Gary Wilson

Gary Wilson (born October 23, 1953) is an American experimental musician and performance artist best known for his 1977 album You Think You Really Know Me. Shortly after the release of the album, he promptly retired from recording and kept performing until 1983. He slowly gained a strong cult following during the 1980s and 1990s, and in the early 2000s became active again. As of 2025, he has released seventeen full-length albums.

Biography Early life Born on the north side of Endicott, New York, Wilson was one of four siblings, the others being Larry, David and Patti. The children kept several ducks as pets. His father worked for IBM during the day, and by night played stand-up bass in a lounge band whose act played the same hotel approximately four nights a week for 25 years. Wilson was a self-taught musician and musical prodigy, being proficient in guitar, bass, drums, piano and cello by the time he entered grade school. He has credited his earliest influences to be Fabian, Bobby Rydell and most of all Dion. His mother would curl the front of his hair for him every morning so that he could look like his teen heart-throb idols.

At age 10, Wilson joined his school band, playing stand-up bass. This experience is deemed by many to be a significant event in Wilson's life, and his songs became increasingly experimental after this point. Wilson has also cited avant-garde composer David Tudor as a major influence during this time. In 1991, Cry Baby Records re-released the album, pressing about 1000 copies. So outlandish were the shows that often they would have their electricity cut in attempts to get them to leave the stage. He gave Motel Records his permission to repress You Think You Really Know Me, and also offered to play a handful of shows to promote the rerelease.

On May 16, 2002, Wilson returned to the stage after a 20-year absence, playing two shows at Joe's Pub in downtown Manhattan. A documentary about Wilson's career and his return to the public stage was filmed by Michael Wolk, titled You Think You Really Know Me: The Gary Wilson Story. The film recorded the musician's long and emotional train ride (due to his fear of flying from a past tour. His fear originates from his face being swollen after a flight for a show/interview) from the west coast back to his native New York for his first concert in decades. The film was screened at several theaters in 2005, and was released on home video by Plexifilm in June 2008. Wilson said attending the film's premier at the Lincoln Center in New York was "one of the highlights of my life." The record was set to be released on Human Ear Music on August 15, 2008 but the release was delayed for unknown reasons until September 15. Western Vinyl released Gary Wilson's new album Electric Endicott in the fall of 2010. The album is available on CD, vinyl, and MP3.

Wilson was slated in November 2011 to release a new digital album, "Feel the Beat," on Tip Records, a music-business incubator created by rock critic Robert Duncan as an exploratory arm of Duncan/Channon. A limited number of copies are to be released on CD and vinyl as well. In 2012, Wilson was featured on the song "Sweden" from rapper/producer Pyramid Vritra's album "Pyramid", and in 2013 he was featured on the song "Sandy Kissed Gary Wilson Last Night" from production duo They Hate Change's album "Today."

In May 2013, Wilson made his first appearance outside the US for a European tour with The Blind Dates of TX playing the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, UK, Belgium, and the Villette Sonique Festival in Paris. Wilson and the TX Blind Dates returned abroad for a second European tour in 2014 where they played Czech Republic, Germany, France, Belgium, and headlined Sunday night at the OFF Fest in Katowice, Poland. The touring band consisted of Patrick Healy (percussion, vocals), Jason “Chef” Pittman (drums), Sam Vandelinder (guitar, organ, synthesizer), Paul D. Millar (bass guitar, synthesizer), and T.W. Bond (keyboards).

In 2014, Electric Six recorded a cover of "Gary's in the Park" as part of a pledge package for their Absolute Treasure Kickstarter campaign. The cover was subsequently released online.

In January 2014, Wilson and long-time contemporary (also one-time art mail exchange colleague back in the 1970s) R. Stevie Moore finally received the chance to share the same stage for two nights in Brooklyn, NY. On January 24, 2014, both were invited as guest artists at Issue Project Room where R Stevie performed a solo set and Gary debuted a rarely performed piece titled "Gary Saw Linda Kissing John Cage". The performance piece paid much respect to Wilson's avant garde and cable access roots involving light arrangements of prerecorded Musique Concrete/electronic noise style samples, Wilson improvising on a baby grand piano, and the improvisational accompaniment of the TX Blind Dates Electronic Choir (Paul D. Millar, Chef Pittman, Sam Vandelinder, Patrick Healy, and T.W. Bond).

In 2015, Wilson made a surprise guest appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! during a performance by Earl Sweatshirt and BadBadNotGood. Early that year, Earl sampled Wilson's song "You Were Too Good to Be True" on his song "Grief" from the album I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside.

In 2019, Gary and R. Stevie Moore visited each other and created an album together called "Fake News Trending". It featured Jason Falkner, Jad Fair of Half Japanese, Ryan Sinnott of The Distillers and Pall Jenkins. They also released a single called Hey Gary (Have You Seen My Girl) with the album.

Wilson featured on the Frost Children single "Mayfly" in 2022.

In 2023, Gary Wilson released "The Marshmallow Man."

Discography Albums Another Galaxy (1974) You Think You Really Know Me (1977, reissued 1991 and 2002) Forgotten Lovers (2003, reissued 2011 on vinyl) Mary Had Brown Hair (2004) Lisa Wants To Talk To You (2008) Electric Endicott (2010) Feel the Beat (2011) Alone With Gary Wilson (2015) It's Friday Night with Gary Wilson (2016) It's Christmas Time with Gary Wilson (2016) Let's Go to Outer Space (2017) The King of Endicott (2019) Fake News Trending (2019) (with R. Stevie Moore) Tormented (2020) The Marshmallow Man (2023) A Beautiful Bliss (2024) Come On Mary (2025)

Singles Dream(s)/Soul Travel (1973) Another Galaxy/Softly the Water Flows (1973–1974) In the Midnight Hour/When I Spoke of Love (1978) Forgotten Lovers E.P. (1979) Invasion of Privacy (double 7") (1980) This Is Why I Wear My Wedding Gown E.P. (1983) Newark Valley (2004) 6.4 = Make Out (demo version) (2004) My Eyes Are Closed/My Dream Is Yours (Flexi, 7", Single Sided, Blue, Ltd Numbered) (2011) Sea Cruise (7" Ltd) (Rita Records) (2014) When Mary Comes Home Tonight (2016) Hey Gary (Have You Seen My Girl) (2019) (with R. Stevie Moore) Kiss Me Once And I'll Kiss You Twice (2024)