THE WEIRD WEIRD MUSIC OF MARLIN WALLACE

The vast output of Marlin Wallace and his Corillions projects is one of the great unexplored treasure troves of outsider music. According to this article Don Bolles wrote for WFMU, Marlin has had some serious problems in his life with harassment from communist space aliens, but seems to have put all that past him, judging by his prodigious output - I counted at least 22 albums for sale on his website, along with various singles.
His albums are usually themed. Wanna hear a whole collection of songs about bugs and insects? Interested in rivers? Outer space? Jungles? Well, Wallace has written entire albums dedicated to these concepts. Give that boxing fan in your life a copy of "Songs of Pugilism." They're all sung in his endearingly folksy voice (he sings about "skeeters," not "mosquitoes"), accompanied by unexpectedly well-recorded professional sounding music.

The 70-something Wallace was a hobo for many years, a homeless wanderer riding freight trains. This fascinating background informs his music, and gives it depth beyond the strange/novelty aspect. Sure, a lot of his stuff is funny (he has two volumes entitled "Delightful Novelty Songs") but the crusty Springfield, MO native is also one of the last of a dying breed - the bad-ass American who rode the rails, spent time in jail, and drank. Boxers, cowboys, soldiers. He sings of these characters in a matter-of-fact conversational tone, without any romanticizing, which makes them seem all the more real.

Music For Maniacs is proud to present along with The Corillions this

Marlin Wallace Anthology Page

a collection of selected mp3s (some of which are samples, not entire songs) for your downloading pleasure. The Corillions site has never hosted mp3s before - it's a special arrangement they did just for us. If you like what you hear, buy the albums, cuz there's plenty more where they came from. (Album titles in parentheses)

1. Whole Lot of Woman ("Delightful Novelty Songs vol2")
2. Crazy Eddy ("Songs Of Pugilism")
3. I'm A Survivor ("Jungle Songs")
4. Millipede ("Buggy Songs") - "always get you mixed up with the centipede..."
5. Weird, Weird Music ("Halloween Songs") - Complete track; this could be our theme song!
6. Captain Kid ("Historical Songs")
7. The Ghost of Old Railroad Bill ("Train Songs" - tales of hobo life)
8. Empire of the Vampires ("Halloween Songs")
9. Old Cockaroach ("Buggy Songs" - oh, how I love this album.)
10. Sing Sing ("Prison Songs")
11. Thing From Another World ("Outer Space Songs")
12. The Laughin' Ghost ("Halloween Songs") - maniacal laughing makes up much of Marlin's vocals here
13. 99 Years and Life ("Prison Songs")
14. I Got 700 Wives ("Delightful Novelty Songs vol 1")
15. There's A Weasel ("Animal Songs")
16. Polynesian Baby ("Tropical Paradises")
17. That Flying Saucer ("Outer Space Songs")
18. My Sweet Little Baby ("Delightful Novelty Songs vol 1")
19. Alexander The Great ("Historical Songs")

UPDATE 6/2014 - as the above page appears to now be gone, I've put up a few mp3s:
"Thing From Another World."
"Weird Weird Music"
"A Livin' Dead Man"












Thanks to Spacebrother Greg for playing me Marlin's "Abominable Snowcreature" when I was guest dj-ing on his Radio Misterioso show, thus sucking me into the world of Marlin Wallace.

ME PLAYIN' SONGS 'N' TALKING 'N' STUFF

Contributing more than 2 hours of audio monkeyshines to combat the alarmingly low levels of weirdness in our atmosphere, Greg "Spacebrother" Bishop and Yours Truly present:

Radio Misterioso 04/24/2011

includes the following ingredients:
"Plan 9 From Outer Space" intro
Marlin Wallace "Weird Weird Music" [we spend a lot of time on the show exploring the overlooked outsider musician Marlin Wallace]

talk break

Duke Errol "Back To Back Belly To Belly (Zombie Jamboree)"
People Like Us "Happy Lost Songs"
Mickey Katz "Doity Dog"
(technical difficulties)
Rusty Diamond "Skellykins"
Ralph Lowe "Munchikens"
Dee Dee King [aka Dee Dee Ramone] "I Want What I Want When I Want It"

talk break [we discuss the song-poem phenomena; cassette tapes; Yiddish culture]

Jack Blanchard "A Weird Little Christmas"
........."........ "Dance of the Living Dead Chickens"
Paul Super Apple "Intro/Apple Love"
Marlin Wallace "That Flying Saucer"
Rodd Keith "Run Spook Run"
Milton Berle "Songs My Mother Loved"
People Like Us "The Sound of the End of Music"
Joe Perkins with Jimmy Riddle "Little Eephin' Annie"
Jesse Lee Turner "The Voice Changing Song"

talk break: eephing & yodeling; Daniel Johnston & Roky Erikson; the Rusty Blanchard hit song we couldn't recall was "Tennessee Bird Walk," what normal people think is weird music; will outsider music go mainstream?; Greg sticks the mic out the window to try to eavesdrop on arguing homeless guys; Sammy Hagar abducted by space aliens]

Marlin Wallace "Thing From Another World"
Benny Bell "Everybody Wants My Fanny"
Thurl Ravenscroft "Diamond Bar"
Akeem 'The Dream' Olajuwon "The Unbeatable Dream" [I featured this record on my "Curl Activate" collection]
Marlin Wallace "Mosquiters"
Mr Fab and Spacebrother try to rap from the "Hip-Hop Prayer Book"

talk break: Francis Dec

Snatch & The Poontangs "Two-Time Slim"
The Vampires "The Whip"
Red Ingle & The Natural Seven - the wackiest song about torture ever!

talk break: albums about trees and loggers

Red Ingle & The Natural Seven: Cigareets & Whiskey & Wild Women

THE CORILLIONS DOUBLE ALBUM

 The liner notes on the back of this true outsider music classic detail Marlin Wallace's years of pain at the hands of communists (or "reds," as he calls them) shooting painful laser-like rays at him and his mother. Mad? You call him mad?! Say what you like, but he had his act together enough to hire pro singers and musicians to perform his songs and release this 1981 double album. The slick studio country rock is, as in song poems, at odds with the unpredictable, idiosyncratic lyrics.

The album starts off fairly sensibly, but the eccentricities in both lyrics and vocal performances start to add up to truly one of the more bizarre listening experiences you're likely to encounter. Songs like "La-Lo-Ram-Ya" are as kooky as the titles. "The Jungle in Flight" is smothered in gratuitous sound effects. The singer in "Wildcat Mabellene" breaks into hilariously spazzy vocals. Heartfelt ballads might lull you into thinking: aw, this guy's not that crazy, a little sappy perhaps...until you hear a lounge crooner belting out: "Abominabllllle...snow creatuuuure...." 

The second disk in general is a lot stronger, with such must-listens as the prehysterical "Millions of Years Ago," the rhythmically propulsive jungle adventure "Head-Hunters," and, really, just one goodie after another right up thru the Revelations-inspired closer "Mark Of The Beast." Some of the 'professional' singers sound fairly inept at times. Hope they didn't cost too much. Might be Marlin himself singing songs like "Stranger In The Land."

Marlin Wallace ‎– The Corillions / Double Album

1	Sweet Love Of Mine
2	Mekong
3	I'll Try
4	La-lo-ram-ya
5	The Planet Mars
6	Georgia Corn Liquor Man
7	The Jungle In Flight
8	Love Me Tonight
9	Whistlin' Bill
10	How It Feels To Be Alone
11	Wildcat Mabellene
12	Ghost Train
13	Little Orphan Girl
14	This Is War
15	Heart Full Of Pain
16	Gray Wolf
17	Abominable Snow Creature
18	Colorado River
19	Midnight Train
20	Golden Dreams
21	Millions Of Years Ago
22	Head-hunters
23	The Song Of The Wind
24	The Flower Of Love
25	Colombus
26	Only You
27	Before The White Man Came
28	The Russian Bear
29	A Stranger In The Land
30	Big Eight Wheels
31	Mark Of The Beast

Wallace survived the red's attacks and, as pointed out in this post from 2011, he's been cranking out albums ever since, performing (with some help) and singing his songs all by himself.  As I wrote: "His albums are usually themed. Wanna hear a whole collection of songs about bugs and insects? Interested in rivers? Outer space? Jungles? Well, Wallace has written entire albums dedicated to these concepts. Give that boxing fan in your life a copy of "Songs of Pugilism."  

News, Updates, Traffic, Weather, Sports...

Delete your copy of "The Great Celebrity Sing Off"! Its compiler Mad Jon has sent us a new superior version, with the missing Burt Reynolds track restored, and higher quality copies of some of the more scratchy old rekkids. Download the remastered version here:

"The Great Celebrity Sing Off"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Had a re-post request for Gershon Kingsley's Moog synth versions of Gershwin classics, so here 'tis:
"Gershwin: Alive and Well and Underground"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An amazingly in-depth article on the singing hobo that we featured here a few years ago,   Marlin Wallace and his "Weird, Weird Music":  

"The Musical Journey of Marlin Wallace"

As the mp3 page appears to now be gone from Wallace's site, I've put up some mp3s on Divshare of a few of his classics, like "Thing From Another World." Scroll towards the bottom HERE.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hoo, boy! Coming to the L.A. area this summer: Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra, Messer Chups, Omar Soulyman, Lee 'Scratch' Perry...not all on the same show, tho.

RADIO MISTERIOSO 11-7-10

Here's my latest guest dj appearance on Radio Misterioso. Listen to music by Bigfoot researchers! Chortle to me & Greg's witty repartee! Thrill to my lack of radio professionalism! This is a big 2 hour file.

RADIO MISTERIOSO 11-7-10

intro: "Plan 9 From Outer Space"
talk break

Bruce Haack "Rita"
Richard Marino "Full Moon & Empty Arms"
Big Maybelle "The Eggplant That Ate Chicago"
Symphony of Science "Our Place In The Cosmos"
Wah Kazoo "Doctor Wah"
Captain Beefheart "Big Eyed Beans From Venus"

talk break

Tom Yamarone "Bigfoot - The Living Legend"
Jim Kocher "Living In A Bigfoot World"
Jack's Smirking Revenge "Rocks"
Derek Young "Cryptid Love"
Danny Freyer "I Still Believe In Bigfoot"

talk break

Marlin Wallace "Abominable Snowcreature"
Philip Stranger "African Can Bang On A Can"
Luchese Leibhaber "Gesundheit"
RIAA "Stand Up & Feel" (excerpt from 'USA')
Duo Immortales "My First Nazi Girl"
Charles "Chick" Gaminian & His Orientals "Daddy Lolo"
Jimmy McMillan "The Rent Is Too Damn High"
Dick Kent "Peanut Farmer - Smiling President"
David Liebe Hart & Adam Papagan "The Omegans"
David Liebe Hart & Adam Papagan "All My Friends Like Asian Girls"
Flaming Dragons of Middle Earth "I Am The Creator Sun Ra"
Flaming Dragons of Middle Earth "No Bush On CNN"
Jean-Jacques Perrey & Dana Countryman "Kittens On The Moon"

talk break

Jandek "You Painted Your Teeth"
Ranking Joe "Tribute To John Lennon"
Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra "Watching The Wheels"
Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra "Lydia The Tattooed Lady"
Jerry Gray "Ooh and Ah Mambo"
Jimmy "We're Desperate"

talk break

Jean-Jacques Perrey & Dana Countryman