◇ 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 The Shaggs, Daniel Johnston, The Dead Milkmen, Liam Lynch and King Missile, sharing audiences, venues and reference points rather than a straight line of influence. Their influence carried into White Zombie, Thin Lizzy, Eddie Vedder, Henry Rollins and Mike D, where the same ideas turn up rearranged for a later generation. Altogether the chart holds 27 connections around Wesley Willis, reaching back through Tub Ring and forward to White Zombie. 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 The Shaggs, Daniel Johnston, The Dead Milkmen and Liam Lynch, went on to shape White Zombie, Thin Lizzy, Eddie Vedder and Henry Rollins. 27 connections mapped across roots, kindred and legacy.
Artists similar to Wesley Willis
Artists and scenes sharing an orbit with Wesley Willis.
- The Shaggsartist
- Daniel Johnstonartist
- The Dead Milkmenartist
- Liam Lynchartist
- King Missileartist
- Gary Wilsonartist
- Guided by Voicesartist
- Tenacious Dartist
- Bloodhound Gangartist
- Soul Coughingartist
- Dinosaur Jr.artist
- Reggie and the Full Effectartist
- Unknown Mortal Orchestraartist
- The Halo Bendersartist
- Electric Sixartist
- Tim Heideckerartist
- Sugarartist
- Flight of the Conchordsartist
- Parry Grippartist
- Ninja Sex Partyartist
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