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Daniel Johnston (born 1961) is an American singer, songwriter and artist.
His songs are typically painfully direct, and often display a disturbing blend of childlike naivety with darker, "spooky" themes. He has been classified as an outsider musician. He also draws and paints
Johnston was born in West Virginia, but has lived in Texas for much of his life. Johnston suffers from bipolar disorder, and has had varying luck with different treatments.
In the late 1970s, Johnston began recording his songs on inexpensive cassette tape recorders, singing and playing either guitar or piano. He gave tapes of his music to anyone who'd take them. Johnston created the comic book inspired art that usually accompanied his own recordings.
His early songs established a number of themes that would persist through Johnston's career: Unrequited love, Casper the Friendly Ghost, and comic book superheroes, especially Captain America and Jack Kirby's other works. "Joe"--A partly autobiographical character--has been featured in a number of songs. Johnston has cited The Beatles as a prime influence.
The famous "Hi, How Are You?" mural of Austin, Texas Johnston gained a cult following in Austin, Texas. Some regarded Johnston as little more than a quaint curiosity, but others recognized a genuine talent: Johnston has a knack for creating great, catchy melodies, while his lyrics are evocative and often use clever wordplay. His songs have been covered by a number of admirers.
He painted a mural of the "Hi, How Are You?" frog, also known as Jeremiah after the Three Dog Night song, on the side of the Austin Sound Exchange music store in 1993. The site was converted into a Baja Fresh franchise in 2004. Although the initial plans called for the mural to be torn down, public outcry caused restaurant owner John Oudt to change his plans, eating $50,000 in additional costs and lost revenue to let the mural stay.
A 1985 MTV special on Austin brought Johnston wider attention, and a number of record stores outside Texas began selling his cassettes.
His music has been acclaimed by David Bowie, Sonic Youth, and Matt Groening. Kurt Cobain praised Johnston's work, and often wore a t shirt with a Johnston illustration and a caption reading, "Hi How Are You?"
In 1994 saw the release of Fun on Atlantic Records. The record was produced by Paul Leary of Butthole Surfers, a group who had long supported Johnston, even inviting him to open a number of concerts for them.
Fun was Johnston's only major-label release, but he has continued writing and recording songs, as well as drawing pictures.
Discography
- Songs of Pain (Stress Records, 1980) cassette
- The What of Whom (Stress Records, 1982) cassette
- Don't Be Scared (Stress Records, 1982) cassette
- More Songs of Pain (Stress Records, 1983) cassette
- Yip Jump Music (Stress Records, 1983) cassette
- Hi, How Are You (Stress Records, 1983) cassette
- The Lost Recordings (Stress Records, 1983) cassette
- The Lost Recordings II (Stress Records, 1983) cassette
- Retired Boxer (Stress Records, 1984) cassette
- Respect (Stress Records, 1985) cassette, 10"
- with Texas Instruments: Continued Story (Stress Records, 1985) cassette
- Merry Christmas (Stress Records, 1988) cassette
- with Jad Fair: It's Spooky (50 Skidillion Watts, 1989)
- Continued Story/Hi, how are you? (Homestead, 1989)
- Yip/Jump Music (Homestead, 1989)
- Live at South by Southwest (Stress Records, 1990) cassette
- 1990 (Shimmy Disc, 1990)
- Artistic Vice (Shimmy Disc, 1991)
- Please Don't Feed The Ego (Eternal Yip Eye Music, 1994)
- Fun (Atlantic, 1994)
- with Ron English and Jack Medicine: Hyperjinx Tricycle (Important Records, 2000)
- Rejected Unknown (Gammon Records, 2001)
- Fear Yourself (Gammon Records, 2003)
- The Early Recordings of Daniel Johnston Volume 1 (Dualtone, 2003)
- (Gammon Records, 2004)
External links
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