‘Fun’, entirely written while living in a mental hospital, was Johnston’s first foray into major label land. His homegrown popularity came from his indispensable songwriting charm, DIY cover art, and the myth that was Daniel Johnston. With studio / production help from fellow Texan Paul Leary, of Butthole Surfers fame, the album was his most polished to date. Unfortunately, while stepping up production sounds like a good thing on paper, others felt it took away from the charm of his lo-fi approach and the label dropped Johnston 2 years later. Now, 20 years later, the fans and critics can all agree this record was indeed one of Johnston’s finest batch of recordings and was unsurprisingly at a disadvantage when it came to a label that just didn’t know how to handle such a unique artist.
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originally released in 1994 on Atlantic Records, while the singer/songwriter was housed in a mental institution.
- music label: Org Music 2021