I only found out about this book recently. As the only published work available (at least that I am aware) on the Misfits and/or Glenn Danzig specifically, I am surprised this hasn't garnered more attention. First thing I need to mention is that the book is short - 120 pages. I finished it in a weekend. As such, there's no way to justify the cost for the hard cover version. Even the author acknowledges this on his corresponding blog and recommends the paperback.
The author, James Greene, is about my age and like me discovered the Misfits long after the original band broke up. Like many, I first heard Danzig when "Mother '93" broke. And while I had Metallica's "Garage Days" EP (and I saw Guns N Roses perform a Misfits song, "Attitude," at a 1991 show), I never knew Glenn was in the Misfits until the feature on him in Rolling Stone in the 90s. Flash forward several years and I went with some friends to a Gwar show where they co-headlined with the new Misfits that had Michale Graves as the singer. They had a rep for being awful but I thought they were great and I immediately started buying up all of their available recorded output, including the Danzig era. I became infatuated with all things Misfits and sought out whatever I could find out about them online. Discovering that this book existed naturally piqued my interest - now I would have access to the whole story of the Misfits all on the printed page, including (hopefully) some never-before-revealed stories on the band.
Given that Greene was unable to speak with the two most crucial members of the Misfits, namely Glenn Danzig and Jerry Only (I hope he at least tried to), the story presented here is crafted from those that knew the two (ex-bandmates, musicians, producers, former classmates, etc.) coupled with quotes from them culled from previously published interviews. The introductory chapters are the most intriguing, as that has more of the exclusive info. Greene spoke with various people in and around Lodi, NJ who knew Glenn Anzalone and Gerald Caiafa both before and during the period they became their respective stage personas. The brief history of Koo-Dot-N-Boo-Jang is shared here, which was pretty cool since I don't think any details of Glenn's early music ventures have ever been written about before. Greene conducted interviews with Mr. Jim and Franche Coma, and I enjoyed reading about the 'Static Age' era of the band as this lineup is largely overlooked. After that, there seems to be a bit of a drop-off in the details that Greene was able to excavate. He states in the prologue that some ex-members were only willing to talk to him for a fee he couldn't accommodate. As a result, there isn't too much new info revealed from 1980 onward. Arthur Googy and the McDonald's story is well-known. The account of the Misfits meeting Vampira, while hardly monumental, is presented here as a brief throwaway whereas Doyle himself gave a far more elaborate (and interesting) account of it in a recent interview. Greene's version of the Vince Neil incident doesn't even acknowledge the presence of Henry Rollins, and he's the one who popularized the story in his own book "Get in the Van." Anyway, Glenn parts ways with Jerry and Doyle, the classic era of the Misfits ends, and half the book is already over.
The second half the book covers a time period of roughly thirty years, leaving me feeling a bit short-changed. As much as the Danzig-era Misfits is the version with the greatest reverence, the 90s version with Michale Graves was very popular (moreso than Danzig at that time) and played to more people in more places. Point being, I would have thought there would be more to write about here, especially considering Greene actually interviewed Graves for the book. I saw the Misfits in the fall of 2000 in Worcestor, MA, a few dates before the Florida show where Graves & CHUD quit. The wheels were already in motion for that blowup as that night in the Palladium Michale walked off stage several times in protest much to Jerry's obvious chagrin. I would think that there was a lot more dirt to dish on what was surely a disastrous final tour for the 90's Misfits - instead it's just the Florida show discussed with mostly the same details already out there in the Blabbermouth.net archives. And even less is written about the Jerry and Dez Cadena version of the Misfits, which has been the longest-running era of the band (though also the least popular, so maybe the less said, the better). That's not to say Greene didn't uncover some notable points of interest. Jerry's lawsuit against Glenn is presented here in greater detail than I ever recall reading before - suffice to say, Danzig deserved to be sued. Another story involves none other than the "Macho Man" Randy Savage (which I will not spoil here). Greene also uses quotes from interviews he conducted with the likes of Ian McKaye, Dave Brockie, and Bruce McCullough of Kids in the Hall (who confirms the source of inspiration for "Grivo"). These all make for a good one-time read, but nothing is discussed with enough depth to make it especially riveting...mostly every incident is wrapped up in a paragraph.
It was posted on Blabbermouth in 2004 that discussions were underway for a Misfits reunion tour. I dismissed this at the time. Why would Glenn reunite with the guy (Jerry) he publicly lambasted as being talentless, an idiot, and doing it solely the money unless he himself was a total hypocrite? I know most of those comments probably came from his bitterness over being sued, but still it would have been hard to accept that they'd ever kiss and make up. A few years later however, Doyle claimed that a reunion did almost happen but Jerry was the one who put a "wrench" in it. I don't believe any of the three (Glenn, Jerry, or Doyle) have ever said anything more on the subject. So Greene actually has quite the scoop with what may have gone down regarding a potential reunion. I say "may have" because throughout the book, mostly every paragraph has footnotes citing his sources. The one about the reunion meeting only has one though, and it's a bit unclear who gave him this info. or how they would know. But giving Greene the benefit of the doubt, this reunion discussion (while short like every other subject in the book), is easily the the most noteworthy and exclusive story here. I will not spoil anything but will offer this: if it went down the way Greene presents it, then a Misfits reunion was never meant to be, even if they had all agreed to one on that day. Like a slew of other legacy bands with good money offers on the table, the egos here are just too big and fragile for it to happen.
The book ends in 2012 following the release of "The Devil's Rain," and given how things have progressed in the past decade, it's unlikely there will be anything worthwhile to add to a later edition. The current Misfits, with Jerry as the only original member left, has by and large underwhelmed and seems determined to stay the course. Glenn and Doyle continue to tour and do short Misfits sets to closeout Danzig shows. I've yet to attend one but I have viewed clips online, and to me it sounds like what it is: Misfits songs being covered by a (backing) metal band. Whatever your preference between the two, the Misfits are essentially done. They left an amazing legacy, with their music having a greater posthumous impact than that of their peers. And as Greene's book is the most "complete" account of the band on the market, if you are a "Fiend" and own all the records, CDs, posters, shirts, and whatnot, then I would recommend adding this to your collection as well.
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A MUST FOR A MISFITS FAN! TRUE AND BITCHING! THIS IS A BOOK!
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