Collector's Choice
1984
Nothing Scary
About This Album
After Barnes & Barnes produced Wild Man Fischer's 1981 album Pronounced Normal, Bill Mumy (aka Art Barnes) said they felt as though they had "given Larry what he always claimed to want: a great record that told the tale of the inner spirit without humiliating him." If Pronounced Normal (which Mumy called "one of the great unheard records of all time") succeeded beyond anyone's wildest dreams, Nothing Scary is without question its equal and worthy sequel. If the title track on Pronounced Normal conveyed some measure of Fischer's lifelong ordeal, "Derailroaded" grinds the message home with rhythmic precision, picking up exactly where Pronounced Normal left off. What makes Nothing Scary so wonderful is the fact that the producer finally realized that the singer hated to perform inside of a recording studio. So they took themselves out to a city park, where Fischer was able to breathe fresh air and improvise without any restraints, screaming joyously into a hand-held portable recording apparatus. Once these outbursts were brought back to the studio and mixed with other sounds, including a bit of electronic keyboard backing, the results were delightful and very endearing.
Track List (try tracks 2,6,9,14 and 27)

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