A Look at Charles Manson’s Impact on Rock Music

The first season of NBC's summer series Aquarius recently wrapped up, and now it's out on DVD. While the show is a fictionalized drama, the first season centered around the notorious real-life criminal Charles Manson and his Manson Family.

Aquarius stars David Duchovny as a homicide detective who is investigating the case of a missing girl, and along the way finds himself going face to face with Charles Manson (played by Gethin Anthony). In real life, Manson is serving a life sentence after being found guilty of conspiracy to commit the murders of seven people.

Manson himself is a musician, as several of his albums have been released during his incarceration. His songs have been covered by the likes of Guns N' Roses ("Look at Your Game, Girl" from 1993's The Spaghetti Incident) and Marilyn Manson ("Sick City"), who took half his stage name from Charles Manson.

In addition, there have been songs written about Charles Manson, with one of the most notable tunes being Ozzy Osbourne's "Bloodbath in Paradise." The track contains lyrics like, "You're comin' home / There's blood on the walls / When Charlie and the family make house calls."

Elsewhere, System of a Down have a song on their Toxicity album called "ATWA," which was also the name of Charles Manson ecological mandate (Air, Trees, Water, Animal) that referred to the forces of life that hold the balance of the Earth.

Most recently, Charles Manson himself wrote a letter from prison to Marilyn Manson, stating, in part:

It’s taken me a long time to get there from where I could touch M. Manson. Now I got a card to play – you may look into my non-profit, ATWA, and give Manson what you think he’s got coming for Air, Trees, Water, and you. Or I will pay Manson what you think Manson got coming – the music has make Manson into Abraxas Devil, and I’m SURE you would want some of what I got from what I got. It’s a far out balance. Beyond good and bad, right, wrong. What you don’t do is what I will do – what you did a sing-along, and let it roll and said how you saved me a lot of steps – I don’t need, it’s not a need or a want.

There you have it, just a small sampling of Charles Manson's impact on the rock world. In case you missed NBC's show Aquarius, the complete first season is out on DVD and Blu-ray now. Pick it up at Amazon and other outlets.

This post is sponsored by Anchor Bay Entertainment.

Check Out the Trailer for the Aquarius: The Complete First Season DVD

Aquarius Cast: