"A fine line between madness and genious" Your favorite famous basket cases?
 

Hows about it?

The fine man in my signature Mr Eric Satie would have to make it into the list.. When he died his tiny, cupboard sized apartment was filled with hundreds of umbrellas.

I would also like to nominate Kate Bush who is, by all accounts, a fruit loop...

Katie Jane Garside

wow she one crazy lady

A lot of people thought Sun Ra was nuts. But then he successfully did what he wanted in a world that doesn't generally reward such. I have a hard time calling him crazy myself, but he's by far my favorite artist that the bulk of the world sees that way.

Kate Bush = yes!
Katie Jane Garside = I saw her in Daisy Chainsaw in the v early 90's, and to be honest, they were rubbish.

You lie. I won't hear it.

Mark Mothersbaugh sir your special bus is waiting...
[Exhibit A]


[Exhibit B]

acousticrock87 - Honest Guv, I no lie. They were pop Banshees sans tunes. If they did anything as good as "Happy House"...

*notices acousticrock87 has fingers in ears, going "La La La La Laa!"*

I said, if they did anything as good as "Happy House!"...
*argument ensues*

captain beefheart, of course.

Albert Ayler - his last 2 years were horrifying/saddening
Rocky Erickson
Mr Sydney Barrett
Sun Ra - completely bonkers, but so what?
SPK - some of the members were former mental patient inmates - see the "Despair" video for evidence.

too easy...

I'll jump in prior and mention that Daniel Johnston is perhaps mentally troubled but ultimately shit.

Messiaen, Beethoven, Wagner, Scriabin... etc.

ah no... im crushed... the guy makes me love again

I'd just like to mention that Wagner was a bit weird but ultimately a genius.

Would David Lee Roth qualify?

That's as may be, but he is utterly shit.

Yup. See also: Ronnie James Dio.

The noise appreciators of this world would do well to realise that without Wagner, there's no critical acceptance of dissonance and therefore no 'noise' as a genre.

I am the Tristan Chord!!!

My brother's name is Tristan. Do I call him "Chord" now?

Yes. Do so immediately.

"Hello Chord!"
"You what?"
*punches Melly in gob*
"Ow, that hurt!"

This may be true in modern classical/avant-garde circles, but whether it was the difference between The Sperm Wails getting a record deal or not, I'm not that sure.

I get the feeling that Steve Colmer was more into dodgy Dutch porn as an "inspiraition"
*consults SY Gossip Board libel lawyers*
*fails*

Think of it as 'un chein Andalieu [sp?] vs. Charlie Chaplin if it makes you more comfortable.

Brian Wilson, of course.

YES

Brian Wilson isn't that crazy, though. He's just got some problems. I mean his brothers did drown.

i dunno man the guy built a sand pit in his house to play his grand piano in...

That's not crazy, that's lonely and eccentric.

There is a difference, I just...Can't find it.

he crrraaaaazzzzyyyyy

jandek?

Nah, he's just genius.

Diamanda Galas.

Nah Jandek is about as sane as you can be, I imagine.

Of course we're just two choir boys preaching back and forth to each other on this one, but the funny thing about Jandek is that nobody fucking knows! People have made all kinds of assumptions about his mental health based upon his lyrics and music style, but he's managed perfectly to keep any media based "facts" about his life out of the wrong hands.

A lot of celebrities (Brian Wilson being a perfect example, but then so is Britney Spears) might not have ended up as actual mental patients if they'd successfully maintained their privacy as human beings the way Jandek has.

Right. And I don't think Britney Spears is really crazy either. She's going crazy because of the media, and it's perpetuating itself to no end.

A good point. Jandek is most likely a very private individual (like we all are here, I guess, in a way), and certainly not suffering from the debilitation of serious mental issues. I saw Jandek in 2005, and didn't like him - purely because of his music, and nothing else. I'm actually rather suprised that his supposed eccentricity is put down to MH issues.

privates are good.

Well, Brian Wilson did believe that he was an orange and that people were trying to peel him.

iggy and alice recall that once they visited brian wilson and that he went to fecth his baby to show them, when he came back, he was carrying the baby by one foot and was tossing him to the couch or something.

that doesn't sound like just eccentrict to me.

daniel johnston, once in a blue moon in the 80's, was totally great, penning fragile songs about barbies and what not, but then he got some better meds and became just a cunt.