The divine early incarnation of The Misfits ended in October 1983, a couple of months before I was even born. I didn't start listening to punk until 12 years thereafter, although it was mainstream and pop influenced. Before I had even heard the band's name I could recognize The Crimson Ghost: it was on the t-shirts of concert goers at The Dungeon (a punk venue dive in Oshawa, Ontario) that I would frequent with friends. Oshawa had a particularly obnoxious breed of punk fan due to the fortuneless tinge of the city, it was exciting. At the shows I would buy 7 inch records from personal distros and safeguard them in my jacket until I got home to autopsy. My obsession with aggressive music grew from my compulsion to collect.
I didn't consider The Misfits until the mid 90's when I became obsessed with punk-hardcore and found interest in what I had initially passed-off as a gimmick band. It was brain mutating.
I tattooed hybrid moments to my wrists a couple years back as a wink to fellow groupies. I believe as a teenager you can phase through queer and deviant behavior before melting back into adult society, but after a certain point, you're forever a misfit. Fiend Club for life.
-Stephanie
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Just like vandalistic tendencies, awkward piercings and bad haircuts, moshing around to the Misfits was intrinsic to nearly every alt-youth I now associate with in adulthood. Raise your hand if you weren't into them in high school.
The Misfits, as a horror-punk band and a brand, has many imitators but no true equals. While their sound is not the most original, they achieved a marketer's dream: being first.
A lot of their strong presence is attributed visuals. Early albums and EPs featured plenty of awkward, budget design but it is easy to see the evolution. Their logo started out with more of a hand-scrawled look, tried on several font families (including the one from the namesake Monroe film), and in 1981 settled on what we know now.
With imagery "borrowed" from 1950's mystery series The Crimson Ghost (whose first appearance was on the Horror Business single) and their extra bold, bubbling font ripped off from The Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine...
It is now among the most recognized band iconography out there. A lot of design purists fault them for visual heist (their EPs feature other stolen art) but after all.. they are a punk rock band and the biggest mainstream purveyors of horror culture. This has remained consistent with their brand, along with emulating the American 1950's both musically and aesthetically.
With only Jerry Only and Robo left and a much younger fan base, a Misfits show isn't where you'd find us anymore but we give them respect for the influence their band has had.
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