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 Evilextended 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.
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 Osbournedoes 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.
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?
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 TheWizard of Oz, Shogun, Anything Goes, Jerry Goldsmith’s Star Trek, and even more John Williams with Raiders of the Lost Arkand 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.
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.
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.
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’sDisco 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’sBlack 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’sMister Dracula is definitely worth a spin and likely to join this playlist within the next few years I’m sure, while Bobby Babylone’sViva 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 Goraguerwas 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.
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. Ya’ll should be proud, cause in deference to the songs lyrics, it is pretty spectacular.
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 Swopeas 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!
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.
Look, I know this album cover over here ain’t exactly selling the sizzle or the steak, but the 2006 CD Bomp in the Night is actually a pretty solid Halloween compilation.
It’s a 30-track packed offering of, mostly old (but trusty) Halloween staples. Bert Convy, Danny Hutton, Jack and Jim, Lee Ross and Mann Drake all appear on this comp. It even features a rare cover of Spooky Movies by Ron Barrett. Nice!
Now, this sort of thing is completely irrelevant these days, given that most of the songs here are readily available, if not on music streaming services, then most certainly YouTube. And that affords you all the ability to take or leave as many of these songs as you’d like in the building of your own personal Halloween playlist.
Most of them.
There are a few rare and unique tracks here that might cause a guy like me, in a year like 2020, to actually seek out this album, including the song I fully purchased this album to hear, The Mysterial’sHalloween (It’s Your Big Scene).
This tune is only available either here, or (I think anyway) on their 2008 release Theatre of the Seasons under the title Halloween (The Story of Linus). I assume this is the same song, but I ain’t in no rush to confirm that shit, because I don’t really like this song. It’s definitely not making the playlist, either way. Such is life. So it goes. Thanks for playing.
It’s a throwbacky Doo-Wop snoozer about Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin, which might sound great, but it doesn’t actually sound great, so here it ain’t.
I will make it available on DigTV however, so that any potential diggers out there can spare themselves any serious scouring or dollars and decide for themselves if they want to hear it a 2nd time.
Ok, then why the fuck are we even talking about this damn CD then?
Well, I mention it because it’s also the only place I’ve ever seen where you can hear tonight’s track, outside of finding it’s original 45 anyway. And it’s The Halloween Song by The Four Downs.
Of course, I found that 45 before I found this CD, but I enjoy having the 45, and it certainly didn’t cost much, so either way.
However, that 45 contained some sort of scratch or imperfection that made it so I couldn’t actually rip a clean copy from the vinyl, even after hours of cleaning, brushing, replaying and trying again.
So, in went the CD. But, ah-ha! This CD apparently contained its own imperfection, as it would only rip to track 25 before promptly ejecting the fuckin’ thing over and over and over. What is this, some sick joke? It played fine in my car, so what gives?
I ended up having to drag my DVD player out to the Halloween Hole and hook it up to my inputs and manually record the output of the CD to get this digital copy. Holy shit.
But after all of that, I can confidentially state that this tune was actually saved from Halloween obscurity by Bomp in the Night. Big ups.
And now my frustration is the world’s gain as in addition to this song now being featured on the playlist, I will post it on YouTube for Halloween hungry hermits the world over. No longer need The Halloween Song by The Four Downs be hard to come across, scratched and digitally corrupted. Nay!
Because this is exactly the sort of thing we wanna have cap off our Referential Monster jam mega block. This mellow tune (which sounds suspiciously similar to Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da) is possibly the most Referential Halloween Monster Song this side of Vanilla Ice’s Born on Halloween.
V. Ice probably still holds the crown, based on sheer volume, but for the quality over quantity crowd, The Four Downs have got you covered. The record itself is even dedicated to George Romero and Billy Cardille. Nice!
The song details some martial strife that plagues a Pittsburgh couple (newlywed on Halloween, no less) after they festively ring in the occasion with a little Chiller Theatre marathon. After their night of Chilly Billy and chill, the husband starts acting a little peculiar.
Gorgo, Dr. X, Rodan, Willard, The Crawling Hand, Day of the Triffidsy? Even The Tingler gets a shout in their rapid-fire referential litany. Not necessarily deep cuts in ‘79, but it’s a refreshing and old school hit list in 2023.
What’s more? It’s yet another instance of The Mysterioso Pizzicato. What is it with that lick? People composing Halloween Songs love that shit.
And a plus 1 here to Baader-Meinhof, because ever since putting those 2 songs next to each other last year and talking about The Mysterioso Pizzicato, I have run across no less than 5 additional songs incorporating that tune. That’s almost as many as were on the playlist already! I’d call it synchronicity, but it’s really not at all important. Either way, you know a playlist is eminent.
For now, kick back with Dave Goodrich and Julie Holzen as they work through some monster inspired trouble in paradise with The Halloween Song.
We were starting to get into a whole “movie” groove there before we got all sidetracked by balls.
Hmmm.
Well, that’s probably the most direct route to where I was headed anyway, so let’s just go with it.
But yeah, movie songs. There’s a ton of em, and we’re gonna take Horror Ball’s lead and segue from the “Monster” Movie straight into the “Horror” Movie with a tune from Australian glam rock outfit, Skyhooks.
Their 1974 hit Horror Movieis no stranger to Halloween music lists. Hell, Elvira herself included it on her excellent 1988 double LP compilation Haunted Hits.
And why not? Lead singer Shirley Strachan says the phrase “Horror Movie” no less than 22 times in this tune. So people can be forgiven for taking it at face(ish) value and assuming they’re just tuned into an episode Deadly Ernest’s Aweful Movies on Syndey’s Channel 10.
Alas, the lyrics to this one state pretty plainly that the Skyhooks boys are simply likening the evening news to a Horror film, and not talking about genre movies at all.
With its penchant for peddling hatred and violence while it sells you detergent and booze, it’s clear that the band definitely feels a certain way about the news media, even back in 1974.
The more things change.
They’re certainly not the first band to disguise (though I use that term quite loosely here) a social message amidst a song about Halloween or Horror. They’re not even the first band on the playlist to do that, so we won’t hold it against ‘em. Besides, this song’s pretty groovin’, even if it’s not really about horror movies at all.
You’re probably reading this on a phone, but I watch a horror movie right there on my TV.
Oh yeah? Big Eric, huh? So, what’s this guy’s deal?
Well, let’s start with that name. “Big Eric “ appears to be a one-off pseudonym used by German artist Eric Billinghurst specifically for this track.
But Eric Billinghurst is better know throughout Germany as Bill Hurst, a standard issue AOR style rocker who produced 2 albums including the (apparently quite rare) 1982 release, Ice Cold Calculation. That fucker’s going for over 200 buck right now on Discogs. This is a shame because it contains a track called Horror that I’d love to investigate. Is it a different take on this song? Is it some other referential rock rarity? Who knows? Not us. Well, at least not yet anyway. That’s fuck off dollars from something I ain’t heard before. I’m hesitant to buy the Critters LPs that are goin for half that much, and the playlist needs a cleaner copy of that song pronto. But Ice Cold Calculation is in our sights, so we’ll keep you posted.
Until then, we can satisfy our Bill Hurst fix with Horror Ball, a peculiar Discoish tune that doubles as a fun play on words.
This one’s a bit silly, but that’s never been a problem around here, and it’s got a good groove, which is always a plus.
On top of that, it’s giving you what you need. All the Monsters you want getting shouted out to an infection disco beat.
And look at the cover to this thing! That’s just plain old fashion monster awesome.
So let’s get some horror going with Big Eric, shall we?
Though largely unheralded, The Bitter Blood Street Theatre might just be some of the earliest Shock Rockers in the game.
Formed in 1969 by a crew of Cincinnati University kids, the Thearte sported masks, capes and S&M gear for their stage shows which took on the form of a kind of Freakshow meets Vaudeville-Gone-Berserk.
Unfortunately, no footage of those shows is known to exist. Indeed, their only albums were cobbled together in the late 70’s from whatever demos existed by band captain Tom Owen. What we do know is that they opened for Alice Cooper, and it is said that Alice may have cribbed a couple of tricks from The Theatre for his own stage show. No more Mr. Nice Guy, indeed.
Not only did they open for Cooper, but the MC5, Joe Cocker, Mountain and Dr. John as well. Apparently they were pretty big locally, but never made any waves outside of Ohio.
A version of the band reformed in the 80’s as Blacklight Braille, where they continued to evolve their unique sound. Exotic instrumentation mixed with sometimes unusual arrangements performed in kinetic fashion mark the band’s overall vibe. You’d call it Rock ‘N Roll, I suppose, but there’s definitely something else going on. Something a little more theatrical.
And hey, wouldn’t you know it, they recorded a Halloween Song! Well, something of a Halloween song at any rate, with Halloween Ball.
A celebration of the Halloween’s of Old, this ball, with all sorts of Pagan overtones.
It’s probably some sort of Halloween Playlist infraction that after 10 years and almost 300 more songs, we’re just now finally talking about Screaming Lord Sutch again. I mean, he appeared early, and rightfully so, but the guy should probably be an All-Star by by now, and that’s my fault. I guess that since he was already represented, I never felt urgency to get back to him.
But right inside this throwback Monster Song block is a perfect place to revisit David Sutch, because his 1976 single, Monster Ball, is the perfect song for such an occasion.
It’s starts as many Monster Party songs do, but The 3rd Earl of Harrow puts his own distinct spin on the tried and true formula by having the monsters join together and attack the band. A bold move.
Now, a curious thing happens in this first verse. Frankenstein, cheekily, is described as being a “dapper vamp” who’s all dressed up. He then flashes his teeth and bites a chick on the neck. This seems odd. Some time later, Dracula is seen to “blow a fuse.” This is a playful juxtaposition from the Lord that I imagine is intentional, but who knows. Maybe he thinks Frankenstein is a vampire and Dracula is some kind of monster or robot.
After all that, Godzilla shows up and fights “the thing from 20,000,” which I assume is the Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. This seems like a fair enough match but ultimately “Zilly” comes out on top. A shame really. In that Bradbury’s Beast is the forerunner to Godzilla (and every other giant nuclear beast of the 50’s and 60’s) it would have been nice to see him win the day, just on the grounds of him being the OG.
Now, perhaps it’s just me (or maybe you’ll agree) but I think this song sounds strangely similar to another 1976 song about balls, AC/DC’sBig Balls. Dunno if there’s any real correlation, or which one came first, or if there’s even any musical evidence to back up that claim, but I just feel it.
Either way, it’s a 70’s take on an age old Novelty tradition done as only Screaming Lord can do.
Speaking of Jack and Jim, here’s another duo knockin’ out some more old time Monster Roll for ya.
Clifton Nivison and Martin Fulterman (the Clif and Marty here, respectively) were both former members of The New York Rock and Roll Ensemble. As it happens, they’re also former members of Former Members of The New York Rock Ensemble, but that’s a separate and confusing matter involving Opal Records selling a bunch of their music without Clif or Marty’s knowledge.
The Rock Ensemble were a group of Juilliard music students who decided to bust out some Rock ‘N Roll using conventional orchestral instruments. A novel concept at the time, to be sure.
After releasing 5 albums over the course of 6 years, The Rock Ensemble parted ways. Seems Clif and Marty were disillusioned with the Ensemble’s lack of commercial success, and signed with Specter Records/Opal Productions in order to make some career headway.
At Opal, Clif and Marty acted as a kind of utility duo, recording demos, writing music for other acts and releasing tunes under various pseudonyms.
And their single, Monster Movies, appears to have been just that kind of assignment.
Now, why Opal Records would assign these 2 guys some novelty Monster song in 1972 is anyone’s guess. What was the temperature on Monster Songs in ‘72? Hell, I couldn’t tell ya, cause the only other Track on Halloween Shindig from 1972 is Edgar Winter’sFrankenstein, and that’s definitely not a novelty monster song. In fact, ‘66 through ‘73 is a pretty barren wasteland for that kinda stuff, at least as far as this playlist is concerned anyway.
Now, that’s not to say the public wasn’t hungry for Monster Songs in ‘72, it just means there aren’t any that I’ve found or found and enjoyed enough to add to a 300+ rooster of songs which pretty much meet that exact specification. Just saying.
Regardless of how the 45-buying folks of 1972 felt, this is a fun and referential jam which goes so far as to specifically declare its love, not just for Godzilla, but directly to him, as though he might be out there somewhere in the South Pacific listening. Now, I gotta give that kinda thing just a little bit of love myself.
Outside of The Ensemble, and this particular single, I can’t suss out much about our boy Clifton, but Martin Fulterman is a bit of a different story.
See, Martin apparently changed his name to Mark Snow and went on to compose music for an almost absurd amount of Films, TV movies and shows. The most notable of his creations, no doubt, has got to be the famous X-Files Theme.For real? Ole Monster Movie Marty? Pretty snazzy lineage attached to a 40 year old novelty song.
Other Mark Snow projects of note (to me anyway) include Ernest Saves Christmas, Dolly Dearest, Project ALF, Skateboard, TJ Hooker and even Pee-Wee’s Playhouse. And let me tell you, that’s cutting the list real short.
Mark Snow has composed, written songs for or worked on the music department of more shit than you’d believe. Over 350 different credits, including some ridiculous sounding TV movie called Ghosts Can’t Do It, which sounds like some PG-rated Lifetime version of Hellraiser that somehow features our 45th President himself, Mr. Donald Trump.
I’ll just leave you with that as we drop the needle on Clif and Marty’s lone 45, Monster Movies.
For our next monstrous installment, we’re heading back overseas and back to the mid ‘70’s once again, for a little Roaring Jelly.
Now, if you’re unfamiliar with the UK comedy folk trio Roaring Jelly, don’t feel bad, cause you’re definitely not the only one, and that includes the guy writing this thing. On this side of the pound, on this side of the century, I’m sureRoaring Jelly’s name recognition is at an all time low.
But there was a time in the mid ‘70’s when Roaring Jellywas a bit of a sensation on the UK folk scene.
It’s a dance, by the way, the Roaring Jelly. Upon accepting their first paid gig, the band were asked what their name was, and co-founder Derek Pearce just fired that one off from the top of his head. There’s a certain irreverence to this that kinda encapsulates the band’s whole deal.
See, they didn’t bother playing folk standards in a boring folky way. They mixed it up. They pulled from various genres for their sound and even did comedic send-ups of revered folk classics. Now, that didn’t sit too well for many of those stoic folks on that stoic folk scene and some places outright refused to book them.
ButRoaring Jelly could draw a crowd with their lively performances and they left those stuffy folk folks to get stuffed.
And because you know we wouldn’t be talking about em unless they did, Roaring Jellyincluded a little monster ditty on their debut album, Golden Grates.
Not unlike some other songs we’ve heard (and are still liable to hear this year) Monster Movie Nightmare Blues details the tribulations of a poor sap who happened to watch a few too many Monster Movies before hitting’ the hay.
It’s a little bit silly, there’s no doubt about that, but it’s no less silly than a hundred other novelty songs about monsters. But this one’s a rarity. I couldn’t find it anywhere around online. It was definitely a “commit and see.” And my shock, when I finally did drop a copy on my turntable. How was this fun monster jam not more widely known? It deserves to be heard by all monster music lovers the world over!
So, now it has a home on The Shindig, where it belongs, so perhaps it might narrowly escape the jaws of oblivion, if only for you – a small and select few.
My quest to find more and more Monstery Halloween songs for this playlist has gotten to point where I have to dig a little deeper than usual.
Anymore nowadays, the songs I’m coming across aren’t always readily available. This has lead to me hunting down and purchasing some rarer records without the benefit of hearing them first.
This has been pretty fun though. In an age where virtually any song you can imagine is easily accessible somewhere virtually, it’s added a bit of excitement back into discovering music. Waiting for a video to pop up randomly, or for someone to post a record for sale, or simply waiting for that record to arrive feels akin to something from a bygone era.
Now, that can also be frustrating too, because if a song isn’t streaming on music services, and no one has posted it on YouTube, there’s a good chance it’s also not available for sale either. So now I just got a pile of potential additions and Lord knows if I’ll ever be able to hear ‘em.
But there’s also been plenty of occasions where, despite not being digitized somewhere (or somewhere easily searchable) a physical copy is still available to purchase. As you might imagine though, this has lead to some disappointments. Such is the gamble. It’s much easier when someone has already posted whatever song it is I’m looking for to YouTube so I can easily disregard it or snatch it up at no personal time or monetary expense.
But that’s the fun.
And when it pays off, it’s definitely worth it.
And then, you write all of that, and during a cursory bit of information gathering while finalizing the post, you type the name of that song into a Google search and find out that not only was the song posted to YouTube 8 fucking years ago, but it was posted by the song’s goddamn author and singer.
Such is the case with our 2023 opener, The Night of the Monster’s Party from The Monsters.
What the fuck, YouTube? Not one time did your internal search pull this video. Not once! And across many pages. Trust me, I kept clicking.
But a simple Google search (so simple in fact I can’t believe I hadn’t done it until that moment) pulls that shit up as the first goddamn hit!? You’re owned by goddamn Google, you piece of shit.
So, rather than the line,
“It still seems wild to me that I had to purchase this 45 to be able to hear this tune.“
which I had written,
I now need to type something stupid like;
“It’s wild to me that I went through the entire process of finding this 45 for sale, purchasing it, waiting for it to arrive in the mail and throwing it on my turntable to hear this song, when all I had to do was a fuckin’ Google search.”
Seriously? I have to write that shit? On a blog that gets broadcast to anyone across the planet with an internet connection? Jesus.
Now, I suppose I could have just erased that shit, and went about my business, but where’s the fun in that? All of what I said above is still true for a bunch of other songs we’ve got lined up this year, and I believe it. Plus, it is kinda funny to read it back in retrospect, realizing what a moron I was.
But I severely digress.
In my defense (but just barely) Bill forgot his own song’s party was possessive, which apparently threw the YouTube search engine into some fuckin’ algorithmic tail spin that returned nothing but My Little Pony videos instead of the 70’s monster song that all of my viewing history should’ve alerted YouTube that I was actually looking for. That, and no one had yet linked Bill’s video on Discogs. No excuse, ultimately, but I’ve since corrected that little error too. Twice over now.
Interestingly, Bill provides this bit of insight on the video’s description:
“I recorded this in 1973 and released it on Dart Records. We recorded at Chappells studio and called ourselves The Monsters. I think we released it just prior to Halloween. We did the rounds on Capital Radio etc and I have photographs of me with fangs and a facefull of black and white makeup. Those were the days!!!! We had quite a few sales but not enough to get in the charts I am afraid!”
That’s some solid firsthand info right there. He even tossed in a shout out to Halloween. Double bonus. Let’s go for the hat trick!
The upshot of actually purchasing this 45 was that the seller included an awesome promotional sheet. Check this shit out!
Now that’s what I call a win.
Not sure if I’d call this a “disco beat” though. But hey, Dart’s gotta sell this shit to, I dunno, whoever the hell’s in the market for Monster music in 1974. Disco freaks? Beats me. Was anyone even into Disco in ‘74? Was Disco even Disco in ‘74? Cause this shit don’t sound like Disco to me, so maybe Disco was different then.
Either way, that’s of no concern to us really, cause this song’s great however you classify it.
But we should address the cause of this whole YouTube search fiasco to begin with; that apostrophe S.
Cause this is the night of the Monster’s Party, as we previously discussed. It’s possessive. Now, Bill forgot that part, leading to our search debacle, but even Dart Records here seem to be confused. The 45 says Monster’s, and this promotional sheet says both Monsters and Monster’s. Ok then.
I’m going with that Monsters shit is a typo, and it’s Monster’s. It’s their party.
But wait. These guys singing areThe Monsters. So that’s a extra layer of confusion. Is it their party?
Now, they’re not these Monsters, who are also Monsters from this exact same time period, not to add further confusion or anything. These LARPers in the graveyard here aren’t from Britain. But well get to them, and their own “Disco” monster jam in just bit.
Back to this party.
Now, in the event you’re thinking thus might be some kinda backstage, monster groupie, sex drugs and disco-get-together, fear not. The lyrics set the record straight pretty quick.
In an old castle, Dracula, Frankenstein and the Werewolf are dancing to a song. Not this song of course, cause that wouldn’t make much sense and I’m pretty sure Monsters don’t actually listen to this kinda shit. But they’re dancing to a tune. 74? I’m gonna say it was Dark Lady by Cher. Why not?
But then the Mummy shows up later and gets scared by some other bloodsucking vampire, I guess. Even Dracula’s Daughter joins at one point! She might be the scary vampire. Unclear. But what is clear is that these are the real titular Monsters, and thus the party is their’s.
They say it’s happened all before, which is weird. Perhaps these guys do this a lot. Or maybe they’re just referring to The Monsters Hop (not possessive), or possibly even the Midnight Monsters Hop (also not possessive), or the dozens of other “Hey, let’s have Dracula dance around with Frankenstein while Wolfman plays the bass or some shit” songs, cause why not, right? If they got together, monsters would grab instruments and dance and party and eat plasma pizza, would they not?
The most curious lyric though is the warning, for us the listeners, to lock our doors. Why? These monsters all seem pretty occupied dancing around in this old castle. The one chick’s hungry from some monster pie, what the fuck that is. She tryin to eat one of these dudes? She just tryin to get balled out at this party? What’s her deal?
There’s no indication that they’re heading out afterwards to tear up the countryside. Maybe do a little fuckin, but that’s upstairs. Chances are, if these dudes weren’t singing to us about this soirée, we wouldn’t even know it was happening at all.
I’ll lock my doors all right, don’t worry about that pal. But not because some literary characters are dancing with a creature I’ve never seen before in an old castle I don’t live anywhere near. Pretty sure I’m good, bud. I appreciate the warning and all, but I’m not too concerned about this party spilling out onto the streets of Los Angeles. The pantsless meth-head posted up in a tent on the corner, shouting into a pay phone that hasn’t worked since 2005 is all the motivation I need to keep those fuckers fully bolted.
Unnecessary warnings aside, kicking off our Referential Monster of a year in perfect monster party fashion, with a little help from the Mysterioso Pizzicato no less, it’sThe Monsters with The Night of the Monster’s Party.
So, we’ve reached a true 10-slot on this “Halloweens-til-Halloween” run, but what’s a Halloween playlist to do? We’ve just spent the last 11 days burning out potential 10-slot candidates (and some good ones too) on this ill-advised-if-I-wanna-keep-having-actual-Halloween-songs-to-write about Halloween celebration. So, what do you do, I ask?
Well, you drop the best damn Halloween song you’ve dug up all year, that’s what you do.
And that’s what we did. And this is a true new-find for 2022. This didn’t have to wait in the bullpen for even a season.
And after this many years, and this many songs, the fact that there’s still Halloween songs out there to find – and true Halloween Songs at that – and even true Halloween Songs that are this fun – is pretty crazy.
Though I will admit, after this year’s exhaustive digging, I’m pretty sure that’s coming to an end. With the exception of 2 very specific hold-outs I have yet to be able to hear, if there’s a Halloween song out there that isn’t already on this playlist, it’s probably in the bullpen at this point, or has been permanently benched.
And I know what you’re thinking, there’s no chance this is a good song. Ole Chef’s Salad up there ain’t instilling a whole lot of confidence in ya. I get it. Cause what the fuck is that, right? Fuckin’ Chef’s Salad? That’s about as Halloweeny as an Easter basket.
I mean, I guess the orange and green is sort of Halloweeny. That 70’s aesthetic might maybe lead one to believe something halfway listenable is laying in wait. But if you don’t like music that’s almost 50 years old, then even that line of thinking is a bust.
But trust me, this one’s a winner. It’s not one of those not really about Halloween Halloween songs either. This is a true blue Halloween jam. And it’s not one of those short and mildly irritating, sung by a weird lady or balding dude for some record that teachers were supposed to play in their classrooms in 1972 songs either. Though in fairness, I usually avoid them, but there’s a few of those that are pretty good, too. Even some classics, and there’s definitely a few waiting for their number to be called.
No, this is a real song, sung by – ok, just some guy no one really heard from otherwise, but still a dude with access to potential mainstream success. It’s a song.
The Chef’s Salad things a bit weird, I’ll give ya that. This appears to have been a compilation album released by producer Wayne Wadhams in an attempt to capture and then market the thriving music scene in Boston and New England during the mid-70’s. Since most of the acts don’t seem to have made any waves following it’s release, I’m not sure Wayne was all that successful to that end.
What he did successfully manage to do however, for some odd reason, was capture one hell of a Halloween song. Now, why Bill Ervinwould compose this tune, or why even Wayne thought it was a shinning example of the city’s music scene at the time, is anyone’s guess. I mean, I’m glad they did don’t get me wrong, but it seems like an odd choice for a music sampler LP.
Interesting side note here on this song in regards to it’s placement with Pete Antell’s It’s Halloween.
You may notice it begins the exact same way Pete and Ray’s song began. You may even notice that a lot of songs around here feature this little lick. Even Heavy Metal Halloweener’s Iron Crossused it, much to Mikey’s chagrin. And beyond that, you know this little ditty. You’ve heard it a million times in various places, but what the hell is it?
Well, it’s a tune called Mysterioso Pizzicato, which is sometimes referred to as The Villain’s Theme.
It was a piece of generic sheet music found in The Remick Folio of Moving Picture Music which was published in 1914. This book was used by piano accompanists playing live music during the silent film era. It was meant to indicate the presence of a bad guy, a villain if you will, or some other such sneaky or unscrupulous bastard. And boy, did it.
At almost 120 years old, you still recognize this, that’s how ubiquitous it became over time. Even to the point of cliche, hence Mikey’s chagrin over Iron Cross.
Maybe you’re familiar with this one. Maybe it’s been a long-standing Holiday must for some of ya’ll out there. But I’ve been digging around for just this kind of thing for years, and for whatever reason, it took me this long to find this one. But I’m sure glad I finally did, cause it immediately stood out to me as a tune I couldn’t believe I hadn’t even heard before, much less didn’t have on The Shindig.
So here it is, love it or leave it (either way, we’re definitely keeping it) it’s Halloween by Bill Ervin.
So, here’s a slice of bizarro-70’s-monster-weirdness I wish I knew existed back in 2018 when we did our Christmas episode of Shindig Radio. It’s the exact sort of thing I was trying to include.
Thankfully, it’s here now, so let’s talk about it.
Back in 1974, it would appear as though someone just casually listening to Boris Pickett’sMonster’s Holiday and thought it would be a great idea for an entire novelty concept album.
And they were right, cause this thing is awesome.
Now, it’s not exactly the same as Monster’s Holiday because the monsters don’t rob Santa, as they plan to do in Boris’ song. What’s happening here is that Frankenstein’s Monster is sick and dying. Ok, off to a weird start. But then, just going right along with the weirdness, he laments that he’s never been invited to a Christmas party. So, as some kinda Make-A-Wish Foundation move, the Association of Monsters decide to throw him a Christmas Party.
It’s a bizarre concept, no doubt, but it features a couple of fun new monsters tunes, a few classic Christmas carol renditions and some fantastic voice acting.
So, if you’re feeling like your Christmas is lacking a little Monster action, fire this thing up, because it’s one monstrously jolly listen.
Dashiki enthusiast and suspected racial appropriator Johnny Wakelin sang a lot of songs about boxers. Not the dogs mind you, but dudes who put on gloves and punch the shit out of each other.
Over a roughly 30 year span, Johnny released 12 different songs about boxers. Of courseMuhammad Ali, Lennox Lewis, Frank Bruno and Mike Tyson each got 2 a piece, but that’s still no mean feat.
It all seemed to start in 1972, when he wrote a song called Hungarian Superman about Hungarian boxer Joe Bugner.
Apparently no one cared though.
Then Joe Bugner lost to both Muhammad Ali and Ghost Fever star Joe Frazier. 12 rounders to be sure, and by decisions, but still L’s none the less.
So, Johnny figured he’d just rework Joe’s tune to be about Muhammad Ali and call it Black Superman instead. Keen.
This time people seemed to care. Well, at least a little. The song hit number 7 in the UK. It only reached number 21 here in the states, but it stayed in the top 100 for 6 months! Not too shabby for a weird ass tune from some British guy about an American boxer.
Figuring if it ain’t broke it ain’t broke, Johnny whipped up In Zaire, a song about Ali’s famous 1974 bout dubbed “The Rumble in the Jungle” against George Foreman. That one didn’t do as well, but still had some legs.
After a few underperforming singles including Africa Man, Cream Puff and Afro Afrique, he attempt to rebottle the lightning with 1986’s Bruno, about boxer Frank Bruno.
That didn’t do so hot either.
Later down the line Johnny thought, fuck it, I’ll write songs about all kinds of boxers including Sugar Ray Leonard, Prince Nassem Hamed and even my own hometown hero Rocky Marciano.
Now, you may be thinking “Gee, that’s real swell, pal, but what the fuck does that have to do with Halloween, you blithering jackass.”
A fair question.
Well, it seems that in the middle of all this pugilist pop, and for seemingly no good reason at all, ole Johnny decided to jump on the disco train and bring some of that spooky monster party shit with him. What?
So, he grabbed up an instrumental disco tune from Harold Faltermeyer – yep Top Gun, Fletch Theme, Axel F Harold Faltermeyer – and slapped some silly Monster Mash-fashioned lyrics over the whole thing.
The result was Dr. Frankenstein’s Disco Party, a bonafide Monster Disco jammer that’s as grooving as it is bizarre.
Seriously, this song rules. And it hits all the notes you want for a monster party disco hit. You got Dracula, Mummies, Zombies, fuckin Bigfoot and even a nod to Frankenstein’s Monster himself. Hell, all the invitations to this Shindig are delivered by bat for fuck’s sake. It’s incredible! Johnny should have ditched the boxing motif and stuck with the monster parties, you ask us.
So let’s say gold riddance to this disco block with a little underground groove about a bunch of bloodaholics.
