The Shaggs were an American all-female rock and outsider music band formed in Fremont, New Hampshire, in 1968. The band was composed of sisters Dorothy "Dot" Wiggin (vocals/lead guitar), Betty Wiggin (vocals/rhythm guitar), Helen Wiggin (drums) and, later, Rachel Wiggin (bass).
The band were formed on the insistence of their father, Austin Wiggin, who believed that his mother had predicted the band's rise to stardom. The band's only studio album, Philosophy of the World, was released in 1969. The album failed to garner attention, though the band continued to exist as a locally popular live act. The Shaggs disbanded in 1975 after the death of Austin.
The group is primarily notable today for their perceived ineptitude at playing conventional rock music; the band was described in one Rolling Stone article as "sounding like lobotomized Trapp Family singers." Terry Adams of NRBQ compared the group's melodic lines and structures to the free jazz compositions of Ornette Coleman.
Links to Peel[]
Peel played tracks from their compilation album, The Shaggs, in the early 90's and mentioned on his 26 January 1991, show that the "last time I played a track from the Shaggs, somebody came up on the Fluff line to give me a bit of a telling off, and saying that I shouldn't do it again. Undeterred, here's another track from the self-same compact disc."
The band's apparent inability to play music not only attracted Peel but also others including Kurt Cobain of Nirvana: he claimed in his 1992 Rebellious Jukebox article [1] in the Melody Maker that their 1969 album Philosophy Of The World was one of the albums that changed his life.
Shows Played[]
- 19 January 1991: I'm So Happy When You're Near (album - The Shaggs) Rounder
- 26 January 1991: My Companion (CD-The Shaggs) Rounder
- 02 February 1991: That Little Sports Car (album - The Shaggs) Rounder
- 03 February 1991: Wheels (album - The Shaggs) Rounder
- 07 July 1991: Wheels (CD – Shaggs' Own Thing) Rounder