The Legend of Sammi Curr from the movie 'Trick or Treat' aka Tony Fields (R.I.P.)
Sammy Curr 1947 – 1986
The Legend that is the life of “Rock’s Chosen Warrior” — Sammi Curr.
A former student at Lakeridge High School, Sammi’s aspirations went higher than being stuck in his small town. It’s no secret that Sammi was an angry young man growing up. He cared little for authority and used his rebellious nature to propel himself to the top of the heavy metal heap in the mid-1980s. With his dangerous attitude and shock rock antics, he became a rock icon, a living legend, and amassed a large loyal teenage fanbase.Sammi was a controversial figure during his time. While popular with teenagers, his music, lyrics and stage show were extremely controversial with parents, schools, politicians and members of the religious community. In a time when bands like Megadeth, W.A.S.P. and Motley Crue ruled the airwaves, it was Sammi Curr that felt the wrath of the media and concerned citizens the most.That’s not to say that Sammi didn’t encourage the controversy though.
Ego was another driving factor for Curr. He thrived on the adoration of his young fans and on the hatred of his detractors. Like many rock stars, Sammi wanted the attention and he lived the image of the “bad boy” to its fullest. You can’t drink blood straight from a snake’s mouth onstage and not expect some people to get up in arms about it.Spending the majority of his music career signed to Waste City Records, some of Curr’s most loved (and despised) songs are “Trick or Treat”, “Fuck With Fire”, “Burn in Metal” and “Torture’s Too Kind”. It was in those last three songs that he used the technique of backmasking. Whether done for fun and as a gimmick or if there was a more sinister intention there, I don’t know. There are many who will argue either side.
In October 1986, Sammi petitioned to play a free concert at his old high school’s Halloween dance. He was denied this opportunity by the PTA and died just days before Halloween, under mysterious circumstances, in a hotel fire.Sammi’s final album was to be called Songs in the Key of Death but it has never been released to the public in its entirety. The demos were set to debut on a local radio station in Sammi’s hometown at midnight on Halloween (per Sammi’s request) in 1986 but there was a malfunction with the broadcast. The demos have since gone missing.Sammi Curr lived fast and died young. Perhaps for someone him, there was no other way.“You cannot legislate morality, or music, or people’s minds… or we’ll bring you down, man!” – Sammi Curr
Tony Fields the actor who played Sammi Curr
Fields was born Anthony Dean Campos (28 December 1958) in Stafford, Kansas. After his parents separated when he was four, his mother remarried, and he took his stepfather's last name, Fields. He was raised in Davis, California and showed an early aptitude for gymnastics before taking up dance training. He attended Davis High School graduating in 1977. Fields then went on to college at the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts on scholarship and Roland Dupree Academy of Dance, but left when paid work began to materialise for him.
He was selected to perform in Debbie Reynolds' nightclub act. He then found a job on the Solid Gold television series as a dancer in 1979. Fields would continue with Solid Gold until 1984.
In 1983, Fields performed in Michael Jackson's "Beat It" and "Thriller" music video, both choreographed by Michael Peters and Lionel Richie's "Running with the night" music video.
Richard Attenborough was working on a film version of the Broadway musical, A Chorus Line in 1984. After a casting call which attracted over 3000 people, and auditions by anyone who had previously performed in the musical, Tony Fields won the role of Al DeLuca.
Fields' film work continued, with roles in Trick or Treat (1986), Body Beat[3] (1987), The Doctor (1991) and Across the Moon (1995) and television shows such as Murder She Wrote (
1992) and L.A. Law (1991). He also performed in plays and musical theatre in California, and returned to Davis High School to mentor students in 1994.
Fields died of AIDS related cancer in 1995. He was 36.
Trick or Treat Movie
Soundtrack
