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Time Line

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