Every few years, a bunch of new people move into town, and Mikey Wild ‚Äî poet/artist/savant/punk rock architecht ‚Äî has to be explained all over again. Long story short: Mikey Wild was a young man in the late 70s and early 80s, when both punk rock and South Street were still relatively dangerous and exciting things. And in a kind of version of Invincible starring Daniel Johnston as Vince Papale, Wild discovered both of these things, mastered them both, and in short order ‚Äî hey, when you know, you know ‚Äî became the King of both. Now, they don’t hold a vote all that often for who gets to be King of Punk Rock/Mayor of South Street, so you can pretty much damn well assume that these are lifetime occupations. And Wild has held on to both with so much true-blue Philly punk energy ‚Äî it’s fucking beautiful, really, almost in a La Strada way ‚Äî that no one’s ever doubted the decision for even a minute. Part of Mikey’s appeal, you see, is a kind of directness that is all but extinct these days, and it’s a perfect crossroads of what punk and Philly are. Some folks say Mikey is touched ‚Äî well, you’d kinda have to be spend your nights pissing on stage and your days drawing dirty monsters for $2 a pop in the Italian Market ‚Äî but really, Mikey is kind of a fucking genius:
Mikey Wild: “I Hate New York” [mp3]
Mikey Wild: “Girls Standing In Line” [mp3]
And we always think of him around Halloween. Why? Two reasons, both of them to do with Mikey and Vincent Price. The first is one of Mikey’s signature tunes, “Vincent Price Wasn’t Very Nice,” which you can listen to on Mikey’s MySpace profile. The second is the story behind the song, and so far as we know, it’s as true as it can be: The ghost of Vincent Price lives inside of a skeleton that Mikey keeps next to his bed. Now, if you knew ol’ Vincent, you’d know that the dude took his hauntings very seriously. When you think about it, haunting is kind of stronger than love; ghosts don’t break up with you. And for as long as anyone can remember, Vincent and Mikey have been keeping each other in check on the streets of South Philadelphia. We smile when we think of that, and we like to think that it makes Mikey and Vincent smile, too. After all, what is punk rock if not sticking to your guts and sticking with your friends, even when they’re famous scary ghosts and shit? Happy Halloween, Mikey Wild: And please send Vincent our regards.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 31st, 2006 at 10:00 am.