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Claret Badger
5:37 Mon Nov 20
oh fuck it read the whole article my mates wrote
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Chapter One
Manson's effect on Culture
Today Manson's image is printed by fashion designers - and interviews are but a click away on social media, easily accessible to any curious psychology student, historian or fanboy. The books that have sprung up in his wake are vast, his philosophy and phraseology is continually sampled by a wide variety of groups and his music is now easily purchased and distributed. And as the world’s population grows so does the fascination with Manson.
As a 13-year-old in the 90's attracted to the occult and all things macabre it was very different. If you were into any of these subjects your only source of information were rare books and magazines, and you had to know where to purchase them or where to order them from.
I wanted to know more about this character who'd been deserted as a child by his prostitute mother and had been passed back and forth to various relatives; who the media claimed was referring to himself as the second coming of Christ and Satan, and had spent his entire life in and out of juvenile halls and prison. Why were the media so adamant that he had hypnotised a bunch of hippies on L.S.D. to go and carry out these atrocities? Even as a teenager I'd tried L.S.D. a few times and knew that trying to even tie my shoe-laces whilst tripping on acid was impossible, let alone committing something as calculating and difficult as murder.
Why was Manson referenced by a lot of my favourite underground groups such as Death in June, Boyd Rice, Psychic TV, Rozz Williams, J.G. Thirwell and Current 93? Guns N’ Roses had also copped flack for covering Manson's most well known number, "Look at your Game Girl " - a song that a young Marilyn Manson claimed to have told Axl Rose about, who allegedly then went and stole the idea from him. Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor had also recorded the infamous album "Downward Spiral" at the Tate / Polanski residence. What was the hypnotic attraction of this character?
Since I didn't have the luxury of social media back in the day - as it didn't exist - any information I had to find out by myself - and in a way I'm glad as it made the journey more of a forbidden fruit. So my initial search began in Tower Records that used to be in Piccadilly Circus in London and which featured a wide range of alternative magazines such as Propaganda, Seconds, and The Black Flame. However, I still couldn't find anything on Manson so I went to the video section and found a movie entitled "Charles Manson Superstar".
The film was narrated by Nikolas Schreck who interviewed Manson throughout, along with his wife Zeena - who's father was the late Anton LaVey. Nikolas Schreck still converses with Manson today and co-wrote "The Manson File: Myth of an Outlaw Shaman". Watching "Charles Manson Superstar" lit something within my consciousness. I find it impossible to describe in words. It instantly struck me on a very profound level, and brought to light at the time many facts I wasn't aware of - such as Anton LaVey (who formed the Church of Satan in 1966) had actually employed Manson family member Susan Atkins, the main killer alongside Tex Watson, as a stripper in a topless witches review, long before she'd gone to live on Manson's "Spahn Ranch".
LaVey thought she was an accident waiting to happen. Boyd Rice informs me, "she would do things as stupid and moronic as calling in sick with a 108 temperature". If you had a temperature that high your brains would be scrambled! Maybe they were slightly cooked.
LaVey was perplexed that she could even commit a murder, she was that incompetent". LaVey would go on to place a curse on the psychedelic era on August 8th 1969 - the very same night the Tate murders occurred. In the documentary film "Charles Manson Superstar " there is a scene where Susan Atkins is posing in the ritual chamber where LaVey would throw his curse on the hippy movement.
Another fact I was surprised hadn't been common knowledge was that The Beach Boys were sold a song from Charlie entitled "Cease To Exist" which they covered and called "Never Learn Not To Love You " on their 20/20 album without crediting Manson - and certainly without sending him royalties either.
Dennis Wilson former drummer of the Beach Boys plays a significant role in the fact that he introduced Tex Watson, chief orchestrator of the murders, to Charles Manson. Mike Love of the Beach boys claims that the whole experience never left Dennis Wilson he was eternally racked with guilt.
Tex Watson was a drug dealer and thief, notorious for robbing other crooks such as Bernard "Lotsapoppa" Crowe, and claimed that he was brainwashed by Manson to commit the murders - yet was already working In the criminal underworld long before meeting Manson. He claimed to have been possessed by Manson (a convenient excuse) whilst committing the murders and is now a prison Chaplin.
The common suggestion that Manson was a talentless bum has been thrust into the public eye many times and is absolutely false. Upon meeting Manson, Dennis was so taken in by him that he actually moved Manson and the "Family" in to his mansion in Beverly Hills. Dennis was so elated by Manson's music he nicknamed him "The Wizard" and set about recording Manson in the studio. He and the Beach Boys manager Nick Grillo - along with CBS records - were utterly convinced that Manson’s talent was equal to that of Dylan and were certain he was going to be the next big thing.
Zappa, Three Dog Night and Neil Young were all fans. Dennis worked alongside Terry Melcher son of actress Doris Day who had produced acts such as The Byrds and Paul Revere and The Raiders.
The initial ideas was to bring In strings and horns on the record but in the end a few tracks were cut and the friendship soured - most likely from the fact that Manson wasn't really impressed with the whole music industry. (Just imagine what he'd think now). Whilst residing at Wilson's, the family also wrecked the mansion - including some of the Manson gals giving Wilson gonorrhoea. Which probably didn’t go down to well either…
Manson explains in an interview his disdain for the industry with "I looked at it and thought ‘this is a bigger jail than I already got out of’! I don’t wanna take my time going to work. I've got a motorcycle and a sleeping bag and ten and fifteen girls. What the hell would I want to go off and work? "
Whatever plan was set up it was obvious that Manson struggled to get to grips with the rules set by music industry standards. He would never play the same song the identical way twice always changing it and was known to be "difficult" in the recording booth.
And after falling out with Manson, Dennis became very fearful till his dying day, reportedly waking up at night in bed screaming and becoming increasingly more fearful that Manson might have put a curse on him. He claimed that one day he would write a book explaining what had happened - how bad he felt by basically introducing Gary Hinman, Tex Watson and Sharon Tate to each other at Elvis's former Los Angeles apartment.
Manson speaks of this encounter in another interview conducted by Bill Scanlon Murphy: "I told Dennis - Don't change the words man. Change the words and my shadows are running deep”. Wilson eventually drowned on December 28th 1983 after drinking all day and trying to find items that had fallen from his yacht. He had literally become a shadow of his former self - isolated, secluded, paranoid and more than often drunk.
Wes Eisold: "My first vision of Manson were the iconic photos I saw as a kid. The Time magazine cover kind of always reappears and around 1990. It became a popular shirt. I first was exposed to his music via The Lemonheads who covered a couple of the songs. Manson's music became reoccurring through the years while getting into other genres and labels like ESP and Come Org. I loved Integrity in high school (and still do) and they would sample and play with the imagery as well. Certainly Boyd and the ReSearch era too. There's that story from Phil Kaufman about being locked up with Manson where the guard teases him saying something like “You're never going to get out of here” to which Manson replies calmly while strumming a guitar, “Get out of where?” A few years ago I ran into Kaufman in Joshua Tree and I said to him, “I know who you are” to which he replied, “Who am I?"”
Meechy Darko (Flatbush Zombies) says, "Manson first caught my attention at a very young age. I might have been 9 or 10. I saw this show on the most notorious serial killers in American History Typical line up...Ed Gein, Son of Sam, Ted Bundy...but the Charles Manson situation intrigued me a lot more, due to the fact that he never actually killed anyone himself."
Nikolas Schreck: It would have been in 1970. A friend of mine bought "Lie" which was really a demo more than an album and he loathed it. The media had made out that Manson was really influenced by the Beatles which we know now to be false. But I loved it. I remember in 1967 watching "Fearless Vampire Killers", directed by Roman Polanski featuring Sharon Tate and Ian Quarrier and feeling there was something unpleasant or destructive. Later on in the seventies I'd meet Timothy Leary who'd come out of Folsom prison and had met Manson in there. He told me there's a hell of a lot more to the Manson case then people know and that planted the seed.
Mark Keds: All I'd learnt about Manson was from the media. They called him a "serial killer" but from my understanding he hadn't actually killed anyone, so I was surprised to hear that this guy was in prison for allegedly hypnotising people. I mean that'd stand up in the witch trials in the dark ages, but in the twentieth century? So that's when I began to dig deeper into the phenomenon.
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