W.A.S.P.

lol I just looked at a setlist and it appears he still plays classics.

however on a live video of Chainsaw Charlie, I am 99% sure he changed the lyrics from "I"m a cocksucking asshole" to....something else, more benign.

setlist from a recent show:

On Your Knees / Inside the Electric Circus / The Real Me
L.O.V.E. Machine
Last Runaway
Crazy
The Idol
Take Me Up
Arena of Pleasure
Thunderhead
Hellion / I Don't Need No Doctor
Heaven's Hung in Black
Encore:
Chainsaw Charlie (Murders in the New Morgue)
Wild Child
I Wanna Be Somebody

I'm a... godfearing christian?

I've always wondered how he's managed to maintain that shrill voice of his. it's painful (yet awesome to listen to), and yet he still pulls it off pretty well live. I know the band used to sometimes play little extra vamps that weren't in the original recording to give him time to "reload" before a second verse, but that was a minor affectation.

I think my favorite vocal of his is the chorus of "Chainsaw Charlie", his voice is almost a chainsaw in itself.

we are satan's people

"We are sexual perverts" was the one I heard.

weird to be rocking out to Murders in the New Morgue then finding this thread bubble up while I'm waiting for my ears to stop ringing

I'm the president of showbiz, my name is Charlie
I'm a cocksucking asshole, that's what they call me
Here from my Hollywood tower I rule
I'm a lying motherfucker, the chainsaw's my tool

love that song. I think he changes up the lyrics nowadays due to being born again even though they still play that one.

"Rebel in the FDG" is quite possibly the best W.A.S.P. tune ever

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK4QwwiQVBY

I always think about how years ago i read that “I Wanna Be Somebody” was one of Axl Rose’s favorite songs to listen to backstage to get fired up

It made me like him more but also seemed kinda weirdly appropriate that he might take it TOO seriously lol

PS i love WASP

my karaoke k-jay friend has that song available to sing. debating doing it one night when i'm really liquored up. doubt anybody's ever sang it there!

that would be a fkn workout to karaoke
godspeed

CHAINSAWWWWWWW
CHARLIE'S MORGUEEEEEE

"I Don't Need No Doctor" came on today, and damn, that has aged well.

oh shit yeah I Don't Need No Doctor is amazing

when i was a teenager and they were getting popular i thought they were full cheese but as time goes on i appreciate them more and more

I'm just impressed with anybody who is willing to shred their voice like that for several decades.

I think my fav albums are the s/t, Crimson Idol, and Headless Children.

huh I Don't Need No Doctor was written by....Ashford & Simpson!
tho WASP obv covering the Humble Pie version

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Don%27t_Need_No_Doctor

I've been listening to the Crimson Idol today and loving it - especially side two. Does this album have more tom fills per square metre than any other album? It's absurd!

I have a signed, red vinyl copy of this. One recently went for £500 on Discogs. What a world.

YOU SAY YOU DON'T WANNA RUN AND HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDE

CRY OUT!!!

just how much does Blackie lip sync at shows now, does anybody know? is it like an 'on occasion' thing or a "this is basically the TMNT 1991 Pizza Hut World Tour" thing?

cos they're coming here in November and I feel like I wanna see em before Blackie hangs it up, and I can take a little fakery but if it's the Rockafire Explosion i'm out

lol

https://blabbermouth.net/news/w-a-s-p-performs-animal-fk-like-a-beast-live-for-first-time-since-2006-at-u-s-tour-kick-off-video-photos

i guess it's okay as long as there's a historical footage reel playing behind you while you're singing it

also what the fuck is with that mic stand

it totally reads as a "reacting to the PMRC, the original wokes" moment and not a desperate old fart trying to juice his flagging career

WASP is a great band and Lawless is an interesting cat -- mind you, nobody finds Blackie Lawless more interesting than Blackie Lawless, but for solid hard rock jams with some cool anthemic choruses he's elite in my book

I've only ever listened to the first three albums, but they're great. Will check out The Headless Children today, but I don't know how much farther into their catalog I'll get.

Headless Children might be my fav...other than the s/t

even one of their new post-born again albums wasn't half bad.

Animal is a tune sito

I’m glad as hell blackie still out there doin the damn thing

I'd go see this tour, Blackie seems rejuvenwted amd the setlist is terrific. His last album was very good, too.

The s/t was so huge for me in 1984, but Headless Children absolutely rips. After the band's middling run in 86-87, the ferocity of Headless Children was blindsiding. Banali on drums just elevated the whole thing.

yeah that was a big moment for me. out west KNAC was really feeling its power & the post-thrash moment while frayed was showing so much promise and here comes this really ambitious record that's loud as hell. and yeah Banali just goes off the whole time

never seen them live, idk if i will see them this time but nevertheless i concur that they absolutely rule

I got a ticket. I know he's using backing vocals live to enhance but w/e, Paul Stanley is doing it too. And it's my first chance.

Headless Children has "Rebel in the FDG" which I once played on repeat for an hour while trying to look cool driving a Mitsubishi Lancer.

I did not look cool but my car sounded cool

Has he ever spoken in detail about his brief time in the NY Dolls?

apparently he did in this interview: https://www.metaledgemag.com/interviews/blackie-lawless-on-death-threats-getting-shot-at-twice-and-the-worst-mishap-hes-ever-had-with-the-sawblades

I learned something today! thanks.

Speaking of playing guitar, one of the cool facets of your arc is that brief stint you did playing guitar with the New York Dolls. What songs did you enjoy playing most with the New York Dolls?

Lawless: Well, I only did two shows with them. So, it's not like, you know, it was a lot of stuff, but the song that always sticks out to me is “Personality Crisis.” There's just a viciousness about that song I think stands up to this day. I've always wondered why somebody didn't redo that song. I mean, it's tailor made for something that could be done from time to time.

I will ride for Crimson Idol, pretentious as it is. "Chainsaw Charlie" and "Invisible Boy" are great.

but yeah it was really a solo album yadda yadda.

For those who haven't seen the Live in the Raw VHS, which has interviews and stuff amid the live footage, the origin story of "I Wanna Be Somebody" is told:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmpiSF2PgNs

TIL: Bob Lefsetz was an early manager for W.A.S.P.

Everyone probably knows this but Blackie sings and plays on the post-Dolls Killer Kane Band 7" that got reissued on HoZac

or "issued" i guess, don't think it originally came out in '76 but it was on the Sons of the Dolls bootleg

Nikki Sixx was in Sister with Lawless for a hot second before Lawless fired him & the other dudes that went on to form London

I love Headless Children but would also ride for The Crimson Idol. Banali is immense on the latter - in full Keith Moon mode.

"Thunderhead" and "Man-eater" are such massive tunes.

Used to love W.A.S.P. as an impressionable burgeoning metalhead. They were the one band that my friends who were into more underground stuff still listened to as we all started to migrate from the more melodic/commercial fare, and I was with them. The first few albums were great and I still have fond memories of jamming "Inside the Electric Circus" on my cassette Walkman on field trips my senior year of HS.

But the band didn't age very well and I really didn't have a desire to see them when they came by the area a few weeks ago with Armored Saint.