| 01/05/1954 |
Mr. Jim was born in Lodi, NJ. |
| __/__/1955 |
Robo was born in Cali, Colombia. |
| 06/23/1955 |
Glenn Danzig was born in Lodi, NJ. |
| 03/18/1956 |
Bobby Steele was born in Teaneck, NJ. |
| 08/17/1957 |
Franché Coma was born in Lodi, NJ. |
| 04/21/1959 |
Jerry Only was born in Lodi, NJ. |
| 02/11/1963 |
Brian Damage was born in Brooklyn, NY. |
| 09/15/1964 |
Doyle was born in Lodi, NJ. |
| 06/__/1971 |
Manny and Mr. Jim graduated from Lodi High School. |
| 06/__/1973 |
Glenn Danzig graduated from Lodi High School. He had also spent some time
at Bergen Technical High School. |
| __/__/1974 |
Glenn Danzig wrote "Bullet" as a three verse poem. |
| 06/__/1974 |
Bobby Steele graduated from New Milford High School. |
| __/__/1975 |
In 1975, Glenn Danzig joined Talus, which he has
referred to as his "first real band," with friends Jerry (not Jerry Only) on
bass, Ronnie on guitar, and Allen on drums. The band played covers and original
songs at several live performances before breaking up. |
| 06/__/1976 |
Franché Coma graduated from high school in Florida after spending
his first three years at Lodi High School. |
| __/__/1976 |
In the summer of 1976, Glenn Danzig, drummer Mr. Jim, guitarist Stevie Lin,
and bassist Jerry (from Talus), formed a cover band
that performed locally under several different names, the last of which was
Whodat And Boojang. A few months after the band broke
up, Mr. Jim and Stevie Lin formed Continental
Crawler. |
| 10/__/1976 |
Following Whodat And Boojang, Danzig decided to
form a band that performed all original material, naming it The Misfits after Marilyn Monroe's final movie. He began
rehearsing with drummer Manny Martinez and a friend of Manny's who played
guitar, bringing in bassist Diane DiPiazza at another session. Later rehearsals
featured new guitarist Jimmy Battle and Mr. Jim on drums. After a while, Jimmy
was unable to come to practice because he lived too far across town. These
rehearsal sessions occurred periodically until February 1977. |
| 03/__/1977 |
It wasn't until Manny introduced Danzig to bassist Jerry Caiafa that The Misfits were really born. Jerry had started playing
bass the previous month after receiving a bass guitar as a late Christmas
present. He and his friends often hung out at the park next to Manny's house,
where they watched him practice drums, and talked about music. Almost
immediately, the trio began rehearsing songs that Danzig had written, with
titles like "She," "Cough/Cool," "Feline Nursery," "Harpies In The Night,"
"Bullet," "Hollywood Babylon," "West End Avenue," and "In The Doorway." Danzig
played keyboards and sang for the band. |
| 04/18/1977 |
Their first show took place less than a month later, on April 18th at the
legendary CBGB in New York City, at one of the club's weekly Audition Showcase
nights. Jerry has offered both April 18, 1977 (in recent interviews) and April
25, 1977 (in Forced Exposure #5) as the date of the first show. CBGB's
advertisements for those two dates show that both nights were Audition Showcase
shows, but The Shirts were the headlining act on
April 25th. Danzig remembers opening for The Shirts
at the second Misfits show (June 28, 1977) and not at
the first, thus ruling out April 25. |
| 06/__/1977 |
Jerry Only graduated from Lodi High School. |
| 06/28/1977 |
The Misfits performed their second show, again at
CBGB, opening for The Shirts. |
| __/__/1977 |
During the summer of 1977, The Misfits went in to
record at Rainbow Studio in New York City. Although band members cannot recall
exactly which songs they recorded, the session did yield "She" and
"Cough/Cool," both of which made it onto the Cough/Cool single later that year. Among those thanked on
the back of the sleeve for this single were the three stars of the movie "The
Misfits" and former bassist Diane DiPiazza. |
| 10/09/1977 |
The Misfits performed as a trio for the last
time, at Eddie's Rock Palace, opening for The
Victims. Steve Berman, the guitarist of The
Victims, recalls that the next time they played together three weeks
later, The Misfits "were punkier." |
| 10/__/1977 |
Franché Coma joined the band. His stage name was chosen by Danzig
and Jerry. Soon after he joined, a boiler fire at Manny's house damaged much
of the band's equipment, including Manny's drums, Franché's amplifier
and cabinet, Jerry's amplifier and cabinet, and Glenn's amplifier and
cabinet. |
| 10/30/1977 |
Before Franché's first show, the band's fourth live performance, he
almost destroyed his guitar by setting the case on the stove at the club. The
band played five songs as a trio with Danzig on keyboard ( "West End Avenue,"
"Theme For A Jackal," "Hollywood Babylon," "In The Doorway," "Cough/Cool") and
the rest of the show with Franché on guitar ("Angelfuck," "She,"
"Feline Nursery," "Come Back," "Some Kinda Hate," and "Hybrid Moments"). This
show was the first of many performances at Eddie's Lounge (also known as
Eddie's Rock Palace) in Teaneck, NJ. By this time, the Cough/Cool single had recently been released. |
| 11/__/1977 |
Unaware that The Misfits were already using the
label name Blank Records, Mercury Records released a Pere
Ubu album on their own Blank Records imprint. In exchange for
permanently owning the name Blank Records, Mercury offered The Misfits thirty hours of studio time at C.I. Studios,
with the option of releasing their record. |
| 12/21/1977 |
The Misfits arrived in Toronto, Canada after a
ten-hour drive, for two shows only to discover that the headlining band, Devo, had cancelled. Instead of driving back to New Jersey,
they went ahead and did the shows with local band, The
Skulls opening. The Skulls included future
D.O.A. vocalist Joey Shithead. |
| 01/__/1978 |
Around this time, Danzig and Jerry decided that Manny was too unreliable,
and kicked him out of the band. In order to maintain their recording schedule,
Danzig again called on Mr. Jim, inviting him to join the band in the studio.
The new lineup entered New York City's C.I. Recording studio in January 1978
with engineer Dave Achelis. Early in the session, Danzig introduced several new
songs, and even re-wrote "Feline Nursery" as "Spinal Remains." The band
recorded a total of 17 songs, mixing 14 of them for the proposed Static Age album. |
| 06/__/1978 |
In the end, Mercury Records chose not to pick up the album, prompting the
band to release four of the songs on the Bullet 7"
EP on Plan 9 Records that summer. Danzig had come up with the name Plan 9 to
replace Blank Records, basing it on the cult horror movie favorite "Plan 9 From
Outer Space." The EP also featured the new band logo Danzig had designed. |
| 07/03/1978 |
Max's Kansas City had a tribute night for Jim Morrison, featuring local
musicians performing songs by The Doors. Both Danzig
and Mr. Jim participated on several songs. |
| __/__/1978 |
By the summer of 1978, the band was performing often at Show Place in
Dover, NJ, as well as at Max's Kansas City in New York City, doing new songs
such as "Children In Heat," "Where Eagles Dare," and "Who Killed Marilyn?" They
had also begun rehearsing "Horror Business," "Night Of The Living Dead," "Rat
Fink," "Halloween," and the occasional covers of "Blue Christmas" and "Wild
Thing." |
| 10/13/1978 |
Danzig and Jerry attended Punk magazine's music awards ceremony at the 2nd
Avenue Theater in New York City. |
| 10/__/1978 |
The Misfits scheduled an October tour of
Detroit and Canada, but Franché left the band after the Detroit shows
due to his dislike of touring. In order to complete the tour, the band drove
all the way back to New Jersey, dropped off Franché, and picked up Rick
Riley of The Victims as a temporary replacement,
teaching him the songs on the way to Toronto. Mr. Jim left the band after the
tour because he felt he didn't fit in with the band's evolving horror image
and sound. |
| 10/31/1978 |
The Victims 7" EP came out on Plan 9 Records. It
became the only non-Glenn Danzig recording ever released on the label. |
| 11/__/1978 |
Jerry and Danzig happened to see drummer Joey Poole rehearsing at Libra
Studio in New York City, and asked him to audition with them. A
week later, they invited Joey to join the band after a successful rehearsal at
Jerry's garage. Meanwhile, future guitarist Bobby Steele placed an
advertisement in the Aquarian Weekly, to which Danzig responded. |
| 11/24/1978 |
Bobby auditioned with The Misfits on November
24th and was immediately accepted. |
| 12/03/1978 |
Bobby and Joey played their first show with The
Misfits, opening the set with "Static Age." During the show, the band
dumped grape-flavored kool-aid on the audience, mocking the Jonestown Massacre
of the previous month. The headlining band Trixie Sly
never showed up. The flyer for this show included the first photograph of the
new lineup of the band. Jerry had just started to wear his devilock
hairstyle. |
| 12/20/1978 |
The band did two "Christmas" shows at Max's Kansas City, recording both
with a 4-track tape recorder. The recording of "Attitude" from the second show
was later used on the Flipside Vinyl Fanzine Vol. 2
compilation. Bobby's guitar only had two strings left by the time the song was
recorded. Later that night, they did a third show at Studio Zero, which was
videotaped. |
| 01/__/1979 |
Danzig and Jerry Only joined some friends on stage at Studio Zero in New
York City to perform several cover songs. Although neither played on the first
song, they can be seen in the audience during the video tape of the
performance. Dave, who drummed during part of this show, later auditioned for
The Misfits when they were considering getting rid of
Joey Image. |
| 01/26/1979 |
The band returned to C.I. Recording Studio for the Horror Business session, again with engineer Dave Achelis.
They recorded "Horror Business," "Children In Heat," "Teenagers From Mars,"
"Who Killed Marilyn?" and "Where Eagles Dare." Later that night, they attended
a Whorelords (Bobby Steele's former band) show in New York City. |
| 02/01/1979 |
Jerry spent the evening at a party in New York City with former Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious. The next morning, while
doing a delivery for his father's business, he heard on the radio that Sid had
died of a drug overdose late the previous night. This compelled him to help
Sid's mother Beverly Ritchie collect Sid's possessions, while she was in New
York City. He even brought her to the recording session during the Horror Business session, an event that was somewhat
inaccurately documented by Dave Achelis in the Static
Age liner notes. |
| 02/05/1979 |
The band mixed all five tracks from the Horror
Business. |
| 02/27/1979 |
The Asexuals, with Bobby Steele on guitar, Annie
Anxiety on vocals, and Howie Pyro on bass, opened for The
Misfits at Max's Kansas City. It was the only time Bobby played with
The Asexuals. |
| 03/__/1979 |
A "Who Killed Marilyn?"/"Where Eagles Dare" 7" single, featuring versions
recorded during the Horror Business recording
session was proposed (as Plan 9 Records: PL1007) and dropped for unknown
reasons. As Danzig remembered in Thrasher (June 1986), "There's also a 'Who
Killed Marilyn?'/'Where Eagles Dare' 45 that never came out." |
| 03/28/1979 |
On March 28th, The Misfits performed at Max's
Kansas City for the last time. The poster for the show featured the band's
first use of the Crimson Ghost, which Danzig and Jerry had taken from a poster
for the movie of the same name. After the show, The
Misfits were permanently banned from the club when Bobby Steele was
arrested for allegedly hitting an audience member in the head with a glass
thrown from the stage. As a result, the band's upcoming performance at Max's
Easter Music Festival was cancelled. |
| 06/__/1979 |
The Misfits entered Song Shop studio in New York
City with engineer Danny Zelonky, a member of New York City punk band, The Mad. They recorded eight songs, three of which made it
onto the Night Of The Living Dead 7" EP. |
| 06/26/1979 |
On June 26th, The Misfits opened for The Damned at Hurrah in New York City. Before the show,
Jerry talked to The Damned vocalist Dave Vanian about
The Misfits possibly opening for The Damned in the UK. In addition, The
Misfits distributed promotional packages including the special black
vinyl pressing of the Horror Business 7" EP. Iggy
Pop and Debbie Harry were in the audience. |
| 07/04/1979 |
After getting drunk at Mudd Club in New York City, Bobby Steele vomited on
John Lennon's feet. |
| 08/__/1979 |
Jerry and Danzig spent a night in jail after trashing Mudd Club owner Steve
Mass's room at Hotel Chelsea in New York City. They were arrested when a police
officer noticed them throwing bottles out of the fifth floor window of the room
with Patricia Ragan of Punk magazine. |
| 08/14/1979 |
One of the band's sets at 4th Street Saloon in Bethlehem, PA was recorded
on black and white Super-8 film. |
| 08/15/1979 |
The Misfits did an in-store autograph signing at
Motley's in Bethlehem, PA before their shows at 4th Street Saloon in Bethlehem,
PA that night. Both shows were recorded. |
| 10/31/1979 |
The band released the Night Of The Living Dead
7" EP at the Irving Plaza show in New York City, selling copies at the door for
two dollars a copy. They also announced their new fan club, the Fiend Club
(then located at Danzig's apartment at 145 West 27th ST, #2E, New York, NY
10001), for the first time. This show was videotaped, but has not been
distributed. |
| 11/__/1979 |
Based on Jerry's conversation in June with Dave Vanian, Danzig began
preparing for the upcoming UK tour by sending out promotional packages which
included an itinerary that announced the band's plan to do 24 shows in 28 days.
Around this time, the entire band appeared on WPIX 101.9 FM in New York, NY for
an interview in which they talked about the upcoming tour and played some of
their favorite records. |
| 11/21/1979 |
Late in the evening on the 21st, the band arrived in England for the UK
tour with The Damned. On the morning of the 22nd,
Jerry showed up at the home of Dave Vanian while the remaining Misfits waited at the hotel. Even though Jerry and Vanian
had previously discussed touring together, the members of The Damned had apparently not taken it seriously, and
Jerry's arrival was a complete surprise. The Damned,
who already had scheduled a tour with a North Ireland band called Victim opening, added The Misfits
to the bill and found them equipment to use. Although Victim opened first, advertisements for the tour listed
The Misfits as the first band. The first show took
place on the 23rd at De Montfort Hall in Leicester, England. On the 24th, after
doing the soundcheck for what would have been the second show, The Misfits walked off the tour because they felt they were
not being paid enough and were unhappy with the instruments they had been
loaned. |
| 11/__/1979 |
With their return flight scheduled for the end of December, and no longer
on tour, the band was unsure of what to do next. They soon befriended a man
named Derek who promised to act as their temporary manager. He put them up in a
hotel and discussed the possibility of touring as the surprise opening act for
The Clash. |
| 12/02/1979 |
On December 2nd, Jerry contacted Beverly Ritchie (Sid Vicious' mother), who
took him around London sightseeing. Before leaving, he told his band-mates to
"lie low" while he was gone. In his absence, Danzig and Bobby went to see The
Jam perform at The Rainbow in London. Waiting outside before the show started,
a group of skinheads started a fight with them, prompting Danzig to grab a
piece of glass from a nearby broken window to defend himself while Bobby ran to
get the police. Both Danzig and Bobby were arrested and received the following
police summons:
"ON SUNDAY THE 2nd OF DECEMBER, AT HORNSBY ROAD N7 USING
THREATENING BEHAVIOUR, WHEREBY A BREACH OF THE PEACE MAY HAVE BEEN OCCASIONED.
CITING TO SECTION 54(b) METROPOLITAN POLICE ACT 1839."
They spent two nights in Brixton jail, where Danzig wrote "London Dungeon."
They appeared at Highbury Common Magistrates court on the 3rd and were released
on the 4th. |
| 12/18/1979 |
The band flew back to the United States, having funded the entire trip with
Jerry's father's American Express credit card. Joey Image had left the band a
few days earlier because he wasn't happy with the way the tour had gone. |
| 01/__/1980 |
The Beware 12" EP, which had originally been
scheduled for release as a promotional item before the tour of England, finally
came out. It featured a version of "Last Caress" that Danzig and Bobby had
remixed on a special visit to C.I. Recording in September 1979. In addition,
the No Quarter - Music For World War III compilation
was allegedly released in Australia on Cherry Red Records, featuring "Last
Caress" and tracks by Half Japanese. According to Danzig, in a 1981 letter
written to Mike Mindless, The Misfits never signed
the contracts that would allow Cherry Red to use their songs, so it is unclear
if the album was ever released, or if it features Misfits material. The album has, however, been listed in
several discographies. |
| 04/__/1980 |
After a four month break with no drummer and no shows, The Misfits recruited Arthur Googy, a drummer from New York
City who had never been in a band. |
| 07/10/1980 |
Bobby played his last show with the band, at Exile in Long Island City, New
York. It was also the only time The Misfits performed
with both Bobby and Arthur in the band. An audio recording of this show exists
but has not been distributed. |
| 08/07/1980 |
In August, The Misfits entered Master Sound
Productions (MSP) in Franklin Square, NY to begin recording 12 songs for future
release. In addition to Bobby Steele, Jerry's younger brother Doyle, who had
recently begun rehearsing with Danzig and Jerry, played guitar on some of the
tracks. The session was mixed on September 5th. |
| 10/__/1980 |
Shortly before the band's annual Halloween show, Jerry Only informed Bobby
Steele that he had been replaced by Doyle. |
| 10/31/1980 |
The Misfits made their first television
appearance, lip-synching to the recently recorded Master Sound Production
studio versions of "Halloween" and "Vampira" on a local variety program called
"The Uncle Floyd Show" in Oakland, NJ. Danzig was briefly interviewed between
the two songs. The appearance was recorded on special 3/4 inch videotape, which
was later destroyed, although an audio version does exist. Later that evening,
they performed their Halloween show at Irving Plaza, bursting out of coffins
and onto the stage. Frank Zappa, whom Bobby Steele had invited, was in the
audience. Doyle wore a blue Star Trek shirt during the show. |
| 01/30/1981 |
Bobby Steele's new band, The Undead, performed
for the first time at A7 Club in New York City. |
| 04/__/1981 |
After a six-month lull, the band released 3 Hits From
Hell in April 1981, using three songs from the MSP session the year
before. The promotional poster for this single featured the new band logo which
incorporated the logo lettering from Famous Monsters Of Filmland magazine. |
| __/__/1981 |
In the spring of 1981, Danzig and Jerry recorded a demo version of
"Archangel," a song Danzig had written for Dave Vanian of The Damned, at Mix-O-Lydian Studio. Danzig did the vocals,
guitar, and drums and Jerry played bass. When Vanian was never able to join
them to record the vocals, the recording was shelved until August 1983, when
Danzig completed the song with Samhain. |
| 06/__/1981 |
The Misfits went into Mix-O-Lydian and
Newfound Sound Studios several times to record for the upcoming Walk Among Us album. Danzig also recorded his solo single,
Who Killed Marilyn?. |
| 08/__/1981 |
The band began performing again after a break of almost a year. Around this
time, they went to a nearby cave for a photo shoot with photographer Eerie Von.
Although the photos were intended for the Walk Among
Us album cover, they were never used. |
| __/__/1981 |
During the summer of 1981, The Misfits planned to
release Walk Among Us on Plan 9 Records and even
printed center labels for the album, which would have been the first Plan 9
full-length release. When Danzig contacted Slash Magazine to advertise the
album, they offered The Misfits a one-album contract
deal with their label Slash Records. The original track listing was then
scrapped and most of the center labels were discarded. Also during the summer,
the Fiend Club address changed to P.O. Box 3112, Grand Central Station, New
York, NY 10163 when Danzig moved back to Lodi, NJ. |
| 09/__/1981 |
The band started rehearsing for their upcoming shows in Michigan in Jerry
and Doyle's garage, also known as "The Pit." One rehearsal, which featured the
band working on several of the songs for the first time, was recorded on
audio. |
| 09/12/1981 |
The Misfits began their friendship with The Necros while playing the first of many shows together,
at Bookie's Club 879 in Detroit, MI. The show was recorded on both soundboard
audio and 8mm video. Touch And Go (see issue #17) interviewed Danzig, Jerry,
and Googy before they took the stage. |
| 10/23/1981 |
Danzig and Jerry Only joined disc jockey Tim Sommers on WNYU 89.1 FM in New
York, NY for an interview. They also played Halloween from the upcoming Halloween single and versions of "Who Killed Marilyn?" and
"Where Eagles Dare" which were later included on Legacy Of
Brutality. |
| 10/30/1981 |
The Halloween single was released and sold
before the band's Halloween show at National Ukrainian Home in New York City.
At this show, Danzig met future Reagan Youth bassist
Al Pike. The entire show, including one song from the pre-show soundcheck with
Necros drummer Todd Swalla instead of Arthur Googy,
was recorded on soundboard audio. The Necros opened
for The Misfits and then joined them on stage for
additional vocals during "We Are 138." |
| 11/20/1981 |
The Misfits performed at On Broadway in San
Francisco upstairs from Mabuhay Gardens, the club where Black Flag was performing that night. The Misfits' opening act was a showing of "Plan 9 From
Outer Space," after which band members burst through the screen and onto the
stage. Near the end of their set, Henry Rollins came upstairs and joined Danzig
on vocals for "We Are 138." Although the entire show was recorded on soundboard
audio, only part of the recording is available, on Evilive. |
| 11/21/1981 |
The Misfits performed at Severely Muted. In some
interviews and on several flyers, the club is listed by its former name, Sound
Of Music. |
| 11/27/1981 |
The Misfits show at Cuckoo's Nest in Costa Mesa,
CA was recorded on audio. |
| 12/09/1981 |
Danzig joined disc jockey Tim Sommers for an interview on WNYU 89.1 FM in
New York, NY and played the unreleased Newfound Sound Studios recording of "20
Eyes" along with the live version of "We Are 138" recorded on November 21,
1981. |
| 12/17/1981 |
The Misfits appeared as the surprise headlining
band (replacing Tenpole Tudor) at The Ritz in New York City with The Undead and Heart Attack opening. During The Undead's set, members of The
Misfits threw cups and bottles at Bobby Steele (now The Undead's guitarist and vocalist), prompting the
audience to throw ice at The Misfits when they took
the stage. Some of Danzig's angry interjections during the set that night were
included on Evilive. When the band performed
"Teenagers From Mars," Danzig changed the chorus to mock Bobby, who was
watching from the balcony. He repeated this at several other shows in the
months that followed. The entire show was recorded on audio. |
| 12/25/1981 |
The Misfits performed at Hittsville in Passaic,
NJ with The Necros and Black
Flag opening. The show was recorded on soundboard audio. This recording
has become The Misfits' most famous bootleg
recording, although most versions lack the last four songs, which were
performed without Jerry Only. |
| 01/__/1982 |
Danzig flew to Los Angeles with multi-track recordings of songs to be
released on the Walk Among Us album. |
| 02/28/1982 |
The Misfits played two sets at 9:30 Club in
Washington, DC, with opening act The Necros
performing in between. Both sets were recorded on audio. Before the show,
Danzig played a tape of the "Archangel" demo for Al Pike. |
| 03/27/1982 |
The Misfits performed at Irving Plaza in New York
City with The Necros opening. The show was recorded
on soundboard audio. |
| 04/09/1982 |
Ruby/Slash planned to promote Walk Among Us with
a special show featuring fellow label-mates, The Flesheaters, opening. The show
was cancelled when The Flesheaters were unable to make it. |
| 04/10/1982 |
The Misfits appeared on KALX radio in Berkeley
before their show at the Elite Club in San Francisco. They headlined the show
with Fear, The Flesheaters, The Undead (the
California band, not Bobby Steele's band), and several others. Various members
of the audience threw bottles and cans at the bands, and one fan repeatedly
tried to hit Doyle in the head with beer cans. After five songs, both Arthur
and Rocky Caiafa jumped into the audience to stop him. During the fight that
ensued, Doyle attempted to use his guitar to pull the main instigator of the
brawl towards the stage, accidentally breaking the guitar over his head. A riot
broke out, and The Misfits quickly left the stage.
Contrary to various legends surrounding the story, the fan was not killed, and
did not later file charges. |
| 04/13/1982 |
Before The Misfits' show at Whisky A Go Go in Los
Angeles, the band allegedly chased the members of Motley Crue (as documented by
Eerie Von in The Misfits Box Set liner notes) down
the street. According to Henry Rollins, Motley Crue vocalist Vince Neil walked
into the bar while The Misfits were doing their
soundcheck and Jerry, Doyle, and Danzig began heckling him from the stage. At
that point, Neil supposedly turned and ran out the door. The scheduled opening
band, The Flesheaters, were replaced by Saccharine
Trust. Both Earl Liberty from Saccharine Trust
and Rollins (who provided guest vocals on "Bullet" that night) appear on one of
the covers of the Evilive 7" EP, in a photograph
taken that night. Also in attendance for The Misfits'
set was Rick James. The show was recorded on soundboard audio. After the show,
We Got Power (see issue #3) interviewed Danzig and Googy. |
| 04/15/1982 |
According to Jerry Only in Ugly Things #12, Danzig and Googy got in an
argument at a McDonald's in Los Angeles because the band was running out of
money and Googy wanted a second cheeseburger. After the argument, Arthur
decided to leave the band, forcing The Misfits to
scrap their plans to record the Earth A.D. EP in
California (almost a year before they eventually did). |
| 04/16/1982 |
After the San Diego Misfits show at North Park
Lion's Club, the band stayed overnight with artist Mad Marc Rude, who cooked
them a huge spaghetti dinner. |
| 04/17/1982 |
During the day, The Misfits met Vampira at an
in-store autograph session at Vinyl Fetish in Los Angeles. Later that night,
they played a surprise set of six songs at Whisky A Go Go, opening for The Dickies. Next, they headed over to Al's Bar for their
second show of the night, and according to one fan account, they even performed
a third show at another small club. The show at Al's Bar was recorded on
soundboard audio. Henry Rollins provided guest vocals on "Astro Zombies." |
| 05/__/1982 |
One Friday night in May, Misfits photographer and
roadie Eerie Von rehearsed with the band and was offered the drummer position.
On the following Monday, however, he turned down their offer and decided to
stay with his band Rosemary's Babies. During this
month, Jerry and Doyle practiced with their brother Rocky on drums. Around this
time, Danzig talked to future drummer Brian Damage (then a member of Genocide) about joining The
Misfits. |
| 06/__/1982 |
Doyle, Eerie Von, and Steve Zing graduated from Lodi High School. |
| 06/25/1982 |
The Misfits performed at Irving Plaza in New York
with The Necros and The Beastie
Boys opening. Because
they still had no drummer, Todd Swalla of The Necros
played for them that night. Eerie Von photographed the show. The show was
recorded on soundboard audio, although only a small portion has been
distributed. |
| 07/__/1982 |
Former Black Flag drummer, Robo finally returned
to the United States from England and was informed by Henry Rollins that The Misfits needed a drummer. Robo called Danzig and was
invited to join the band, at which point he flew to the east coast. |
| 08/13/1982 |
Jerry's daughter Kathy was born |
| 09/23/1982 |
RK from New Age Fanzine interviewed all four band members. |
| 09/24/1982 |
With Doyle now out of high school, The Misfits
kicked off a lengthy tour with opening act, The
Necros. |
| 09/25/1982 |
The show at City Club in Detroit, MI was recorded on audio. |
| 09/26/1982 |
The show at Eagles Lodge in Kalamazoo, MI was recorded on video. |
| 09/29/1982 |
Although they were listed on the flyer for the show that night, The Necros did not perform at Mercury Cafe in
Denver. |
| 10/01/1982 |
The show at Bob's Place in Los Angeles, CA was recorded on audio. |
| 10/02/1982 |
The show at Florentine Gardens in Los Angeles, CA was recorded on audio,
although only a small portion has been distributed. After the
show, the band entered Unicorn Records' warehouse studio in Santa Monica and
recorded instrumental tracks for the Earth A.D./Wolfs
Blood album. Jerry, Doyle, and Robo recorded from around midnight
8th until 8:00 in the morning on October 3rd. Danzig slept through most of the
session but was awakened for "Mommy, Can I Go Out And Kill Tonight?" to help
time the pause in the middle of the song. The vocals were recorded later at Fox
Studio in Rutherford, NJ. A tape commonly labeled "The Spot Sessions has been
distributed among collectors, although it is missing "Mommy, Can I Go Out And
Kill Tonight?" |
| 10/08/1982 |
Some flyers for the show at North Park Lion's Club in San Diego, CA on this
date incorrectly list the performance date as October 9th. |
| 10/12/1982 |
Some flyers for the show at Backstage in Tucson, AZ on this date
incorrectly list the performance date as October 11th. |
| 10/17/1982 |
After their show at Tupelo's in New Orleans, The
Misfits and The Necros went to a nearby
graveyard to try to obtain a skull from one of the above-ground crypts. All
four members of The Misfits, along with several fans
were arrested and accused of grave robbing. Although they were supposed to
appear in court the next day, Misfits manager Rocky
Caiafa bailed them out of jail, and they drove to Florida for the next show.
The Necros missed the show in Florida two days later
due to car trouble, and not because they were in jail in New Orleans (as
incorrectly reported in FLA Decay #5). |
| 10/19/1982 |
The show at Finder's Lounge in Hallandale Beach, FL was recorded on audio.
During the show, the power went out several times. After the show, FLA Decay
(see issue #5) interviewed Danzig. |
| 10/22/1982 |
The show at Wilson Center in Washington, DC was recorded on audio. |
| 10/29/1982 |
The Halloween performance at Northampton Community College Arts Center with
Reagan Youth opening was recorded on video. |
| 1982-1983 |
The Misfits and The
Necros were videotaped at an unknown club on the last night of their
tour, allegedly by the owner of Buff Hall. |
| 01/07/1983 |
The Misfits performed two shows in Dearborn, MI.
The first show was filmed during the day in a storage room at Group W Cable for
a local cable access program called "Why Be Something You're Not?"; Negative Approach and The Necros
opened. Later, the band performed at Henry Ford Community College with The Big Boys opening. This show was recorded on audio. |
| 01/21/1983 |
The Misfits headlined the Goleta Valley Community
Center show with Circle Jerks, Youth Brigade, Angry Samoans,
Sin 34, and Tourist
opening. The show was videotaped from two different angles, one in the back of
the club at crowd level, and the other from above the crowd. |
| 01/29/1983 |
After the show with The Big Boys at The Ritz in Austin, TX, Cretin Bull
interviewed Jerry Only. |
| 01/30/1983 |
The Misfits performed at an unknown venue in New
Orleans and recorded their soundcheck. Some collectors have mislabeled the
recording as Jed's Place, which was the original name of Tupelo's, where the
band performed on October 17, 1982. According to Jerry Only, when the band
performed at this unknown club in January 1983, "The door of the club faced
north, and it was really long, underneath a freeway." Danzig did not sing for
the first three songs of the soundcheck, which was recorded on audio. |
| 03/20/1983 |
The band's show at Channel Club in Boston, MA was recorded on video,
allegedly by Flipside, who never released the video due to legal conflicts.
Bootleggers have distributed the recording, however. After the show, the band
went to a Boston restaurant called Derkin Perk where they recorded the official
promotional video for "Brain Eaters." The video features Danzig, Jerry, and
Doyle sitting at a table eating cow brains with members of Boston bands The
FU's, SSD, Jerry's Kids, and Impact Unit. Robo has the role of chef and serves
them more brains. The band also recorded part of a "Skulls" video during this
session, but never completed it. |
| 03/__/1983 |
In an interview with Flesh And Bones, Danzig talked about his plans to do
another solo project: "I'm going to work on something new in a few months and
this time I'll have a hand in producing, which I didn't have last time... The
new record will actually have a band on it - Al [Pike] from Reagan Youth." This project ended up becoming his next
band, Samhain. According to Danzig, he had written
Samhain songs "The Shift," "The Howl," "All Murder,
All Guts, All Fun," and "He-Who-Can-Not-Be-Named" by around this time. |
| 04/08/1983 |
The show at P.U.N.X. #4 in Los Angeles, CA was recorded on audio. |
| 04/09/1983 |
The Misfits performed at Design Patio Warehouse,
which may have also been known as Reactor Studios. |
| 04/23/1983 |
The Misfits did an interview on WCBN 88.3 FM
radio in Ann Arbor, MI before their show that night at the Michigan Union
Ballroom. Later, WCBN broadcast the show live, and recorded it on soundboard
audio. |
| 06/11/1983 |
After The Misfits show opening for Black Flag at the Santa Monica Civic Center in Santa
Monica, CA in front of their largest crowd ever (approximately 3,000), Danzig
told Henry Rollins that he was going to leave the band. In addition to the very
low quality color video footage recorded for "Green Hell," "Wolfs Blood,"
"Vampira," and "Devilock," the entire Misfits set was
recorded on audio. |
| 06/19/1983 |
All four members of Rosemary's Babies joined
The Misfits onstage during "Braineaters" at the New
York City show at Gildersleeve's. |
| 07/__/1983 |
The Misfits entered Fox Studio to finish
recording and mixing the Earth A.D./Wolfs Blood
tracks with Black Flag producer Spot. Although the
original plan was to release Earth A.D. as a
five-song EP, the band decided to also record "Green Hell" and "Hellhound,"
which they had been playing live. In addition, Danzig donated "Bloodfeast" and
"Death Comes Ripping," which he had written for (and later performed with) his
upcoming Samhain project. Future Samhain drummer Steve Zing was also present in the
studio. |
| 08/__/1983 |
After several arguments with Danzig, Robo announced that he was leaving the
band. He then moved out of Danzig's basement and returned to Los Angeles. This
prompted Danzig, who was already seriously considering starting a new band, to
cancel the tour of Canada he had booked with Civil Terror
opening. |
| 08/__/1983 |
In August, Danzig flew down to Washington, DC to rehearse with Brian Baker
and Lyle Preslar of Minor Threat, hoping to form a new
group called Samhain. They brought in Graham McColluch
on bass and Minor Threat drummer Jeff Nelson on drums.
Returning to Lodi, Danzig began recording
Samhain tracks: "Initium" with Steve Zing on drums
and "Archangel" with Al Pike on bass. In September, he returned to Washington,
DC for another rehearsal, bringing Steve Zing along to play drums. Brian and
Lyle also brought in drummer Eric Zelsder. After this session, Danzig gave up
on his Washington, DC friends and Brian, Lyle, Graham, and Eric joined Tesco
Vee in The Meatmen. |
| 09/__/1983 |
In another early version of Samhain, Danzig
rehearsed several times with former Rosemary's Babies
members C.A. Richie on guitar and Eerie Von on drums. Meanwhile, Jerry
contacted Arthur Googy about returning to The
Misfits. Arthur, now drumming for the hardcore
band Antidote, said he
would only do the Halloween show if the band paid him up front. Danzig,
however, refused to work with him again. |
| 10/__/1983 |
Having chosen Brian Damage as the new Misfits
drummer, Danzig apparently decided not to leave the band. By this time Jerry
had booked a tour of Germany to support the upcoming German releases of Evilive and Earth A.D./Wolfs
Blood. Jerry and Doyle, who were working overtime to fund the tour of
Germany, were only able to practice with Brian once. |
| 10/29/1983 |
The Misfits performed their Halloween show at
Graystone Hall in Detroit, MI with The Necros
opening. Following the soundcheck, Brian Damage got drunk with members of The Necros, and was unable to keep up with the rest of the
band when The Misfits took the stage. A few songs
into the set, Doyle ejected him from the stage, and Necros drummer Todd Swalla took over for the rest of the
show. Unhappy with Danzig for the drummer fiasco, Jerry and Doyle supposedly
played the rest of the show sitting on their amplifiers, prompting Danzig to
announce on stage that it was their "last show ever." The entire show was
videotaped on U-matic tape with a three-camera mix by a local fan named Dave
Hebb. Todd Swalla's portion of the show was also recorded on soundboard audio.
The abundance of false starts and mess-ups throughout the recording make it
clear that the band had not had rehearsed much prior to the show. Two of the
songs were covers: Black Flag's "Rise Above" and
Negative Approach's "Can't Tell No One." John Brannon
of Negative Approach provided guest vocals on "Can't
Tell No One." |
| 10/30/1983 |
The band drove back to New Jersey together, Jerry and Doyle in the front,
and Danzig and Brian in the back. Jerry and Doyle never spoke with either
Danzig or Brian again. |
| 11/__/1983 |
Jerry and Doyle moved with their family to Vernon, NJ where they worked for
their father at Proedge, his machine parts factory. Robo also moved to Vernon a
few months later from Los Angeles, and began work at Proedge. |
| 12/12/1983 |
Plan 9 Records released Earth A.D./Wolfs
Blood. |
| 03/31/1984 |
Danzig's new band Samhain performed live for the
first time, with Eerie Von on bass, Steve Zing on drums, and Lyle Preslar on
guitar. Plan 9 Records released their debut album
Initium in August. |
| 05/__/1984 |
Plan 9 Records released the Die, Die My Darling
12" EP, featuring the remaining tracks from the Fox Studio recording
session |
| __/__/1985 |
In the summer of 1985, Danzig signed with Caroline Records, an independent
record label from New York, who distributed all subsequent Plan 9 Records
releases and reissued several of The Misfits and
Samhain's previous albums. |
| 09/__/1985 |
The first release after the Caroline Records deal was Legacy Of Brutality, a collection of unreleased Misfits songs on which Glenn Danzig had recently overdubbed
new guitar and bass tracks. As Danzig later said in Black Market #6 (1986),
"Now I remixed a lot of it, laid new tracks on it and the stuff sounded a lot
better." |
| __/__/1985 |
In the autumn of 1985, "Jem And The Holograms," a cartoon series about a
band with special powers, debuted, featuring a rival band called The Misfits. Toy company Hasbro released dolls of the
members of both bands, each accompanied by a cassette of music by the
character's band. Jerry Only eventually talked to Hasbro about the use of the
name The Misfits, but a legal loophole allowed the
series to continue to use it. Mysteriously, The
Misfits were replaced for most of the cartoon's final season by a
different rival band called The Stingers. |
| __/__/1986 |
Using the video footage from the October 29, 1983 Graystone Hall show, and
overlaying the audio source from Walk Among Us and
Halloween, Mike Jackman and Tom Burtell of Dearborn,
MI created fake promotional videos for "Skulls" and "Halloween." The videos
were featured on Back Porch Video, a local cable access program broadcast over
Warner Cable Network in Dearborn. The recordings of "Skulls" and two different
versions of "Halloween" have been collected by fans ever since. |
| 05/04/1986 |
Danzig finished compiling the tracks for Collection
I, which was released by Caroline Records a few months later. |
| 05/13/1986 |
WHRB 95.3 FM radio in Cambridge, MA broadcast the "All Hell Breaks Loose"
radio show, hosted by Taang! Records owner Curtis Cassella. The playlist
included two hours of Misfits music, a live phone
interview with Glenn Danzig, and the previously unavailable "Return Of The
Fly." Bootleg releases with "Return Of The Fly" began appearing soon
afterward. |
| 08/__/1986 |
Glenn Danzig and Eerie Von entered Reel Platinum studio to record alternate
versions of several Misfits songs. Because Walk Among Us had been released on Ruby/Slash, Danzig
planned to use new and previously unreleased versions of Walk Among Us tracks on a proposed Plan 9 Records release,
entitled Walk Among Us 2. He later dropped the idea,
releasing the alternate tracks on Collection
II. |
| 08/__/1987 |
Metallica released Garage
Days Re-Revisited, an EP of cover songs originally recorded by their
favorite bands. The release included "Last Caress" and "Green Hell," leading to
a surge in The Misfits' popularity. |
| 08/__/1987 |
Also in August, Jerry (using the pseudonym Mo The Great) and Doyle formed
Kryst The Conqueror with drummer The Murp, their
first band since The Misfits. They also started their
own label, Cyclopean (later Cyclopian) Music Inc., and a fan club called The
Doyle Fan Club. Kryst The Conqueror later recorded an
album with hired session vocalist Jeff Scott Soto, but only five of the songs
were released on the Deliver Us From Evil EP.
Several songs were re-written and used as Misfits
songs in the late 1990s. The band never performed live. |
| 11/__/1987 |
The second printing of issue #5 of the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" comic
series featured a story entitled "Ghouls Night Out" which was dedicated to
The Misfits. |
| __/__/1988 |
Mudhoney's cover of Sonic
Youth's "Halloween," (different from The
Misfits' song) released on a Mudhoney/Sonic Youth split 7" single, included a sample of The Misfits' "Halloween" which can be heard best at
approximately 4:56 into the song. |
| 07/__/1988 |
Danzig unsuccessfully sued Warner Brothers over royalty issues when they
reissued Walk Among Us. |
| 10/31/1988 |
Jerry and Doyle appeared in Misfits gear at the
Creation Convention at the Penta Hotel in New York City and later went to Tower
Records for an autograph signing session, along with their drummer The Murp.
During an interview, Jerry talked about a royalties lawsuit against Glenn
Danzig for the first time. Asked by a YesZista interviewer if there was a court
case, he responded, "We're trying to settle out of court." |
| 08/18/1990 |
Former Misfits drummer Manny showed up before the
Danzig show in Allentown, PA while Glenn Danzig was
doing an interview with Chris and John from WCLH 90.7 FM of Wilkes-Barre, PA. A
very small portion of Manny's conversation with the Danzig tour bus driver was recorded in the background of
the interview. After the interview, Danzig and Manny talked for the first time
in years. |
| 10/23/1993 |
Mary Jane Records cancelled their proposed Misfits tribute album after Danzig threatened to sue for
using any Misfits likenesses. |
| 03/__/1994 |
Several former band members (Jerry Only, Doyle, Robo, and Franché
Coma) and their lawyer met with Glenn Danzig and his lawyer to discuss a
settlement. |
| 08/__/1994 |
After almost a year of rumors, Jerry announced for the first time that
The Misfits would be getting back together. In FeH
#12 (September/October 1994), he said, "What it boils down to is we are in the
process of settling with Glenn and the way it looks we will be able to play as
The Misfits. So we are looking for a singer." |
| 10/__/1994 |
Jerry and Doyle overdubbed new guitar and bass tracks onto the live
recording from December 20, 1978. This recording was then submitted to Caroline
Records for release as Max's X-Mas. Jerry later said
in an interview for a Swedish publication (Close-Up #22), "I had a cassette
which was recorded during a concert from 1977 or 1978, where we played 'Blue
Christmas.' The instruments were badly recorded, but Glenn's vocals were
awesome, so we went to Lodi and recorded the music again." Caroline Records
later cancelled the album (see August 29, 1995). |
| 01/01/1995 |
The out-of-court settlement involving The
Misfits, Glenn Danzig, and Caroline Records allowed Jerry Only and Doyle
to perform and record as The Misfits, effective
immediately. As part of the settlement, Plan 9 Records ceased to exist. Jerry
explained the outcome in Metal Maniacs (June 1996): "We are the exclusive
owners of the name on a performing level. We share the joint rights to the name
with Glenn for merchandising." |
| 04/25/1995 |
Knowing that Danzig had an upcoming concert in
New Jersey, Jerry and Doyle stopped by Danzig's parents house in Lodi to invite
him to return to The Misfits. There, Danzig's mother
gave them four cases of the skateboard decks that had originally been
advertised in Thrasher magazine (April 1987) and had sat under the back porch
ever since. After selling all the skateboards, Jerry and Doyle returned a few
weeks later to pick up the remaining ten cases, but were told that Danzig had
sold the rest. |
| 04/26/1995 |
After the Danzig show in Red Bank, NJ, Jerry and
Doyle tried to visit Glenn Danzig at his hotel room to invite him to join The Misfits. As Jerry stated in Metal Maniacs (June 1996),
"We went to his door and knocked and fifteen minutes later security came and
walked us out of the hotel. So we took that as a 'no'." |
| __/__/1995 |
As part of the settlement, Danzig sold the master tapes of all recording
sessions and albums to Caroline Records in the summer of 1995, who immediately
planned several special releases:
- Teenagers From Mars 7" single (Caroline
1704-61475-1), available in four vinyl colors, with the Static Age version of "Teenagers From Mars" on the A-side
and an etching of the Crimson Ghost on the B-side, planned for September 19,
1995.
- Teenagers From Mars CD single (Caroline
1704-61475-2), also featuring Evilive versions of
"Horror Business" and "We Are 138," planned for September 19, 1995.
- 14 song Static Age album released as a gatefold
LP or specially packaged CD (the special CD packages were later used in The Misfits Box Set), planned for Halloween 1995.
- Max's X-Mas live album, planned for Christmas
1995.
|
| 08/29/1995 |
Caroline Records cancelled Teenagers From Mars
and Max's X-Mas when Danzig threatened legal action
if the label didn't release his Collection II
project (which had been in the works since 1987) first. He was also unhappy
with the overdubs on Max's X-Mas (see October 1994).
Caroline decided to postpone Static Age and released
Collection II in November. |
| 10/27/1995 |
The Misfits appeared at the Chiller Theatre
Horror Convention in Secaucus, NJ with new singer Michale Graves and drummer
Dr. Chud, promoting the return of the band and the Fiend Club. They performed
a few nights later, for the first time ever without Glenn Danzig. |
| 02/27/1996 |
To promote the release of The Misfits Box Set,
Generation Records in New York City hosted a two hour autograph signing party
from midnight until 2:00 in the morning. In attendance were Jerry Only, Doyle,
Franché Coma, Mr. Jim, and Bobby Steele, plus new Misfits members Michale Graves and Dr. Chud. |
| 06/__/1996 |
Marvel Comics included a full-page comic advertisement featuring a verse
from "Braineaters" in all of their August 1996 issues. |
| 10/31/1997 |
Both The Misfits and Danzig performed in Los Angeles, CA on the same night and
played "Death Comes Ripping." Although The Misfits
considered visiting the Danzig show (which started
after The Misfits' show ended), rumor had it that no
members of The Misfits or their crew would be allowed
into the Whisky A Go Go where Danzig was
performing. |
| 05/20/1999 |
Jerry Only, Doyle, Robo, Bobby Steele, and former Samhain drummer Steve Zing attended long-time Misfits supporter George Germain's funeral in Hackensack,
NJ. |
| 08/22/2000 |
In an interview with MTV News, Danzig denied rumors that he was returning
to The Misfits. He repeated his denial for Metal
Hammer on January 18, 2001. |
| 10/26/2000 |
Joey Image joined Jerry Only and Doyle to perform as a trio at two Florida
Misfits shows: Fort Lauderdale's Culture Room on the
26th and Ybor City's The Masquerade on the 27th. Joey came on stage at the end
of each night's set for a few old songs, temporarily replacing their touring
drummer Goat. |
| 10/__/2001 |
Both Jerry Only and Glenn Danzig successfully called for Caroline to
cancel the upcoming 12 Hits From Hell release. This
album contained a newly remixed and remastered version of the complete 1980
MSP recording sessions that featured both Bobby Steele and Doyle on guitar.
The album was originally scheduled for an October 30, 2001 release date. |