Dracula’s Daughter (1974)

TRACK #416:

Dracula’s Daughter by Thunderthighs

Remember when I said that’s there’s a song every year that’s been waiting around forever to finally get on the playlist? Well, I said that about Don’t Let Go this year because, well because that’s true, but mostly because our next song was originally scheduled for next year. Now, I did include the caveat that there’s usually more than one a year, especially at this stage in the game. And I’ll admit, Don’t Let Go has been waiting for much longer than tonight’s jam, but no song has been burning a hole in the bullpen for me quite like this one.

When I first ran across this tune (whenever that was originally) I dismissed it as a Screaming Lord Sutch cover, tossed it onto the YouTube Bullpen playlist and promptly forgot about it altogether.

Then, while randomly listening to that playlist in my car (who knows how many months later) this song fired up and it immediately grabbed my attention. What the hell was this? And when the hell had I added it?

I drop a lot of boring and forgettable songs on that playlist, just to see what they got going on. Some of it never gets a 2nd listening before being summarily dumped. But this song, this was a stake straight through the heart of a listless Dracula block filled with just those kind of boring and forgettable tunes.

An awesome Dracula voice, a spooky organ, a seriously fuzzed out guitar lick and an aggressive female vocal all demanded I take notice. This was no Screaming Lord Sutch cover. No, it was much more.

What follows, amid epic 70’s strings, some assaultive brass stabs, that classic werewolf sound effect and is that a fuckin clarinet (?) is one seriously rocking Monster Song. It’s like ABBA blasted a few rails and covered Spirit in the Sky at a Halloween party but forgot how it went so they just sang whatever the fuck about Dracula, and I’m about it.

And look at this 45 sleeve! That’s one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a long time. In fact, despite the song being readily available on the internet, I shelled out to get one shipped from England just so I could get a high rez scan and throw it on a T-Shirt. It’s available here, in the Shindig Shop (or here, if you prefer Redbubble). Don’t make me the only weirdo rockin’ this thing, alright? Everyone buy one cause that’s the coolest thing ever.

Back to this song, or rather to Thunderthighs, which is awesome name for a female rock group, let’s be real. I had never heard of this band and I wondered what their story was all about.

Turns out they were a backing vocal trio from the UK consisting of Karen Friedman, Dari Lalou and Casey Synge. The were most known from providing Lou Reed with the do-do-doos for Walk On the Wild Side. They are not, in fact, “colored girls”, despite chiming in right at the moment Lou suggests they might be. Over the years, some folks have taken umbrage with this fact, and I can see why. If you’re satirizing the music industry’s proclivity for taking advantage of minority singers without providing the proper credit, proper compensation, proper royalty structures or the opportunity to step out from behind the shadow of their white counterparts, doing so with trio white women may just be undercutting that point. Perhaps it’s not though. Perhaps that’s the only responsible way to make such a critique. Or maybe it’s not that deep at all and it’s simply Digital Blackface in the analog era. I’m not sure. All I know is that regardless of what Lou sings, the girl’s were Thunderthighs.

As an act on their own, Thunderthighs never really seemed to catch on. They released a handful of singles to critical acclaim and some chart performance, but nothing viewed as an undeniable hit. They recorded a debut LP, but the label cut their losses and shelved the effort. Years and years later the material was released as an untitled album and is currently available to listen to on the various streaming services.

Despite struggling to find solo success, these woman were still very sought after for their incredible vocal gifts. The trio can be heard on various albums from Mott the Hoople, Arthur Brown, Jerry Lee Lewis and David Verity.

But for our week of Hallo-Women, we don’t want them in the background. We want the ladies of Thunderthighs front and center singing about possibly the most monstrous woman of them all, Dracula’s Daughter.

Vampira (1974)

TRACK #413:

Vampira by The Majestics

Speaking of Black Face…

Holy Jesus, that doesn’t feel good to type. Doesn’t feel good that there’s even call to type such a thing, but facts is facts.

There’s also a man singing here, which while not exclusively against policy this week (there’ll be others), singing that is about a Woman rather than by a Woman is definitely a bit less than. However, this is a Title Track, and for that we can make this exception.

Because it simply wouldn’t be Halloween over here at Halloween Shindig if we didn’t add some more Title Tracks to the mix.

Actually, now that I’m reading that back, I wanna cross reference this claim of mine. One moment please.

Ok, Nevermind. Apparently it can very much be Halloween over here at Halloween Shindig without any Title Tracks at all, as both 2018 and even 2023 featured no Title Tracks on the countdown.

Still, 11 out of 13 years ain’t a bad ratio, and it suggests that Title Tracks are kinda of a thing around here. And for anyone around here who’s been around here who knows the score knows that.

Tonight’s Title Track comes from a British film called Vampira, pronounced Vam-PEER-a as opposed to Malia Nurmi’s original horror host Vam-PIE-ra. Not sure why the writers decided to call the film that but pronounce it differently, particularly since by 1974 (even in England) Vampira would have been a known quantity. Perhaps that why they pronounced it different? But who knows with them Brits.

I guess Malia took no issue with them taking her name, regardless of pronunciation, as I could find no evidence to suggest she approached production or sued the production company over the rights to the moniker.

And that might just be because, generally speaking, the film is widely known by its overseas title, Old Dracula. To capitalize on Mel Brooks’ smash hit Young Frankenstein, they released this sucker stateside as Old Dracula, get it? Har de fuckin har.

Despite that poor attempt to sideline a perfectly good Title Track, the movie was originally released in the UK as Vampira and features this definite Title Track from The Majestics, so step off, ya Yanks!

Plot wise we have the Notorious Phantom, Mr. David Niven, playing an aging and lonely Dracula attempting to resurrect his long dead love, Vampira, using the blood of young Playmates. Seems he needs a special sort of blood and he’s just gonna invite all these Playmates to his castle for a photo shoot and weird Dracula party (where he pretends to be Dracula) and gets the playmates to sleep overnight.

It’s a solid plan, except that the one the playmates (incidentally, the one with the special blood) is also Black, so Vampira is resurrected as a Black woman.

Now of course this isn’t a problem at all if you’re not a total piece of shit, but this is a guy who has literally murdered thousands of humans so he can live, what’s a little casual racism on top? It might be hard for non-murdering not-pieces-of-shit to understand how naturally one might take to simple racism while regarding an entire species as sub-vampire.

This is compounded by the that fact that Vampira is played by the stunningly gorgeous Teresa Graves, who was very famous at this exact time for playing TV cop Christie Love on Get Christine Love. Readers might remember the scene from Resevoir Dogs where the gang wonders aloud about who played Christie love – you under arrest sugar! Well, Vampira played Christie love, that’s who

In addition to Niven and Graves, it being a British production and all, there’s definitely Hammer babes afoot. Here we have the gorgeous Veronica Carlson from Dracula Has Risen from the Grave and Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed anLinda Hayden from Taste the Blood of Dracula and The Blood on Satan’s Claw and that’s pretty cool. So big up there.

We also get Nicky Henson, whom you may remember from Witchfinder General and Psychomania, which is also a treat.

Thanks to the blog Denim Disco, where I’ve been lucky enough to find out about a number of different tracks, I can tell you the guy who wrote this also wrote the lyrics for Goldfinger, his name was Anthony Newley. And that singer? Despite The Majestics being a UK soul band, that’s American actor Clarke Peter’s whom you may now as Dectective Lester Freamon from The Wire.

So, let’s turn the mic over to a man, for a moment, as he does what so many men with microphones have done for as long as their have been microphones; sing the praises of a woman. In this case, the resurrected body of a bloodsucking Queen of the night named Vampira.

Haunted Disco (1979)

TRACK #408:

Haunted Disco by Chromium

Holy shit, more Haunted Discos? Yeah, it’s pretty crazy. It’s kinda why I kept the Disco Draculas together and held onto these for a different season.

This particular Haunted Disco, actually called Haunted Disco, comes to you from Chromium, a one-off project from British producer Trevor Horn and keyboardist Geoff Downes.

Now, if those names don’t sound familiar, (and let’s face it, they probably don’t) perhaps their original band, The Buggles, will ring some bells. Still nothing? Well OK, but how bout their huge single and MTV kickstarter Video Killed the Radio Star? There it is. Now we’re cooking.

Whoa, wait, whaddya mean you still don’t know who or what the hell i’m talking about? Really? Well shit, I don’t know what else to say if you don’t know Video Killed the Radio Star. This obviously means you’re entirely too young to recognize that song, which by default means you aren’t actually reading this post right now. In which case I guess you don’t exist in this reality and I’ll stop addressing you. If you are old enough and you still somehow don’t know that song, I’m still gonna assume you’re also not reading this and move on.

Now, it seems they recorded the Chromium album Star To Star between forming The Buggles in 1977 and releasing their own first album, Age of Plastic in 1980. But the single for Video Killed the Radio Star dropped in 1979, after the Chromium album was released. So they seem to have been jumping back and forth.

However, after that song hit, both Trevor Horn and Downes we’re back at it and recording next to Prog-Rock outfit Yes, whom had recently shed their lead singer and keyboardist (Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman, respectively.) They asked Trevor and Geoff if they wanted to join Yes, and who says “No” to Yes, so they stuck around to record their 1980 album Drama. But Yes called it quits a year later, so the duo fell back on The Buggles and released their follow up album entitled Adventures in Modern Recording.

Right after that though, Downes went for the Prog-Rock mega team-up with Yes guitarist Steven Howe, King Crimson bassist John Wetton and ELP drummer Carl Palmer to form the Supergroup Asia. The Shindig maintains a deep lineage, continuing to show that anyone who’s anyone in this game has some weird Monster Song roots.

Which brings me to a strange point. Wikipedia… OK yeah yeah, that’s the old trope, but I guarantee you it has more accurate and better sourced information than whatever Facebook link you just clicked or the dumb video you just watched.

But anyway, the Geoff Downes Wikipedia page claims “Then they formed the short-lived Chromium, with Anne Dudley and Hans Zimmer and recorded an album Star to Star in 1978”

I’m sorry, did you say Hans Zimmer? Like A League of Their Own, Zero Boys, Cool Runnings Hans Zimmer? Get the fuck outta town. I had to cross reference this claim.

Discogs, as you might imagine, makes no reference to Zimmer on the Star To Star album proper, so I was like, yeah, that shit ain’t true. But, searching within Hans’ specific discography does ping a small credit on some releases of Star To Star, including an unofficial expanded CDr release, the US cassette release and the Canadian LP. OK, that’s a little weird, but technically still true it seems. He is credited as “Electronics” whatever the hell that really means. Was he programing synths? Was he soldering SSM chips into a Fairlight CMI? What kind of electronics are we talking about here, fellas?

So, I don’t know if I’d say they formed Chromium like with Hans Zimmer or if he was just like a studio tech or what, but he is actually credited in there. So chalk up another one for the Monster Song and it’s long line of decorated purveyors!

Also, apparently Hans makes an appearance in the Video Killed the Radio Star video, which is also kinda weird. Way to go bud!

Anyway, let’s get on with this song, shall we? It’s almost midnight and my Internet’s been down for hours while I’ve been trying to wrap all this shit up.

Listen, the Disco Queen wasn’t buried where she should have been, and you know that shit is a problem. And if that same shit definitely doesn’t lead to a Haunted Disco, I don’t know what does!

Disco Monster

TRACK #406:

Disco Monster by The Saturday Night Disco Band

We’ve already established that disco was pretty big in Japan. I don’t remember when, but i’m pretty sure we did. Maybe Sweet Sexy Dracula? That’s a guess, but I’ll link to in anyway. Let me know, yeah?

But anyway, yeah, disco was big in Japan. And as you can see below, our next track, the title track from the 1978 compilation Disco Monster, was a Japanese release.

Unfortunately, I don’t speak Japanese, so I had no idea if the song was a suitable addition outside of its title.

So, I enlisted some assistance from Shindig Radio guest Matt Mastrella, as his wife is Japanese.

What I also don’t speak, evidentially, is internet, cause fuckin Google translate can process images and I could have very easily found all the information I needed simply by translating the album cover, like so.

But indeed, they were able to help, translating this cover and hunting down the group Pink Lady and then finding the original lyrics. See, the song Disco Monster (here performed by the dubious Saturday Night Disco Band) is just a fun disco version of this duo’s #1 hit Monsutā. This song topped the Japanese Oricon Charts for 8 whole weeks in 1978, and was the 3rd best selling record of that year.

You see, Pink Lady was a big in Japan, which is entirely non-pejorative if you’re actually a Japanese artist. From 1976 to 1979 the duo released 9 different #1 hits. Their 1978 hit Chameleon Army stayed at #1 for an unprecedented 63 weeks, a feat which went unmatched for another 37 years.

They were absolutely massive. They hosted nine different television programs and were even turned into an anime. They were the spokespeople for everything from Shampoo to Oolong Tea. Just the mere mention of a product by the 2 Pink Ladies would almost guarantee an increase in that products sales, such was their influence.

They were so popular in fact, that they even enjoyed fame here in the United States, becoming one of only 2 Japanese artists to enter the Billboard Top 40 with their 1979 English language record Kiss in the Dark. They road this success to their own damn variety show produced by Sid and Marty Croft. The ill-fate Pink Lady and Jeff (or just Pink Lady) with comedian Jeff Altman, lasted only 5 episodes and was a total disaster.

It appears the Japanese duo couldn’t speak a lick of English, an apparent and egregious oversight by the shows producers. Naturally, this misunderstanding led to a whole lot of confusion and caused difficulties recording the program. See, the network execs demanded the girls only speak and sing in English while only performing English language songs. As you might imagine, that didn’t go well.

The network tried to throw money and star power at the catastrophe, enlisting the likes of Blondie, Cheap Trick, Hugh Hefner, Sherman Hemsley, Florence Henderson, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lewis, Sid Caesar, Larry Hagman and even Alice Cooper, but the resulting fiasco was canceled after just 6 weeks.

It is considered by many to be one of the worst shows in television history and is cited as almost single-handedly killing the entire variety show format in America. Snap. That’s wild.

The duo was allowed to sing 2 of their Japanese songs on the final episode however, they’re massive hit UFO and…you guessed it, Monsutā

Here’s the Pink Ladies themselves performing the tune.

So all this to say, yeah we don’t even have that song on the playlist. Weird right? Yeah, I get it. But I like this weird Disco Version better.

Here translated (however accurately) by Google translate, are the lyrics to Monsutā:

I can get you tomato juice
I can get you an emery board
Night is young
Spread your wings
And enjoy the night
Take a walk

They are not necessarily scary people
They are not necessarily bad people
In this world now people who are not accepted are crawling around everywhere and this is pitch black

There is nothing to be scared of, just scream and run away
I’m worried about your wimpy heart
You are too kind, your heart might be hardened

Monster, this is my cute person.

Monsters wake up your eyes.

Monster, it’s your turn.

Monster, it’s a full moon. Wow…

If you’re thirsty and in trouble, I’ll buy you tomato juice.

If your fangs are itchy, I’ll buy you an iron file.

There’s still a while until dawn.

Let’s enjoy it. Take a walk at night.

Even if there are seams on the face, it’s not necessarily scary.

Even if your nails are sharp, it’s not necessarily a bad person.

I can’t get it in this world

I wonder if it’s dark with all the people.

I’m going to indulge in sex on summer nights.

Everyone dodges a hot kiss and I can’t stand it.

Get out of the way, get out of the way, get out of the way, get out of the way

Hey, hey, hey, hey

Monster, come on, be brave.

Monsters are big.

Monsters shouldn’t be shaking.

Monster, raise your hand.

The monster is here. The monster is here. The monster…

I’ll follow you, so there’s nothing scary.

If something happens, scream and run away.

I’m worried about weakness.

That heart that is too gentle may be hurt.

I’m going to indulge in sex on summer nights.

Everyone dodges a hot kiss and I can’t stand it.

Get out of the way, get out of the way, get out of the way, get out of the way

Hey, hey, hey, hey

Monster, you’re too kind.

Monsters are tattered.

Monster, this is my cute person.

Monster, good night.

Monsters are here. Monsters are here.

Outstanding.

Now how much of that is accurate, I couldn’t say. Matt’s wife insisted the translation wasn’t too bad. Without speaking Japanese myself, I can certainly spots instances where, if not inaccurate, a one to one translation is probably not in order. This is why context is important, and having a command of both languages is probably preferable for translation.

But I’d rather see crazy ass lines like:

I’m going to indulge in sex on summer nights.
Everyone dodges a hot kiss and I can’t stand it.

Than anything close to an accurate translation.

Seems to me like, I dunno, they’re hot for the monster? He’s into but he’s kind of a ween? Or maybe that’s what makes him a ween? I can’t really tell. Doesn’t really matter, honestly. Firstly cause the lyrics are in Japanese, and secondly cause it’s disco and really, that ain’t what anyone is here for really.

So, lets turn on the lights to the dance floor, toss on an old Don Post mask and boogie the fuck down with The Saturday Night Disco Band and their cover of Pink Lady’s Monsutā known simply as Disco Monster.

Transylvania Disco Hustle

TRACKS #405:

Transylvania Disco Hustle by Monsters

Do you remember back in 2023 when we were talking about The Monsters from the UK and I said they weren’t these Monsters over here to the left, but that we’d get to them in just a bit?

Oh course you don’t. Why would you? What am I, fuckin ridiculous? I barely remember it and I wrote all this dumb shit. Nobody even read that post, much less remembers it 2 years later, let’s get real here.

At any rate, I said that and you can cross reference that if you want, but I don’t know why you would. Either way, that “just a bit” I was talking about was apparently 2 years, cause we’re about to talk about those Monsters and their “disco jammer” right now.

The Monsters (pictured above looking appropriately fiendish in this graveyard, you ask me) started life as actual monsters, dressed up and everything, but calling themselves Children of the Night. Check them out over here on this other album looking just as Monstery.

Now, they dropped that album and an accompanying single in 1976, but began life their musical life 3 years prior in New York.

For some reason, after this LP and some monster swapping, they became The Monsters proper in 1977 and released this album. Even looking through some of this great promotional material and reading the interview with The Wolfman found there as well, it seems a bit unclear why they changed the name. I would venture to say it was less of a mouthful than Children of the Night. Catchier and easier to remember as well. But who knows. They’re dressed up as monsters and their holding guitars, they can call themselves whatever the fuck they want really. We’re on board, either way, I mean, c’mon.

That album features a cover of the Monster Mash, a solid jam about The Mummy and this banger that gives the disco treatment (yet again) to that Monster Party ethos. And as we like to say, if that kinda thing can’t be here, then it can’t be anywhere. This is the place where things like this land. This is where it belongs.

I will say the narrative on this one kind feels a little bit like The Monster Club, where this square fella gets seduced by a Vampire bar and then taken to a club where a bunch of different monsters are dancing and having a great time. It’s a fun story and when the guy goes back even, the club is gone!

It makes a for a fun Disco monster tune, that’s for sure. But no one old enough to know what The Hustle is actually reading this blog. In fact, I’d say no one is, period, but you get the point. No one that would have been doing The Hustle is here right now reading this.

But if there were, they might tell you that The Hustle was a popular line-dance that became associated with Disco and then sort of turned into a catch-all for several similar dances across the scene. It originated with Puerto Rican teenagers in the South Bronx in 1973 before becoming a mainstay at clubs all throughout the mid-70’s, then becoming the subject of a song by Van McCoy in 1975, culminating in John Travolta Hustling it up in Saturday Night Fever, simultaneously exposing the entire world to the dance and shooting it in the back of the head.

Eventually, like most dance crazes, it landed in Transylvania, were monsters of prestigious report, like Dracula and The Wolfman – to lesser ghouls, like The Cyclops and The Thing, all partook in its stepping shuffle of this

Apparently, at some point in the 80’s, the band were trying to get a TV show made. What? Gimmie a break, and no one gave the green light to that thing? If that had gone through you know I’d be posting those episode to TeleWeen right now, but here we are in reality without any Children of the Night TV show.

But we do have some Children of the Night music. Or at least some musics from The Monsters, at any rate. So let’s give in and do the Transylvania Disco Hustle.

Everyone was high!

Yeah, I’ll bet.

Ghost Dancer

TRACK #404:

Ghost Dancer by The Addrisi Brothers

If you’re like “Man, I really dig all this Monster Rap and Halloween Heavy Metal, but I really just wish The Bee Gees had written a damn Monster Song or something.”

Well, allow me to present Ghost Dancer from The Addrisi Brothers.

A weird, supernatural romantic ballad set to a disco rhythm? Ok, I guess that’s where disco was at it 1979 and we’re here for it. We may even be the only ones that are here for it anymore. I mean, now anyway. Some people were there for it in 1979, at least I imagine they were. Like literally they were obviously there for it, but like into it too…in 1979. Right? Someone had to be feeling this bizarro, supernatural disco jammer. Like, I don’t know how well this did commercially or anything, but this thing shreds. You tellin’ me people on the dance floor weren’t feelin’ this shit Halloween ’79? No way they weren’t. We’re feelin’ it now, I’ll tell you that much, and we hope you’re feelin’ it too.

Now, I’ll admit, this is way more Ghost than it is Ghost Fever, but it’s still about a ghostly apparition and a Haunted Disco, which will be a running theme for this particular disco block, as you’ll come to see.

Basically, a guy and a girl really liked dancing, then she died suddenly, but she swore they would dance forever, so now he rolls on the discotheque solo and this chick reappears and dances with him once again in ghost form. Nice.

Now, The Addrisi Brothers, Don and Dick, were actual real life brothers from Winthrop, Massachusetts. Hey, alright. They had a pretty big hit initially penning The Associations Never My Love in 1967.

I will say though that now, as looked them up today to verify their names, and it seems as though Dick just died, like yesterday, October 14th, 2025. It’s sad when someone passes, but it feels somewhat eerie to find out that someone has literally just passed away right as you decided to look them up randomly. Like, this song has been in the bullpen for years now. The first draft of this post was penned 2 years ago. I could have ended up placing this song anywhere in the month. I could have looked up Don and Dick Addrisi names whenever, but it was the day after he died. I dunno, maybe that’s not that weird, but it feels kinda weird.

Either way, it made me feel sad. It’s the season for it, I suppose, and there is some comfort in that. Dick Addrisi gave us song about a girl living on in ghost form through the music. Perhaps The Addrisi Brothers (Don passed in 1984 from pancreatic cancer) will do what so many singers and musicians have done for so long now, and live on through their music. They will live on here, with the hallowed halls of Halloween Shindig for as long as we can keep the lights on.

Rest in peace Dick Addrisi. This one’s for you.

Don’t Let Go

TRACK #403:

Don’t Let Go by Unit Eight

Every season there’s a song (well probably a number of songs really) but always at least one specific song, that finally gets it moment to shine.

A song that has been in the bullpen for years, waiting patiently for its moment. A song I have desperately wanted to squeeze in for years. A song for which getting on the playlist was never a question. A song that was always destined to show up, just a matter of when.

I think of such long suffering additions like last years Freaky Halloween from EJ Rock, or Solcyst’s Haha! I Need Your Blood from 2023, or hell, the entire 2 season spanning run from track 100 to 130. That’s a meaty part of the playlist right there.

And for 2025, that song is definitely tonight’s addition, Don’t Let Go from Unit Eight. I can’t tell you how long this one has been in the bullpen. A while, like over 10 years, if not since the beginning of the bullpen altogether.

Now, I’m not sure why I’ve left it out of our last 2 disco blocks (yeah sorry, Cerrone was the opening salvo of our Biennial Disco Block) but I’m glad I still have something this damn undeniable after 400 tracks.

And is this one ever undeniable. If you know, I definitely don’t need to convince you, but to those out there that don’t recognize this title (and aren’t immediately jogged by the album art above) this is the kind of song that makes Halloween Shindig the kinda playlist it is.

From 1982 horror opus Creepshow comes the song a young Ed Harris absolutely cuts a rug to during the Father’s Day segment. If you’re as big a Creepshow fan as me (and the many others reading) that’s all there is to say. Tonal incongruous and questionable inclusions that seem wildly out of place if you don’t understand their origin is what Halloween Shindig is all about. Plus, the song absolutely slaps. Unless you don’t like Disco, which I can understand.

Unit Eight was a band out of the UK, and this song can be found on their 1978 album Discos Like This, which features a full line up of fine disco cuts. How this one found its way in George Romero and Stephen King’s epic team-up I simply couldn’t say. But man I’m glad it did, as it gives us another example of actors (maybe even future stars) doing ridiculous dances in Horror movies. Crispin Glover in Friday 4, or Jim Carey in Once Bitten, or Tiffany Helm in Friday 5, and now, we present Ed Harris in Creepshow…

Now, that is some Disco dancing. Again, I know not everyone reading likes this kinda thing. I get it. But personally, and at the risk of losing all semblance of musical credibility, I enjoy the hell out of Discp. Or at least Disco about monsters and ghosts and shit. And boy we got a whole acrylic plaform’s worth of disco fish in the tank. So we’re gonna blast you with another hardcore block of coked-out, fever inducing disco demons to haunt your dance floor.

And to set it all on fire is Unit Eight…

Where’s my cake!?

Supernature

TRACK #402:

Supernature by Cerrone

To be completely honest, I have no idea how long I’ll keep doing this or how long the playlist will end up being when it’s all said and done.

Early on, some of my more inclusive lists had the total topping out at around 250 tracks. As such, in 2015 I claimed Track #120 (This is Halloween) was the center of the playlist. Yeah, that was 10 years ago and we’ve added almost 3 times that many songs to the playlist since. For those playing at home, we actually hit that end point 4 years later with Halloween by 220 Volt in 2019. Now, it’s 6 years from even then and we’ve put another 160 songs on top of that.

What can I say? I kept finding cool songs I thought needed adding.

That very same year (about a week prior, it seems, in the The Monster Mash post) I said I’d love to get the playlist’s total runtime to 24 hours, then your Halloween couldn’t possibly hold anymore music. I’m proud to say that, without really thinking about that goal much since writing it, we hit that marker just last year. About a minute into Track #368, Igor At Midnight by Cagé, The Shindig officially broke the 24 hour mark.

And yet here we are, 400 songs in the rear-view and we’ve got a playlist that’s entirely too long for any party and literally can not be listened to in a single instance of Halloween. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not, but it’s certainly a thing.

Should I keep going? Should I keep adding music to this playlist, because hell, isn’t October really just a perfectly structured 31 day countdown to Halloween anyway and now there’s a shuffle button and we got all the Mini-Playlists and people can cherry pick what they want and leave the rest and walk out knowing that regardless of what they came away with they were presented with a serious list of classic and obscure tunes appropriately suggested for their holiday festivities? Yeah, we’ll keep diggin’ up tunes a little while longer I suspect.

Well, at the very least there’s the rest of this year’s tracks, and whatever else I have sitting in the bullpen that can scratch its way out onto the field. Is that another 100 songs? Roughly 3 seasons worth of tunes?

I couldn’t say, but after 400 tracks, we need a little reset. We need something epic to recenter things and usher in a new phase of the playlist. We need something…supernatural.

And what better tune to fit the bill than the dystopian dance floor disco ‘digger, Supernature?

From French drummer Marc Cerrone’s 1977 album of the same name, comes a song about how scientists in the future basically use GMOs to battle starvation but unwittingly transformed creatures below the surface into hideous monsters that rise up and terrorized mankind back into the Stone Age. Ok, disco, let’s get fuckin’ serious, I guess.

Apparently this song enjoyed some popularity last summer when it was used by France during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics. I was unaware. I’m not tapped into the Olympics like that. Or at all. Like not even slightly. I kind of hate the Olympics, if I’m being honest.

My apologies if you’re an Olympic fan, an Olympic hopeful or even a former Olympian yourself (as my visitor data fully leads me imagine you probably might be) but the whole business has never sat right with me.

I have conceptual interest in the strongest and most accomplished humans from all over the globe competing in good natured feats of skill and strength. That sounds nice. Sounds nice. In practice though, it doesn’t really seem to be that and it mostly causes people to just be irritating.

And maybe this is me just living in the United States. Maybe it’s different in other parts of the world, but when my fellow countrymen, who couldn’t be arsed for the proceeding 4 years, suddenly won’t shut up about curling, are suddenly all experts in the pentathlon, or become inconceivably invested in the various athletic performances of underage girls or – its annoying.

I don’t care. You can’t make me care. I have no appetite for some nebulous surge in pride I’m supposed to feel cause “our” guy swam .2 seconds faster than that “their” guy. Yeah, you can miss me with this nationalistic horseshit.

And that is to say nothing of the legitimate economic, political or human right issues associated with the either the games themselves or the IOC. But realistically, it’s not going anywhere. I’m not even saying it should, or needs to, go anywhere. I obviously don’t patronize it and I will continue to do just that. I’m just saying, this is why I had no idea this song was making the rounds last year.

Which is probably good. This should make the rounds, cause this song is awesome. And it’s dance-able as all get out. So c’mon!

You’re not getting tired already, are you? It’s only been 400 songs! The night is still young!

Hallowe’en, Hallowe’en

TRACK #400:

Hallowe’en, Hallowe’en by Oscar Brand

Well, here we are, 400 tracks. It’s wild to think that this playlist has made it to 400 songs. If you had asked me back in 2012, when I first started writing about these songs on Tumbler, if I’d still be doing this in 2025, I’d have said you were nuts. I wouldn’t have been surprised that there were 400 songs (there’s always been too many songs to talk about) but I would have been surprised I had actually kept up the practice consistently enough to make it to 400.

So, this one should probably be a special kind of addition. And though after 399 songs you might imagine we’ve exhausted the reserves, I think we have just the right creepy old tune to ring in the occasion; a tune that’s been sitting patiently in the bullpen, waiting for the right moment to arrive and I think 400 is just that moment.

The name Oscar Brand might not be immediately familiar to some readers, unless of course those readers happen to be pretty big fans of Folk music. Cause Oscar was an incredibly influential cornerstone of the folk music scene of the mid-20th century. A Canadian by birth, Oscar moved to at the United States at a fairly young age. Despite that, he played extensively in Canada throughout his career and even hosted the Canadian Television program called Let’s Sing Out in the mid 60’s. which gave the world their first views of artists like Joni Mitchell, Dave Van Ronk and Phil Ochs.

While Oscar was an accomplished musician in his own right and his television show was a big hit, his most enduring contribution is without a doubt his radio program, Oscar Brand’s Folksong Festival.

For 70 years Oscar hosted this New York AM radio program, the longest running radio program with a singular host in the history of American broadcasting. The show ran from 1945 until Oscar’s death in 2016 and was hugely responsible for ushering in the folk era of American Music. It was this show that introduced America to practically every singer/songwriter you can name. Interviews with Woody Guthrie, Dylan, Peter Paul and Mary, Joan Baez, and Peter Seeger (among countless others) were all broadcast to the country first by Oscar on WNYC-AM 820.

However, the most incredible aspect of the program was that Oscar did it as a complete labor of love. He received no payment for the entire run of the show. In an effort to keep it an uncensored bastion of free speech, safe from disingenuous attack, he ran it exclusively as a public service, even forgoing payments to the artists that appeared.

This freedom would become incredibly important as Oscar’s show grew up during McCarthyism, where many of the folks singers Oscar interviewed were being considered “Communist.” Oscar provided a platform for blacklisted artists to speak out without fear of financial repercussions because there weren’t any purse strings that could be used to pull him. That didn’t stop the House Un-American Activities Committee from branding his program “a pipeline to communism” for essentially providing Americans the ability to exercise their first amendment right.

Though he released over 60 albums since 1949, it is his 1979 release Trick Or Treat: Hallowe’en Celebrated In Story And Song that brings us here tonight. This full blown Halloween record featuring songs and stories for children makes for great vintage holiday listening. It’s like what The Old Gray Goose’s album might sound like if Goose was an accomplished folk singer and a more disciplined storyteller that didn’t have such a thick accent. I know that sounds 100% less awesome than The Goose (and it is, to be sure) but it definitely makes for a much more, shall we say, reasonable album.

Out of all these songs and stories, our selection for the evening and our 400th track has got to be Hallowe’en, Hallowe’en. Oscar attempts to tell some visiting trick or treaters a Halloween story, but when they show absolutely zero interest and beat feet, he decides we need to hear it instead. A bit presumptuous to just assume we wanna hear this shit if the kids didn’t, you ask me. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t.

So let’s sit back this October evening and let a folk legend tell us a spooky story about the origin or our haunted Holiday.

The Phantom of the Opera

TRACK #394:

Phantom of the Opera by Long Tall Ernie and The Shakers

In an effort to flesh out our Classic Monster Block, we’re gonna lean on our old friends Long Tall Ernie and The Shakers.

These guys should probably already be Shindig All-Stars by now, as their 1979 album Meet the Monsters plays like ready-made, 8 track Shindig Mini-playlist. However, this is only the second time we’re pulling from that album. And the last time we did? 2019! That’s 5 seasons ago! That’s enough time for us to have added most of this album.

But who knows, maybe one day Long Tall Ernie’ll suit up with the All-Star Team, lord knows he could.

For today, we’re just gonna let them fill the Phantom of the Opera sized hole, not just in this block, but in this entire playlist. evidently. Seriously, is this really the first legit song we’re getting about the Phantom of the Opera? In 13 years? That can’t be true. Hold on.

Ok, yep. It’s true, I guess.

You get Title Track goofballs Phantom of the Mall and Phantom of the Ritz showing up in 2022 and that’s about it. You could argue Phantom of the Paradise made an appearance back in 2017, but I still don’t think that qualifies as a legit Phantom of the Opera tune.

Man, that’s crazy. The Phantom of the Opera is a a huge iconic character to have just roundly ignored like that. I mean, you have Lon Chaney, not even Jr. mind you, but Big Daddy Chain, pulling out all the stops to create one of Hollywood’s original movie-magic monster transformations. And the whole thing it’s about music! How have I seriously hit on this subject ‘til 2025? I guess there’s just not that many songs about the Phnatom? I dunno if that’s true. I’m sure it’s not. I just don’t think I was looking, for whatever reason. But hey, what are ya gonna do? We’re here now, ain’t we?

If you’re a real big Phantom fan that’s been patiently waiting for this blog to finally drop a Phantom of the Opera mini-playlist, I don’t know what to tell you. You never spoke up, I’ll say that much. I’ve yet to get one complaint about the lack of representation for Erik, The Phantom of the Opera, on this playlsit.

But, if that was you, quietly suffering like I’m not a DM shimmy slide away, tonight is your night. So let’s let Ernie and his Shakers introduce us all to…The Phantom of the Opera!

Dracula (The Zane Brothers)

TRACK #393:

Dracula by The Zane Brothers

For every Shindig All-Star with multiple songs on the playlist, or even huge stars with one-off additions like Michael Jackson or Chuck Berry,
there’s probably 10 tracks from guys that never cut another record in their entire careers. Hell, some of them never even released another song.

The Zane Brothers, whomever they may be, are just such fellas.

Now, thank the maker though, because with their one musical life they choose to make a song about Dracula. It’s quite probably the very reason they only got to shoot one shot, but it’s definitely what I’m looking for, and (by extension) what you’re looking for, as a person reading these words.

It’s a humdinger of Drac Track too, one that ought to get your feet moving. At least if you’re already in a dance-friendly environment that is, like maybe a Halloween party, expecting to hear dance worthy songs about Dracula. If you’re just driving in your ‘83 Ford Fiesta on your way to a double shift at the diner, perhaps a song about Dracula just gets shut the fuck off, who knows?

Me? I’m keepin it on, rolling down the window and leaning on the volume knob just pumped that any station is broadcasting a song about Dracula through actual radio waves. And that’s not simply because I’m the kinda guy who would compile songs like that onto an unnecessarily and obnoxiously long Halloween playlist for the past 13 years. I mean, that certainly doesn’t hurt, but it’s not the only reason.

Naw, it’s cause this song is cool. Trust me! I’ve waded through a several pints of Dracula songs that aren’t even worth mentioning, much less listening to, and this is definitely not one of them. Not at all. This one grooves and it’s even, dare I say, kinda funny.

And I still have a capes worth of Dracula songs sitting in the bullpen, but I’ll leave it at just the one this year. Maybe next year I’ll drop another full on Dracula block, cause man, they are seriously piling up.

For now, let’s let The Zane Brothers spin their unique yarn about that age old Halloween song staple, Dracula.

The Evils of Frankenstein

TRACK #365:

Evils of Frankenstein by Choctaw John

Look, we’re reasonable people.

And as reasonable people, we can overlook the fact that there isn’t any actual film called The Evils of Frankenstein

Cause c’mon, it was 1976, after all. Cross referenceable material, albeit available, wasn’t nearly as ubiquitous as we’ve come to expect in our cushy age of instantaneous digital information. Unwittingly adding an “S” to the title of some movie you randomly caught on Creature Features one night…a movie that scared the shit outta you so bad you had to write a song about it…isn’t nearly the worst thing you could do. Who knows, he was probably hammered anyway.

But was this dude even watching The Evil of Frankenstein?

First and foremost, he describes Frankenstein and his hunchback assistant building a creature. This does not happen in The Evil of Frankenstein. Not only does Victor not have a hunchback assistant, he doesn’t even build a creature. They discover Victor’s original creature frozen in ice, ala Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman.

And speaking of ala, of all the Hammer Frankenstein’s to write a song about, you pick Evil? Hammer’s co-opted, financed by Universal “let’s just retcon this whole thing and port the entire Universal aesthetic over to Bray Studios” travesty? Really? C’mon John. Just about every other Hammer Frankenstein is better than that mess.

And to that point, despite being called The Evil of Frankenstein, it’s probably Cushing’s least evil portrayal of the character, and thus the least likely to turn your hair white.

Part of the Universal-ization of Evil extended to the Doc’s entire demeanor, I guess. Cause gone was Hammer’s original and refreshing take, which placed Victor front and center as a villain, a man willing to straight up take life in his obsessive quest to create life.

But hey, maybe he just picked that name out of a hat. Maybe he just liked the way it sounded… after he added an “s” of course.

Cause I mean, he clearly didn’t watch it. And if he did watch it, he didn’t remember it too well. Maybe it just scared the shit so far outta him his mind blocked all the small details like, ya know, the entire goddamn plot. Who’s to say?

But then he changes the channel and lands on some idealized version of House of Frankenstein or some such thing, who knows. We’re clearly in the realm of fantasy here and that’s fine, cause I don’t wanna pick on Choctaw John too much here. I mean, outside of perhaps naming yourself Choctaw John, but that’s a matter for a different website.

For our part, John recorded a great Frankenstein tune and we’re happy to have him. This 7″ also contains the B-side World of Darkness, which is another wild-ass banger chocked to the brim with dark imagery about global nuclear holocaust. Shit, John. I guess when you weren’t sittin’ around getting scared by old monster movies, you figured you might as well just scare the fuck outta everyone else, huh? Yeesh.

Well, thanks for the dark twang, bud. Now go rewatch…or maybe even just watch…The Evil of Frankenstein, will ya? And when you’re done, pop in any other Hammer Frankenstein flick, as they’re pretty much all superior to that pile.

Frankenstein (Chuck Osbourne)

TRACK #364:

Frankenstein by Chuck Osbourne

Whether talking about the man himself or his godforsaken creation, lots of folks have sung about Frankenstein. I still think not as many as Dracula, but it’s a pretty hefty list either way.

However, I don’t think anyone has sung about him as enthusiastically as Chuck Osbourne does here, on his 1975 single, Frankenstein.

Like the bastard son of Louie Armstrong and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Chuck practically throws my voice out screaming the praises of the creature for doing a bunch of shit I’m not even sure he ever did. Hard to know really, cause I can’t rightly understand most of whatever the hell Chuck’s even saying in this song. But man, is it awesome.

I might even go so far as to call this the coolest song I’ve ever heard about Frankenstein, Doctor or otherwise. I’m not sure why it took me so long to find this one, but I’m sure glad I did, and I hope that you are too.

Seems there’s a little confusion over Chuck’s name, though. See, he released this song twice on a Pennsylvania label called Hittsburgh USA, which I gotta say, is a pretty outstanding name for a label from the Monongahela Valley.

Can’t tell which record was first though, as they both got released in ‘75. One of them was the B-Side of Day Dream Drifter. That one is credited to Chuck Osborne. And that guy had a couple of other singles.

The other one is a A-Sider with an instrumental version of the tune on the B-side. Now, that one is credited to a guy named Chuck Osbourne, with a U. That’s weird. Chucky U doesn’t have any other singles, just this one.

Was this just a typo? What gives? Guy hiding from the Feds? What’s the deal here?

I imagine if my name was spelt wrong on my own goddamn single, the only single Hittsburgh USA had to their name mind you, I’d be pretty pissed off. Maybe that’s why he spends the whole song just screaming.

And it’s not like they didn’t know how to spell it. One of these pressings got it right. Useless, of course, that’s not even his name at all, and it’s some kinda cover. Maybe he is hiding from the Feds. Guy sounds a little unhinged here about Frankenstein, it’s not outta the realm of possibility to think he’s done some wild shit. I better stop asking so many questions.

I’d say I’m gonna go with Osborne, cause that guy had more releases, but I don’t think so. That no U business is some B-Side bullshit.

I’m goin Osbourne, cause that’s the guy who released the full-on Frankenstein single, with the instrumental on the flip. Frankenstein by Chuck Osbourne is an goddamn A-sider, fuckin’ Hittsburgh USA. Put some respect on that name, however you spell it. Cause if this song is any indication, Chuck deserves it.

Hey Frankenstein

TRACK #361:

Hey Frankenstein by Ecstasy

So, what’s all the fuss about Dracula, anyway?

Guy’s kinda boring, ain’t he? Drink a little blood, flash a little cape, hiss a bit with some fangs maybe, whatever. Big deal. Why’s this dude getting so much love in the tracks?

What about ole Frankenstein?

Well, while seemingly not as referenced as The Count, Frankenstein is still no slouch when it comes to recordings. In fact, according to a title search of “Frankenstein” on Discogs, there’s 785 master recordings. That’s almost 120 more than Dracula! Maybe old nut-neck ain’t 2nd banana after all. Maybe he is the big dog at the party. Though in fairness, a ton of those releases are just various compilation appearances and covers of the Edgar Winter classic. Without meticulously scrubbing either search for duplicates of that nature, it would hard to say for sure who emerges as the clear winner.

That’s of no real concern to us though, cause we’re gonna show Frank a little love now anyway, cause Lord knows he’s been getting the high-hat. Plus, I got a bunch of Franken-Jams clogging up the bullpen. Not as many as Dracula, but still quite a few.

I think it’s worth noting that in 9 out of 10 songs it’s the monster that’s being referenced rather than the Doctor. Sometimes that can be hard to determine with some of these songs, but it’s a safe bet it’s usually the creature.

And we can look the other way on that one, right gang? We can just accept that most people are calling the creature “Frankenstein,” accurate or not. I’m prepared to let it go for a block of Franken-Rock, aren’t you?

Yeah, of course you are, cause you don’t give a damn. Does the track groove? Yeah? Well then fire it up.

And groove this one does, cause we’re flippin’ the switch on this block with another song I had to fish outta the drink just to hear. And once again, it was definitely worth it. Some people had the A-side from the Ecstasy single What’d I Say? but no one seemed to have the B-side, Hey Frankenstein.

Ecstasy was a French disco band in the late 70’s that cut a number of 45s, but seemed to fizzle out just before the turn of the decade.

Chris Dobat, otherwise known as Mister Ecstasy, was the driving force behind that band and he seems to have pivoted to solo Funk work in the 80’s. Not bad.

Here, he lets it all hang out with some funky disco dedicated to Doctor himself. At least, I think anyway. Cause I’m not gonna lie, half the time I can’t tell what the hell Chris is actually saying. The fact that this is the B-side to What’d I Say? seems entirely appropriate.

However, I didn’t wanna leave y’all hanging. So, I decided to listen to this song on repeat, for an ungodly amount of times, until I figured out what the lyrics are.

Here is my best attempt. If anyone would like to assist me or correct any of these lines, I’ll take all the help I can get. We posted the song to YouTube last year, and you can use their playback speed to help with the translation. Though I warn you, it’s only so helpful.

Hey Frankenstein
Hey Hey, Hey Hey (x2)

Hey Frankenstein
Comes walking in
you know its him
Oh, bad Frankenstein

Hey, Frankenstein
He’s gotta prove
He’s in the groove
Oh, bad Frankenstein

He takes a drink
To make it quick
It’s all feelin fine
He can’t play fair
He doesn’t care
He’s bad Frankenstein

Hey, Frankenstein
He’s doctor
When his medicine
Oh, he’s Frankenstein

Hey, Frankenstein
He wore his dice
And they’ll look nice
He’s no valentine

So full of ice
He wore them twice
He’s no friend of mine
And if your taught
To live to start
Don’t, bad Frankenstein

Hey Frankenstein
Hey Hey, Hey Hey (x2)

He’s moving fast
He’s moving where it’s at
Looking for fun
Anyway, anywhere, anyone

When there’s no more fun
He’s back on the run
Playboy #1
Always looking for fun

On the run

?
He’s got a secret
Dice!
He wore them twice!
Louder
Sexy
Horns
He begs it

Mr. Frankenstein
Comes a-walking in
Mr. Frankenstein
Funky Valentine

Hey, Frankenstein
He’s gotta prove
He’s in the groove
Oh, bad Frankenstein

Hey, Frankenstein
When it get hot
He’s very bad
He’s bad, Frankenstein

He knows the way
To scare his prey
Oh he’s Frankenstein
He’ll never let you get away
Here comes Frankenstein

Hey Frankenstein
Comes walking in
you know its him
Oh, bad Frankenstein

Hey, Frankenstein
He’s gotta prove
He’s in the groove
Oh, bad Frankenstein

He takes a drink
To make it quick
It’s all feelin fine
He can’t play fair
He doesn’t care
He’s bad Frankenstein (x4)

So, that’s what I got anyway.

Can’t say I’m entirely convinced I got any of this right, and lots of it just sounds wrong. But some it of seems right, and after entirely too many listens, I gotta call it a wrap. But please, if you’re feeling like maybe you also gotta know what this guy is saying and my translation seems like trash, help me out. Lemme know what you think.

Oh, and hey! Speaking of letting it all hang out, that’s a full on fully up there adorning the front of this 45. Cause hey, if you jump into a tub to record your single, maybe a nipple slips out, ya know? It’s ‘78! It’s disco! What’s a nipple? C’mon, get loose, will ya?

Mary Shelley would have wanted to see her nipple.

Love Me Dracula

TRACK #358:

Love Me Dracula by Meco

Ah Meco. You know know Meco, right? He’s the guy you can thank (or blame) for The Star Wars Christmas Album Christmas in the Stars. I’ll be thanking him, thank you very much, but your mileage may vary.

Years before that Imperial entanglement though, he was known as the guy who made John Williams watch as a disco version of his Star Wars Theme hit #1 on the Billboard charts while his own version peaked at #10. He also almost stole John’s Grammy Award to boot, and for the same composition! The balls on this guy.

Well, he did it again, in the same fuckin year, with the theme from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. John got his revenge that time though, with his original theme besting Meco’s disco version in the charts, and winning another Grammy, while Meco didn’t even see a nomination.

But, that didn’t stop Johnsonburg, Pennsylvania’s Domenico Monardo, though. No way. The following year he tried to rebottle boogie lightning yet again with a version of another Williams score. This time it was Superman, but it didn’t fare quite as well as the others, unfortunately.

Additionally, he took a disco stab at The Wizard of Oz, Shogun, Anything Goes, Jerry Goldsmith’s Star Trek, and even more John Williams with Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Empire Strikes Back. What can I say? The guy had an M.O.

In between all that disco apery though, Meco somehow found time to release a genuine original album in 1979’s Moondancer. The album’s cover was designed by Meco himself and the back has an introduction written by him as well, and it’s perhaps the best part:

“One night I dreamt that I was at a disco. What was so unusual about the dream was that the disco was on the Moon, and among the regular clientele were many Creatures of the Night.

I asked the intergalactic Council to teleport me there to see if such a place existed.

Sure enough, there it was; just as I imagined it would be! I couldn’t believe it.

Down in a huge gorge, stretching for miles was the disco:

MOONDANCER.

Dancing the endless night away were all the creatures I had dreamed of.

I asked Casablanca Records to allow me to record my impressions of that night.

My orchestra and I invite you to listen and enjoy:

MOONDANCER.”

Outstanding.

Because it’s Meco though, 2 of its 6 tracks are covers. However, because it’s also Meco, the man who never met a fad he didn’t wanna capitalize on, there’s a Disco Dracula number on there too. Fuck yeah there is.

And it’s a good one too. It wasn’t written by Monardo (as most of the album is not, unsurprisingly) but it’s a standup double of a Disco Dracula and (I think) the bright spot on an a fairly bland and generic disco album.

For me, it’s somewhat reminiscent of Rock Me Dracula by Mokka. Is this just another count on Meco’s lengthy larcenous indictment, or did Mokka try to out-Meco Meco?

Or hell, maybe great Disco Dracula minds think alike the whole world over. But, since they both dropped in ‘79, without any concrete dates, we may never know for sure.

What I can say though, is that this is where our Disco Dracula block will come to an end. For now, we will bid The Count farewell, but like all immortal creatures of the night, he will rise again soon enough, to strike fear into our ears once more.

Until then, Love Me Dracula!

Sweet Sexy Dracula

TRACK #356:

Sweet Sexy Dracula by Café Au Lait

Disco was pretty big in Japan. While American Rock ‘N Roll grabbed Japanese pop culture for the late 60’s and early 70’s, by 1974, that island was dancing to a new beat.

As such, lots of Disco artists enjoyed great success overseas. Some even went so far as to release records exclusively in Japan. Ice (aka Captain Dax) is a good example of a band directing their attention almost entirely to the Japanese market. And it seems such was the case with our next Disco Dracula enablers, the curiously French named, Café Au Lait.

Café Au Lait is a coffee drink. I know this now because if you try and search for this band, the results are pretty much exclusively this drink. It’s kinda like a latte I guess, only it’s made with regular coffee instead of espresso. Great. I feel more sophisticated already.

Now, what the fuck a French coffee beverage has to do with Disco, Dracula or Japan is anyone’s guess. But let’s talk less about coffee and more about those other 3 things for a moment.

Hot Blood’s 1975 gateway drug Soul Dracula, was a pretty big hit in Japan. I mean, it was a pretty big hit here too, and practically spawned what’s shaping up to be an entire sub-genre of music, but in Japan, they were clamoring for it a bit more insatiably.

So much so it seems that, according to wild and unconfirmed sources on the crazy ass internet, Japan (the entire country, I guess) asked Mr. Alain Goraguer to produce his Soul Dracula sound-alike Sexy Dracula. Ok, that seems plausible, weird commenter on discogs, sure. We’ll just go with that.

Was it a hit. I dunno. Maybe?

Not to be outdone, Café Au Lait sought to court a case of Japanese disco fever 3 years later with Sweet Sexy Dracula.

Now, it can be tricky digging up info on these old, sometimes one-off, bands from over 40 years ago. And that difficultly gets compounded if you name your group after a fuckin’ coffee drink.

They don’t sound French to me. Could be Canadian, I suppose. Hell, could be French, but I’m not hearing it. Least not from the lead singer.

So, who were Café Au Lait? Where were they from? Surely they’re not Japanese, but this record was released there. They actually produced a whole LP titled Midnight Bazaar. That’s more than you can say for a lot of these Disco Dracula folk. Sweet Sexy Dracula is the lead-off batter on that album too and you’re goddamn right it is.

I search and type, and dig through YouTube comments and discog notes. Search again with different keywords but mostly I just find people selling the record or featuring it on write-ups or mixes of Disco Dracula songs with no more information than “Hey, here’s another one.” Maybe I’m just bad at looking. Maybe I can’t read Japanese. Maybe the information just isn’t out there.

I did find this fascinating article recently from Diabolique Magazine in 2018. It details a bunch of the big Dracula Disco hitters, in addition to the films of 1979, all as a framework for Disco Demolition Night.

That was the night of the infamous anti-disco promotional shitshow cooked up by Shock Jock Steve Dahl in Chicago. They held it at Comisky Park after a White Sox double-header in July of 1979. The plan was that everyone who came to the stadium that night would bring a disco record with them and then Steve would blow up the whole lot after the games. And he did! Then shit got a little out of hand over at the ballpark. It always comes back to baseball around here, it seems.

But this article appears to be the only thing of its kind really. And perhaps rightfully so. But it doesn’t touch upon any of the little guys; the Hotlines, the Bob Babylones or sadly, the Café Au Laits.

Am I crazy? Am I the only one who cares? Am I the lone person hearing these tunes thinking – man, I’d like to know just a little bit more about the people that made this weird song, so I can write more than “Hey Dracula and cocaine were a crazy duo in the 70’s, huh?”

Feeling at my wits end I actually consulted the harbinger of human civilization’s ruin du jour, ChatGPT.

After wrestling for hours with that goofball, who can’t even seem to return the results of a basic Google search, I did get a bit of information.

Who knows how solid that it is though, as I have yet to get that dipshit to provide me a link that actually takes me where it says it’s suppose to.

Seriously, anyone who’s afraid ChatGPT might be the end of humanity, go have a fuckin’ conversation with that nimrod about a 40 year old Dracula Disco song. Your fears will be instantly quelled, particularly when it repeats back the information you just feed it as though it dug it up on its own. Oh Café Au Lait seem to be fairly obscure Disco band that only released 1 record called Midnight Bazaar, huh? No shit, buddy, I just fuckin’ told you that.

So alas, that’s what I’m left with. That and some speculation. Maybe no one actually cares. Maybe no one wants to read about me caring that no one seems to care. Maybe nobody wants to read at all, particularly dumb things written by dumb me on this dumb blog devoted to dumb shit. Who knows?

Maybe all they want (if they even want this at all) is to just hear the damn song and move on. And maybe that all ya’ll want too, so here it comes.

Sexy Dracula

TRACK #355:

Sexy Dracula by Monsieur Goraguer

Now, I know when I started this Dracula block, I forgot to mention that it was basically gonna be another Disco Dracula Block. Sorry about that.

If you’re all like “Seriously? There’s more of these fuckin’ Disco Dracula songs? How is that even possible?” I feel it’s only courteous to inform you that this batch doesn’t even cover them all.

So, you’ll definitely be hearing more, eventually. But this will probably be the only other “block” of them, as after this batch, there aren’t as many I really like.

First and foremost, there’s Sweet Exorcist’s Disco Vampire. There’s a few different versions, but even the best of them can’t stop that tune from being just a little bit irritating.

Sweet Exorcist was one of many aliases used by our old friends The Lafayette Afro Band, whom you may remember as Captain Dax of Dr. Beezar Soul Frankenstein fame. They used a lot of names over the years like Krispie and Company, Bionic Unlimited and Ice.

As Ice they actually released a grip of Playlist prospects like Disco Frankenstein, Igor’s Reggae and Creature from the Freak Lagoon. Unfortunately, I don’t particularly like those much more than Disco Vampire.

Then there’s Possession’s Black Dracula. That one kinda grooves. You might catch this one of the playlist eventually.

Of course there’s also the other 2 tracks I mentioned from Dracula Blows His Cool. I may still include one of those yet, I dunno.

Pan Demonium cut a tune in 1979 called Dracula’s Dream, which definitely looked to jump on Disco Dracula train. That song’s fine and all, but it wasn’t really exciting enough for this block. Later on in the playlist? Possibly.

Maya’s Mister Dracula is definitely worth a spin and likely to join this playlist within the next few years I’m sure, while Bobby Babylone’s Viva Dracula definitely will be and narrowly escaped not being featured this year.

There’s also Disco Vampirella, Vampire State Blvd., Super Blood Sucker, there’s even The Rah Band, with their cut Vampire Vamp. Now, I like that one a lot, but it’s only an instrumental and doesn’t directly reference Dracula or have much ambience.

Tonight’s Disco Dracula tune, however, has that in spades. It too is mostly an instrumental, like Soul Dracula or Disco Blood. But also like those songs, it’s got Dracula vibe to spare.

From Monsieur Goraguer, comes Sexy Dracula, a sort of Disco Blood with a French tickler twist complete with the requisite moaning and sucking sounds you’ve come to expect from this kind of thing.

Monsieur Goraguer was a barely-alias used by pianist Alain Goraguer, who was an incredibly prolific composer and arranger in France. Though having scored music for dozens of features and TV shows, he’s perhaps most famous for his work with the French legend, Serge Gainsbourg.

Now, why this classically trained and renowned Jazz musician would cut something like Sexy Dracula is anyone’s guess. The pull of Disco Dracula was just too great, I reckon.

We’re all glad he did though, cause he uncorked a doozy here, as maybe only someone of his skill could.

Here’s Sexy Dracula.

Count Called Dracula

TRACK #353:

Count Called Dracula by The Showman

Looks like we got another Shindig Exclusive coming at ya, cause with all the Dracula Disco out there, we still somehow managed to dig one up that didn’t seem to be available anywhere else.

Finding this one wasn’t too big of a trick, but finally getting to drop a needle on it was definitely a treat. How this song isn’t in more places is beyond me, cause it grooves.

The song is titled Count Called Dracula, which is in the chorus, but it also features the line “Just a dude named Dracula” which is immeasurably cooler. Now, why they didn’t go ahead and call the song Just a Dude Named Dracula is beyond me, but I’ll take this track whatever it’s name might be, cause it’s a jam.

The funked out disco beat, the silly voices, the dated (even for 1978) Mae West joke. It’s all pretty great.

The Showman is actually a guy by the name of Alexander Simmons, who wrote and produced this one. He doesn’t seem to perform on the track however, which is a bit strange.

Here he is Dracin’ the fuck out with 2 ladies of the night, presumably Catalina Sevilla and Linda Kaye Hal, who both provide vocals on the tune.

Smooth.

Unfortunately, Alexander didn’t seem to produce anything else. The album lists a ton of players, but only Ray Chew seems to have much of anything under his belt. For the rest of the crew, a Count Called Dracula appears to be it.

But if I had a chance to produce and release one song, and only one song in my lifetime, I would be so lucky as to drop a banger like Count Called Dracula. Y’all should be proud, cause in deference to the songs lyrics, it is pretty spectacular.

Dracula’s Boogie

TRACK #352:

Dracula’s Boogie by Top Shelf

Here’s another Drac-Track about the good count getting down. Or at least a dance that’s named after him, at any rate. Ya know, like The Lurch, or The Freddy. Either way, boogieing and Dracula are involved and that’s what we’re here for.

This one comes from Top Shelf, a Funk/Soul/maybe Disco (I guess) group from possibly New York. Discogs lists all three and the record company Sound Trek Records is a NY based outfit, so it’s inferences all around.

Sound Trek Records doesn’t seem to have released much outside of these singles and LP from Top Shelf. Though the label did aslo release a pair for singles from successful soul singer Laura Greene. Laura even had a role in Robert Downey’s classic satire Putney Swope as Mrs. Swope. Nice!

Laura Greene, however, has nothing else to do with Top Shelf (that I can tell), outside of this minor intersection.

Needless to say, I couldn’t seem to find much in the way of information on these guys. Night People seems to be their only real album.

The funny thing is, Night People was released in 1980, however the single for Dracula’s Boogie (with the excellent b-side Goin’ Thru the Motions) was released in 1979. So, this song was certainly recorded and released in the 70’s, despite the release of the albums. I guess I’ll chalk it up to a 70’s, cause hey, that seems like a more appropriate place for it to be anyhow.

So, grab a cape and cut a rug with Dracula’s Boogie!

Dracula Pt. I

TRACK #351:

Dracula Pt. 1 by The Jimmy Castor Bunch

I dunno what the cocaine was cut with in the 1970’s, but people were goin fuckin’ nuts for Dracula. The amount of Soul, Funk, Disco and Rock tunes from that era, dedicated specifically to the old leech, is staggering.

In the bullpen right now I have another 16 Dracula songs from the 1970’s, of which 6 are from 1979 alone. And there’s already 7 of those on the playlist! So, I had to be a little picky here or we’d be stuck listening to Dracula songs until track #400.

We’ll stake out a healthy block here though, cause I gotta clear out some of these long suffering prospects.

And to kick off our Dracula block in style, we got Jimmy Castor, aka The Everything Man, and his funked out ode to the Prince of Darkness.

In 1975, right on the heels of (or perhaps even before) Soul Dracula, Jimmy and his Bunch dropped Dracula Pt. 1. Don’t worry about Pt. 2 though, it’s just an instrumental version.

Jimmy takes on the persona of Drac and slips in and out of character on this laid back cut that pays tribute to what a smooth motherfucker that count was.

According to the BBC (who are clearly the authorities on such matters) Jimmy Castor is one of the most sampled musicians of all time. And Jimmy’s been sampled quite a bit, no doubt. Specifically, bits of his 1972 songs Troglodyte and It’s Just Begun have popped up on tracks from the likes of N.W.A., Kool Moe D, Ice T, Arianna Grande, JJ Fad and Redman!

But one of the most sampled musicians of all time? I dunno about all that.

So, I consulted an actual authority, ya know, not just some tosser over at the British Broadcasting Company, to find out if that claim held any water.

According to whosampled.com, Jimmy isn’t even cracking the top 100 most sampled artists of all time. At 320 samples, Jimmy is a full 183 samples away from the 100th most sampled musician, legendary composer Ennio Morricone.

So, one of the most sampled? Not exactly, but definitely more than most.

And what of Dracula Pt. 1? Well, unfortunately no one seems to have sampled any parts of this tune. Which is a shame, cause this thing grooves. If the hip-hop constituency doesn’t wanna show this Jimmy Castor track any love, it’s ok. That’s what Halloween Shindig is here for.

So let’s let Dracula introduce himself now, cause we’re gonna be spending a little time with the old Count.

Halloween Shindig

The Horror Fan's Halloween Playlist

The 70’s