Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).
Die, Die My Darling (1984)
You can't talk about Halloween and rock music without mentioning the Misfits. The horror punk outfit has become synonymous with this time of year.
Formed in Lodi, New Jersey, in 1977 by singer Glenn Danzig, the band released a single and played their first shows without a guitarist; Danzig plawyed electric piano while Jerry Calafa played bass and Manny Martinez was on drums. They were soon joined by guitarist Frank Licata, aka Franche Coma, and Danzig stopped playing piano and focused on vocals while moving the band in a punk direction. Martinez was replaced by Mr. Jim. The band entered the studio in January 1978 and recorded 17 songs, 14 of which were for their proposed Static Age album. Unable to find a label to release the album, the Misfits released four of the songs as part of the Bullet EP on their own Plan 9 Records. The other songs came out on various compilations over the next two decades before Static Age was finally released in 1996.
After the Static Age sessions, Danzig began to write songs inspired by horror and sci-fi films and started wearing stage gear with skeleton bones painted on them. Meanwhile, Calafa (now known as Jerry Only) began wearing dark eye makeup and styling his hair in a long point hanging from his forehead between his eyes and down to his chin, which was eventually called the "devilock." Danzig and Only's brother Doyle soon followed suit. Coma and Mr. Jim quit the band in '78 and were replaced by drummer Joey Poole (aka Joey Image) and guitarist Bobby Kaufhold (aka Bobby Steele). They released the "Horror Business" single in June 1979, which had a cover featuring a skeletal character from the movie poster for 1946's The Crimson Ghost; the character became the Misfits' logo.
After opening for the Damned in New York City, Jerry Only talked to Damned singer Dave Vanian about opening for the band in the U.K. The Misfits flew to London in November '79 to find out Vanian hadn't taken the conversation seriously. The band did play two shows with the Damned, but were upset about the situation and left the tour. Image quit the band and flew home while the others stuck around until their return flight in December.
The Misfits returned to the U.S. and released the Beware EP in January 1980. They added Arthur McGucking (aka Arthur Googy) on drums and when Steele was kicked out of the band, Jerry Only's brother Doyle (who was 16 at the time) replaced him on guitar.
The album Walk Among Us was released in 1982, the only full-length album to be released while the early version of the band was active. The band was going through drummers at a Spinal Tap-esque rate and by 1983, Danzig was growing upset with the Misfits and started making plans to leave. The album Earth A.D./Wolfs Blood was recorded but before the band could release it, the Misfits were over. At their Halloween show in Detroit, new drummer Brian Damage was too drunk to play and had to be replaced by the drummer of opening act the Necros. Danzig announced from the stage that it was the final Misfits show.
Seven months after the breakup, the Misfits single "Die, Die My Darling" was released by Plan 9. The song was inspired by the 1965 movie Die Die My Darling, a movie about a psychotic old lady starring Tallulah Bankhead. Danzig takes the title of the film but changes the story into a slasher tale.
"Die, die, die my darling/Don't utter a single word/Die, die, die my darling/Just shut your pretty mouth/I'll be seeing you again/I'll be seeing you in Hell/Don't try to be a baby/Your future's in an oblong box, yeah/Don't try to be a baby/Should have seen it a-comin' on/Don't try to be a baby/I don't know it was in your power."
In addition to the crunching guitar riff, the song features a beeping note that repeats and grows louder throughout. It's a high-energy song that never lets up.
"Don't try to be a baby/Dead-end girl for a dead-end guy/Don't try to be a baby/Now your life drains on the floor/Don't try to be a baby/Die, die, die my darling/Don't utter a single word/Die, die, die my darling."
The song was recorded in August 1981 during the Walk Among Us sessions. The flip side of the single included "We Bite" and a studio version of "Mommy, Can I Go Out and Kill Tonight?" (A live version of the latter song was included on Walk Among Us.) All three songs were added to later releases of Earth A.D./Wolfs Blood.
Metallica covered "Die, Die My Darling" for its 1998 covers album Garage Inc.; the band had previously covered the Misfits' "Last Caress" and "Green Hell" in 1987 for The $5.98 E.P. - Garage Days Re-Revisited.
After the Misfits split in 1983, Danzig formed the band Samhain, which kept the horror themes but explored a heavier, metal sound. Later, he formed the band Danzig. Danzig released albums of previous and unreleased recordings and overdubbed many of the Static Age instrument tracks to avoid having to pay royalties to the other former band members. Legal battles ensued, with Jerry Only arguing that he and Doyle deserved compensation for writing some of the music, but later he dropped that fight and wanted the rights to use the Misfits name and imagery. An out-of-court settlement was reached in 1995 allowing Only and Doyle to record and perform as the Misfits, sharing merchandising rights with Danzig.
Only and Doyle reformed the band and held auditions for a new singer, eventually choosing 19-year-old Michael Emanuel (aka Michale Graves). The new Misfits released an album in 1997 and toured; tensions grew between the band members until a show in 2000 when Graves and drummer Dr. Chud both quit the band and walked off stage. Various lineups played over the next 15 years until 2016, when Danzig, Only and Doyle announced they would perform together for the first time in 33 years under the name the Original Misfits at the Riot Fest in Chicago and Denver. The band has since played shows in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022.
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