Today is the 43rd birthday of heavy-metal frontman Glenn Danzig,

who

relishes in tales of the dark side on record and onstage. Danzig

formed the seminal hardcore band the Misfits in Lodi, N.J., in

1977. Despite being one of the first bands in this heavy-metal

subgenre, the Misfits made records that didn't sell and the band

broke

up in 1983. With his distinctive voice and knack for writing a hook,

Danzig had the most talent in the group. When bands such as Guns

n' Roses began to cover the Misfits' songs later in that decade, the

Misfits

attracted a cult of devoted fans who made their albums hot bootlegs.

Danzig formed Samhain in 1983, a group with which he continued his

lyrical obsession with hell and damnation -- only now with strange,

eerie sound effects and heavier metal. Fed up with Samhain's lack of

success, Danzig created

his namesake band in 1987 with Samhain guitarist John Christ,

ex-Rosemary's Babies drummer Eerie Von on bass and veteran

hardcore

drummer Chuck Biscuits. Danzig, the man, continued to play the

menacing,

Satan-obsessed showman, but the band's music became more

brooding than thrash metal-like as the years went by.

After coming together, Danzig, the band, signed with Def American

Records and released their 1988 eponymous debut -- an album that

sounded a lot like the material Glenn Danzig produced with his

earlier bands. But 1990's

Danzig II-Lucifuge expanded the band's sound with better

melodies

and some blues. Songs included the eerily beautiful "Her Black

Wings"

and the weepy "Blood and Tears."

With Danzig III: How Gods Kill

(1992), Danzig became goth-rock practitioners. From this album, the

title track and "Dirty Black Summer" became favorites on MTV's

"Headbanger's Ball," which increased the band's popularity among

metalheads. Glenn Danzig went solo for Black Aria, a stab at

rock opera with classical instruments, revolving around Satan's

descent

into hell.

The band achieved mainstream status in 1993 when a single

and video of a live rendition of "Mother," a song from its first

album, became hits. This increased momentum for Danzig 4

(1994),

which entered the Billboard 200 albums chart in the top 30,

but couldn't

sustain its popularity due to fan impatience with the record's subtle

moodiness. During a tour to support the album, Danzig broke up the

band

and formed a new lineup of the same name with drummer Joey

Castillo,

former Prong guitarist Tommy Victor and bassist Josh Lazie.

Danzig

V: Blackacidevil soon followed in 1996, but it was a critical and

commercial flop.

Glenn Danzig recently told a Los Angeles radio

station that he was in the midst of re-forming Samhain for a mini

U.S.

tour to support a box-set retrospective. Meanwhile, Danzig is

working

with his namesake band on a new, label-less album and will support

Jimmy

Page and Robert Plant on a few European dates this summer.

Other birthdays: Paul Goddard (Atlanta Rhythm Section), 53, and

James Macpherson (Breeders), 32.