The Great Daryl Nathan

The Great Daryl Nathan appeared on public access cable in Grand Rapids, MI in the early to mid nineties. With his puffy long wig and sauve white tuxedo, he would soulfully sing over keyboard presets, reading the lyrics from an old notebook while occasionally hitting a drum fill and flinging up some jazz hands. In "Spinning Wheel", Daryl treats us to a few clumsy twirling dance moves.

I can't find much more information on this genius other than that he is quite a cult figure in the Grand Rapids area. If anyone has any info- please post!

International Lover (mp4 video) | Beware Of Pretty Fine Girls (mp4 video) | Spinning Wheel (mp4 video) | Powerful World (mp4 video)

You can also stream the videos via YouTube here: one | two | three | four

Thanks to YouTube user dankdank for posting this fantastic stuff!

Comments

[Tim Foley]

We have a tribute song to Darryl on our debut cd, entitled "Brand New Day". As he used to open every single one of his songs with the words : "and now... A Brand New Song ... for a Brand New Day" - what a shock to see him again resurrected on your blog site. Amazing.

[Evan Thacker]

It's so fantastic to see Daryl Nathan on WFMU. I had a public access program in Grand Rapids around the same time, and I actually turned him down when he asked me to volunteer on his show. God, what a horrible mistake! Daryl Nathan is a living legend in Grand Rapids, and I'm sure I would've ended up with a lot of cool stories to tell.

I'm glad to see that he's finally getting some of the credit he deserves.

Here's a video link to his theme song, an awesome autographed picture, and a page of crazy stories about him, including one guy who used to peep through his windows for entertainment and saw him "sans wig and regal costume, sitting in some boxers and a wifebeater, eating cereal."

[Ave]

I, too worked on a public access show (taped off-site at a nearby university) that shared the airwaves with the Great Daryl Nathan. One night while dropping a tape off at the public access studio we met Daryl sitting in a normal pair of jeans, sweatshirt and no wig. We had no idea who he was, but when we decided to have him on the show suddenly everyone got excited and started telling us about him.

Daryl performed two songs on our show (I no longer have the tapes), and around this time the morning show team on a popular Grand Rapids radio station picked up on him and began playing his music and talking about him (read: making fun of him). People ate it up, but Daryl didn't think it was so funny - he threatened legal action and they toned it down a bit. However, the exposure did help him to get the attention of local Grand Rapids clubs such as the Intersection and the Reptile House and they would book him to play from time to time.

Daryl was normally fairly quiet and unassuming, I never remember him as going out of his way to chat anyone up and he actually came across as very shy. He was ALWAYS very polite and I don't remember ever hearing him say anything negative or using bad language of any sort. He absolutely LIT UP when it came time to perform, a tranformation that was quite shocking to me (I had never seen his show before this).

The greatest thing to me about Daryl is that he took himself, his show and his songs VERY SERIOUSLY. I always felt bad for him when the local media made fun of him, even though it did boost his popularity.

I live in Seattle now, does anyone know if Daryl is still on TV in Grand Rapids and what happened to him if he isn't?

'til then...

Ave

[mike]

that was great. i just discovered this guy on myspace thru a bulletin post(international lover). and i thought myspace sucked.

[Bryan Tap]

My sister found out about this man a long while ago, and made him into a living legend in my family, and started calling him Saucy McFudge, for whatever brilliant reason. I have some tapes of other performances on public access, pretty amazing stuff. We actually got a hold of his number, somehow, and my sister called him and ordered a shirt, which she mysteriously never got. But when she called him, he was making dinner for his grandmother, and I thought that was hilarious. Long live The Great Daryl Nathan Entertainment Show, at least in Grand Rapids.

[Just me]

Darryl is still in the Grand Rapids area and takes lessons from an instructor in town. I have had the pleasure of meeting him and he is very shy and unassuming. Infact, I would not have known who he was until a coworker told me. His playing skills have improved and to my knowledge, Darryl plays for his church.

[Josh]

I remember in middle school some friends of mine got his phone number and would call to have chats with him during lunch break. We thought it was the funniest thing. He was very nice about it. I'm glad to see him on the net now.

[Jennie]

Wow! The Great Daryl Nathan on WFMU!

During Daryl Nathans heyday, my friend Jeph at GRTV would record his weekly show. I went several times to witness his beautiful music! I have a bunch of video tapes and a cd of his hip hop effort with a local rapper. I even have his autograph. On which he misspelled his name and crossed it out and wrote it again.

[LUCCI]

I'M FROM NORF KAK AND I JUST FOUND OUT ABOUT THE GREAT DARYL NATHAN RECENTLY FROM BET. WHEN I TRACKED HIM DOWN ON YOUTUBE I BOUT LOST MY MIND!! THEN SAW THAT HE HAD MORE JOINTS OTHER THAN THE WORLD'S FAMOUS CLASSIC "INTERNATIONAL LOVER"? I REALLY LOST IT! THE GREAT DARYL NATHAN FOREVER MAN!! DARYL FOR PRESIDENT!!!!

-LUCCI

[Chris]

I remember very distinctly where I was when I first saw the Great Darryl Nathan. I was living in Grand Rapids with my friends after graduating college in 1996. We just came home from a concert (all soaked to the gills) and someone turned on the TV and he was the first thing that came on, long wig and white tuxedo with red socks. At first, we started laughing and couldn't believe it. But after awhile, you could sense the sincerity in his performances. I wouldn't go so far to call what he did "music" but you can't deny that he put his heart into what he did and that alone is worth more than what most pop tarts on the scene today could even conjur up.

Now it's 12 years later, moved down to Detroit in '98, lost touch of my friends and just like my friends, the Great Darryl Nathan lived only in my memory. And it is this site that brought all those feelings back to life. I can't thank you enough.

[mike]

I know where to find the Great Daryl Nathan. I am working on bring this legend back to the stage.