Album Notes

Performing songwriter Robert A. Wagner appears in bars, bookstores, cafes, galleries, churches, house-parties, museums and festivals and occasionally appears with his band The Little Wretches. His recent recording "Songs from the land of UNI-MARTS, PIT BULLS AND KARAOKE MACHINES" is available on Moondogs Records.

His mother's record-collection was his introduction to music. The Beatles. Frankie Laine. The Mills Brothers. AM transistor radio. Light My Fire. Windy. Ode to Billie Joe. Five O'clock World. Pleasant Valley Sunday. I Second That Emotion.

Raised in a working class Catholic family that disintegrated under the pressure of alcoholism, Robert A. Wagner dreamed of growing up to be Popeye the Sailor Man, Mighty Mouse, Bruno Sammartino--one who comes to the defense of the weak and fights the bad guys.

Catholic School. The Singing Nun. "Never asking for reward, he just talks about the Lord..." "Michael rowed the boat ashore..." Folk masses on Saturday evenings.

Ninth birthday. Guitar-lesson. Write songs. Johnny Cash. Hee Haw. Glen Campbell. Thirteenth birthday. Electric guitar. Gibson Melody Maker previously owned by Lawrence Welk's guitarist.

Teenager. Family violence including but not limited to beatings, stabbings, car crashes. Police. Divorce. Abandonment. Skipping school. Playing pinball. Shoplifting food. Free samples at the deli-counter. Dry-roasted soybeans and sunflower seeds at GNC. Sesame chips.

The Rock Poets. Bob Dylan. Lou Reed. Patti Smith. Ray Davies. Pete Townsend. Bruce Springsteen. Ian Hunter. The pen is mightier than the sword. The guitar is mightier than the pen. The song is mightier than the word.

College. Open-classroom. John Holt. Summerhill. On Learning and Social Change. The Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Socrates. Jesus. Marx.

Cancer. Chemo. Thanks for Saving My Life. Punk parties. Phase III. No Shelter. 7" 45 rpm singles. Brooks Robinson's Camp b/w Soldier Boy.

The Little Wretches. Basement dwellers of the world UNITE! Invite all our friends? We don't have any friends. Rock Island Line. Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child. Peat Bog Soldiers. Please See My Grave Is Kept Clean. Electric Banana. Born with a Gift. Chuckie. John. Ed. Dale. Every time we take a picture, somebody quits or dies. How's that happen?

Discography:
Soldier Boy b/w Brooks Robinson's Camp
Born with a Gift b/w One Chance in Hell
Just About Due b/w What Goes On
Born with a Gift
Why Were Their Poets Silent?
Just Another Nail in My Coffin
Beyond the Stormy Blast
The Little Wretches
Scattered Seeds, Fruitless Trees and Grandma's Hat
This Time the Rebellion Weeps / The Slow Restless Agony
Plums
Songs from the Land of Unimarts, Pit Bulls and Karaoke Machines.