"Dig Up Her Bones" is the seventh single by the

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band the

Misfits MiSFiTS was the acronym for the ''Minnesota Society for Interest in Science Fiction and Fantasy''. This organization has now changed its name to GPS, an acronym for Geek Partnership Society. It was founded in 1999 and was the parent non-profit org ...

. It was the first single released by the re-formed lineup of the band, after the original incarnation broke up in 1983. It was the only single released from their 1997 album ''

American Psycho ''American Psycho'' is a black comedy horror novel by American writer Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1991. The story is told in the First-person narrative, first-person by Patrick Bateman, a wealthy, narcissistic, and vain Manhattan investmen ...

'', and the accompanying music video was the first official Misfits music video ever released.

Background

The original incarnation of the Misfits had been active from 1977 to 1983. A series of legal battles ensued in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with bassist

Jerry Only Gerald Caiafa Jr. (born April 21, 1959), better known by his stage name Jerry Only, is an American musician, best known as the bassist for the Misfits and later the vocalist as well. He is the only member to appear in every Misfits lineup exce ...

and his brother, guitarist

Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein Paul Caiafa (born September 15, 1964), known professionally as Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein, is an American guitarist best known for his material with the horror punk band the Misfits and his own band eponymously named Doyle. Education ...

, seeking writing credits and the rights to the Misfits name from singer/songwriter

Glenn Danzig Glenn Allen Anzalone (born June 23, 1955), better known by his stage name Glenn Danzig, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actor, film director and record producer. He is the founder of the rock bands Misfits, Samhain, and Danzig. He ...

. The result was an out-of-court settlement in 1995 which gave Only and Doyle the rights to record and perform as the Misfits, sharing merchandising rights with Danzig. They quickly formed a new incarnation of the band, recruiting singer

Michale Graves Michael Emanuel (born March 21, 1975), better known by his stage name Michale Graves, is an American singer. He is best known as the lead vocalist for the 1990s re-incarnation of the horror punk band Misfits from 1995 to 2000, leaving briefly ...

and drummer

Dr. Chud David Calabrese, known professionally as Dr. Chud, is an American horror punk drummer best known for his work with the Misfits (band), Misfits. He has also been a member of Graves (band), Graves, Gorgeous Frankenstein, Doyle (band), Doyle and Bl ...

. The new lineup released ''

'' in 1997 with "Dig Up Her Bones" as the seventh track.

Release information

5,000 copies of the single were issued on blue

7" vinyl In music, a single is a type of release of a song recording of fewer tracks than an album ( LP), typically one or two tracks. A single can be released for sale to the public in a variety of physical or digital formats. Singles may be standa ...

, while a promotional CD single was distributed to radio stations. The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

of the single is "Hate the Living, Love the Dead", also from ''American Psycho''.

Music video

The music video for "Dig Up Her Bones" was directed by John Cafiero, who also directed a video for "American Psycho". It was the first official music video ever released by the Misfits and was composed of live footage of the band, Graves singing in a mock graveyard, and clips from the 1935 horror film ''

Bride of Frankenstein ''Bride of Frankenstein'' is a 1935 American Gothic science fiction horror film, and the first sequel to Universal Pictures' 1931 film ''Frankenstein''. As with the first film, ''Bride of Frankenstein'' was directed by James Whale starring ...

''. An image of the Bride was used as the cover image for the single. Permission to use the likeness of

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), known professionally as Boris Karloff () and occasionally billed as Karloff the Uncanny, was a British actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstei ...

, who played the Monster in the film, was given by his daughter Sara Karloff. Permission was also given by the estate of

Elsa Lanchester Elsa Sullivan Lanchester (28 October 1902 – 26 December 1986) was a British actress with a long career in theatre, film and television.Obituary '' Variety'', 31 December 1986. Lanchester studied dance as a child and after the First World ...

, who played The Bride, to use her likeness. Two cuts of the music video were released, the only difference being that one version incorporated an intro with the 1930s

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

logo and a dialogue clip from ''Bride of Frankenstein''. Live portions of the video were shot at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel in Providence, RI, on June 22, 1997. The video debuted on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's ''

120 Minutes ''120 Minutes'' is a television program in the United States dedicated to the Alternative rock, alternative music genre, that originally aired on MTV from 1986 to 2000, and then aired on MTV's associate channel MTV2 from 2001 to 2003. After it ...

'' and was also featured on the Sci Fi Channel. Along with the "American Psycho" video, it continued to run in rotation on MTV,

MTV Europe MTV Global (formerly MTV Europe) is the international version of the American TV channel MTV as 24-hour music video and entertainment pay television network officially launched on 1 August 1987 as part of the worldwide MTV network. Initia ...

MTV Japan MTV Japan (Music Television Japan) is the Japanese version of the cable television network based in Tokyo, Japan. It is a subsidiary of Paramount Global, Paramount Global Japan K.K., and was launched on November 15, 1993. It can be viewed on cable ...

MTV Latin America MTV is a Latin American pay television network that was launched on 1 October 1993 as the Hispanic American version of MTV. It is owned by Paramount Networks Americas, a subsidiary of Paramount Global. The channel broadcasts music videos as ...

MTV Brasil MTV Brasil was a Brazilian over-the-air television network owned by Grupo Abril focused on the youth and entertainment. The network was launched on 20 October 1990, as the first specialty television network to broadcast over-the-air, becoming ...

MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...

, and The Box.

Track listing

Personnel

Band

– lead vocals *

– bass, backing vocals *

– guitars *

– drums, backing vocals

Additional musicians

Daniel Rey Daniel Rey (born Daniel Rabinowitz) is an American musician, record producer and songwriter from New York City, best known for his work with the punk rock band Ramones. As a teenager Rey played in punk band Shrapnel, which also featured Dave Wy ...

– keyboards

References

{{authority control 1997 songs Misfits (band) songs Horror punk songs Songs containing the I–V-vi-IV progression Boris Karloff