Erik Lee. This is to say that Wesley, although a genius in his own right, was a culmination of sociopaths and old punk rockers that, sophomoric by nature, were not at all thrilled about the rise of Political Correctness in the music genre they’d helped create. (The "lovably sophomoric" Green Bay punk scene can be experienced in a new documentary called, "Green Blah".) The Fiasco was originally comprised of any musician who knew Dale and had the time to perform; but the most consistent first line-up in Green Bay was Dale, Ron, Erik (sometimes Chris Bernd), and Wesley, and the Chicago line-up included Dave Nooks, Pat Barnard, Ron Kispert, Brendan Murphy and Wesley. In December of 1993, Dale, Ron and I, hopped on our motorcycles and left Chicago and headed to San Diego where Erik was then living, and Wesley got a plane ticket from Ron (a ticket courtesy of Ron’s friendly flyer miles). We were all intent on bringing the magic of the Wesley Willis Fiasco to the West Coast. We played a few shows in San Diego, and for the most part, the (small) crowds were stupefied. (My part in the Fiasco is limited to only these few shows in San Diego.) Besides Wesley’s own charisma, we, the Fiasco, pushed the limits of onstage antics mixed with the confrontation of the racism found in our own white middle class suburban upbringings: I, for example, grew up in Westmont Illinois, and the only black person allowed to live there, because of his fame, was Muddy Waters. Wesley was a master at intuiting and interpreting these fears and anxieties we lived as white suburbanites, and was able to manifest them in humorous and thrilling performances as well as in his recordings: Eventually, after the “formula” was mastered, Wesley wrote his own brilliant songs. Erik had, in the years’ time he’d since been in San Diego, become friends with Rocket From The Crypt —now you know how Scream Dracual Scream! came into being — and via Rocket From The Crypt, the demo tape ended up in music industry VIP hands. After this, offers to play came in and Dale, Pat, Brendan and Dave took the helm of the Fiasco. Mr. Biafra can confirm, via Tammy Smith, the legitimacy of my summarization of the Wesley’s musical origins. K. Lyons June 29, 2014 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.105.190.205 (talk) 10:27, 29 June 2014 (UTC)

External links modified

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