Gary Wilson Tweet
- artist
Hailing from Endicott, NY, Gary Wilson is an archetypal figure in the "outsider music" movement with other artists like The Shaggs and Jandek as its most notable members. Gary Wilson first c (More...)
Biography
Hailing from Endicott, NY, Gary Wilson is an archetypal figure in the "outsider music" movement with other artists like The Shaggs and Jandek as its most notable members. Gary Wilson first came onto the scene in 1977 with "You Think You Really Know Me," which he recorded alone in his parents' basement. Using synthesizers and spinning disturbing tales of obsession with different women, Wilson's record had no effect on the mainstream but its cold detachment and electro-funk aesthetic was a hit with the college radio stations. According to allmusic.com, this album was the one that made KAOS in Olympia, WA the independent music bastion that it is today. Wilson's "hit" was 6.4= Makeout, a song about attempting to make out with a minor (she's 16) which received much airplay on college radio stations around the country. Wilson played live shows with a backing band entitled the Blind Dates. One of their gimmicks was to cover themselves in flour. Wilson would not show his face, preferring to wrap his head in gauze and wear sunglasses, a tradition that he continues now at his live shows. Wilson played with the Blind Dates until 1981, at which point Wilson went into self-imposed exile. 20 years later, in 2002, Motel Records re-released "You Think You Really Know Me" after gaining permission from Wilson, who was 50 and working in an adult bookstore while playing in a lounge act at Rancho Bernadino Lounge in California. Everyone perked up this time around and Gary Wilson sold out shows in New York and Los Angeles along with receiving raves from the New York Times. In 2003, following the groundswell, an album of unheard material and 7 inches from 1973 to 1982 entitled "Forgotten Lovers" was released, which features a lot of the work that Wilson did with the Blind Dates. In 2004, Wilson released his proper second album "Mary Had Brown Hair" on the highly influential underground hip-hop label Stones' Throw, run by Chris Manak aka Peanut Butter Wolf, a huge Gary Wilson fan. In 2008, Wilson followed up his Stones' Throw release with his third full-length album Lisa Wants To Talk To You. The album was released on L.A.-based Human Ear Music and is a more straightforward affair than previous albums. While Gary Wilson is not a household name, he has inspired many a household name in music such as the Roots' ?uestlove. In fact, in Where It's At by Beck, Beck calls out Gary Wilson by name: "Let The Man Gary Wilson rock the most". User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL.
Current Standing:
- ▲ 0.8% 1 month change
- Influential status
- Going Steady momentum
Gig Stats
- 0 upcoming gigs
- 20 past gigs
Social Stats
- last.fm 32,100 listeners
- Soundcloud - plays/track
- YouTube - views/video
- Twitter - followers
- Facebook - fans
Collab Request
Only send collab requests to people you have actually worked with.Book Artist: Gary Wilson
Upcoming Gigs
- No upcoming gigs.
Past Gigs
-
Mar 19
Western Vinyl SXSW Showcase
Lambert's BBQ (Austin) – Botany, Gary Wilson - 2011
-
Mar 17
Panache Booking Showcase (SXSW)
Red 7 (Austin) – Gary Wilson - 2011
-
Mar 16
SXSW 2011
SXSW (Austin) – Klaxons, Designer Drugs, Miami Horror, Beni, Mustard Pimp, Small Black, A Place To Bury Strangers, Alcoholic Faith Mission, Babe Rainbow, Braids, Clock Opera, Dam Mantle, EBONY BONES!, FM Belfast, High Rankin, Kamp!, Kids of 88, MSTRKRFT, Micachu, Nite Jewel, Spleen United, Starfucker, Steve Mason, Sun Airway, Those Dancing Days, Toro y Moi, Skrillex, Asking Alexandria, Francis and the Lights, HORSE the band, Janka Nabay, Maps & Atlases, Mexican Institute of Sound, Onra, Teen Daze, The Secret Handshake, Felix Cartal, Beats Antique, Chateau Marmont, Egyptrixx, James Blake, Menomena, Monareta, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, ReSeT!, PS I Love You, Bombay Bicycle Club, , Beach Fossils, , Harrys gym, DELS, Candy Claws, , Jonquil, Cast Spells, Dawn of Ashes, Benny Benassi, Body Language, A-Trak, Adebisi Shank, Adrian Lux, Alvarez Kings, Analog Rebellion, Anamanaguchi, Art Vs Science, Bad Veins, Banjo Or Freakout, Barcelona, Baths, Belleruche, Bikini, Bird Peterson, Birds & Batteries, Bloodgroup, Brahms, Bran Van 3000, Celldweller, Chromeo, Class Actress, DJ Cam, DVAS, Darkstar, Database, Dinosaur Feathers, Errors, Fare Soldi, Feldberg, Fredrik, French Horn Rebellion, , GAYNGS, Gold Panda, Golden Ages, Gram Rabbit, Grimes, Harvard Bass, Indian Jewelry, Asobi Seksu, Flood Of Red , Dom, , , The Holidays, Bear Hands, Calvin Harris, Acid Washed, Afrojack, Blaqstarr, Bok Bok, Boys Noize, Chiddy Bang, Classixx, Codebreaker, Cubic Zirconia, Daedelus, Darwin Deez, Deadboy, Diamond Rings, Diplo, Dre Skull, Drop the Lime, Enter Shikari, I See Stars, Mason, P.O.S., Psychic TV, The Death Set, The Deer Tracks, The Delta Mirror, The Ready Set, WhoMadeWho, Wolf Gang, brenmar, ARMS, Classified, The Foreign Exchange, Blackbird Blackbird, Leche, An-Ten-Nae, Palmbomen, Shlohmo, Richie Hawtin, Freedom or Death, Oh Land, The Knocks, Nadastrom, Savoir Adore, The Naked And Famous, Two Fresh, Shit Robot, Housemeister, Lynx, Addison Groove, B. BRAVO, Bang! Bang! Eche!, Copacabana Club, Dada Life, Death From Above 1979, Eliot Lipp, Ellie Goulding, Esben and The Witch, Eskmo, Florrie, Flosstradamus, GIRL UNIT, Glasser, Grandchildren, Hacienda, Har Mar Superstar, Her Space Holiday, Home Video, Innerpartysystem, James Yuill, Javelin, Kisses, Kotchy, Kyle Andrews, LOW LIMIT, Le Castle Vania, Letting Up Despite Great Faults, Little Dragon, Lucy and The Popsonics, Ludachrist, MEMORYHOUSE, MILLIONYOUNG, Marco Carola, Men Without Hats, Miracle Fortress, Mount Kimbie, My Awesome Mixtape, My Gold Mask, Nedry, New Look, Nickodemus, Ninjasonik, O'Spada, Oberhofer, PHANTOGRAM, Pacific!, Penguin Prison, Pictureplane, Pill, Portugal. The Man, Quadron, RAC, Radical Face, Rainbow Arabia, Reptar, Robbers on High Street, SPL, Sasha, Sbtrkt, Sepalcure, Sex With Strangers, Silje Nes, Small Sins, Solid Gold, Spank Rock, Speculator, Spoek Mathambo, Starkey, Streetlab, Strip Steve, Sunglasses, Sunset, Swimming With Dolphins, T. Mills, TOKiMONSTA, Tahiti 80, Telephoned, Terrible Twos, Thavius Beck, The Glass, The Hood Internet, The Octopus Project, The One AM Radio, The Seedy Seeds, The Submarines, Theophilus London, Torpedo Boyz, Treasure Fingers, Trentemøller, Trouble Andrew, Truckasauras, Twin Shadow, Uh Huh Her, Unicorn Kid, VETO, Virtual Boy, We Are Enfant Terrible, Woolfy, XI, Young Empires, Zorch, poirier, Hooray For Earth, Matt Duke, DJ Yoda, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, J-Live, Strong Arm Steady, Porter Robinson, Midnight Magic, Tamaryn, The Vandelles, 65daysofstatic, And So I Watch You From Afar, Redinho, Woe, Is Me, Magrudergrind, Holly Conlan, This Will Destroy You, tUnE-yArDs, Zedd, NERVO, MNDR, Shuttle, Dapuntobeat, Say Hi, Qua, Misteur Valaire, MatthewDavid, zemaria, Prince Rama, Friendly Fires, Tennis, Das Racist, Hundreds, Dylan Ettinger, NastyNasty, Botany, Who Knew, DVA, GOBBLE GOBBLE, TEARIST, Geographer, Apache Beat, Suuns, Games, DJG, Gary Wilson, Kite, J*Davey, Gallops, Houses, Chad Valley, Vicente Gayo, Jamie Woon, Umberto, Paper Tiger, Panic Ensemble, Anika, All Tiny Creatures, Duran Duran, L'Altra, The Good Natured, Adventure, Beat Connection, White Arrows, Ancient Astronauts, Professor Green, Brandt Brauer Frick, She Wants Revenge, Evan Voytas, Beans, Halves, go chic, Dillon Francis, 12th Planet, Cults, The Swiss, Elis Paprika, She's a Tease, Fallulah, The Rumour Said Fire, Eugene Mirman, KeepAway, Django Django, Run DMT, Social Studies, Mexicans With Guns, A Lull, Neon Hitch, Albert, Gemini Club, Bright Light Bright Light, Toy Selectah, DJ Soul Slinger, Wise Blood - 2011
-
Oct 31
Gary Wilson and the Blind Dates Live
Central S.A.P.C. (Los Angeles) – Gary Wilson - 2010
-
Oct 27
Gary Wilson live on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (NBC)
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (NBC) (New York) – Gary Wilson - 2010
-
Jun 28
Rainbow Arabia
The Echo (Los Angeles) – Rainbow Arabia, Gary Wilson - 2010
-
Sep 04
Gary Wilson
Elbo Room (San Francisco) – James Pants, Odd Nosdam, Jel, Gary Wilson - 2009
-
Aug 31
Gary Wilson
The Casbah (San Diego) – Gary Wilson - 2009
-
Aug 27
Gary Wilson
Bootleg Theater (Los Angeles) – James Pants, Gary Wilson - 2009
-
Jun 23
Gary Wilson with Animal Cruel-T, Silk Flowers and DJ Duane Harriot
Santos Party House (New York) – Silk Flowers, Gary Wilson - 2009
-
Apr 15
Gary Wilson
The Casbah (San Diego) – Gary Wilson - 2009
-
Apr 15
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti with guests
The Casbah (San Diego) – Gary Wilson - 2009
-
Nov 21
Brainwaves
Regent Theatre (Arlington) – Matmos, Meat Beat Manifesto, Nudge, Silver Apples, Stars of the Lid, Strategy, To Kill a Petty Bourgeoisie, Rivulets, Manorexia, Gary Wilson - 2008
-
Oct 24
Gary Wilson
Ché Café (San Diego) – Christmas Island, Gary Wilson - 2008
-
Aug 05
Gary Wilson
The Echo (Los Angeles) – Gary Wilson - 2008
-
Jun 06
Gary Wilson
Knitting Factory (Brooklyn) – Gary Wilson - 2008
-
Apr 26
Gary Wilson / Human Ear Music
Eighteen Thirty (Los Angeles) – Gary Wilson - 2008
-
Dec 29
Gary Wilson
Mercury Lounge (New York) – Gary Wilson - 2007
-
Mar 24
Gary Wilson
The Casbah (San Diego) – Gary Wilson - 2007
-
Apr 15
Culture Shock 2005
Purchase College (Purchase) – Gary Wilson - 2005


