The Wesley Willis Fiasco was an American

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band based in Wicker Park,

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, United States, led by

Wesley Willis Wesley Lawrence Willis (May 31, 1963 – August 21, 2003) 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. Will ...

History

The band was formed by

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

, Pat Barnard on lead

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, and his friend Dale Meiners on guitar and bass. Dale Meiners previously played guitar in

Billy Corgan William Patrick Corgan Jr. (born March 17, 1967) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, primary songwriter, singer, and only constant member of alter ...

's pre-

Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also simply known as Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band formed in Chicago in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. ...

band, the Marked. In 1992 Willis began writing songs, and soon after, Meiners took Willis into his studio to record them. After many drummer changes, Meiners, Barnard and Willis formed the Wesley Willis Fiasco with Dave Nooks on bass and Brendan Murphy on drums. Their name was coined by early second guitarist Michael Cates. They released only one studio album in 1996, '' Spookydisharmoniousconflicthellride'' (a reference to Willis's description of his

schizophrenic Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

episodes), which is found on the Urban Legend label. Various live albums are available, though most are bootlegs. After the band broke up, Willis continued to record his own solo albums. One of his songs on his solo album " Rock 'n' Roll Will Never Die" is about the Fiasco. The Fiasco band covered the song " Girls on Film" by

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled ...

, which appeared on the Duran Duran Tribute Album in 1997. They also released a much sought after and hard to find 7" vinyl split with Sublime, as well as a split with Milwaukee's

The Frogs ''The Frogs'' (; , often abbreviated ''Ran.'' or ''Ra.'') is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed at the Lenaia, one of the Festivals of Dionysus in Athens, in 405 BC and received first place. The pla ...

. The Fiasco toured with many bands, most notably

Rocket from the Crypt Rocket from the Crypt is an American punk rock band from San Diego, California, originally active from 1990 to 2005, then active during 2011 and again from 2013 to the present. The band gained critical praise and the attention of major record ...

, Sublime, and

Lordz of Brooklyn Lordz of Brooklyn is an American hip hop group from New York. The group was started by brothers Michael McLeer ( Kaves) and Adam McLeer (ADMoney) as the Verrazano Boys but eventually changed to Lordz of Brooklyn where they were joined by Dino Cer ...

. The band was also noted for charming

Eddie Vedder Eddie Jerome Vedder (born Edward Louis Severson III; December 23, 1964) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist, primary lyricist, and one of three guitarists for the rock band Pearl Jam. He was previously a gues ...

, lead singer of

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. One of the key bands in the grunge, grunge movement of the early 1990s, Pearl Jam has outsold and outlasted many of its contemporaries from the early 1990s, ...

. Due to conflicts between the Fiasco band's shows and Willis's solo keyboard shows, the band broke up while on tour in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

in 1996. Willis stated that the demons in his head worsened, causing him to constantly yell at the band unintentionally. After the breakup, Pat Barnard sold his equipment and moved to

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; Washo language, Washo: ''dáʔaw'') is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the Western United States, straddling the border between California and Nevada. Lying at above sea level, Lake Tahoe is the largest a ...

, where he died in a drowning accident at the age of 27. Murphy, who briefly played with

The Jesus Lizard The Jesus Lizard is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1987 in Austin, Texas by vocalist David Yow, guitarist Duane Denison and bassist David Wm. Sims. They relocated to Chicago, Illinois, in 1989, where they found kindred spirits in ...

, lives in Chicago, working for an indie label. Dale Meiners builds custom furniture. Dave Nooks got married and was a member of the Chicago-based punk and roll band The Symptoms for a time. Willis continued his solo career until his death from leukemia in 2003, age 40.

Band members

(deceased) — vocals *Dale Meiners — guitar, bass guitar *Pat Barnard (deceased) — guitar *Dave Nooks — bass guitar *Brendan Murphy — drums

Discography

* 1996 '' Spookydisharmoniousconflicthellride'' (Studio LP) * 1996 ''The Frogs do Wesley Willis/Wesley Willis Does the Frogs'' (with

the Frogs ''The Frogs'' (; , often abbreviated ''Ran.'' or ''Ra.'') is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed at the Lenaia, one of the Festivals of Dionysus in Athens, in 405 BC and received first place. The pla ...

) (EP) * 1997 ''Split 7"'' with Sublime (EP) * 2001 ''Live EP'' (Live EP)

References

{{Authority control 1991 establishments in Illinois 1996 disestablishments in Illinois Punk rock groups from Illinois Hardcore punk groups from Illinois Indie rock musical groups from Illinois Musical groups disestablished in 1996 Musical groups established in 1991 Musical groups from Chicago Sympathy for the Record Industry artists