Record Roulette: Philosophy of the World
Have you ever wondered what it feels like to toss your brain in a blender?
Today’s Record Roulette is truly one of a kind, introduced to me by Dr. Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas, authors of This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You. Rogers frames this album as a sort of personality marker for listeners; polarizing and indicative of what you seek to gain from music. Their passion struck a chord in me, and thus, I give you Philosophy of the World, by The Shaggs.
Philosophy of the World was originally released in 1969, by Dorothy (“Dot”), Betty, and Helen Wiggin, of Fremont, New Hampshire. The Wiggin sisters formed The Shaggs under the incessant supervision of their father, Austin Wiggin Jr. Austin was acting on a prophecy from his mother, who said that he would marry a woman with strawberry-blonde hair (true), that he would have two sons after she passed (true), and that his three girls would capture the world in a trance with their musical abilities (open to interpretation). Eager to fulfill her prophecy, he pulled the three sisters out of school and made music their sole focus, effectively shielding them from any outside influences.
In March of 1969, Austin took the girls to Fleetwood Studios in Revere, Massachusetts to record Philosophy of the World. Staff musician Bob Hearn recalls the baffling recording session, saying, “We shut the control room doors and rolled on the floor laughing… It was horrible. They did not know what they were doing but they thought it was okay. They were just in another world,” (Rogers & Ogas, 2022).
What happened next is musical folklore, widely disputed among those who care about The Shaggs: Austin paid for 1,000 vinyl copies of Philosophy to be distributed, and 900 magically disappeared. Some say the engineer ran off with them, others argue that Wiggins Jr. kept them out of fear that others would copy their je ne sais quoi. The whereabouts of those 900 copies are still unknown.
The 100 copies that actually made it into the hands of disc jockeys were promptly discarded. “[They] were completely ignored outside of their hometown of Fremont, where the sisters continued playing weekly performances at the town hall and–as always–continued to get heckled and pelted with cups,” (Rogers & Ogas, 2022). Their bubble burst, and after Austin died of a heart attack in 1975, The Shaggs quickly disbanded, as the sisters had no interest in pursuing music any further. Their father had tainted their love for performing, so they went on to live normal lives as Betty, Dot, and Helen Wiggin.
Over time the record has resurfaced in a new light, gaining a cult following and recognition from the likes of Kurt Cobain and Frank Zappa, the latter calling them “better than the Beatles,” (Grow, 2016). Philosophy is undeniably a product of its time, but their confident incompetence has given the Wiggin sisters lasting notoriety. It’s what one might call “Outsider Music”: music created by artists who are self taught or have little to no musical training (among the most acclaimed outsider musicians is Wesley Willis, of “Rock ‘n’ Roll McDonald’s” fame). The term was coined in 1996 by journalist and author of “Songs in the Key of Z,” Irwin Chusid, who also happened to co-produce the reissue of Philosophy. He describes the genre as, “crackpot and visionary music, where all trails lead essentially one place: over the edge,” (Nazariyan, 2019).
The fact that The Shaggs have transcended time is a miracle but makes complete sense. The curiosity of the record and the “why?” of it all keeps Philosophy going. Everyone who hears it is confused yet intrigued, and the comments section of “My Pal Foot Foot” on YouTube demonstrates their polarizing effect on people:
“1:44 One of those satisfying moments in which everyone syncs up for exactly one bar. It's like a solar eclipse, happens only once every other decade.” (@flaviocimolin8810)
“This sounds like guitar center on a Saturday afternoon” (@MrDussek)
“Weirdly enough, this sounds really difficult to play. They know exactly what they are doing.” (@DeadManProp)
Polarizing, indeed.
My raw, honest opinion is that this record is technically terrible, and spiritually revolutionary. If you asked an A.I. program what the year 1969 sounded like, it’d produce something similar to Philosophy. Now, I say all of this with the utmost respect for the Wiggin sisters. They created a musical world among each other, however searingly unconventional and out of tune it may sound. Somehow, every song is exactly the same and wildly different. They sang of Halloween and their pal Foot Foot, each manically trying to match each other's tempo in an unending game of timing-tag. Every time you think they have it, they lose it again. It’s as hilarious as it is endearing, and you can’t help but root for them track after track.
The Shaggs unintentionally made a groundbreaking record that reflects a very human experience- they found something they loved to do and did it unabashedly, even when the whole world was figuratively (and literally) pelting cups at them.
That being said, Philosophy is not easy listening, as you’ve probably already gathered. I can’t compare it to anything else because there is nothing that even comes close to it. It’s best enjoyed, or rather, experienced, alone in a safe environment, a little bit sedated. You really have to liberate yourself from the constraints of human existence to attempt any understanding of the record. It’s an auditory hellscape for trained musicians and one of the best “bad” albums out there. Either way, I highly recommend this journey with The Shaggs.
Listen to Philosophy of the World on Spotify, Apple Music, or YouTube
Chusid, Irwin (2004). Songs in the Key of Z: The Curious Universe of Outsider Music. http://www.keyofz.com
Grow, Kory (2016, September). Shaggs’ Dot Wiggin Reflects on Divisive ‘Philosophy of the World’ Album. Rolling Stone. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/shaggs-dot-wiggin-reflects-on-divisive-philosophy-of-the-world-album-115348/
Nazariyan, Kristina (2019, September). Exploring Outsider Music - An Interview with Irwin Chusid. The Strand Magazine. https://www.strandmagazine.co.uk/single-post/2019/09/04/exploring-outsider-music-an-interview-with-irwin-chusid
Rogers, Susan, & Ogas, Ogi (2022). This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You. W. W. Norton & Company.