Halloween music: A Modest Offering
Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 3:15 pm
Okay, a while back I got really fed up with those bargin basement halloween song collections you always wind up buying and made my OWN. This one fits on a 90 minute cassette, orginally, but I'm sure you I pod and MP3 kids won't have trouble duping the toons..here goes..
SIDE ONE (hey everybody...remember SIDES??)
'MONSTER MASH' BOBBY 'BORIS' PICKETT AND THE CRYPT KICKERS. #1 for 8 weeks, 1961. Still the all time fave. Performed by Boris Karloff himself on American Bandstand.
'MIDNIGHT MONSTER HOP' JACK AND JIM. Sounds like Chad and Jeremy or Boyce and Hart ("I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight") caught in the cemetary.
'X FILES THEME' MARK SNOW One of the reasons for doing this was to celebrate the names of people who did these great themes. Now you know.
'ROCKEN' IN THE GRAVEYARD' JACKEE MORNINGSTAR. The guy sounds a LOT like Gene Vincent and even has Vincents' backup band, 'The Blue Caps' sound down..and he still can't get any peace and quiet..even in the graveyard..
'I PUT A SPELL ON YOU' SCREAMEN JAY HAWKINS. From 1956. One of the first, and most berserk personalities in rock. Carried on stage in a coffin. Used to perform with a flaming skull named Henry. Got the group totally wastoid before doing this. Song editied WAY down just to get it on air. Find the web site dedicated to tracking down and listing all his offspring. The descriptions from the women are amazing.
'ALFRED HTCHCOCK PRESENTS THEME' STAN WILSON.
'MONSTER HOP' JIMMY DEE. As if Eddie Cochran is stuck in a graveyard and STILL can't find a date. (They have his guitar sound perfected....)
'GRAVEYARD' THE PHANTOM FIVE. Surf Halloween? American International never did a good combo platter of both their monster and surf movies, but you can almost see what it would have looked like listening to this.
'SUPERSTITION' STEVIE WONDER
'I'M THE WOLFMAN' ROUND ROBIN. Okay, who IS this??? It SOUNDS like Dr. John with Mickey Baker (the guitarist from 'LOVE IS STRANGE') behind him. And both sound like they should have laid off the home brew..
'GHOSTBUSTERS THEME' RAY PARKER JR. #1, 1984. At the time, the president of Coca-Cola, who owned Columbia Pictures, worried Ghostbusters would bomb, and drag down his next great idea..a thing he called New Coke. Really.
'YOU CAN GET HIM, FRANKENSTEIN' THE CASTLE KINGS. Another reason to make this in the first place! Absolute, friggen' genius! A total sound-a-like to Danny and Juniors 'Rock and Roll is Here to Stay", but with Halloween lyrics..where Frankenstein winds up with the girl on Bandstand! Best line:"Better call Transylvania 999, and dig my good friend Frankenstein."
'DEVIL WITH THE BLUE DRESS ON'. MITHC RYDER AND THE DETROIT WHEELS. A cheat, not really a Halloween song, but makes more sense then putting on "Wild Thing" by The Troggs which made one Halloween CD I have...
'I WAS A TEENAGE MONSTER' THE KEYTONES. Stick around for 'the beautiufl teenage angel'. Gramma will remember a guy called Lou Christie when she hears it.
'BEWTICHED THEME' WARREN BAKER
'FRANKENSTEIN ROCK' EDDIE THOMAS. Somewhere between Allen Sherman and Stan Freberg..is this frustrated horn dog who can only hug his girl when he takes her to the horror flick. Has a guitar right out of those Flintstones cartoons when they wanted the music to sound what they thought rock and roll was.
'BEETLEJUICE THEME' DANNY ELFMAN. Some people have made whole tapes of just his stuff from Tim Burton movies for Halloween..not a bad idea either..
SIDE TWO
'PURPLE PEOPLE EATER' SHEB WOOLEY. Sold 3 million coplies in 1958. (More then some Elvis singles.) Sheb was a real cowboy and even recorded for the sainted Sun record label.
'MONSTER HOP' BERT CONVEY. Wound up a game show host and Burt Reynolds' pal, but started out with some singles that had a decent back beat. The audio equivalent of sticking a flashlight under his chin and saying:"Boo!"
'TWILIGHT ZONE THEME' MARIUS CONSTANT
'CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON' DAVE EDMUNDS. Even stars as big as goonie can't seem to hold a date. ("Didn't last 5 minutes in the swim")
'MARTIAN HOP' THE RANDALLS. #16, 1963. In which the entire future career of Klaatu' ("Calling Occupants", remember??) is crammed into about 7 seconds then stomped to death under a beat almost as good as 'Surfer Bird'.
'ANESTHESIA' NATION ROCKEN' SHADOWS. Mad scientist Halloween surf.
'ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES THEME' LEWIS LEE. "I'm sure gonna miss her/ A tomato just ate my sister."
'MADHOUSE JUMP' THE DAYLIGHTERS. Lost doo wop group struggling to be remembered at ALL. No lp, let alone CD is around. The first single, 1958, on the Bea label is all that's left.
'SOUL MAN' SAM & DAVE. Get it?? Drews' Famous Halloween Tape gave me the idea, another reason to do this..but WHY would he include "Hot Hot Hot"?
'NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS THEME (THIS IS HALLOWEEN)' DANNY ELFMAN.
'FRANKENSTEIN'S DEN' THE HOLLYWOOD FLAMES. Another long gone doo wop group, but they actually have a CD around. Never had a hit, but individual members did after they broke up.
'ADDAM'S FAMILY THEME' VIC MIZZY
'JEKYLL AND HYDE' JIM BURGETT. As if Rick Nelson got fed up being a professional nice guy.
'OUTER LIMITS THEME' HARRY LUBIN.
'SPOOKY' CLASSICS IV.
'OUT OF LIMITS' THE MARKETS. Absolute best rip off of the riff from 'Psycho' EVER. Surf Hitchcock Halloween? You heard it briefly in PULP FICITON.
'THE BLOB THEME' THE FIVE BLOBS. Studio guys doing an early Burt Bacharach hit he SOMEHOW never gets around to performing anymore. #10, L.A. #40 national, 1958. Cocktail Halloween??
'BAD MOON RISING' CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL. Another song inspired by those Drews' Famous Tapes. Good idea, but why would he ALSO include 'Brick House', or 'My Sharona'? Really..I'm asking..Why? I don't GET it..
'HAUNTED HOUSE' JUMPEN' GENE SIMMONS. (Not the guy from KISS) #11, 1964. Not bad considering it was the year of the Beatles. For a while, Sid Nathan, the guy who owned King Records, would swap material between his country artists and his blues artists. The idea carried over to Hi Records, in Memphis. Is the guy country, blues, or what?
'EXORCIST THEME (TUBULAR BELLS)' MIKE OLDFIELD. #1, 1974. And after it scared the heck out of everyone, what happened? Sister Janet Mead released "The Lords' Prayer", and became the first gold record ever to come from Australia. Like Michael Keaton says:"...and it just keeps getting funnier and funnier!!"
SIDE ONE (hey everybody...remember SIDES??)
'MONSTER MASH' BOBBY 'BORIS' PICKETT AND THE CRYPT KICKERS. #1 for 8 weeks, 1961. Still the all time fave. Performed by Boris Karloff himself on American Bandstand.
'MIDNIGHT MONSTER HOP' JACK AND JIM. Sounds like Chad and Jeremy or Boyce and Hart ("I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight") caught in the cemetary.
'X FILES THEME' MARK SNOW One of the reasons for doing this was to celebrate the names of people who did these great themes. Now you know.
'ROCKEN' IN THE GRAVEYARD' JACKEE MORNINGSTAR. The guy sounds a LOT like Gene Vincent and even has Vincents' backup band, 'The Blue Caps' sound down..and he still can't get any peace and quiet..even in the graveyard..
'I PUT A SPELL ON YOU' SCREAMEN JAY HAWKINS. From 1956. One of the first, and most berserk personalities in rock. Carried on stage in a coffin. Used to perform with a flaming skull named Henry. Got the group totally wastoid before doing this. Song editied WAY down just to get it on air. Find the web site dedicated to tracking down and listing all his offspring. The descriptions from the women are amazing.
'ALFRED HTCHCOCK PRESENTS THEME' STAN WILSON.
'MONSTER HOP' JIMMY DEE. As if Eddie Cochran is stuck in a graveyard and STILL can't find a date. (They have his guitar sound perfected....)
'GRAVEYARD' THE PHANTOM FIVE. Surf Halloween? American International never did a good combo platter of both their monster and surf movies, but you can almost see what it would have looked like listening to this.
'SUPERSTITION' STEVIE WONDER
'I'M THE WOLFMAN' ROUND ROBIN. Okay, who IS this??? It SOUNDS like Dr. John with Mickey Baker (the guitarist from 'LOVE IS STRANGE') behind him. And both sound like they should have laid off the home brew..
'GHOSTBUSTERS THEME' RAY PARKER JR. #1, 1984. At the time, the president of Coca-Cola, who owned Columbia Pictures, worried Ghostbusters would bomb, and drag down his next great idea..a thing he called New Coke. Really.
'YOU CAN GET HIM, FRANKENSTEIN' THE CASTLE KINGS. Another reason to make this in the first place! Absolute, friggen' genius! A total sound-a-like to Danny and Juniors 'Rock and Roll is Here to Stay", but with Halloween lyrics..where Frankenstein winds up with the girl on Bandstand! Best line:"Better call Transylvania 999, and dig my good friend Frankenstein."
'DEVIL WITH THE BLUE DRESS ON'. MITHC RYDER AND THE DETROIT WHEELS. A cheat, not really a Halloween song, but makes more sense then putting on "Wild Thing" by The Troggs which made one Halloween CD I have...
'I WAS A TEENAGE MONSTER' THE KEYTONES. Stick around for 'the beautiufl teenage angel'. Gramma will remember a guy called Lou Christie when she hears it.
'BEWTICHED THEME' WARREN BAKER
'FRANKENSTEIN ROCK' EDDIE THOMAS. Somewhere between Allen Sherman and Stan Freberg..is this frustrated horn dog who can only hug his girl when he takes her to the horror flick. Has a guitar right out of those Flintstones cartoons when they wanted the music to sound what they thought rock and roll was.
'BEETLEJUICE THEME' DANNY ELFMAN. Some people have made whole tapes of just his stuff from Tim Burton movies for Halloween..not a bad idea either..
SIDE TWO
'PURPLE PEOPLE EATER' SHEB WOOLEY. Sold 3 million coplies in 1958. (More then some Elvis singles.) Sheb was a real cowboy and even recorded for the sainted Sun record label.
'MONSTER HOP' BERT CONVEY. Wound up a game show host and Burt Reynolds' pal, but started out with some singles that had a decent back beat. The audio equivalent of sticking a flashlight under his chin and saying:"Boo!"
'TWILIGHT ZONE THEME' MARIUS CONSTANT
'CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON' DAVE EDMUNDS. Even stars as big as goonie can't seem to hold a date. ("Didn't last 5 minutes in the swim")
'MARTIAN HOP' THE RANDALLS. #16, 1963. In which the entire future career of Klaatu' ("Calling Occupants", remember??) is crammed into about 7 seconds then stomped to death under a beat almost as good as 'Surfer Bird'.
'ANESTHESIA' NATION ROCKEN' SHADOWS. Mad scientist Halloween surf.
'ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES THEME' LEWIS LEE. "I'm sure gonna miss her/ A tomato just ate my sister."
'MADHOUSE JUMP' THE DAYLIGHTERS. Lost doo wop group struggling to be remembered at ALL. No lp, let alone CD is around. The first single, 1958, on the Bea label is all that's left.
'SOUL MAN' SAM & DAVE. Get it?? Drews' Famous Halloween Tape gave me the idea, another reason to do this..but WHY would he include "Hot Hot Hot"?
'NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS THEME (THIS IS HALLOWEEN)' DANNY ELFMAN.
'FRANKENSTEIN'S DEN' THE HOLLYWOOD FLAMES. Another long gone doo wop group, but they actually have a CD around. Never had a hit, but individual members did after they broke up.
'ADDAM'S FAMILY THEME' VIC MIZZY
'JEKYLL AND HYDE' JIM BURGETT. As if Rick Nelson got fed up being a professional nice guy.
'OUTER LIMITS THEME' HARRY LUBIN.
'SPOOKY' CLASSICS IV.
'OUT OF LIMITS' THE MARKETS. Absolute best rip off of the riff from 'Psycho' EVER. Surf Hitchcock Halloween? You heard it briefly in PULP FICITON.
'THE BLOB THEME' THE FIVE BLOBS. Studio guys doing an early Burt Bacharach hit he SOMEHOW never gets around to performing anymore. #10, L.A. #40 national, 1958. Cocktail Halloween??
'BAD MOON RISING' CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL. Another song inspired by those Drews' Famous Tapes. Good idea, but why would he ALSO include 'Brick House', or 'My Sharona'? Really..I'm asking..Why? I don't GET it..
'HAUNTED HOUSE' JUMPEN' GENE SIMMONS. (Not the guy from KISS) #11, 1964. Not bad considering it was the year of the Beatles. For a while, Sid Nathan, the guy who owned King Records, would swap material between his country artists and his blues artists. The idea carried over to Hi Records, in Memphis. Is the guy country, blues, or what?
'EXORCIST THEME (TUBULAR BELLS)' MIKE OLDFIELD. #1, 1974. And after it scared the heck out of everyone, what happened? Sister Janet Mead released "The Lords' Prayer", and became the first gold record ever to come from Australia. Like Michael Keaton says:"...and it just keeps getting funnier and funnier!!"
Being an ipod chick I shall download quite a few songs on your llist = ] Oh, you can also add pretty much the entire disturbed down with the sickness album, & Tim Burton's Classic Nightmare Before Christmas, mostly pertaining to "This is Halloween" cause its uber fantastic.