The Beginning.

The Misfits-“Astro Zombies”-Collection 1
I know all the various complaints against The Misfits-misogynistic lyrics, the silly make-up, the murder/horror motifs. I say so what. The Misfits embodied the punk spirit. They emerged out of New Jersey (of all places) as one of the greatest American punk acts ever-they made all their own shirts and merchandise, hauled their own equipment, had a lead singer who sounded like a punk Elvis, and made a name for themselves as rock icons when disco was still king. Arguably, no band ever did more with poor production and 3 chords than The Misfits-modern bands with tens of thousands of dollars and the most high tech recording studios still can’t hold a candle to the passion and gritty punk heart The Misfits brought to the stale and heartless music scene of the late seventies.
The Misfits blew my world apart.
A strange and unique young man named Ruhi was in my Economics class early in my first year of high school. He was raised Bahai (unlike 99.9% of my school, which was Christian), wore a long leather trench coat, and assured me I would love The Misfits. I distinctly remember climbing on the bus that cloudy fall day, popping Ruhi’s Misfits tape into my walkman, and hearing the opening chords of “Astro Zombies”-and I was lost forever. The perfect mix of retro and punk, The Misfits sung about topics I could relate to-feeling alien, mistrusting adults, wanting to take vengeance on the people who treated you like shit-with the added bonus of an amazingly simple-yet-rich stripped down style against a vintage 1950’s horror movie backdrop. I embraced their music with the passion only a teenager can muster. I still love The Misfits now just as much as I did then-as I age I often look back at the music I liked and find it silly or not half as good as I remembered. The passion remains to this day, which-in my mind-is the biggest testament to their greatness as a band.
I chose “Astro Zombies” not because it is their best song, but because it embodies all the qualities The Misfits brought to the table-its like a 1950’s love song put through the filter of a nerdy kind raised on too many horror movies who just learned to play his cool uncle’s guitar. Jocks pick on you? Never get the beautiful boy/girl? Feel like life as a teenager sucks? “Exterminate the whole human race!”.
Indeed.