DirtyDanza

Ahhhhhh yesss..... I can''t wait for halloween...

"It started as a twisted dream"... 25 years ago in a small town in New Jersey called Lodi. It was there in April of 1977, at the dawn of the punk movement, that the Misfits were born. Taking the title of Marilyn Monroe's last movie as their name in a move to immortalize her image - singer Glenn Danzig and bassist Jerry Only set out to make an impression. They wound up making history and creating a legacy that's power has not only stood the test of time, but transcended into an entirely new generation. Lineup changes followed and by early 1980, the band coalesced around co-founders, Glenn Danzig and Jerry Only along with guitarist Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein (Jerry's youngest brother). Throughout the span of their career, the Misfits audience has developed into an army of "fiends" (the term for die hard Misfits fans) generating more interest today than ever before.

From its inception the music was primitive punk rock, harsh and to-the-point. Yet that aggression was complimented with a strong sense of melody inspired by the roots of rock and roll bred in the 1950's. What further separated the band from their hard-core peers of the 70's punk scene was their inspired fixation on horror movies. It was from that inspiration that they created an entire world out of a passion for the genre. Utilizing B-movie-style artwork, the band appeared with slick, black "devil lock" hair styles and horror make-up. "The Fiend" (a skull icon that became the official symbol of the group) was painted on their leather jackets, boots and equipment. The Misfits cast a fiendish aura of mystery embodied by ghoulish charm and landed themselves a massive cult following. That following continues to expand world wide on a daily basis. The "Fiend Skull" icon, which was once crudely painted on everything the band could get their hands on, can now be found on a limitless amount of merchandise carried in stores throughout the world.

After a split with Danzig in the mid 1980's and a decade long legal battle, The Misfits were resurrected by founding member Jerry Only along with his younger brother and guitarist Doyle. The band returned stronger than ever with "AMERICAN PSYCHO", released in May of 1997 on Geffen Records. Only states: "We tightened everything up as much as possible. Sticking to our punk roots, the longest song on the album is three minutes and nine cuts are under two. We've still got the classic backup vocals, the '50s sounding chord progressions, the different beats - 4/4 time can turn into a major thrash beat in the same song. But the sound of our instrumentation is so much better than on our previous records. We worked really hard."

"AMERICAN PSYCHO" reestablished them as one of the most aggressive outfits in music and spoke volumes about their influence on many of today's rock acts. From neo-punk bands Green Day, Rancid and Blink 182 to metal acts Metallica, Pantera and Slayer to hard rockers such as Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, Guns n Roses (who covered the classic Misfits song "Attitude") and more recently Slipknot. The Misfits have inspired many musicians and much of the music people are watching on TV and hearing on the radio today. Metallica emerged as one of the band's strongest supporters wearing Misfits T-shirts on stage and even covering three of their songs on the double CD set entitled "Garage Days Revisited". The centerfold section of the "Garage Days" booklet even spotlights the Misfits as a key influence on Metallica's music. Further, their have been several Misfits tribute CDs released over the past few years featuring contemporary artists covering the bands back catalog. Asked why this hunger for all things Misfits endured, bassist and founding member Jerry Only ventures: "I think we filled a niche. We stuck to what we did, and we did it well. We never tried to pull something over on people - we just tried to entertain 'em while rocking 'em real hard. Besides, I think the love of the horror art form has endured."

The music videos for the 1997 Geffen release ("Dig Up Her Bones" & "American Psycho" directed by John Cafiero) could not only be found on music television outlets throughout the world but even on the big screen. Theatrical screenings ran in film festivals both in and outside the U.S. garnering "Best of Fest" nods as well as award nominations from the Horror Writers Association. The videos also created a stronghold in the then, uncharted territory of online entertainment. They have been repeatedly on the top of the charts, listed as the "most downloaded videos on the net" with online outlets like Sonicnet. For several weeks the Misfits "American Psycho" video was listed on the Sonicnet chart at #2, book-ended by Backstreet Boys videos at #1 & #3. Over all the "Psycho" video remained in the top 5 for nearly a year while videos from many chart-topping acts quickly came and went.

1999 brought the follow up to the second coming of the Misfits "FAMOUS MONSTERS", released in Oct. 1999 on Roadrunner records. The record went on to become the biggest selling title ever for Roadrunner Japan. The supporting music video "Scream" (which featured the band as zombies) was directed by George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead) who offered his services in exchange for two original Misfits songs to be featured (along with the band itself) in his film "Bruiser". Prior to that, the Misfits appeared as themselves (along with ICP, The Jerky Boys and WWF's Mick Foley to name a few) in director John Cafiero's feature film debut "Big Money Hustlas". The film debuted in the number one spot on the billboard video sales charts where it remained for several weeks.

Thematically, the bands music continues to focus on time-honored Misfits interests: "Vampires, monsters, alien invasion, Frankenstein - we are the Misfits after all," warns Jerry. Of the band's refusal to address weightier issues, he explains: "People who buy our records and come to see us perform - from the guy all the way back in the balcony, to the guy getting his head banged around in the front - they come to have a good time. And we make sure they do, you can hear about social and political issues somewhere else. When you come to a Misfits show, you get a bunch of guys who go out there and give 110 percent (they've been known to rip through 55 songs a night) take it or leave it. That's what we have always been. At a show, everyone's just part of the crowd there's no them and us - we're all us."

Aside from an inventive approach to music and its visual presentation, their all-encompassing DIY mentality was and continues to be their strong suit. From their Misfits compound in the far reaches of North Jersey which includes even a family owned machine shop business, they craft their own instruments: guitars and bass down to the studded leather straps and even their spiked leather jackets. Creativity rules as they design and construct on site their own elaborate stage sets and wide array of infamous props.

Over the past five years alone the Misfits have released three studio albums, a limited edition live album through their fan club (dubbed "The Fiend Club") and a limited edition glow-in-the-dark 45 covering the classic song "Monster Mash. The 45 was fully endorsed by longtime Misfits supporter Sara Karloff, (daughter of the late Boris Karloff) who gave consent for the use of her father's image in connection with the record. The Karloff estate had shown similar support in 1997 approving the band's use of footage from the classic film "The Bride of Frankenstein" in their first music video "Dig Up Her Bones". The Misfits and their "Fiend Club" were also instrumental in petitioning and seeking approval for the 1997 release of the U.S. Monster Stamp series, which among others, featured Bela Lugosi Sr., as Dracula and of course, Boris Karloff as Frankenstein.

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