Mamma mia. She exists!

April 7, 2007 2:39 AM

For many, many years, my very favorite bad singer on this Earth has been Wing. I heart her, and I am actually not alone. Over the last 4 years, the endearingly earnest and impressively prolific Wing has gained international fame and made more money on her recordings than a majority of far, far more talented musicians. Yes, she is an acquired taste & many of you will have a different experience, but whenever I listen to her I smile from ear to ear -- both of which have delicate little streams blood trickling from them at the time. And so now I have the honor of presenting to you without further ado (drum roll please) our special guest entertainer for the day, the woman herself... Wing LIVE in concert. **Waves a lighter in the air**
posted by miss lynnster (43 comments total)

I thought Wing was Yoko Ono's stage name.
posted by wendell at 3:06 AM on April 7, 2007

cat strangling.
posted by the cuban at 3:09 AM on April 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

Wing rocks! Now her AC/DC cover of 'Back In Black" is being covered.
posted by sluglicker at 3:22 AM on April 7, 2007

Another bleeding ear fan here too - great post miss lynnster!
posted by ceri richard at 3:28 AM on April 7, 2007

The Gong Show was an inherently more interesting concept than American Idol, and Wing proves it.
posted by BrotherCaine at 3:45 AM on April 7, 2007

I'll have you know that you so just ruined a perfectly innocent and burgeoning crush, you shrill harpy!
posted by loquacious at 4:01 AM on April 7, 2007

I missed one! From a different viewpoint, watch Wing sing The Carpenter's hit Close to You. Her recording of this features the most kickass first three notes I've ever heard. Makes me cry.
posted by miss lynnster at 4:17 AM on April 7, 2007

2003.
posted by joe lisboa at 4:30 AM on April 7, 2007

"I attended orientation day and all I got was this lousy case of tinnitus."

Medic! Medic!
posted by Iosephus at 4:38 AM on April 7, 2007 [2 favorites]

So she's in on the joke, right? 'Round here we'd call that 'perfomance art', and like in the videos no one would stop to listen.
posted by Gungho at 6:00 AM on April 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

Baby, I'm amazed.
posted by psmealey at 6:26 AM on April 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

Fun post misslynnster. Curious, I Wikipediaed Wing's story about having been a South Park character. The WP entry on Wing: "unencumbered by typical musical conventions like harmony, pitch and rhythm – to the accompaniment of a programmed synthesizer."
posted by nickyskye at 6:30 AM on April 7, 2007

ps, Can't help thinking she's got Peking Opera in her head as she's singing those pop tunes and it's coming out liked barbed wire. Parody Chinese Opera.
posted by nickyskye at 6:38 AM on April 7, 2007

Are you kidding?
posted by kisch mokusch at 6:43 AM on April 7, 2007

She should sing 'Maybe I'm Amazed,' so we can enjoy Wings by Wing.
posted by ardgedee at 6:54 AM on April 7, 2007

Or she could cover "For What It's Worth", and we could enjoy Buffalo Wingfield.

There's always "She's Only 17" by Winger, too...
posted by emelenjr at 7:20 AM on April 7, 2007

Perhaps she could do "Born To Run" so we could have Bruce--aw, forget it.
posted by sourwookie at 7:28 AM on April 7, 2007

I'd like to hear "Baby Bitch." Ween by Wing.
posted by etc. at 7:30 AM on April 7, 2007

Your favorite band sucks.
posted by DragonBoy at 7:42 AM on April 7, 2007

Oh, bless her heart!
posted by hollygoheavy at 7:59 AM on April 7, 2007

"I Wikipediaed"...? Woot
posted by growabrain at 8:04 AM on April 7, 2007

We used to have a character like this in Boston. She had absolutely no sense of pitch or rhythm, and she sang along to preprogrammed accompaniment using a cheap Casio keyboard; she also wrote her own songs, which could be better or worse depending on your perspective. She was a really cool lady with a great sense of humor who was indeed "in on the joke."

I assume that Wing is, too. I suppose anything's possible, given what I've heard about American Idol contestants; but you'd think that when a cartoon like South Park makes fun of you, you'd get an inkling what the fuss was about.
posted by cribcage at 8:14 AM on April 7, 2007

Gosh, I'm glad I chose to clean my ears with red hot wires today...
posted by Samizdata at 8:24 AM on April 7, 2007

"I Wikipediaed"

Comes from the German: Ich habe gewikipediagetät.
posted by psmealey at 8:33 AM on April 7, 2007 [3 favorites]

*like barbed wire. yikes, lots of typos lately.

growabrain, Pleased you like Wikipediaed. :) You're Wikipediable too.

Another deliciously earnest and truly awful singer video.
posted by nickyskye at 8:38 AM on April 7, 2007 [2 favorites]

For what it's worth, here's my SECOND favorite bad singer. Only discovered him a few days ago.

Honestly, seeing those videos was like a sighting of Nessie for me. She is EXACTLY as she has always presented herself, I was happy to see that. I'm so glad that she's been able to stick around & profit from her effort instead of just being some one-hit internet joke. She's become a surprisingly smart businessperson, and the people around her seem to be guiding her well (I mean Highway to Hell? Brilliant!). My understanding is that she just loves making her music and appreciates any reason that what she does could make people happy. What kills me is that she earnestly keeps promising that she's trying hard to improve, though... I'm not sure anyone has told what a bad idea that would be. Bless her heart. I rove her.

Here's a phone interview with Wing (they call her about halfway through). MP3
posted by miss lynnster at 9:08 AM on April 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

She's played Carnegie Hall, 'course so can you for 50K a night.
posted by StickyCarpet at 9:36 AM on April 7, 2007

Okay, she's pretty bad, but she's no Joanna Newsom.
posted by InnocentBystander at 9:40 AM on April 7, 2007 [2 favorites]

We used to have a character like this in Boston. She had absolutely no sense of pitch or rhythm, and she sang along to preprogrammed accompaniment using a cheap Casio keyboard; she also wrote her own songs, which could be better or worse depending on your perspective. She was a really cool lady with a great sense of humor who was indeed "in on the joke."


I remember her from the early 80's. I could swear I saw her years later in San Francisco.
posted by rdr at 10:52 AM on April 7, 2007

Anyone whose favorite bad singer isn't Carl Strygg hasn't heard Carl Strygg.
posted by dobbs at 11:37 AM on April 7, 2007

WFMU archives of Incorrect Music are a good source for this kind of Outsider music

Donald Prince i (warning RealMedia) is a favorite

"365 days project" is also a great resource.
posted by bhnyc at 11:53 AM on April 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

This woman is a force of nature. It requires a very special gift to start out bad, perform week in and week out over the course of many years, and never improve in the slightest.

I don't know if it's sheer talent, an iron will or just a completely tin ear, but it is definitely a thing to be respected.
posted by psmealey at 12:07 PM on April 7, 2007

I remember the San Francisco version, with her Casiotone. Her distinctive marker was the horned Viking helmet topped with a little red light. Usually saw her outside the Castro MUNI station, though once or twice I saw her at the 16th/Mission BART station.
posted by dantsea at 12:22 PM on April 7, 2007

ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow



ow
posted by abulafa at 12:31 PM on April 7, 2007

"I remember the San Francisco version, with her Casiotone."

That's Space Lady
posted by 2sheets at 12:43 PM on April 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

Thanks, 2sheets! Following the links from that page, I found her MySpace page. She mentions starting in Boston... could it possibly be the same person that cribcage and rdr recall?
posted by dantsea at 1:16 PM on April 7, 2007

That's exact thing is what has always impressed me about L.A.'s Marty & Elayne. I mean, they have been playing the same room 4-7 nights a week since 1971... and to never improve? How is that POSSIBLE!?? I am in awe of them and their horrible sound system. Although preferably in moderation and from a distance. And I don't know that I'll ever sit in with them again because when Elayne scats in the middle of one of my songs while I'm standing next to their cracked monitor it hurts my ears in a very very bad way. She scats like an alley cat dying a painful death. Sadly, Elayne is just not Wing-licious.
posted by miss lynnster at 1:32 PM on April 7, 2007

Yes, "Wing-licious" is an established adjective in my vocabulary. "Wing-tastic" is also sufficient.
posted by miss lynnster at 1:41 PM on April 7, 2007

Cribcage, I remember that woman very fondly indeed from a rather breathy rendition of "Radar Love" she delivered in front of the Store 24 in Harvard Square. Trippy, it was.
posted by GrammarMoses at 3:15 PM on April 7, 2007

And it was back in 1982.
posted by GrammarMoses at 3:16 PM on April 7, 2007

Those of us fortunate enough to have caught Big Apple public-access queen Mari Lyn (aka La Traviyenta) back a few decades will recall her delightful weekly program "Golden Treasury of Song." Now, thanks to the modern miracle known as YouTube, you too can thrill to the Divissima's unique bel canto style as she tackles "Una voce poco fa" from Rossini's Barber of Seville, in all its "overcadenzorized glory." (Props also to the Howard Salat Quartet, and to Ms. Lyn's sun-goes-nova backdrop.)
posted by rob511 at 4:05 PM on April 7, 2007

Next time I come across into somebody I really dislike on the internet, I'll just tell them to crank their speakers up and come to this thread.
posted by tehloki at 11:41 PM on April 7, 2007

Ah Wing, another talented NZer featuring on South Park. The other was Russ Crowe - another especially horrendous musician.
posted by teststrip at 7:57 PM on April 12, 2007