Larry "Wild Man" Fischer began his musical career as a street-singer on the Sunset Strip in the mid-sixties. Far from a passive performer, Fischer actively pitched and sold his songs to passerby for a dime, and his impromptu performances and eccentric behavior quickly gained recognition among the Strip community. His first brush at nationwide fame came when Frank Zappa produced his debut album, the infamous An Evening With Wild Man Fischer. The LP, while not a smash hit, was most definitely unique, and Fischer began to develop a small cult following. His relationship with Zappa grew strained, however, and eventually fell apart.

Fischer stayed out of the limelight for most of the early seventies; the silence was broken in 1975 when he released a promotional give-away single for the then record store Rhino Records. Two years later, he released the first album on the official Rhino Records label, the striking, memorably rough Wildmania. For his next two releases, Pronounced Normal and Nothing Scary, Fischer collaborated with the production duo of Barnes & Barnes, who contributed backing tracks, songs, and a collage-like aesthetic to help create two excellent albums. Nothing Scary also served as Fischer's swan song - as the years went by with no more new recordings, it became apparent that he had once again decided to move away from the public eye. Since then, aside from a few appearances here and there, he has remained quiet.

Where can I find Larry's albums?

Unfortunately, all of Wild Man Fischer's recordings are currently out-of-print, so used record stores, collector's magazines, and the Internet are your best resources for tracking down used copies.

Nope.

Rhino briefly reissued Larry's recordings for the label in a limited-edition, Internet-only 2-CD set (which is now out of print), but it appears that An Evening With... will never make it to CD. Gail Zappa, who owns the rights to the album, has refused to reissue it, calling it "a poor example of Frank's work".

As much as I'd like to, I no longer have the time to personally send out copies of Larry's music. That said, Larry's recordings can be found with great ease on file-sharing services, and most of them are common properties among traders - try posting a request to the appropriate newsgroup/message board/mailing list/etc.

As far as is known, Larry currently lives somewhere in the Hollywood area. He values his privacy, however, so further inquiries are discouraged.