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GG Allin

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GG Allin (1956 August 29 – 1993 June 28) was a punk singer and bandleader who performed and recorded with many groups during his career.

He is best remembered for his notorious live performances that typically featured wildly transgressive acts such as Allin defecating and urinating onstage, rolling in excrement, committing self-injury, performing naked, taunting people to perform fellatio on him, and violent actions towards the audience. Although more notorious for his stage antics than for his wide body of music, he recorded prolifically, not only in the punk rock genre, but also in spoken word, country and Rolling Stones-influenced rock.

Biography[edit]

Childhood[edit]

He was born Jesus Christ Allin at Weeks' Memorial Hospital, in Lancaster, New Hampshire.[1] He was given this messianic name because his father, Merle Allin, Sr. (a religious and antisocial man), then 32 years old, had told his wife, Arleta Gunther, then 21 years old, that an angel had visited him and told him that his newborn son would be a great man in the vein of the Messiah. [2] [3] As a young child, his younger brother, Merle Allin, Jr., was unable to pronounce "Jesus" properly and kept calling him "Jeje", which became "GG". The family lived in a log cabin with no water or electricity. Allin's father, who forbade all conversation in the home after dark, was reportedly physically/sexually abusive and mentally unstable, though GG himself never used this as an excuse for any of his own eccentricities.

Shortly before Allin started school, his mother changed his legal name to Kevin Michael Allin (on March 2, 1962 by his birth certificate). Arleta had allowed his birth name to stand until this point. However, with her husband's deteriorating mental health, his mother changed his name in order to give Allin a chance at a normal, mockery-free childhood.

GG was considered a misfit from junior high on, and was placed in special ed classes and left back a year. He was known to rebel by showing up to school dressed in drag (his 11th grade school picture depicts him this way). When asked about his childhood, GG has been quoted as saying "Very chaotic. Full of chances and dangers. We sold drugs, stole, broke into houses, cars, etc. Did whatever we wanted to for the most part - including all the bands we played in. People even hated us back then." [4]

Early career[edit]

Some of his earliest recorded musical endeavors were as a drummer. At high school, he had a penchant for provocative theatrics early on. At one early gig (a high school dance), he pulled down the decorations and everyone cheered. Another early gig started a riot. He wrote two songs with the band Malpractice in 1977 and also played drums on the single ("Galileo"/"Jesus Over New York") for the band Stripsearch in 1981.

His first years as a frontman were with the Jabbers (1977 – April of 1984). The Jabbers recorded a number of tracks for which Allin played drums and performed vocals. In 1980 came Allin's debut release, Always Was, Is And Always Shall Be. At the time, Allin was a standard punk rock frontman in the vein of Iggy Pop and Stiv Bators. He was even managed at one point by industry veteran (and Dead Boys producer) Genya Ravan. Tensions within The Jabbers began to mount as Allin became increasingly uncontrollable, vicious, and uncompromising. The Jabbers discontinued, and the members parted ways. Allin's drug use started during this period.

Between the early to the late 1980s, Allin fronted many acts. These included early albums varying from The Cedar Street Sluts to The Scumfucs in 1982, and The Texas Nazis in 1985. However, Allin remained in the underground hardcore scene and was not yet a viable hardcore icon of the east coast hardcore scene. On March 13, 1986, a daughter was born to Allin and Tracy Deneault. Little is known about the child, Nicoann Deneault. It has been speculated that the small picture in GG's left hand at his funeral may be of Nicoann, though it is most likely a picture of a very young GG Allin [5] [6]. Tracey Deneault and GG never married. Tracey was a teenage girl Allin took up with when his wife, Sandra Farrow - his childhood sweetheart and a model, divorced him. Allin retreated to a cabin in New Hampshire where he wrote what he considered to be his first "masterpiece", Eat My Fuc.

Though still a marginal figure, Allin first came to wider attention with the release by Reachout International Records (ROIR) of Hated In The Nation (1987), a cassette-only release at the time, which contained several tracks from Allin's then-out-of-print back catalogue with The Jabbers, The Scumfucs and Cedar Street Sluts. The tape also featured several new recordings, both in-studio and in-concert, with an all-star band assembled by producer, Maximum RocknRoll columnist, and early Allin patron Mykel Board. This band featured J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. on lead guitar, and Bongwater producer/musician Mark Kramer on bass.

Mid era[edit]

By the mid to late 1980s, Allin was a heroin user, alcoholic, a heavy smoker and generally abused all intoxicants given to him. He was poorly groomed and rarely cleaned himself. At this point, Allin also began eating laxatives before performances - as defecation, the drinking and eating of it was becoming a regular stage act for him. In an homage to one of his influences, Nina Simone, Allin described himself as "the last true rock and roller" as well as "a huge fan of the blues." By this, he meant that rock and roll music itself had started as an embodiment of danger, anti-authoritarianism, rebelliousness but had become largely taken over by corporations and business concerns. Allin's music and performances were thus meant to return rock and roll to what he saw as its roots, reclaiming from the corporate system.

Allin idolized country music legend Hank Williams, Sr, and saw himself as a kindred spirit. Both were relative loners and outsiders, both were habitual users of intoxicants, both lived with few, if any, possessions and both travelled the country relentlessly. GG Allin's acoustic output, documented particularly on the EP The Troubled Troubador, was heavily influenced by Williams. He recorded his own rewrites of Hank Williams, Jr.'s "Family Tradition" and David Allan Coe's "Longhaired Redneck", calling his own versions "Scumfuc Tradition" and "Outlaw Scumfuc" respectively. Later GG Allin also released another country album Carnival of Excess.

During this period, Allin collaborated with Bulge (aka Boston hardcore punk trio Psycho under a different name, on the album Freaks, Faggots, Drunks and Junkies), The Aids Brigade (the infamous 7" EP Expose Yourself To Kids) and The Holymen (You Give Love A Bad Name). Allin also began performing many spoken word pieces. Video footage of these are available but rare. It was during this period that Allin recorded his Murder Junkies album released by New Rose Records and featuring the band ANTiSEEN. This album contained 10 musical tracks and 10 spoken-word pieces. Other than Freaks, Faggots, Drunks and Junkies, Allin considered this album to be his most polished professionally recorded album that explored his persona and stated his philosophy on life. It was also during this period that Allin recorded the War In My Head - I'm Your Enemy album released on Awareness Records and featuring the band Shrinkwrap. This particular album consists of one 45 minute track that is a collage of spoken-word pieces which Shrinkwrap put to music.

Unwilling to seek steady employment, Allin supported himself by selling his own records. He also claimed to have committed criminal acts such as breaking and entering, robbery and mugging. Allin was also fascinated with serial killers. He wrote and visited John Wayne Gacy in jail a number of times and Gacy painted a portrait of Allin (see American Serial Killer Art).

By this point, Allin's performances, which often resulted in considerable damage to venues and sound equipment, were regularly stopped after only a few songs by police or venue owners. Allin was charged with assault and battery or indecent exposure a number of times. His constant touring was only stopped by jail time or by long hospital stays for broken bones, blood poisoning, and other trauma.

Another attraction to Allin performances was his continual threats of suicide. In 1988, Allin wrote to Maximum RocknRoll stating that he would commit suicide on stage on Halloween 1989. However, he was in jail when that day came. He continued his threat each following year but ended up imprisoned each following Halloween. When asked why he doesn't follow through with his threats, or sometimes his on-stage defecations, Allin stated, "With GG, you don't get what you expect—you get what you deserve." [7] He also stated that suicide should only be done when one had reached their peak, meeting the afterlife at their strongest point and not at their weakest. [8]

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Allin's imprisonments became longer in duration. He served a particularly long sentence from (December 22, 1989 to March 26, 1991) after being charged with raping and torturing a woman in Ann Arbor, Michigan (he ultimately plead no contest to assault charges).

In a psychological evaluation made as part of the trial (see "clinical transcript" in external links), Allin was judged to be of at least average intelligence, and was described as "courteous, cooperative and candid." The unnamed evaluator noted that Allin did not appear psychotic, and appeared comfortable with his unorthodox lifestyle, but that he did have symptoms and behavior consistent with borderline personality disorder, masochism and narcissism.

In the trial, Allin asserted his innocence, claiming that the woman had participated of her own free will. There were also some facts in the case which might seem to support Allin's claim that the woman was an admiring fan who threw herself at him for publicity. As noted in the clinical report, the witness offered contradictory testimony to police, first claiming that she was attacked by three men. Only later did she accuse Allin.

It was during this confinement that Allin felt energized about his life and "mission" as he put it. He wrote the GG Allin Manifesto (1990) during this period. Meanwhile, Allin's growing notoriety led to appearances on Morton Downey, Jr., Geraldo, The Jerry Springer Show and a memorable episode of The Jane Whitney Show.

At the end of this period, Allin's appearance became definitive. He shaved his head, removed the middle of the moustache a la Genghis Khan, dyed his beard red and shaved his entire body. In addition, he was increasingly covered in poorly done, cheap 'home-made' tattoos and scars from his violent stage performances.

Death[edit]

Despite threats of an onstage suicide, Allin died of a heroin overdose in New York City on June 28, 1993, in the Manhattan apartment (29 Avenue B) of Johnny Puke (AKA John Handley Hurt) and Dwanna Yount (a native of Greeneville, Tennessee). He was 36 years old. His last show was at a small club called The Gas Station in New York City. Video footage of the soundcheck, concert, and aftermath is appended to the DVD release of Hated. In his last show he did a few songs before the power went out, after which he trashed the venue and walked the streets of New York naked and covered in blood and feces, surrounded by fans whom he openly embraced. On VH1's recent Freakiest Concert Moments, Allin's final show ranked at number four.

After arriving at his friend's apartment, Allin snorted heroin, eventually passing out. Some party-goers posed for photos with the unconscious Allin, not knowing that he was already dead. The next morning, some noticed that Allin still lay motionless in the same place where they had left him, and called for an ambulance, but Allin was pronounced dead at the scene. Puke and Yount were subsequently evicted.

At his funeral, Allin's bloated, discolored corpse was dressed in his black leather jacket and trademark jock strap. He had a bottle of Jim Beam beside him in his casket, as per his wishes (openly stated in his self-penned acoustic country ballad, "When I Die"). As part of his brother's request, the mortician was instructed not to wash the corpse, (which smelled strongly of feces), or apply any makeup. The funeral became a wild party. Friends posed with the corpse, put drugs and whiskey into its mouth, and pulled down the jock strap to take pictures of Allin's penis. As the funeral ended, his brother put a pair of headphones on Allin. The headphones were plugged into a portable cassette player, in which was loaded a copy of The Suicide Sessions. The video of his funeral is widely available for purchase, and is an extra feature on the Hated DVD and some bootleg VHS tapes.

At the time of his death, Allin was making plans for a spoken word album, and a somewhat unlikely European tour. Reports say he was enthusiastically talking about them to a friend in the hours before his death.

GG Allin was buried July 3, 1993 in the Saint Rose Cemetery in Littleton, NH.

Backing groups[edit]

Media[edit]

Discography[edit]

Quotes[edit]

Song quotes[edit]

  • "Bite it you scum" (Bite it you Scum)
  • "I'm so sick of you and I'm gettin' real sick of me" (Bored to Death)
  • "I don't care what you say 'cause I am I" (You'll Never Tame Me)
  • "Mindless gutless puppets - who needs you?" (You Hate Me and I Hate You)
  • "Do you think I really care?" (No Rules)
  • "I don't wanna play in no fucking sixties band" (Abuse Myself, I Want to Die)
  • "I used to sniff girls panty-hose, but there's nothing like a girl sitting on your nose" (Gimme Some Head)
  • "If you've got cancer, go and fucking die / If you've got AIDS spread it around and take some lives" (Die When You Die)
  • "Hit me with a fucking axe, I just won't croak" (Abuse Me, I Want to Die)

Quotes from elsewhere[edit]

  • "For revenge on everything and everyone. To destroy and fuck up everything that ever got in my way and all the obstacles that still do. My rock 'n' roll is my reality and therapy... it's my ultimate release-my mind is a machine gun. my body the bullets and my audience the target." (Allin on why he got into rock'n'roll)
  • "I'm God, Jesus and Satan all in one. There is no higher power than GG Allin. My body is also the Rock 'N' Roll temple. My flesh, blood and body fluids are a communion to my missionaries." (Allin on religion)
  • "Rock 'N' Roll is nothing anymore. It needs to be destroyed and taken over by the real outcasts and non-conformists. We need to create a Rock 'N' Roll war... Blood must be spilled and people in the music business power seats must be killed off." (Allin on opposing the coprorate co-option of rock'n'roll)
  • "Most performers are just that-performers. They are only out for shock and terror as entertainment. Therefore, not only are they useless, they are limited as to what they can and cannot due. But as for me, I'm out to annihilate. My performances are my innermost locked up feelings of my interior depths unleashed. The wild untamed human animal. Therefore, there are no laws or limits on my R+R stage. Thus my shows consist of real violence, savagery+blood-shed. As a result you can usually find more fucking police at one of my shows than you can at a murder scene. But I don't give a fuck. That's where I seperate myself from all the others. I'm real, they're not." (Allin on other performers, italics given for emphasis)
  • "The only real underground of Rock 'N' Roll has to become a dangerous force. It will only have true meaning as long as it commands a real threat and terror to our society, the system, the government and all other institutions that are attempting to kill it. Without complete uncensored freedoms to explore all boundaries and beyond of complete expression, it will become meaningless and completely arbitrary. Most bands or performers are not willing to give their lives for what they believe in... So obviously they cannot truly believe in whay they do or say... they go so far and then retreat."(Allin criticising the lack of risk taking in other performers, along with punk, hardcore and indie rock in general)

External links[edit]

This article is based on a GNU FDL LGBT Wikia article: Allin GG Allin LGBT
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