FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What's Marilyn Manson's real name? Manson's real name is Brian Hugh Warner. He takes his middle name from his dad Hugh.

What's with the "girly" names? Marilyn Manson, along with ex member Gidget Gein (Brad Stewart), came up with the names, taking the christian name of a Hollywood starlet and marrying it with the surname of a prolific serial killer. The idea was to highlight the hypocrisy of the media, who Manson saw as celebrating celebrities and serial killers in the same fashion. A point in case is Charles Manson's face on the cover of Rolling Stones magazine during the Tate/Bianca murder trial in the 1970's.

What happened to the Spooky Kids? Essentially, Marilyn Manson as it exists today is still Marilyn Manson and the Spookykids. However, although the band were known as the "Spookykids" back in Florida, when they signed to Nothing/Interscope Records they were instructed to shorten the name.

What's this about a drum machine? When the band first got together, Manson did not want a live drummer playing for the group on stage or on their recordings. So for the first year, the "official" drummer of the band was a Yamaha Drum Machine. In 1990 the machine was replaced by Sara Lee Lucas (Fred Streithorst).

What other bands were the early members involved in? Manson was a music journalist before creating the band. Daisy Berkowitz (Scott Putesky) has said he was in five bands prior to joining the Spookykids. Howevere the only one of note is "India Loves You". Twiggy Ramirez was a member of hard rock outfit Amboog-A-Lard, playing rythmn and then bass guitar (a mantle he took up when joining Marilyn Manson). He left the band to replace Gidget Gein.

What was their first show? Their first show was at Churchill's Hideaway in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 1989. Manson was so nervous he threw up from stage fright. Only 10 people were at that first gig.

Who were the original members? Brian Warner - Marilyn Manson - Vocals Brian Tutunick - Olivia Newton Bundy - Bass Scott Putesky - Daisy Berkowitz - Guitar Perry Pandrea - Zsa Zsa Speck - Keyboards Pandrea and Tutinick were replaced by Stephen Biers on keyboards and Brad Stewart on bass.

Who's left from the original line up? Manson is now the only original founding member left in the band.

Is Marilyn Manson a Satanist? No. Manson is NOT a Satanist. He was given his Reverendship by the Church of Satan's founder, Anton LaVey as a testimont to his music, and in recognition of the power of his music. When Manson recieved this card the Christian Right took this to believe that Manson was a devil worshipper. This could not be further from the truth. Granted, Manson does share some of the beliefs of the Satanists (considered a Humanist Group, not an orgy, sacrificing group), he also takes some of his beliefs from Neitcheze, Dante and other philosophers.

But isn't Manson anti Christian? No, again this is a misconception. Manson is not anti God. He is against the church and the hypocrisy that comes with organised religion. 1996's Antichrist Superstar is seen by many uninitiated as an anti God, anti religion propoganda record, however this is not so. Manson merely questions common Christian Beliefs and asks his fans to question instead of taking what is told to them as read.

Is Manson gay? Manson is straight, although he has been known to "dabble", having sucked Trent Reznor's (Nine Inch Nails) penis on stage. This is seen as more a publicity stunt than a genuine show of his sexuality. And despite what some Anti Manson campaigners would say, no, Twiggy was not his lover. Manson being the show man he is regularly posed in suggective positions with his bassist, more to take the piss.

Did Manson record a cover of Dead Or Alive's You Spin Me Right Round? No, no and no. Seriously this is one of the first rules of Marilyn Manson new fans should learn. Depsite the myriad of You Tube videos, download sites and other sections that claim Manson did this song, he has never been involved in a cover, not as singer, singing with another band, nor production. The misunderstanding happened a few years ago when a download site mislabelled Dope's cover of"You Spin me" from their appearance on the American Psycho: Music from the Controversial Motion Picture sountrack and their own Felons & Revolutionaries album as work by Manson. Since then and with the influx of You Tube this lie has continued to spread. It's not tru. Believe me I have the Dope version and ANY version that claims to be Manson's version is actually Dope's.

In fact here's what Wikipedia have to say and if you don't believe that PLEASE do the research:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Spin_Me_Round#Cover_versions

The song was covered by the rock band Dope. This version can be found on American Psycho: Music from the Controversial Motion Picture and Felons & Revolutionaries . This version is often mislabeled on P2P networks as being by Marilyn Manson, Orgy, Billy Idol or Powerman 5000.