The Misfits are an American rock band that was formed in 1977 that carried on till 1983. In 1995 they re-formed the band that is still present today. Jerry Only (Gerald Caiafa) has been with the band since day one in 1977; he plays bass guitar and is now the leading vocals. Dez Cadena has been with the band since 2001; he plays guitar and does the backing vocals. Robo (Roberto Valverde) has been the drummer of the band since 1982 and returned as the drummer in 2005. The three of them will be performing as The Misfits at the The Opera House in Toronto on Thursday, June 17 at 7:00 PM. The show is all ages and you can buy your tickets now.
HISTORY
1977-1978
In January, 1977 the band Misfits was formed in Lodi, New Jersey by Glenn Danzig. The band name came from actress Marilyn Monroe’s final film; “Misfits” (1961). As Danzig sang and played electric piano he recruited Jimmy Battle(Guitarist), Diane DiPiazza(Bassist) and Manny Martínez(Drummer) to fill the line up. Battle and DiPiazza left the band a month later; making Jerry Caiafa the new bass guitarist. Danzig, Martínez, and Caiafa remained a band with no guitarist for three months using only Danzig’s piano for rhythm. In August that year Franché Coma (Frank Licata) joined as the guitarist and in December they ejected Martínez replacing him with drummer “Mr. Jim” Catania. In 1978 The Misfits entered a New York recording studio to record their first album; Static Age where seventeen songs were recorded.
1978-1981
In October of 1978 Franché Coma quit the band; making Rick Riley temporary fill in until the tour had finished; Jim Catania quit right after the tour. Within two months the two were replaced by drummer Joey Image (Joey Poole) and guitarist Bobby Steele. In 1979 the band opened for The Damned in New York City; Image left the band after the result of the band supposedly to be touring with The Damned. In 1980 the band took a four month break and introduced Arthur Googy (Joseph McGuckin) as the drummer. Only’s younger brother learned to play guitar and became the guitarist as the name Doyle (Paul Caiafa).
1982-1983
In March 1982 the album Walk Among Us was released through Ruby and Slash Records. Danzig later kicked Googy out of the Misfits replacing him with drummer Black Flag (Robo) in 1982; where he later left the band. Brian Damage took over as the bands drummer and shortly after the band split up going their own ways.
1996-2000
Only and Doyle eventually reformed the band introducing drummer Dr. Chud (David Calabrese) and new lead singer Michale Graves (Michael Emanuel) to the band. In 1997 they released the album American Psycho making them tour through Europe and North America; shortly after Graves took a break; returning the band signed with Roadrunner Records making them release Famous Monsters. Graves and Chud left the band after a performance in Florida.
2001-PRESENT
Only took over the lead vocalist in addition to playing bass and recruited Dez Cadena(Guitarist) and Marky Ramone(Drummer). Only and Cafiero eventually launched their own label, Misfits Records and in 2003 Only/Cadena/Ramone released cover album Project 1950 which had guest appearances of Ronnie Spector, Jimmy Destri, Ed Manion, and John Cafiero. The band toured with the album and in 2005 Ramone left the band introducing Robo back into the band. The Misfits are currently performing a 30th anniversary world tour with the release of the new single Land of the Dead which was released last year which was the first release within six years of the band and the first release of the current trio band Only, Cadena and Robo.
Let us know if you will be attending by joining the Misfits PAM event.
