Wally Pleasant
Encyclopedia
Wally Pleasant is a U.S.
musician from Michigan
. He plays humorous songs based on folk music
& 1950s-60s rock and roll
influences.
Born Wally Bullard in Detroit, Pleasant did not become a serious guitarist until college. While majoring in political science
at Michigan State University
's James Madison College
, he performed at various Lansing-area open mic nights, gaining significant local popularity. A successful homemade cassette tape in the late 1980s led him to release a total of six CDs, the first five on his own record label Miranda Records. 2004's Music For Nerds & Perverts was released on Nashville, Tennessee
-based Spat! Records. Pleasant has performed throughout the United States over the years, especially in areas where large numbers of MSU Spartan alumni have settled. For much of the 1990s, he was a full-time musician, but has scaled back his schedule in recent years due to personal and family concerns.
He has been a featured artist on the Dr. Demento
radio show with songs like "The Day Ted Nugent
Killed All the Animals". Nugent had Pleasant perform this song on Detroit radio in the mid-1990s.
Primarily a solo artist, Pleasant performed occasionally in the 1990s with individual sidemen (electric guitarists, bassists) and with a four-piece band, The Happy Neighborhood. In 2003 and 2004 Pleasant also played with a backup band, Appearing as "Wally Pleasant and Carl". Carl was composed of former Turdcutter band members Eric Sweeney (drums) and David Wellbaum (bass).
In a 1997 Daily Vault review of Pleasant's 1992 college radio favorite Songs About Stuff, Sean McCarthy wrote:
Wally's most recent work includes writing and performing the music for Biggby's most recent commercial spots, winning an Emmy for his work in 2011.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musician from Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. He plays humorous songs based on folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
& 1950s-60s rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
influences.
Born Wally Bullard in Detroit, Pleasant did not become a serious guitarist until college. While majoring in political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
at Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
's James Madison College
James Madison College
This article is about the public-policy college at Michigan State University. For the similarly named institution in Virginia, see James Madison University....
, he performed at various Lansing-area open mic nights, gaining significant local popularity. A successful homemade cassette tape in the late 1980s led him to release a total of six CDs, the first five on his own record label Miranda Records. 2004's Music For Nerds & Perverts was released on Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
-based Spat! Records. Pleasant has performed throughout the United States over the years, especially in areas where large numbers of MSU Spartan alumni have settled. For much of the 1990s, he was a full-time musician, but has scaled back his schedule in recent years due to personal and family concerns.
He has been a featured artist on the Dr. Demento
Dr. Demento
Barret Eugene Hansen , better known as Dr. Demento, is a radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograph records to the present....
radio show with songs like "The Day Ted Nugent
Ted Nugent
Theodore Anthony "Ted" Nugent is an American guitarist, musician, singer, author, reserve police officer, and activist. From Detroit, Michigan, he originally gained fame as the lead guitarist of The Amboy Dukes, before embarking on a lengthy solo career...
Killed All the Animals". Nugent had Pleasant perform this song on Detroit radio in the mid-1990s.
Primarily a solo artist, Pleasant performed occasionally in the 1990s with individual sidemen (electric guitarists, bassists) and with a four-piece band, The Happy Neighborhood. In 2003 and 2004 Pleasant also played with a backup band, Appearing as "Wally Pleasant and Carl". Carl was composed of former Turdcutter band members Eric Sweeney (drums) and David Wellbaum (bass).
In a 1997 Daily Vault review of Pleasant's 1992 college radio favorite Songs About Stuff, Sean McCarthy wrote:
Wally's most recent work includes writing and performing the music for Biggby's most recent commercial spots, winning an Emmy for his work in 2011.
Albums
- Songs About StuffSongs About StuffSongs About Stuff is the first studio album by Singer/Songwriter Wally Pleasant, which he released in 1992 on Miranda Records.- Track Listing :# Small Time Drug Dealer# Bad Haircut# That's Evolution# Ode to Detroit# First Love# Lost Weekend Las Vegas...
- 1992 - Welcome To PleasantvilleWelcome to Pleasantville-Track listing:1. She's Addicted to Clothes 2. Merry Christmas Time Again3. I Hate Cops 4. I've Got a Garden5. Rock-N-Roll Yard Sale6. How I got Lost On the Road Less Traveled But Then Got Instant Karma on I-96 7. Only Everything 8. I Was A Teenage Republican...
1993 - Houses of the Holy Moly - 1994
- Wally World - 1996
- Hoedown - 2000
- Music For Nerds And Perverts - 2004
- Exile on Wally Street - 2011 (projected, still timely albeit revised release date)
External links
- The Official Wally Pleasant Site
- Spat! Records Wally's current label
- Miranda Records
- Antifolk Online article about Wally Pleasant
- Lyrics to some of Wally Pleasant's more popular songs