Bingo Gazingo

Bingo Gazingo (6/2/1924 - 1/1/2010)



Born Murray Wachs in Queens in 1924, Bingo Gazingo wrote music for most of his life, struggling on the edge of obscurity. He continued to actively write, record and perform perverse, edgy music until the day he died at 85 years old, struck down by a cab on his way to perform at the Bowery Poetry Club in late 2009.



He wrote one minor hit for the Wrens in the 1950s called Eleven Roses, but the majority of his efforts to write mainstream songs resulted in frustration and failure.



It wasn't until the 1990s that Bingo Gazingo had his big creative breakthrough. Already in his 70s and retired from his work at the US Postal Service, Bingo Gazingo had a revelation. He decided to write edgy, humorous songs and sing them himself at open mics around New York City. Most evenings he could be found making his rounds in the East or West Village, dressed in an unwashed, wrinkled suit, carrying a plastic bag full of tattered pages of lyrics that he had painstakingly hand-written.



Since his arrival on the amateur performance scene, many of those who have heard his music or seen his indescribable act at clubs around New York City have simultaneously been amazed by Bingo and doubted his sanity. Along the way, he inspired countless musicians and artists with his unique voice, wit, and spirit.



This song of mine

is a fur coat for you to wear

so the magic, and the music,

and the memory

will always be here.



Disappear despair into air



And yet

and yet

The more I love you

The more I love you more



.



Being saved

no matter what I did



Being loved

no matter what I was



Here's to love with you

Here's to you with love



.



And yet

and yet

Eternally

Forevermore

The more I love you

The more I love you more



.



excerpts from

The More I Love You

by Bingo Gazingo