My big present in Christmas of 1995 was a VHS tape of the Misfits playing live in the ‘80s. It cost some insane amount — $60? — and when I circled it in the Sessions catalog that I gave my mom for present ideas, I thought, “there’s no fucking way.” Yet mom came through.
For $60, the tape looked like a rip off. The cover featured some blurry Misfits pictures xeroxed onto from red construction paper, wrapped around a generic VHS sleeve. The quality of the footage wasn’t much better, but it was good enough. From then on, I finally had some idea of what the Misfits looked like live.
The Misfits weren’t the first punk band I obsessed over but they made a huge impact. I clearly remember the moment I heard “Hybrid Moments” for the first time, when, after having popped my friend’s tape of his favorite Misfits songs into my walkman, I heard singer Glenn Danzig belt those first lines “Hear Your Scream/ Scream With Me.” It still hits my bliss points. The band was as good as my beloved Descendents and Dead Kennedys, and my fandom only grew after buying the Misfits Coffin Box Set a few years later.
Being pre-YouTube days, the fact I found a tape of the band in a common marketplace and not on some tape trader list was pretty remarkable. By then my teenage self knew about the lists too. Previously I bought a tape from a trader that had the Descendents at Missouri Nights; black and white Ramones footage from ‘77; and a 1991 set from Jawbreaker that I can’t seem to find. All of those videos had those bands playing at their prime and made me appreciate them even more.
The Misfits video had the opposite effect. It had two shows, both from 1983 — the first being the entire episode of the midwest public access show, “Why Be Something That You’re Not?;” the second a pretty big show in Goleta Valley. Both sets capture the band sounding like absolute shit. Any semblance of chord progressions or even melodies were washed away in cacophony punctuated with feedback. I don’t mind a noisy guitar but there wasn’t even tone — just one lousy brown note.
The videos captured a later lineup of the band with Robo from Black Flag on drums. While it’s clear the rhythm section is solid, though a little rushed, it’s also plain as day that guitarist Doyle Von Wolfgang is the weakest link. His playing was atrocious. And loud. He had two full Marshall stacks. Those poor audience members wouldn’t have been able to avoid the crap coming out of those speakers even if they plugged their ears. It must’ve been torture.
In that moment I learned the Misfits’ dark secret: Doyle couldn’t play. I went back to the recordings with him and except for Earth A.D., I could tell he was turned down and covered up by the bass. It made for a cool sound but now I realized it was hiding a flaw.
Around this time I began hearing about Bobby Steele, the guitarist that preceded Doyle in the Misfits. People would say, “if you like the Misfits, you’ll love the Undead,” but that never convinced me to hunt down an Undead record. Frankly, I don’t think I ever saw one on the West Coast.
Fast forward to a few days ago where ye olde YouTube threw a video my way featuring an interview with Steele. The now-ancient guitarist, wearing a Ed Hardy-style t-shirt that said “Jesus Beat the Devil,” detailed the sad facts of the aftermath of his leaving the band. There was the live album where his ex-bandmates called him a cunt, and later Danzig recorded over Steele’s parts for Legacy Of Brutality.
But the biggest insult for Steele happened in 2001, when the band blocked the release of 12 Hits From Hell. The Misfits and Caroline produced the album after the massive success of the box set. Steele stood to make some serious money with the release of the record, but after some promotional CDs were sent out, the label pulled back on all pressings. Apparently Danzig and Only didn’t like the mix.
The whole situation is a real bummer. Worst of all for Misfits fans, the 2001 mixes of 12 Hits From Hell are the best release in the band’s catalog, hands down. On top of the ripping versions of “Where Eagles Dare” and “London Dungeon,” and Danzig’s vocals free of reverb, is the guitar sound. It’s glorious. They’re full and upfront, and they just bring a whole new level to the old Misfits songs. They’re so clear you can hear nuances in Steele’s playing, like little leads that were barely audible in the Danzig mixes of the songs rip through the speakers.
Bootlegs of the album exist (of course) but there hasn’t been any talk of Caroline releasing the album officially since 2001. Henry Rollins even dedicated a recent episode of his radio to the mixes on the album and that show has been taken down. That’s a shame.
The band has said they’re the reason the album is off the shelves. I don’t know what the real motivations are but there’s a clear rift between the members. Danzig said Steele got the boot because he had drug problems and didn’t come to recording sessions for 12 Hits From Hell, which doesn’t make sense. Only later said he hated Steele’s attitude but also admitted to wanting to kick Steele out of the band because he has a disability — a limp from contracting polio as a child — which kept Steele from loading out equipment.
Supposedly Steele had such bad issues he once puked on John Lennon, but that just sounds hilarious to me. So clearly there’s some stories I don’t know about because there was bad blood immediately after Steele left the band and it seems to remain today. Thankfully Steele, who lives on social security, does get a royalty check for his work with the Misfits but it’s not a lot. The band could do something wonderful by finally releasing the album. They could help out Steele and make the world a little better by letting 12 Hits From Hell available to the public. Yet they continue to let the album sit and collect dust. Hopefully it’s not for some vindictive reasons, because that would make them look even stupider.
