Glenn Danzig

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Gdansk at the Wacken Open Air 2013

Glenn Danzig , actually Glenn Allen Anzalone , (born June 23, 1955 in Lodi , New Jersey ) is an American rock musician . In addition to his main activity as a singer with the Danzig group , he works as a comic writer and producer.

youth

Glenn Allen Anzalone aka Glenn Danzig was born the third of four children in Lodi, New Jersey, to Protestant parents. Gdansk has Italian , German and Scottish ancestors. His father was a television technician and a United States Marine Corps veteran who fought in World War II and the Korean War. His mother worked in a record store. So he came into contact with rock music at an early age , such as Blue Cheer , Black Sabbath or The Doors .

According to its own statements, Danzig grew up with very few religious restrictions. His father was a Protestant and he attended the Protestant church. However, he learned that many things were forbidden to his Catholic friends. Danzig experienced alcohol and other drugs when he was eleven, but withdrew from them when he was 15. After graduating from Lodi High School , he attended the Tisch School of the Arts and then the New York Institute of Photography . He initially aspired to become a comic book illustrator.

Music career

Before Glenn Danzig founded the band The Misfits with Jerry Only in 1977 , thus laying the foundation for the horror punk genre , he had played in several other bands, including Talus and Whodat and Boojang. In 1983 he left the Misfits to devote his full attention to his new band Samhain . The break with the Misfits came about due to musical differences over the song material written by Danzig. In 1987 he founded the rock band Danzig . Danzig was already at that time, in the late 1980s many ( Hardcore -) punk listeners as a cult figure and was for example in terms of his charisma with Lemmy of Motorhead compared. He was certified to have created his own style.

Due to his throaty and deep vocals, which some critics have compared to Elvis Presley's and Jim Morrisons , the only 1.60 meter tall, muscular Glenn Danzig is occasionally called "Elvis from Hell" and "Evil Elvis".

Furthermore, Danzig is characterized by its stage presence and a posing that is similar to that of a bodybuilder .

For Jerry Only, as the last remaining member of the original line-up, to be on the road with the name of the Misfits until 2016, Danzig was only ridiculous: “That is pathetic. He just lives by name. Are there any people who think that's good? "

On May 12, 2016 it was announced that Glenn Danzig, for the first time since 1983, would be on stage with the Misfits at the Riot Fest in Denver and Chicago in September 2016 .

Religious and political attitudes

Glenn Danzig has frequently admitted his political and religious views in interviews. Politically, he spoke out in favor of the right to abortion and supported the death penalty in the USA. He criticized the police, for example in connection with the Rodney King case .

Danzig often played with satanic motifs , especially on his solo albums, and was also portrayed as a Satanist. He has denied this in interviews, but criticized organized religion:

“Many people have died for a man who did nothing but teach a passive way of life. I don't feel like they are keeping the memory alive of Christ trying to bring such a way of life to people ... Religion shouldn't provide grounds for mass killing and fighting. I can understand when one is fighting for one's personal freedom, but it goes too far when someone says: 'Either you believe in what I say you should believe, or I will crack your head in. "

- Glenn Danzig 1992

Glenn Danzig spoke out for freedom of expression and against political correctness :

“I am not politically correct. The people who believe in it probably hope that I'll be shot soon. But then I'll take some people with me to my death. 'PC' is a type of fascism . One of the basic principles of American society is that everyone can think what they want. [...] I demand respect and tolerance from everyone. "

- Glenn Danzig 1994

Criticism and controversy

In the metal scene , Danzig is quite controversial and has often been viewed in the music press with a mixture of friendly derision and clear criticism. Rock Hard magazine, for example, sometimes dubbed him “gloomy dwarf” or “ham glenn”. There was sharper criticism of increasing star allures in the early 1990s, such as sudden concert cancellations, arguments and fights, for example with concert photographers , the band Def Leppard or with André Verhuysen, the organizer of the Dynamo Open Air . After the end of the festival, at which Verhuysen had canceled the performance of Danzig's band after their concert started two hours late, it almost broke into a fight with them. Verhuysen thereupon made public with printed documents that Gdansk had “ordered” “girls between 18 and 24” on his catering order for the festival who had a high school degree and “knowledge of politics, religion and sport” and lived no more than a five-dollar cab ride from the festival site. Danzig later contradicted this and stated that he did not know anything about it, that it was “total nonsense” or “a joke by the promoter”.

Danzig was also repeatedly noticed by controversial and sometimes contradicting statements in interviews. For example, as part of the promotion of his second solo album Danzig II: Lucifuge, on the one hand he expressed admiration for “Führer” figures, but on the other hand he stated that he questioned religious authorities. In Italy, he was struck off a festival in 1992 because of further controversial interview statements.

Danzig's dealings with band members were also criticized. For example, ex-drummer Chuck Biscuits complained that Danzig had treated him like an "employee". Here, too, Danzig contradicted it and pointed out that Biscuits had left the band voluntarily and in front of witnesses from the record company and management. He also cited Biscuits' drug use as a reason.

Others

Glenn Danzig owns a comic book publisher called Verotik . The publisher sells dark comics for an adult target group. For one of his comics, "Ge Rouge", Danzig was planning a film adaptation.

In addition, Danzig is the owner of the record company Plan 9 , from which almost all Misfits albums (with him as a singer) were released.

He had a brief guest appearance in the film God’s Army II - The Prophecy as Fallen Angel Samyael and in a sketch in the series Portlandia . In order to consolidate his body-hugging demeanor, he trains the martial art Jeet Kune Do with Bruce Lee student Jerry Poteet according to a video published on YouTube .

Danzig directed the 2019 horror episode film Verotika and created the score.

Discography

The Misfits

Samhain

  • 1984: Initium
  • 1985: Unholy Passion (EP)
  • 1986: November coming fire
  • 1990: Final Descent
  • 2000: Samhain Box Set (box set)
  • 2002: Samhain Live '85 - '86 (Live album)

Danzig

Glenn Danzig

  • 1981: Who Killed Marilyn? (EP)
  • 1992: Black Aria
  • 2006: Black Aria II

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jon Young: Danzig Knows the Power of the Dark Side . Musician . August 1994. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
  2. ^ Greg Burk: Glenn Danzig interview, 1999 . LA Weekly . October 27, 1999. Archived from the original on November 27, 2010. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 6, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.metaljazz.com
  3. ↑ Jeff Kitts: The Dark Knight Returns . Flux Magazine . September 1994. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
  4. ↑ Mariana Zogbi: Gdansk on Thin Ice , Metal Mania. Spring 1989. Retrieved October 28, 2009. 
  5. ↑ Steffan Chirazi: The bizarre world of Glenn Danzig . In: Rock Hard , No. 62, p. 13.
  6. ↑ Rebel Meets Rebel ( Memento from September 14, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ↑ Steven Blush: Glenn Danzig . Seconds. October 1997. Retrieved October 3, 2009.
  8. ↑ Thomas Kupfer: DANZIG . Danzig . In: Rock Hard , No. 32.
  9. ↑ Kin Kats - Music & Sexy SubStyle Magazine, Issue 7, April / May 2009, page 8
  10. ↑ Misfits: Reunion shows with Glenn Danzig announced in September In: Metal Hammer May 12, 2016
  11. ↑ a b c d e Hanno Kress: Sex, Crime & Bullshit . In: Rock Hard , No. 90, November 1994, pp. 50-52
  12. ↑ a b c Steffan Chirazi: Lucifer's favorite? . In: Rock Hard , No. 43, October 1990, pp. 22f.
  13. ↑ News . In: Rock Hard , No. 66, November 1992, p. 8.
  14. ↑ News . In: Rock Hard , No. 73, June 1993, p. 8.
  15. ↑ News . In: Rock Hard , No. 78, November 1993, p. 8.
  16. ↑ a b Holger Stratmann: The only fight was between Danzig and me! . In: Rock Hard , No. 86, July 1994, pp. 22f.
  17. ^ Danzig - laut.de , accessed on May 31, 2011.
  18. ↑ News . In: Rock Hard , No. 91, November 1994, p. 6.
  19. ↑ Hanno Kress: The pogende demon . In: Rock Hard , No. 97, June 1995, pp. 66-67
  20. ↑ Kin Kats - Music & Sexy SubStyle Magazine, Issue 7, April / May 2009, page 7
  21. ↑ Portlandia (Danzig Scene), in: Jay Andre's YouTube channel, uploaded on February 13, 2016
  22. ↑ [Review Glenn Danzig's 'Verotika' is the Horror Equivalent of 'The Room']
personal data
SURNAME Danzig, Glenn
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Anzalone, Glenn Allen (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American rock musician
DATE OF BIRTH June 23, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Lodi , New Jersey , United States