Then they were off again. This time they centered the bill between KORN and black- metallers Danzig, from March 24th to
May 19th.. Anyone who speculated that there might be some interesting common ground between Glenn Danzig's
oft-mentioned interest in diabolical lore and Mr. Manson's connections with the Church of Satan - misinformedly, of course, as
the CoS doesn't believe in an actual Devil - was disappointed, as no such camaraderie materialized. (Mr. Manson told a
startled interviewer from South American MTV's Headbangers' Ball that "we've been naked with his (Danzig's) bus driver [the
now- notorious Tony Wiggins], but that's as close as we came to sharing." And said it with a straight face, too.) If anything,
relationships grew edgy as the tour progressed and the Mansons, tight, ferocious and honed to a killing edge, regularly blew the
headliners' performance off the stage. If anyone thought being stripped of their usual props, playing an abbreviated set, and
(incidentally) plagued by equipment problems would show them up as a gimmicky concept band, s/he soon ate those words
raw; Marilyn Manson won more fans every night with a series of blazing gigs that proved their stage sets and toys mere
buttercream frosting. --Not to suggest there was hostility between the bands, however. Mr. Manson soberly credits Glenn with
no less a deed than saving his life at an East Coast venue, where vicious "security" thugs took offense to being spat upon and
attacked Manson, Pogo, and road manager Frankie after the set. The assailants meant business, and this might be a much
shorter and sadder article had not the muscular Danzig waded into the fight swinging a baseball bat...
With all this going on, it's understandable that the Mansons didn't go home for the 1995 Slammies. Nominated for Band of the
Year, Best Vocalist, Best National Release (for "Portrait of an American Family") and Best Single (for "Lunchbox"), they won
th latter two. "The only band not on hand to accept their skulls was Marilyn Manson," noted the ceremony's press release in
disappointment. "The band is filming a new video in New Orleans, where they plan to relocate." --You can just hear them
thinking : Saigon Kick all over again. (However, the band's New Orleans move was only temporary, and they remain based in
South Florida.)
By now online fandom was buzzing about the next single, "Dope Hat", originally rumored to come out in late June/early July
with another headining tour in support. Not to be. The Mansons wrapped up the Danzig tour and took a much-deserved but
semi-working summer vacation, which included not only the shooting for the "Dope Hat" video but the studio sessions for what
was rapidly spreading and crawling out of all semblance of a mere single. As summer became fall the rumors were confirmed:
the "Dope Hat" single had morphed into the EP "Smells Like Children" (the title's a quote from beloved "Chitty Chitty Bang
Bang" villain The Child-Snatcher) , a 15-track mini-album including some of the band's most loved cover versions. It debuted
on the Billboard charts at #53, while "Portrait of an American Family" finally achieved gold status in the fall of 1995. The
mind-boggling "Dope Hat" video, a nightmarish, brightly colored and deeply disturbed riff on the boat ride sequence from
"Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," has been approved and rejected by MTV enough times to give it a complex (at last
report, they were playing it, albeit nervously and in the freak- basement hours of 2-5 AM only).
And are they still on the road? Of course.
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