
DATE: Tuesday, July 1, 1997                 TAG: 9707010504

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY SUE VanHECKE, CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:   71 lines

THE RESURRECTED MISFITS ARE BACK AND AS ZANY AND HORRIFIC AS EVER

AFTER A DECADE of dueling with Glenn Danzig, the Misfits, clown princes of horror-punk, have returned.

Formed in the late '70s by vocalist Danzig and bassist Jerry Only, the Misfits were a crazed cross of hook-filled, hardcore thrash and horror-movie psychotica.

The band recorded a slew of singles, EPs and LPs before disbanding because of creative differences in 1983 - Danzig launching the more metallic Samhain, which evolved into his current band, Danzig; Only going into guitar design and experimenting with heavy metal in Kryst the Conqueror.

As an avid Misfits cult - energized by posthumous releases, prolific bootlegs and ringing endorsements from such bands as Metallica - made the defunct punks' merchandise some of the rock world's most collectible, Only decided to resurrect the band.

One problem: Danzig detested the idea and refused to surrender his rights to the Misfits name.

``We had approached him and he basically had us thrown out of his hotel,'' Only, chuckling, said recently from his New Jersey home. ``We took it as a no.''

A nine-year legal battle ensued, finally resolved with Danzig retaining all Misfits publishing rights and Only free to use the name and logo.

The bassist promptly recruited his brother Doyle, also a former Misfit, on guitar, and new drummer Dr. Chud. He then auditioned 200 vocalists - most volunteers from the Fiend Club, the Misfits' fan club - before finding Michale Graves through mutual friends at a recording studio in Lodi, N.J.

``I called him up - he was 19 - and I said, `We're looking for a singer, do you want to give it a shot?' '' Jerry Only recalled. ``He said, `Well, I've heard of you guys, but I don't know any of your stuff.' I said, `Cool!'

``See, that's a good thing. He's not copying (Danzig's) every syllable. He throws a few curves in there.''

The new Misfits quickly landed a major-label contract, entered the studio in late '96 - a year that also saw the release of a compilation album, plus a coffin-shaped box set - and emerged with the irresistible ``American Psycho,'' a gleefully horror-packed passel of lightning-quick and unapologetically diverse songs, most under two minutes.

``That's one of the differences between us and everybody else,'' Only said. ``There are so many different categories of this style of music - you've got your death rock, your thrash, your '50s-sounding stuff, your rockabilly. And we do a little bit of it all. You listen to our record and you don't get bored at all.''

Conventional wisdom says Only was less than shrewd in taking the Misfits moniker over the moneymaking publishing rights. But it's not about money, he said. It's about the music and, especially, the fans of the music.

``This is a good band, and it means a lot to a lot of kids out there,'' he said. ``I owe it to the people who use us when their life stinks - they throw in our thing and it makes their world a little bit cooler for them. I gotta be there. That's the bottom line.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo

FRANK WHITE

The Misfits, from left, Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein, Dr. Chud,

Michale Graves and Jerry Only, are enjoying the success of

``American Psycho,'' a gleefully horror-packed collection of diverse

songs.

Graphic

WANT TO GO?

Who: The Misfits

When: 9 p.m. Wednesday, door opens at 8; all-ages show

Where: Peabody's, 21st Street and Pacific Avenue, Virginia Beach

Tickets: $10.75 plus service charge; order at 671-8100

Information: 422-6212