Objective info on Marilyn Manson.

[Garfield226]

OK. Here's the deal. I'm not going to tell you what the info's FOR (why I need it), because that might influence what I get. I need info on Marilyn Manson, focusing on his (her?) life. I'm sure I can find song lyrics easily enough, but what I really need are things about his (her?) life, and if at ALL possible, interpretations BY HIM (her?) of his (her?) songs. Any links would be helpful. Also, if you've been to one of his (her) concerts, I could also use an account of what sort of things went on.

Remember, I'm trying for this to be as UNbiased as possible. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

(Sorry if this is in the incorrect forum (MPSIMS? GD [later, maybe]? The PIT?!) or if it's been posted before.

Once again, thank you for your help.

[Badtz Maru]

I think what you are looking for is a search engine. Try google.com, it's easy enough to use.

You are asking for commonly available information, wanting us to do your research for you. Lazy.

[romanticide]

Marylin Manson was born Brian Warner somewheres in ohio. He was an extremely normal, reserved kid until he got out of high school, where he started some band or another. Then he got into the whole 80's shock rock revival thing and became what he currently is. All this is from my Manson days back in high school freshman year, so the only things I'm absolutely sure about are Reverend Brain Warner (Church of Satan) and the normal childhood part.

[samclem]

Comes from Canton, Ohio. 20 miles south of here.

According to callers to local talk show, who grew up in houses next to and behind his, he was a nerd who wasn't allowed to leave the yard.

It's all an act. IMHO.

[HeyHomie]

I would like to add that he somehow made his way to Florida when he was in his late teens/early twenties (family moved there?) and had a band called the Spooky Kids and later Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids.

Also, on VH1 he once mentioned that his family was extremely religious and that he went to extremely strict Christian schools yada yada yada. He seemed to intimate that his fetish for gore, death and Satan is a result of his upbringing.

And I gotta agree with samclem: It's all an act. When his 15 minutes are up, he'll probably by a condo in West Palm Beach, take off his freakish makeup, and play golf for the next 45 years, or until he drinks himself to death. Whichever comes first. :rolleyes:

[Spritle]

Spritle's thoughts on MM

Pure capitolist!

If Spritle were in his shoes (heels?) the conversation with self might have gone something like this:

Hmmm. I want to be a millionaire. Who makes gobs of money...legally? Actors! That Tom Cruise dude is getting something like $20 mil/pic!

Hmmm. I have no acting ability. On to plan B. I'll be a musical star!! OK, what demographic spends the most money on music? Teenagers!! What do teenagers like? Whatever their parents don't!!

OK, here's the plan. I'll form a band (how hard can it be to learn three power chords). Next, I need an image that is totally against the parental establishment...

The rest is *obvious*.

Musically,
Spritle

[toadspittle]

Marilyn Manson is a he/him. No she/her involved, despite the molded breast bodysuit for Mechanical Animals. The band members take first names of sex icons and the last names of serial killers (Marilyn Manson, Twiggy Ramirez, etc.).

[Montfort]

Brian Warner used to hang out with my brothers and his friends in the malls of suburban Ft. Lauderdale, about ten years ago.

He had just moved down from Ohio, and was in the metal music scene at the time. He wrote reviews and interviews for Rag, a local free music mag that you pick up in music and record stores. In the recent Saigon Kick greatest hits compilation, there's a photocopy of one of Brian Warner's reviews of a SK gig, circa 1990.

Anyway, he took a stage name, formed a local band called Marilyn Manson and the Funky Bunch and got noticed by Trent Reznor right around 1991-92. I used to be on their mailing list, which consisted of a news sheet photocopied, including bad Xeroxes of gay porn interspersed with their club dates. I wish I kept some of them, they'd probably be worth something on eBay now...

He's not doing anything that Alice Cooper and David Bowie weren't doing 25 years ago, and he knows it. Musically, he's nowhere near good, either. He's an entertainer, and a shocker.

[Crusoe]

There's quite a long article that The Guardian newspaper ran on him a few weeks ago:

The fall guy (http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4085919,00.html)

I'm not sure how unbiased it is, since it's a vaguely left/liberal paper (which is why I read it) and seems to be aiming at dispelling some of the hysteria around him. It certainly doesn't tally with the idea of a normal childhood:

Born and raised plain Brian Warner in the town of Canton, Ohio, Manson is the son of a nurse and a furniture salesman who served as a helicopter mechanic in Vietnam. His childhood was certainly strange: he underwent regular physical and psychological studies conducted by a government agency in order to determine whether his health had been affected by his father's possible contact with Agent Orange, the highly toxic pesticide dumped over Vietnam by American forces.

He was, he has said, the only one in these groups of the offspring of Vietnam vets who was not physically deformed, and retains to this day an attraction to what he calls, "physical otherness". In the first chapter of his by turns hilarious and disgusting biography, The Long Hard Road Out Of Hell, he describes in lingering detail an interlude when he spied on his grandfather masturbating in a room full of toy trains. Sickness and sexual perversion, usually sadistic, retain an abiding fascination for the adult Warner, whose stock-in-trade is shock, self-abasement and transgression.

It is possible that Brian Warner might never have metamorphosed into Marilyn Manson had his parents not sent him to the Heritage Christian School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1974, where he learned that albums by WASP, Judas Priest and Queen were conduits for the teachings of Satan.

Inspired, he made his first recordings there, taping and selling his own songs about sexual perversion, masturbation and farting. Like Korine, or Trey Parker, co-creator of South Park, he was a regular middle-class, middle-American heavy metal kid, and also a budding capitalist. "I'd buy a WASP record for seven bucks and then sell it to some kid whose parents wouldn't allow him to go to the store," he told Rolling Stone magazine in 1996, "then later in the day I'd go steal the album back and keep it for myself. I didn't realise it at the time but there's always been this underlying theme in the stuff that I do: it's teaching people not to be stupid."

(mods: I hope this quote isn't a problem; the article itself is much longer, and this is the bit most relevant to his upbringing)

[TwistofFate]

His show is a total act. He was actually a very good interviewee. I saw an interview with him last week with Zane Petersen on MTV. He came across as very smart, and a bit more mature than he has in the past. I think that he realises that his act will wear thin with his fans.

He is talented, both musically and economically. Some of his music is very good. The biography (which Manson co-operated on), well, I wouldn't say that is the most unbiased of sources. After all, the more shocking it is, the more it sells, and the more money for the Author and the more money for Manson.

As Flavor Flav said, "Don't believe the hype"

[Garfield226]

Originally posted by Badtz Maru
I think what you are looking for is a search engine. Try google.com, it's easy enough to use.

You are asking for commonly available information, wanting us to do your research for you. Lazy.

No. See, I ALREADY did a search (before I posted the question), and I came up with either Manson FAN sites (I'm not interested in what his FANS think, I'm interested in what HE thinks) or religious sites that trashed him (and as we all know, those CAN be a bit misleading).

Everyone else: Thanks for the info so far, it's been somewhat helpful. Anything else (What's happened at concerts, interviews [mattk, thank you SO much for the article. Very helpful], anything like that. . .) would be GREATLY appreciated.

[Medea's Child]

Read his book if you want info on what he thinks. Its a start at least (and not a bad read, while you are at it.)

I can't help you beyond that, I have listened to some of his music (I liked the oldish stuff better than his new stuff) but I like other music better (RENT)

Anyway, go read the book.

[Guinastasia]

The guy's a Bush supporter-struck me as a wee bit fishy.

Whatta you wanna bet he takes his little old blue haired gramma to church on Sunday? And then she wipes his chin with a rag she spit on?

[friedo]

Marylyn "wrote" a really bad book (http://shop.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=2OMN5222JZ&mscssid=S7RNCRGE34269M3GN0VVX8D5C6B63BEE&isbn=0060987464) about himself, in which he basically says, "Whaah whaaah, I had a really weird childhood and got crabs so now I'm lashing out at society and I'm a big poser and do way too much coke."

Worth a read if you're suicidal.

[Junior Spaceman]

Marilyn Manson is on a one man mission to disprove that old line about the devil having all the good tunes.

HenrySpencer

[Jman]

In Canton, he attended GlenOak high school. They're one of my high school's biggest rivals. (but not THE biggest).

Jman

[evilbeth]

Originally posted by friedo
Marylyn "wrote" a really bad book (http://shop.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=2OMN5222JZ&mscssid=S7RNCRGE34269M3GN0VVX8D5C6B63BEE&isbn=0060987464) about himself, in which he basically says, "Whaah whaaah, I had a really weird childhood and got crabs so now I'm lashing out at society and I'm a big poser and do way too much coke."

Worth a read if you're suicidal.



That's funny, I read the same book and what I got out of it was that he had a basically normal upbringing with the standard dose of disfunction thrown in. I also read about how he started his first band and their trials and tribulations. Then I read about how he hopped on the rock star bandwagon and drowned himself in drugs and drink for several years before emerging (somewhat smarter) into who he is today.

He didn't have to have the book. He could have just had the whole world believe that he was a Satan-worshipping, puppy-killing, blood-drinking, cocaine-addicted, groupie-raping psychopath by doing nothing but being himself. However, he does have the book and it dispels some of that blown-entirely-out-of-proportion, over-the-top mythology floating around about him.

It's not a bad read. It's actually entertaining. I highly suggest it if you want insight into how his thought processes work.