The Outsider Odyssey presents: The Shaggs

The Shaggs are one of the most well known outsider groups - outsider musicians tend to be solo artists. Perhaps because what they're doing is so out of leftfield that it's hard for anyone to understand.

That wasn't a problem for The Shaggs. This was a band consisting of three (later four) sisters of the Wiggins family in New Hampshire in the 1960s and 70s, formed at their father's insistance. Austin Wiggins' mother, their grandmother, had predicted through palmreading several things about her son's life.

For example that he would marry a redhead (which he did) and that he would have two sons after her death, and that his daughters would form a pop group. When the first two came true he decided the third one was their family's destiny and pulled the girls out of school, got them some instruments and forced them to start a band.

The girls had no real ambition to be in a band, but did what their father told them. They did some local gigs and in 1969 they released their only album. Out of the 1,000 copies pressed only a 100 were sent out to radio stations who had no interest in playing it. When their father died in 1975, the girls quit the band.

Why wouldn't radio stations play their songs? Well, just listen these two samples from the Philosophy Of The World LP. These girls have no idea what they're doing. They couldn't play, couldn't sing and had no idea how to write a song. Most of the time it sounds like everyone is playing a different song.

As songs by toad so elaquently put it: "You could stamp on a guitar, tie it to an octopus and push it down the stairs and it would have more rhythmic structure than this."

But of course there would be a resurrection for The Shaggs. By the late 70s rumors had spread of this peculiar band and their lousy record. Lester Bangs wrote a piece about his appreciation for the band, Frank Zappa claimed it was one of his favorite albums, Philosophy Of The World was rereleased in 1980, the band reunited for a few gigs in 1999 and in 2001 a tribute album was released.

There's even talk of biopic about The Shaggs. Could be the best movie ever.

(mp3) The Shaggs - My pal foot foot (highly recommended!)
(mp3) The Shaggs - Philosophy of the world

Buy Philosophy Of The World @ Amazon.com.