Bingo Gazingo
Encyclopedia
Murray Wachs, better known as Bingo Gazingo (June 2, 1924 – January 1, 2010), was an elderly poet and former postal worker from New York City
. Two versions, each also titled Bingo Gazingo, have been released of the only single-artist album ever released by WFMU
-- the first on cassette, the second on CD. (Among other changes, the CD replaced Ravel's
with an improvised bolero as accompaniment to "Bingo's Bolero".)
The album consists of Bingo's reading his poems to an improvised musical accompaniment by WFMU DJs R. Stevie Moore
, Bob Brainen, Dennis Diken
, Dave Amels
, Chris Bolger and Chris Butler, and engineered
by Amels. Often, while performing live, the background music to his frantic, poetic incantations is nothing more than a cassette tape inserted into a cheap cigar-box tape recorder and miked.
Bingo's poetry often contain hilarious rhyme schemes, extended stream-of-consciousness rambling, and crude language, with titles like "Up Your Jurassic Park" and "I Love You So Fucking Much I Can't Shit". In the past he has penned hyper-caffeinated odes to Madonna
, Tupac Shakur
, and Beavis and Butthead, and had his "Everything's O.K. at the O.K. Corral" (a dreamy remniscence of the cowboy movie serials by an old nurse-attended man) featured on a 1996 CD produced by the famed Greenwich Village
coffeehouse Fast Folk Cafe.
Bingo was accompanied and interpreted by My Robot Friend performing his "You're Out of the Computer" at the Outsider Music
Festival at Time Cafe (downstairs from Fez) in New York City and, according to what My Robot Friend said there, also at appearances in Europe.
Bingo Gazingo recorded for GRANDGOOD in May 2003 in Centerport, Long Island. Versions of 'Everyday I Leave $10 On The Table', 'J-Lo', and 'OK Corral' were recorded. 'Everynight Man', 'Old Man River', and 'Freey Zeeky' were also recorded. Mat Young (dj rpm, Bully Records) remixed a few of the recordings in 2003/2004. These recording sessions and remixes are yet to be released
Born in Queens in 1924, Bingo Gazingo wrote music for most of his life, struggling on the edge of obscurity. He continued to actively write, record and perform perverse, edgy music until the day he died (New Year's Day
2010) at 85 years old, struck down by a cab on his way to perform at the Bowery Poetry Club.
Bingo performed every Monday night, 6p.m. at the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Two versions, each also titled Bingo Gazingo, have been released of the only single-artist album ever released by WFMU
WFMU
WFMU is a listener-supported, independent community radio station headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States, broadcasting at 91.1 MHz FM, presenting a freeform radio format...
-- the first on cassette, the second on CD. (Among other changes, the CD replaced Ravel's
Maurice Ravel
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
with an improvised bolero as accompaniment to "Bingo's Bolero".)
The album consists of Bingo's reading his poems to an improvised musical accompaniment by WFMU DJs R. Stevie Moore
R. Stevie Moore
Robert Steven Moore is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. In addition to having numerous albums released on labels around the world, the prolific Moore has self-released over 400 cassette and CD-R albums since 1968, as well as dozens of home videos, mostly through the R. Stevie Moore...
, Bob Brainen, Dennis Diken
Dennis Diken
Dennis Diken co-founded the NJ band The Smithereens. Besides playing with The Smithereens, Dennis is a fill-in DJ on WFMU.As a musician and record producer, Diken has worked with The Smithereens, Ben E. King, Mary Weiss of 1960s girl group The Shangri-Las, Dave Amels, and R...
, Dave Amels
Dave Amels
Dave Amels co-founded music technology companies Voce musical instruments and Bomb Factory. Both companies are known for detailed and realistic mathematical models of complex physical systems...
, Chris Bolger and Chris Butler, and engineered
Audio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
by Amels. Often, while performing live, the background music to his frantic, poetic incantations is nothing more than a cassette tape inserted into a cheap cigar-box tape recorder and miked.
Bingo's poetry often contain hilarious rhyme schemes, extended stream-of-consciousness rambling, and crude language, with titles like "Up Your Jurassic Park" and "I Love You So Fucking Much I Can't Shit". In the past he has penned hyper-caffeinated odes to Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
, Tupac Shakur
Tupac Shakur
Tupac Amaru Shakur , known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2007, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world...
, and Beavis and Butthead, and had his "Everything's O.K. at the O.K. Corral" (a dreamy remniscence of the cowboy movie serials by an old nurse-attended man) featured on a 1996 CD produced by the famed Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
coffeehouse Fast Folk Cafe.
Bingo was accompanied and interpreted by My Robot Friend performing his "You're Out of the Computer" at the Outsider Music
Outsider music
Outsider music, a term coined by Irwin Chusid in the mid-1990s, are songs and compositions by musicians who are not part of the commercial music industry who write songs that ignore standard musical or lyrical conventions, either because they have no formal training or because they disagree with...
Festival at Time Cafe (downstairs from Fez) in New York City and, according to what My Robot Friend said there, also at appearances in Europe.
Bingo Gazingo recorded for GRANDGOOD in May 2003 in Centerport, Long Island. Versions of 'Everyday I Leave $10 On The Table', 'J-Lo', and 'OK Corral' were recorded. 'Everynight Man', 'Old Man River', and 'Freey Zeeky' were also recorded. Mat Young (dj rpm, Bully Records) remixed a few of the recordings in 2003/2004. These recording sessions and remixes are yet to be released
Born in Queens in 1924, Bingo Gazingo wrote music for most of his life, struggling on the edge of obscurity. He continued to actively write, record and perform perverse, edgy music until the day he died (New Year's Day
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...
2010) at 85 years old, struck down by a cab on his way to perform at the Bowery Poetry Club.
Bingo performed every Monday night, 6p.m. at the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City.