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 have intellectual disabilities or mental illnesses. The term was popularized in the 1990s by journalist and WFMU DJ Irwin Chusid.
The Troggs are an English beat music band formed in Andover, Hampshire in May 1964. Their most famous songs include the US chart-topper "Wild Thing", "With a Girl Like You" and "Love Is All Around", all of which sold over 1 million copies and were awarded gold discs. "Wild Thing" is ranked No. 257 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and was an influence on garage rock and punk rock.
The Turtles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1965 and best known for their 1967 hit song "Happy Together". They charted several other top 40 hits, including "It Ain't Me Babe" (1965), "You Baby" (1966), "She'd Rather Be With Me" (1967), "Elenore" (1968) and "You Showed Me" (1969).
Barret Eugene Hansen, known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograph records to the present. Hansen created the Demento persona in 1970 while working at Pasadena, California station KPPC-FM. He played "Transfusion" by Nervous Norvus on the radio, and DJ "The Obscene" Steven Clean said that Hansen had to be "demented" to play it, and the name stuck. His weekly show went into syndication in 1974 and was syndicated by the Westwood One Radio Network from 1978 to 1992. Broadcast syndication of the show ended on June 6, 2010, but the show continues to be produced weekly in an online version.
Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few hard bop musicians who successfully explored funk and soul while remaining a jazz artist. As a bandleader, Byrd was an influence on the early career of Herbie Hancock and many others.
Norman Carl Odam, known professionally as the Legendary Stardust Cowboy, is an outsider performer who is considered one of the pioneers of the genre that came to be known as psychobilly in the 1960s.
Lawrence Wayne "Wild Man" Fischer was an American street performer known for offering erratic, a cappella performances of "new kinds of songs" for a dime on the beaches and the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. Most of his life was spent homeless or institutionalized, and he later became regarded as "the godfather of outsider music".
Barnes & Barnes were an American musical duo, formed in Los Angeles in 1970. Though commonly associated with novelty music and comedy rock, their music has also incorporated elements of new wave, synth-pop, and folk rock.
Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company founded in 1978. It is currently the catalog division for Warner Music Group. Its current CEO is Mark Pinkus.
Edith Massey was an American actress and singer. Massey was best known for her appearances in a series of movies by director John Waters. She was one of the Dreamlanders, Waters's stable of regular cast and crew members.
Edie and the Eggs were a punk/celebrity-exploitation band featuring Edith Massey, known for acting in several films by John Waters. The band's name referred to Massey's character in Pink Flamingos, who had an obsession with eating eggs and romanced an egg delivery man. Massey sometimes wore her bizarre leather costume from the film Female Trouble during gigs.
"Young at Heart" is a pop standard ballad with music by Johnny Richards and lyrics by Carolyn Leigh.
Andrew Paul Sandoval is an American, best known as a Grammy Award nominated reissuer and compiler and engineer of historical albums, containing popular music from the rock era. Additionally, Sandoval has ongoing careers as author, DJ, journalist, songwriter and professional musician. Born in Santa Monica, California, his career in music began in 1986 as the editor and publisher of a fanzine called New Breed, a project that blossomed into work as a reissue director for such labels as Rhino and PolyGram. His writing has appeared in the form of liner notes to record and CD releases, as well as in articles featured in The Hollywood Reporter and Shindig!
"Ziggy Stardust" is a song written by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie for his 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott, he recorded it at Trident Studios in London in November 1971 with his backing band the Spiders from Mars—comprising Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey. Lyrically, the song is about Ziggy Stardust, a bisexual alien rock star who acts as a messenger for extraterrestrial beings. The character was influenced by English singer Vince Taylor, as well as the Legendary Stardust Cowboy and Kansai Yamamoto. Although Ziggy is introduced earlier on the album, this song is its centrepiece, presenting the rise and fall of the star in a very human-like manner. Musically, it is a glam rock song, like its parent album, and is based around a Ronson guitar riff.
"Wild Thing" is a song written by American songwriter Chip Taylor and popularized by the English rock band the Troggs. It was originally recorded and released by the American rock band the Wild Ones in 1965, but it did not chart. The Troggs' single reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the UK Singles Chart in 1966. Their version of "Wild Thing" was ranked at number 257 on the Rolling Stone magazine's 2004 list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It has also been performed by many other musicians.
Amazing Adult Fantasy is the fifth album released by novelty rock group Barnes & Barnes. It was originally released in 1984 by Rhino Records, and rereleased in 2005 by Oglio Records. After the failure of their previous effort, the Soak It Up EP, Barnes & Barnes were dropped from Boulevard Records, and promptly re-signed with Rhino Records. This album showcases the later stage of their effort to abandon novelty music and record more contemporary material, although the album does contain some comedic elements. Despite this, it is the lowest-selling Barnes & Barnes album of all time. The title is derived from the Marvel comic book Amazing Adult Fantasy, and features the cover of issue #10 in the album art.
Jimmy Cross, also known as Jimmie Cross, was an American radio producer and singer who attained a minor Billboard Hot 100 hit with the novelty song "I Want My Baby Back" in 1965.
Killer Pussy was a satirical punk rock/new wave group from Phoenix, Arizona. They are best known for their 1982 song "Teenage Enema Nurses in Bondage".
Teenage Tragedies is a compilation album of teen tragedy songs released on Rhino Records in 1984.
The 1980 Floor Show was a rock musical spectacle featuring English rock musician David Bowie as the protagonist, held at the Marquee Club in Soho, London, on October 18–20, 1973. It was broadcast in the United States by NBC on November 16, 1973, as part of the series The Midnight Special, and presented the last performance of Bowie as his character Ziggy Stardust.
