◇ image via WikipediaWesley Willis
Wesley Willis is an act on the Starverb influence map. Their sound grew out of Tub Ring. Those roots explain a lot about how Wesley Willis arrange songs and choose their tones. They run in the same orbit as Daniel Johnston, King Missile, Gary Wilson, Tenacious D and Bloodhound Gang, sharing audiences, venues and reference points rather than a straight line of influence. Their influence carried into Jello Biafra, White Zombie, Thin Lizzy, Eddie Vedder and Henry Rollins, where the same ideas turn up rearranged for a later generation. Altogether the chart holds 20 connections around Wesley Willis, reaching back through Tub Ring and forward to Jello Biafra. Follow any of those threads to keep travelling the influence between bands and genres on Starverb.
Background
Wesley Lawrence Willis was an American musician and visual artist. Diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1989, Willis began a career as an underground singer-songwriter in the outsider music tradition. Willis' songs are typically partially spoken in an MC style, and partially sung in a nasal and out-of-tune manner reminiscent of punk rock vocals. They feature bizarre, humorous and sometimes obscene or absurd lyrics sung over backing created by using the auto accompaniment feature on his Technics KN keyboard. His songs cover a wide variety of topics, with mental illness and consumerism being the most prominent themes. Dubbed "The Daddy of Rock 'n' Roll", he is best known for songs such as "Rock N Roll McDonald's" as well as a series of songs where he would directly insult his demons.
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Wesley Willis connections
Wesley Willis grew out of Tub Ring, shares an orbit with Daniel Johnston, King Missile, Gary Wilson and Tenacious D, went on to shape Jello Biafra, White Zombie, Thin Lizzy and Eddie Vedder. 20 connections mapped across roots, kindred and legacy.
Artists similar to Wesley Willis
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