Why W.A.S.P. SCARED Everyone…
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
- The story of how Blackie Lawless and his outfit W.A.S.P. got so popular
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WASP outraged parents, religious groups and received death and bomb threats in the process. At the same time, they delighted people who witnessed their stage spectacles. Led by imposing frontman Blackie Lawless who stands at 6feet 4” tall, the group’s 80’s era albums represented a commercial high water mark for the group. In today’s video, let’s talk about the unusual rise of WASP.
The beginning of the WASP’s history starts with Blackie Lawless who was born Steven Edward Duren in Florida. He was raised in Staten Island, and in his younger years he befriended future kiss guitarist ace frehley. Duren was brought up in a fundamentalist baptist household telling USA Today “My father was a Sunday school superintendent, my grandfather was the head deacon of the church, and my grandfather was a preacher. When the doors opened, I was there. I was "indoctrinated". You're told what to think. I was in the church freely until the age of 18, and when I left the church I REALLY left. I went and practiced the occult for three years. At the end of that time, I discovered that was just another organized religion. In the same interview with USA today he had jewish ancestry..
As for how he got the name Blackie Lawless ,he’d get the name, at least the first part at the age of 13. He’d tell Eddie I know everybody in that band trunk that his mother worked for the USo during world war 2 and she was a professional dancer. She once went to a service club and a guy one night went up to one of the sailors, took a switchblade and stabbed the guy. He remarked ""He took a switchblade and he stuck it in the guy in his stomach and walked around the guy with the blade in him, so he did a circle around his body. And I heard that story, and it left a lasting impression," he explains. "So with the color of the hair and all, it just stuck. It's been with me ever since." As for the name Lawless there was a player for the football team the Dallas Cowboys who was an all-pro center named Burton Lawless. He loved that the jersey of the guy said lawless on it.”
Lawless uncle was late Major League Baseball pitcher Ryne Duren who played for a variety of teams including the new york yankees. Lawless at one point even considered a career in baseball thanks to having a good throwing arm. In the book nothin but a good time photographer Don Adkins recalled how Lawless told him he had a 99mph fastball and got drafted to play for the farm team of the Detroit Tigers. But by the mid 70’s he got an offer to join the group the new york dolls and left baseball. However in an interview with Loudersound, Lawless would clarify it was actually a stint with the cincinnati reds farm team. In a separate interview with rough edge magazine lawless claimed he still suffers from a baseball injury, a torn tendon in his elbow.
It wasn’t just baseball that caught lawless attention as he told the Edmonton Journal that had he not been a musician he might have went into advertising as he was always fascinated by marketoing. Meanwhile he’d tell a dayton ohio paper that in his mind the three best jobs in the world were being presidents of the United States, being boxing heavyweight champion and being a rock n’ roll musician. He’d meet boxer Mohammed Ali, crediting the athlete with inspiring his onstage footwork.
Lawless had a short stint in the iconic glam band, New York Dolls joining the group briefly in 1975 after guitarist Johnny Thunders left the group mid-tour. The Dolls taught Lawless how not to be famous remarking to the journal “They were the only band I know of, that could sit at an airport terminal and miss 5 planes in a row. One member was drinking 13 quarts of liquor a day and well let’s just say dolls were five guys trying to be jim morrison and succeeding. A lot of his early media interviews placed a large emphasis of his time in the new york dolls, but for Lawless the best thing that came out of the stint, was that it got him from the East Coast to LA.
Lawless formed the group Sister In 1976, which also featured future W.A.S.P. guitarist Randy Piper. Now I wanna say that the biography that WASP’s future label C
What other bands should I be covering?
@@rnrtruestories Zebra
Triumph
Savatage
Hanoi Rocks
Annihilator
BABYLON A.D.... Their debut album had Sam Kinison on a song,and was on the 'ROBO COP 2' soundtrack. Great radio friendly tunes from late 80's hair metal scene.
Other metal bands that need more coverage that are truly underrated are, Testament, Vicious Rumors, Overkill, Agent Steel, Lion with Kal Swan on vocals, Xentrix, Chastain, Laaz Rockit, Annihilator, Virgin Steele, Savatage, Vio-Lence, Hallows Eve, Grim Reaper, are a few suggestions for future videos.
Pardons if you've already done any. I haven't watched your entire catalog:
Slowdive
Reef
Super Furry Animals
Catatonia
The Datsuns
Luxembourg
Swci Boscawen (pretty niche, but a bittersweet story as far as the singer goes)
The Darkness
A canadian band called Varga used to be cool .... How about Shotgun Messiah? A video devoted to Tim Skold would be awesome....
As a kid, my bedroom was covered wall to wall with metal posters and pictures I cut out of Circus and Hit Parader magazines. The only poster my Mom ever ripped off my wall was one of Blackie Lawless drinking blood from a human skull.
I did that too lol, same magazines. Can still remember my poor grandfather walking in my room and taking a long time studying all the pictures on the walls, with this very serious expression on his face. Didn't say a word. He came from a world where clean cut gentlemen wore suits and hats.
I bet he was thinking “What kind of a lounge club would book an act like this”?
My pops once took all ( like 20-30 ) of my rock concert t-shirts and ripped them up and used them as rags in his garage. I was so pissed I moved out days later. I know the feeling!
@@robert.m4676 Those would be worth a fortune if still around today.
WASP is a band that's better than their reputation would lead you to believe.
“Wild Child” is proof of that!
Agree
Excellent comment, so true! Saw them twice, the second time with what was billed as Black Sabbath ( was really just Tony Iommi which surprisingly was really good) on the Seventh Star tour! W.A.S.P was touring for "Headless Children" great show! Sidenote: Seventh Star, was only billed as a Black Sabbath album bc of Sharon Arden's father Don Arden and Sabbath owefld an album with the Sabbath nMe, Iommi was not happy about it, but it was a great show! W.A.S.P was bad ass as well!
@@rickpeterson8825 Yep that was the ill-fated Glenn Hughes era. Glenn Hughes of course was and is an amazing singer but his cocaine problems and anger issues were legendary and once he had the shit kicked out of him in a bar fight, he was done for a long time afterwards.
They kinda did it to themselves though.
The parental advisory sticker. Was the game changer. When I was 12. I would not buy any tape that didn’t have that sticker.
Ditto.
I understand that! All the Tipper stickers did was increase sales!
I have a vivid memory of a group of friends of mine in the school library in 1986 ( I was 11) going over all the tapes that we knew had the sticker and we made plans to buy as many as we could!! Mine was Master Of Puppets lol
The Parental Advisory Explicit Content stickers were great because you knew which albums were the good ones. If it didn't have that seal of approval I wouldn't buy it either.
Even as a kid, it really didn't mean much to me. Just meant there was cursing in it. Plenty of amazing record would not have had that label(the big four Metallica records for example)
Thanks for this. These guys don’t get enough love. The Last Command and Electric Circus are highly underrated.
Another reason why 1984 is one of greatest years in music history.
You aren't kidding.
It was great to be 14 then.
I was 4, and I still remember rocking out to both WASP and Twisted Sister at the time, both were playing on the radio. I Wanna be Somebody, and I Wanna Rock, respectively.
I graduated from high school in 84.
I was the weirdo, back when W.A.S.P. first came out! Cause I loved them! So l guess that I'm still the weirdo! Cause, I love them now! Blackie is the only singer, that can have you full of anger and then crying. In the same song! He sells it and makes you feel it, everytime! Nobody has a voice, like Blackie Lawless! No band has a sound, like W.A.S.P. 💯
I’m weirder then you I loved wasp slayer and AC/DC 🎉❤ and still do
Back in 1984
Most underrated heavy metal wasp doesn’t get enough recognition
Drunk driving kills. Please...be safe. Never get behind the wheel while drunk!
They were a great live band.
@@endlessnameless6494that is a strange comment to make. I've never known anyone to be pro-drunk driving.
You absolutely should do a Part 2 and and cover 1992's Crimson idol.
I grew up during the heyday of metal, and what drew me to W.A.S.P was Blackie Lawless' unique vocals---there was nothing else quite like it
Right!
Parents hated them. A sure path to success in Heavy Metal.
Underrated band , great upload . You have been on a great roll lately with the content . Amazing job . Huge fan of the channel
The torture never stops on their first album is highly underrated
Agreed.
I TOTALLY AGEE With You! That is my Favorite Song off there debut Album!
The whole first Album is awesome..
Musically, W.A.S.P. were by far the best of the Sunset Strip bands. Especially when they got to 'The Headless Children' while all the other bands were still writing about their dicks.
That's demonstrably false. Just because you like them the best, does not mean the musicians in the band were the most precise, innovative, or accomplished. George Lynch, Jake E. Lee and Warren DeMartini were in a different solar system compared to these guys.
@@machupikachu1085 I meant in terms of songwriting.
@@RolandDeschain1 so did I. WASP only used simple single note riffs and power chords in the Ionian and Aeolian modes.
RATT, Dokken and Ozzy use augmented, diminished and inverted chords that allow more complex melodies and harmonies, giving rise to greater moods and atmosphere.
You could argue that complexity and nuance don't mean better songs, but WASP had two gold records, and the artists I mentioned all had a string of platinum and multi platinum albums. So, demonstrably, the songs were also more popular.
I likes me some old school WASP too, but let's not pretend they were objectively better than their peers.
How did those other bands know about WASP's dicks?
Wrong. Dokken was the best of the best.
"Five guys trying to be Jim Morrison and succeeding"!
That has to be one of the most succinct put-downs I ever heard.
Wearing a WASP Tshirt right now actually.
Good choice
👍sweeeeet
Amen 🤘 lol
Nice im currently wear a saw blade cod piece ⚙🪚🍆
@@trance9158 Yeo BHop Formula one practice from Italy is on ESPN 2 currently 8:15 here east coast time
They are the B movie of metal. And I love them for it.
Exactly. And it's a high compliment when you say that (I know you know, but probably not everyone reading this knows that.)
Exactly. They were a meh band. I had a few of their records with one maybe two descent songs if one wasn't a cover. Their video approach and appearance was a joke with all the dancing around and acting like they were just thrash killing it. Everybody loves theatrics but there's was silly af. There were so many metal bands in the 80's that was so so much better. Plus Blackie is an asshole and fucked his band mates over especially Chris. Chris was my first attraction to the band. He was too good all the way around for WASP.
The Eddie Trunk comment! BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
When I was doing so much research about the PMRC 3 years ago back when I was a senior in high school, I eventually discovered wasp when Tipper Gore mentions one of the songs she targeted which is Animal (Fuck like a beast), listened to it and suddenly I love the song and I love wasp now.
The Band itself is one of the best, most underrated 80s metal bands I ever listened to. They deserve more love. Blind in Texas and Love Machine are also my favorite songs from them ❤
W.A.S.P. kick ass. 😀👍🎸🤘
Woah! I never knew that he was raised Baptist, that’s hilarious.
The Baptist Church shaped my music taste when my youth pastor took us to a tent meeting in a WalMart parking lot all about the wickedness of Rock and/or Roll music 😂
Most of the 70’s & 80’s rock bands that I love today, I heard for the 1st time at that tent meeting.
Classic, Streisand Effect 😂
Thanks PMRC! You helped bands become more popular.
huge WASP fan. I really enjoyed the first early albums but Headless Children I think is their best.
Eddie and Blackie are friends.
"You're nobody's sIave, nobody's chains are holding you!"
My favorite quote from Blackie about what W.A.S.P. stood for is "We Ain't Sure Pal"
Headless Children is a must listen!
K. F. D. Is a highly underrated album! Manson was shocking the scene when it was released. Blackie took it to another level!
I wanna be somebody be somebody Soon!! Wasp was Awesome
They still are. I saw them last year.
W.A.S.P. are so underated
Blackie is an amazing singer songwriter the crimson idol is a masterpiece
Thanks for posting 🤘
I was expecting you to cover more of the band. They had many more albums after headless children and they are finally returning to touring America. The Crimson Idol is huge, Blackie reverting back to Christianity, Re-idolized, his back injuries, dying for the world, etc... a whole lot more stuff to cover.
Yes, they are the only band from that era who never stopped putting out great albums, right up to 'Golgotha' in 2017.
Yeah I just wanted to cover the 80s era of the band maybe I’ll revisit the 90s
Thank you very much GOD bless Everyone Always Philadelphia USA 🇺🇸
Come on dude, let's party!
WASP are still frikking awesome:)
L.O.V.E Machine & Wildchild. Goddamn that's two songs none of their peers ever came close to.
They were amazing at Donington 87 especially seeing Linzi Drew on the rack....
Remember getting their first album at 14 year old it was a heavy metal album not a glam metal album All killer no filler
Blackie's voice is so iconic . Loved The Last Command. It is in my rotation right now. The song Last Command is quite the anthem.
11:57 I was at that show in Nottingham. It changed my life forever. Long live Rock n Roll.
Appreciate this! Always enjoy your channel! Thanks
Thanks much appreciated
The first WASP album is an absolute classic.
Where is part 2 of this great band...please make it happen!
I was 14 when the 'Animal' single was released. I loved it and played it over and over again. When WASP played in London that September I went to see them, it was my first gig. I then saw them again in London on the Electric Circus 86 tour (I think it was at the old Hammersmith Odeon). Great times and a memorable band.
I still LOVE The Headless Children. Banali's drum work on that album is, in my opinion, one of the best drum albums ever.
Gorgeous band .. loved them .. still do 🎉
Good video as always, thank you!
My pleasure!
Too bad Blackie feels that way about "Electric Circus". It's one of my favorites from the 80s...
Same here
WASP was and is still one of my favorite bands. Their music is WAY UNDERRATED !!!
Gives me memories of my friend and I struggling so hard to stay up for headbangers ball. Most of the time i would pass out
I'm still scratching my head over it🙂
Hey man, the channel is really growing! I started watching you when you first came out a few years back. I just wanted to congratulate you on getting a wider audience so you can keep the Rock&Roll dream alive! 🙏❤️❤️🙏
Hey theyve vovered some great bands , and ive seen alot of good suggestions and responses to the question of bands that should be covered!
Got to be a part 2! You can't leave out Crimson Idol my favorite WASP album, the reuniting with Chris Holmes with Kill Fuck Die, and all the other great albums up to now!
Been a fan since i was 13. Theyre my favorite band even till this day, and im 52. Blackie is wasp, always has been, and hes a great songwriter, his music is good...i call it thinking mans music
So in Germany it’s perfectly acceptable to poop on someone and film it but WASP is somehow too offensive……..
The Headless Children one of the best albums of all time.
Blackie Lawless is an unforgettable man.
My all time favorite band ever, so many classics masterpiece albums their self titled 1984 W.A.S.P, The Last Command, Inside the Electric Circus, The Headless Children, The Crimson Idol are among my favorite of theirs but truly love every album, even when W.A.S.P. went away from their unique 80's thunderous metal sound for the industrial sound of K.F.D., though I'm not into industrial metal more other genere's of metal but with this band it rules but it did take me a few listens to get used to that sound.
I had the "Animal" 12 inch single with the picture of a woman with a dog. I think that version was quickly banned. Also my parents hated it!!.
One of my all time favorite bands. WASP is just such a force Headless is one heavy album for a shock rock band. Chris Homles guitar tone feels like jaws ripping you to pieces. Blackies voice is so underrated man nobody sounds like WASP. Blackie also is a great songwriter his work Crimson Idol is just speechless. As a drummer WASP has so many great drum tracks to pick from man. The Real Me cover is epic. Love Machine rips the rush you get from I Wanna Be Somebody when you are having a bad day hits different. Wild Child mite be the best driving song. Idk if you have ever drove a Quad or Motorcycle but that song its hard in the dunes man.
Got their debut at age 12....still listening to it and them now.
My first concert was seeing Blackie drinking blood out of a scull back in 1985 when I was 15 years old.good times 🙂
Still love WASP! Great band .. keep in mind there's the Chris Holmes era and then post Chris era. Both great yet unique in their respective times . Crimson Idol rules!!
Im still a fan of WASP! Great band and Blackie's voice is excellent!!
I loved WASP during the 80's, but I really liked lawless' The Crimson Idol. I guess I was getting older, and I appreciated the work Blackie put into the effort. Before that, Blind in Texas was my jamb, lol.
F**k Like a Beast. Blacky's voice was LEGENDARY. I literally had every album up to Headless Children.
I was born in 1986, so I was too young to be into WASP back then. Around 2000, I discovered Children of Bodom, and they became my favorite band. I idolized Alexi Wildchild Laiho, and he always talked about how much he loved WASP. So I decided to check them out...I've been a fan ever since, lol. WASP kicks ass! 🤘
1984 here !
My mom showed me the Crimson Idol album when I was 15 and that began my love for em. Been listening to em for 5 years now my favorite albums from em are Crimson Idol of course and the headless children they are absolutely perfect.
The Headless Children was their best work... it's my favorite 80's album from them.
Great video! Minor correction: Steve Riley was brought to replace Tony Richards on drums, only a few weeks before W.A.S.P.'s first European tour.
Was into wasp as a teen, I'm 54 now, I remember my mom HATING "FUCK LIKE A BEAST".. The best thing Lackie Ball-less ever put out..
I saw Iron Maiden and WASP in early 1985. They did that Animal (F*** Like A Beast) song. Nowadays you can listen to it online, but back then the single was hard to come by. The only concert I went to that was louder was that of KISS.
I'll bet you that Philly station animal Was getting requested on was 94.1 WYSP....
Great band with a lot of great songs...
We gonna have a second and third part?
If you guys want it
@@rnrtruestories hell yea!!!
Can't believe Blackie's take on Inside The Electric Circus. It is the heaviest, most raging WASP record in their catalog. And, many have covered I Don't Need No Doctor, but none as powerfully as WASP !!!!!!! I rocked my head off to this record when I was a kid !!!!!! The Headless Children was great as well, and I was happy to see them move into more serious lyrical themes. Lastly, The Crimson Idols is one of the greatest pieces of rock art, ever assembled. Love that record.
Great video.
I fell in love with BC Rich guitars thanks to WASP🤘
I got into Metal toward the end of the 90's and by that time WASP had a bad reputation, being lumped in with all the "hair" bands, so I didn't listen to them for YEARS. When I finally took the time to listen without being prejudiced, I loved it. They're one of my favorite bands.
At 53 Im still a BIG wasp Fan. Never got to see them live but Oh well , Life as it is.
I saw them on their Headless Children tour, at the Playhouse Edinburgh.
Holee Shiz, lookat that face. W.A.S.P. is scaring me right now !!
For all the tracks Blackie complained about, he should have added more cow bell.
My favorite band from the 80s. But tesla is definitely in my top 2 favorites.
Thank you for the post! ✌🏼😊
My pleasure!
@@rnrtruestories 👍🏻✌🏼😊
I had the debut album and it was great, but their best album was _The Headless Children._ You forgot to mention the single and video for their amazing power ballad "Forever Free." As great as "I Wanna Be Somebody, "L.O.V.E. Machine," "Blind In Texas" and "Wild Child" were, THAT was their best song ever IMO.
Great video. Please do a Part 2, covering 1992 - Present.
I loved the Live.. in the raw and headless children albums, but didn't know a great deal about Blackie and the band.
I forgot all about this band. Discovered I have original tapes and record single
Need a part 2 about Wasp
I grew up with WASP. But I have never heard of Arthur Brown, best part of my day right now
Tormentor from the first album! Often overlooked but the best introduction to a band I've ever had. Still my favorite song by them.
Blackie is a very interesting man to hear speak.
He may be the most intelligent, articulate and well-read man in rock.
Woke clowns over at sites like MetalSucks like to mock him for his Christianity and conservative stances, but only an idiot would just dismiss anything Blackie says out of hand. If he has chosen to speak on a subject there's a very high chance he is vastly more educated on the subject that any of those bozos are.
I am a fan of W.A.S.P since 1984. I was 11 years old. My fav album is Inside the Electric circus. For some reason 😅😅
W.A.S.P NATION. ❤ From Puerto Rico
6:57 that lady doing the Richard Simmons sweating to the oldies is really into it!
Ok, so I'm a 54 Y/O X'er. When I was like 13 or 14 I had the wasp headband, wasp wall hanging, I had some old saw blades I turned into Wasp wall hangers, and I saw them for the first time in 85 at Cobo Hall in Detroit. They opened up for Black Sabbath, and totally blew them away. I was into Wasp from the get go.
it means What.A.Superb.Performance.
Trackie Lawless.
i like blackie lawless.
DAMN, I had everyone of their cassettes. I forgot all about those, I wonder if I still have them lol
And you can play them in the ‘69 Camero on blocks in the front yard of the trailer park nearest your location….
@@Malama_Ki DAMN, now I want a 69 Camaro again. I miss the 80's :(
WASP Scream until you like it got me into metal. I heard it on the Ghoulies 2 soundtrack and I had to hear more
All their 80s albums have songs that are on my playlists... none of the 90s albums have any on my playlists. The albums released since 2000 are a bit of both, dying for the world and dominator have like half my WASP playlist songs, dying for the world especially is such a great album.
The unnamed Philadelphia radio station mentioned at 11:05 was 94.1 WYSP.
W.A.S.P. terrified me with their cheese rock!