Wesley Willis RIP
WESLEY WILLIS, our favorite head-butting Chicago crazyman, sadly passed away of a suspected heart attack in a Chicago hospice Thursday night. If you're unfamiliar with Wesley's vast catalog of work, that's sadder still. The schizophrenic homeless auteur was known far and wide for his 50+ album catalog of songs, mostly to the identical backing loops (which were themselves mostly demos on a Casio keyboard.) Willis was diagnosed with leukemia several months ago, and had been in failing health of late. An easy target to laugh AT, he was even more fun to laugh WITH. Some of the administrators of Excellent Online can harken back to the days of standing in line for hours outside the Metro in Chicago, waiting for any number of random bands to play, while a then-unknown Wesley roamed around the block, making chalk drawings and talking to the fans. Rock Over London, Rock On Chicago. You will be missed, friend.