The Wesley Willis Fiasco was an American punk rock band based in Wicker Park,

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

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, 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. Wil ...

History

The band was formed by

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, Pat Barnard on lead

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, 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 musician, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the lead singer, primary songwriter, guitarist, and only permanent member of the rock band the ...

's pre-

Smashing Pumpkins Smash may refer to: People * Smash (wrestler) (born 1959), professional wrestler * Moondog Rex, another professional wrestler who briefly wrestled as the original Smash, before being replaced by the above. * DJ Smash, DJ and music producer Ar ...

band,

the Marked William Patrick Corgan Jr. (born March 17, 1967) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the lead singer, primary songwriter, guitarist, and only permanent member of the rock band the ...

. 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 by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...

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 "Girls on Film" is the third single by English new wave band Duran Duran, released on 13 July 1981. The single became Duran Duran's Top 10 breakthrough in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at Number 5 in July 1981. The band personally selected t ...

" by

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...

, 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'' ( grc-gre, Βάτραχοι, Bátrakhoi, Frogs; la, Ranae, 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 ...

. The Fiasco toured with many bands, most notably Rocket from the Crypt, Sublime, and

Lordz of Brooklyn Lordz of Brooklyn (short L.O.B.), also known as The Lordz is an American crossover hip hop/rock group composed of brothers and childhood friends of mostly Irish American and Italian American descent from the Bay Ridge and Bensonhurst neighbo ...

. 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 best known as the lead vocalist and one of four guitarists of the rock band Pearl Jam. He also appeared as a guest vocalist i ...

, lead singer of

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...

. 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 state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

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 (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City, Nevad ...

, 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 band formed in 1987 in Austin, Texas and based in Chicago, Illinois. They were "a leading noise rock band in the American independent underground… hoturned out a series of independent records filled with ...

, 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'' ( grc-gre, Βάτραχοι, Bátrakhoi, Frogs; la, Ranae, 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 ...

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

References

{{Authority control 1991 establishments in Illinois 1996 disestablishments in Illinois Alternative rock groups from 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