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Song And Name Information

20 Eyes It's possible that the idea behind this song came from the 1965 horror movie "The Eye Creature." A newer theory suggests that the song was influenced by a certain scene in the 1957 horror movie, "The Fly."
All Hell Breaks Loose Some of the lines from this song may have been influenced by the 1972 horror movie "The Twins Of Evil."
American Nightmare This song may have been based on the 1980 movie of the same name. Contrary to legend, this song was not written for The Cramps; in fact, there was no Misfits song originally written for The Cramps. This song was recorded in one take by Glenn, Jerry, and Arthur with Jerry nodding his head to cue Arthur when to hit the drums. The hand clapping was added later.
Archangel Glenn Danzig wrote this song in 1981 for Dave Vanian of The Damned. Vanian was supposed to sing with The Misfits backing him up. They rehearsed together twice, but did not record anything. However, Glenn and possibly Jerry recorded the song at Mix-O-Lydian Studio in 1981. Glenn's original drum and guitar tracks were preserved and re-used on the Samhain version in 1984. Glenn first mentioned that the song was recorded in an interview in "Tales From The Crypt" fanzine in 1982, stating, "It's all recorded except for Dave's part if he gets around to doing it. If not Jerry will do it instead."
Astro Zombies This song is based on the 1968 horror movie "The Astro-Zombies."
Beware Bobby Steele e-mailed the following to the Misfits Bible on August 11, 1996: "Actually, this record had no name when we brought the tapes to England in '79. We kept noticing these signs "BEWARE BOLLARDS" everywhere. We had no idea that a bollard was a block that kept you from driving your car onto the sidewalk, but were amused at the tone of the signs. It made it sound like a bollard was some kind of beast that jumped out from behind the bushes and ate you. Just before handing the artwork to the guy from Bonapart, Glenn just scrawled the word "BEWARE" on a scrap of paper and slapped it on the artwork."
Blankety-Blank Music "Cough/Cool" and "She" were both originally published by Blankety-Blank Music, when the band's record label was Blank Records.
Bloodfeast This song is based on the 1963 and 1972 horror movie of the same name. Although he had originally intended it to be a Samhain song, Glenn decided to record this song with The Misfits in July 1983 as documented in the Forced Exposure #7/8 (1984) interview.
Blue Christmas Two live versions of this Elvis Presley song, written by Billy Hayes and Jay Johnson were recorded on 12/20/1978. They were later planned for release on the Max's X-Mas album in 1995 which was cancelled by Caroline Records.
Braineaters This song is based on the 1958 horror movie "The Brain Eater."
Bullet The lyrics to this song, as well as the cover of the EP itself, reflect Glenn Danzig's interest in the life and death of John F. Kennedy.
Can't Tell No One Originally recorded by Negative Approach, this song was performed live by The Misfits at Graystone Hall on 10/29/1983.
Cimson Ghost Inspired by the 12-part series from 1946, The Misfits used the Crimson Ghost on most of their albums and flyers. "The Crimson Ghost" series was released as a black and white 2-video set, as well as a single video edited movie called "Cyclotrode X." It was also released as a colorized movie called "The Crimson Ghost" in 1990.
Death Comes Ripping Although he had originally intended it to be a Samhain song, Glenn decided to record this song with The Misfits in July 1983, as documented in the Forced Exposure #7/8 (1984) interview.
Devilock The title of this song came from the devilock hairstyle originally invented by Jerry Only in 1979.
Die, Die My Darling The title of this song comes from the 1965 movie of the same name. The cover of the EP was taken from Chamber Of Chills #19, a comic book from September 1953.
Earth A.D. Some of the lyrics of this song refer to the 1977 horror movie "The Hills Have Eyes." The title may have come from the 1966 movie "Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 A.D."
Enter At Your Own Risk This 15 song album was compiled by Glenn Danzig in 1986. It was supposed to be released as a follow-up to Collection I. Glenn later compiled a different group of songs for Collection II which was then slightly altered by Caroline Records (more songs added). The first 2000 copies of the album were to come with special uncensored 10" sleeves. Although it was never released, a full track listing can be found in the picture on the first two pages of Eerie Von's liner notes in The Misfits Box Set. The track listing was as follows:
Side 1: Bullet | Horror Business | Teenagers From Mars | Night Of The Living Dead | Where Eagles Dare | Vampira | Skulls | I Turned Into A Martian
Side 2: 20 Eyes | Violent World | London Dungeon | Ghouls Night Out | Halloween | Die, Die My Darling | Mommy, Can I Go Out And Kill Tonight?
Evilive The cover of this album was taken from the 1957 horror movie "The Undead." Glenn later started a record label with the same name in 1997.
Evilive Music All Glenn Danzig songs released after 1986 were published by Evilive Music, including those originally published by Blankety-Blank, Static Age, Hell-bent, or Hellbent Music.
Evil Never Dies Used on the "Legacy Of Brutality" shirts originally sold through the Fiend Club, this phrase came from the 1957 horror movie "The She-Creature."
Feline Nursery This song was performed at some of the early Misfits shows in 1977. The chorus lyric was "I'm gonna throw away the key to the feline nursery." By the time The Misfits entered the studio in January 1978, Glenn had changed the lyrics and name of this song to "Spinal Remains." The true "Feline Nursery" was never recorded.
Ghouls Night Out The title of this song comes from the 1960 movie "Night Of The Ghouls."
Green Hell The title of this song is taken from the 1940 horror movie "Green Hell" or the 1957 sequel "The Monster From Green Hell."
Halloween Celebrating the Pagan tradition of Halloween, this song has nothing to do with the similarly titled horror movie from 1978.
Halloween II Celebrating the Pagan tradition of Halloween, this song has nothing to do with the similarly titled horror movie from 1981.
Harpies In The Night This song was performed at some of the early Misfits shows in 1977 before Franché Coma joined the band. The chorus lyric was "We scream like harpies in the night." It was never recorded.
Hell-Bent Music Most Glenn Danzig songs recorded from 1979 until 1986 were published by Hell-bent or Hellbent Music.
Hellhound This song may be based on the 1975 horror movie "Devil Dog - The Hound Of Hell." Another possibility is that it was based on a certain section of Milton's "Paradise Lost."
Hollywood Babylon This song may have been based on the Kenneth Anger book of the same name.
Horror Business According to Bobby Steele, this song was written about the death of Nancy Spungeon. Some inspiration also came from the 1960 horror movie "Psycho."
Horror Hotel The title of this song comes from the 1960 horror movie of the same name.
I Got A Right "I Got A Right" was written by Iggy Pop and James Williamson and recorded in July 1972 by Iggy And The Stooges during the Raw Power recording session. Although the recording was not released until 1977, the band performed the song live many times during the 1970s. The Misfits also performed the song live in the late 1970s, and supposedly recorded a studio version during the Earth A.D. recording sessions. The recording is first mentioned in an issue of "Thrasher" from 1986. According to Jerry Only, however, The Misfits didn't record ths song until 1997, when it appeared on We Will Fall: The Iggy Pop Tribute. For unknown reasons, James Williamson and Siamese Music publishing were credited on the original recording, but not the tribute album.
I Turned Into A Martian This song may have been influenced by the Ray Bradbury story "Dark They Were And Golden Eyed."
London Dungeon This song was based on Glenn Danzig's experience in a London jail in December 1979.
Mephisto Waltz This was a song that Glenn wrote that was never recorded while the band was together. According to Jerry, it was a song The Misfits only rehearsed twice together, as all the members of the band except Glenn did not like it. Glenn first mentioned it in the June 1986 "Thrasher" interview by Pushead, who misquoted the title as "The Crystal Waltz." In a later "Thrasher" issue, an article stated that Glenn had discovered a tape with this song on it. The version of this song that appears on the Collection II album and The Misfits Box Set was recorded by Glenn Danzig and Eerie Von in 1986, three years after The Misfits broke up. The title of this song may have come from the 1971 movie of the same name.
The Misfits The name of the band was taken from the 1961 movie "The Misfits" starring Marilyn Monroe. It was her last movie ever, and she, along with the other two main actors in the film, were thanked on the sleeve of the band's first single in 1977. The lettering style for the band logo from 1981 on (specifically the M, F, S, T, S letters) was stolen from the "Famous Monsters Of Filmland" horror magazine logo.
Night Of The Living Dead This song is based on the 1968 horror movie of the same name.
Plan 9 Records Glenn named the record label after the 1959 horror movie favorite "Plan 9 From Outer Space" starring Vampira and Bela Lugosi.
Queen Wasp This song may have been based on the 1958 horror movie "Queen Wasp" and possibly influenced by the 1960 horror movie "The Wasp Woman."
Rat Fink This Allan Sherman cover song was based on the Rat Fink toys created by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth. It originally appeared on Sherman's 1963 album My Son, The Nut. His version was a parody of the Ames Brothers' "Rag Mop" written by Wills and Anderson.
Return Of The Fly This song is based on the 1959 horror movie "Return Of The Fly," starring Vincent Price.
Rise Above Originally appearing on the Black Flag Damaged album, this song was performed live by The Misfits several times in 1983.
She This song is based on the life of Patty Hearst.
Spinal Remains Please see "Feline Nursery" entry.
Static Age Music Most Glenn Danzig songs recorded from 1978 until January 1979 were were published by Static Age Music. The two tracks on the Glenn Danzig Who Killed Marilyn? 7" were also published by Static Age Music.
Teenagers From Mars This song may have been influenced by the 1959 horror movie "Teenagers From Outer Space." The song title may also have been influenced by the 1953 movie "Invaders From Mars."
Triple Bill This 3 song EP was planned for release between the Halloween 7" and the Walk Among Us album, around January 1982. It was supposed to include "Hate Breeders" and two other songs.
TV Casualty The TV sound samples that appear at the end of this song were recorded randomly from a TV with a microphone. At about 6pm, the band turned on the TV and began recording, starting with Channel 11 ("Star Trek") and ending with Channel 5 ("I Love Lucy").
Vampira This song was written about the horror movie actress Vampira. There was also a 1974 movie with this title.
Violent World This song was based on the 1970s magazine of the same name which often included photographs of executions and other death scenes.
Walk Among Us The title of this album may have come from the 1956 horror movie "The Creature Walks Among Us." The creature on the left side of the album cover was taken from the 1959 horror movie "Angry Red Planet." The flying saucers were taken from the 1956 science fiction movie "Earth Versus The Flying Saucers."
We Are 138 Based on George Lucas's 1971 science fiction film "THX-1138," this song reflects the anonymity attached to living with a number for a name in a 25th century police state. On July 1, 1996 Bobby Steele e-mailed the following to the Misfits Bible:
"We used to have badges with a picture of a robot with 138 on his forehead. I wonder if Jerry has one, or remembers it... He [Glenn] used to tell us that if someone asked what it meant, we should just laugh, and in a mocking tone say "What? You don't know?" and sound real snobby when you say it. Make them feel like every idiot but YOU knows what it means."
Jerry Only told a similar story to a fan after a show on July 27, 1996:
"'138' is like people being treated as androids where you have a number instead of a name, so it's like the human number would be a 138... We had buttons made once, they were robots with '138' that looked like half human android kinda things, long before your Terminator or stuff like that."
Glenn Danzig summarized it in a Twec.Com interview on January 27, 2000:
"They didn't write it, and they don't know what the fuck it's about. It's about violence."
West End Avenue This song was performed at some of the early Misfits shows in 1977. It was never recorded.
Where Eagles Dare Some people claim that this song was influenced by the 1969 action movie of the same name. This is very doubtful.
Who Killed Marilyn? This song is based on the mysterious events surrounding the death of Marilyn Monroe.
Whole Lotta Livin' To Do This Elvis Presley song was covered by The Misfits at the 08/15/1981 Chase Park show.