''Wig In A Box: Songs from & Inspired by Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' is a charity tribute album featuring versions of songs from the musical '' Hedwig and the Angry Inch''. It was released in 2003 through Off Records, and proceeds benefited the

Hetrick-Martin Institute The Hetrick-Martin Institute (HMI) is a New York City-based non-profit organization devoted to serving the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ) youth between the ages of 13 and 24, and their families. It was founde ...

, which is the home of the Harvey Milk High School, a New York City public school for gay, lesbian, bisexual,

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

and even

cisgender Cisgender (often shortened to cis; sometimes cissexual) is a term used to describe a person whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth. The word ''cisgender'' is the antonym of '' transgender''. The prefix '' cis-'' is L ...

and/or straight youth who have experienced homophobic and gender identity discrimination and violence at home and/or in other public schools and who are at risk of not completing their secondary education. ''Follow My Voice: With the Music of Hedwig'',Follow My Voice: With the Music of Hedwig (2006)
/ref> a documentary on the school and the making of the album was released in 2006.

Track listing

# "The Origin of Love" -

Rufus Wainwright Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright (born July 22, 1973) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and composer. He has recorded 10 studio albums and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written two classical operas and set ...

# "Angry Inch" -

Sleater-Kinney Sleater-Kinney ( ) is an American rock band that formed in Olympia, Washington, in 1994. The band's current lineup features Corin Tucker (vocals and guitar) and Carrie Brownstein (guitar and vocals), following the departure of longtime member ...

and Fred Schneider of

The B-52's The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, ...

# "The Long Grift" -

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants (often abbreviated as TMBG) is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as a duo, often accompanied by a ...

# "Sugar Daddy" -

Frank Black Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV (born April 6, 1965) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman of the alternative rock band Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Black Francis. F ...

(Engineered by

Joel Hamilton Joel Hamilton (born 1980) is an American Brooklyn-based record producer, audio engineer and musician. Hamilton performs as a musician for the band Book of Knots. He is also a producer and engineer at Studio G in Brooklyn, New York. In the summer ...

, Produced by Reid Paley, who also appears on guitar) # "City of Women" -

Robyn Hitchcock Robyn Rowan Hitchcock (born 3 March 1953) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano, and bass guitar. After leading the Soft Boys in the late 1970s and releasing the ...

# "Freaks" -

Imperial Teen Imperial Teen is a San Francisco–based indie pop group made up of Roddy Bottum (Faith No More), primarily on guitar/vocals; Will Schwartz (also of Hey Willpower), primarily on guitar/vocals; Lynn Truell (née Perko, formerly of Sister Doub ...

# "Wicked Little Town (Hedwig Version)" -

The Breeders The Breeders are an American alternative rock band based in Dayton, Ohio, consisting of members Kim Deal (rhythm guitar, lead vocals), her twin sister Kelley Deal (lead guitar, vocals), Josephine Wiggs (bass guitar, vocals) and Jim Macpherso ...

# "Nailed" -

Bob Mould Robert Arthur Mould (born October 16, 1960) is an American musician, principally known for his work as guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for alternative rock bands Hüsker Dü in the 1980s and Sugar in the 1990s. Early years Born in Malone, ...

# "Wig in a Box" -

The Polyphonic Spree The Polyphonic Spree is an American choral rock band from Dallas, Texas that was formed in 2000 by singer/songwriter Tim DeLaughter. The band's pop and rock songs are augmented by a large vocal choir, and instruments such as flute, trumpet, fre ...

# "Milford Lake" -

John Cameron Mitchell John Cameron Mitchell (born April 21, 1963) is a two-time Tony Award winning American actor, playwright, screenwriter, singer, songwriter, producer and director. He is best known as the writer, director and star of the 2001 film '' Hedwig and th ...

and

Stephen Trask Stephen Trask (born Stephen R. Schwartz; born August 29, 1966) is an American musician and composer who graduated from Wesleyan University. He was the music director and house band member at the New York City club Squeezebox, where they perform ...

# "Ladies & Gentlemen" -

Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program '' The Colbert Report'' from 2005 ...

# "Tear Me Down" -

Spoon A spoon is a utensil consisting of a shallow bowl (also known as a head), oval or round, at the end of a handle. A type of cutlery (sometimes called flatware in the United States), especially as part of a place setting, it is used primarily f ...

# "Hedwig's Lament/Exquisite Corpse" -

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

and

Yo La Tengo Yo La Tengo (YLT; Spanish for "I have her") is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley (drums, piano, vocals), and James M ...

# "Wicked Little Town (Tommy Gnosis Version)" - The Bens # " Midnight Radio" -

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...

and

Minus 5 The Minus 5 is an American pop rock band headed by musician Scott McCaughey of Young Fresh Fellows, often in partnership with R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck. Band history McCaughey formed the band in 1993 as a side project with Buck, Jon Auer a ...

(featuring

Peter Buck Peter Lawrence Buck (born December 6, 1956) is an American musician and songwriter. He was a co-founder and the lead guitarist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. He also plays the banjo and mandolin on several R.E.M. songs. Throughout his ca ...

of REM) # "The Origin of Love" (reprise) - Jonathan Richman

History

In 2003, Chris Slusarenko of Off Records produced and released a charity tribute album which also included new material adding to the mythology of Hedwig. Slusarenko said that he fielded questions from

Kim Deal Kimberley Ann Deal (born June 10, 1961) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She was the bassist and the co-vocalist in the alternative rock band Pixies, before forming the Breeders in 1989. Deal joined Pixies in January ...

about

, her former bandmate in

Pixies A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas aro ...

, with whom she'd had limited conversation since the band's breakup in 1993. They made contact soon after, and

reunited the following spring. Trask and Mitchell recorded a Tommy Gnosis song, written for this album and based on an unfinished snippet from the show's development days, called "Milford Lake" (sung by Mitchell) and included it. The CD also features comedian

reciting the spoken introduction to "Tear Me Down".

References

{{reflist 2003 compilation albums Charity albums Hedwig and the Angry Inch