Remember The Shaggs? If you don’t, it’s not a big deal. They are one of the most obscure bands ever. If it wasn’t for legends such as Frank Zappa or Kurt Cobain, who cited them as favorites, and in the case of Cobain, as important influences, I’m pretty sure they would have been forgotten by now. Not because they are not good - it’s just that The Shaggs are beyond comparison to conventional values. The critics opinions ranged from the discernment of their songs as non-sense and anti-music to being compared with Ornette Coleman and his disregard for traditional harmonies. Here is their story in short:
The Shaggs formed in Fremont, New Hampshire in 1968. The band was composed of sisters Dorothy "Dot" Wiggin (vocals/lead guitar), Betty Wiggin (vocals/rhythm guitar), Helen Wiggin (drums) and, later, Rachel Wiggin (bass). They were formed by Dot, Betty, and Helen in 1968, on the insistence of their father, Austin Wiggin, who claimed that his mother had predicted that he’ll marry a blond woman and that his daughters would form a popular music group and rise to stardom. He pulled the girls out of school and paid for private music lessons. After a year of home-schooling, the family band entered a cheap recording studio and emerged with ‘Philosophy of the World’, which amazingly became one of the great obscure albums of all time. It was released in 1969, with generally awful reviews. The Rolling Stone characterized The Shaggs as “sounding like lobotomized Trapp Family singers."
The interest for their music grew slightly (although remaining deep in the underground) when Zappa played a couple of their songs on the Dr. Demento show, where he also professed his love for the band and famously said that they were “better than The Beatles.” Their popularity rose after 1980, when Terry Adams and Tom Ardolino, of the band NRBQ, convinced their record label, Rounder Records, to reissue Philosophy of the World. Ironically, eleven years after the original release and the review by the magazine, Rolling Stone accorded The Shaggs "Comeback of the Year." Their fame rose, even more, when Kurt Cobain added ‘Philosophy of the World’ among his top five favorite albums. RCA Victor released the album with the original track sequence on CD in 1999. The Shaggs appeared on stage at the NRBQ 30th Anniversary celebration held at The Bowery Ballroom in New York in November 1999.
In 2001, the Animal World label released ‘Better Than The Beatles’, a Shaggs tribute album. The title was based on the title of an article which described the importance of what The Shaggs accomplished musically. The album featured established acts such as Ida, Optiganally Yours, R. Stevie Moore, Deerhoof and Danielson Famille covering The Shaggs' songs.
