MK ULTRA

The subject of a WHITE ZOMBIE reunion once again came up this past weekend after Rob performed the band’s 1994 album “Astro-Creep: 2000 – Songs Of Love, Destruction And Other Synthetic Delusions Of The Electric Head” live in its entirety at Chicago’s Riot Fest.

As video footage of the performance made its way online, a WHITE ZOMBIE fan made an impassioned plea for Zombie to reform the group. The fan wrote in the comments section on Instagram: “Please, for the love of God, reunite WHITE ZOMBIE. The reasons you’ve given in the past for not wanting to do it… honestly make no sense. First you said that reunions are never good, and it’s best to let sleeping corpses lie. Hello… GUNS N’ ROSES? MISFITS? Reunions are beloved bands are totally welcomed and completely awesome. a white zombie reunion has zero chance of being bad.

“The second reason you have is that your crowds these days ‘barely react’ to the WHITE ZOMBIE songs. Well, maybe they would react more if those songs weren’t abandoned. I can promise you that thousands of people still love and cherish those albums you need in the ’80s and ’90s. A WHITE ZOMBIE tour would be a huge success.

“I love you, Rob, but I gotta be honest.. I think the truth is that you just think you’re too good to pick up the phone, call up Sean [Yseult, former WHITE ZOMBIE bassist and Rob’s ex-girlfriend] and the guys… and get that ball rolling again. I don’t know if there’s some sort of Sean/Sherri [Moon Zombie, Rob’s wife] jealousy thing that caused you guys to break up in the first place… I mean, it’s kinda funny you broke up WHITE ZOMBIE but took the drummer with you… But either way… just do a WHITE ZOMBIE reunion. [You] have no legit reason not to.”

Rob took notice of the fan’s comment and personally responded via Instagram, writing: “[I am] always amazed at how people can speak with such authority on subjects they know zero about.

“I have many legit reasons [for not wanting to reform WHITE ZOMBIE]. Just because you don’t know them does not mean they don’t exist.

“Everything is not everybody’s business.”

Yseult was recently asked by rock journalist Mitch Lafon what her reaction was when she first found out Rob was pursuing a solo career after WHITE ZOMBIE’s 1997 split. She said: “First of all, I knew that we were breaking up — it wasn’t a big surprise — but it was a little bit of a slap in the face to me and Jay [Yuenger, former WHITE ZOMBIE guitarist] when we had our… After one year, we were supposed to be taking a break, and then we were gonna have a call and talk about getting back together and making a record. I knew that we weren’t getting back together, but literally the next… Jay and I both said, ‘We have more riffs. We’d love to write some more music.’ And Rob kept saying, ‘No, no, no. I think we’re done.’ And what are you gonna say? You can’t tell the singer that he has to sing. [Laughs] Even though our manager told Jay and I that we should go on and continue on with WHITE ZOMBIE and get a new singer, we both refused that. But the slap in the face was that [Rob’s] solo record came out, like, the next day, so he spent that year making a record, knowing that [WHITE ZOMBIE wasn’t] gonna be a band again. So that was a little… you know… whatever. But, like, who cares? You know, really. I didn’t care. I moved to New Orleans. I knew that we’d already broke up anyway.”

WHITE ZOMBIE broke up in 1997 and Rob Zombie went on to launch a successful solo career in 1998. He told The Pulse Of Radio that nowadays a lot of his audience isn’t even familiar with the old WHITE ZOMBIE songs. “The crowds are really, really young and I’ve been noticing that with the set list too, because, you know, as the time has gone on, we’ve really worked the WHITE ZOMBIE material more out of the set, because we’ve been finding that it’s not working like it used to,” he said. “It seems like that those songs just seem now old to people and it’s very strange.”

The history of WHITE ZOMBIE came up when Rob Zombie was asked to comment on the publication of “I’m In The Band”, a memoir from Yseult, who is also Rob’s former girlfriend.

In the book, Yseult claimed that the departure of drummer Ivan DePrume led to the eventual disintegration of the group.

Zombie said, “I have not seen it [the book] so I can’t comment. I can barely remember those days, so I’m glad somebody can.”

He added, “Everybody likes to make up stories which aren’t true. I don’t think that’s fair. Ivan left the band, John Tempesta came in and the band sounded better than ever, we kept playing and made bigger records and did more tours, so I don’t see how that had anything to do with it.”

Yuenger admitted to Crawdaddy! back in 2010 that he still harbored some resentment over WHITE ZOMBIE’s demise. He said: “I would have liked to make another record, but it wasn’t in the cards. On Rob’s solo albums, you can see what he wanted to do, where he wanted to go. I always wanted to be in a rock ‘n’ roll band, where the primary instruments are guitar, bass, and drums, you know? We were living in New York City for all those years, hearing all the rap and techno coming out — my favorite bands back then were SLAYER and PUBLIC ENEMY. I was really all about sampling, and we put out ‘La Sexorcisto’ with all those samples, and it blew people away. We were like, the first rock band to do that. And it was great, I loved it. But as time went on, the sampling and techno stuff started to dominate everything, and I really hated it. Now you can hear how little humanity is in Rob’s stuff.”

Jerry Only believes the reunited Misfits could become the “biggest band ever” if they continue the way they’ve begun. And he’s convinced that he, Glenn Danzig and Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein will record an album together no matter what else the future holds.

The trio settled their differences last year and they’ve played two festival sets with former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo and guitarist Acey Slade. Only tells AltPress: “It’s a unique experience. We’re 40 years into the game and we’re all at the peak of our game.

“The Misfits have the potential to be the biggest band ever. I think that the originality, the energy, the aggression and now the camaraderie is going to be what puts us far above what other people are able to achieve – just based on pure physical power, endurance and persistence.”

The Hollywood Reporter brings word that Margot Robbie has signed a first look deal with Warner Bros. Pictures to develop and produce projects for the studio, and among her projects already on the table is the previously-reported Harley Quinn spin-off film. With her new deal, Robbie won’t just star in the film but will also serve as a producer on the project through her LuckyChap Entertainment banner.

It was previously reported that the project was not being eyed as a “solo” Harley Quinn movie, but instead the film will feature a number of female DC characters, with the likes of Batgirl and the Birds of Prey reportedly also in the mix. The studio remains tight lipped about the project and is not confirming which characters will appear in the film, or who is even writing, though it is reportedly a female screenwriter.

Robbie herself was reportedly the springboard for the project, having fallen for the pantheon of DC’s female characters in her extensive research for the role of Harley Quinn. Robbie then brought on the writer to the project and it was promptly picked up by the studio for development.

The actress made her debut as Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad on August 5, marking the feature film debut of the character. Karen Fukuhara also appeared in the film as Katana, a member of the Birds of Prey in the DC source material. The Birds of Prey are a mostly female superhero team whose ranks has included Oracle/Batgirl, Black Canary, Huntress, Catwoman, Hawkgirl, Power Girl, Poison Ivy, Vixen, and many more.

Tangerine Dream have released their take on two tracks which feature on Netflix’s smash hit series Stranger Things – including the opening theme.

The original soundtrack was composed by Survive, who have cited Tangerine Dream as a major influence. Now the German electronic pioneers have returned the favour by issuing streams of two of the tracks.

Survive’s Kyle Dixon recently spoke about how he and the band’s Michael Stein would visit their I Luv Video store in Austin, Texas, in an effort to unearth films featuring scores by Tangerine Dream.

Dixon told Rolling Stone: “There’s a Tangerine Dream score for Sorcerer that’s great. I’ve rented that one a few times. I think you can only get The Keep on VHS.

“They have a huge horror section, so a lot of times I’ll just get stuff if it’s got a Goblin or a Tangerine Dream score and just see what it sounds like.”

Tangerine Dream leader Edgar Froese died in January 2015, but the outfit decided to keep going with keyboardists Thorsten Quaeschning and Ulrich Schnauss joined by violinist Hoshiko Yamane.

They released the album Live At The Philharmony Szczecin, Poland 2016 earlier this month.

The first season of Stranger Things is available via Netflix, with a second season currently in the works.

Glenn Danzig has revealed he wanted to be a pro wrestler before he found fame as a musician.

The Misfits frontman says he gave up on his wrestling dream because he thought he was too small.

In an interview with pro wrestler and Fozzy frontman Chris Jericho’s Talk Is Jericho podcast, Danzig says: “I wanted to be a wrestler. But I didn’t think I was big enough. Then I met some wrestlers and I’m like, ‘I could’ve been a wrestler.’ But it all worked out pretty good in the end.

“In high school I used to wrestle and then I saw my friend’s arm snap when he fell in a wrong hold. He had metal pins in three spots and I was like, ‘I think I’m gonna go back to my band.’

“I guess it’s better that I wasn’t… but I get about the same amount of injuries as you guys!”

Danzig, Jerry Only and Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein announced recently they had reunited Misfits and they play at Chicago’s Riot Fest this coming weekend.

Only said this month that the classic lineup could return to the studio, saying: “I want it to continue. I know Doyle wants it to continue. I know Glenn wants it to continue. We just have to be big enough people to make it continue. And that’s where we’re at. Whatever it takes.”

RUNAWAYS icon Cherie Currie says she will this month release an all-star album — shelved for the last five years — featuring Slash, Duff McKagan, Billy Corgan, Juliette Lewis, Brody Dalle and more.

Currie, 56, revealed details of the Blackhearts Records release on the latest episode of the “White Line Fever” podcast, saying: “Matt Sorum was playing with me — of course you know him from GUNS N’ ROSES and VELVET REVOLVER and he was just amazing. He and I made a record together with a bunch of cool stars. In fact, [Australian indie-pop duo] the VERONICAS, as well, they sang on a few songs. What great gals they are. Billy Corgan from SMASHING PUMPKINS wrote a duet, and, of course, Slash and Duff were on it as well as Juliette Lewis. That album’s coming out of September.

 
“All these wonderful artists — Brody Dalle as well — really wanted to participate in this record. Little did I know how much THE RUNAWAYS had influenced so many people. It made me feel so good.

“But that record was shelved for five years.

“They (Blackheart Records) wanted to put it out now. I negotiated with them instead of through my lawyer who I had to let go — two lawyers actually.
“It will be coming out in September. I never thought it would see the light of day.”

Currie’s first solo album in 35 years, “Reverie”, was released last year. The follow-up to the unreleased album produced by Sorum includes four songs co-produced by THE RUNAWAYS’ controversial late svengali Kim Fowley (who spent the last nine days of his life living in Currie’s house in 2015) and covers of two RUNAWAYS songs — “Is It Day or Night” and “American Nights” — featuring vocals by Cherie’s former RUNAWAYS bandmate Lita Ford.