In an interview a few years ago hulking frontman Jerry Only commented on the "labors of love" Misfits fans put their energies into. James Greene Jr.'s "This Music Leaves Stains: The Complete Story of The Misfits" is one such love, and arguably the best one in hardcover print that has been proffered about the often less than cooperative individuals that had graduated from the "Glenn Danzig school of rock" so to speak. Greene's pains for scouring sources and traces of the oft recluse Danzig are obvious as he details the childhood, adolescence, family life, and early music steps for the future gloom rocker. The author takes us to Lodi, NJ where troubled lone wolf Glenn Allen Anzalone drifts as frontman from band to band until meeting towering muscle head Gerald Caiafa and his amateur bass playing skills. Together the two cut an E.P., 1977's Cough/Cool with jazz inspired drummer Manny Martinez, a drummer whose seat would be vacated and replaced in a succession of unreliable or undesirable skinsmen. Not satisfited with saturating us with early Misfits anecdotes and previously unknown tidbits, Greene also drops brief histories of associated acts and peers of the original (original here being 1977-1983) band and how the band was perceived and contacted by fans. Greene further details the members' activities post original breakup, the Caiafas punching in at their father's factory and cutting tracks for the doomed Kryst the Konqueror, and Glenn going on the Samhain, which evolved into the world-famous and early MTV beloved Danzig. Like Steven Blush's "American Hardcore: A Tribal History" the book is amazingly annotated with sources ranging from interviews to public records, which being published by Scarecrow Press, makes sense. Unlike Steven Blush's work, Greene rarely deviates from his narrative as cataloger and archivist to voice his personal opinion, though it's more frequent toward the end when he makes public his disdain at the parties involved in legal battles and negotiations that go nowhere. Love or hate the new Misfits, Greene also admits how impressive the Jerry Only led machine that is now the current lineup has been in raking in the green and reinventing themselves for a younger generation of fans. As any longtime fiends know, praise from older fans is something Jerry finds hard to come by these days. The author also laments on Danzig and how his holed up and tight lipped demeanor is just as much to blame for any progress the artist could have made concerning the talks between parties. Aside from the Misfits the readers are also informed on the wheres and whos of the artists and any current (at time of publishing) activities the individuals are up to."This Music Leaves Stains" is a MUST have for any true fiend as it is one of the few legitimate concentrated efforts at a bibliographed history of the underground genre and movement the band founded.
Further reading: The Ultimate Final This Music Leaves Stains F.A.Q. (For Now)
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