#38. This SotD is another special request. For the few of us familiar with The Shaggs, it's almost reassuring to know we aren't the only one in the world who knows about the Wiggin sisters.
Frank Zappa once said The Shaggs were better than The Beatles, and who am I to argue with him? But it's safe to say there isn't another band quite like them. Charming, innocent and with a lack of self-consciousness, their debut album Philosophy of the World sounds like each of the three sisters recorded their parts in a separate room without being able to hear one another.
When Terry Anderson from NRBQ came across this album, originally released in 1969 and doomed for eternal obscurity, he convinced Rounder Records to re-release it in 1980. KROQ actually played My Pal Foot Foot, and either it didn't sound so odd in their anti-format of the day, or my taste in music had already become twisted and odd, but I thought it sounded like a classic and ran out and bought the album.
The shirt design is a drawing of their lost cat Foot Foot from the back of the album cover. I have a friend who had this tattooed on his arm. I would have loved to have seen the look on his tattoo artist's face when he presented him with this rather odd image.
The Shaggs are less obscure today than they were upon this album's release, but I suppose that's not saying much. There was even a musical based on their story, and it was quite good. And I instantly bond with people when I wear this shirt and they share that they too love The Shaggs.
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