Index Misfits Samhain Danzig Misfits '95 Undead Biographies Related Bands Appendices Lyrics/Tab Forum
PUNK FLOYD THE ZINE
HALLOWEEN 1993
Good evening, and welcome to the HALLOWEEN issue of PUNK
FLOYD...THE ZINE. Our features, this season of death, are on the
band the MISFITS, and the TV show THE MUNSTERS. The
CLASSIC REVIEWS section kicks off its new on-going series,
KISS: GREASE PAINT & VINYL. Also included in this issue are
some cool drawings to look at, cool poems to read, mutant reviews
& more.
I remember Halloween
On HALLOWEEN 1983, the MISFITS played their last show, and
never worked together as a band again. I didn't hear the
MISFITS until 1985. The MISFITS were one of the coolest
bands of all time! They had all of the ingredients it takes to
make a great band: they were punk, played songs about sci-fi &
horror, had cool guitar, looked extremely cool, were not political,
and most important, they wore black make-up around their eyes and
had the word "mutant" in at least one song. Since hearing the
MISFITS that first time, my enjoyment of, and thirst for, their
music has done nothing but evolve, almost to the point of
obsession.
Come a little bit closer
When you hear a MISFITS song, you can easily identify the
sound and know that it's a MISFITS song. This is not to say
that all of their songs sound the same. As far as punk bands go,
the MISFITS were one of the most diverse of all. From the
DEVO-ish sounds of their first release (Cough/Cool / She), to
the feedback drenched, NY thrash sounds of (Earth A.D.), the
MISFITS never stopped producing and delivering a sound that
would mutate from one recording to the next. Throughout change,
one thing remained the same with the MISFITS, the songs were
always good.
Demon I am
The main constant of the MISFITS, that caused the
perpetual, above average songs, was the writing of Glenn Danzig.
Although there seems to be no end to the depth of Glenn's
songwriting skills, and talent for singing, I think it took a
joining with the power and energy of the MISFITS, to churn out
the perpetual, far above average songs. This is evidenced by the
music of his first post-MISFITS band, SAMHAIN. While SAMHAIN,
formed by Danzig with fiend Eerie Von, did produce some
masterpieces, like "Unholy Passion," "Archangel," the overall
quality of the songs was not up to par with Glenn's songs with the
MISFITS. I think this change shows that the other members of
the MISFITS, especially co-founder/bassist Jerry Only, played
vital roles in the creative process of the MISFITS. With
SAMHAIN'S evolution into the band DANZIG, it now seems that
Glenn Danzig is again at the point of being unable to write a bad
song. Another mainstay of the band, powering the nonstop tunes,
was the energy that the MISFITS were able to capture on record,
throughout member changes.
Take 1: "Teenagers from Mars," and "Children in Heat"
Jerry Only and Glenn Danzig were the only MISFITS to be a
member of the band from beginning to end. Through the six year
life of the band, the line-up changed alot. A guy named Manny
played drums on the first MISFITS release (Cough/cool She). There
was no guitar on the record, instead was some keyboard, supplied by
Glenn. Manny was replaced by Mr. Jim, and Franche Coma came in on
guitar. This line up recorded the bulk of the CD "Legacy of
Brutality." After Mr. Jim, came the drummers Joey Image, Arthur
Googy, and Robo. The next, and last two guitarists were Bobby
Steele & Doyle.
Bobby Steele's an asshole, and we don't care
Of all member departures, none is more noted, or more
rehashed, than Bobby Steele's. Bobby played guitar on some early
MISFITS records, including the immortal (Beware) ep & the
(Horror Business) ep, two of the MISFITS' best recordings. One
of the reasons the attention of Bobby being fired from the band
didn't fade away, was the fact that unlike previous ex-MISFITS,
Bobby didn't fade away. He quickly came out with his own brand of
horror-punk, via his band the UNDEAD, and remains a part of the
underground music scene today. Also, the fanzines wouldn't let
the event of Bobby's exit from the MISFITS die. In most
post-Bobby Steele, MISFITS interviews, the Bobby departure
questions are staples. The MISFITS, themselves highlighted the
severing of ties by replacing the chorus of "Teenagers from Mars,"
with "Bobby Steele's an asshole...," during live performance.
When you're seeing twenty things at a time
Bobby Steele was replaced by Doyle, who by the way, is Jerry
Only's brother, and was the coolest looking MISFIT. Doyle had
played with the band on previous occasions, and was already groomed
for the part. Joey image (who quit the band during a tour of
England), was replaced by Arthur Googy. With Doyle and Googy, the
MISFITS reached what may have been the peak of the band's
existence. The epic (not the record company), (Walk Among Us) LP
was released. The band was at it's tightest, as this this is the
most cohesive of all MISFITS records.
Many times, within bands, the individual members have different
visions of what direction their band should take. Many times this
creates problems within the bands. With the MISFITS Jerry and
Glenn had their sights set in different directions. Glenn
envisioned a darker, faster, thrash MISFITS. Jerry, on the
other hand, wanted to take the band down the path that (Walk Among
Us) had forged. In an interview from UGLY THINGS #12, Summer
1993 (this zine is still available, and strongly recommended to all
fiends), Jerry says, about the (Walk Among Us) Lp:
"The problem here was that it (Walk Among Us) was a stepping
stone, and no one internally wanted to accept that as what we were
and what we would be. In other words, it wasn't a time to draw a
tangent, it was time to go forward. And that was the demise of the
band after that point. Glenn wanted to get heavily into this thrash
stuff, and me, I wanted more songs like "Astro Zombies" and
"Hatebreeders."
The last recording ever done by the band was the (Earth A.D.)
LP, which was more along the lines of Glenn's idea progression
rather than Jerry's. The band was joined by ex-BLACK FLAG
drummer, Robo. With Robo's hardcore drumming style, and Glenn's
heavier style of writing, (Earth A.D.), is nothing less that the
ultimate NY Thrash record.
fiend (fend) n.
1. an evil spirit; devil 2. an inhumanly wicked or cruel
person 3. a person addicted to some activity, habit, etc 4.
a person who is excellent at some activity 5. a fan of the MISFITS
Since the break-up, the popularity of the MISFITS has done
nothing but continue to grow. With the Caroline/Plan 9 releases of
the late eighties, METALLICA'S cover of "Last Caress/Green
Hell", James Hetfield wearing all sorts of MISFITS t-shirts, a
whole new generation of fiends were born. It's a safe bet to say,
that the MISFITS have sold more records since their 1983
break-up than they did during the band's tenure. Collectors
continue to dish out huge amounts of cash for the original records.
A recent fiend catalog listed the "HORROR BUSINESS" 7" for $150, and
that's not really alot considering what has been paid for some of
the records. If you're not into record collecting, but want to
hear some of the great MISFITS songs, you can check out the
Caroline/Plan 9 releases, mentioned above. You can also find "Walk
Among Us" Cd on Ruby records. For the true fiend, you can find
most of the unreleased MISFITS stuff on various boots, but it's
gonna cost you. Why do we pay so much for booted MISFITS stuff?
Because we can't get it anywhere else. HINT release stuff HINT.
This is the Static Age we live in
The one thing that surprises me most about the MISFITS, is
the fact that the band did very little with video. The MISFITS
were a very visual band, and it would seem that video would have
been a perfect vehicle to display the band. A video for
"Braineaters" was made. It features the band with a whole slew of
friends, raising hell in a NY restaurant, while dinning on brains.
Also, out there among collectors, are videos for "Halloween," and
"Skulls." These videos seem to be fan produced. The MISFITS
did do some work on a video for "Skulls," but the project was never
finished. I don't know if the band had any of their shows
professionally shot. There are some shows that were captured on
video, and they too are out there among fiends. The most popular,
and usually the one that you can find in pretty good shape, is a
show in Detroit from 1982 that was filmed for a cable TV show, "Why
Be Something You're Not?" The rest of the shows that pop up on
video, usually look like soup. Maybe there's more out there, and
maybe one day it will surface.
I've got something to say
I decided to do a feature on the MISFITS, when someone
asked me, "Who's that doing a METALLICA song?," as I was
playing "Green Hell" on my box.
The feature consists of my own personal comments about the
MISFITS, along with interviews with Jerry Only & Bobby Steele.
Jerry and Bobby were both very polite, and helpful to me, with this
story. Both guys were friendly, and spoke fondly of their days in
the MISFITS. I'd like to thank them for giving me their time
for the interviews.
If you are a fiend, I hope this feature will give you some new
info, or some new outlook, on the MISFITS. If you are not a
fiend, I hope this article will spark your interest enough to seek
out and hear some of the bands brilliant music, you'll be happy you
did.
My half-ass educated guess is that in 1994, a new form of the
MISFITS, will walk (hopefully) tour among us.
I remember Halloween
Top ten MISFITS songs
Of the 52 MISFITS songs, here's my favorite 10:
Note: this list changs about every month
1. 20 EYES
2. LONDON DUNGEON
3. HALLOWEEN
4. LAST CARESS
5. SKULLS
6. HATEBREEDERS
7. BRAINEATERS
8. DEATH COMES RIPPING
9. HALLOWEEN II
10. ATTITUDE
INTERVIEW WITH BOBBY STEELE
Q: What was it like when you first joined the MISFITS? What was
going on?
A: I was led to believe that they were alot bigger than they were.
But, you know, it turned out it was a fun band to play in and
stuff. Despite a couple of personal gripes that I had with them,
and stuff, you know, I figured I would stick with it because I
really thought the band was gonna be something big. They had the
potential to be something big if they handled things properly. I
tried to get them to do that but they just didn't seem to like
really, you know.....
Q: Was the horror image happening then?
A: Not when I first joined, that kinda came a like few months
afterwards.
Q: So did you have part in bringing that into the band?
A: Nah, that just happened.
Q: Were all you guys into that stuff as kids?
A: Yeah, we were all like horror movie fanatics, and stuff so, you
know, it added to it.
Q: What was Arthur Googy like in the MISFITS?
A: He was a wacko. Just to put it in the simplest terms, this guy was
a wacko. This guy was just like so hyper, and like if he wanted to
do something he did it and he did it great. I had met hime through
his girlfriend, who was a friend of mine, and just kinda mentioned
that we were looking for a drummer, and she was like "Oh, my
boyfriend plays drums." So, y'know we hooked up with an audition,
and he was great. And then when I was driving him home, after the
audition, he admitted to me that he had never played an entire song
before, in his life y'know, and it was like the guy was incredible.
Always seemed to be like the kind of guy that he sets his mind to
something, he does a great job of it.
Q: Have you been in touch with him at all since the MISFITS?
A: Yeah, I just saw him yesterday. He still lives around New York.
Y'know, I run into him every couple of months, and stuff.
Q: Is he doing anything music related that you know of?
A: I don't think so. He...he...he's insane...to put it...to put it
bluntly, guy's like, y'know so unpredictable, you never know. I
remember one day turning on my TV and seeing a fuckin' Levi's
commercial that was just, it was just Googy, that's all the
commercial was, was just Googy, the whole commercial. And another
time, I'm watching TV and this Burger King commercial comes on and
there's Googy, eating Whopper, so you never knew where the fuck he
was gonna turn up next.
Q: That'd be classic to have on tape.
A: Oh man, I'd love to have that on tape.
Q: What all did you actually record with them (The MISFITS) that was
released?
A: Ok, let's see: There was HORROR BUSINESS Ep, NIGHT OF THE LIVING
DEAD, THREE HITS FROM HELL, & HALLOWEEN. And, there's a bunch of
stuff on that 20 hits Cd. It's pretty much like all the WALK AMONG
US songs. The different versions of the WALK AMONG US songs on
there are older versions with me on guitar.
Q: What was it like when you guys were in the studio? Did you try
to set an atmosphere?
A: No, it was like... I remember the first recording session: By the
time the rest of the band the showed up, I was like, so drunk,
because they showed up about 3 or 4 hours late. And I was just
like sitting there, and there was all this liquor sitting there and
stuff. So I was just waiting and waiting and like started drinking
and stuff, figuring "ah, they'd be here any minute" y'know? Just
kept drinking, and by the time they'd got there, I was like,
y'know? I was pretty drunk.
Q: Shit like that happens sometimes.
A; Yeah, but you know? That was about the only atmospheric thing we
did. Then we had recorded the guitar through like...Jerry had
brought his bass amp, which was, I think like 3 or 4 hundred
watts, and they didn't bring an amp for me. They just, you know?,
expected me to use this studio amp, which was like this 20 watt
Music Man practice amp. And ah, we had like no separation between
the amps and stuff, and my amp was about 3 feet away from Jerry's
amp, so like anything that Jerry played just bled into my tracks
and shit, so it was a pretty messy recording.
Q: I guess that was pretty hard to mix.
A: Yeah. Especially when we mixed it, it was like the Monday after Sid
had died, and Jerry was like driving Sid's mother around to police
stations and hospitals and mortuaries and all that kind of shit,
all weekend. In the studio, y'know?, it was kind of a depressing
situation, everybody was like, just like really fucked-up. It was
just a matter of like: "well I can't hear enough guitar" so we'd
turn the guitar up, "now I can't hear the snare", "ok, turn the
snare up", and when we just couldn't turn anything up anymore, we
just said "well, I guess that's it then." That's the way it came
out.
Q: Were you up there that day Sid died too?
A: No I wasn't. I had been invited, but Jerry, y'know?, the person
who was throwing the party had called Jerry and said, "look
y'know?, the MISFITS are invited" and y'know?, Jerry never told the
rest of us. He just went there by himself. It was kind of like one
of Jerry's things was Jerry always wanted everything for himself.
That was just another expression of his selfish behavior, he never
told the rest of us that we had been invited to this party. I
found out, I guess about 2 or 3 months later. On Sid's birthday,
I ran into Michelle Robinson, and she told me that she had called
Jerry and told Jerry to y'know?, invite all the MISFITS, but you
know?, Jerry just took it upon himself not to. Actually, the whole
thing of the party was that Sid wanted to talk to me, Jerry, and
Joey about blowing off Glenn and joining him.
There was an article in ahh..., it was the Soho news, back then,
like you know?, talked about the whole thing, Sid was talking about
having the MISFITS become his back-up band and shit.
Q: That would have been pretty wild.
A: That would have been really wild man, 'cause you know, at that point
Sid had like realized that he was on his way to some major stardom.
He had no intention of dying. He saw all the response he was
getting from all these little girls that were seeing the MY WAY
video on TV.
Q: So, you think that would worked out cool, you guys backing him up?
A: Oh yeah, it would've been great. We would have been rich, you
know? And Sid would still be alive.
Q: Was there much drugs around the MISFITS, and the people who hung
out with the MISFITS?
A: Oh yeah. Back then it was just like, y'know?, you didn't even
think about it, it was just there, and you did it. It was so
common. I could tell you a million stories. You know?, people
just coming up to and giving you stuff because you're a MISFIT. It
got out of control sometimes. Sometimes, it got really out of
control. I mean, I can remember times, just like being comatose,
just like nothing else would move. Sitting at Max's just being so
fucked-up on something that I had sniffed, that I shouldn't have
sniffed. It was just like, I wasn't breathing, I was just like, I
was paralyzed. I knew everything that was going on around me and
people were freakin' out goin, "Bobby, Bobby, wake up, wake up."
I was just sitting there not moving.
Q: Were you like playing smashed too?
A: Yeah, pretty much, ya know? I remember my first MISFITS show, we
went in there and there was supposed to be, we were supposed to be
going on first, there was some other band going on after us. That
band never showed up. So, the management of Max's said "look, we
want you guys to go on later." So, here we were, already partying,
expecting to go on like a half hour later, and all of a sudden, we
had to extend our party another hour and a half. So, you know?, by
the time we went on stage, we were pretty fucked-up. It was cool.
Q: What were your favorite gigs with the MISFITS?
A: It's hard to say. The gigs we did with THE DAMNED, were pretty...
Q: In England?
A: No, in New York. That was pretty memorable, that was when the
MISFITS like made our mark. That was when we finally showed New
York City that we were here and we meant business. It was the
first time we played in front of like a really big crowd. It was
great.
Q: THE UNDEAD has been together now for what, 11, 12 years?
A: 12 years now.
Q: The last new stuff I heard was LIVE SLAYER, what else has come
out since?
A: THE INVISIBLE MAN 45, EVENING OF DESIRE 12inch, and THERE'S A RIOT
IN TOMPKINS SQUARE 45.
Q: Do you sell alot of 45s still, during these Cd times?
A: Yeah, we still move 45s. It's not like it used to be,
unfortunately everybody's kinda like slumped into this whole Cd
thing. Cds are great but, you know?, I still like vinyl. Why
spend 5 or 6 bucks for a Cd single, when you can get a vinyl single
for 3 or 4 bucks. You can't do color vinyl Cds, some things you
just can't do on Cds, that you can do on a record.
Q: How was the tour you just got off of?
A: This tour I don't really count, because we booked this tour with a
professional booking agency, and it was the worst tour we have ever
done. We never received any signed contracts for any of the shows
we did, so we took a big gamble going out there. You know, we've
still got money owed to us, and stuff you know, that I really don't
expect to ever see. I lost almost $800 on this, you know, 10 days
on the road & I lost $800. So you know, it wasn't too pleasant.
Q: It's alot harder than alot of people realize.
A: Yeah, I get people like this Dave ? who keeps writing to
MaximumRocknRoll about how like, you know, I got paid $450 for a
show that his band opened up on, and the opening bands had to split
$65. They came and asked me for 20 bucks for gas and I said, "I
can't afford to give you $20." You know, they don't want to
understand that it cost alot of money when you are traveling, even
though I was traveling by myself, I still had all this MIDI
equipment that I had to pay off. I had hotel rooms, I got food, I
had medical expenses, in fact, right after that show, I had to
drive all the way back to NY to go to a doctor and you know, get
close to a hundred dollars worth of medical treatment. People
don't understand, there are alot of expenses when you are on the
road. It's not like you can just sleep on somebody's dirty floor,
and eat McDonald's. It's about time that people that read
MaximumRocknRoll realize that musicians are human beings and we're
not slaves. They can't keep treating us like the slave traders
treated their niggers back in the 1800s. Basically, that's
MaximumRocknRoll's fuckin' attitude about musicians, you're all
niggers and you do what we want, you never have a right to make a
fuckin' penny off of it.
Q: Some people don't understand that people aren't in punk rock
bands, living with their mom & dad anymore.
A: Yeah. I'm living in like a ghetto in NYC, I got drug dealers
standing outside my apartment, giving me shit every fuckin' day,
breaking into what's left of my car, you know? And ah, you got
these guys that write into MaximumRocknRoll, and they're making a
thousand times more money than I'm making. Not that they make much
money, but believe me, they're making alot more than I'm making.
I'm sick of people that write to me, and they want to know what I
do with my profits from THE UNDEAD. I write back and ask "what do
you do with the money that you make at Burger King?" What business
is it to you what I do with the money that I make, if I ever make
money? People don't realize. You know, MaximumRocknRoll has
twisted & manipulated what they have decided what the punk scene
should be, to satisfy their needs. You know, they tell kids money
is evil, so send us your money, and we'll free you from this evil.
Meanwhile these guys are sitting on record collections that are
probably worth fuckin' millions. They've probably got homes that
are paid for, and all kinds of shit, and they're going out, you
know, they're covering their asses by attacking everybody else with
accusations, and nobody gets back and investigates them. I'm sure
that if starts really investigating MaximumRocknRoll, they would
find out that these, you know "causes", that they are donating all
their profits from MaximumRocknRoll to, are actually their own
causes. Just the fact that that one of the people they seem to
like choose to attack more than anybody else, is some fuckin'
cripple, that lives in a fuckin' ghetto in NYC, and has been robbed
fuckin' millions of dollars by this industry, it just says to me
that there's something real shady about these people.
God forbid Bobby Steele says "MaximumRocknRoll looks at musicians
as niggers", God forbid Bobby should say the word "nigger." I use
that word because that's the best word I can find for it because
that's the way white people looked at black people, back in the old
days, and looked at their rights. That's exactly the way
MaximumRocknRoll people treat musicians. It's no different. I'm
sure you read MaximumRocknRoll, and you've seen the letters,
they've opposed in the past year. You know, all the evils of Bobby
Steele. Dozens of people that have written to me, and told me that
they've written letters to MRR, supporting me, defending me, and
not one of those letter has been printed. That makes MRR fuckin'
waging a slanderous campaign against me. They've even gone as far
as.....I've purchased advertising from them, earlier this year, I
purchased two 1/2 page ads, one for THE INVISIBLE MAN 45, which
they printed, the other one was an ad warning people about people
who were defaming me by advertising fake UNDEAD shows when they had
no show booked. MaximumRocknRoll took that money, and never
printed that ad.
Q: Did you get the (cashed) check back?
A: I got the check back, cashed, and I'm getting ready to write them
a letter saying "what is going on here?" How come I've got proof
that one ad was printed, but I never got proof that the other ad
was printed. This is the first time I like really kept an eye on
things, because, before I said to myself "didn't I by an ad from
MRR & I never saw it printed?" So this time I decided, well I'm
gonna keep a close eye and see what happens, and it's been six
months, seven months, and that second ad still has not come out.
Q: How has the scene changed over the years, or has it?
A: I've noticed a change in some places, when you get to towns that
been influenced by this whole Seattle thing. You know, I'd rather
be playing at a fuckin' nursing home. `Cause these fuckin' kids,
they'll fuckin' sit around in their fuckin' flannel shirts and their
fuckin' ski caps, when it's a hundred and fuckin' five degrees
inside, and they just sit there. You know, I mean it could be
their favorite band, they could fuckin' love you, but they're just
sitting there like a bunch of fuckin' old ladies. You don't get
the response.
Q: What's next from the UNDEAD?
A: I don't know (laughter). I don't know what's gonna happen
next. We were gonna be going into the studio, right at this point,
but I'm like laid up with my foot now. What I'd like to do is come
out with another single, as soon as possible, and then follow that
up with an LP. You know, as soon as we can find a label to put it
out, and not screw me too badly.
Q: Will the Lp have like some of the singles you've put out recently?
A: Yeah, we're gonna like do new versions of the songs on the
singles. Part of the problem is, I haven't gotten paid for any of
the records I've put out, through other labels yet. Like right
now, LIVE SLAYER, I haven't seen any money off of that, I think
it's sold, you know, somewhere between 15 & 20 thousand copies.
Q: What label is that on?
A: Skyclad Records. I've been trying to get ahold of him, to
find out what's going on with the royalties, he never answers the
phone when I call. When I check my machine, like two or three days
later, there will be messages like you know "I'd appreciate it if
you'd stop calling me." I'm working on a lawyer right now to take
his ass to court, the way the contract was written and stuff,
there's like anywhere from 20 thousand to 50 thousand dollars in
royalties that he owes me.
Q: That's alot of money.
A: Yeah, that could be the next UNDEAD album.
Q: Who's playing with you now?
A: Right now, I've got Jeff O'Hara on drums, and Anthony D'mata on
bass.
Q: Were they on the road with you this last time?
A: Yeah.
Q: Are they happy with the way things are going with the UNDEAD?
A: I don't think Jeff is. Anthony is happy but, you know, Jeff,
he just complains about everything. So, I don't think he's like,
really planning on staying with us too long.
Q: Are you doing any MISFITS tunes in your set now?
A: Yeah, we're always pulling out different things, you know, lately
we've been doing "I TURNED INTO A MARTIAN", "BULLET", and we're
going to be pulling out a few more surprises, I think we're gonna
pull out like a real big surprise for the next tour, do a MISFITS
song that nobody's ever heard the MISFITS do.
Q: Well, I guess that's about it, man.
A: That's it huh? Don't want to ask me anything about the Jerry
Only interview in UGLY THINGS, I guess, huh?
Q: Well...um...
A: I'm working on tearing that interview apart, limb from limb.
Q: What...What do you,... I mean do you find things untrue about
it?
A: Yeah. Not just untrue, but provably untrue. I mean like, he
(Jerry Only) starts out in the beginning of the interview saying
how like, he was grooming Doyle for a place in the band. Ok, they
got me, you know, he's basically saying, when Bobby came into the
band, Franche had just left, I was grooming Doyle, Doyle wasn't
ready yet, so we needed someone to fill in until Doyle was ready.
So, at that point, he's saying, that we were just using Bobby
Steele. But then later on, he's saying that they kicked me out of
the band because I was a fuck-up. Ok, so it's you know, what's the
story? Did you kick me out because you were just using me in the
first place, until you felt Doyle was ready? Did you kick me out
because, I wasn't showing up for rehearsals? When actually what
was going on was Jerry was telling me there were no rehearsals.
Was it because of the story about the recording sessions......
Q: What was the story about the recording sessions, you being drunk?
A: Right, and not showing up. Jerry was the ride. Jerry was the
one who was picking me up and taking me to the studio everyday, and
all of a sudden one day, he doesn't show to pick me up. I called
his house and his mom was like "well, he left a couple of hours
ago." I called the studio, and he tells me he just got his
corvette back and he wanted to take it, that there was no room for
me, and I'd have to take a train out. That means I'd have to take
a train with my guitar, a Marshall stack, a bunch of effects
pedals, ok, I only got one fuckin' free hand, because I walk with
a fuckin' cane. I was like "Jerry, even if I could get the stuff
out there, by the time I get there, I'm gonna be in no condition to
play." He said he guessed he'd have Doyle do it. You know, it was
all calculated, he already had Doyle there.
Q: Do you think the band wanted you out, but didn't want to tell you?
A: I don't even think Glenn was like, totally on to what was
going on. I think this was something that Jerry took on his own,
you know, he just took his own initiative in doing this. I don't
think Glenn really knew what was going on.
Q: Well, Who was running the show in the band?
A: Glenn was running the show for the most part, but every now &
then, Jerry could pull something that would, like manipulate Glenn.
Glenn wouldn't realize it. But, generally, you know, Glenn was on
top of things. But then, Jerry wasn't always the most loyal person
to the band.
Another thing that Jerry says in that UGLY THINGS interview,
he talks at one point, he says WALK AMONG US is the ultimate
MISFITS, that that's the way he wanted the MISFITS to
sound. He's talking about songs like "SKULLS", and.....
Q: "ASTROZOMBIES"
A: "ASTROZOMBIS", he names a couple of songs. But Glenn wanted
things to be thrashy. Then as you go further into the interview,
almost to the very end, Jerry's talking about KRYST THE
CONQUEROR, and he says "...I thinks it's the way the MISFITS
shoulda went." It's speed metal. It's a contradiction, because
it's not what he earlier said he wanted the MISFITS to sound
like. It's this speed metal thing that he's saying, you know, he
never wanted. So the guy is just like so bad at lying, that he
can't even keep consistent within the same conversation. And then
these fuckin' idiots that fuckin put out this magazine, who have
the nerve to fuckin' write to me and say they're a fan of mine, you
know, when they've interviewed me before and never printed the
interviews, and then they print this shit, you know, fuck that
shit.
Q: Seems like they would have printed your interview too, that issue.
A: Their excuse was they felt that Glenn and I had had our say
in other interviews and Jerry never really had his say in an
interview. I got a Jersey Beat from last year, or two years ago,
where Jerry like did a whole big interview, and it was the same
shit, just putting his foot in his mouth. He talks about Glenn &
Bobby living off the MISFITS name and that he's above that.
Then he puts out KRYST THE CONQUEROR CDs with stickers on it
saying "featuring ex-MISFITS." Up to that point, I hadn't even
done yet. It wasn't until LIVE SLAYER, that was the first
UNDEAD thing that came out with stickers saying anything about
the MISFITS, on it.
Q: I don't think anyone of you guys are "living off" the MISFITS
when you do that, y'all were in the band, you're not getting any money...
A: We deserve it. You know, shit, from all of the MISFITS
stuff that's been sold, that I'm entitled to, you're talking at
least a half million dollars. We had an agreement that me, Glenn,
Jerry, & Googy were all like equal, we all equally owned equal
shares of the band. So, basically anything that got split up after
that was not my share. If they wanted to kick me out, and bring in
Doyle, then they would have to split, their three fourths, four
ways and when they got rid of Googy, then they would have to split
what's left of that among, you know, with Robo & shit. They're not
going to take my share and spilt it with people. It was a bad
deal. It wasn't even just the money thing, afterwards, they had
to start fuckin' lying about me and slandering me, and threatening
promoters, that if they booked the UNDEAD, they would never get
the MISFITS back, and shit like that, so that for five or six
years, I couldn't even get a fuckin' gig. There's record companies
that want talk to me.
Q: Who owns PLAN 9 RECORDS?
A: Glenn. Well actually, me, Glenn & Jerry, own PLAN 9 records.
That was our agreement. Ok, what is was, was Joey Image no longer
wanted to take any risk in the band. He wanted to get paid a
salary for every gig. So we told him "Ok, but if you get paid a
salary, you're no longer in the band, you're just a sideman, and at
that point, we decided that me, Glenn, & Jerry are the MISFITS,
and we're PLAN 9 records, and we all own equal.
Q: Were there any contracts?
A: No, it was all just like on a hand shake.
Q: So, Glenn owns it on his own now?
A: Well, he thinks he owns it on his own. That's the way he
operates it, but technically, legally he doesn't.
Bobby Steele on Caroline records.
They won't even like, listen to my stuff. They just give me
total lip service, I mean here they are, they're making fuckin alot
of money off of my fuckin' performances, I'm getting no money for
it, and then they're fuckin', you know, treating me like I'm some
fuckin' nobody that's trying to get his first record deal.
They're afraid that if they do anything for me, it's gonna piss
off Glenn, and Glenn's not gonna give `em that last, great, missing
MISFITS recording. Which, you know, doesn't exist. Pretty
much everything's been released, in fact, the only "lost"
MISFITS recordings that are probably still out there, are the
ones that I own. I've never said this before, but I've got live
tapes of the MISFITS. When I first left the band, I made
copies for a bunch of friends and stuff, without thinking anything
of it, but I've still got the originals. Hey, I coulda fuckin'
bootlegged the shit, but I didn't. I should get some kinda
respect, just there on that.
Bobby Steele on his part in the creation of "LONDON DUNGEON."
I was in jail with Glenn (in England). I just turned to
Glenn, I was like, we should like, you know,... `cause I'd seen
these brochures for London Dungeon. I don't know if you know what
that is, but that's kinda like one of these haunted house type
things they have out there, like a wax museum. I actually, in the
cell by myself, the night before, like came up with the idea, and
then when I got together with Glenn, I said "We should like, make
a song about this called "LONDON DUNGEON". We were like sitting in
this cell, it was like 10 feet perfectly square, you know, solid
painted walls, it was real echoy in the room, and stuff, and we
were just like slapping the beat out on our legs, and humming
that.....(hums intro guitar music), and it sounded so cool in that
cell, that it just, you know, stuck. Glenn took it from there.
Bobby Steele On G.G. ALLIN
I avoided G.G. like the plague.
Bobby Steele On TV
I grew up in the sixties. I remember there was so many
fuckin' weird TV shows back then.
On legalization of marijuana
It's gonna come around......We've got three former pot smokers
in the White House right now. Well, two former smokers, and one
that just ate brownies. He said he didn't inhale, he said "I tried
it but I didn't inhale." He was eating brownies, obviously, you
know.
Thanks to Bobby Steele for his time he devoted to do this
interview.
AN INTERVIEEEEW WITH JERRY ONLY
JULY 1993
A: 3700 (said by receptionist at Proedge factory)
Q: Is Mo in?
A: Hold on.
Q: What was it like working with Aurthur Googy? Do you see him often?
A: I haven't seen him in a long time. Googy's real good people.
You know, Googy's a good guy.
Q: A few years ago, I read about a KRYST THE CONQUEROR comic book
coming out. What's happening with that?
A: Basically, we don't have the funds to pay an artist to sit
down and do the whole thing. It's still under the works, it's just
you know, it's funding. Bottom line is we need some cash to get
the job done.
Q: So, you want to put out the book yourself?
A: Well, I'm going that way, if somebody wants to step in and
pick up the band, and you know that kind of thing, I would love to
run it through somebody with some type of calliber.
Q: Have you ever heard of revolutionary comics?
A: No
Q: They're doing alot of rock comics. It's suprising they haven't
done a MISFITS issue yet. They're doing some neat stuff with
KISS. Are you a big fan of KISS?
A: Yeah, I liked KISS. I liked KISS when they first came
out, after they got going, they kinda sucked. I saw their DRESSED
TO KILL, tour. After they got too, ah....cosmetic, you know what I
mean? With all the bullshit, then once the band split up, and they
went and they got the other guys in the band, it was never the same.
Yeah, I like KISS, but I'm not a big collector, let's put it that way.
Q: Were you influenced by them at all?
A: No, not really. David Bowie is the one that I liked. I was
really into bowie when I was in high school, right before we
started the MISFITS. I was into KISS when I was like a
freshman or a sophomore. By the time I was a senior I was more into
like ....David bowie was doing the "Diamond Dogs" thing, and stuff
like that. So, KISS was cool, but you know, I wouldn't have
wanted to be KISS, let's put it that way.
Q: Is the Doyle Fan Club still going on?
A: Well, The Doyle Fan Club, see, we formed three different
corporations. We formed the fan club. We formed KRYST THE
CONQUEROR, which was the band, and then we formed CYCLOPEAN
MUSIC, which is our record label/publishing company. The Doyle
Fan Club, what wound up happening was, I used The Doyle Fan Club,
as a, like a messenger to get people, who were still into the
MISFITS, into seeing what we were up to. But, at the same
time, I didn't want to use the name MISFITS, and I didn't wanto
use Jerry Only in any way because of the lawsuit with Glenn. I
didn't want to have any contreversy where someone would go, "Oh
yeah, they're doing this, or they're doing that." So I used The
Doyle Fan Club as the name. The Doyle Fan Club, pretty much any
product that came out on The Doyle Fan Club, is over and done with.
So we legally shut down the company, but the fan club is still in
operation, through KRYST THE CONQUEREOR, or CYCLOPEAN MUSIC.
So, if people want to buy a Doyle poster, or something like that,
they, you know, they still can. But The Doyle Fan Club is gone.
Whatever merchandise is left, you can get. But, there's very
little stuff left. I pretty much got rid of everything I had.
Jerry Only on the music industry
A: What it is, it's like sheep. They all..like, when they're
gonna slaughter them, they send them all down the chute, you know,
it starts as a giant herd, and it works it's way right down to
there's five of them, four of them, three of them, two of them, one
of them, and then you're down the chute. Record companies and the
industry in general, follow the chute. They want to sign bands
that are doing what is going on, and they don't look down the road.
They didn't do it when the MISFITS were around, and they still
don't do it today. So, if you wanna do something that's, you know,
swimming upstream, you gotta do it yourself. That's what sucks.
I mean, you know, 10 years ago, actually we're talking seventeen
years now, when the MISFITS first came out, nobody wanted to
book us, nobody wanted to hear what we had to do, anybody that was
interested in what we were doing, wanted to chang what we were
doing. "Oh yeah, but play it like this," what do you mean play it
like that? That's not what it is. That's the situation we wound
up getting stuck in. We roughed it out through the MISFITS,
until Glenn & I came to a little mis-...well not misunderstanding,
two different directions where people wanted to go, and after we
broke up, you know, ten years after the band started, people
started realizing what the hell was going on. METALLICA kinda
brought it back to life, by covering some of our shit.
On "ATTITUDE"
Q: If you read any of the MISFITS, they all say, oh Glenn
Danzig did everything. He created the planets, the moon, the
stars, ok, but, He didn't write "ATTITUDE" alone. "ATTITUDE" was
written by me, Glenn, and Franche Coma, who wrote the lead. Doyle
co-wrote "GREEN HELL" and didn't get credit for it. You know, we
were young when we did this, and we didn't know how the buisness
worked. It seems to be, in the long run, a big error, not taking
the thme to figure out how things worked. Glenn was a little wiser
to the game, and he knew where the money was gonna be made, and he
made sure that his name is all over the place, and everything is
going into his pocket.
T-shirts
A: I wanted Glenn to send me some t-shirts, `cause I had paid for
all the silk-screens that we use to do our t-shirts on. We moved
up into the country over here, we don't live near the city anymore.
So, when we moved here, all the young kids we hired to work for us
said "Oh, you guys were in the MISFITS, can you get me some
t-shirts?" I said "Well, let me see what I can do." So I had a
mutual friend, between Glenn & I, who use to work on our equipment,
I said "Hey look, do me a favor, ask Glenn to send me up about
fifty t-shirts, a couple of different ones." I figured what the
hell, I never took any money out of the band, I actually paid for
the silk-screens, the least he could do is run me off fifty shirts
for the kids. So the message comes back: "If you want MISFITS
shirts, go buy `em."
Q: Is there any MISFITS stuff out there that we haven't heard yet,
like maybe Glenn still has some unreleased stuff?
A: Well, I'll put it to you this way, I've got to buddies who are
like the ultimate MISFITS collectors. They've got like one of
the sixteen pink records that are supposedly around, and shit like
that. So they made me a tape of everything that's out there, and
pretty much it's either come out on boot, or .....there maybe tapes
that Glenn has of tapes, that we did, you know like at diferent
periods and times. In other words, "TEENAGERS FROM MARS" was
recorded with the STATIC AGE band, and then it was recorded later
with Bobby Steele, it came out as a single. But there is an
earlier recording, without Bobby on guitar. There's fifty two
MISFITS songs, that's not counting "RATT FINK."
Q: That was the only cover you ever did, right?
A: Yeah.
Q: Did you perform "SPOOK CITY USA" live, very much?
A: No. That song kinda sucked (laughter). That's kinda one of
the ones I wouldn't do. It always amazed me that Glenn wanted to
do it, and then when he did it, it sounded so shitty, that I
couldn't understand why. We had done it in the MISFITS, better
than he did it on his solo thing, so why the fuck do it? But, you
know, who the hell knows what goes through his mind.
On Bobby Steele
A: I don't wanna say anything bad about the guy, it does nobody
any good.
On brother Doyle.
Q: I was happy when Doyle finally got in the band. I had planned
on having Doyle in the band long before that, when he was fourteen
years old. He was ready to play, it was just not praticle. He was
in high school and shit, my folks were like "Hey, you can't go
dragging you brother around the country when he's supposed to be in
school."
On Sid Vicious
A: Sad situation. It aggravated the shit out of me that somebody
had that kind of hype going for them, and couldn't tie their own
fuckin' shoe. You know what I mean? I just saw the movie (THE
GREAT ROCK N ROLL SWINDLE), and it's so obvious that they screwed
this kid. He's in the fuckin' ground, and I don't know if
anybody's making money on the deal or not, but look who got the
short end of the stick. When Sid played in town, you'd sit back
and go "Wow, wouldn't you like to be him? You could play anywhere
you want, get a record deal." Then you realize right away, "Whoa,
I wouldn't want to be him for nothing." Who the hell wants to die
when they're 21? When I saw him play, I'd never met him, it was
before I'd met him. I was checking hime out, I was a big Sid
Vicious fan. When he came up, and he started singing, he really
sucked. After I met him, I found out that he was, you know a very
quiet kinda guy. They screwed this kid over. I was talking to him
about, you know, playing racket ball and shit, and getting in
shape. I said, "Yeah, you know, when you get out, you know you got
a good lawer. You'll probobly beat this. Nobody saw anything,
it's all specualtion. It sucks that you gotta go back to Ryker's,
but you know, hang in there. You've got a life ahead of you, if
you can get out of jail." All he had to do was come out with a
Billy Idol type album, and he was a hero. He would have been a
millionaire. He didn't see it, he couldn't tell the trees from the
forrest. I mean, he was a nice kid, but he died the next day. It
aggrivated the shit outta me, `cause here I am, working like a dog
twelve hours a day, and going out and running and lifting at night,
trying to practice my bass befor I get up the next day, and do the
same shit. And here's this motherfucker, with everything going for
him, and blew it. Even to this day, I'm happy I wasn't in his
shoes.
Drugs in the MISFITS
A: We'd go and buy a case of beer after the show, or something
like that, but you know, we never did like heroin or anything like
that. Never. That's why I kinda get aggrivated at Glenn going and
saying that shit, `cause he knew it wasn't true. I get tired
enough at the end of the day, you know what I'm sayin'? I try to
be productive. I think that doing heavy drugs is very
unproductive, and it doesn't do anything for you.
Q: How much do you bench press now?
A: About 305, I hurt my shoulder about a year and a half ago, I
was up to 315, Doyle was doing about 340. I'm going easy. When
you get hurt, not only do you lose, it takes you three times to
come back.
Favorite MISFIT tunes
A: "HATEBREEDERS and "ASTROZOMBIES".
Superbowl
A: I don't know about the Bills again. I would say the Saints
are gonna go, and maybe Washington.
Last words
A: Just keep your eyes open, and youre nose down. Try and, you
know, do the best you can, and all that. Rock n roll.
UNLESS NOTED OTHERWISE, ALL INTERVIEW, REVIEWS AND OTHER SHIT BY
HERMAN MUTANT.