After having a humongous 2008 -- and sure to be large 2009 -- Santogold has chosen to change her name to "Santigold." This comes as very little surprise; the original "Santo Gold" has been all over her ass, harassing her and threatening legal action if the singer didn't change her name. Santogold, Santigold -- whatever you want to call her -- obliged and will know be known as Santigold, which really isn't that bad since her real name is Santi White. This story is particularly interesting because of the jewelry merchant who calls himself Santo Gold. Mr. Gold -- Baltimore native Santo Rigatuso (or Bob Harris, as his parents call him) -- is responsible for a line of absolutely ridiculous infomercials that would make Ed Wood blush. Never shy to embrace the spotlight, Gold quickly threatened legal action once Santi White became more popular using the moniker "Santogold." This story is a bit confusing -- but, in the end, it involves a movie about alien wrestlers.
Those fine young chaps over at Stereogum broke the story yesterday, as well as chronicling the ongoing saga with Santo Gold. After reading up on the dude, it is safe to say he is in a league of his own. I don't blame Santi one bit for wanting absolutely nothing to do with the guy. He's just totally creepy, to begin with, and probably has no shame - as evidenced by his 1985 camp-fest Santo Gold's Blood Circus. The movie can be easily described as a science-fiction wrestling-themed flick, so I will afford it no further detail other than that.
Santi issued this press release in regards to her name change:
"Change the graffiti on the bathroom wall, get your tattoo fixed, get
your t-shirt airbrushed and change the name on your year end list -- Santogold is now Santigold. She's not telling you why, that's just how
it is. No unpronounceable symbol, no numbers where they shouldn't be,
no random capitalization, just plain ass Santigold so remember that."
I think it's lovely that she still maintains her cockiness even though she is having to give up the name that made her famous (granted it is only a one-letter change, but all of her success is has been achieved as Santogold). It's a shame, too -- I will have to now refer to her as Santigold whenever I feel like reminiscing about her fantastic set at last year's Coachella.
At any rate, the future looks bright for Santigold, and I am excited to see what fun she will have with her new name. Read the article at The Guardian here. Brush up on your Santo Gold and all of his shenanigans, including clips from Blood Circus here.
