Although the BBC once named his debut album the worst of all time, Screaming Lord Sutch still laid the groundwork for later horror rockers like Alice Cooper and predated the Beatles for recording rock and R&B classics in England. Seriously, BBC? You would prefer listening to Phil Collins or Limp Bizkit? Lord Sutch started out in life as David Sutch, but after hearing Screamin' Jay Hawkins, he changed his name and took up Screamin' Jay's affinity for horror drag, too. He didn't have a lot of musical ability, but he made up for it by stocking his band with accomplished musicians, like Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, and Keith Moon, and putting on a killer (ha!) horror-themed show.
In the 80s, Screaming Lord Sutch forced himself onto British politics by founding the Official Monster Raving Loony Party and ran in several elections. He never won any, but gained a lot of notoriety and once prompted a party to dissolve itself after he received more votes than their candidate. Although Lord Sutch died in 1999, his party still exists and takes stands on important issues like making unicorns a protected species and attaching bungee cords to all vehicles so no fuel will be required for the return journey. "Jack the Ripper" is probably Screaming Lord Sutch's most well-known song, and the video for it features him in his classic Jack the Ripper get-up, with top hat, cape, and corpse-like make-up. You know, I never really understood Beatlemania--what about those four squares would make any girl need to faint?--but here I kinda get that reaction. If I was sitting in the first row of this performance, fainting might seem like just the right thing to do.
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