Who is Molly? Molly is the name of D-A-D's trademark cow skull. The band has used the skull in different shapes and forms pretty much since they started playing together. Molly appears on all of the album covers, from Standin' On the Never Never through Scare Yourself, and she has made numerous appearances on stage with the band at live shows.
How Molly got her name The cow skull got its name quite early on. The name Molly originates from the lyrics to the song Counting the Cattle where Molly is the last surviving cow of the farmer in the song. After nine out of ten cows have died, the farmer ends up marrying Molly.
The first Molly Originally, Molly was a real cow skull, i.e. from a real cow. The band got the cow skull with the help of Torleif's father, boiled it for three days to make the remaining meat fall off, and added extra long horns for effect. Since then, Molly has changed her "look" many times over the years. The first Molly, however, was stolen in 1986 when the band forgot her after playing at a club in Amsterdam.
Molly electrified Once, a makeshift Molly was made out of the handle bars and saddle from a bike, but soon she became much more advanced. Already in 1987 the first electric Molly complete with blinking lights was built for use on stage, but she was a hassle to transport from job to job. So in 1989 a new big cow skull was built that - unlike earlier attempts - could be taken apart for transport. It has become part of the D-A-D legend how members of the crew worked through the night to assemble the new Molly at a hotel in Miami, U.S.A. After blowing the fuses of the entire hotel floor, the new cow skull finally worked, just in time for a gig in front of a group of record industry people. Molly toured with the band with this look from 1989 through 1995.
Molly's many faces However, as times changed, so did Molly. For the cover of Helpyourselfish, as well as for the stage gear for the following tour, Molly literally became the backbone of the album artwork: the big fish stripped to the bone. Before the Simpatico-release in 1997, Molly was almost fired, but the band kept her on staff after she was given a facelift.
This included having the four diamond shaped squares in the middle removed and getting the eyes of an alien - a version of Molly the band referred to as a "millennium edition". On the cover of Everything Glows from 2000 and during the tour following its release, Molly dressed up according to the album Hindu theme, including golden jewelry.
The latest Mollys In 2002, to the horror of many fans, the cow skull was burnt in the video for the song Soft Dogs. But all worries turned out to be groundless; the skull burning was an old version from the Draws A Circle-days, and Molly made another revival once again. And since dogs were in style for Soft Dogs, the big Molly skull used on stage grew fur! When the band got ready for the Wig Wam Tour in August 2002, Molly sported a brand new headpiece of feathers, which, of course, had blinking lights.
Unfortunately, this great look, as the Wig Wam tour itself, was shortlived. Lately, since there has been no theme to follow, Molly has strutted a back-to-basics, less is more kind of look. Molly is, however, still the same on the inside, including original 1989 wiring for the lights. All in all it is safe to say that Molly is still going strong. Pictures of Molly in different shapes.
The Band
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Who is Molly?