A documentary on the life and music of manic-depressive, paranoid-schizophrenic cult music icon Wild Man Fischer.A documentary on the life and music of manic-depressive, paranoid-schizophrenic cult music icon Wild Man Fischer.A documentary on the life and music of manic-depressive, paranoid-schizophrenic cult music icon Wild Man Fischer.
Photos
Ruth Buzzi
- Self
- (archive footage)
Barry Hansen
- Self
- (as Dr. Demento)
Dick Martin
- Self
- (archive footage)
Bill Paxton
- Self
- (archive footage)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe filmmakers originally wanted to make a documentary about various music artists who suffer from schizophrenia.
- Quotes
Wild Man Fischer: You gotta have three things: you gotta have talent, you gotta have talent, and you gotta have persistence.
- ConnectionsFeatures Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1967)
- SoundtracksDerailroaded
Written and Performed by Wild Man Fischer
Featured review
Wild Man Fischer, a life wasted
Derailroaded played at the Kansas Film Festival on 09/10/05 and I got a ticket. The documentary is of Wild Man Fischer, a Rock singer from the 1960's. I never heard of him but Frank Zappa produced one of his albums and he was the initial pitchman for Rhino records and recorded the Rhino radio jingle. Wild Man Fischer suffers from paranoid schizophrenia which has profoundly impacted his life and career. In some of the concern footage from the early 60's you see him jamming with Frank Zappa (very nice to see him again) and see glimpses of what might have been. For years Dr. Demento was a big fan. In fact he played once at Giants stadium with Zappa, Janice Joplin, The Byrds and Hendrix so he wasn't a hack. If you have never been around true mental illness this film is an eye-opener. Mental illness isn't funny; in fact it is extremely scary. Fascinating movie. Two things stand out for me. The first is Billy Mummy (the kid from "Lost in Space") turned out pretty well. In fact he seemed to have his stuff together. He might be Wild Man's only friend. The second was the Dr. Demento puppet show where Frank Zappa finds out how crazy Wild Man really is and breaks it off. The family interviews are touching and tragic. His family has pretty much stuck by Wild Man all these years and seem to truly care about his welfare. From the Aunt dying of cancer who gives him a place to live to his brother dropping off groceries. A wonderful glimpse into the birth of Rock and Roll and a life completely out of control. See it.
helpful•163
- rlockh02
- Sep 14, 2005
Details
- Runtime1 hour 26 minutes
- Color
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![Frank Zappa and Wild Man Fischer in Derailroaded (2005)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTk1Mjc2MjcyN15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwOTkyNTgyMQ@@._V1_QL75_UY133_CR1,0,90,133_.jpg)