Jack Grisham, the singer of the original lineup of Southern California deathrock band TSOL, recently unveiled TSOL’s new cover of “Sweet Transvestite,” below. Of course, the song was originally sung by Tim Curry in the 1975 midnight cult film hit The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
The new TSOL track features a cameo by Grisham’s fellow So-Cal punk vet Keith Morris, singer of the Circle Jerks, OFF!, original vocalist of Black Flag, and also of other bands. The cover is fun and faithful, with the soon-to-be-59 years old Grisham sounding as good as ever in his singing role as Dr. Frank N. Furter.
Despite his large frame and height, TSOL’s Grisham was among the first of the original LA hardcore punk scene to begin dressing in makeup, wearing eyeliner, and introducing a sort of surly androgyny into LA hardcore. “Jack Grisham was the Iggy Pop of LA hardcore,” Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion and Epitaph Records recalled in the 2006 American Hardcore documentary. “Grisham used to go up on stage in full drag. A full face of makeup, and a dress. And if anyone at the time said anything to him about it, he’d kick the living crap out of them.”
Check out TSOL’s new Rocky Horror cover below!
You can buy TSOL’s cover of “Sweet Transvestite” on Bandcamp here.
