BOBBY STEELE

Bobby Steele has been dicked over so royally throughout his life, he might as well change his name to Dick Royale. First, God pulled a fast one by giving him spina bifida followed by polio. Somehow he got over both and went on to become the guitarist for the Misfits from 1978 to 1980 (aka their totally untouchable period), until Jerry Only got him ousted in order to replace him with his “cooler-looking” brother, Doyle. Instead of crying about it for the rest of his life, Bobby formed the Undead and spent the next 28 years putting out extremely good records and becoming an elder statesman of the East Village punk scene. While he may not have found the commercial success of Danzig’s solo career or the reformed Misfits, he’s also never written a song for a hockey team.

When I met Bobby in Tompkins Square Park to interview him, a bunch of bums came up to us and kept repeating “I take off my hat to you, I take off my hat to you,” until Bobby waved them off. I still have no idea if they actually knew who he was or were just on some weird genuflection trip. Anyways, that doesn’t really have anything to do with what we talked about, but I thought it was worth mentioning cause it seemed really messed up. Here’s what he had to say… Vice: How did you join the Misfits?

Bobby Steele: The Aquarian You were with the Misfits during their attempted UK tour in ’79. How did that go? Is that what got the band kicked off the tour? OK, OK. What’s the real story then? Did it work? Did they put you in the same cell as Danzig? What were Misfits shows like back then? What do you think of the current Misfits? He made a swing album, didn’t he? It looked pretty embarrassing. You mean Project 1950? CONTINUED
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