Song: Hate Is A 4 Letter Word
Album: Shock Therapy
Year: 1985
Genre: Electro Dance / Industrial
It’s amazing what
you can remember from so long ago about a specific moment in time that had a
significant impact on your life. I’m not
speaking of some tragedy or life altering experience; just an unexpected blip
on the radar that had a long lasting effect.
Pretty sure it was the fall of 1987, I was riding a bus with of bunch of
other obnoxious, teenage boys on our way to a soccer game. Of course I had my portable cassette player
with me for the long journey. A great
friend of mine also had a bunch of tapes with him. He got his music from his super cool older
brother. You know, the type of guy that
was always 10 steps ahead of everyone else when it came to music, movies, trends,
fashion, etc.. At that time I had pretty
much morphed into a pure thrash fan. All
I wanted to listen to was the fastest and heaviest and was always on the hunt
for more. My playlist was filled with
D.R.I., Attitude Adjustment, Celtic Frost, Slayer, C.O.C., Anthrax, Cryptic Slaughter,
Exodus and the list goes on. I
didn’t have time in my narrowed brain for anything else. Back to my friend. He was more of a new wave, goth-ish, MTV 120
Minutes kind of guy, so when he told me to check out a band that he liked, my
first silent thought was, “Ok, but I know I’m gonna hate it.” Well, the song was called “Hate Is A 4 Letter
Word” by the Detroit band Shock Therapy. The song was so good and haunting and
catchy that I specifically remember listening to it over and over again for
the remainder of the ride. By the end of
the trip, I’m pretty sure I had the song memorized. I was freakin’ hooked. Other than hearing new wave songs that were
played on the radio, I’d never listened to a band that was driven by synthesizers. What self respecting thrash kid would? So, technically, Shock Therapy was my first
exposure to industrial.
Keyboards were no longer my enemy!
Shock Therapy’s self-titled record was released in 1985 on Metro Music,
and after hearing that one song I couldn’t wait to get it. I don’t remember why (probably because I was
bugging the living hell out of him), but my friend gave me his brother’s
record. Yes, I still have that copy
to this very day. It’s not the easiest
album in the world to locate, so like a true record nerd, I’ve bought any other
copies I’ve encountered just in case I need a back up. I’ve loved this record since the
first time I threw it on my parent’s home stereo. Thank god I wasn’t a complete close-minded
idiot because I would have missed out on something incredible that opened the
door for me to so many other bands of the same style.
I was in this band for 2 months in 1997 Greg (itchy) was my neighbor in Brightmoore. I was a big fan of his music and we became friends. He actually gave me his copy of this album, the great confuser, and santa's little helper and 2 records as well. I still have them. I also had bought Hate is a 4 letter word,the dark years and heaven and earth. He also gave me a copy of no fear of death so i could learn the songs for the tour that never happened. The 2nd to last line up was as follows. Me drums, Angie Manley drums, Wes Beech guitar, Itchy, keyboard and vocals and Eric Hoskins on bass. After a night of hard drinking and cocaine (which I was not present for) Greg caught his wife going down on Eric in their house. He had gone to bed and woke up to find them. He beat them both badly and had a knife he had made that looked like the one from the movie Cobra and took that to Eric. Eric was stabbed in the leg and his thumb was nearly severed on left hand. Greg called me the day after and said he was going to leave the country. No your not I said. you have to make this right. Eric never pressed charges so the matter was dropped. Greg's wife Sabina was beaten pretty bad but she didn't press charges either. we got a new bass player Kyle Burris and he was as scared of Greg as I was. greg was a nut bag and a judo expert. He tried to show me a move or two but he seemed to enjoy hitting me. So I stopped the lessons post haste. Greg was a truly gifted musician. He was brilliant and his music is very very good. I'll always be a fan. He was also crazy, a heroine and coke addict, a physical abuser, an arsonist (that's why he did time in prison) and all around evil person. His demeanor was of someone who loved and thrived on negativity and pain. he loved it when people were hurt or unhappy. He could also crack you up with his infectious laugh and make you forgive him with his sense of humor and incredible talent. It's like he had a head full of bad wiring only suitable for making music. He was also way way in to acid. So much that by the end he had started to hallucinate without the tabs. I have mixed feelings about it all. In one way he's the worst person I have ever met. In others I'm glad I knew him. I could tell you some stories man. I even wrote some lyrics with him. He signed it in his own blood after accidentally on purpose cutting himself on the type writer. My favorite song by Shock Therapy is get out of Sodom. But The song Everyone hates me is I think closer to the truth.
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