Jerry Only

Jerry Only
Background information
Birth name	Gerald Caiafa
Born	April 21, 1959 (1959-04-21) Lodi, New Jersey
Genres	Horror punk, punk rock, heavy metal
Occupations	Musician, singer, bassist
Instruments	Bass, vocals, guitar
Years active	1977–present
Associated acts	Misfits, Osaka Popstar, Kryst The Conqueror, Balzac (band)
Notable instruments
Custom Graphite Devastator Bass

Jerry Only (born Gerald Caiafa on April 21, 1959 in Lodi, New Jersey) is an American bassist. He is the current bassist and vocalist for the Misfits. He is credited with creating the infamous hair style known as the devilock.

Life and career

Jerry Only joined The Misfits in 1977, just a few months after receiving his first bass as a late Christmas present. He would work at his father's factory during the week to help finance the band and play shows on the weekend. This would go on for several years until the band split due to differences between lead singer Glenn Danzig and the rest of the band. During this downtime, Jerry and his brother Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein (the guitarist for The Misfits) formed Kryst The Conqueror. In 1995 Jerry settled a legal battle out of court with co-founder Glenn Danzig, effectively allowing him rights to The Misfits' name on a performing level, while they split the money on merchandising. He reformed the band with Doyle (who played guitar from 1980 to 1983), vocalist Michale Graves, and drummer Dr. Chud.

Chud and Graves left the group in 2000 to form Graves. In reaction to the loss of members, Doyle left the Misfits. Graves, Doyle and Chudd were replaced on the M25 tour by Dez Cadena, formerly of Black Flag and DC3 on guitar and Marky Ramone, formerly of The Ramones, on drums. Jerry took up the singing duties from this point till the present date. In early 2005 Marky left the group and Jerry brought in ex-Misfit and Black Flag drummer ROBO to rejoin the group. A new album was recorded in 2010 in Colorado entitled The Devil's Rain which was released in October 2011. A single, "Land of the Dead", was released at the mischief night show 2009 at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ.

World Championship Wrestling

In 1999 Jerry, along with the rest of the then Misfits lineup, had a brief stint in World Championship Wrestling. Jerry Only himself participated in probably the most memorable match of the Misfits' time, Described by fans as a "complete beat down", in the organization 1999 edition of Nitro. Jerry was pitted against Dr. Death in a steel cage match. Only was "dominated" in the match but Death was distracted when the rest of the Misfits interfered and attacked his manager, pouring barbecue sauce in his eyes after he said that Only "fell off the ugly tree and hit every branch". Death proceeded to whip Only into the cage door which opened as Only spilled onto the floor and won the match due to "escaping" the cage first.

Gear

He plays a custom "Devastator" Bass made out of graphite; the current model was made by Bernie Rico, Jr.^{[citation needed]} with an M like body and a cyclops skull on the headstock. It has no tone or volume control knobs because he only plays it on full blast. From 1977-1983 he played a customized Rickenbacker 4001.^{[citation needed]} Sometime after 1978, he replaced the two single coil pickups with two split-coil pickups and he would often recarve the body to make it look 'gothier', and would add decorations (such as winged skulls) onto the headstock.

Discography

The Misfits

• Static Age (1978)
• Walk Among Us (1982)
• Earth A.D./Wolfs Blood (1983)
• American Psycho (1997)
• Famous Monsters (1999)
• Project 1950 (2003)
• The Devil's Rain (2011)

Kryst The Conqueror

• Deliver Us From Evil (1989)

Osaka Popstar

• Osaka Popstar and the American Legends of Punk (2006)

Filmography

• Vampira: The Movie (2006)
• KISS Loves You (2004)
• Fans and Freaks: The Culture of Comics and Conventions (2002)
• Campfire Stories (2001)
• Bruiser (2000)
• Big Money Hustlas(1999)
• Animal Room(1995)

TV

• Biography (2010)
• The X Show (2000)
• WCW Mayhem (1999)
• WCW Monday Nitro (1999)