HARMONY IN MY HEAD

BROADCAST #34
AIR DATE: 08-22-06

Alright Fanatics, here’s what we heard tonight. I thought it would be interesting and perhaps cost efficient to play the very hard to find Misfits album 12 Hits From Hell.
     Here’s a bit of information on this album. 12 Hits is a Misfits album that got by a lot of Misfits fans because it never really made it to the stores. It was pulled right before it was supposed to hit the bins where it would have brought infinite joy to Misfits fans all over the world.
     There are some great websites with a lot of information on the album and these sessions that I’ll put the addresses for at the end of this. In tonight’s notes, I have tried to put in all the facts that will help clarify what the importance of the album is and its place in the band’s time-line.
     The notes will explain in some detail below but before you read down that far, here’s basically what we’re doing tonight: We are taking the original mixes of these Misfits songs that are readily available on the Misfits Collection CDs as well as the box set and we are putting them right up against the re-mixed 12 Hits versions. Which one is “better” will be for you to decide. There are notable differences that will jump right out at you and some that may perhaps take closer and repeated listenings to discern. Have at it, Fanatics!

For you Europeans, Australians and New Zealand Fanatics, there is a re-broadcast time of Friday mornings, 0200 – 0400 hrs. West coast time so you all can check out the show and not have to set your alarms to too rude an hour.

Here’s the recording information taken from the 12 Hits From Hell CD sleeve notes
Recorded 08-07-80 at Master Sound Productions in NYC
Produced by Rob Adler
Mixed/mastered for 2001 release July 26 & 27 2001
Mixed by Alan Douches and Tom Bejgrowicz
Mixed at West West Side Music, Tenafly NJ

Below are the songs recorded:
01. Halloween
02. Vampira
03. I Turned Into A Martian
04. Skulls
05. London Dungeon
06. Night Of The Living Dead
07. Ghouls Night Out
08. Astro Zombies
09. Horror Hotel
10. Where Eagles Dare
11. Violent World
12. Halloween II
13. London Dungeon (Alternate Take)

These recordings became known as the MSP Demos and ended up being the demos for the Walk Among Us album. I don’t know the initial reason they recorded these sessions. They seem to be album strength and the band saw fit to release three songs from the session for the Three Hits From Hell EP and used a mix of Halloween II for the single version. From what I’ve read, there seems to be a few different reasons. It could have had something to do with the band signing the deal with Ruby that would lead to the Walk Among Us album or members of the band thought they could do better with another shot at recording the songs. Personally speaking, I think the tracks sound great. If the band were considering these recordings for an album, I wonder why they chose to record the previously released track Where Eagles Dare? I don’t know if we’ll ever get an answer to this and to speculate on it is not interesting to me when we have the music to listen to instead.
     Here’s where it gets interesting and a little confusing. The band’s guitarist Bobby Steele was apparently kicked out of the band part way through the sessions after putting guitars on all the songs. Doyle, bassist Jerry Only’s brother joined the band and puts additional guitars on the tracks. So, you have almost an album’s worth of tracks with a line-up that never played together. The Fiends got a taste of these sessions with the release of the aforementioned 3 Hits From Hell EP featuring London Dungeon, Horror Hotel and Ghouls Night Out. A great 7”. Great songs and more, sonically superior to the singles that came before. I remember when I got 3 Hits and it blew me away.
     Life goes on and the very fine Walk Among Us album is released. In 1996 the Misfits box set is released that features I think most of these tracks except for that alternate version of London Dungeon, track 13 on 12 Hits. These are the original mixes and they are placed here and there throughout the set. Some of these songs were also available on the Collection CDs.
     Fast forward to 2001. Caroline records plans to release the MSP demos on a single CD with the recently discovered alt. version of London Dungeon. What makes this release different than what’s on the box set is obviously the new version of London Dungeon and also, the tracks have been re-mixed from the master tapes. So, it’s going to sound different and everyone will get a chance to hear a new version of the Steele / Doyle guitar combination.
     12 Hits was scheduled to be released on 10-30-01 but at the last minute, the CD was pulled. There are different reasons given, none of them are important for this show. Thankfully, thousands of promo copies of this CD went all over the place and have ended up in the hands of Fanatics everywhere. I am sure there are band members who are far less than happy about all this but it’s too late now.
     So, in short, you get different mixes and an alternate version. Not so bad. Since we have never played any tracks from the 12 Hits album, I thought we should play the whole thing and get it out there for all of you.
     I have a long relationship with these songs as a Misfits Fanatic. On the 1982 Black Flag tour, we spent a good deal of time with the Misfits in their home base of Lodi NJ. Glenn gave me a cassette of what was basically the Static Age Sessions. This was years before it was released and for the rest of the tour, I played it all the time. As many of you know, it’s one of the best records ever. Whenever the topic of the Misfits came up, I would always tell people that they hadn’t heard an amazing album that predated Walk Among Us.
     In March 1983, Glenn gave me some cassettes of Misfits songs that would eventually comprise the Collection CDs and the box set. He told me to never make copies of the tapes for anyone and I promised him I would not and I never have. I do remember playing the MSP sessions from the cassette and wondering why they had recorded all that material more than once. The Walk Among Us versions of the songs are really good but the MSP sessions are also really good.
     Also, while I’m at it, I will always wonder how it would have been if the Misfits had released the Static Age sessions as an album at the time they recorded those tracks. Might have had quite an impact. I wonder the same thing about the Bad Brains Black Dots sessions.
     It’s too bad that 12 Hits From Hell didn’t get an official release as Misfits Fanatics all over the world would have hit the roof. It is kinda cool that some promos and actual finished copies got out into the world and 12 Hits From Hell is more than just one of those legends there are so many of in the music world. I have no idea if this record will ever see the light of day. With the internet being what it is and the fact that you can make a CD of a CD with no sound loss, it might be a mute point now.
     One might ask what the difference is between the original mixes and the ones done for the 2001 release and does it matter? The differences are substantial and of course it matters—it’s the Misfits!
     I constructed a file in i-Tunes that put the original mix before the 2001 mix in the order of the CD track listing. The short version of the differences is basically, Danzig’s vocals are higher in the mix, with a lot less effects on them, the snare drum is tucked into the mix much more than on the original mixes and there’s more consistency in the mixes track to track.
     Is one version “better” than the other? Up to the listener but I have an opinion and it’s that the 2001 mixes are far superior on a lot of levels and repeated listenings bears this out.
     On a side note. The Misfits mixed and re-mixed their session tracks a lot. Between that Collection CDs, Legacy of Brutality, Static Age, the Box Set, etc. it gets very confusing very quickly. To help you navigate your way through all this is a part of the Misfits Central site that goes through all the sessions with Fanatic diligence and exactitude. I have spent hours going over all the facts. It must have been a ton of work to get it all done. You should check it out of respect alone! http://www.misfitscentral.com/misfits/sessions.php

     A serious site with a ton of information on the 12 Hits CD can be found here: http://www.angelfire.com/darkside/misfits12hits/.

Halloween: I think it was at the 12-25-81 show we played with the Necros and the Misfits where they opened with this song. That was a great night. It was a Necros / Misfits bill on Christmas day in Passaic NJ. We had the night off so we went out there to see the show and Jerry and Doyle’s mom was going to feed us, which also held great appeal to us as well. Black Flag ended up being the surprise opening band on the bill. That was a blast. The Necros were great and the Misfits crushed it.

Original mix: This is one of the better of the original mixes. The overall murkiness of it gives it some intensity that to me the 12 Hits lacks. There’s also a standing feedback that goes all through this mix that I don’t hear featured as much in the 12 Hits mix. The snare is really up high in this mix. You’re going to hear that a lot in the original mixes. I like this mix a lot and if it wasn’t for the snare distracting me from the vocal, it would be one of the cooler mixes on the record. Really like that howling guitar.

12 Hits Mix: The guitars are pumped way over the original mix. It sounds like the mix was geared towards making the song sound powerful rather than listening to what the lyrics are saying. This mix doesn’t feature that cool, howling guitar that much but when it is used, it’s really good. It is an overall “better” mix in that the guitars are more fleshed out but with all the guitars raging, Glenn’s vocal gets slightly marginalized. The build up at the end of the song is better on this mix here and there’s a longer fade than on the original mix. I actually prefer the original because it’s spookier and less rock.

Vampira: I remember at one point The Misfits did photos with Vampira. I am sure there’s photos in the box set or something. I always thought that was really cool. The Misfits looked so intense but with Vampira, many years on, with all her make up on and in her outfit, she looked pretty intense in a well-preserved way.

Original mix: Glen’s vocals are behind the snare and hi-hat. Sounds slightly processed. It’s strange to me to hear all those guitars getting held back by just the snare and hi-hat as well. Whatever is going on with Glenn’s vocal effect, whether he’s distance mic’d or something, it definitely has something to it that makes it intense but at the same time, it lacks a little definition. I reckon if the singer sounds that good—use it.

12 Hits mix: Live count in, like that. There’s all those guitars but with much more definition. Glenn is clear and powerful. Backing vocals are nice and full. Chorus vocal is great. Snare is right in the pocket. The guitars are mixed together really well into a dense yet sculpted wave of sound. This mix is a lot better than its predecessor.

I Turned Into A Martian: I think I first heard this song on a tape one of the Necros sent me. It was a live tape of the band playing, what was the name of that place, The Freezer? This was before Walk Among Us came out and I think awhile before I even met the band. I met them in the autumn of 1981. I had never heard the Misfits sound like this. I thought it was one of the best songs ever.

Original mix: Snare and hi-hat are up front, lead vocal in the back and chorus vocal up too loud and not mixed into a very good chorus effect. Small guitar lead featured towards end sounds thin and overlooked.

12 Hits mix: Guitars are way up and somewhat bury the lead vocal. The guitars are a lot more that lead guitar that sounded isolated and weedy on its own in the original mix is pulled back quite a bit and that’s for the better I think. This is an overall better mix but I don’t understand why the lead vocal isn’t more present.

Skulls: This song is another example of how Danzig is able to take a relatively short length of time and pack a lot into a song. This song seems to be a series of choruses and sing-a-long parts. When you hear it, you can see the first ten rows singing every word. I think one of the reasons the Misfits won so solidly with people is the hooks in the songs and their sheer brevity. None of the songs stuck around too long and you wanted to hear it again and again so it kept you coming back. Some Misfits songs you have to play 2-3 times just to make into a “normal” song length. Misfits songs make a lot of other songs sound like they are just trying to waste your time!

Original mix: snare and hi-hat plod way too loud in the mix and when the power chords come in on the chorus, you don’t really notice them. Vocal mix is good and balanced, Glenn’s vocal sound seems direct but competes with the snare/hi-hat. Song fades on the last chorus.

12 Hits mix: good guitars. Really takes advantage of the great dynamic between the crushing chords and the vocal that holds its power in its restraint. This mix it sounds like they were listening to what the lyrics were saying and built the song around that and to great affect. Also, the smash ending is really cool. This mix is better.

London Dungeon: This might be one of the band’s greatest moments. Danzig’s vocal is incredible; the song itself is great musically and well arranged. If you think about it, Danzig has really solidified himself as a formidable songwriter over all the years. When Johnny Cash went out of his way to tell audiences every night how much Danzig’s song 13 meant to him before he would play it says a lot. One of best-recorded moments of the great Roy Orbison to me is a Danzig composition called Life Fades Away found on the Less Than Zero soundtrack. What I would give to hear the Danzig demo version of that.

Original mix: What’s going on with the vocal? It has always bugged me and now hearing the 12 Hits mix, I am figuring out what it is. It sounds like it’s being compressed to hell or something. It’s smashed together and not sitting in with the music. When this EP came out, I never bothered to listen to records all that critically, I just put them on and this one knocked me out. It was like The Misfits had grown up or something. There are mixes on Misfits singles that for the life of me, I don’t understand why they thought that was the way to go. I remember asking Danzig once about some session, perhaps about the Halloween single and what distance he was setting mics from the drums, etc. and I don’t remember the answer of if he even answered. The single mix of London Dungeon is one of those examples. The song is great and while the mix isn’t awful, I just don’t understand what the goal was with the sound, snare level, etc.

12 Hits Mix: This single track might be the one that benefits most from the re-mix. The vocal no longer has that icy and isolated sound where on the previous mix, it sounds very piped in and robs the song of its mid-range. The Misfits material has always made me wonder what they were going for sonically. This mix sounds kind like what it is—someone mixing the song without band members adding their two cents. The snare is tucked into the mix a little better and keeps us away from Googy’s plodding straight beats. The drums have more overall beef to them and make the song a lot heavier. A thing the original lacks. The new mix wins again.

Night Of The Living Dead: One of the greatest Misfits songs of all time. It was a single so I wonder why they recorded it again. It is not uncommon for a band to take a few single tracks and include them on a debut album, perhaps they wanted to get this song the exposure they thought it had not the first time around.

Original mix: Snare/hi-hat clobbers the mix and covers those great vocals and crushing riffage but it’s still good. Snare isn’t sticking out as much as on some of the other mixes. Guitars are somewhat subdued in the verses and it’s a shame that such a good riff is held back. Glenn’s vocals fight to be heard and they do alright but it’s not as good as the newer mix.

12 Hits Mix: guitars more defined on choruses. Vocals and guitars are up on the verses and it sounds great. What a song. Snare sound is better and sits better in the mix. Such a great guitar sound. You can really hear Bobby Steele’s guitar in this one. This is the better mix by far.

Ghouls Night Out: A track that made it onto the Three Hits EP. The verses have an almost uplifting melodic effect. When you really dissect these songs, the more and more amazed you become at what Glenn is bringing to the table here. Again, the economy and lack of leads and parts makes the songs so immediate. When you have songs this good, you don’t need a lot of parts.

Original mix: There’s that same icy, separated sound on the vocal that was on London Dungeon. Another killer song not getting all it could. Guitars trapped behind snare/hi-hat again. Reverb on drums competing with Glenn’s vocals. Hi hat in your face all the way through the song. Damn can that guy sing.

12 Hits Mix: Good full rock mix. Snare is tucked in and rockin’ Chorus is powerfully mixed which really gives the song power. This mix kills the original, no question.

Astro Zombies: This was one of my favorite “new” Misfits songs when I first heard it. For a long time there were only the singles and all of a sudden there’s all this new material like this song and I Turned Into A Martian. They were welcome additions.

Original mix: Snare and hi-hat are up in this mix but the vocals are very clear. Guitars are a undefined roar in the background which is too bad because the changes are really powerful and could make the song hit harder if the mix integrated the chords with what the snare is doing.

12 Hits Mix: Kinda guitar heavy, rarely a problem for me but it’s clobbering those vocals a little. Snare tucked in, again covering those plodding straight beats. Would be really cool to hear this track with only Bobby Steele’s guitars, just to see what he’s doing. Toss up as to which mix I like better. With this one you get roaring guitars but you lose a little Glenn.

Horror Hotel: Another Three Hits track. That was a bullet proof record. There’s another one of those killer choruses it ends with “ . . . you wanna start something with me?” Provocative like the chorus in Where Eagles Dare, “ . . . I ain’t no goddamn sonofabitch! . . . “ This stuff was built for crowds to riot to at shows.

Original mix: Big snare and hi-hat. Glenn’s vocals have a reverb thing on the verses which seems to distance him from the mix somewhat. Better than some of the other mixes. I don’t know the exact history but it sounds like the original songs were mixed at different times and perhaps different locations? There seems to be such a difference in sonic quality. Definitely sounds like the three songs released on Three Hits were mixed as one session.

12 Hits Mix: Better overall mix. This one gets Glenn out from behind the snare and hi-hat. Guitars are more present and doing what they’re supposed to do—bludgeon and impair. Solid, rockin’ mix.

Where Eagles Dare: Another song that was on a single. Again, perhaps to get the song out to more people. The fact that this song and Night Of The Living Dead were re-recorded makes me think this session was at least at some point considered for release. Also, the vocals are completely finished. There’s no scratch vocals or anything that doesn’t sound fully realized. It’s not the session that’s lacking in any way and some of the tempos sit a little better than some of the Walk Among Us versions for me.

Original mix: Glenn’s vocals are reverb'd and distant. Guitars and bass are tinny and in the back. Sounds almost like the same mix used on Halloween. Effect on vocal seems to be ridden throughout the song. I don’t understand why the guitars and bass are so in the back of the song.

12 Hits Mix: Live count in is left in and immediately you hear that the bass is fuller and locking in with the snare. Guitars are a kick ass wall of relentless power. Glenn is more present and it’s overall a better mix. It occurs to me that none of the 12 Hits mixes are amazing, they are great, it’s more that the other ones, when compared are inferior overall. This would have made a fantastic album. Might have been even better had they had a producer they all would have listened to and trusted there at the beginning to perhaps get some better sounds on the instruments.

Violent World: Not the greatest Misfits song in that there’s not the chorus you will be singing for the rest of your life. Not single material but a great album track. This song sounds like it was written very close to the time Devil’s Whorehouse was written. I wonder if they had that song ready at the time they recorded this one.

Original mix: Vocal and snare / hi hat are up front. Vocals are processed. Kick drum pedal click annoying. Guitars dull roar in back. It’s amazing they took all those guitars and made them so flattened. It’s hard to even make out the chord changes in this mix.

12 Hits Mix: vocals more up front and more dry. Pedal click more audible and almost competes with vocal. Guitars up and sounds really good. Choruses really jump out in this re-mix. Cleaner guitars help this song. The Misfits knew the power of those big, smashing chords. It’s one of their strengths, interesting that they didn’t feature it more on these mixes. Perhaps they didn’t want to sound metal or something.

Halloween II: What a monster song. Glenn will always fascinate me. Really in a league of his own with this stuff. This was always one of my favorite singles by this band.

Original mix: I notice that the backing vocals up high and compete with Danzig’s. That squirrelly guitar over dub towards the end of the track is featured much more than on the 12 Hits mix. The choruses feel snare drum heavy and it makes the chorus plod somewhat.

12 Hits Mix: Backing vocals subdued a bit making them more textural, giving the song more intensity than original mix. On the chorus parts, the bass is up and keeps the song driving along instead of having to rely on the kick/snare. This is the better mix by a good stretch. Amazing song. Talk about a band who could pack a ton of feeling and stuff into a song that lasts barely two minutes. Brilliant.

London Dungeon (alternate take): Lucky us. Another version of such a great song. I sure would like to know the story behind this. I would like to know why there’s a second version and why it sounds fairly finished. Doesn’t seem to have as many guitars on it but the vocal as on the album version is strong and distinct. A perfect way to cap this Misfits hour. I know many of you are wondering why we are not going for another 13 Misfits songs. I know what you mean. There’s never too many Misfits songs in the mix as far as I’m concerned.

As they say from the stages of arenas all over the world: Are you still with me out there?! I hope so and I hope you enjoyed our total immersion into the 12 Hits From Hell album. Perhaps there will come a day when the band will change their mind and the album will come out for a reasonable price in unlimited quantities but until then, it’s a pretty rare find these days.
     So, now we move on into more of our regular programming as we unwind from 25 Misfits songs.

The Fall – Chicago Now!: What?! Not them again! That’s right Fanatics, it’s our almost weekly sampling of Manchester UK’s The Fall. Tonight’s track comes from 1990’s Extricate album. I believe this was their first studio album after the Beggar’s Banquet period. The first album of the new decade. The 90’s were great for The Fall as far as releases go. The two albums that came after Extricate, Shift-Work and Code: Selfish are both really great as well and as we have noted before, the band seems to work through phases two to three albums at a time. I think these three albums are all part of a phase, very different than the two that came after, Middle Class Revolt and The Infotainment Scan which seem to be another phase of the band two albums in length. There’s a website that loyal supporters of the band do one hell of a job with. If you have not checked it out yet, you should. Here it is: http://www.visi.com/fall/.

Pentagram - When The Screams Come: Another band I don’t know much about. I was sent the First Daze Here CD years ago and it sat for months as I was on tour but I got back and played it a few times and it’s pretty cool. At one point, I was going to ask Ian if he had heard of them and he actually brought them up and asked if I was a fan. I confessed my relative ignorance except for the one CD. Ian said I should play it more and that they were really good. I did and got more into the band. I have been reading the band’s bio that’s on the site I will put at the bottom of this and there’s mention of The Groundhogs a few times. I can hear a little Groundhogness in their sound. Ian turned me onto that band as well. These guys are heavy and cool. When I listen to them, I hear a little Captain Beyond in their sound. Perhaps it’s just a period thing. Cool record. http://shop.relapse.com/artist/artist.aspx?ArtistID=10078.

Black Flag – TV Party / I’ve Got To Run / My Rules: Our weekly EP is Black Flag’s TV Party three track single. We recorded this in 1982 and I believe it’s the only recording we ever did in the studio with Emil. It was done at Unicorn Studios in Santa Monica CA. It was originally Brothers Studios where the Beach Boys made some records. I think Big Ones and others from that era were done there. I never liked the sound of this record. Sounds a bit washed out. I don’t remember much of the sessions besides we did multiple versions of the everything but the a-side. I don’t remember at what time those songs were written. I think they were put together before I was in the band. For some reason, I don’t have much memory of the sessions from this record besides noting that TV Party was a little slower than the album version.

Plasticland - Headlice Rage And Arrogance: I heard a track of this band on a compilation CD called History In 3 Chords, which is a compilation set of bands from Milwaukee WI. I thought the track was cool so I sought them out. I don’t know much about them but they are pretty cool. This song is strange and really different. I have not heard anyone play them on the radio before and I have never heard anyone mention them. Some very cool Psychedelic music. There is a recently released retrospective called Make Yourself a Happening Machine: A Collection on Ryko. It says on Amazon.com that it came out April of this year. The song we heard tonight isn’t on it but it’s got 30 songs and it might be cool to check out. I pulled tonight’s track from an album of theirs called Mink Dress & Other Cats.

The Bonnevilles - Zu Zu: Doo Wop I found on a collection of songs on the Old Town label. I don’t know anything about them. Cool song though. I found one book on Doo Wop years ago at a bookstore and looked it over for several minutes and I wasn’t getting anything from it. I have never been able to find a good book on the genre so I just buy Doo Wop comp. CDs that look interesting and hope for the best. Most of the time, they’re pretty cool or have at least a handful of good songs but most of the time, they are pretty damn good all the way through to my ears.

Black Sabbath - It's Alright: One of the greatest Black Sabbath songs hardly anyone ever talks about. A Bill Ward vocal. I think they did a video for this, right? I think I saw this somewhere. This track is from the Technical Ecstasy album. I think it’s a really interesting record. TE is a Sabbath album that a lot of Sabbath Fanatics don’t play very often. They leave this one and Never Say Die! alone most of the time. They are not as vital as some of their earlier albums and I only started playing often after years of playing all the Sabbath albums but those two. They are not great Sabbath albums but definitely worth repeated listens. Over both albums, It’s Alright is probably my favorite song. Bill Ward is such a righteous drummer. He and Sabbath bass player Geezer Butler are my favorite rhythm section in Rock and Roll.
Wow! Don’t you feel like you’ve been through something now?!