The Shaggs, an experimental rock band of the late 1960s, might seem like an unlikely candidate for musical immortality, but their strange and discordant sound caught the attention of icons like Frank Zappa and Kurt Cobain. The band was formed by the Wiggin sisters—Dorothy, Helen, Betty, and Rachel—at the insistence of their father, Austin, who was convinced his late mother had predicted that his daughters would form a successful rock band.
Austin’s belief in this family prophecy led him to pull his daughters out of school, buy them instruments, and set them on a path to make music. Despite their lack of musical experience and formal training, Austin pushed his daughters to perform in local clubs, and the family created their unique group, The Shaggs. The name came from the popular “shag” hairstyle and references to shaggy dogs.
Their debut album, Philosophy of the World, was a product of this impulsive venture. While critics and audiences initially panned the record for its off-key guitars and haphazard drum beats, something about its raw, unpolished chaos resonated with a select few. This earned the band a place in the annals of avant-garde music history.
The story of The Shaggs was one of failure and irony. Despite pouring money into the album and even seeing one of their pressing distributors abscond with most of the records, the band’s music remained mostly ignored at the time of its release. Austin, devastated by the lack of success, and his daughters, who initially found the album embarrassing, never anticipated their strange musical journey would later become a cult phenomenon.
In the early 1970s, however, something shifted. Musicians like Cub Koda began to recognize the beauty in The Shaggs’ music. Koda noted how the band’s uninhibited approach to music—imperfect, yet authentic—challenged the very idea of talent and originality in rock. “Hacked-at drumbeats, whacked-around chords, songs that seem to have little or no meter to them… all converge, creating dissonance and beauty,” Koda wrote, adding that there was no other album quite like it.
Frank Zappa, a legendary experimental musician, also came across the album during his radio appearances. He famously played a few tracks from Philosophy of the World on the Dr. Demento Show and was even quoted as saying that The Shaggs were “better than The Beatles.” Zappa’s endorsement cemented the band’s place in rock history.
This newfound attention led to the rare album becoming highly sought after, and by 1980, Philosophy of the World was reissued to meet the growing demand. The Shaggs’ influence spread beyond cult status when even Kurt Cobain, of Nirvana, praised their work and cited them as an influence.
Though The Shaggs never returned to the studio, their impact on avant-garde and experimental music remains undeniable. What started as an oddball family’s misguided pursuit of fame turned into a legacy that continues to intrigue listeners and inspire musicians across genres. The Shaggs, against all odds, carved their own path in the music world, and their story proves that sometimes failure leads to something far greater than success.
