Rock 'n' Roll Will Never Die

Last updated
Rock 'n' Roll Will Never Die
RocknRollWillNeverDie.jpg
Studio album by
Released20 February 1996 (1996-02-20)
Genre Alternative rock, outsider, spoken word
Length66:09
Label Oglio Records
Wesley Willis chronology
Feel the Power
(1996)
Rock 'n' Roll Will Never Die
(1996)
Black Light Diner
(1996)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]

Rock 'n' Roll Will Never Die is a studio album by the American singer-songwriter Wesley Willis. It was released on 20 February 1996 by Oglio Records, and was the first of Willis' to be released on that label.

Contents

Background

Like the rest of Willis' music, the album was recorded with a 1980's Casio keyboard. Each track features a pre-programmed instrumental with Willis talking over it and then singing or yelling the title of the song as the chorus. This album features mainly songs about famous recording artists that Willis liked or saw in concert, including his band. Every song ends with the phrase "rock over London, rock on Chicago," followed by a random sponsor.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Wesley Willis.

No.TitleLength
1."Hootie and the Blowfish"3:08
2."Kurt Cobain"2:25
3."Nirvana"2:21
4."The Rolling Stones"2:14
5."Jello Biafra"3:01
6."Mojo Nixon"2:08
7."Bolt Thrower"2:14
8."Spin Doctors"3:15
9."Dave Grohl"3:01
10."Foo Fighters"2:59
11."Pink Floyd"2:51
12."Blues Traveler"2:48
13."Fugazi"2:59
14."Blackie-O"2:36
15."KRS-1"2:52
16."Morbid Angel"2:30
17."KMFDM"2:54
18."Shonen Knife"2:30
19."Liz Phair"3:04
20."Courtney Love"2:58
21."Jefferson Airplane"3:09
22."Lotion"2:36
23."Dale Meiners"2:49
24."The Wesley Willis Fiasco"2:47
25."Merry Christmas"2:55
Total length:66:09

Personnel

Related Research Articles

Outsider music is music created by self-taught or naïve musicians. The term is usually applied to musicians who have little or no traditional musical experience, who exhibit childlike qualities in their music, or who suffer from intellectual disabilities or mental illnesses. The term was popularized in the 1990s by journalist and WFMU DJ Irwin Chusid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Lobos</span> American Chicano rock band

Los Lobos are an American rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, zydeco, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional music such as cumbia, boleros and norteños. The band rose to international stardom in 1987, when their version of Ritchie Valens' "La Bamba" peaked at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, and also topped the charts in the United Kingdom, and several other countries. Songs by Los Lobos have been recorded by Elvis Costello, Waylon Jennings, Frankie Yankovic, and Robert Plant. In 2015, they were nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2018, they were inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame. They are also known for performing the theme song for Handy Manny.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rockabilly</span> Early style of rock and roll music

Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blues, leading to what is considered "classic" rock and roll. Some have also described it as a blend of bluegrass with rock and roll. The term "rockabilly" itself is a portmanteau of "rock" and "hillbilly", the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style. Other important influences on rockabilly include western swing, boogie-woogie, jump blues, and electric blues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wesley Willis</span> American singer-songwriter and visual artist

Wesley Lawrence Willis was an American singer-songwriter 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.

<i>John Wesley Harding</i> 1967 studio album by Bob Dylan

John Wesley Harding is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on December 27, 1967, by Columbia Records. Produced by Bob Johnston, the album marked Dylan's return to semi-acoustic instrumentation and folk-influenced songwriting after three albums of lyrically abstract, blues-indebted rock music. John Wesley Harding shares many stylistic threads with, and was recorded around the same time as, the prolific series of home recording sessions with The Band, partly released in 1975 as The Basement Tapes, and released in complete form in 2014 as The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete.

<i>Its Only Rock n Roll</i> 1974 studio album by The Rolling Stones

It's Only Rock 'n Roll is the 12th British and 14th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 18 October 1974 by Rolling Stones Records. It was the last Rolling Stones album to feature guitarist Mick Taylor; the songwriting and recording of the album's title track had a connection to Taylor's eventual replacement, Ronnie Wood. It's Only Rock 'n Roll combines the core blues and rock 'n' roll–oriented sound with elements of funk and reggae. It's Only Rock 'n Roll reached number one in the United States and number two in the UK.

Rock music in New Zealand, also known as Kiwi rock music and New Zealand rock music, began in 1955 with Johnny Cooper's cover version of Bill Haley's hit song "Rock Around the Clock". This was followed by Johnny Devlin, New Zealand's Elvis Presley, and his cover of "Lawdy Miss Clawdy". The 1960s saw Max Merritt and the Meteors and Ray Columbus & the Invaders achieve success. In the 1970s and early 1980s the innovative Split Enz had success internationally as well as nationally, with member Neil Finn later continuing with Crowded House. Other influential bands in the 1970s were Th' Dudes, Dragon and Hello Sailor. The early 1980s saw the development of the indie rock "Dunedin sound", typified by Dunedin bands such as The Clean, Straitjacket Fits and The Chills, recorded by the Flying Nun record label of Christchurch. New Zealand's foremost hard rock band Shihad started their long career in 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The J.B.'s</span> Band

The J.B.'s was the name of James Brown's band from 1970 through the early 1980s. On records the band was sometimes billed under alternate names such as Fred Wesley and the JBs, The James Brown Soul Train, Maceo and the Macks, A.A.B.B., Fred Wesley and the New JBs, The First Family, and The Last Word. In addition to backing Brown, the J.B.'s played behind Bobby Byrd, Lyn Collins, and other singers associated with the James Brown Revue, and performed and recorded as a self-contained group. In 2015, they were nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but failed to be inducted and can be considered for Musical Excellence in the future. They have been eligible since 1995.

Irwin Chusid is a journalist, music historian, radio personality, record producer, and self-described "landmark preservationist". His stated mission has been to "find things on the scrapheap of history that I know don't belong there and salvage them." Those "things" have included such previously overlooked but now-celebrated icons as composer/bandleader/electronic music pioneer Raymond Scott, Space Age Pop avatar Esquivel, illustrator/fine artist Jim Flora, various outsider musicians, and The Langley Schools Music Project. Chusid calls himself "a connoisseur of marginalia," while admitting he's "a terrible barometer of popular taste."

<i>Toronto Rock n Roll Revival 1969, Volume IV</i> 1969 live album by Alice Cooper

Toronto Rock 'n' Roll Revival 1969, Volume IV is a live album of the Alice Cooper Band. Due to the fact that the recording is owned by a private party, it is unauthorized but not a bootleg. It features Alice Cooper's infamous chicken-throwing performance at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival at Varsity Stadium in Toronto on September 13, 1969 and showcases the early psychedelic music style of Cooper and his band in support of their first album release, Pretties for You.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roll Over Beethoven</span> Original song written and composed by Chuck Berry

"Roll Over Beethoven" is a 1956 hit song written by Chuck Berry, originally released on Chess Records single, with "Drifting Heart" as the B-side. The lyrics of the song mention rock and roll and the desire for rhythm and blues to replace classical music. The title of the song is an imperative directed at the composer Ludwig van Beethoven to roll over out of the way and make room for the rock and roll music that Berry was promoting. The song has been covered by many other artists, including the Beatles and the Electric Light Orchestra. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it number 97 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

<i>The Daddy of Rock n Roll</i> 2003 American film

Wesley Willis: The Daddy of Rock 'n' Roll is a 2003 documentary film directed by Daniel Bitton about rock musician and artist Wesley Willis, who died four months after the film's release at age 40. Willis, challenged by a weight disorder as well as paranoid schizophrenia, is followed in his daily tasks, trials and tribulations in autumn 2000, showing him writing his unique yet virtually identical songs, playing a show, attending to daily chores, and working on his ink paintings at Genesis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)</span> 1974 single by The Rolling Stones

"It's Only Rock 'n Roll " is the lead single from English rock band the Rolling Stones' 1974 album It's Only Rock 'n Roll. Writing is credited to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and the single reached the top ten in the UK charts and top 20 in the United States.

<i>The Great Rock n Roll Swindle</i> (album) 1979 soundtrack album by Sex Pistols

The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle is the soundtrack album of the film of the same name by the Sex Pistols.

Oglio Records is an American record company started in 1993 by Carl Caprioglio. The label issues compilations of rare 1980s modern rock and new wave songs, many previously unreleased on CD. In addition to releasing new material by artists such as BigBang, Nerf Herder and Wesley Willis, the label has also re-released albums by artists such as Brian Wilson and Barnes & Barnes. Oglio Entertainment has also released stand-up comedy CDs by the likes of Jackie Martling and George Lopez.

<i>Silver</i> (Cliff Richard album) 1983 studio album by Cliff Richard

Silver is a 1983 studio album by Cliff Richard, marking his 25th anniversary in music. The North American version was titled Give a Little Bit More and had a revised track list.

<i>Rock n Roll Circus</i> 2010 studio album by Ayumi Hamasaki

Rock 'n' Roll Circus is the eleventh studio album by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on April 14, 2010, by Avex Trax. It was also released just a little over a year after her 2009 album, Next Level. Rock 'n' Roll Circus marks Hamasaki's eleventh consecutive album to be fully produced by Japanese producer and manager Max Matsuura, while she contributes to the album as the lead vocalist, background vocalist, and songwriter to all songs. Recorded in Japanese with minor phrases in English, Rock 'n' Roll Circus is a rock album with numerous musical elements such as electropop, J-pop, rock, pop ballad, and dance music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dear Future Self (Hands Up)</span> 2019 single by Fall Out Boy featuring Wyclef Jean

"Dear Future Self " is a song by American rock band Fall Out Boy featuring Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean. It was released on September 10, 2019, on DCD2 and Island Records as a single from their compilation album, Greatest Hits: Believers Never Die – Volume Two.

<i>Music to Listen To...</i> 2019 recording by Bring Me the Horizon

Music to Listen to~Dance to~Blaze to~Pray to~Feed to~Sleep to~Talk to~Grind to~Trip to~Breathe to~Help to~Hurt to~Scroll to~Roll to~Love to~Hate to~Learn Too~Plot to~Play to~Be to~Feel to~Breed to~Sweat to~Dream to~Hide to~Live to~Die to~Go To is a commercial release by British rock band Bring Me the Horizon. It was released on 27 December 2019 without prior announcement. The release was produced by the band's vocalist Oliver Sykes and keyboardist Jordan Fish, and features collaborations with several artists including American singer Halsey and British band Yonaka.

<i>Greatest Hits</i> (Wesley Willis album) 1995 compilation album by Wesley Willis

Greatest Hits is a greatest hits compilation album by the American musician Wesley Willis, released on July 7, 1995.

References

  1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Wesley Willis Rock 'n' Roll Will Never Die Review" . Retrieved 3 October 2012.