Anyone who’s a fan of junkshop glam is going to want the fantastic new CD boxed set, All the Young Droogs: 60 Juvenile Delinquent Wrecks. The collection contains a whopping 60 tracks of obscure ‘70s glam rock from all over the world. One of the tunes that caught my attention is “Lucifera” by the Dutch shock-rock group, Lemming. Inspired by the Italian adult comic book series of the same name, and released in 1973 as the band’s first single, “Lucifera” is a unique blend of Alice Cooper and Sweet. During their early years, Lemming had a devilish stage show—their singer was heavily into Satanism, at the time—complete with an altar, electric chairs, coffins, torches, smoke bombs, hangmen, and an exotic dancer.
We can thank writer/musician/collector Philip King for exposing us to Lemming, and to junkshop glam, in general. Nearly 20 years ago, he, along with Buzzcocks bassist Tony Barber, coined the term “junkshop glam.” Since then, he’s been heavily involved with a number of stellar compilations related to the genre, including All the Young Droogs. Philip and I have been in touch as of late, and he had this to say regarding “Lucifera”: “In an ideal world this would have been a huge Halloween hit.” I wholeheartedly agree.
“Lucifera,” along with subsequent singles, “Father John” and “Queen Jacula” (also inspired by an Italian adult comic book, the erotic-horror series, Jacula) charted in their home country of Holland. In 1975, their initial records were combined with new material and released as Lemming’s self-titled debut LP. Stream the album on Spotify.
Though Lemming would soon ditch the shock-rock approach, the group continued to release 45s, and soldiered on until 1982. They later reunited as “The Lemming,” and are still at it.
I couldn’t find any video of Lemming playing “Lucifera” from back in the day, but I did come across great TV clips of the band miming to “Farmer John” and “Queen Jacula.”
But first, a few more awesome images of Lemming:
This first clip is pretty racy—NSFW:
Things get crazy around the two minute mark:
Another TV performance of “Queen Jacula”:
Get All the Young Droogs via Amazon or Cherry Red’s website.
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
‘I’m Gonna Smash Your Face In’: ‘60s bubblegum meets proto-punk on this obscure 1973 single
‘I am your Pantherman!’: Sink your claws into this killer one-man band glam rocker
Alastair Riddell & Space Waltz: New Zealand’s answer to David Bowie were a teen sensation in 1974