Type O Negative

I recently had a dream that myself and some other person – female, but I can’t remember who – were hanging out with Peter Steele, initially getting along with him, but eventually he turned creepy and stalking us.  We managed to get rid of him, somehow – without killing him.  Then I woke up and realized, “he’s dead.  No need to be concerned about him anymore.”

A friend of mine turned me onto the New York City band called Type O Negative.  I started with Bloody Kisses – still my favorite – and eventually collected the rest. 

Lineup.   Peter Steele on bass & vocals; Kenny Hickey on guitar; Josh Silver on keyboards; Johnny Kelly on drums.

Discography.  Slow, Deep and Hard; The Origin of Feces; Bloody Kisses; October Rust; World Coming Down; Life is Killing Me; Dead Again.

Live.  I managed to see them a few times.  The most important show was the first, headlining at the Old 9:30 Club in DC on May 10, 1994.  Then two opening slots, for Danzig at Mike’s Eighth Avenue near BWI in Maryland, November 29, 1994, and as one of many opening acts at the first Ozzfest at Nissan Pavilion (now Jiffy Lube Live) on May 24, 1997.   Excellent shows, but again the headlining one is the one I remember most.  Peter Steele would talk back to the crowd, a New York thing about hecklers.

The sound is heavy and gothic, with Steele having a deep voice.  “Black #1” and “Christian Woman” are my favorites, plus their counterintuitively slow and heavy cover of “Summer Breeze” - all from Bloody Kisses.  They also covered Neil Young’s “Cinnamon Girl”.  Think Black Sabbath slowed down even more, similar to Electric Wizard.

Steele was the heart and soul of the band.  6’8”, certainly imposing, and handsome enough to pose for Playgirl in 1995, a move he later regretted when too many guys paid attention to it.  He died in 2010 of a heart aneurysm.  I’m glad I saw the band in concert at least once as a headliner, and I’ll have to make it a point to listen to TON a bit more often again in his memory. 

One more thing. I can't speak for any of the band members, but years ago when I donated blood, I ascertained my blood type.  Take a wild guess....