Philosophy of the World

The Shaggs

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 23, 1999)
• Original Release Date: 1969
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA Victor
• ASIN: B00000I0QQ
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (133 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #21,298 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #87 in

  Music > Miscellaneous > Comedy > Comedic Music > Novelty Music

Track Listings

1. Philosophy of the World

2. That Little Sports Car

3. Who Are Parents

4. My Pal Foot Foot

5. My Companion

6. I'm So Happy When You're Near

7. Things I Wonder

8. Sweet Thing

9. It's Halloween

10. Why Do I Feel?

11. What Should I Do?

12. We Have a Savior

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

When listening to the Shaggs (the Wiggin sisters--Dorothy on lead guitar and vocals, Betty on rhythm guitar and vocals, Helen on drums), one needs to jettison conventional notions of song structure, what is "in tune" or not, even what constitutes suitable subject matter for a pop song ("My Pal Foot Foot," "Who Are Parents?"). Originally issued on a small, dodgy label in 1969, the guileless sounds of Philosophy cast a long shadow nonetheless; the group was one of Frank Zappa's favorites and their music inspired rock primitivists Beat Happening as well as sublime archivists NRBQ and Yo La Tengo. On Philosophy, the teenaged sisters' delirious, playfully constructed music has everything you least expect: loopy polyrhythms that follow no external law, off-kilter singing conducted in unison that sounds like the hit parade broadcast from Jupiter, and bizarre, elementary-school guitar playing. Best enjoyed in small doses, this enchanting, accidental music approximates the highly personal charms of so-called "outsider" visual art. To paraphrase a saccharine song of yore, the Shaggs' music is very beautiful--in its own way. --Mike McGonigal

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

104 of 110 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Okay, it's like this..., November 7, 2003

By	Travis Miller (Shepherdstown, WV United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

You either "get" this record, or you don't. The naysayers complain that people only like it because it's hip to do so - and there are undoubtedly some people who are guilty of that charge - but I think the naysayers are mostly just missing the point.

No one's denying that this is a terrible album, at least from the customary perspective of music appreciation and criticism. Technically speaking, these are probably the worst musical performances I've ever heard. But you have to look beneath the surface to truly appreciate the Shaggs - an effort which usually isn't made by the typical music listener. There are a number of things to love about this album.

First of all, it's just *fun*, in a delirious and incoherent sort of way. With only the barest rudiments of musicianship (actually, that's being generous), the Wiggin sisters effortlessly created a Dada masterpiece. Granted, it was entirely accidental, but what could be more Dada than that?

But the deeper importance of this record doesn't lie with the notes that are played, but rather what's *between* the notes, at the meta-level. Forget the out-of-tune guitars, the drunkenly meandering tempo, and the nonsensical lyrics. Listen to the naïve, adolescent earnestness, unrestrained by self-doubt or the straightjacket of musical convention. The Shaggs were inept, but they didn't know or care. And it's that unpretentious honesty - so rare in pop music - that makes this music meaningful.

Many others here have compared this recording to a child's crayon drawings, and that's very apt: you don't appreciate such artwork for its technical accomplishment, but for its honesty, for the *human* element - you simply appreciate the creative act in and of itself.

Ironically, given the trio's utter lack of musical ability, this album is most likely to be appreciated by musicians. Why? Because it reminds us of the true purpose of music. You can fixate on critical comparison and technical analysis until you're blue in the face, but at the end of the day, music means NOTHING without the creative experience, and the simple joy of sharing the musical experience (as musician *or* listener) with other people. That's a valuable lesson in today's world of self-consciously stylized, hyper-premeditated music.

"Philosophy Of The World" definitely isn't an album you'll need to listen to every day, but it'll give you a new way to look at music nonetheless.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything you know about music is WRONG, August 23, 2000

By	Kenneth T. Ward "jazzer" (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Almost all modern music leaves the listener with absolutely no feelings whatsoever. Not so of The Shaggs. You do not so much listen to them as endure their total assault upon the concepts of melody, harmony, rhythm, and logic. Your first play-through will be a cathartic experience of sorts - disbelief turns into incredulity, incredulity mutates into speechlessness, speechlessness transforms into a deeply-rooted hatred of the life force within you, and before you know it your lower intestine is snaking up through your neck trying to strangle you. This is the music your dogs would make if they could strum guitars and speak English. And this is the beauty of The Shaggs - they are so mind-bendingly, death-defyingly horrible in every conceivable way that they grab your viscera, shove them through a turbocharged garbage disposal, and put them back inside of you in random order. Buy this CD (or rather inflict it upon yourself) and marvel at the amazing variations found within the human species. Besides, you have probably done something unspeakably evil in your life - this will be your punishment. You DESERVE this.

32 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Reptilian-Brain music, December 17, 1999

By	Fez Monkey (Santa Monica, California USA) - See all my reviews

The consensus seems to be that the music of the Shaggs is one of the great modern paradoxes: It is juvenile, awful, inept, and unlistenable while being creative, beautiful, sophisticated, and progressive.

The truth is that the Shaggs were likely nothing more than overly indulged girls, whose father believed them to have far more talent than they really did. If the other possibility is correct, and they WERE geniuses, then surely they would still be producing music, and we never would have heard of Laurie Anderson.

Still, there is something so compelling about the album. Hearing these girls attempt to play their individual instruments is mesmerizing. They are actually the proof to the old idea that putting a million monkeys at a million typewriters for a million years will eventually produce "Henry V". If you were to put three other musical novices in a room together and ask them to play their instruments, you'd get nothing more than bad noise. The Shaggs, however, managed to hit that magic point where their racket actually combined to create a unique and haunting sound.

However, in my opinion, the real triumph of the Shaggs is that even though they will forever remain an asterix in history, their music will have been more influential than anything put out by the Satan-spawned Mariah Carey, Backstreet Boyz, Celine Dion and countless other artistically retarded, vapid, musical opiates.