Loved Like a Milkshake

January 17, 2004 5:33 PM

"Loved Like a Milkshake" is an 18-track tribute album to the beloved outsider musician Wesley Willis. It's a joy-ride. It really whips the camel's ass with a belt.
posted by starkeffect (17 comments total)

Whip the donkey's ass.
posted by homunculus at 5:40 PM on January 17, 2004

Somebody please explain to me the attraction...
posted by weston at 5:48 PM on January 17, 2004

see, he's crazy. and he's crazy. and, um, he's also crazy. what's not to like?
wesley willis also enjoyed the dubious distinction of being the very first blort ever.
posted by quonsar at 6:01 PM on January 17, 2004

oh, and suck a horse's ass!
posted by quonsar at 6:03 PM on January 17, 2004

Rock over London.
Rock on Chicago.
Wheaties, breakfast of champions.
posted by keswick at 6:13 PM on January 17, 2004

Raaahhhh.
posted by Scoo at 6:40 PM on January 17, 2004

I Wupped Batman's Ass
By W. Willis

Batman got on my nerves
He was running me amok
He ridiculed me calling me a bum

I wupped Batman's ass
I wupped Batman's ass
I wupped Batman's ass
I wupped Batman's ass
I wupped Batman's ass
I wupped Batman's ass

Batman thought he was bad
He was a fucking asshole in the first place
He got knocked to the floor

I wupped Batman's ass
I wupped Batman's ass
I wupped Batman's ass
I wupped Batman's ass
I wupped Batman's ass

Batman beat the hell out of me and knocked me to the floor
I got back up and knocked him to the floor
He was being such a jackoff

I wupped Batman's ass
I wupped Batman's ass
I wupped Batman's ass
I wupped Batman's ass
I wupped Batman's ass
I wupped Batman's ass
I wupped Batman's ass
I wupped Batman's ass
I wupped Batman's ass
I wupped Batman's ass
I wupped Batman's ass

Wheaties, breakfast of champions
posted by Dreamghost at 7:07 PM on January 17, 2004

I was lucky enough to see Wesley Willis about a year before he died. I had my bonked by several times. It was one of the happiest moments of my life.
posted by philcliff at 7:27 PM on January 17, 2004

bootyhole.
posted by quonsar at 7:49 PM on January 17, 2004

Proof that web hype != good.
posted by HTuttle at 9:25 PM on January 17, 2004

Pitchfork Media already pretty much provided a proof of concept for me. Not that I expected web hype to be much different than real world hype.

Though I do understand the draw of the crazy.
posted by weston at 9:41 PM on January 17, 2004

I saw Wesley once a few years ago. It was the most bizzare performance ever. This semi-literate hulk of a man was rambling like there was no tomorrow to the beat of a drum box and prerecorded melodies from his casio. The man was genious.

There was a flash christmas card floating around last year that used one of his songs. www.coolcds.com/images/santa.swf
posted by jmgorman at 8:02 AM on January 18, 2004

I think "Alanis Morissette" is probably the most accessible for new listeners.
Might be a good place to start. If you hate it, you might as well stop there.

(I bought him bananas once, and had a really nice conversation with his cute manager,
when he opened for Juliana Hatfield in Asbury Park)
posted by milovoo at 8:03 AM on January 18, 2004

I liked "I Smoke Weed." Very Ween. I never thought any one song could so completely capture my place in the universe... *sniff* RIP, Wesley!
posted by squirrel at 12:48 PM on January 18, 2004

Wesley Willis was a genius. How can you not love lyrics like:

(From "Cut the Mullet")

Get the rat's nest off your head
Get that crazy-ass mother off your skull
Take your ass to the barber shop
Tell the barber that you're sick of looking like an asshole
posted by alex_reno at 1:30 PM on January 18, 2004

Crap -- I had a great explanation as to why WW was a genius and a review of the new album's content but it got eaten by the system.

In short, he was a guy who managed to make something out of a career of being a immense paranoid schizophrenic who used a Casio keyboard as his primary composition device to write songs about shows he'd seen, bands he liked, delusional events and other paranoid ramblings.

He was a one-of-a-kind musician and while his music has mostly kitsch appeal, it certainly was different.

The album is kind of hit-or-miss as low-budget comps tend to be. A few of the songs beg the question as to whether the musicians had even heard the song they were supposed to be covering. A few stand-out reinterpretations of WW's work deserve recognition, namely Haggis Rising's "Blood Guts and Firetrucks" and The Shut-Ins' "Rock And Roll McDonalds" and the eponymous "Eat At Joes".
posted by Ogre Lawless at 4:32 PM on January 19, 2004

PS --

I think part of the appeal to cultists like myself is that he was a guy who really had no business being a rock star, but he went out and became one despite this.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 4:33 PM on January 19, 2004