Early years Allin's earliest musical influences were 1960s
British Invasion bands including
Mott the Hoople and
the Dave Clark Five. In the early 1970s,
Alice Cooper became an important influence on Allin. Allin's earliest recorded musical endeavors were as a drummer. He also wrote most of his songs on an acoustic guitar. In his mid-teens, he and his older brother Merle, who plays bass guitar, formed their first band, Little Sister's Date, which lasted a little over a year.
Mid-period and more extreme live performances Allin first defecated onstage in 1985 at a show at the
Creve Coeur, Illinois VFW building near
Peoria. According to fellow performer Bloody Mess, "I was with him when he bought the
Ex-Lax. Unfortunately, he ate it hours before the show, so he constantly had to hold it in or he would've shit before he got onstage... After he shit onstage, complete chaos broke out in the hall... All of the old men in charge of the hall went fucking
nuts!.. Hundreds of confused punk kids were flipping out, running out the door, because the smell was
incredible."
Defecation became a regular part of his stage act. Allin idolized country music legend
Hank Williams and saw himself as a kindred spirit. Both were relative loners and outsiders, both were habitual users of intoxicants, both lived with few (if any) possessions, and both traveled the country relentlessly. Allin's acoustic output, documented on the EP
The Troubled Troubador, was heavily influenced by Williams. He recorded his own rewrites of
Hank Williams Jr.'s "Family Tradition" and
David Allan Coe's "Longhaired Redneck", calling his own versions "Scumfuc Tradition" and "Outlaw Scumfuc", respectively. Later, Allin also released another country album,
Carnival of Excess, his most refined set of recordings. Another attraction to Allin performances was his continual threats of suicide. In 1989, Allin wrote to
Maximum RocknRoll stating that he would commit suicide on stage on Halloween 1989. However, he was in jail when that day came. He continued his threat each following year but ended up imprisoned each following Halloween. When asked why he did not follow through with his threats, Allin stated, "With GG, you don't get what you expect—you get what you deserve." He also stated that suicide should only be done when one had reached one's peak, meeting the afterlife at one's strongest point and not at one's weakest. In June 1993, Allin made an appearance on
The Jane Whitney Show. This interview is infamous for being his last, and for his aggression toward the audience. Allin openly stated that he would commit suicide and take his fans with him. When questioned by Whitney, he clarified that he would make them commit suicide as well or he would kill them. Allin also stated that, at 35, he could have sex with 12-, 13- and 16-year-old girls, boys, and animals, and claimed that he raped both women and men at his concerts.
1989 trial and imprisonment In late 1989, Allin was arrested and charged with "assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder" of a female acquaintance in
Ann Arbor, Michigan. Allin initially denied the charges, claiming that the woman was a willing participant in their sexual activities. Allin admitted to cutting her, burning her, and drinking her blood, but insisted that she did the same thing to him. Allin also claimed that inconsistencies in the woman's statements to authorities supported his assertions. The judge in the case agreed there were substantial inconsistencies in the woman's account. Ultimately, however, Allin plea bargained to the reduced charge of felonious assault, and he was imprisoned from December 25, 1989, to March 26, 1991. It was during this time in prison that Allin began feeling re-energized about his life and "mission". He wrote
The GG Allin Manifesto during this period.
Final days Allin's growing notoriety led to appearances on various television shows:
Geraldo,
The Jerry Springer Show and
The Jane Whitney Show. At the time of his death, Allin was making plans for a spoken-word album. He also mentioned a somewhat unlikely European tour, enthusiastically talking about it in the hours before his death. ==Personal life==