Arthur Paul Schlosser (born January 4, 1960) is an American artist,

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

, comedian, journalist, musician, poet, singer, and songwriter based in

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. He plays humorous novelty, gospel, and political songs and draws cartoons currently for the ''Madison Street Pulse'' newspaper, where he also submits poems and interviews people. Schlosser also paints and has participated in various art projects. Schlosser was named Arthur after his father and grandfather but his grandfather might have originally been named Otto but because of his German accent when he said his name they thought he said Arthur.

Childhood

Schlosser was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and grew up listening to

novelty Novelty (derived from Latin word ''novus'' for "new") is the quality of being new, or following from that, of being striking, original or unusual. Novelty may be the shared experience of a new cultural phenomenon or the subjective perception of an ...

musicians like

Allen Sherman Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to: Buildings * Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee * Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas * Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Univer ...

and Tiny Tim, as well as funny songs by

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

and

The Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conc ...

. When he was 11, he, his mother, and his sisters moved to

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

, after his parents got a divorce. As a child in Madison, his mother continued to play weird and funny songs for him, sometimes playing strange sound effects on one recorded player to go with the songs. As a teenager, Schlosser joined a work experience play group that encouraged him to be creative. In this group, there were a couple of fans of

, one of whom encouraged Schlosser to write lyrics. It was from that time on that Schlosser started to write. He would listen to the

Dr Demento Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), 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 phonograp ...

radio show as well as other strange records that he discovered at the local library, and then try to write some lyrics he was inspired to write after listening to the songs. Also as a child he was encouraged to draw cartoons by his sister Mary.

State Street

Upon discovering that it is legal to busk on State Street, Schlosser tried it out on a warm day late in February 1986 and received a couple of dollars for his effort. Since then Schlosser has been a

street musician Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pr ...

and busker as well as an

outsider artist Outsider art is art made by self-taught or supposedly naïve artists with typically little or no contact with the conventions of the art worlds. In many cases, their work is discovered only after their deaths. Often, outsider art illustrates e ...

State Street State Street may refer to: Streets and locations *State Street (Chicago), Illinois * State Street (Portland, Maine) *State Street (Boston), Massachusetts *State Street (Ann Arbor), Michigan * State Street (Albany), New York *State Street (Manhatta ...

, Wisconsin. He usually performs his original songs or

parodies A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

on an

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

and

kazoo The kazoo is an American musical instrument that adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. It is a type of '' mirliton'' (which itself is a membranophone), one of a class of instruments which modifi ...

. He also sometimes plays

electronic keyboard An electronic keyboard, portable keyboard, or digital keyboard is an electronic musical instrument, an electronic derivative of keyboard instruments. Electronic keyboards include synthesizers, digital pianos, stage pianos, electronic organs an ...

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

. He is best known for his comedy music, especially "Have A Peanut Butter Sandwich", which made the Funny Five of the

radio show four times in 2001, and "Vote for Me/It's a Joke" which was on the Funny Five of the

radio in 2003. While he sings mostly humorous songs, Schlosser has also written on the topics of politics and religion. In 2007, Schlosser received a Madison Area Music Award (MAMA) for best compilation for his CD ''Art Paul Schlosser ''. In 2009, he won two more Madison Area Music Awards for Unique Song ("Have A Peanut Butter Sandwich," the remix version, which was remixed by Animalien) and for Unique Album (''Leftovers'').

Appearances

His music has been played on oddball radio programs, including Greasy Kid Stuff, The Mad Music Hour, Dave's Gone By and the

Dr. Demento Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), 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 phonograp ...

Show, and he has appeared on his own public-access television show as well as

WGN-TV WGN-TV (channel 9) is an Independent station (North America), independent television station in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, it is sister station, sister to the company's sole radio property, talk ra ...

news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the tes ...

. * On April 1, 1994, Schlosser perform with Horace Pinker and

Jawbreaker (band) Jawbreaker is an American punk rock band active from 1986 to 1996, and again since 2017. The band is considered to be extremely influential to the 1990s emo and punk genre with their "poetic take on hardcore," as cited by James Monger of ''AllMu ...

at the Beloit Sports Arena * On July 30, 2009,

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 to ...

mentioned Schlosser on the ''

Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show foc ...

'', in order to emphasize that any artist can get their songs on iTunes, no matter what the quality of their work may be. * On June 27, 2010, Schlosser appeared on the internet radio show ''The Bastard Den'' on Infernal Rock Radio at www.infernalrockradio.com. Schlosser performed a few of his original songs and gave a 15-minute interview. * On June 29, 2010, Schlosser appeared on ''

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distribut ...

'' appearing under the name Buddy Holly Cheesehead, singing "Eating Cheese." He was X off the show by the three judges. * On July 30, 2016, Schlosser appeared on ''Bordello of Horror'' being interviewed and playing 3-6 Headed. *On October 23, 2019, ''The Tonight Show with

Jimmy Fallon James Thomas Fallon (born September 19, 1974) is an American comedian, television host, actor, and writer. He is known for his work in television as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' and as the host of the late-night talk show ''The Ton ...

'' played Schlosser's song "Have a Peanut Butter Sandwich" as part of the reoccurring bit of songs to "Do Not Play".

Discography

*''My Cat Was Taking A Bath & Dead Skunk Perfume plus 23 other songs'' (1992) *''All the songs from Happy Birthday & Smile Be Happy'' (1993) *''I Want To Be Madonna ? & Greene plus 41 other songs and jokes'' (1994) *''I'm A Prince by the Artist Still Known as Art Paul Schlosser'' (1996) *''Be My Valentine'' (1997) *''Reinventing Myself'' (2000) *''They Won't Play This on the Country Western Radio'' (2001) *''Smile You're on Kandid Kamera'' (2002) *''The Best of Art Paul Schlosser'' (2003) *''Art Paul Schlosser Live at the Hog'' (2003) *''Vote for Me/It's a Joke'' (2003) *''Art Paul Schlosser & Friends Live at Club De Wash plus the 3 songs at Bob's Apartment Experiment'' (2003) *''Do You Want To Walk on Water'' (2003) *''Words of Cheese & Other Parrot Tree'' (2003) *''The ABCs of Art Paul Schlosser's World'' (2003) *''Art Paul Schlosser by various artist'' (2006) *''Warning: Listening To This CD could be dangerous to your health'' (2007) *''It Takes A Whole World'' by Art Paul Schlosser & Jim Anderson (2007) *''Untitled I & II'' (2007) *''The Best of Art Paul Schlosser '' (2007) *''Scum Always Rises at the Top'' (2007) *''Songs I forgot that the Elephant Remembered'' (2007) *''Art Paul Schlosser & Robin Good Our Tribute To Shari Elf'' *''Art Paul Schlosser living in a Materialistic World'' *''Songs I Recorded On The Telephone'' (2008) *''February Album Writing Month'' (2008) *''Art Paul Schlosser '' by Various Artists (2008) *''Leftovers'' (2008) *''Art Paul Schlosser Live at MarsCon 2007 & 2008'' (2009) *''Let's Be Friends'' (2009) *''U're The Best'' (2009) *''Monster'' (2010) *''If I Was Governor?'' (2011) *''Live on the Snake'' (2011) *''Show Me You're Crazy Legs'' Art Paul Schlosser with David Labedz(2012) *''The Treasure'' (2013) *''Live 2: On The Snake'' (WSUM) (2013) *''Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed & Something Blue Live on WORT 89.9 fm'' (2013) *''I Bet U've Got a Smile'' (2013) *''I Want 2 C Your Smile'' (2014) *''Songs I Recorded At the Library'' (2015) *''New Experiments in Music'' (2016) *''Our Song May Not Be Your Thing'' with Chris Kammer as The Schlosser-Kammer Project (2016) *''Songs I Recorded at the Library'' (2016) *''We Duet Right by Art Paul Schlosser & Friends''(2017) *''Eye Want 2 Bee Viral'' (2018) *''Cartoons by Schlosser & Polar Lay (2019)'' *'' Art Paul Live Doing His Best (2020)'' *''For Piano Lovers (2020)'' *''Santa Claus Ran Out Of Coal So He Gave You This CD (Some of Art Paul's Best terrible Xmas Songs) (2020)'' *''I Wrote The Lyrics (2021)'' *''The ArtcaPaula Project by Various Artist (2021)'' *''67 songs in less than 67 Minutes (2021)'' *''Have a Better Day (2022)'' *''The X Y Zs of Art Paul Schlosser (2023)''

References

Sources
Art Paul Schlosser – Inside Outsider

External links

Schlosser's videosSchlosser's artist page at the Mad Music ArchiveSchlosser's art and music videos at FacebookArtwork photos at Instagram
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schlosser, Art Paul 1960 births Living people American male singer-songwriters American multi-instrumentalists American street performers Artists from Madison, Wisconsin American outsider musicians Musicians from Madison, Wisconsin Singers from Chicago America's Got Talent contestants Comedians from Chicago Comedians from Madison, Wisconsin Singer-songwriters from Illinois 21st-century American comedians Singer-songwriters from Wisconsin