Horror Business

"Horror Business"

The single's cover artwork features the band's first use of the "Crimson Ghost" figure that would become their mascot and logo.
Single by the Misfits
A-side "Horror Business"
B-side "Teenagers from Mars"
"Children in Heat"
Released June 26, 1979
Format 7" vinyl
Recorded January–February 1979
Genre Horror punk
Length 7:28
Label Plan 9 (PL 1009)
Writer(s) Glenn Danzig
Misfits singles chronology
"Bullet"
(1978)		 "Horror Business"
(1979)		 "Night of the Living Dead"
(1979)

"Horror Business" is the third single released by the horror punk band the Misfits. It was released on June 26, 1979 on singer Glenn Danzig's label Plan 9 Records.

The single's cover features a skeletal figure inspired by a poster for the 1946 film serial The Crimson Ghost. The figure became a mascot for the band, and its skull image would serve as the Misfits' logo for the rest of their career.

Background

The tracks for "Horror Business" were recorded in January and February 1979 at C.I. Recordings in New York City. They were originally going to be released as a five-track EP, but only one acetate copy was made. The band could not afford to release the EP, so they released three of the tracks as a single instead. The remaining two tracks, "Who Killed Marilyn?" and "Where Eagles Dare", were released on the compilation album Legacy of Brutality in 1985 with overdubbed guitar and bass tracks by Danzig. The original versions of "Where Eagles Dare" and "Teenagers from Mars" were included on the compilation album Misfits in 1986, and the original versions of all five tracks were released in 1996 in The Misfits box set.

Pressing information

The first pressing of "Horror Business" consisted of 25 promotional copies on black 7" vinyl and 2,000 copies on yellow vinyl for sale.[1][2] Some of these copies contained an insert with a story claiming that the band had recorded the single in a haunted house, resulting in strange unexplainable noises and voices in the background. However, this story was false.[1] Due to a pressing error, an unknown number of copies had "Horror Business" on both sides rather than the b-side songs "Teenagers from Mars" and "Children in Heat", and some also had a different back cover.[2]

Re-releases and other versions

The songs "Horror Business" and "Teenagers from Mars" were reissued on the Beware EP in 1980 and again on the compilation album Misfits in 1986, while "Children in Heat" was reissued on Collection II in 1995. All three tracks, along with "Who Killed Marilyn?" and "Where Eagles Dare" from the same sessions, were reissued in The Misfits box set in 1996.

Cover versions

After the breakup of the Misfits, Danzig re-recorded "Horror Business" with his new band Samhain under the title "Horror Biz". This version appeared on Initium (1984) and Live 85-86 (2001). "Horror Business" was covered by Deadguy on the 1997 tribute album Violent World: A Tribute to the Misfits, though their version is based on the live recording of the song from Evilive. "Teenagers from Mars" was covered by Buck-O-Nine on their album Barfly (1995), by the Backyard Babies on Hell on Earth: A Tribute to the Misfits (2000), and by The Network on Money Money 2020 (2003). "Children in Heat" was covered by Alkaline Trio on their "Halloween" single in 2002.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Glenn Danzig. 

Side A
No. Title Length
1. "Horror Business"   2:42
Side B
No. Title Length
1. "Teenagers from Mars"   2:41
2. "Children in Heat"   2:05
Total length:
 7:28

Personnel

Band

Production

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Misfits discography". Misfits.com. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Von, Eerie (1996). The Misfits box set (Box set liner notes). The Misfits. New York City: Caroline Records. CAR 7529-2.