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"I always knew that Glenn was a great singer and that he had great songwriting potential that hadn't been fully realized."~Rick Rubin
Rick Rubin, Roy Orbison and Glenn Danzig; April 1987
By April 1987, the newly christened Danzig was offered a chance to record a song for the upcoming film Less Than Zero (1987); the entire band worked together but Eerie eventually opted out of performing bass on the song due to disagreement with Rick Rubin. The song, written by Glenn and Rick Rubin, You and Me (Less Than Zero) was released as being performed by Glenn Danzig and the Power and Fury Orchestra. Glenn also wrote Life Fades Away with Roy Orbison at this time. Glenn revisited Samhain in June and September 1987 taking John Christ into the studio with him to rework some previously recorded material.
Front/back of Less Than Zero LP soundtrack
Chuck Biscuits, Eerie Von, Glenn Danzig and John Christ; Danzig photo shoot, Glen E. Friedman
In August heavy metal-hitters Metallica released The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-Revisited which featured two Misfits covers, Last Caress and Green Hell. The group had recently lost bassist Cliff Burton during a tour bus crash in Sweden (September 27, 1986) and were contemplating ending the band. The remaining members, along with Burton's family, decided that Cliff would want them to continue so they recruited Jason Newstead (Flotsam and Jetsam) to fill the bass position. As a way of testing Jason Newstead and to deal with the loss of Cliff, Metallica recorded the covers EP in July 1987. Cliff was a huge fiend and could often be seen sporting a Misfits shirt; he also introduced the other guys in the band to The Misfits music. Upon the release of "$5.98 E.P.", there was a whole group of metalheads who were possibly hearing Last Caress and Green Hell for the first time, looking in the albums info they would quickly find that the songs were written by Glen[n] Danzig and originally recorded by The Misfits.
cover of Metallica's $5.98 E.P. Garage Days Re-Revisited
Metallica bassist (1982-1986) Cliff Burton
Glenn wasn't the only one trying his hand at heavy metal, in August former Misfits bassist Jerry Only (now going by Mocavius Kryst/Mo The Great) and Doyle formed the quasi-christian metal band Kryst the Conqueror; the brothers recruited fellow machine shop worker, Jim "The Murp" Murphy to provide percussions. This was the first time Jerry and Doyle would try their hand at writing material from the ground up as they had previously only worked with Glenn Danzig and the songs he envisioned/wrote in The Misfits.
Jerry pushing his kids and Doyle in a stroller; 1987
In September 1987 Danzig began recording their debut album (while Glenn was simultaneously working with John Christ on overdubbing guitar on Samhain's September 1986 recording session); that fall Jerry Only gave his first interview since the demise of The Misfits (Toxic Fanzine 1). There was no mention of Kryst the Conqueror but Jerry mentioned that he, Doyle and Robo would often get together after work on Friday nights and "jam" for their co-workers.
photo by Eerie Von during the recording of Danzig
back of Danzig cd
Danzig performed a few sporadic shows prior to their first albums release, Danzig (August 30, 1988) before heading out on the Not Of This World Tour (September 24th, 1988-February 3rd, 1989). Glenn, John and Eerie revisited Samhain yet again, recording a slow version of Lords of the Left Hand and The Birthing. 1988 saw the creation of the Doyle Fan Club, Jerry used this fan club to spread word of Kryst the Conqueror; on October 31st the trio appeared at Creation Convention in New York and later that same day they did an autograph session at Tower Records.
The Murp, Doyle, Jerry and fiend (Dave Keshner); 1988
By June 1989 Danzig had a slew of new songs ready for recording and the band entered the studio to record their follow up LP. They also did a short stint for the God Don't Like It Tour (June 14th-August 12th, 1989) around this time. Kryst the Conqueror entered the studio for the first (and last time) that year to record their debut album; by this time Jerry and Doyle had decided on hiring Jeff Scott Soto to perform vocals after repeated attempts at trying to lure The Damned's Dave Vanian into the band.
Doyle, Jeff Scott Soto, Jerry Only; 1989
The Kryst the Conqueror EP, Deliver Us From Evil became available on January 13th, 1990 (cassette) with a cd release on February 1st, 1990; the EP was released through the Doyle Fan Club. Also at this time Jerry closed the Doyle Fan Club (March 1990) sending out an all caps letter to its members; it was also announced that a Kryst the Conqueror Fan Club would begin in 1991.
Kryst the Conqueror EP cd insert
DOYLE FAN CLUB Letter #10, 1990-------------------------------
IT WAS ONCE SAID THAT "EVIL FLOURISHES WHEN GOOD MEN STAND BACK AND DO NOTHING". IT IS FOR THIS REASON THAT I HAVE RESURRECTED THE POWER THAT SO MANY OF YOU BLINDLESSLY FOLLOW. STRENGTH COMES FROM THE WILL TO STAND AGAINST FEAR AND EVIL AND TO STRIVE FOR THE RIGHT REGARDLESS OF THE PAIN. THIS IS WHAT I WILL TEACH YOU.
THIS PROJECT HAS LOST ALOT OF MONEY, BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN IT IS A FAILURE. A MEMBER OF THE FAN CLUB WAS DOING A REPORT AND ASKED ME QUESTIONS. ONE OF THEM WAS WHAT I THOUGHT OF GLENN'S SUCCESS AND I TOLD HIM SINGING PRAISES FOR SATAN IS JUST ABOUT THE BIGGEST FAILURE I COULD IMAGINE. WE TRIED TO SETTLE WITH GLENN OUT OF COURT FOR $250,000. DUE TO THE FACT THAT DOYLE AND I WERE NEVER GIVEN OUR ROYALTIES FROM PLAN 9, CAROLINE, OR ANY OTHER OF THE PEOPLE GLENN DECIDED TO DO BUSINESS WITH. WE WERE NOT RE-IMBURSED FOR THE MONEY WE INVESTED TO START THE MISFITS WHEN GLENN WAS STILL COLLECTING ALLOWANCE FROM HIS MOM. SO YOU CAN BELIEVE WHO YOU WANT, BUT THE IMPORTANT THING IS THAT WE STATE OUR CASE AND GIVE THE "GOOD" SIDE OF THE MISFITS WHICH WAS THE "MAGIC" OF THE BAND.
I THOUGHT IT WAS MY OBLIGATION TO SLAY THE EVIL CAUSED AFTER WE LEFT THE BAND, BUT AFTER THINKING ABOUT IT I REALIZE THAT THE WORTH OF AN INDIVIDUAL IS IN THE CHOICE HE OR SHE MAKES - GOOD OR EVIL. MY OBLIGATION IS TO GIVE YOU A CHOICE.
THE DOYLE FAN CLUB MEMBERSHIP IS CLOSED. PEOPLE I SPOKE TO ARE BUMMED, SO I'LL KEEP THE PRODUCTS AVAILABLE UNTIL THEY ARE ALL GONE THE ORDER FORM I'M SENDING FOR THE DOYLE MERCHANDISE WILL BE THE LAST ONE. SO PLEASE ORDER WHAT EVER YOU WANT NOW SO I CAN PLACE FINAL ORDERS FOR SHIRTS. I DON'T WANT TO BUY MORE THAN I NEED.
"KRYST THE CONQUEROR." FAN CLUB WILL BEGIN IN 1991. ALL DOYLE FAN CLUB MEMBERS HAVE RECEIVED THEIR MEMBERSHIP CARDS WITH THIS LETTER. THERE WILL BE NO NUMBERS ON THE MEMBERSHIP CARDS.
OUR ALBUM IS FINISHED 13 SONGS OVER AN HOUR LONG. IT WILL BE AVAILABLE EARLY IN 1991. THE "JERRY ONLY POSTER" WILL APPEAR ON THE SAME ORDER FORM. THIS ORDER FORM WILL BE SENT AS SOON AS THE PRODUCT IS IN MY HAND. KRYST THE CONQUEROR STICKERS WILL BE ON THAT ORDER FORM - AS WELL.
OH! IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM SEND YOUR PHONE NUMBER. I DON'T HAVE TIME TO WRITE, SO I'LL CALL . HOPE YOU LIKE YOUR NEW CARDS.
KEEP THE FAITH
Mo The Great
* ALL ORDERS WILL BE SHIPPED IN APRIL
front/backs of Danzig II Lucifuge; LP above, CD below
Glenn, Eerie, John and Chuck recorded one final Samhain track in 1990, Death...In It's Arms and Glenn mixed three previously recorded Samhain tracks in June of that year. Danzig's follow up LP Lucifuge was released on June 26th, 1990; Danzig took to the road on the Long Way Back From Hell Tour (July 27th-December 5th, 1990) in support. Samhain's last album, Final Descent, was released on October 31st, 1990; it featured an amalgamation of Samhain's line ups with the guitar being primarily Glenn's. Final Descent had begun as Samhain Grim, first advertised as such in a 1987 Plan 9 discography with a 1988 release date.
​
"SAMHAIN GRIM: 10 songs. Unholy Passion remixed, plus 5 new unreleased titles."
front/back of Final Descent
Danzig performed a stint of dates in the summer of 1991 before heading back into the studio in November to begin recording their third album. Danzig III: How The Gods Kill was released on July 13th, 1992; the band headed out for the How The Gods Kill Tour (July 24th-December 31st, 1992). Also in 1992 after years of unsuccessful negotiations with Glenn Danzig over royalties Jerry and Doyle filed legal papers; this litigation also included former Misfits Robo and Franché Coma. Although Kryst the Conqueror had failed to make any buzz in the music scene the band continued on, replacing drummer The Murp with David "Dr. Chud" Calabrese (Sardonica) in November. Glenn also filed a trademark claim for The Misfits during this time period.
front/back of Danzig III How the Gods Kill
January 1993 Danzig took to the studio to record an EP, Thrall-Demonsweatlive, which saw release on May 25th; they had already begun promoting the release on the Thrall-Demonsweat Tour (May 12th, 1993-May 22nd, 1994). During this tour the band took time out here and there from the road to begin recording their fourth album. Danzig 4p was released on October 4th, 1994 and would be their last album on Def American (now known as American Recordings) due to Glenn's declining working relationship with fellow producer Rick Rubin. This release would also be the last one to feature Eerie Von, John Christ and Chuck Biscuits. The Danzig 4 Tour began on May 30th, 1994 and by July 3rd Chuck Biscuits had left the band (replaced by Joey Castillo); Eerie Von and John Christ followed suit once the tour was complete, June 22nd, 1995.
front/back of Thrall-Demonsweatlive EP
The lawsuit against Glenn seemed to be finally ending things for good, as part of the filings Jerry was vying for a split of the copyrights to The Misfits songs. In March 1994 Glenn, Jerry, Doyle, Robo and Franché (along with their lawyers) met to discuss a settlement. The results of the meeting must have looked pretty favorable as a month later Kryst the Conqueror would officially end; the band never played a live show, their full album was never released, nor did they ever have a fulltime lead singer. Jerry, Doyle and Dr. Chud also held their first audition for a lead singer on November 22nd, 1994; Jim "The Tank" Dorsey (aka John Grimm) wouldn't make the cut as singer but he would go on to work for The Misfits™ for 13 years.
Apparently Glenn relented, in an out-of-court-settlement, to Jerry, Doyle, Robo and Franché gaining exclusive rights to record and perform as The Misfits in exchange for the exclusive copyrights (which he had previously always held) to the songs he had written. Also per the agreement Glenn was to turn over all Misfits master recordings to Caroline Records. The agreement was signed on December 31st, 1994 by this point Jerry had already let out the news (in an issue of FeH magazine dated Sept/Oct. 1994) that he was forming a new Misfits and that they were looking for a singer. All former Misfits would/could benefit from merchandise according to the agreement as no one member was to hold a trademark.
front/back of Danzig 4p; lettering is "Danzig" spelt in Vehmic symbols
"The parties shall be co-owners of the name and trademarks of the Misfits and all logo(s) and artwork . . . previously associated therewith.. . . The Plaintiffs and Danzig shall each have the non-exclusive right to conduct merchandising and to exploit other rights relating to the use and exploitation of the name "Misfits" and accompanying logos and artwork except that neither party shall use the names, likenesses and visual representations of the members of the other party without written consent.. . . The plaintiffs and Danzig will each retain 100% of what each earns from the exploitation of merchandising rights and neither the plaintiffs nor Danzig has any obligation to account to the other for any revenues derived from the exploitation of merchandising or any other rights."
shirt sold by Misfits™; art by Basil Gogos
In October 1994 Jerry and Doyle overdubbed bass and guitar to a live recording of The Misfits from December 20th, 1978; the album was tentatively scheduled to be released by Caroline as Max's X-Mas.
Up next...Same Name Different Band
This note was made possible by Misfits Central, James Greene Jr.'s book This Music Leaves Stains as well as various Misfits interviews. As always thanks to all the fiends (and photographers) that have provided all the photographic history.