Genuinely shocking or tasteless, campy fun? Observers sometimes struggled to gauge the Misfits’ intended tone, and the massive cult that emerged after the band’s brief run from 1977 to 1983 remains split over how to view the group. Their appeal certainly did not stem from polished execution, since the playing matched the lo-fi quality of most releases, even though Glenn Danzig commanded one of the most recognizable and melodic roars in hardcore punk. Instead, Danzig’s ear for instantly memorable, high-velocity choruses combined with his fixation on low-budget horror cinema and graphic gore helped cement the Misfits’ fervent legacy. Metal acts such as Metallica and Guns N’ Roses kept the catalog circulating through covers and mentions during the mid- to late ’80s, a period when the band’s scattered discography appeared only fitfully; reissues were frustratingly fragmentary, and much of the strongest material stayed locked on scarce singles and EPs. The mid-’90s brought a wave of CD editions that, while not always assembling every track in ideal boxed form, at least restored the full body of work to circulation and clarified the reasons for the group’s lasting underground stature.
Vocalist Glenn Danzig and bassist Jerry Caiafa, who performed as Jerry Only, launched the Misfits in Lodi, New Jersey, during 1977. Taking their name from Marilyn Monroe’s last movie, the pair recruited drummer Manny, later known as Manny Martinez, and cut a guitar-free single, “Cough Cool” b/w “She,” on their own Blank Records imprint, which soon became Plan 9. Manny stepped aside for “Mr. Jim” Catania, after which guitarist Frank “Franché Coma” LiCata came aboard for the four-song 1978 EP Bullet, whose sleeve carried a stark photograph of John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Although sessions for a planned full-length titled Static Age took place, no label would release the results, so the unused tracks waited until the 1985 compilation Legacy of Brutality.
The Misfits began performing at CBGB and sought steadier footing by adding Whorelords guitarist Bobby Steele and drummer Joey Image. This configuration cut the three-song EPs Horror Business and Night of the Living Dead in 1979, the latter appearing on Halloween. An attempted U.K. tour backing the Damned collapsed, prompting Joey Image to quit after Danzig’s arrest during a bar fight. Relations with Steele had already soured, so upon returning home the band replaced him with Jerry Only’s younger brother Doyle, born Paul Caiafa and widely known as Doyle von Frankenstein. Arthur Googy took the drum seat full-time while Steele formed the Undead. England’s Cherry Red label issued the now-legendary Beware EP in 1980, collecting Bullet, two Horror Business tracks, and the Static Age leftover “Last Caress”; it later became a prohibitively priced collector’s piece.
Stateside, additional singles arrived in 1981, among them the 3 Hits from Hell 7" and another Halloween release simply titled “Halloween,” which offered two versions of the song, one striving for a low-budget eerie atmosphere. A second album, Walk Among Us, had been tracked and slated for late 1981, yet a distribution arrangement with the Slash subsidiary Ruby finally brought it out under that title in 1982, marking the Misfits’ first widely available LP and one of their strongest statements. Googy departed amid financial disagreements, disrupting plans for a follow-up; meanwhile the live EP Evilive surfaced later that year, featuring a guest vocal from Black Flag’s Henry Rollins. Future Samhain and Danzig bassist Eerie Von Stellman auditioned briefly on drums but lasted only a weekend; punk producer Robo ultimately handled the skins, and the group spent late 1982 and early 1983 tracking Earth A.D./Wolfsblood, an effort that leaned harder into raw aggression. Brian Damage replaced Robo for touring, though he barely performed before Danzig dissolved the Misfits at the end of 1983. A parting three-song single, “Die Die My Darling,” appeared in 1984.
Having already issued the solo single “Who Killed Marilyn?” in 1981, Danzig formed Samhain with Eerie Von to pursue darker sonic territory for his lyrics; Samhain later evolved into the far more successful Danzig. The Caiafa brothers formed Kryst the Conqueror, which managed only a single five-song EP. Misfits compilations began surfacing as early as 1985 on Caroline with Legacy of Brutality; 1987’s Misfits collection further stoked demand for the many unreleased tracks, while Metallica’s take on “Last Caress” and, later, Guns N’ Roses’ version of “Attitude” signaled what remained to be uncovered. Additional anthologies and a four-disc box set followed in the mid-’90s as the cult continued to swell.
Seeking to capitalize on renewed interest, Jerry Only and Doyle revived the Misfits in 1996 without Danzig, enlisting vocalist Michale Graves and drummer Dr. Chud. American Psycho arrived on Geffen Records in 1997, followed two years later by Famous Monsters. In 2001 the same lineup released the rarities collection Cuts from the Crypt, which drew exclusively from the post-Danzig years. The covers album Project 1950 appeared in 2003; by then the lineup featured Jerry Only handling vocals and bass, Black Flag veteran Dez Cadena on guitar, and Marky Ramone on drums. In June 2005 Misfits Records, through Ryko, issued Fiend Club Lounge, a set of Misfits standards reinterpreted in cocktail-lounge style, while the two-song EP Psycho in the Wax Museum drawn from the American Psycho sessions followed in 2006. No new studio material surfaced until October 2011, when The Devil’s Rain emerged just ahead of Halloween—the first original recordings in more than a decade. A live album, Dead Alive!, came out in 2013.
After Dez Cadena received a cancer diagnosis in 2015, Only’s son Jerry Caiafa Jr. stepped in on guitar. His tenure proved brief; in early 2016 the original trio of Danzig, Only, and von Frankenstein announced they would reunite for headline slots at that year’s Riot Fests in Chicago and Denver. The strong response prompted further festival bookings and arena dates that dwarfed the venues of their first incarnation. Joey Image, the drummer from the Horror Business period, died in Florida on June 1, 2020, at age 63 while undergoing treatment for liver cancer.
