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Wesley Willis was one of a kind. I discovered him in the mid-’90s through the college radio station where I worked. Rock ‘N’ Roll Will Never Die — one of dozens of albums in Willis’ discography — was a big favorite at the station. Each song featured basically the same music, a keyboard demo song in various keys and speeds. (24 songs of this recalls the Greensleeves Rhythm Album dancehall reggae compilations, which feature different singers constructing songs over the same backing track, or “riddim.”) The songs all had the same form: three verses of four lines each, each followed by a chorus repeating the title, then a closing of “Rock over London, rock on Chicago,” followed by a corporate slogan (e.g., “Dunkin’ Donuts: It’s Worth the Trip”). Their surreality is unmatched. For a taste, try these songs about Morbid Angel and Bolt Thrower.
Music like this does not come from a normal person. And Willis was not normal in any sense. As the blog O Canadarm! put it:
Chicago has produced many great things: The Bulls, wind, and the Bulls. But nothing has been more culturally important and groundbreaking than Wesley Willis, a 300-pound schizophrenic black man who is quite possibly the greatest 300-pound schizophrenic black man who ever lived.
Willis’ life was extraordinary, from a broken childhood in the projects to being discovered as a street musician and getting signed to Alternative Tentacles and American Recordings. His dubbed his paranoid schizophrenia “Warhellride,” a rather metal descriptor. He was also a talented artist. His subject was Chicago’s urban landscape. For samples of his often beautiful drawings, see here and here. Willis died at age 40 in 2003 from leukemia. Judging from his many eulogies here, he touched the lives of many. Rock over London, rock on Wesley. Thank you for providing the first thing that comes to mind when I hear the name Morbid Angel.
I live in Central IL and he was very popular in these parts. I didn't 'get it' until later on in life since I was strictly all thrash, all the time. Glad to see people are still into him.
i knew him.i would see him at shows all the time.he even asked to head butt me at expo of the extreme at the congress in the late 90s(if he wanted to head butt you that ment he dug you.one of the most haunting things i heard was he played music because it made the voices in his head stay quiet."rock over london,rock out chicago,your ion good hands with allstate"
If you lived in Chicago for sometime, you've seen or know of someone who've seen Wesley Willis live. I unfortunately didn't discover him until after he died. Those demons in his head that inspire his weird music are very much more metal than the fake evil you see around at shows these days.
Recently there documentary made about his life:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxZrEOhhvkY
BTW, the Rock N' Roll McDonalds where Wesley wrote the same song about, got torn down a year after his death and a new one got built.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_N_Roll_McDonald's
I just got an e-mail from Moribund Arckanum-PPPPPPP , coming soon.
My stomach just growled and it sounded remarkably enough like Mike Muir doing "Chapel of Ghouls," but slowed down to where it sounds like "Greensleeves." Rock over London. Rock out Chicago. Natural Lite. The beer with the taste for food. PPPPPPPP
much respect for posting this. rip wesley.
My personal favorites are the series of songs where he whups ass on superheroes.
Batman thought he was bad
He was a fucking asshole in the first place
He got knocked to the floor
My college roommate and I discovered "Rock 'n Roll McDonalds" one night and started to consume all things Wesley soon after. This brings be right back to those days and some damn good times. Thanks for the smile.
I remember one stoned winter night where me and my friends were singing along to "Vampire Bat". I love how he refers to it as a "vampire bird". It was miserably cold but that made our night. GENIUS.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjAAL3PWBXI
Rock over London, rock over Chicago, Wesley.
"Vampire Bat" just brought tears of laughter to my eyes. Thanks for sharing.
I ran into this guy in the 1990s in the Empty Bottle in Chicago. He playing the Twister pinball machine (named after the crappy movie from back then). A hulk of a man and truely schizophrenic bit not in a violent way just somewhat hard to follow conversation wise. I think he was playing with the WW Fiasco if I can rememeber correctly. Fun to hear him doing Morbid Angel.