Timeline 1989 - 1993

1989 – Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA

• Brian Hugh Warner, a journalist, joins forces with friend Scott Putesky to create a band that will challenge the American Image and way of life.

• Almagamating the names of Starlet’s and Serial Killers, to wag an accusing finger at the media, that immortalised stars and killers on the same front pages of their glossy magazines, Marilyn Manson and The Spooky Kids were formed.

• Churchill’s Hideaway, Miami, playing in front of a crowd of no more than twenty, and with no live drummer – instead using a drum machine - the band performed their first gig. At the time it was thought that due to the nervousness of the front man, the band would never go beyond the first night, but steadily by word of mouth their fame grew

1990

• As the bands popularity increased, due in part to Marilyn Manson’s home made designed, flyers and the talk of the onstage antics, the band decided to ditch the drum machine and Sara Lee Lucas, played his first gig as the bands live drummer.

• Already gone from the band were Zsa Zsa Speck and Olivia Newton Bundy, who were replaced by Gidget Gein (Brad Stewart) and Madonna Wayne Gacy (Stephen Biers Jnr).

1991

• The band continued to grow, and their stage antics become more wild, starting the first rumours that would continue to dog the band during their continued domination.

• The band began to distribute tapes of their songs on their own "Beat Your Mother" label, with covers designed by their frontman. These sold in local record stores and at the shows.

• Early renditions included now classic tracks such as "Lunchbox" and "My Monkey" (a homage to the Charles Manson song.).

1992

• As their sound grew in popularity, Marilyn Manson and The SpookyKids drew their first nominations in local metal awards, the South Florida Slammies. They won Best Hard Alternative Band and Band of the Year.

• One of their running mates in the competition was a band called Amboog – A – Lard, whose bassist Jeordie White was fast becoming friends with Marilyn Manson.

• Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails entered into negotiations with the band, looking for a support act for their upcoming tour and hoping to sign Marilyn Manson and the SpookyKids onto his newly formed Nothing Records, a subsidiary of Interscope.

• With the possibility of world domination beckoning, and under the direction of the manager John Tovar the band shortened their name to the now known Marilyn Manson, much as Alice Cooper had twenty years before them.

• The band performed one last gig, under the name of Mrs Scabtree, whose line up included Jessika, now with Jack Off Jill, and Jeordie White sporting a look that would be surnominous with his on stage character in later years. Manson played drums.

1993

• Work began on the band’s debut album, Portrait of An American Family. Produced and recorded in part at the scene of one the Manson Families infamous gruesome murders, 1970’s actress Sharon Tate’s home. Finally the South Florida band were breaking out into the big time.

• However, uncertainty prevailed within the band itself, when bassist Gidget Gein developed an uncontrollable Heroin addiction. Although this had been known beforehand, Gein’s numerous overdoses meant that the frontman, and close friend Marilyn Manson, had to make one of the first of many hard decisions. Firing Gein, Manson hired Jeordie, under the new moniker, Twiggy Ramirez, to play bass.