my dad is a japanese rockstar

So, Once Upon A Time, a Long Time Ago, in a Land Far Far Away called Austin, my dad was a member of a band called Virgin Insanity. They played kind of folk rock music and they cut a record. Unfortunately, the music was well beyond all their contemporaries, and they never really hit it very big.

25 years later, my dad receives a phone call from a fellow Virgin Insanity member named Bob (no really, that's his real name). Dad hasn't talked to Bob in as many years, and is therefore not a little surprised to hear from him.

Turns out, a man has recently contacted Bob asking for permission to cut 1000 copies of Virgin Insanity's debut album on CD.

Now every once in a while, my dad (and apparently Bob as well) has gotten a call from some vinyl afficianado asking him to sell his copy(s) of the Virgin Insanity record because there are only a few that exist and they are collectors items.

This is not, however, the reason this particular man was calling.

In fact, he wants to make CDs of Virgin Insanity's record because apparently the band has quite a cult following.

In Japan.

Apparently, the guy tried to buy a tape of the record off of a fan in Japan and they would not sell it to him! Bob, however, agreed to the deal and has begun remixing the masters on his home computer!

Out of curiosity, I googled "Virgin Insanity," and here are the results I came up with:

Apparently, the song "Time of Sorrows Gone" is a regular on the Bill Zurat show (Sundays 2am-6am) on WFMU 90.1 FM, an indy station out of New York City.

The band is listed on the amazingly all-inclusive RockRom CD, which is apparently a database of every album from every band that ever existed... ever.

The album is also listed on many various LP "want lists," which, as far as I can tell, is a place for people to post albums they are looking for in the hopes that someone will have what they're looking for. Someone was even offering a 3rd or 4th generation tape of the album. Woah.

I also found this, which seems to confirm the Japanese cult following theory.

But I think the very best thing I found was this description from the Acid Archives:

Virgin Insanity Tx "Illusions of the maintenance man" 1972 (Funky 72411)
Obscure and still fairly unknown basement folk/folkrock with short songs and male/female vocals. Hard to describe accurately (always a good sign), though comparisons drawn to the third Velvet U LP are not without merit, esp as the lady vocalist seems as tonedeaf as Moe Tucker. The sound is disarmingly honest and stripped down, and indeed the concentrated minimalist vibe of the LP seems wholly deliberate. This is not for everyone, but I was impressed.


I think I need to learn how to say "rock star" in Japanese. =D