Wildman Steve.
“A whole other world and part of the TK family of labels is called Weird World Records and features the works of Wildman Steve, product described as “For Adults Only.” – Cash Box
Wildman Steve was a standup comic along the lines of Richard Pryor. He fused his life experience with punchlines and made a mockery of racial politics, sexual mores, and everyday living, thus transforming low-brow humor into finely honed truth through razor sharp wit. He was rude. He was funny. He made art, whether you like it or not. Although his first album spent 27 weeks on the R&B charts, he never achieved true crossover success into the wider pop market and lasting mainstream recognition, but his underground standup comedy albums sold hundreds of thousands of units around the country as well as internationally. Evidence of his many releases and distributors can be found in three major trade mags of the time including Billboard. But many of his works were sold from under the counters of record stores that were afraid to put his albums on the shelf. Irreverent hipster joints and mom & pop record shops did promote and display his works and host in-stores.
Wildman Steve was prolific, recording fifteen albums for a slew of labels from 1969 – 1993. And he was reportedly the first comedian to hit the Cash Box and Billboard charts, even beating out Richard Pryor’s early work for sales rank.
Wildman Steve’s album ‘The Six Thousand Dollar N*****,’ which was also a film in which he acted in the starring role, came out on Henry Stone’s TK subsidiary Weird World Records in 1977. With musical direction by Sax Kari (who also recorded a soundtrack album for the movie), and the funk of the TK rhythm section behind him, Wildman delivered nine tracks of thunder. Jokes about sucking and fucking and everything else all delivered in the form of funny stories with sweet musical backing. The Weird World label was also home to dirty-parody genius (and million selling pop songwriter Clarence Reid’s alter-ego) Blowfly, and featured million selling artists from the TK Productions umbrella (like Little Beaver, Latimore, and Timmy Thomas to name a few) as session players.
Wildman Steve also acted alongside Rudy Ray Moore in Peetey Wheatstraw The Devil’s Son In Law. And he portrayed Harry De Baud in The Guy From Harlem, a 1977 Afro Kung Fu flick.
Wildman Steve, real name Steven Gallon, passed away in Miami, FL in 2004. In his lifetime he served with the U.S. Navy in Korea, and also worked in radio, nightclubs, and concert promotion.
In addition to Henry Stone’s Weird World label, Wildman Steve recorded albums for the Laff Records, Raw Records, Dick- er Records, Ichiban Records, and other labels that distributed his work far and wide.
He even performed in the original Def Comedy Jam special.