The Unlikely Hero in a Landmark Case

Merry-go, merry-go, merry-go-round, Boop boop boop.

Merry-go, merry-go, merry-go-round, Boop boop boop.

It’s very easy, just go up and down.

--from “Merry-Go-Round”

by Larry (Wildman) Fischer

The singer behind Wednesday’s major court decision on videocassette licensing is an unlikely centerpiece for a landmark ruling affecting artists’ royalty payments. But that’s what Larry (Wildman) Fischer is today, after the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decided that Paramount Pictures’ license to use Fischer’s song “Merry-Go-Round” in the 1969 film “Medium Cool” does not apply to the movie’s videocassette release.

How unlikely a hero is he? Well, the publishers who won the ruling don’t even know where to find him.

“Theoretically, we should know where he is,” said Evan Cohen, the attorney for Bizarre Music Co., which holds the song’s copyright and brought suit against Paramount. “As far as we know, he’s around Hollywood. We will contact him when we win or settle the case.” Efforts by The Times to reach Fischer were unsuccessful.

Fischer, now in his early 40s, surfaced in L.A. in the late ‘60s, frequenting Venice, UCLA and the Sunset Strip.

His modus operandi was to accost passers-by with the aggressive offer, “Wanna buy a song for a dime?” He would then bellow and yelp eccentric, nursery-rhyme-like ditties punctuated by vocal sound effects, body percussion and startling gestures.

Musician Frank Zappa, who was fond of documenting the local subculture on his Bizarre Records label, recorded Fischer and released a two-record set called “An Evening With Wildman Fischer” in 1969.

The LP, which included “Merry-Go-Round,” got Fischer a bit of work--including an appearance on “Laugh-In”--but his life style remained unchanged.

In 1978, L.A.’s irreverent Rhino Records label was launched with a new Fischer album, “Wildmania,” which quickly found a place on Dr. Demento’s play list.

“Larry is Larry,” Harold Bronson, managing director of Rhino, said this week. “He’s still leading his bohemian existence--except bohemian is too kind a word.

“The year we did the first album his thing was hanging out at Dodger Stadium. A few years ago he bought a year’s pass to Disneyland and hung out there. He gets fixated on things.”

Bill Mumy, the child actor (“Lost in Space”) who’s now half of the satirical rock duo Barnes & Barnes, is probably as close to Fischer these days as anyone. The team produced Fischer’s two subsequent Rhino albums, “Pronounced Normal” in 1981 and “Nothing Scary” in 1984. Fischer calls Mumy every day.

“He can only stay in one place maybe two months, then he has to find another place to stay,” Mumy said Friday, the day after he informed Fischer that he’d made front-page news with a 20-year-old song. “He travels between San Diego, downtown L.A. and Disneyland.

“He’s always himself, even though his perception of things is so bizarre. . . . He needs emotional support. His life style makes it hard to get it. When you’re hiding out in seedy hotel rooms, it’s hard to find out what’s going on with your publishing.

“He’s a great natural musician. No matter how wild and strange he is, he stays in key. His rhythm is very good. He’s a great singer in his own way.”

Barnes & Barnes were also behind Fischer’s most unusual project: a duet with Rosemary Clooney called “It’s a Hard Business.”

“It was (Clooney’s) idea,” said Mumy, her longtime friend. “She loved ‘Nothing Scary.’ The song ‘Oh God Please Send Me a Kid’ moved her to tears. She called Larry and invited him to her house on Christmas Eve, with Tony Bennett and all these people. He was too nervous to come.”

At Clooney’s suggestion, Barnes & Barnes wrote “It’s a Hard Business,” based on Fischer’s most frequent observation about the music industry, and recorded the unlikely pair. Said Mumy, “She’s released two duets in the past: Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and now Wildman Fischer. That’s perfect.”

“Hard Business” hasn’t been released, but Mumy hopes to make it the centerpiece of a proposed Fischer retrospective CD. He’s also thinking about packaging his extensive video footage of Fischer as a home cassette.

“I don’t think the Wildman Fischer story is anywhere near being over,” Mumy said.

As for the “Medium Cool” payoff, attorney Cohen said the singer will get half of any “Merry-Go-Round” money the publisher receives.

“We’ll find him when we have to,” Cohen said.