Welcome back Weeners, to the abundant musical bosom of Friday the 13th Part 6: Jason Lives.
When we last saw Court and Vicki, they were being assaulted to the smooth sounds of Alice Cooper‘s Teenage Frankenstein.
But we’re gonna jump back in time here a bit, to just before Court starts bombing down Forest Green Drive in Horrace’s RV. It is here, in that same RV, that couple takes part in a time-honored Friday The 13th tradition – banging at Crystal Lake.
Of course, this is never a good idea when Jason’s on the prowl, which he most certainly is if we’re allowed access, but that has never stopped any of these promiscuous youths before.
Here’s the big guy as he tries to make heads or tails of this RV’s a-rockin’.
Providing the beat for that rockin’ is none other than Graduation Day’s own Felony.
Times have changed a little in intervening years though and they sound just a bit different. A little less Doobie Brothers and a little more Kenny Loggins.
Court just has to make it through the song here, and he’s home free. Vicki tells him it’s only 10 more minutes, which wouldn’t be far off if this was Gangster Rock. Fortunately for Court (and us,) it’s I’m No Animal, and it’s only 3 and a half minutes.
And for Court, it’s even shorter, cause Jason pulls the plug on this ugly-bump inside of a minute. Good call.
Understandably, Vicki’s a little freaked out by this. So, Court hits the gas and gets them speeding away from any trouble. Only Jason’s already stowed himself away on the RV, and now he’s just biding his time.
And we all know how that ends for them.
But Court and Vicki don’t. So, let’s allow them one final, blissfully unaware moment of lust before their Friday fates are sealed. And let’s let Felony set the mood.
Overlay of Evil / Main Titles (Friday the 13th) by Harry Manferdini
Well, it’s been 8 years. 8 long years that have passed, rather quickly it sometimes seems, since I began the website form of Halloween Shindig. Yet, despite that speed, it somehow still feels almost like a lifetime ago.
In those 8 years I’ve included numerous horror themes on the playlist, maybe not as many as I should have and certainly not as many as I’d like, but there’s plenty to go around.
Additionally, I’ve added 7 different songs from various Friday the 13th films. However, somehow I have yet to include Harry Manferdini’s iconic theme from the 1980 original.
As any of you that happened to read yesterday’s entry may now be aware, Harry scored not only the original film, but every subsequent installment in the 10 film saga, with the lone exception of Jason Takes Manhattan. Still, no small feat.
But that’s not all, cause Harry scored All 4 House films, The Hills Have Eyes 2, The Children, Slaughter High, Swamp Thing and Iron Eagle III!
I know it’s taken too long to get you here Harry, but that is no reflection on your incredible contributions to not just Friday, but to the whole of horror. Halloween Shindig is honored to have you among its ranks.
Sail Away Tiny Sparrow by Harry Manferdini & Angela Rotella
Hey gang.
If you’re here reading this, I’ll assume you’re familiar with Jason Voorhees. Seems reasonable. I’ll also assume then that you’re at least familiar with the Friday the 13th film series, in some respect.
From there, I’ll make a lateral maneuver and assume that, since you are here, you may also be familiar with The Halloween Shindig podcast called Shindig Radio.
If you are, then you’re no doubt familiar with Shindig Radio personality and professional Monstersmith, Mikey Rotella.
Now, perhaps then, given you’ve listen to enough episodes (or maybe just the right episodes) and you also have a steel trap memory for weird personal trivia, you may know that Mikey comes from a very musical family.
First, you have his Grandfather, Julius Rotella Sr. He was a drummer and big band leader who had a family band way back. First with his brothers, then later with his own children, including his namesake, Jules Jr., tickling the ivories.
Providing lead vocals for that family band? Why, that was Mikey’s dad – the perpetually good-willed, world-renown spiritual singer, Marty Rotella. That’s right.
Johnny Rotella, on the ready with his fellow Woodwinders.
But wait, that’s not all! Cause you also get Johnny Rotella, an accomplished woodwind session player and the author of over 200 songs, including Nothing But the Best, which Frank Sinatra recorded in 1962.
The Chairman of the Board wasn’t the only one who put a little Johnny Rot on wax either. Dean Martin, Rosemary Clooney, Tony Bennett and Doris Day have all recorded songs written by the illustrious Johnny Rotella. Pretty incredible.
As a session player, Johnny himself can be heard on tracks from the likes of Benny Goodman, Neil Diamond, Tommy Dorsey, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Zappa, and Steely Dan! Snap. That’s a murderer’s row of musicians right there, all with Johnny Rotella right at their side.
But that’s still not all. Because there’s also Johnny’s son, Bill Rotella, who’s band, Urban Shocker, provided the full-throttled action extraction Long After Midnight for the 1989 film Action USA. You can check Bill’s new music right here. Man, does it stop with this family?
Nope, because there’s also Bill’s sister, Geraldine. Who, like her father, is an accomplished flutist. One of the best in the industry, Geraldine can be heard on countless film scores including The Omen, Peter Jackson’s King Kong and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
Mikey’s VG+ looking copy of Tranquil Sun’s …Thinking of You. Hell, with that shrink, I might even go NM on that. And since there isn’t even 1 copy of this on Discogs, I’d hang onto that one pal.
But, back before Action USA,Friday the 13th, and Spock saving the Whales, Marty Rotella and his sister, Angela, had a band called Tranquil Sun. They produced a funky mix of disco pop and soul, with enough driving bass, stabbing brass and smooth synth to satisfy any aficionado. They have a sort of Chicago meets ABBA vibe that’s perfectly a product of it’s era and definitely grooves.
A part time member of this band, rippin’ a Sax himself and sweeping that analog cut-off filter, was a young, local New Jersey musician named Harry Manferdini.
Now, assuming (as I did above) you are familiar with Friday the 13th, then perhaps you are also familiar with Harry Manferdini. He’s the man responsible for scoring every film in the original 10 picture series, with the lone exception of Jason Takes Manhattan.
It was Harry’s “Ki Ki Ki, Ma Ma Ma” which went on to become the stuff of horror legend.
In addition to bustin’ reeds and detuning oscillators on Tranquil Sun’s 1981 release …Thinking of You, Harry also arranged and conducted the enitre album. Not a bad pull for a small New Jersey disco band.
The reverse of the LP, … Thinking of You. Harry on that synth and sax baby. And Jules Jr. hittin’ the organ!
Which brings us to Friday the 13th.
Harry revealed that an early cut of the film featured a fairly well known Dolly Parton tune called Fly Away Little Bluebird. However, Dolly was a bit out of budget for the small production and the track needing replacing. It’s kinda like what happened with Prom Night around the same time.
So, Harry penned the curiously titled, Sail Away Tiny Sparrow, as a replacement. He then tapped the best singer he knew, Angie from Tranquil Sun, to sing the tune.
Yep, that’s Mikey’s Aunt Angie all over the original Friday the 13th soundtrack. You can even hear Marty in the background providing, what Mikey referred to as, “the juice.”
A fan favorite in the Friday message boards, Sail Away Tiny Sparrowis just the kind of nice you’re not expecting from a film like Friday the 13th, and it adds a healthy dose of lived-in realism to environs of Crystal Lake. Lots of fans over the years have wondered about it’s origins and performers, and hopefully this will fill in some of the gaps.
But, is that the end of the Rotella’s musical contributions? Not by a long shot, And not even as it concerns this playlist, as Mikey himself can be heard right here, belting it out with The Kyrpt-Keeper 5 on their cover of The Monster Mash. Sure, it’s no Run-Off, but it’s probably more in-line with our listener’s proclivities.
And hey, don’t knock showing up on The Shindig as a musical accomplishment. The last time I checked, neither Al Jourgensen nor Peter Steele could make that claim. So, check your hater jacket at the door.
And how about Marty? Oh, Marty’s doin’ aces. Don’t worry about that.
He’s been shootin’ 73% from the floor, trailing the Hoboken Bigfoot and recording songs under his very own label, Spirit Power Music, for over 30 years. It’s the banner under which you can find him on Instagram. There you can hear nuggets of sage-like advice and his wonderful singing voice. Follow Marty and show him some love from us over at @spiritpowermusic.
But enough about The Juice, what of this song?
Well, it’s most notably heard in the beginning of the film, when Annie enters the Crystal Lake general store to ask for directions to Camp Blood.
A slightly different version of the song is heard again later, at the Blairsville Diner, when Steve stops in for a quick bite and a coffee during the rainstorm.
Now, a version of this song appears on the Orignal Motion Picture soundtrack, but anyone familiar with the film will immediately hear a discrepancy. It sounds nothing like the prominent version in the film. The tempo has been reduced and Angie’s vocals have been pitched shifted down. Probably just side effect of the tempo change.
There are a few low-bit rate versions floating around the internet which attempt to correct this, and some aren’t bad. But I decided, what the hell, and took a crack at correcting it myself to see if i couldn’t get it a little closer and produce a cleaner, re-timed version for all of the Shindig fans. I tried to match the tempo and pitch as much as I could without being too destructive.
However, such tricks can not be accomplished without introducing some digital artifacts, which the eagle-eared among you may be able to detect. Hopefully, that’s not too distracting.
So, what do you think Friday fans? Did I get it pretty close to matching Angie’s original voice? I guess only She, Harry and The Juice know for sure. But hopefully one day, that original recording will resurface somewhere.
Until then, sail away tiny sparrow, out into the world.
Young horror nerd Mikey Rotella stands next to Harry Manferdini, adorned in a Friday the 13th shirt. Coincidentally though, I’m sure.
For some years now, I’ve been meaning to make a small playlist that groups all the Friday The 13th tracks into one convenient place. Well, this year it’s finally happening.
Sure, you could just click Jason’s picture in the Icons category, but there’s no playlist, damn it!
So, this year, grab a hockey mask, jump in the Jeep and head on down to Camp Blood. While you’re there, smoke a little grass, dance up a storm and celebrate Friday the 13th with The Best of Jason Voorhees, on 4 cassettes or 2 compact discs…
The Friday series was no doubt long in the tooth and well past it’s prime by Part 8, but Jason Takes Manhattan still remains totally 80’s and appropriate when compared to subsequent installments.
Attempting to take the series in a fresh direction and shake the claustrophobic confines of Crystal Lake, the producers thought Jason should get into the Muppet spirit and take Manhattan. This isn’t a necessarily meritless approach, except for the fact that rather than New York, the action takes place on a much more claustrophobic cruise ship on it’s the way too Manhattan.
So much for that.
Despite being a highly derided entry for this very reason, I’d argue it’s actually the film’s saving grace. Thank God this whole thing doesn’t take place in Manhattan. I know it was the draw card, but it’s really where the film starts to fall apart for me.
Because it’s just weird seeing Jason takin’ it to the streets. Perhaps funny, I guess, but only for a gag or two, and then what? The movie isn’t quite sure it wants to be a full-on parody yet, and as such it has a bit of a Jason Lives vibe to it; not totally embracing its sillier parts, yet not committed to being a fully horrific affair either.
Jason Takes Manhattan does have a meaner streak than Jason Lives though, and sharper teeth. It’s self aware, but not all neutered like Part 6. So it’s got that going for it.
I would say Jason X, for all it’s millennial sensibilities and glossy lameness, navigates this sort of self conscious ground much more deftly. As such, I think it’s delivers a much more self assured spin on this series than either Jason Lives or TakesManhattan. Even has some solid kills, and before Jason gets all Mechagodzilla meets Robocop, he looks pretty dope. But it’s still hard to get behind that movie.
That being said, Jason Takes Manhattan is still a Paramount Friday that’s 80’s to the max with Kane Hodder just giving it his all. So, for my money, its in a different sphere of Friday than everything after.
Of the Paramount 8 however, I do feel it might be least of the bunch. Depends on what day you catch me. I recently rewatched Part 6 this passed Friday the 13th and found myself more irritated with it than usual. Part 8’s pulling ahead of it for me at this particular moment.
But hey, what the hell are we here for? Not my unsolicited bullshit. We’re here for some music, and Part 8 ain’t coming up broke, depending on your musical proclivities. If you can get down on cheeseball 80’s Power-Ballad-lite Pop Rock, than Metropolis here has got you covered.
I actually wanted to include the song J.J. puts on right before Jason steals her pink flying V and smashes her head in, but apparently that’s not a real song, just some composite that was put together from 2 other songs. Bummer, cause that one rocks, Lita Ford style. Oh well.
Here’s Metropolis kicking off Friday the 13th Part 8 with The Darkest Side of the Night!
He may just be using the whole Frankenstein motif as a metaphor for teenage alienation, but Alice Cooper crams enough monster imagery in this cut to make that mostly irrelevant.
Add to that the songs inclusion within Jason Livesand you’ve got a double-decker monster song sandwich of Shindigging proportions.
Particularly considering the scene, which is one of the more badass moments from Friday 6.
Jason has stowed away on an RV and proceeds to cause a straight up ruckus, imprinting Nikki’s face through a wall and stabbing Cort in the neck. He then allows the motor home to completely upend itself before blasting out of the top in straight Boss Voorhees fashion.
All of this of course is set to Cooper’s Teenage Frankenstein, where Cort emphatically cranks the volume on the fiddle and shouts like an idiot while his motor-Rome burns all to hell.
Here’s Alice Cooper, reinforcing his All-Star status with Teenage Frankenstein.
A Friday the 13th, in October? Now that’s a rarity. You know we gotta represent on this one. Good thing The Shindig is prepared with a poppy piece of Crystal Lake crooning from Jason’s later catalog.
A lot of people dislike Friday the 13th Part 7: The New Blood. I’m not one of them, but they exist and I can’t say I blame them.
Its heavily censored kills feel like highway robbery, it has one most disappointing endings in the series, the teenage fodder on display isn’t particularly interesting and the film just feels tired. Psychic girl unwittingly resurrects Jason? C’mon…
However, 7 has a lot going for it. I think of it as Jason’s last hoorah, for it’s the last time he’s in his element doing what he does best, before he takes off to Manhattan, other peoples bodies, Hell, Space, Elm Street, and ultimately Remakewood. Say what you want about 7, it never gets this good (or as true to itself) again.
But it is stretching its limits, as the whole thing finally succumbs to the Elm Street Effect and goes full-on supernatural.
The psychic angle, while a bit much, offers some interest though. Mainly, it puts a new spin on a formula that had already well worn out its welcome, having seen probably it’s best reworking in Jason Lives. It also finally gives Jason a formidable opponent, something really unseen up to this point in the series, silly as that opponent might be.
However, New Blood’s biggest plus come in the form of Jason himself, namely the addition of literal new blood, Kane Hodder, and the make-up work of John Carl Buechler.
Jason never looked this good before, or after. This is it. This is the most badass Jason around. With his spine-exposed and masked destroyed, he’s constantly dripping water and stalking around with a menace unmatched. And lets face it, that’s what we’re all here to see.
The soundtrack is coming up pretty short here though, in my opinion. Mostly just handed over to prog-wavers FM out of what feel like laziness, the songs never play much prominence, or hit any high notes. Even the score here feels a little wrong.
However, I’ve chosen one of those FM tracks for the Shindig, mostly so I can rant a little about Part 7 and post some gifs. Besides, that opening narration is too cool not too use somewhere.
And as if the psychic girl wasn’t Elm Street enough for you, this song’s all about dreaming. Sure, it’s a more figurative kind of dreaming, but I still I think it’s safe to say that by 1987, Freddy was winning the fight.
It may not be Harry Manfredini’s classic arrangement, but his Theme From Friday The 13th Part 3, as performed by Hot Ice is as bad news as any horror theme you can throw at me.
Spooky, synthy and down right Halloweeny, it’s one of my favorite horror themes ever. Even those partiers unfamiliar with its origins won’t question this instrumental inclusion on your Halloween playlist, so perfectly suited is it.
With it’s creepy theremin-like lead and that thumping bass-line, Hot Ice delivered the goods with a theme befitting Jason’s true debut.
In contrast to the previous entries, we finally start to see the killer in full stalk mode, as the producers set the table for how future installments will play. Mystery and surprise are bypassed, and tertiary characters are added merely as colorful cannon fodder.
More importantly though, Jason himself takes center stage and acquires the trademark mask with which he will forever be associated. Also, he develops this awkward and lumbering stature here, which combine to present one of my favorite versions of the character. I love this Jason. After this, he becomes a bit more consciously menacing and deliberate in his movements.
Originally presented in 3D, its a little gimmicky and the effect doesn’t really enhance the kills it seeks to enliven. Overall, they’re a hit and miss affair, but there are some solid and memorable ones along the way.
Jason’s first hockey mask adorned kill is a great example of a miss, though.
Being initially mistaken for Shelley would have been a good excuse for him to get up close and deliver a kill worthy of his new appearance.
Instead, keeping the audience at a distance and exploiting the 3D gimmick, he fires a harpoon from across the dock, and it feels a little lazy. At least he looks like a badass tossin’ the gun down.
Ultimately though, his final battle with Chris is great and features some of the series’ most iconic images.
Not the least of all is this, one of the few moments in all of Part 3 where the 3D is exploited to wonderful effect. This is arguably the most iconic image of Mr Voorhees, and it’s truly one of my favorites.
Then, if that wasn’t enough, you get this requisite Friday Dream Stinger, which for my money, is one of the scariest moments in the entire franchise.
You combine all of that with this perfectly suited theme from Hot Ice, and you’ve got a Friday for the ages.
He’s Back (The Man Behind The Mask)by Alice Cooper
In 1984, Paramount Pictutres made way too much money on Friday The 13th Part 4: The Final Chapterto let that truly be Jason’s final chapter. So they set upon quickly churning out a part 5. Only Jason was dead now,…for good,…right?
What’s a greedy production company to do?
So in 1985, Paramount quickly proceed to fuck right up. They essentially took the exact same model, delivered a by the numbers Friday installment, with Jason in a hockey mask and called it A New Beginning. Only they pulled the old Kansas City Shuffle. It wasn’t actually Jason. Fans were pissed.
Roy? Who the fuck is Roy? Seriously? This dude’s name is Roy?
Here’s Roy.
Fans didn’t cotton to old Roy here.
“But why?” You may ask.
“There’s a guy in a hockey mask brutally murdering teenagers at a summer camp. Isn’t that the point? Fuck, Roy kills 18 people for Christ’s sake! Jason ain’t puttin’ up those kinda numbers yet. Who cares who’s under the mask? It’s been a different actor, sometimes in the same damn movie, since part 2. Is it that important it be Jason Voorhees?”
Apparently so.
I’d say it’s a least somewhat important, if only to keep Friday the 13th from turning into a running Scooby-Doo gag. “Why it’s old man Burns, the guy who run’s that haunted ambulance!”
Plus, we always get a peak at Jason, and it’s usually fucking horrifying. Observe…
Maybe it’s a little important. No?
So, Paramount quickly swung in on a jungle vine for some damage control. In 1986 they unleashed Jason Lives and changed the entire franchise forever.
No more is Jason a mere mortal stalking the woods of Crystal Lake. He’s now a full fledged supernatural, unstoppable zombie killing machine.
No longer is the series a straight faced stalk-n-slash either. Tinges of satire, self parody and silliness have entered the Friday landscape.
Additionally this installment, while producing a sizable body count, is suspiciously lacking in the gore department. It’s also the only entry to feature no nudity. Fo reals?
But more importantly pop icons appear.
Enter Alice Cooper and his single He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask) blatantly reassuring all the Friday Freaks that yes, he’s back. Yes, the man behind the mask, Jason. Don’t worry, we even put his name first in the title to placate all the jaded fans that may not come to suckle from our money cow’s teat.
Jason goes for a full blown team-up. Music videos, multiple songs, Fangoria spreads which give us such awesome images as this.
Thankfully, Jason didn’t take too many cues from Freddy, and remained silent. I don’t know if I could have handled a wisecracking Voorhees.
Despite its lighter tone and generalized Skynet-like self-awareness, Jason Lives is still a fine entry. Jason is still menacing, and there are some good kills, however neutered they may feel. It’s certainly not the poorest entry and it has a lot of style. It may just be one of the more entertaining of The Fridays, but that’s all up for debate, as that assessment depends largely on your temperament and what kind of Friday you prefer.
It remains perhaps my favorite of the post-zombie half of the series. It’s all downhill from 6, by degrees. I gotta lotta love for 7 though, so there’s some wiggle room with that declaration.
Pulling Jason Voorhees clear into the the mid-80’s, here’s Alice Cooper’s He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask).
Let’s keep the 80’s dance party/Oddball sequel thing going here.
1985 offered us Freddy’s first foray into sequel-dom, however Jason was already and old man by ‘85, going on his 5th outing.
Perhaps one of the more derided films of the series, and certainly it’s oddball entry, Friday 5 is still Paramount, still hugely 80’s and (I think) rather unfairly maligned.
It’s hard to say which is the “worst”, as some thrive where others lack and vice-versa. Honestly, a lot of it just comes down to personal preference after a point.
5 however has the distinct honor of being the only entirely Jason-less sequel (save for the pre-credit sequence…I guess) as the killer is merely assuming the MO and hockey mask. This, more than any other reason, is why it finds itself on the bottom rung with fans.
What 5 has going for it however is a serious body count. Notably the most of any Friday the 13th film at 22. That’s gotta be worth something.
Sure the effects aren’t on par with other entries and a lot of the murders are cut-aways but this dude ices 22 different people and that’s an achievement, however lessened it may be by the fact that its not actually Jason killing these people (except the first 2 guys…I guess.)
This song, by Australian pop-smiths Pseudo Echo, plays while Violet is dancing and being murdered. The song was actually a suggestion of actress Tiffany Helm, a fan of the new wave and punk music of the day.
Imagine being able to select which song to which you’d be murdered by Jason? Pretty dope.
Interesting side note regarding Violets death. Originally, she was to take a machete to the vag. Now that’s a way to go.
However, the producers thought that was a bit much, and changed it to her stomach, which they don’t even really show anyway, so I guess it doesn’t even matter. Oh well.
This song is pretty awesome though and almost sounds as if it were written specifically about Jason. It was produced a year early however, so no luck there. It does fit in nicely into the movie however, and makes a great addition to The Shindig.
