Project 1950 offers ten updated renditions of early rock n’ roll/doo wop classics that allegedly inspired the Misfits. The title is a bit of a misnomer: only five of the songs presented were originally released in the 1950s. At least one, the Conway Twitty/Loretta Lynn ballad “Only Make Believe,” was made in 1971. Of course, this is the same band that wrote a song about Poltergeist and called it “Shining,” so perhaps such chronological hiccups are to be expected. At any rate, Jerry Only as vocalist tackles Project 1950 with goofy bombast; though the band performs these songs well (guest players no less than the Ronnette’s Ronnie Spector and Blondie’s Jimmy Destri add to the aural construct), Only’s hoary singing tends to torpedo any hope of grit or honest passion. Dez Cadena, the guitarist partially responsible for Black Flag’s menacing attack, could have picked up the slack but plays with far less intensity than he is generally remembered for by punk historians.
Naturally, one of the songs the Misfits chose to cover on Project 1950 is Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s “Monster Mash.” Inexplicably, they add a new syrupy line of melody to the chorus, sung by the band’s then-manager, John Cafiero. Rather than do a Boris Karloff impression throughout the song, Only performs as himself, slipping into an accent only during the famed mention of “The Transylvania Twist.”
As a love letter to a bygone era, Project 1950 has its merits. As a Misfits record, it is largely embarrassing (especially in its cheap cartoon cover featuring an Igor-like creature in a Crimson Ghost hoodie).[47] Regardless, the Misfits remained an immensely popular concert attraction at this juncture. The band’s continued revenue stream may have influenced Jerry Only’s 2005 decision to sell the Proedge brand he had been simultaneously managing since his father’s retirement from Congruent Machine in the mid-1990s to an interested party (the Vernon manufacturing shop remained open with Only remaining an operations head).[48] Details concerning the Proedge sales figures are unknown, though Congruent had valuable contracts with massive retailers such as Sears and Stanley Tool for the blade’s creation.[49] When asked in 2008 what kind of financial cushion the sale provided his family, Doyle curtly replied, “I didn’t get anything.”[50]
Meanwhile, a larger, more public embarrassment loomed for Glenn Danzig, one that proved his era was, for all intents and purposes, bygone.
1. Peter Berger, The Social Construction of Reality (New York: Anchor, 1966), 109.
2. Vinnie Apicella, “Misfits—Never Say Die,” The Aquarian Weekly (June 17, 1998).
3. The Misfits, Famous Monsters, Roadrunner Records, 1999, compact disc.
4. “Discography of Official Misfits Releases,” Misfits Central, http://misfitscentral.com/misfits95/discog.php.
5. The Misfits, “Scream,” directed by George Romero, Roadrunner Records, 1999, music video.
6. The Misfits, “Cuts from the Crypt,” Roadrunner Records, 2001, compact disc.
7. “Jerry Only Interview,” MTV.com, June 22, 1999, http://www.mtv.com/bands/archive/m/misfits/misfitsfeature99_1.jhtml.
8. “SuperBrawl V Results,” ProWrestlingHistory.com, http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/usa/wcw/s-brawl.html#V
9. “Gorgeous George (Stephanie Bellars),” Adam’s Wrestling Blog, March 26, 2012, http://adamswrestling.blogspot.com/2012/03/gorgeous-george-stephanie-bellars.
10. Michale Graves, telephone interview with the author, September 6, 2011.
11. Tim Bunch, telephone interview with the author, April 2, 2011.
12. Big Money Hustlas, directed by John Cafiero (2000; Psychopathic Films), DVD.
13. John Cafiero vs. Doug Custer, Case Number 3:08-CV-00202, originally filed August 2008.
14. Bunch, telephone interview.
15. John Cafiero vs. Doug Custer.
16. Joseph Bruce and Hobey Echlin, “Big Money Hustlas,” Behind the Paint (Royal Oak, MI: Psychopathic Records, 2003): 424–432.
17. Big Money Hustlas, DVD.
18. Bruce and Echlin, “Big Money Hustlas,” 424–32.
19. Graves, telephone interview; Bunch, telephone interview.
20. “Misfits Tour Dates,” Misfits Central, http://misfitscentral.com/misfits95/tourdates.php.
21. Graves, telephone interview.
22. Bunch, telephone interview.
23. Dave Brockie, telephone interview with the author, March 14, 2011.
24. Graves, Web of Dharma, GUB Records, 2002, compact disc.
25. Moe Wyoming, “Ex Misfit Michale Graves,” MK Magazine, November 1, 2003, http://www.mk-magazine.com/interviews/archives/000113.php.
26. “The Clash,” segment on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Comedy Central, originally aired June 23, 2004.
27. “Michale Graves: Three Chords and the Truth,” Live-Metal.net, September 7, 2008, http://www.live-metal.net/interviews_michalegraves.html.
28. Danzig, Blackacidevil, Hollywood Records, 1996, compact disc.
29. Danzig, 4, Def American Records, 1994, compact disc.
30. Danzig, Blackacidevil.
31. Jeff Stratton, “The Devil Inside,” Miami New Times, April 20, 2000, http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2000-04-20/music/the-devil-inside/1.
32. Bruce McCulloch, telephone interview with the author, February 16, 2012.
33. Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy, directed by Kelly Makin (1996; Paramount Pictures), DVD.
34. Danzig, 6:66: Satan’s Child, E-Magazine, 1999, compact disc.
35. Chris Norris, “Moonwalking in L.A.,” Spin, December 1999, 124.
36. Nardwuar, “Nardwuar the Human Serviette Versus Glenn Danzig,” Nardwuar.com, December 1999, http://nardwuar.com/vs/glenn_danzig/index.html.
37. Pete Marshall, interview with the author, February 10, 2011.
38. Danzig, I Luciferi, Spitfire Records, 2002, compact disc.
39. “Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future,” episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Cartoon Network, originally aired December 29, 2002.
40. Bunch, telephone interview; Bobby Gorman, telephone interview with the author, March 15, 2011; Brockie, telephone interview.
41. Annie Zaleski, “Misfits Reunion Allegedly Scuttled by New Leader Jerry Only,” Riverfront Times, September 11, 2008, http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/rftmusic/2008/09/misfits_reunion_jerry_only_danzig_misfits_gorgeous_frankenstein_doyle.php.
42. Chris Alo, “Glenn Danzig—Finally Some Words about ‘The Misfits,’ Movies and Dolls,” Rock Brigade (October 1994).
43. Bunch, telephone interview.
44. Mark Prindle, “Jerry Only—2003,” MarkPrindle.com, http://www.markprindle.com/only-i.htm.
45. “Misfits Tour Dates,” Misfits Central, http://misfitscentral.com/misfits95/tourdates.php.
46. The Misfits, “The Day the Earth Caught Fire,” Misfits Records, 2002, compact disc single.
47. The Misfits, Project 1950, Misfits Records, 2003, compact disc.
48. Congruent Machine Company, Inc., CongruentMachine.com.
49. Holly Day, “A Ghoulish Conversation with Jerry Only,” Maximum Ink, http://www.maximum-ink.com/archive/99/nov/html/feature.html.
50. “Doyle Interview,” Reign in Blood (blog), http://www.myspace.com/rib333/blog/429817046.
Violent World
9
The image is one thing and the human being is another . . . it’s very hard to live up to an image.―Elvis Presley[1]
The Misfits’ influence on rock music was undeniable by the earliest twenty-first century. Scores of modern rockers paid lip service to the band and covered their songs, from rootsy critical cult darlings like Ryan Adams,[2] My Morning Jacket,[3] and Will Oldham[4] to more commercial punk-based acts like AFI[5] and My Chemical Romance.[6] Green Day, the multiplatinum trio who in the previous decade had done much to make “punk rock” a household term again, paid their own odd tribute to the Misfits in 2003 by recording a robotic version of “Teenagers from Mars” for the debut album of their secretive new wave side project the Network[7] (years later, Green Day would be more assured in their Misfits fandom, covering �
��Hybrid Moments” at random tour intervals).
More devoted to the Misfits pulpit was Slipknot, an assembly of Midwestern musicians who helped carry on the theatrics and ferocity that began in Lodi. Totaling eight members, Slipknot wore prison jumpsuits, their faces obscured by a grotesque series of mismatched Halloween masks, and churned out a deafening assault of discordant horror metal just as blunt as it was unrelenting (Slipknot’s “hit,” as it were, was 2001’s “People = Shit” from the dour Iowa). Despite a thoroughly frightening persona and thinly veiled contempt for the world around them, Slipknot managed to amass enormous popularity beyond their core fan base of colorfully termed “maggots.” The group hooked up with former Danzig alley Rick Rubin for their third album, 2004’s Vol. 3 (The Subliminal Verses); the results went platinum in several countries and earned a Best Metal Performance Grammy for the album’s tenth song, “Before I Forget.”[8]
The chalky white Crimson Ghost logo had also become something of a trendy fashion accessory. Rowdy millionaire rappers wore parody T-shirts with the famous skull sporting gold teeth or sunglasses; featherweight pop stars sported the Crimson Ghost to look tough. The ghostly face popped up in television and movies by Will Smith, Adam Sandler, Chevy Chase, Ben Affleck, and Keira Knightley. Bemusing as it could be to spot someone like Boy George or Justin Bieber wandering around in Misfits apparel, at least the Crimson Ghost never aged. The Misfits themselves, on the other hand, could not stave off their mortality.
In 2004 Glenn Danzig was 49 and still grinding out a living as a touring heavy metal musician with his eponymous band. Diplomacy was still not his strong suit, and an incident that July would forever topple his carefully crafted image of satanically powered tough guy. A video camera caught a backstage confrontation in Tuba City, Arizona, between Glenn and musician Danny Marianino. Marianino chided Glenn for refusing to let his band the North Side Kings perform on the bill as scheduled. The Kings had driven six hours to Tuba City after being promised an opening slot on the show; upon arrival, they learned delays would force them to go on after the headlining Danzig. Once Glenn finished his set, however, the house lights went up and Danzig’s crew began breaking down the stage. Incensed, Marianino located Glenn and began to complain. The singer, who was signing autographs at the time, listened for a moment before angrily shoving his larger, taller aggressor with a shout of, “Fuck you, motherfucker!” Marianino responded with a clumsy swing that sent Danzig to the floor. Witnesses claim they saw Danzig’s eyes roll back as he fell away.
The heavy metal equivalent of the Rodney King tape surfaced two days later on the Internet and was pored over by rock fans across the globe.[9] They debated if Marianino’s punch had even connected with Danzig (the angle does make it appear the former’s fist only grazed the latter), if Marianino had some kind of knife in his hand as Danzig would later claim, and who was saying what in the blurry melee that followed. Danzig himself remained silent on the issue until August 20. When asked by a Sioux Falls newspaper about the dust up, the singer gruffly replied that the whole thing was “a setup for me to punch him and them to sue me for a bunch of money. If I wanted to kill that guy, he’d be dead in two seconds.”[10] Jaded fans scoffed and went on to celebrate the comeuppance of a figure rumored for so long to be extraordinarily difficult, unreasonable, and posturing (not surprisingly, Jerry Only was spotted shortly after the Arizona dust-up wearing a North Side Kings shirt that added a stream of blood from the nasal socket of Danzig’s famous cow skull logo).
The Tuba City fracas overshadowed a rather monumental announcement that came the same week: Doyle would be performing a special “Misfits set” with Danzig and his band later in the year on the Blackest of the Black package tour, a festival that also featured controversial Norwegian metallers Mayhem and California thrash masters Death Angel. The guitarist and singer were put in touch again by mutual friends and apparently commiserated over their individual issues with Jerry Only. Although the Blackest of the Black tour was abruptly canceled under mysterious circumstances never fully explained,[11] Doyle and Danzig would reunite onstage that December in Las Vegas[12] and continue making appearances together through 2005 and 2006. Crowds packed in to witness these Misfits sets even though they often consisted of less than eight songs. Fans were curious regarding Doyle’s seemingly sudden defection to the side opposing his brother Jerry. Asked by a reporter if “things were weird” between the Caiafas now that the guitarist was spending time with Danzig, Doyle retorted, “Things have been weird with Jerry since we started playing music,” wryly adding, “His name is exactly what he is . . . Jerry ONLY. Only Jerry.”[13]
Doyle attempted to strike out with his own act Gorgeous Frankenstein in the late Aughts, a stomping metal punk hybrid led by the guitarist and his wife Stephanie Bellars. In concert Bellars performed a strip tease on stage as the band tore through material like “Speed Witch” and “Hell Angel.” Lineup changes plagued Gorgeous Frankenstein, but the band managed to squeeze out one self-titled album in 2007.[14] Following several years of inactivity, Gorgeous Frankenstein relaunched in 2012 under the eponym Doyle and began trumpeting the 2013 release of their sophomore effort Abominator.[15] Bellars was absent from the new lineup and press photos, but she was never sold on being in Gorgeous Frankenstein in the first place. “We have four kids, and the only reason I wanted to come out [with the band] was to take care of [them],” Bellars told Yahoo! in 2009. “Gorgeous Frankenstein more or less has to do with our children.”[16] Paul Caiafa also expanded the Misfits empire into foodstuffs in the latter half of the decade when he launched his own brand of hot sauce. The cayenne pepper-based “Made in Hell,” which bears Doyle’s green glowing visage on its label, is marketed as being hotter than Tabasco but not “so hot as to totally destroy the flavor of your food.”[17]
The pervasiveness of the Crimson Ghost was of course partially due to its own striking image, but also because the Misfits worked so damn hard to make it an icon. The band printed it on nearly any kind of accessory big enough to convey its fright for an interval of nearly twenty to twenty-five years (ownership of the original Republic Pictures Crimson Ghost serial and its related properties changed several times over the years; at no point did any of its copyright holders come after the Misfits for their unauthorized appropriation of the character). Jerry Only was still marketing the logo aggressively into the first decade of the twenty-first century, although a 2010 legal complaint would claim the bassist was doing so without the consent and permission of the other Misfits—a violation of the 1994 settlement. In August of 2009 Arthur Googy noticed a billboard in Manhattan advertising a special brand of Misfits sneakers featuring the Crimson Ghost. Googy got in touch with Bobby Steele, the former Misfit he was closest to, and the pair filed suit against Jerry Only to the tune of $75,000 for failing to properly declare co-ownership of the Misfits name and trademarks among all former members and for falsely attempting to trademark Misfits logos in his own name in 2000. (Danzig himself commenced proceedings against Only’s 2000 trademark registrations; those actions were still pending as of 2010.)
The story Kaufhold et al v. Caiafa et al lays out an interesting spin on the accepted Misfits story, alleging that Steele had an “already established reputation” when he joined the band in 1978 that helped the group achieve its renown. Steele and Arthur Googy “controlled the Misfits marks” during this period, allegedly, painting a picture of the two as a codependent branding machine despite the fact the pair were only in the band at the same time for a matter months. The document also states that Steele was the only former band member using Misfits imagery between the years of 1983 and 1995,[18] which is simply untrue (see the various Crimson Ghost-bedecked compilations Danzig released via Caroline during those years). This is not surprising given some of the strange theories Bobby Steele has floated out to the public in recent years. The guitarist has long claimed the 2001 cancellation of 12 Hits from Hell, an album assembled by Caroline of a 1980 Misfits recording session that combined his own guitar work
with Doyle’s, was struck down at the eleventh hour because Jerry Only has been on a decades-long mission to erase Steele’s existence from the history books.[19]
The official explanation for the cancellation of 12 Hits—that Glenn Danzig and Jerry Only were unhappy with the album’s layout and mixing and had in fact been largely left out of the creative process[20] —seems suspect given the fact that the album had already shipped to retailers by that time; but record companies routinely assemble product without their client’s direct involvement in hopes of making a quick buck (and hoping the musicians in question will be too busy to even notice). 12 Hits appears to be just another example akin to an umpteenth Aerosmith or Madonna greatest hits collection, a “new” Misfits release the label hoped to pop out in time for Halloween by purposely not consulting the notoriously fickle band members. Besides, had there truly been a conspiracy against Bobby Steele, the Misfits would have likely suppressed the majority of Caroline’s 1996 box set.
Some have speculated that part of the complication with 12 Hits from Hell had to do with its relative inability to exist comfortably within the legal parameters set by the band’s 1995 settlement agreement. Blending various distorted guitar tracks together made correct pro-rating a headache, a few insiders say. Credence was lent to this theory in 2004 when Danzig alleged to Circus that Bobby Steele had snuck into a studio to add new guitar tracks to the 12 Hits mix without the rest of the band’s consent or knowledge.[21] An ironic volley considering the sonic tinkering Danzig himself did on Legacy of Brutality and Collection II. At any rate, 12 Hits from Hell would remain buried until the rise of online file-sharing; in a curious move, Bobby Steele recorded and released his own version of the album with his band the Undead in 2007.[22]
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