Audio

Monster Ball by Screaming Lord Sutch

TRACK #338:

Monster Ball by Screaming Lord Sutch

It’s probably some sort of Halloween Playlist infraction that after 10 years and almost 300 more songs, we’re just now finally talking about Screaming Lord Sutch again. I mean, he appeared early, and rightfully so, but the guy should probably be an All-Star by by now, and that’s my fault. I guess that since he was already represented, I never felt urgency to get back to him.

But right inside this throwback Monster Song block is a perfect place to revisit David Sutch, because his 1976 single, Monster Ball, is the perfect song for such an occasion.

It’s starts as many Monster Party songs do, but The 3rd Earl of Harrow puts his own distinct spin on the tried and true formula by having the monsters join together and attack the band. A bold move.

Now, a curious thing happens in this first verse. Frankenstein, cheekily, is described as being a “dapper vamp” who’s all dressed up. He then flashes his teeth and bites a chick on the neck. This seems odd. Some time later, Dracula is seen to “blow a fuse.” This is a playful juxtaposition from the Lord that I imagine is intentional, but who knows. Maybe he thinks Frankenstein is a vampire and Dracula is some kind of monster or robot.

After all that, Godzilla shows up and fights “the thing from 20,000,” which I assume is the Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. This seems like a fair enough match but ultimately “Zilly” comes out on top. A shame really. In that Bradbury’s Beast is the forerunner to Godzilla (and every other giant nuclear beast of the 50’s and 60’s) it would have been nice to see him win the day, just on the grounds of him being the OG.

Now, perhaps it’s just me (or maybe you’ll agree) but I think this song sounds strangely similar to another 1976 song about balls, AC/DC’s Big Balls. Dunno if there’s any real correlation, or which one came first, or if there’s even any musical evidence to back up that claim, but I just feel it.

Either way, it’s a 70’s take on an age old Novelty tradition done as only Screaming Lord can do.

 

Audio

Monster Movies

TRACK #336:

Monster Movies by Clif and Marty

Speaking of Jack and Jim, here’s another duo knockin’ out some more old time Monster Roll for ya.

Clifton Nivison and Martin Fulterman (the Clif and Marty here, respectively) were both former members of The New York Rock and Roll Ensemble. As it happens, they’re also former members of Former Members of The New York Rock Ensemble, but that’s a separate and confusing matter involving Opal Records selling a bunch of their music without Clif or Marty’s knowledge.

The Rock Ensemble were a group of Juilliard music students who decided to bust out some Rock ‘N Roll using conventional orchestral instruments. A novel concept at the time, to be sure.

After releasing 5 albums over the course of 6 years, The Rock Ensemble parted ways. Seems Clif and Marty were disillusioned with the Ensemble’s lack of commercial success, and signed with Specter Records/Opal Productions in order to make some career headway.

At Opal, Clif and Marty acted as a kind of utility duo, recording demos, writing music for other acts and releasing tunes under various pseudonyms.

And their single, Monster Movies, appears to have been just that kind of assignment.

Now, why Opal Records would assign these 2 guys some novelty Monster song in 1972 is anyone’s guess. What was the temperature on Monster Songs in ‘72? Hell, I couldn’t tell ya, cause the only other Track on Halloween Shindig from 1972 is Edgar Winter’s Frankenstein, and that’s definitely not a novelty monster song. In fact, ‘66 through ‘73 is a pretty barren wasteland for that kinda stuff, at least as far as this playlist is concerned anyway.

Now, that’s not to say the public wasn’t hungry for Monster Songs in ‘72, it just means there aren’t any that I’ve found or found and enjoyed enough to add to a 300+ rooster of songs which pretty much meet that exact specification. Just saying.

Regardless of how the 45-buying folks of 1972 felt, this is a fun and referential jam which goes so far as to specifically declare its love, not just for Godzilla, but directly to him, as though he might be out there somewhere in the South Pacific listening. Now, I gotta give that kinda thing just a little bit of love myself.

Outside of The Ensemble, and this particular single, I can’t suss out much about our boy Clifton, but Martin Fulterman is a bit of a different story.

See, Martin apparently changed his name to Mark Snow and went on to compose music for an almost absurd amount of Films, TV movies and shows. The most notable of his creations, no doubt, has got to be the famous X-Files Theme.  For real? Ole Monster Movie Marty? Pretty snazzy lineage attached to a 40 year old novelty song.

Other Mark Snow projects of note (to me anyway) include Ernest Saves Christmas, Dolly Dearest, Project ALF, Skateboard, TJ Hooker and even Pee-Wee’s Playhouse. And let me tell you, that’s cutting the list real short.

Mark Snow has composed, written songs for or worked on the music department of more shit than you’d believe. Over 350 different credits, including some ridiculous sounding TV movie called Ghosts Can’t Do It, which sounds like some PG-rated Lifetime version of Hellraiser that somehow features our 45th President himself, Mr. Donald Trump.

I’ll just leave you with that as we drop the needle on Clif and Marty’s lone 45, Monster Movies.

We love you Godzilla!

 

Audio

Monster Movie Nightmare Blues

TRACK #335:

Monster Movie Nightmare Blues by Roaring Jelly

For our next monstrous installment, we’re heading back overseas and back to the mid ‘70’s once again, for a little Roaring Jelly.

Now, if you’re unfamiliar with the UK comedy folk trio Roaring Jelly, don’t feel bad, cause you’re definitely not the only one, and that includes the guy writing this thing. On this side of the pound, on this side of the century, I’m sure Roaring Jelly’s name recognition is at an all time low.

But there was a time in the mid ‘70’s when Roaring Jelly was a bit of a sensation on the UK folk scene.

It’s a dance, by the way, the Roaring Jelly. Upon accepting their first paid gig, the band were asked what their name was, and co-founder Derek Pearce just fired that one off from the top of his head. There’s a certain irreverence to this that kinda encapsulates the band’s whole deal.

See, they didn’t bother playing folk standards in a boring folky way. They mixed it up. They pulled from various genres for their sound and even did comedic send-ups of revered folk classics. Now, that didn’t sit too well for many of those stoic folks on that stoic folk scene and some places outright refused to book them.

But Roaring Jelly could draw a crowd with their lively performances and they left those stuffy folk folks to get stuffed.

And because you know we wouldn’t be talking about em unless they did, Roaring Jelly included a little monster ditty on their debut album, Golden Grates.

Not unlike some other songs we’ve heard (and are still liable to hear this year) Monster Movie Nightmare Blues details the tribulations of a poor sap who happened to watch a few too many Monster Movies before hitting’ the hay.

It’s a little bit silly, there’s no doubt about that, but it’s no less silly than a hundred other novelty songs about monsters. But this one’s a rarity. I couldn’t find it anywhere around online. It was definitely a “commit and see.” And my shock, when I finally did drop a copy on my turntable. How was this fun monster jam not more widely known? It deserves to be heard by all monster music lovers the world over!

So, now it has a home on The Shindig, where it belongs, so perhaps it might narrowly escape the jaws of oblivion, if only for you – a small and select few.

 

Audio

The Night of the Monster’s Party

TRACK #333:

The Night of the Monster’s Party by The Monsters

My quest to find more and more Monstery Halloween songs for this playlist has gotten to point where I have to dig a little deeper than usual.

Anymore nowadays, the songs I’m coming across aren’t always readily available. This has lead to me hunting down and purchasing some rarer records without the benefit of hearing them first.

This has been pretty fun though. In an age where virtually any song you can imagine is easily accessible somewhere virtually, it’s added a bit of excitement back into discovering music. Waiting for a video to pop up randomly, or for someone to post a record for sale, or simply waiting for that record to arrive feels akin to something from a bygone era.

Now, that can also be frustrating too, because if a song isn’t streaming on music services, and no one has posted it on YouTube, there’s a good chance it’s also not available for sale either. So now I just got a pile of potential additions and Lord knows if I’ll ever be able to hear ‘em.

But there’s also been plenty of occasions where, despite not being digitized somewhere (or somewhere easily searchable) a physical copy is still available to purchase. As you might imagine though, this has lead to some disappointments. Such is the gamble. It’s much easier when someone has already posted whatever song it is I’m looking for to YouTube so I can easily disregard it or snatch it up at no personal time or monetary expense.

But that’s the fun.

And when it pays off, it’s definitely worth it.

And then, you write all of that, and during a cursory bit of information gathering while finalizing the post, you type the name of that song into a Google search and find out that not only was the song posted to YouTube 8 fucking years ago, but it was posted by the song’s goddamn author and singer.

Such is the case with our 2023 opener, The Night of the Monster’s Party from The Monsters.

What the fuck, YouTube? Not one time did your internal search pull this video. Not once! And across many pages. Trust me, I kept clicking.

But a simple Google search (so simple in fact I can’t believe I hadn’t done it until that moment) pulls that shit up as the first goddamn hit!? You’re owned by goddamn Google, you piece of shit.

So, rather than the line,

“It still seems wild to me that I had to purchase this 45 to be able to hear this tune.“

which I had written,

I now need to type something stupid like;

“It’s wild to me that I went through the entire process of finding this 45 for sale, purchasing it, waiting for it to arrive in the mail and throwing it on my turntable to hear this song, when all I had to do was a fuckin’ Google search.”

Seriously? I have to write that shit? On a blog that gets broadcast to anyone across the planet with an internet connection? Jesus.

Now, I suppose I could have just erased that shit, and went about my business, but where’s the fun in that? All of what I said above is still true for a bunch of other songs we’ve got lined up this year, and I believe it. Plus, it is kinda funny to read it back in retrospect, realizing what a moron I was.

But I severely digress.

In my defense (but just barely) Bill forgot his own song’s party was possessive, which apparently threw the YouTube search engine into some fuckin’ algorithmic tail spin that returned nothing but My Little Pony videos instead of the 70’s monster song that all of my viewing history should’ve alerted YouTube that I was actually looking for. That, and no one had yet linked Bill’s video on Discogs. No excuse, ultimately, but I’ve since corrected that little error too. Twice over now.

Interestingly, Bill provides this bit of insight on the video’s description:

“I recorded this in 1973 and released it on Dart Records. We recorded at Chappells studio and called ourselves The Monsters. I think we released it just prior to Halloween. We did the rounds on Capital Radio etc and I have photographs of me with fangs and a facefull of black and white makeup. Those were the days!!!! We had quite a few sales but not enough to get in the charts I am afraid!”

That’s some solid firsthand info right there. He even tossed in a shout out to Halloween. Double bonus. Let’s go for the hat trick!

The upshot of actually purchasing this 45 was that the seller included an awesome promotional sheet. Check this shit out!

Now that’s what I call a win.

Not sure if I’d call this a “disco beat” though. But hey, Dart’s gotta sell this shit to, I dunno, whoever the hell’s in the market for Monster music in 1974. Disco freaks? Beats me. Was anyone even into Disco in ‘74? Was Disco even Disco in ‘74? Cause this shit don’t sound like Disco to me, so maybe Disco was different then.

Either way, that’s of no concern to us really, cause this song’s great however you classify it.

But we should address the cause of this whole YouTube search fiasco to begin with; that apostrophe S.

Cause this is the night of the Monster’s Party, as we previously discussed. It’s possessive. Now, Bill forgot that part, leading to our search debacle, but even Dart Records here seem to be confused. The 45 says Monster’s, and this promotional sheet says both Monsters and Monster’s. Ok then.

I’m going with that Monsters shit is a typo, and it’s Monster’s. It’s their party.

But wait. These guys singing are The Monsters. So that’s a extra layer of confusion. Is it their party?

Now, they’re not these Monsters, who are also Monsters from this exact same time period, not to add further confusion or anything. These LARPers in the graveyard here aren’t from Britain. But well get to them, and their own “Disco” monster jam in just bit.

Back to this party.

Now, in the event you’re thinking thus might be some kinda backstage, monster groupie, sex drugs and disco-get-together, fear not. The lyrics set the record straight pretty quick.

In an old castle, Dracula, Frankenstein and the Werewolf are dancing to a song. Not this song of course, cause that wouldn’t make much sense and I’m pretty sure Monsters don’t actually listen to this kinda shit. But they’re dancing to a tune. 74? I’m gonna say it was Dark Lady by Cher. Why not?

But then the Mummy shows up later and gets scared by some other bloodsucking vampire, I guess. Even Dracula’s Daughter joins at one point! She might be the scary vampire. Unclear. But what is clear is that these are the real titular Monsters, and thus the party is their’s.

They say it’s happened all before, which is weird. Perhaps these guys do this a lot. Or maybe they’re just referring to The Monsters Hop (not possessive), or possibly even the Midnight Monsters Hop (also not possessive), or the dozens of other “Hey, let’s have Dracula dance around with Frankenstein while Wolfman plays the bass or some shit” songs, cause why not, right? If they got together, monsters would grab instruments and dance and party and eat plasma pizza, would they not?

The most curious lyric though is the warning, for us the listeners, to lock our doors. Why? These monsters all seem pretty occupied dancing around in this old castle. The one chick’s hungry from some monster pie, what the fuck that is. She tryin to eat one of these dudes? She just tryin to get balled out at this party? What’s her deal?

There’s no indication that they’re heading out afterwards to tear up the countryside. Maybe do a little fuckin, but that’s upstairs. Chances are, if these dudes weren’t singing to us about this soirée, we wouldn’t even know it was happening at all.

I’ll lock my doors all right, don’t worry about that pal. But not because some literary characters are dancing with a creature I’ve never seen before in an old castle I don’t live anywhere near. Pretty sure I’m good, bud. I appreciate the warning and all, but I’m not too concerned about this party spilling out onto the streets of Los Angeles. The pantsless meth-head posted up in a tent on the corner, shouting into a pay phone that hasn’t worked since 2005 is all the motivation I need to keep those fuckers fully bolted.

Unnecessary warnings aside, kicking off our Referential Monster of a year in perfect monster party fashion, with a little help from the Mysterioso Pizzicato no less, it’s The Monsters with The Night of the Monster’s Party.

 

 

Audio

Halloween (Bill Ervin)

TRACK #330:

Halloween by Bill Ervin

So, we’ve reached a true 10-slot on this “Halloweens-til-Halloween” run, but what’s a Halloween playlist to do? We’ve just spent the last 11 days burning out potential 10-slot candidates (and some good ones too) on this ill-advised-if-I-wanna-keep-having-actual-Halloween-songs-to-write about Halloween celebration. So, what do you do, I ask?

Well, you drop the best damn Halloween song you’ve dug up all year, that’s what you do.

And that’s what we did. And this is a true new-find for 2022. This didn’t have to wait in the bullpen for even a season.

And after this many years, and this many songs, the fact that there’s still Halloween songs out there to find – and true Halloween Songs at that – and even true Halloween Songs that are this fun –  is pretty crazy.

Though I will admit, after this year’s exhaustive digging, I’m pretty sure that’s coming to an end. With the exception of 2 very specific hold-outs I have yet to be able to hear, if there’s a Halloween song out there that isn’t already on this playlist, it’s probably in the bullpen at this point, or has been permanently benched.

And I know what you’re thinking, there’s no chance this is a good song. Ole Chef’s Salad up there ain’t instilling a whole lot of confidence in ya. I get it. Cause what the fuck is that, right? Fuckin’ Chef’s Salad? That’s about as Halloweeny as an Easter basket.

I mean, I guess the orange and green is sort of Halloweeny. That 70’s aesthetic might maybe lead one to believe something halfway listenable is laying in wait. But if you don’t like music that’s almost 50 years old, then even that line of thinking is a bust.

But trust me, this one’s a winner. It’s not one of those not really about Halloween Halloween songs either. This is a true blue Halloween jam. And it’s not one of those short and mildly irritating, sung by a weird lady or balding dude for some record that teachers were supposed to play in their classrooms in 1972 songs either. Though in fairness, I usually avoid them, but there’s a few of those that are pretty good, too. Even some classics, and there’s definitely a few waiting for their number to be called.

No, this is a real song, sung by – ok, just some guy no one really heard from otherwise, but still a dude with access to potential mainstream success. It’s a song.

The Chef’s Salad things a bit weird, I’ll give ya that. This appears to have been a compilation album released by producer Wayne Wadhams in an attempt to capture and then market the thriving music scene in Boston and New England during the mid-70’s. Since most of the acts don’t seem to have made any waves following it’s release, I’m not sure Wayne was all that successful to that end.

What he did successfully manage to do however, for some odd reason, was capture one hell of a Halloween song. Now, why Bill Ervin would compose this tune, or why even Wayne thought it was a shinning example of the city’s music scene at the time, is anyone’s guess. I mean, I’m glad they did don’t get me wrong, but it seems like an odd choice for a music sampler LP.

Interesting side note here on this song in regards to it’s placement with Pete Antell’s It’s Halloween.

You may notice it begins the exact same way Pete and Ray’s song began. You may even notice that a lot of songs around here feature this little lick. Even Heavy Metal Halloweener’s Iron Cross used it, much to Mikey’s chagrin. And beyond that, you know this little ditty. You’ve heard it a million times in various places, but what the hell is it?

Well, it’s a tune called Mysterioso Pizzicato, which is sometimes referred to as The Villain’s Theme.

It was a piece of generic sheet music found in The Remick Folio of Moving Picture Music which was published in 1914. This book was used by piano accompanists playing live music during the silent film era. It was meant to indicate the presence of a bad guy, a villain if you will, or some other such sneaky or unscrupulous bastard. And boy, did it.

At almost 120 years old, you still recognize this, that’s how ubiquitous it became over time. Even to the point of cliche, hence Mikey’s chagrin over Iron Cross.

Maybe you’re familiar with this one. Maybe it’s been a long-standing Holiday must for some of ya’ll out there. But I’ve been digging around for just this kind of thing for years, and for whatever reason, it took me this long to find this one. But I’m sure glad I finally did, cause it immediately stood out to me as a tune I couldn’t believe I hadn’t even heard before, much less didn’t have on The Shindig.

So here it is, love it or leave it (either way, we’re definitely keeping it) it’s Halloween by Bill Ervin.

 

Audio

Monster Christmas Mash (1974)

So, here’s a slice of bizarro-70’s-monster-weirdness I wish I knew existed back in 2018 when we did our Christmas episode of Shindig Radio. It’s the exact sort of thing I was trying to include.

Thankfully, it’s here now,  so let’s talk about it.

Back in 1974, it would appear as though someone just casually listening to Boris Pickett’s Monster’s Holiday and thought it would be a great idea for an entire novelty concept album.

And they were right, cause this thing is awesome.

Now, it’s not exactly the same as Monster’s Holiday because the monsters don’t rob Santa, as they plan to do in Boris’ song. What’s happening here is that Frankenstein’s Monster is sick and dying. Ok, off to a weird start. But then, just going right along with the weirdness, he laments that he’s never been invited to a Christmas party.  So, as some kinda Make-A-Wish Foundation move, the Association of Monsters decide to throw him a Christmas Party.

It’s a bizarre concept, no doubt, but it features a couple of fun new monsters tunes, a few classic Christmas carol renditions and some fantastic voice acting.

So, if you’re feeling like your Christmas is lacking a little Monster action, fire this thing up, because it’s one monstrously jolly listen.

 

Audio

Dr. Frankenstein’s Disco Party

TRACK #296:

Dr. Frankensteins Disco Party by Johnny Wakelin

Dashiki enthusiast and suspected racial appropriator Johnny Wakelin sang a lot of songs about boxers. Not the dogs mind you, but dudes who put on gloves and punch the shit out of each other.

Over a roughly 30 year span, Johnny released 12 different songs about boxers. Of course Muhammad Ali, Lennox Lewis, Frank Bruno and Mike Tyson each got 2 a piece, but that’s still no mean feat.

It all seemed to start in 1972, when he wrote a song called Hungarian Superman about Hungarian boxer Joe Bugner.

Apparently no one cared though.

Then Joe Bugner lost to both Muhammad Ali and Ghost Fever star Joe Frazier. 12 rounders to be sure, and by decisions, but still L’s none the less.

So, Johnny figured he’d just rework Joe’s tune to be about Muhammad Ali and call it Black Superman instead. Keen.

This time people seemed to care. Well, at least a little. The song hit number 7 in the UK. It only reached number 21 here in the states, but it stayed in the top 100 for 6 months! Not too shabby for a weird ass tune from some British guy about an American boxer.

Figuring if it ain’t broke it ain’t broke, Johnny whipped up In Zaire, a song about Ali’s famous 1974 bout dubbed “The Rumble in the Jungle” against George Foreman. That one didn’t do as well, but still had some legs.

After a few underperforming singles including Africa Man, Cream Puff and Afro Afrique, he attempt to rebottle the lightning with 1986’s Bruno, about boxer Frank Bruno.

That didn’t do so hot either.

Later down the line Johnny thought, fuck it, I’ll write songs about all kinds of boxers including Sugar Ray Leonard, Prince Nassem Hamed and even my own hometown hero Rocky Marciano.

Now, you may be thinking “Gee, that’s real swell, pal, but what the fuck does that have to do with Halloween, you blithering jackass.”

A fair question.

Well, it seems that in the middle of all this pugilist pop, and for seemingly no good reason at all, ole Johnny decided to jump on the disco train and bring some of that spooky monster party shit with him. What?

So, he grabbed up an instrumental disco tune from Harold Faltermeyer – yep Top Gun, Fletch Theme, Axel F Harold Faltermeyer – and slapped some silly Monster Mash-fashioned lyrics over the whole thing.

The result was Dr. Frankenstein’s Disco Party, a bonafide Monster Disco jammer that’s as grooving as it is bizarre.

Seriously, this song rules. And it hits all the notes you want for a monster party disco hit. You got Dracula, Mummies, Zombies, fuckin Bigfoot and even a nod to Frankenstein’s Monster himself. Hell, all the invitations to this Shindig are delivered by bat for fuck’s sake. It’s incredible! Johnny should have ditched the boxing motif and stuck with the monster parties, you ask us.

So let’s say gold riddance to this disco block with a little underground groove about a bunch of bloodaholics.

 

Audio

Dracula Disco

TRACK #295:

Dracula Disco by Gerry Bribosia

Unfortunately for everyone listening, that’s not where the “Disco Dracula” ends.

Cause every once and a while The Shindig stumbles across a song that’s definitely not good, but not totally unlistenable, that practically insists upon itself to make the playlist.

Dracula Disco is just such a song.

Because where else do you put this? Where else does this thing get the nod? When else does this song get its day?

But maybe it shouldn’t get its day, because that place doesn’t exist. Maybe it should just get buried in a hole somewhere where you put uninspired, and dubious cash-in trash like this.

Well, unfortunately for that hole, such a place does exist. And that place is Halloween Shindig. And that day is today.

But holy shit. This is the kind of thing that give disco a bad name.

Say what you want about something like Soul Dracula, or Disco Blood, but those songs cut rugs. This shit…this Dracula Disco shit…this is bland, repetitive, cash grabby garbage. Hell, it barely qualifies as music. You can’t dance to this shit! Isn’t that the soul purpose of disco, to at least get your feet moving? What is this song’s purpose? Who is this song for? It’s definitely for us, right now, in hindsight. But I mean in its day, to whom was this appealing to? To whom was this being sold, I ask!

Not gonna lie though, this guy does a pretty good Dracula, but the song isn’t asking much of him in the way of singing. Also, his party is poorly attended and whack as fuck. What’s he got? 2 guests and some lights? A little music? Well, if it’s shit like Dracula Disco, count me out, Conde.

Where’s the cavalcade of monsterous party goers? Where’s the plasma pizza or the blood ballon race? This party doesn’t even have a spooky DJ. This party is lazy and so is this song.

Unfortunately, lazy though it might be, it’s exactly the kind of thing that needs to be on this playlist. Because, where else do you put a thing like Dracula Disco, if not in a trash can?

Also, that LP cover is pretty fantastic. Dude has a coffin guitar, so what the hell. 

 

Audio

Rock Me Dracula

TRACK #294:

Rock Me Dracula by Mokka

Speaking of bizarre skin-flicks disguised as Disco Dracula films, let’s talk about Dracula Blows His Cool, a German sex comedy with a surprisingly interesting  soundtrack.

When smut photographer and “Dracula” descendant Stan decides just shooting nudie pictures in his old family castle isn’t quite enough to keep it from being repossessed, he does what any self respecting Bavarian in 1979 would do. He opens a disco!

What ensues is a bevy of silly sex gags, tons of mistaken identity hi-jinx and some funny English dubbing. While certainly not even approaching good, there’s less amusing ways you could spend an hour and 20 minutes, if you like this sort of 70’s sex trash. I mean, check this out:

It’s at least worth a viewing.

Additionally, the film is filled with tons of fun (read: appropriately ludicrous if you have a horror-themed music blog) songs.

Most notable of course, and submitted for your approval this evening, is the 1979 hit Rock Me Dracula, performed by Mokka.

Mokka is an iteration from the brief musical career of Italian twins Nadia and Antonella Cocconcelli. Nadia and Antonella even appear in the film performing the tune. Or at least they appear dancing around with garden hoses and lip syncing to it poorly, anyway. But hey, we’ll take it!

Though played several times throughout the film, it is not included on the official Gerhard Heinz soundtrack for Dracula Blows His Cool, which has several potential Shindig inclusions like Graf Dracula and Disco Strip. Both of those songs are pretty great and may find their way into the playlist in their own right.

For now though, we’ll only indulge in the perfectly appropriate and extra referential Rock Me Dracula, from Mokka.

 

Audio

Fly By Night

TRACK #293:

Fly by Night by Pat Hodges

Shindig Radio personality Graham C. Schofield doesn’t much care for disco music. And as you know, we’re currently knee deep in a Monster Disco Block.

So it may shock you to hear he’s actually responsible for our next tune, another vampire related rug cutter from the 70’s monster comedy, Love At First Bite, starring George Hamilton.

See, last Halloween, Graham bestowed upon The Hole this fresh piece of vinyl soundtrack goodness, and there was much rejoicing.

And if he didn’t think one of these fuckers was gonna find its way onto the playlist this year, he’s out of his mind.

Now, perhaps he did. Perhaps he was even ok with the idea. But what he probably didn’t know was that I already had a few disco-diggers waiting in the dugout, and that this specific gift was the catalyst for me diggin’ up a couple more and making a whole block out of the affair.

So, if you need a scapegoat for any ire you’re experiencing at the hands of a solid week filled with goofball monster disco bullshit, he’s your guy. I’m sure he sympathizes. 

As for Love At First Bite, give it a go. It’s a surprisingly measured and effective vampire comedy with a fine and funny Dracula performance from George Hamilton.

It is alleged to have ripped off the plot of 1971’s Guess What Happened to Count Dracula? almost to the T, but as of the time of writing, I have not seen that film and can make no assessment.

What I can say is that it was one of 5 Dracula movies released in 1979. You have, of course, John Badham’s classic starring Frank Langella, Donald Pleaseance and Sir Laurence Oliver. Not to be outdone, you got Werner Herzog’s chilling Nosferatu, starring the unearthly Klaus Kinski. And then, no doubt attempting to a capitalize on the success of Love at First Bite, is Germany’s Disco Dracula film Dracula Blows His Cool, but more on that one in a bit.

Because we can’t talk about Disco Draculas without talking about the other Dracula film from 1979.

Nocturna: Granddaughter of Dracula, is perhaps the Disco Dracula movie, drenched as it is, almost front to back, in so much Disco it actually gets a little hard to watch. It’s practically an hour and 20 minute Disco music video.

It even features the tune Love Is Just a Heartbeat Away (Nocturna’s Theme) from I Will Survive Disco Superstar, Gloria Gaynor. How they managed to pull her for this weird-ass, low budget monster picture is probably a miracle. She was apparently talked into providing the track by her then manager and future husband. Apparently she’s not too proud of that song in the slightest. We’ll spare you that tune, inclusive and semi-referential though it be, as it’s a fairly standard (albeit pretty decent) Disco tune, with no fun Draculaness.

When it’s not indulging in overly long bouts of dancing to repetitive beats and string synthesizers, Nocturna’s a totally bizarre quasi-skin flick with some weird vampire lore.

See, for Dracula’s granddaughter (played by belly dancer and screenwriter Nia Bonet), the power of disco music slowly changes her into a human or some such nonsense. 

It even features a scene with a governing vampire assembly and a new, designer form of blood that the vampires can snort. It was 1979, after all.

Also on tap is actual Dracula John Caradine (even wearing his costume from 1945’s House of Dracula) and Lily Munster herself, Ms. Yvonne DeCarlo. Bonus!

If you’re into bizarre shit and love the idea Disco Draculas, definitely give it a watch. It’s worth it for Nia Bonet’s positively otherworldly performance. Plus, you get to see shit like this:

Outstanding.

But enough about Nocturna, we’re here for Fly By Night from soul singer Pat Hodges, dammit!

Now, out of the box, this fucker is a 12 and a half minute song. Talk about goin’ hard. That’s indulgent, even for Disco.

So, we’ve enlisted the help of our Shindig Audio Magicians to make this one a bit more manageable, with a totally unique Shindig Special Edition version. Not gonna lie though, it hurt a little. Despite the length of Fly By Night, I’m all about how long and epic its Disco is. It pained me to snip out resonant filter sweeps or Simmons drum hits, but it had to be done.

If we’re not gonna use the full length, 12 minute version of Helloween’s Halloween, you better believe Fly By Night ain’t getting no special dispensation.

Without any further ado, though somewhat truncated, here’s Pat Hodges singing Fly By Night!