Wesley Willis
| Wesley Willis |
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| Original YTMND: Irony in Advertising |
| Worthy spinoffs: |
Wesley Willis (May 31, 1963 - August 21, 2003) was a schizophrenic rock musician from Chicago. Known for his very simple music, mainly involving a Casio keyboard, musical loops programmed into the keyboard, and sometimes sound effects, Wesley Willis quickly gained enormous cult following in the 1990s after releasing several hundred songs of simple but unique music, with emphasis on his humorous, bizarre, and frequently obscene lyrics.
Wesley Willis had a very big love for the genre of Rock 'N Roll, and was soon given the title, "The Daddy of Rock 'N Roll." The content of his songs varied, but usually were categorized. He wrote songs about crime, fast food, cultural trends, bus routes, violent confrontations with superheroes, commands for his "demons" to engage in bestiality, and praise for his favorite actors, friends, politicians, and hip-hop and rock artists. A good amount of his songs revolved around certain concerts he had attended.
Wesley Willis for the most part was a solo performer, but in the 1990's, he performed with his punk rock band, The Wesley Willis Fiasco. They only produced on studio album LP, entitled "Spookydisharmoniousconflicthellride," but the band also produced one live EP, and several other EP's. The band covered "Girls on Film," by Duran Duran, "Amie" by Pure Prairie League, and "Jailbreak" by Thin Lizzy. The band was short-lived due to Wesley's schizophrenia, which rose to many inner conflicts within the band.
Wesley Willis continued to perform solo after the band broke up, touring as far away as London, and in the United States. However, Wesley Willis would die in August, 2003 due to complications of leukemia. He was buried in his hometown of Chicago.
Perhaps the most famous thing in the music of Wesley Willis, was the unique way he ended his music. He would most of the time end by speaking the phrase, "Rock over London, rock on Chicago.", in which he would immediately follow with a slogan of a product or company, such as "Wheaties; Breakfast of Champions."
Wesley has been a source of quite a few YTMND pages, and is often a favorite source to user, SamuraiMaster. When in a YTMND, most users will add his music to a page, but some will take clips from interviews, or spoken dialogue.
