BraveWords Exclusive: W.A.S.P. Frontman BLACKIE LAWLESS Looks Back On The Crimson Idol Release Day - "You're From Toronto; I Have An Interesting Story For You..."

March 22, 2018, 5 years ago

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BraveWords Exclusive: W.A.S.P. Frontman BLACKIE LAWLESS Looks Back On The Crimson Idol Release Day - "You're From Toronto; I Have An Interesting Story For You..."

On February 2nd, W.A.S.P. released their 25th anniversary edition ReIdolized (The Soundtrack To The Crimson Idol) of their iconic hit album The Crimson Idol. The re-recordings of one of the best concept albums of all times tell the legendary story of Jonathan Aaron Steele, an abused child looking for love. Discovering music years later, he rises to international superstardom. Later followed by a catastrophic fall.

Frontman Blackie Lawless spoke with BraveWords scribe Carl Begai in an in-depth interview about The Crimson Idol and ReIdolized, capping off their conversation with the following:

Blackie: "You're from Toronto; I have an interesting story for you....

On the day The Crimson Idol originally came out in 1992, I was in Toronto at MuchMusic. It was all live so the fans knew you were there, and people would come down and get autographs on the street after the interview. The show was over and I went outside, there were about 40 people there. It's 3:00pm and I'm signing autographs, I have my head down while I'm signing so I'm not really looking at people, but out of the corner of my eye I see one guy standing off to the side. He was very patient, he wasn't being pushy and waited to the end, and he handed me a copy of The Crimson Idol on vinyl which had been released at 10 o'clock that morning. I hadn't looked up because I was signing but I asked if he'd heard it yet, and he just said 'Mm-hmm'. I asked if he liked it.... 'Mm-hmm.'  I heard his voice crack, I looked up and tears were running down his face.  He looked at me and said 'You've written my life.' That was the first person I encountered who had heard the record after it was released to the general public on the very first day, and that set the tone for everything that happened after that. 

To tell you the truth, it's those kinds of moments that make this worthwhile. Whenever someone mentions Toronto I think about that." 

Watch for more from the interview, coming soon.

W.A.S.P. have released a lyric video adaption for the song “Docter Rockter” from the original motion picture, that comes as part of ReIdolized (The Soundtrack To The Crimson Idol) on BluRay and DVD. The song displays Jonathan Aaron Steele’s path to self-destruction through drug abuse and meaningless encounters to numb the pain he feels inside.

Blackie Lawless states about the video: "Few times in life or art does reality mirror or equal imagination. The casting of the characters in this portion of the story, specifically 'Doctor Rockter' was precisely what I had envisioned when I conceived those lyrics. Rarely does it marry together as well as it did in this video. The characters were suitably revolting... and REAL!"

Check out the lyric video below.

ReIdolized (The Soundtrack To The Crimson Idol) is available in the following formats via Napalm Records.

- 2CD & Bluray & DVD in Slipcase
- 2LP Gatefold + DVD
- Deluxe Box
- 2CD Digipack (Re-Press)
- 2CD Jewelcase (Re-Press)
- Digital Album

Order at this location.

Tracklisting:

CD1:
"The Titanic Overture"
"The Invisible Boy"
"Arena Of Pleasure"
"Chainsaw Charlie (Murders In The New Morgue)"
"The Gypsy Meets The Boy"
"Michael's Song"
"Miss You"
"Doctor Rockter"

CD2:
"I Am One"
"The Idol"
"Hold On To My Heart"
"Hey Mama"
"The Lost Boy"
"The Peace"
"Show Time"
"The Great Misconceptions Of Me"

"Doctor Rockter" lyric video:

"Chainsaw Charlie" video:



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