"This fucking city is run by pigs. They take the rights away from all the kids."
AIDS, schmaids. Sometimes you just want to tap a vein and shed a few pints in the name of rock 'n' roll. Here's a few who've carved themselves up in the name of our entertainment.
* Note. Some of these pictures are absolutely not yucky in any way. If your boss or any small kids or anyone with a queasy stomach happens to be around, you should immediately grab them and tell them to come take a look at this. Thanks.*
The Candy Snatchers
I'm really bummed out that this is the best Candy Snatchers blood picture I could find. Somewhere I have an old back issue of MRR from, like, 1996 with a picture of Matt Odietus, their guitar player covered in so much blood it's just nauseating. Excessive alcohol consumption played a large part in many of their onstage stunts (the blade-job that sent Matt to the hospital after one show but resulted in a good photo). They would spice up their live act by dousing their instruments in lighter fluid and attempting to play them while they were on fire, breaking bottles and slicing up themselves and each other and catching gobs of another band member's spit in their mouth. Reportedly banned from CBGBs for being too "messy".
Jeff Clayton (Antiseen)
I'm going to damage my hardcore rep by saying I don't really care about these guys and have never bothered to sit down and listen to an entire one of their albums. The whole redneck thing just doesn't register with me. Eat More Possum? Okay ... sure.
These guys have been around for-ever and are fans of old school wrestlers like Abdullah the Butcher, Terry Funk & Cactus Jack and do the blood thing as a sort of homage, with barbed wire and other wrestling weapons (see fork above) making appearances at their shows. I'm guessing they're a lot more fun to watch than listen to.
Jerry A (Poison Idea)
You can't really mention nihilism without mentioning Poison Idea. They put a picture of Fat Elvis on their first 7", then did everything possible to surpass him in excess and in girth. Drugs, booze, Jerry's frequently bloody forehead and Pig Champion's mammoth obesity arguably surpassed even their idol, Darby Crash.
Per Yngve Ohlin AKA "Dead" (Mayhem)
There's a common thread of drunkenness and drug abuse that most of the subjects here have in common. I don't know anything about the habits of Ohlin, who took the very appropriate name of Dead, but he stands out for me as a prime example of someone who was just mentally ill and depressed. He would cut himself onstage with knives and broken glass and popularized corpse paint and use of animal heads impaled on stakes in his band's performances.
His final act of self abuse is what he, and ultimately the band, would be most famous for. At the age of 22, blew his head off with a shotgun, after the knife he chose to slash his wrists was too dull. His suicide note read"sorry about all the blood". The act of suicide itself doesn't get one on this list but after band members decided to photograph Dead with his grey matter blown out, photos surfaced on the bootleg album above and rumors that ranged from saving pieces of his skull, to making a stew with his brains, as well as accusations of satanism and the eventual murder of their guitarist made the band legendary, rather than their genuinely awful music.
Kembra Pfahler
You may notice there is a definite shortage of women on this list. This could possibly prove, once and for all, the theory that women are smarter than men. Kembra is no angry nihilist or drunken masochist (near as I can tell) but more of a weirdo performance artist. Live performances with her band "The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black" would regularly feature her - SEWING HER VAGINA SHUT! - The defense rests, your honor.
Sid Vicious
Even those who disagree with my opinion that The Sex Pistols were one of the most overrated bands of all time would have to admit that Sid's legacy has more to with perfecting the image of punks as brain-dead junkies (and dying young after allegedly murdering his girlfriend) than anything he ever attempted to play on his bass. Still the image of Sid, face smeared in blood, with "I Need A Fix" carved into his chest remains one of the most enduring in rock.
Darby Crash
Germs front man took nihilism and intoxication to another level. Darby seemed like a shy, nervous, confused kid who ingested anything he could get his hands on to combat his stage fright and unleash his demons on unsuspecting audiences.
Darby often couldn't manage to sing into the mike and his performances included breaking bottles on himself and diving in broken glass as well as various other accidental injuries due to extreme drunkenness and drug taking. After earning a reputation as one of the most explosive and unpredictable performers in punk rock, he committed suicide by heroin overdose at the age of 22.
Darby often couldn't manage to sing into the mike and his performances included breaking bottles on himself and diving in broken glass as well as various other accidental injuries due to extreme drunkenness and drug taking. After earning a reputation as one of the most explosive and unpredictable performers in punk rock, he committed suicide by heroin overdose at the age of 22.
Iggy Pop
According to the man himself (and VH1 Behind the music thank you very much) Iggy's first experience with public bloodletting came as an accident. Drunk, drugged out and shirtless at a bar show, Ig accidentally cut himself on a broken cocktail glass and didn't notice he was gushing pints of blood in front of a horrified audience. Much like Pete Townshend who, after breaking his headstock on a low ceiling and saving face by smashing his guitar to pieces was constantly asked "let's see you smash your guitar up again!" Iggy faced constant requests of "let's see you slice yourself up". He was happy to oblige, making diving into broken glass a part of his stage repertoire.
The photo above is from one of the most famous Iggy stunts, slicing himself up with a knife during a performance art piece at Bingenheimer's English disco, after which he was placed into a gunny sack and dragged out into the alley. Par for the course for someone who would seemingly drink, shoot, snort, smash or fuck anything put in front of him. He is, of course still alive, in the best shape of his life, older than my dad and still diving head first into the pit. Huzzah!
GG Allin
GG Allin didn't invent audience baiting, violence as showmanship and shedding of bodily fluids as performance, he merely honed it to perfection.
GG's music was always overshadowed by his legend, his inflammatory rhetoric and his geek show live act. GG not only cut himself with broken glass, pissed, shat and bled but beat up the audience and members of his own band and ended every tour with either jail or hospitalization for blood poisoning.
Other career highlights include; wrecking venues, inciting riots,
Other career highlights include; wrecking venues, inciting riots,
promising to commit suicide on stage each Halloween (but ending up back in jail before he could do so) sticking objects (bananas, bottles, microphones) in his ass, letting women piss in his mouth, pronouncing himself to be god and/or jesus, and genuinely living to be hated.
He not only entertained, but genuinely frightened people and made rock 'n' roll dangerous in a way that will never be socially acceptable.
"My mind is a machine gun, my body's the bullets and the audience is the target." Amen.
