Lawrence Wayne "Wild Man" Fischer (November 6, 1944 – June 16, 2011) was an American street performer known for offering erratic, a cappella performances of "new kinds of songs" for a dime on the beaches of Los Angeles County and the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood.
Born in Los Angeles, Fischer was repeatedly sent to mental institutions as a teenager, where he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. In 1968, he began performing on the Sunset Strip. He recorded a single at UCLA and later met Frank Zappa, who produced his debut album, An Evening with Wild Man Fischer for the Bizarre label.
Fischer has been described as associated with the Los Angeles freak scene by music journalists. Fischer was the opening act for the Byrds, Iron Butterfly, Solomon Burke, and Bo Diddley. His relationship with Zappa came to an abrupt end after Fischer threw a bottle that nearly hit Zappa's daughter Moon. Fischer later collaborated with Smegma, Barnes & Barnes and Rosemary Clooney. He appeared in a 1973 live recording in the film New York Dolls: All Dolled Up (2005). His music influenced Genesis P-Orridge and Jon the Postman, and was played on radio shows hosted by Dr. Demento and John Peel.
In 1975, Fischer recorded a promotional single for Rhino Records entitled "Go to Rhino Records". The label put out a trilogy of albums that ultimately became his last: Wildmania (1977), Pronounced Normal (1981), and Nothing Scary (1983); the latter two were produced by the comedy music duo Barnes & Barnes. A documentary about Fischer's life, Derailroaded: Inside the Mind of Wild Man Fischer, premiered at the South by Southwest festival in 2005.
Biography
Early life
Larry Fischer was born on November 6, 1944, in Los Angeles, California. Released one year later, he appeared at numerous talent shows and was discovered by R&B singer Solomon Burke, who gave him the nickname "Wild Man" and brought him along on a tour. Fischer was still living at home at this time, and in 1965, was once again institutionalized for his behavior. According to Fischer, the hospital stays only exacerbated his condition.
An Evening with Wild Man Fischer
By 1967, Fischer was on medication and acting as a street performer in Hollywood. For a nickel or a dime, he would offer a "new kind of song" to passersby as an a cappella performance. This led him to become an opening act for the Byrds, Bo Diddley, and Iron Butterfly. On September 23, 1968, thanks to his connections with Zappa, Fischer appeared on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, singing "The Leaves Are Falling" and "Merry-Go-Round". In December, Zappa arranged for him to perform at a Christmas show involving the Mothers, the GTOs, Easy Chair, and Alice Cooper. Fischer sang "Circles".
Rhino Records albums
In 1974, Fischer appeared as a guest vocalist on noise band Smegma's album Sing Popular Songs. In 1975, he recorded Rhino Records' first release, a novelty single entitled "Go to Rhino Records". At the time, Rhino Records was only a record shop in Los Angeles. According to the New York Times: "Demand for [the single] proved so great that it catapulted the store's owners into the record-producing business." Two years later he recorded their very first LP, Wildmania. In 2004, Fischer was the subject of a comic book (The Legend of Wild Man Fischer by Dennis Eichhorn), and in October, appeared on ABC-TV's late-night talk/comedy show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
In 2003, Fischer had a six-month-long paranoid episode, convinced somebody was trying to kill him, and he started living on the streets again. He called Bill Mumy up to 20 times a day, hanging up each time, until Mumy finally had to change his phone number. Fischer eventually moved in with his aunt Josephine, but three weeks later she was diagnosed with terminal cancer (this happened during the filming of Derailroaded). Fischer and his family consented to move him into an assisted-living mental institution in Van Nuys. The medications he was prescribed helped him control his behavior, but it also eliminated his creative drive, or "pep".