"Dig Up Her Bones" is the seventh single by the punk rock band the

Misfits Misfits or The Misfits may refer to: Film and television * ''The Misfits'' (1961 film), a film starring Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and Montgomery Clift * ''The Misfits'' (2011 film), a Mexican film * ''The Misfits'' (2021 film), an American ...

. 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 novel by Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1991. The story is told in the first person by Patrick Bateman, a serial killer and Manhattan investment banker. Alison Kelly of ''The Observer'' notes that while "some countr ...

'', 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. Biog ...

and his brother, guitarist Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein, 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, film director, and record producer. He is the founder of the rock bands Misfits, Samhain, and Danzig. He owns t ...

. 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 (born April 4, 1964), known professionally as Dr. Chud, is an American horror punk drummer best known for his work with the Misfits. Life and career Born in Lodi, New Jersey, Dr. Chud attended Lodi High School. His career beg ...

. 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 Art release#Music, release, typically a song Sound recording, recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for record sales, sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most ca ...

, 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 records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

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 John Cafiero is an American punk rock musician and filmmaker. He is best known as the frontman for the punk supergroup Osaka Popstar, whose debut album was released the summer 2006. The full album lineup toured the UK in September 2006, followe ...

, 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 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 Boris Karlo ...

''. 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), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established h ...

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

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

, 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 Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

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 (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's ''

120 Minutes ''120 Minutes'' is a television program in the United States dedicated to the 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 its cancellation, MTV ...

'' and was also featured on the

Sci Fi Channel Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Launc ...

. Along with the "American Psycho" video, it continued to run in rotation on MTV,

MTV Europe MTV Global (formerly as MTV Europe) is the international version of the American TV channel MTV, a 24-hour music and entertainment TV channel that began broadcasting on August 1, 1987, as part of the worldwide MTV network. Initially, MTV serve ...

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

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 well ...

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

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...

, and The Box.

Track listing

Personnel

Band

– lead vocals *

– bass, backing vocals * Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein – 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 Wynd ...

– keyboards

References

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