GWAR is a horror-themed punk/metal band formed in Richmond, Virginia in 1984. The band became notorious through their outrageous stage show, which involve extravagant costumes and eye-popping sets that feature monsters, mutilation and mayhem. Each of the band members played a different larger than life character within the band, and they were as much a performance art act as a musical group.

The stage show, combined with the band’s extreme lyrics – often satirical and mocking – made the band a target for censors, especially in the UK, where, petty-minded MPs who had never actually seen or heard their act, called for them to be banned from performing in Britain.

GWAR was formed by Dave Brockie (stage character Oderus Urungus), vocalist and bassist with punk band Death Piggy, which used crude props in their stage show. He met Hunter Jackson (Techno Destructo) and Chuck Varga (Sexecutioner), both attendees of Virginia Commonwealth University who had set up “The Slave Pit”, a production space for Scumdogs of the Universe, a movie they intended to make. Brockie had an idea to use the costumes made for “Scumdogs of the Universe” and have Death Piggy open for themselves as a barbaric band from Antarctica, playing nonsense songs while sacrificing fake animals. The name of the joke group was “Gwaaarrrgghhlllgh”. Inevitably, the new band proved more popular than Death Piggy, and eventually took over, the name shortened to GWAR. The new band would have constantly changing line-up over the years.
The first GWAR album, Hell-O, was released in 1988 under Shimmy Disc Records, and was a mix of punk and metal styles. This was followed by Scumdogs of the Universe released by Master Records. 1990 also saw the band’s first home video, Live from Antarctica. The band were soon picked up by Metal Blade Records.

1992 saw the release of  America Must Be Destroyed. During this period, GWAR was (temporarily) banned in North Carolina because Brockie was wearing his “Cuttlefish of Cthulhu” codpiece, which led to his arrest. The album was accompanied by the movie Phallus in Wonderland, which documented the main concept and contained music videos for the album.

This Toilet Earth was released on 1994, to moderate success. The album received additional attention due to controversy surrounding “B.D.F.”, a song that graphically refers to taboo subjects such as sodomy, necrophilia, sexual molestation and mutilation. This period would see GWAR gaining some mainstream attention, with appearances on Beavis and Butt-head and the film Empire Records. In 1995, GWAR released Ragnarok, which had less success than previous records, possibly because of its more experimental nature. This experimentation was expanded on two years later in Carnival of Chaos. 1999 saw the release of We Kill Everything, a more punk inspired album that is apparently the band’s least favourite album.

Violence Has Arrived, released on November 6, 2001, saw the band returning to their thrash metal roots but ironically was the last recording for Metal Blade. This new, more serious metal approach resulted in the forming of side project, the Dave Brockie Experience, which aimed to continue the more satirical and experimental sounds that GWAR had toyed with while allowing the main band to be more focused.

War Party was released in 2004 on their new record label, DRT Entertainment. That same year the band released Live from Mt. Fuji, their first live album. In January 2006, GWAR opened a gallery show called “The Art of GWAR” at Art Space gallery in Richmond to display the many props, costumes, cartoons, paintings produced by The Slave Pit, GWAR’s art and effects studio. A month later, the band announced theor next album, Beyond Hell,, and in the summer of that year, they released the Blood Bath and Beyond DVD, containing  behind the scenes and vintage footage of the band.

In 2009, GWAR celebrated their 25th year as a band. Their eleventh studio album, Lust in Space, was released that year, through Metal Blade Records. On November 9, 2010, they released their twelfth studio album, Bloody Pit of Horror named after the Italian 60s film of the same title.

On November 3, 2011, guitarist Cory Smoot, who had portrayed Flattus Maximus since 2002, was found dead by his fellow band members in the band’s tour bus as they prepared to cross the border into Manitoba, Canada from North Dakota. The cause of death was a coronary artery thrombosis brought about by his pre-existing coronary artery disease. On November 4, Dave Brockie officially announced that the character of Flattus Maximus would be retired out of respect to Smoot.

The frontman of the band, Dave Brockie died on March 23, 2014. His death was confirmed by band manager, Jack Flanagan reading “It is with a saddened heart, that I confirm my dear friend Dave Brockie, artist, musician, and lead singer of GWAR passed away at approximately 6:50 PM EST Sunday March 23, 2014. His body was found Sunday by his band mate at his home in Richmond, VA. Richmond authorities have confirmed his death and next of kin has been notified. A full autopsy will be performed. He was 50 years old, born August 30, 1963. My main focus right now is to look after my band mates and his family. More information regarding his death shall be released as the details are confirmed.”

Brockie’s death left GWAR without any founder members and the future of the band was uncertain until September 19th 2014 when it was announced that Vulvatron (Kim Dylla) would replace Brockie. GWAR introduced Vulvatron by creating official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. “My protocols are strained communicating through these ancient Earth systems,” she tweeted. “Next they will tell me you humans still use phones.” The group is next due to perform in Virginia on 15 October, kicking off a two-month North American tour.

Wikipedia

The Ghastly Ones are a surf–garage rock band from Van Nuys, California with a late-night monster movie theme.

The band was formed by two special effects make up/movie monster makers, Garrett “Dr. Lehos” Immel and Norman “Baron Shivers” Cabrera. They infused their love of Halloween records, late night monster movies and Screaming Lord Sutch with inspiration from early sixties surf and hot rod acts like The Lively Ones, Avengers VI, and The Del-Aires to create the first “spooky surf” band.

The band’s first show was at Al’s Bar on Halloween 1996, infamous in the punk world for several rowdy Misfits shows. During their early shows, the stage was often decorated with tombstones and cobwebs to give their performances the proper atmosphere.

Their unique sound and look caught the attention of Rob Zombie who released their first album in 1998 on his label Zombie-A-Go-Go Records, a subsidiary of Geffen Records. Subsequent albums were released on their independent label, Ghastly Plastics Co.

In 2007 The Ghastly Ones toured the East Coast and Japan for the first time and in 2009 they played Nottingham, England. Their music has been featured in the Halloween episode of SpongeBob SquarePants, “SpongeBob ScaredyPants” and the 2010 remake of Night of the Demons.

Selected Discography: 

A-Haunting We Will Go-Go, 1998 | All-Plastic Assembly Kit, 2005 | Target: Draculon, 2006 | Unearthed, 2007 | Gears n’ Ghoulfinks, purple vinyl 7″, 2009

Wikipedia | Official site

‘Killed by Death’ is a 1984 song by British heavy metal rock band Motörhead. Clearly an example of Lemmy’s metaphysical angst, hypnotic song Killed by Death did not chart and the promo video, directed by the manager of The Plasmatics, Rod Swenson, was banned by MTV for “excessive and senseless violence”.

View on DailyMotion

Wikipedia

Buy The Best of Motörhead CD from Amazon.co.uk

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Goatwhore is an American blackened death metal band (although they prefer to define themselves as playing “just straight heavy metal”), formed in 1997 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Goatwhore were created by singer/guitarist Sammy Duet following the breakup of his former band, Acid Bath. Soilent Green singer L. Ben Falgoust II, guitarist Ben Stout, bassist Patrick Bruders, and drummer Zak Nolan completed the lineup, which debuted with the demo Serenades to the Tides of Blood; Goatwhore’s proper debut LP, The Eclipse of Ages into Black, followed in early 2000. Funeral Dirge for the Rotting Sun appeared in 2003 before the band jumped to Metal Blade for the fall release of 2006’s A Haunting Curse. They performed at both Ozzfest 2008 and Ozzfest 2010.

In 2009, Goatwhore released their fourth album, entitled Carving out the Eyes of God, and toured with Obituary, among others. In January and February 2010, they embarked on the ‘Bound By The Road’ Tour with DevilDriver, Suffocation, and Thy Will Be Done.

In 2010, the band was confirmed as contributing to the soundtrack for Namco Bandai Games‘ 2010 remake of Splatterhouse.

In early 2012, the band released their fifth album, entitled Blood for the Master.

On March 10, 2014, the band completed recording their sixth album, Constricting Rage of the Merciless, which was released on July 8.

Buy on CD | Vinyl from Amazon.com

Buy on CD | Vinyl | MP3 from Amazon.co.uk

Albums:

The Eclipse of Ages into Black (2000)

Funeral Dirge for the Rotting Sun (2003)

A Haunting Curse (2006)

Carving out the Eyes of God (2009)

Blood for the Master (2012)

Constricting Rage of the Merciless (2014)

Wikipedia | Official site | Facebook | Metal Blade Records

Pet Sematary is a single by American punk rock band Ramones from their 1989 album Brain Drain.

The song was originally written by Dee Dee Ramone for the Stephen King movie adaptation of the same name. The single became one of the Ramones’ biggest radio hits, and a staple in their concerts during the 1990s. In the music video Dee Dee is shown playing bass. Blondie made a guest appearance.

Pet Sematary has been covered by a mass of artistes in a myriad of styles, from Anorak’s dancey version to orchestral and industrial versions.

Lyrics:

Under the arc of a weather stain boards,

Ancient goblins, and warlords,

Come out of the ground, not making a sound,

The smell of death is all around,

And the night when the cold wind blows,

No one cares, nobody knows.

[chorus

I don’t want to be buried in a Pet Sematary,

I don’t want to live my life again,

I don’t want to be buried in a Pet Sematary,

I don’t want to live my life again.

Follow Victor to the sacred place,

This ain’t a dream, I can’t escape,

Molars and fangs, the clicking of bones,

Spirits moaning among the tombstones,

And the night, when the moon is bright,

Someone cries, something ain’t right.

The moon is full, the air is still,

All of a sudden I feel a chill,

Victor is grinning, flesh rotting away,

Skeletons dance, I curse this day,

And the night when the wolves cry out,

Listen close and you can hear me shout.

Vincent Price Blues is a song by ZZ Top, composed by Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard, from their 12th studio-album, ‘Rhythmeen’, released in 1996. The song is a classic blues number but deviates into darker melodies as befits the subject of night time misbehaviour in the “graveyard shift”.

Lyrics:

Ah, there’s a rockin’ time on the borderline
Between sundown and up
There’s an off the wall cantina, man
Just waitin’ to tear you up
The locals know that in you go
And out con nalgas fried
Night descends, the fun begins
Way out the other side

But I didn’t say it, oh no no
Vincent Price said, “It’s alright”
Vincent Price said, “It’s okay”

There’s a very cherry charmer
Oozin’ groovin’ grease
She comin’ with the graveyard shift
A pleasin’ teasin’ squeeze
El jeffe holler mucho mas
Get some sucker’s ass inside
I think you know you gotta go
To get some satisfy

But I didn’t say it, oh no
Vincent Price said, “It’s alright”
Vincent Price said, “It’s okay”
It’s alright
Ah!

I’ve dined at Spago and Eclipse
And ‘What A Burger’ too
I’ve had mescal with lotsa gals
Along Fifth Avenue
I always shot the best they got
Dinero no problema
Ain’t no quarter south the border
In this off the wall cantina

But I didn’t say it, oh no
Vincent Price said, “It’s alright”
Vincent Price said, “It’s okay”
Vincent, Vincent Price said, “It’s alright”
Ah, Vincent Price said, “It’s okay”

“Vincent Price Blues” by ZZ Top, composed by Billy Gibbons / Dusty Hill / Frank Beard, from their 12th studio-album, ‘Rhythmeen’, released in 1996, track no. 5 of 12

“Vincent Price Blues” lyrics, ‘Rhythmeen’ [1996], and ZZ Top, respectively, @ AllMusic:
http://www.allmusic.com/song/vincent-…
http://www.allmusic.com/album/rhythme…
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/zz-top…

The official homesite for ZZ Top:
http://www.zztop.com/

ZZ Top’s VEVO here @ YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ZZTopVEVO

Local God – original title Dios local – is a 2014 horror film from Uruguay directed by Gustavo Hernández (The Silent House) from a screenplay by Santiago González. It stars Mariana Olivera, Gabriela Freire, and Agustín Urrutia

Plot teaser:

After a sequence of tragic events, a rock band composed of twenty-year-olds immerse themselves in writing a three-track concept album that deals largely with their guilt, fears and traumas. Each song has the distinctive quality of including the most heart-wrenching incidents lived by the band members, who wish to cope with their darkest moments through their music.

The band decides to withdraw to a far-away grotto to record the videos that will accompany their record. Once there, they unwisely trespass into an abandoned gold mine where they discover an idol made of stone. It is an ancient diabolical representation used by the Spanish conquistadors to frighten, subdue and enslave the natives under the rule of their local god. Having unleashed the spirit of the mine, the three youngsters will be unwillingly submerged in a dark and familiar realm: the world created in their record…

IMDb | Official site

“Who Was in My Room Last Night?” is the angst-ridden opening track from American alternative rock band Butthole Surfers’ sixth album, Independent Worm Saloon. 

The music video was directed by William Stobaugh, with animated sequences by Rob Zombie (The Devil’s Rejects; Halloween; The Lords of Salem). Flea, of rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers can be seen as a bartender.

Buy Independent Worm Saloon on CD from Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Lyrics:

I’m flying, I’m flying, I’m flying, I’m flying, I’m flying, I’m flying, flying away, I’m flying away

I’m flying, I’m flying, I’m flying, I’m flying, I’m flying, I’m flying, I’m flying

I’m flying, I’m flying, I’m flying, I’m flying, I’m flying, I’m flying

All night long, my body burned

The sheets were wet and cold

The lights were on, my eyes were gone

And any second lose control

The pounding on my window’s

Just the pounding in my head

I wonder who was in my room last night

Who the hell was in my bed?

There must have been a body there

I swear I felt some flesh

It took a little time, but I figured they were mine

There were fingers going down my chest

My mouth went through the ceiling

And my body fell to the floor

I couldn’t find a key ’cause there was no hole I could see

And someone had moved the door

The cops, the priest, the crisis line

And no one really had a clue

No one to tell us who was touchin’ me

Or exactly what I could do

My throat was dry, my hopes were high

But nothing really ever got said

But who was in my room last night?

Who the hell was in my bed?

Wikipedia

Cannabis Corpse is a marijuana-themed death metal band formed in Richmond, Virginia in 2006. Since then, Cannabis Corpse has released three albums Tube of the Resinated; Beneath Grow Lights Thou Shalt Rise; and From Wisdom to Baked, plus three EPs: Blunted at Birth; The Weeding and Splatterhash.

The band features members of Municipal Waste, GWAR, and Antietam 1862. Their name originates from a parody of the name for veteran death metal band Cannibal Corpse.

While the Cannabis Corpse songs are fully original, their album and song titles are parodies of many other death metal bands’ album and song titles (e.g. “Tube of the Resinated” is a take on Cannibal Corpse’s “Tomb of the Mutilated“).

In 1999, bassist/guitarist Philip “Landphil” Hall coined the “Cannabis Corpse” name with his brother Josh “HallHammer” Hall. The original line up had Landphil on vocals and a recruit named John Gonzalez (of Nehema) on guitar. John moved to Hawaii and the band was put on hold until 2006, when Phil bought a multitrack recorder. The brothers, along with Andy “Weedgrinder” Horn recorded a demo for the band, which eventually became Blunted at Birth. Soon thereafter, they were signed as the first band to Richmond, Virginia-based Forcefield Records. Guitarist Nick “Nikropolis” Poulos of the band Parasytic was asked to join prior to the first live performance by the band on April 20, 2007.

Brent Purgason joined the band in 2010 prior to a U.S. tour with Hate Eternal. The band would do their first and last shows as a five piece in 2010.

Cannabis Corpse toured Europe in 2013 with Ghoul, and announced that they had signed to Season of Mist.

Wikipedia | Official site | Facebook

All Nightmare Long is a song and music video by American heavy metal band Metallica, released as their fifth single from their ninth album Death Magnetic on December 15, 2008. The song is in Drop D tuning.

The music video, directed by Roboshobo (Robert Schober), debuted on December 7, 2008. The video, which does not feature the band, is an alternate history narrative done in grainy mockumentary style, depicting a sequence of fictional events following the historic 1908 Tunguska event, at which Soviet scientists discover spores of an extraterrestrial organism, a small harmless thing resembling an armoured worm. The video bears similarities to the 1940 Russian documentary Experiments in the Revival of Organisms, where animal experimentation to produce life extension is depicted.

However, it turns out the incredibly hardy spores are able to reanimate dead tissue, and subjects turn violent sometime after exposure to the spores; the USSR adapts them as a bioweapon and scatters them from balloons in a pre-emptive strike against the US, causing a localised zombie apocalypse before intervening militarily to distribute humanitarian aid.

At the end of the video, a hybrid US-USSR flag is raised in the now-Soviet-ruled America, and a headless corpse is shown breaching containment and escaping from a Soviet biowarfare lab…

Metal bands on Horrorpedia: All Nightmare Long by Metallica | Army of the Damned | Black Widow | Brainscan | Cannibal Corpse | Cannabis Corpse | Dead Banging aka Metalca | Day of the Beast | Demons | Demons 2 | Deranged | The Dungeonmaster | Electric Frankenstein | Ghost B.C. | Goatwhore | GWAR | Hack ‘O’ Lantern aka Halloween Night | Hellbilly Zombie Invasion | Hopkins (The Witchfinder General) by Cathedral | Hymen Holocaust by Necromance | Killed by Death by Motörhead | KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park | Queen of the Damned | Repulsion | Rock ‘n’ Roll Nightmare aka The Edge of Hell | Slayer | Slipknot | The Spanish Chainsaw Massacre | Trick or Treat | Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal | Zombie Nightmare

Wikipedia

‘Toe Cutter – Thumb Buster’ is a 2013 song by San Francisco-based indie rock band Thee Oh Sees. It was the second single taken from their album Floating Coffin.

The violent and disconcerting music video for ‘Toe Cutter – Thumb Buster’ was directed by John Strong, who previously directed the video for the band’s “Lupine Dominus”. The video depicts a killer dragging a body to his car in a seemingly empty car park, only to be disturbed by a horrified witness…

Buy Floating Coffin from Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

“The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Meet Dracula” was a double-episode of The Hardy Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries American TV series which aired for three seasons on the ABC network from January 1977 to January 1979.

The series starred Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy as amateur sleuth brothers Frank and Joe Hardy, respectively, plus Pamela Sue Martin (later Janet Louise Johnson) as detective Nancy Drew. Many of the episodes, such as “The Mystery of the Haunted House“,”The Mystery of Witches’ Hollow“,”A Haunting We Will Go“,”The Mystery of the Hollywood Phantom“,”The House on Possessed Hill“, and “Voodoo Doll” featured mild horror themes.

The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew were both successful book publishing franchises, owned by the Stratemeyer Syndicate, a publishing group which owned many popular children’s book lines.

The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries was unusual in that it often dealt with the characters individually, in an almost anthological style. That is, some episodes featured only the Hardy Boys and others only Nancy Drew. “The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Meet Dracula” marked the first time that the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew met and worked together…

Buy The Hardy Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries Season Two on DVD from:

Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

Plot teaser:

International investigator Fenton Hardy (Ed Gilbert) has gone missing whilst looking into art thefts and so his sons attempt to track him down, which leads them to Paris and then Munich. The Hardy boys hook up with a three piece rock band named The Circus, led by a chirpy English leader, who happen to be playing at a music festival in Castle Dracula hosted by a rock star named Allison Troy. Meanwhile, the boys encounter amateur sleuth Nancy Drew, who is also attempting to track down Hardy Senior.

All roads lead to Transylvania and soon local town dignitaries are being bitten by a vampire. Or so it seems…

Review:

It’s probably not worth waving up a big ‘spoiler’ once guest star Lorne Greene turns up playing a slightly-dour and mysterious Romanian Inspector. He’s clearly the villain-to-be and aforementioned “rock star” Allison Troy is obviously a red herring. Indeed, the playful plot positively encourages this development.

Somewhat arrogant Troy is amusingly played by diminutive composer/crooner Paul Williams (also in Brian De Palma’s 1974 movie Phantom of the Paradise), and is seen to be hosting a world-televised music fest to about twenty-five fans dressed as monsters such as Frankenstein’s creation and a werewolf! Alas, Bernie Taupin, lyricist for many of Elton John’s songs and one-time Alice Cooper collaborator, joins Williams’ on stage for some cringe-inducing soft rock that is only slightly eclipsed when Shaun Cassidy takes his star turn for insipid saccharine songs such as ‘Teen Dream’.

Soon, the Hardy Boys are creeping around Castle Dracula, being mildly troubled by the requisite bats and rats in the caverns, whilst an angry mob (“I say we burn the castle!”) are demanding justice for the mysterious near-deaths in the neighbourhood. All along, Nancy Drew is given less to do, but there is one great female empowerment moment when she floors a bewildered Frank Hardy with a swift move. Elsewhere, there’s some mild humour to be had with two former comedy Nazis being mocked as downtrodden employees at a hotel in Munich.

It all ends with the inevitable revealing of Lorne Greene’s character as the baddie hankering for power, yet there’s at least a coy suggestion that something supernatural was indeed going on. This being a double-trouble TV-episode, the amateur sleuths’ antics are somewhat protracted but, like old episodes of Scooby-Doo, its all done with ’70s-style campy fun and amiable enough to pass nearly a couple of hours if you’re in a pretty charitable mood and willing to endure the soft rock interludes.

Adrian J Smith, Horrorpedia

Choice dialogue:

“Why don’t we just come back in the morning? You can almost feel death!”

Wikipedia | IMDb

In the Shadows is a 2003 song by Finnish alternative rock band The Rasmus. The single achieved chart success throughout Europe and worldwide, including the United Kingdom, where it reached No.3. It is featured on the group’s fifth studio album Dead Letters. The song currently holds the record for performance royalties received abroad on a Finnish composition (overtaking the works of Jean Sibelius).

Three different music videos were produced to promote the single. The US/UK (Mirror) version is the most gothic and appealing. In the video, directed by Philipp Stölzl in Bucharest, Romania, the band are performing a concert in what looks to be an old Victorian mansion. During the verses, a maid is seen constantly busy serving the masters of the house in what appears to be the past of the mansion. The maid sees (lead singer) Lauri and the concert in mirrors on the walls, which causes her to become distracted, making mistakes and dropping trays. Eventually, while despairing over her errors in her room, she sees Lauri and all the fans in her mirror, while the master of the house is approaching with somebody else, possibly the head maid, presumably to reprimand the new maid. Lauri tugs her through the mirror in her room to where they are performing. She then finishes watching the concert. It concludes with the master of the house and the others entering to find the maid’s room empty.

Lyrics:

Wikipedia

White Zombie was an American metal band named after the 1932 horror film. Based in New York City, White Zombie was originally a noise rock band but is better-known for its later experimental heavy metal-oriented sound. The group officially disbanded in 1998.

White Zombie was co-founded by writer, vocalist and graphic artist Rob Zombie (later a solo artist and film director). Zombie’s girlfriend at the time, Sean Yseult, was the other co-founder. They then recruited Peter Landau to play drums. White Zombie’s first release, Gods on Voodoo Moon, was an EP and was recorded on October 18, 1985.

In 1986, the band started touring, making their live performance debut at CBGB on April 28, 1986. White Zombie released their second EP, Pig Heaven, that year.

In 1987, the band released their third EP, Psycho-Head Blowout. Later that year, the band released their first full-length album, Soul-Crusher, which was their first release to feature sound clips from movies in the songs and music samples, a trademark that would continue for the remainder of the band’s lifespan.

In 1988, the band signed to Caroline Records. Their second album, Make Them Die Slowly (named after the US release title of Cannibal Ferox), was released in February 1989. The album was a musical shift for White Zombie. While their previous releases had been strictly punk-influenced noise rock, Make Them Die Slowly had more of a heavy metal sound. This is also the first album crediting “Rob Zombie” instead of his previous stage name, “Rob ‘Dirt’ Straker”.

With J. G. Thirlwell of Foetus the band signed to Geffen. On March 17, 1992, White Zombie released La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One, the album which launched them into mainstream recognition.

The music video for the song “Thunder Kiss ’65” went into heavy rotation on MTV in 1993.

TV show Beavis and Butt-head began featuring their music videos, boosting the band’s popularity. By the end of 1993, the album had been certified gold. By the time the tour ended in December 1994, Zombie and Yseult had broken up, and La Sexorcisto had gone platinum. In 1995, Astro Creep: 2000 was released, featuring the hit single “More Human than Human“.

In 1996, an album of remixes was released under the title Supersexy Swingin’ Sounds. After making one last song for the 1996 film Beavis and Butt-head Do America, titled “Ratfinks, Suicide Tanks and Cannibal Girls”, White Zombie broke up in 1998.

After the breakup of White Zombie, Sean Yseult joined the surf rock band The Famous Monsters, and started playing bass for horror-themed band, Rock City Morgue. She also briefly played bass for The Cramps.

In June 2011, Rob Zombie told Metal Hammer magazine why the band split: “It had run its course. Success is a big thing that you can never plan for, because it affects everybody differently. I don’t want to blame myself or anyone else in the band — it’s just that the band didn’t work anymore. Rather than continuing on and making shitty records and having it all fall apart, I thought: ‘Let’s just end it on a high point'”.

Wikipedia

The Misfits are an American punk rock band often recognised as the progenitors of the horror punk sub-genre, blending punk rock and other musical influences with horror film themes and imagery.

Founded in 1977 in Lodi, New Jersey by singer and songwriter Glenn Danzig, the group had a fluctuating lineup during its first six years with Danzig and bassist Jerry Only as the only consistent members – a trend which continues to this day. During this time they released several EPs and singles, and with Only’s brother, Doyle, as guitarist, the albums Walk Among Us (1982) and Earth A.D./Wolfs Blood (1983), both considered touchstones of the early-1980s hardcore punk movement.

Buy Walk Among Us on CD from Amazon.co.uk

Named after the 1961 Marilyn Monroe film, the band stuck to the familiar template of riotous gigs and short, frenetic songs but embellished both themselves and the songs with classic horror imagery.

The revolving door of band members settled somewhat when Danzig was joined by Jerry Caiafa – his name-change was prompted by an early misspelling, to which he responded he should be referred to as “Jerry, only Jerry”. With Danzig on vocals, Only on his recently obtained bass guitar, they also featured Manny Martinez on drums – the lack of a lead guitarist necessitating Danzig to play electric piano to flesh out their sound. Martinez became one of many to occupy the drum stool, friction between new members and Danzig/Only and the rigors of touring forcing a succession of stick holders to flee.

By 1977 the band had recruited Franché Coma (born Frank Licata) on lead guitar, meaning Danzig could concentrate on both singing and developing his looming stage persona, whilst also ensuring the music became noticeably punkier and more aggressive. The position of guitarist also soon became vacant, with Coma replaced by Bobby Steele (later himself to form The Undead) and eventually settling on Only’s 16 year-old brother, Paul, who adopted the pseudonym Doyle.

Whilst their music later influenced many bands, their image had an even broader influence on fashion and style. By 1978, Danzig song-writing was taking many elements from horror movies, in particular many of the classic Universal films and 1950’s B-movies and science fiction. He began to appear onstage with skeleton designs on his clothing, whilst Only began to apply dark make-up and a hairstyle which became known as the Devil Lock, an extreme exaggeration of a widow’s peak – other band members also soon adopted this look.

Their place in rock lore was assured with the release of their single, “Horror Business” in June 1979, the cover of which featured the now almost omnipresent image of The Crimson Ghost, from the 1946 film serial. This simple but distinctive image became their logo and was soon featured on t-shirts, records sleeves, posters and a range of merchandise even Kiss would have been proud of. The skull also became the emblem for their fan club which was known as The Fiend Club.

Early support slots in New York for British punk rock pioneers The Damned promised much but breakthroughs were hampered by travel problems, poor organisation and the band’s habit of getting into fights at the drop of a hat. Early releases appeared on Mercury Records sub-division Blank Records, though the band later released recordings through their own Plan 9 label, named, of course, after the notorious Ed Wood film, Plan 9 from Outer Space. Whilst their first album proper, Static Age would not find a home until 1997 in its unabridged glory, their first full-length release to hit the shelves was Walk Among Us, the 1981 album release on Los Angeles-based Slash Records.

As the band’s image and sound became more widely known, the found themselves elevated to headliners, with bands such as the Necros in support. They continued to bait both audiences and unbelievers, their shows becoming must-see events, the spectacle onstage often spilling out into the hungry throng.

In 1982 they were arrested in New Orleans on charges of grave robbing while attempting to locate the grave of voodoo practitioner Marie Laveau, but bailed themselves out of jail and skipped their court date in order to drive to their next performance. The following year, before the release of their Earth A.D./Wolfs Blood opus, tensions between the band members reached new heights and by the time of their annual Halloween show, the situation became untenable, Danzig announcing to the audience that this would be their last show.

Danzig reappeared with a new project, Samhain, a far more heavy metal vehicle and featuring longer tracks and a more prominent role for the singer, who revelled in the new press adornment of ‘the black Elvis’. He would later release his best-selling work under his own name and regularly re-worked Misfits songs to fit in with his new style.

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Meanwhile, Only and Doyle returned to New Jersey, an unlikely finding of faith leading to the formation of the Christian metal band, Kryst the Conqueror. When Metallica covered the Misfits songs “Green Hell” and “Last Caress” the band received more attention than ever, a new audience eager to find out who they were. The compilation, Legacy of Brutality was released, as was the long-lost Static Age, with Danzig re-dubbing much of the original recordings to avoid paying the parade of ex-members.

Only contacted Danzig about receiving a portion of the royalties from these albums’ sales, beginning a legal battle that lasted several years and involved other past members of the band. All of the Misfits material had been credited to Danzig, and though Only later conceded that Danzig had written nearly all of the lyrics and most of the music, he contended that he and Doyle “wrote 25% or maybe 30% of the music” and deserved compensation. Danzig, however, insisted that he had written all of the songs in their entirety and that the other members’ creative input had been minimal. Eventually Only ceased his pursuit of songwriting credits and sought the rights to use the Misfits name and imagery, including the now-famous “Crimson Ghost” skull face logo. In 1995 the parties reached an out-of-court settlement that allowed Only and Doyle to record and perform as the Misfits, sharing merchandising rights with Danzig. Collection II, a third compilation of Misfits songs, was released later that year.

The murk of the proceedings led to Only and Doyle (now Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein!) reforming the band – both Danzig and Damned singer Dave Vanian declined to take part, unknown Michael Emanuel (dubbed Michale Graves) stepping into Glenn’s tiny shoes – David Calabrese (“Dr Chud”) handled the drums. This new collective released the album American Psycho in 1997, an album which firmly divided audiences, many original Misfits fans declaring it all but heresy. Regardless, 1999 saw the release of Famous Monsters, perhaps their most accessible work (or at least their most mainstream). Of note, is the track, “Scream!”, which was accompanied by a promo video directed by George A. Romero.

Further incarnations and releases appeared, up to the present day, band members as luminary as Dez Cadena of Black Flag and Marky Ramone appearing. On May 6th, 2014, it was announced that Glenn Danzig had filed a lawsuit against Jerry Only claiming Only registered trademarks for everything Misfits-related in 2000 behind Danzig’s back, misappropriating exclusive ownership over the trademarks for himself, including the band’s iconic “Crimson Ghost” logo. Danzig claimed that this violated a 1994 contract the two had. Danzig says that after registering the trademarks, Only secretly entered into deals with various merchandisers and cut him out of any potential profits in the process. He said that Only has purposefully led, and continues to lead, merchandisers, including Hot Topic, to believe that they are legally bound not to accept licenses to exploit the Marks from Danzig or his designees. He said that through this, Only has caused merchandisers not to do business with him and has deceived consumers as to the source of the merchandise which bore the trademarks. Danzig said a vast majority of Misfits fans associate the band’s trademarks with the “classic” Misfits era of 1977–1983 and not with Only’s more recent incarnation of the band. Danzig feels that through these misrepresentations to merchandisers and consumers, he has been caused to suffer damages in excess of $75,000. The case was ultimately dismissed, with Central District of California Judge Gary Klausner ruling that Danzig failed to allege which terms of the 1994 agreement Only actually breached.

Despite this, Only remains hopeful that Danzig will eventually return to the band. Their influence can been seen and heard in all subsequent horror-punk bands, horror-core outfits and many psychobilly acts. Their Crimson Ghost logo appears in many high street retailers and, as with the Ramones logo, are often worn by people who have little idea of the band themselves.

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Current members

• Jerry Only (Gerald Caiafa) – bass guitar (1977–1983, 1995–present), backing vocals (1977–1983, 1995–2000), lead vocals (2001–present)
• Dez Cadena – guitar, backing vocals (2001–present)
• Eric “Chupacabra” Arce – drums (2010–present)
• Jerry Caiafa II – guitar, backing vocals (2014–present)

Former members

• Glenn Danzig (Glenn Anzalone) – vocals, electric piano (1977–1983)
• Manny Martínez – drums (1977)
• Franché Coma (Frank Licata) – guitar (1977–1978)
• Mr. Jim (Jim Catania) – drums (1978)
• Bobby Steele – guitar (1978–1980)
• Joey Image (Joey Poole) – drums (1978–1979)
• Arthur Googy (Joseph McGuckin) – drums (1980–1982)
• Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein (Paul Caiafa) – guitar (1980–1983, 1995–2001)
• Robo (Roberto Valverde) – drums (1982–1983, 2005–2010)
• Brian Damage (Brian Keats) – drums (1983) (died in 2010)
• Dr. Chud (David Calabrese) – drums (1995–2000)
• Michale Graves (Michael Emanuel) – lead vocals (1995–2000)
• Myke Hideous – Vocals (1998)
• Zoltán Téglás – Vocals (2000)
• Marky Ramone (Marc Bell) – drums (2001–2005)

Discography

Studio albums:

• 12 Hits From Hell (1980)
• Walk Among Us (1982)
• Earth A.D./Wolfs Blood (1983)
• Static Age (1996)
• American Psycho (1997)
• Famous Monsters (1999)
• Project 1950 (2003)
• The Devil’s Rain (2011)

Daz Lawrence, Horrorpedia

He’s My Thing is a single by all-female punk rock band Babes in Toyland from their 1990 ‘Spanking Machine’ album, produced by Jack Endino (Mudhoney; Screaming Trees; Nirvana).

As if the track wasn’t scary enough itself, the accompanying music video, directed by Philip Harder, includes a plethora of creepy moving doll images that recall Stephen Weeks’ Ghost Story (1974).

Harder also created distinctive promo videos for bands such as Big Black, The Wedding Present, Afghan Whigs and Cornershop.

The song He’s My Thing subsequently appeared on the 1994 collection ‘Dystopia’. Babes in Toyland reformed in 2014 and are on tour around the world now…

Boris the Spider is a song written by The Who‘s former bass guitarist, John Entwistle. It appears as the second track of their 1966 album A Quick One. This song is claimed to be Entwistle’s first composition, and became a staple of live shows. Boris the Spider was written swiftly as a joke after Entwistle had been out drinking with the Rolling Stones‘ bass guitarist, Bill Wyman.

The chorus of “Boris the Spider” was sung in basso profundo by Entwistle (which possibly helped give birth to the “death growl“), with a middle eight of “creepy crawly” sung in falsetto. These discordant passages and the black comedy of the theme made the song a stage favourite and it was the only song from that album which lasted throughout the Who’s live career.

According to Pete Townshend in his song-by-song review of Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy for Rolling Stone, it was Jimi Hendrix’s favourite Who song. There is a Long Island beer company named Spider Island that produces a “Russian Imperial Stout” named Boris the Spider…

Wikipedia | Metal Injection

Frankenstein is a song by American rock band the New York Dolls, released on July 27, 1973, by Mercury Records as part of their major label album that tanked (much like The Velvet Underground and The Stooges, although these bands’ influence was long felt afterwards).

The band formed in 1971 and developed a cult following while playing regularly in lower Manhattan. However, they were unappealing to most record companies because of their onstage cross-dressing and gloriously trashy attitude.

The original New York Dolls eventually imploded amidst legendary drug binges and panic management by Malcolm McLaren. The Sex Pistols (“New York”) and Lords of the New Church (“Lil Boys Play with Dolls”) subsequently referenced the New York Dolls in negative and positive ways…

Lyrics:

Something must have happened over Manhattan
Who can expound all the children this time
Could they ever, could they ever
Expect such a Frankenstein, Frankenstein
I remember when you were jammin’
You worked at ‘em and any of them
There was never nothing you would ever understand
But you know who was there to be your master
Making his demands and plans
As though he’s making his friends
And when those plans they don’t mix your style
You get a feeling of your own ordeal
That’s when he starts calling you, wow
Bud, you just don’t know what to do
So now you come around here

The surreal promo video for single ‘Out of the Black’ by British rock duo Royal Blood – vocalist/bassist Mike Kerr and drummer Ben Thatcher – features animated aliens that morph back and forth into live action gas station robbers dressed as a rabbit, a pumpkin, snowman, a heart and an ice cream. The video was co-directed by David Wilson and Adult Swim‘s Christy Karacas.

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