A World of Music: Death Rock and Horror Punk

From ancient oral traditions to the fairy tales written for children hundreds of years ago to various manifestations in literature, films and music, the experience is familiar: shock and fear generate thrills and goose bumps, leading to release and catharsis. Starting in the 1950’s, pop musicians began to discover the artistic and financial rewards of blood and gore, violence and death. It would seem that over time, these expressions have grown more extreme and their fans younger. For many, the scene isn’t just entertainment but a context for identification and lifestyle. Carl Holm, having attended the Drop Dead Festival of Deathrock in Prague, is our gravedigger this half hour. Let’s open the tomb and see what he’s unearthed, beginning with a miniature history of the past fifty-odd years of this particular world of music.

Eyaculacion Post Mortem: Navidades en el psyquiatrico, Pelacable de Corazon and Coleccionista de Engendros

The Other: Passion for the Kill and The Last Man on Earth

The Misfits: London Dungeon

Screamin Jay Hawkins: Spell

Alice Cooper: Ballad of Dwight Fry and Cold Ethyl

Marilyn Manson: Golden Age of Grotesque

The Cramps: Creature from the black Leather Lagoon

Blitzkid: Terror in the Haunted House