Unfortunately for everyone listening, that’s not where the “Disco Dracula” ends.
Cause every once and a while The Shindig stumbles across a song that’s definitely not good, but not totally unlistenable, that practically insists upon itself to make the playlist.
Dracula Disco is just such a song.
Because where else do you put this? Where else does this thing get the nod? When else does this song get its day?
But maybe it shouldn’t get its day, because that place doesn’t exist. Maybe it should just get buried in a hole somewhere where you put uninspired, and dubious cash-in trash like this.
Well, unfortunately for that hole, such a place does exist. And that place is Halloween Shindig. And that day is today.
But holy shit. This is the kind of thing that give disco a bad name.
Say what you want about something like Soul Dracula, or Disco Blood, but those songs cut rugs. This shit…this Dracula Disco shit…this is bland, repetitive, cash grabby garbage. Hell, it barely qualifies as music. You can’t dance to this shit! Isn’t that the soul purpose of disco, to at least get your feet moving? What is this song’s purpose? Who is this song for? It’s definitely for us, right now, in hindsight. But I mean in its day, to whom was this appealing to? To whom was this being sold, I ask!
Not gonna lie though, this guy does a pretty good Dracula, but the song isn’t asking much of him in the way of singing. Also, his party is poorly attended and whack as fuck. What’s he got? 2 guests and some lights? A little music? Well, if it’s shit like Dracula Disco, count me out, Conde.
Where’s the cavalcade of monsterous party goers? Where’s the plasma pizza or the blood ballon race? This party doesn’t even have a spooky DJ. This party is lazy and so is this song.
Unfortunately, lazy though it might be, it’s exactly the kind of thing that needs to be on this playlist. Because, where else do you put a thing like Dracula Disco, if not in a trash can?
Also, that LP cover is pretty fantastic. Dude has a coffin guitar, so what the hell.
Speaking of bizarre skin-flicks disguised as Disco Dracula films, let’s talk about Dracula Blows His Cool, a German sex comedy with a surprisingly interesting soundtrack.
When smut photographer and “Dracula” descendant Stan decides just shooting nudie pictures in his old family castle isn’t quite enough to keep it from being repossessed, he does what any self respecting Bavarian in 1979 would do. He opens a disco!
What ensues is a bevy of silly sex gags, tons of mistaken identity hi-jinx and some funny English dubbing. While certainly not even approaching good, there’s less amusing ways you could spend an hour and 20 minutes, if you like this sort of 70’s sex trash. I mean, check this out:
It’s at least worth a viewing.
Additionally, the film is filled with tons of fun (read: appropriately ludicrous if you have a horror-themed music blog) songs.
Most notable of course, and submitted for your approval this evening, is the 1979 hit Rock Me Dracula, performed by Mokka.
Mokka is an iteration from the brief musical career of Italian twins Nadia and Antonella Cocconcelli. Nadia and Antonella even appear in the film performing the tune. Or at least they appear dancing around with garden hoses and lip syncing to it poorly, anyway. But hey, we’ll take it!
Though played several times throughout the film, it is not included on the official Gerhard Heinz soundtrack for Dracula Blows His Cool, which has several potential Shindig inclusions like Graf Dracula and Disco Strip. Both of those songs are pretty great and may find their way into the playlist in their own right.
For now though, we’ll only indulge in the perfectly appropriate and extra referentialRock Me Dracula, from Mokka.
Shindig Radio personality Graham C. Schofield doesn’t much care for disco music. And as you know, we’re currently knee deep in a Monster Disco Block.
So it may shock you to hear he’s actually responsible for our next tune, another vampire related rug cutter from the 70’s monster comedy, Love At First Bite, starring George Hamilton.
See, last Halloween, Graham bestowed upon The Hole this fresh piece of vinyl soundtrack goodness, and there was much rejoicing.
And if he didn’t think one of these fuckers was gonna find its way onto the playlist this year, he’s out of his mind.
Now, perhaps he did. Perhaps he was even ok with the idea. But what he probably didn’t know was that I already had a few disco-diggers waiting in the dugout, and that this specific gift was the catalyst for me diggin’ up a couple more and making a whole block out of the affair.
So, if you need a scapegoat for any ire you’re experiencing at the hands of a solid week filled with goofball monster disco bullshit, he’s your guy. I’m sure he sympathizes.
As for Love At First Bite, give it a go. It’s a surprisingly measured and effective vampire comedy with a fine and funny Dracula performance from George Hamilton.
It is alleged to have ripped off the plot of 1971’s Guess What Happened to Count Dracula? almost to the T, but as of the time of writing, I have not seen that film and can make no assessment.
What I can say is that it was one of 5 Dracula movies released in 1979. You have, of course, John Badham’s classic starring Frank Langella, Donald Pleaseance and Sir Laurence Oliver. Not to be outdone, you got Werner Herzog’s chilling Nosferatu, starring the unearthly Klaus Kinski. And then, no doubt attempting to a capitalize on the success of Love at First Bite, is Germany’s DiscoDracula film Dracula Blows His Cool, but more on that one in a bit.
Because we can’t talk about Disco Draculas without talking about the other Dracula film from 1979.
Nocturna: Granddaughter of Dracula, is perhaps the Disco Dracula movie, drenched as it is, almost front to back, in so much Disco it actually gets a little hard to watch. It’s practically an hour and 20 minute Disco music video.
It even features the tune Love Is Just a Heartbeat Away (Nocturna’s Theme) from I WillSurvive Disco Superstar, Gloria Gaynor. How they managed to pull her for this weird-ass, low budget monster picture is probably a miracle. She was apparently talked into providing the track by her then manager and future husband. Apparently she’s not too proud of that song in the slightest. We’ll spare you that tune, inclusive and semi-referential though it be, as it’s a fairly standard (albeit pretty decent) Disco tune, with no fun Draculaness.
When it’s not indulging in overly long bouts of dancing to repetitive beats and string synthesizers, Nocturna’s a totally bizarre quasi-skin flick with some weird vampire lore.
See, for Dracula’s granddaughter (played by belly dancer and screenwriter Nia Bonet), the power of disco music slowly changes her into a human or some such nonsense.
It even features a scene with a governing vampire assembly and a new, designer form of blood that the vampires can snort. It was 1979, after all.
Also on tap is actual Dracula John Caradine (even wearing his costume from 1945’s House of Dracula) and Lily Munster herself, Ms. Yvonne DeCarlo. Bonus!
If you’re into bizarre shit and love the idea Disco Draculas, definitely give it a watch. It’s worth it for Nia Bonet’s positively otherworldly performance. Plus, you get to see shit like this:
Outstanding.
But enough about Nocturna, we’re here for Fly By Night from soul singer Pat Hodges, dammit!
Now, out of the box, this fucker is a 12 and a half minute song. Talk about goin’ hard. That’s indulgent, even for Disco.
So, we’ve enlisted the help of our Shindig Audio Magicians to make this one a bit more manageable, with a totally unique Shindig Special Edition version. Not gonna lie though, it hurt a little. Despite the length of Fly By Night, I’m all about how long and epic its Disco is. It pained me to snip out resonant filter sweeps or Simmons drum hits, but it had to be done.
If we’re not gonna use the full length, 12 minute version of Helloween’sHalloween, you better believe Fly By Night ain’t getting no special dispensation.
Without any further ado, though somewhat truncated, here’s Pat Hodges singing Fly By Night!
I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to talk about this nugget of nostalgic goodness, and smack dab in the middle of a Monster Disco Block seemed like the perfect place. Because, ya know, there’s no better way to segue out of fully audible quasi-consensual Vampire fucking than to start taking about children’s breakfast mascots.
Additionally, it appears dragging my feet for years has actually timed this post up to the 50th anniversay of the Monster Cereals, commemorated here with their own all-star box of super-group cereal called Monster Mash! Albertsons, Ralphs and Target all failed me on this box. When every single goddamn physical retail store finally succumbs to the will of Amazon, let The Monster Mash Cereal be their epitaphs!
As an added bonus, the crew teamed up to produce a new version of Boris Pickett’s classic graveyard smash, The Monster Mash. The song’s kind of trash, as Monster Mash covers go, but you can scan this QR code and listen to it on Spotify. They even made a mildly amusing Behind the Music-style video as accompaniment, and that’s worth a watch.
But I digress.
Anyone who’s probably actually reading these posts are well aware of the Monster Cereals. They’re iconic, even if you’ve never indulged in a bowlful of their colorful and crunchy crap.
Before these cartoon creatures came to be, cereal giant General Mills used to use Disney-owned properties to slang their morning crack. But in 1971, they decided it would be a hell of a lot more profitable if they just invented their own characters and kept all the proceeds. Enter Franken Berry and Count Alfred Chocula. Yep, Chocula has a name and that name is apparently Alfred.
So, smashed between Saturday morning cartoons, General Mills unleashed their animated monsters and grabbed the minds and stomachs of an entire generation.
Interesting side note: apparently in 1972, they began using a pigment in Franken Berry which actually turned kids shit pink. They even had a term for it known as “Franken Berry Stool.” Not sure whether this pigment was actually harmful or not, but they discontinued using it shortly thereafter none the less.
But because turning kid turds funny colors while pushing an addictive powder directly into their bloodstreams only makes you so much money, an entire marketing web was established. Stickers, rings, vinyl toys, magnets, and other such pieces of plastic were either shoved into the boxes, or featured as mail-away prizes on the back.
Well in 1979, General Mills began a campaign of of thin, flexible 45rpm records known as Flexi-Discs. These prizes were attached directly the backs of specially marked boxes of the each of the Monster Cereals.
3 of these 4 minute records were produced featuring the gang performing skits, including Monster Adventures in Outer Space and Count Chocula Goes to Hollywood. But it is the 3rd record which concerns us today, The Monsters Go Disco. It was 1979, after all.
This tale involves the monsters finding themselves frightfully lonely on a Saturday Night and deciding to give the local discotheque a go.
There they encounter a Wolfman Jack like disc jockey and have themselves a good ole fashioned dance off for the affections of “Donna Disco.”
But for now, let’s us indulge in a little lull amidst our Monster Disco Block and get a little Franken Berry Stool of our own with The Monsters Go Disco.
No, it’s not thatDisco Blood, featured in 1981’s slasher classic, The Prowler, as performed by Nowherefast. Unfortunately, that one still appears to be unobtainium at the moment. Nope, this disco hit comes courtesy of Brazilian dance outfit, The Vamps.
It’s the title track the from their only LP, Disco Blood, released back in 1977.
And boy, what a weird ass tune this is.
It’s essentially a disco tale of a nubile woman who runs afoul “the vampire.” And not just a vampire, mind you, but the vampire. We could assume this means Dracula, as it typically does, but perhaps not. We’re just not sure.
Anyway, after some less than coy flirtations, and then overt unsolicited advances, this thing turns to (from the sounds of it anyway) straight up Vampire rape. After which, this poor young woman seems to acquiesce to the dire situation and the song then devolves into these 2 audibly fucking for almost 2 minutes over a disco beat. Well then.
The story itself, in all its myriad complexity, is actually illustrated for us on the album’s sleeve. Well, that’s a curious bonus. Chalk one up for The Vamps.
These are some great pictures to have on the back of an album, and it was an unexpected treat when I received this record in the mail.
As for the song, there’s some serious bongo work on display with this tune and man if it don’t get yer foot tapping.
Sure, you could take issue with the less than favorable subject matter, either as a moralistic objection to sex in general, the performance and distribution of simulated sex on record, or the unholy union of a human and creature of the night in sexual congress. Any one of those would make perfect sense and could impair someone’s desire to dance. I get that.
However, having no objection to the above, one could still find it difficult to dance to a song featuring a woman being thrust upon by a man (or monster) against her will. True enough. This woman literally yells “Get out of me!” Not sure if that’s just a language barrier or something more specific, but whatever’s happening here is not (at least initially anyway) consensual in the slightest.
But then again, I think that’s the nature of the vampire. For what is a vampire attack, if not a wildly non-consensual act.
But, if you can square yourself with that unfavorable situation, then you got one hell of a smokin’ disco number on you’re hands.
Unfortunately, like most of the artists this year it seems, I couldn’t dig up too much information on The Vamps.
So, I guess all we have are these drawings and 7 and a half minutes of a little 33rpm auditory pornography/maybe rape/probably horror/definitely disco. Eh, why not?
Welcome back…anybody…to another swinging season on The Shindig. Hope you’re all ready for another macabre month of cuts to carve your pumpkin to, ’cause here it comes.
And speaking of orange gourds with grins, we’re gonna kick off 2021 with a song called Jack O’Lantern from 70’s British rockers, Babe Ruth.
While it does speak of Halloween, the song itself isn’t about actual Jack-O-Lanterns, but rather a fella named Jack who happens to have a very seasonal nickname, and a very felonious game.
You see, one Halloween, Jack dressed up in his dad’s clothes and went peeping through the windows of all the young girls around town. The squealers saw him and called the cozzers. But, alas! Jack’s father was the one who ended up in cuffs for the dirty deed. Clever girl.
Babe Ruth make this rhythmic entreaty for Jack to change his ways and spare his Mother some shame. Yeah, ya pervert! It’s not bad enough you goin’ around peepin’, but you gotta frame your own father while you’re doin it? That’s pretty low bruh.
Now granted, we don’t know much about Jack’s father. Maybe he was a real pervert too, and the whole thing wasn’t terribly out of character for him, thus leading to his swift arrest. Maybe Jack, as the old anti-marijuana ad of my youth once proclaimed, learn it from watching dear old dad.
We also don’t have much in the way of information here regarding their relationship. Maybe Jack’s dad was a just a dick, and a little pay back from Jack was just what the doctor ordered. We may never know.
What we do know is that Babe Ruth never became a big hit over here in the States. They saw a modicum of success in the beginning, ultimately finding their niche in certain prog rock circles. However, not experiencing much airplay, they never quite gained the kind of longevity some of their contemporaries have enjoyed.
Based on this tune alone, I’m a little surprised, cause this is a rocker, for sure. But listening through their catalog, it isn’t totally shocking. Despite some solid compositions, exceptional musicianship, and the undeniable vocal sex-swagger of lead singer Janita Haan, Babe Ruth lacks a certainly something we’ve come to associate with the more popular acts of the era. I’m not sure whether to say their music isn’t rockin’ enough, or that it’s just not catchy enough, but there’s definitely an X factor missing here which has almost certainly led to their relative obscurity.
Either way, your band throws down with a jammer called Jack O’Lantern and say “Halloween” a bunch, then your wider acclaim is a non-starter for us here in The Hole. Onto the Shindig you shall go!
Happy October 1st everybody. Let’s commence to rockin’ your pumpkins off with Jack O’Lantern!
Haunted is one of those weird, toothless horror flicks that didn’t seem to get the memo about what the hell was going down with the rest of the genre in the late 70’s.
Mostly, it just feels like an overlong episode of some 70’s TV show you never liked that somehow managed to escaped to the big screen, doubled-billed with something people might have actually wanted to see.
Consensus seems to be that it’s a Horror film. I guess you could call it that, as there is the ghost of an Indian woman talking out of some weird payphone we see installed at the edge of a cemetery for no particular reason. Oh, and a guy attempts murder at one point.
Though only a refreshing 80 minutes in length, it takes about 50 for anything even close to horrific to take place. And then, it takes another 25 for something else resembling horror to come to pass. And even then, you’ll likely be pretty unimpressed.
It isn’t a complete loss however, depending on how much you enjoy strange overdubbed dialogue, nudity for nudity’s sake, weird cigar-store Indians that look like regular-ass dudes and Aldo Ray drunkenly shouting all his lines in that awesome raspy voice of his. Those things go some distance for guy like me. It’s enough to make it mildly watchable in the moment, but not much beyond that. I doubt I’ll be firing up Haunted anytime soon to get a fix of anything. Well, except maybe Aldo Ray. He is pretty great here.
What does set Haunted apart however, as you might have already guessed, is a pretty fantastic opening credit song called Indian Woman.
Sung by Billy Vera, who’s hit single, At This Moment, initially fell on deaf ears when it was released in 1981. But then, it found its way onto an episode of Family Ties in 1985, where a little bit of that Michael J. magic rubbed off and sent the track to #1.
Michael and fellow Family Ties actress, Tracy Pollan, shared their first kiss to that tune while shooting the scene. Shortly after sharing the screen again in Bright Lights, Big City, the two got married. Michael J. later said the couple couldn’t get on a dance floor anywhere in the world for almost 10 years without hearing At This Moment come flying out of the speakers.
If you’re not one of those big Family Ties enthusiasts, or particularly up on your 80’s ballads, you may still be familiar withVera , albeit through another avenue.
As a struggling musician, Billy started taking acting gigs to make ends meet. He then landed himself a role as Pinky Carruthers in a little Peter Weller movie called The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. That’s weird.
Check him out here with his green fedora and John Parker. Yep. This guy, from this other weird-ass movie, sings this weird-ass song from this weirder-ass movie.
Hey, maybe you’re a 90210 fan! Maybe you even remember him as Brandon Walsh’s bookie, Duke Weatherhill?
Maybe not. I know I don’t. I just read that 5 minutes ago while researching Billy Vera. But, hey, maybe you do.
Either way, it seems Billy isn’t too proud of his work here on Haunted, as neither his Wikipedia entry nor his own website (containing his entire discography) makes any mention of Indian Woman. Can’t imagine why.
Perhaps it’s not the same Billy Vera? I dunno. Were there 2 different Billy Veras that were famous singers around this time? I guess it’s possible. I was wrong about Paul Williams. And there is that whole Cat’s Eye/Ray Stephens spelled Ray Stevens business. So conflating 2 different Billy Vera’s here is a distinct possibility.
All I know for sure is that if I was the guy responsible for this bizarro 70’s horror crooning, you better believe I’d be pullin’ up a table at the HorrorHound straight bumpin’ this shit, signin’ 8×10 glossies of Pinky Carruthers and Haunted one-sheets. Given, of course, I was in fact that same guy who did both.
Since I can’t actually do most of that, I’ll just do the one thing I can and bump this shit.
Here’s the sleeper hit of 2020. The probably retroactively offensive, and thus perhaps under-celebrated winner, Indian Woman.
I probably agree with whatever you just said to yourself, whatever it was. I’m pretty flexible on this one.
I will say that I mostly enjoy it, though. I like the tone and it’s late 70’s disco vibe. It’s what I want out of a slasher, aesthetically speaking. Donny’s pretty great too, and watching him be a socially inept weirdo is its own kind of charming.
And it certainly kicks off delivering the goods. Problem is, it pulls back on the reigns a little too much in the middle. Ultimately, it ramps back up again to a somewhat satisfactory level before the end, but you can feel a crazier movie just wanting to bust out here. Should have just keep the hammer down, you ask me.
That being said, it’s still a fun enough slasher with a some pretty memorable moments none the less.
More importantly for us though, it features one thumpin-ass disco banger of a Sweet Song in Struck By Boogie Lightning.
Though pretty discoed out itself, I’m still not sure if Don’t Go In The House should wrap it all up with something like Stuck by Boogie Lightning. You could accuse it of being tonally inconsistent. I don’t. But you could.
Personally, given the rest of the disco tunes scattered throughout the film, it doesn’t sound out of place at all. But, it does seem a little upbeat for whatever the hell we just watched. Sometimes that’s just what you need with a movie like this though.
So I’m glad it ends with this song though, cause it’s awesome and I wouldn’t know about it otherwise. So, hats off gang.
Though called simply “Boogie Lightning” in the film’s credits and attributed to producer/writer Bill Heller, the song was released under the moniker L’Etrique as Struck by Boogie Lightning in 1979. While essentially the same exact song, the film’s version plays for about 2 minutes and only features the words “Struck by Boogie Lightning.”
The official L’Etriqueversion, however, is a nearly 8 minute disco opus which will surely bring you to your boogie knees.
Somewhere between my almost autistic pursuit of purity and a sense of goddamn common decency, lies this truncated (though still expanded) Halloween Shindig version. It’s longer and more complete than what the movie provides, yet slices out a lot of the repetition and the open ended disco breakdown of the official release.
This is one of those Shindig tunes where, if you’re not familiar with the film, it just seems like a bizarre addition. But if you are familiar with the film, it’s one of those tracks that just needs to be included. This song grooves man, and it’s one my absolute favorite additions of 2020.
So, build a weird murder room and grab your flamethrower or hell, maybe just smash a candle into some innocent girl’s poor face and burn the whole goddamn disco down.
In 1973, William Friedkin tapped straight into some ancient Catholic corner of the world’s collective unconsciousness with his masterpiece The Exorcist. People went berserk.
As in the wake of anything that hugely successful, the imitators quickly emerged.
From India’s Seytan, to Canada’s The Manitou, to Spain’s Excorsimo, to Germany’s Magdalena, to our own home grown Abby… there’s definitely no shortage of Exorcist knock-offs.
But nobody pumped em out like the Italians, Pope John Paul II be damned.
There’s The Antichrist, ya know, that one where a paraplegic Rosemary-look-alike totally licks a goat’s asshole. And I mean totally. That one’s pretty awesome.
Or there’s L’Ossessa, also known as Enter the Devil, The Eerie Midnight Horror Show, The Sexorcist, The Devil Obsession,The Obsessed, The Tormented, or The Movie with the Most Alternate Titles Trying to Capitalize Whatever Film Was Most Popular at a Given Time.
That one finds a wooden crucifix Jesus coming to life Morty-style and having his way with our young protagonist. He’s actually the Devil, and later he climbs off a different cross during a weird ritual and totally crucifies this poor girl to it instead. Yikes.
Or how bout poor Bava’s previously titled Lisa and The Devil? It wasn’t faring too well, so the producers re-cut that fucker to improve marketability. They infused it with new scenes deliberately ripping off The Exorcist and released it as TheHouse of Exorcism. Some of those scenes were even shot by Bava’s son (and Demonsdirector) Lamberto Bava, but Mario claims that version is no longer his film at all really.
While all these have their place and finer points, none of them are quite as head scratching or entertaining as Italy’s original Exorcistknock-off, Chi Sei?, which was released to American audiences as Beyond the Door.
More importantly, none of them feature a funked-up ode to the Devil himself like Bargain with The Devil.
From the weird voice dubbing, to the strange children, to Dimitri being a general skeezer, it’s all pretty bizarre. For me though, it’s weirdness culminates when an aggressive pack of street musicians accosts Robert, one of whom appears to be playing a recorder through his nose. That’s creepy.
Here’s the soulful tune about soullessness, Bargain with the Devil. You know, it sounds like a jerk-off session in the bathroom.
(It’s A) Monsters’ Holidayby Buck Owens and The Buckaroos
On Oct. 30th 1973, Hee-Haw co-host and future Country Hall of Fame inductee Buck Owens entered his Bakersfield California studio with his Buckaroos to record this shit-kickin’ country creep-out.
Released the following summer, just ahead of Halloween 1974, (It’s A) Monsters’ Holiday reached #6 on the Billboard Country Charts. Not bad for a silly monster song.
And boy howdy, is this one silly.
Rattling off all kinds of monsters – Frankenstein, The Wolfman, Dracula, The Hunchback, Gremlins, Goblins, Mummies and Zombies – Buck Owens gives shout outs all around in this goofy and upbeat tune.
Now, why all of these Monsters inexplicably appearing in Buck’s bedroom constitutes a “holiday” I couldn’t well say. To me, it just sounds like more work.
Cause for Monsters, scaring people is their job, right? At least, you could say it’s not below their pay-grade. So, if they’re just doing their job, than it sounds like they’re at work. Not much of a holiday, just doing what you do for a living.
Now, if they were hanging out by the pool, hittin’ the slopes, or yuckin it up down at the local Monster VFW, I could see considering this a nice little reprieve from their everyday responsibilities; a true holiday.
As it stands, this doesn’t sound like much of a vacation to me. But it does sound like one down home, country-fried Shindiggin’ Halloween hoedown if I’ve ever heard one.
It’s been roughly 7 years, 6 months and 16 days since Blue Öyster Cult has made an appearance on The Shindig. Roughly.
Back then, it was their contribution to John Carpenter’s 1978 classic Halloween, (Don’t Fear) The Reaper, which afforded them an early nod on The Playlist.
Well now they’re back, all these years later, with the less inclusive, though infinitely more referential, Nosferatu.
This one was the final track on their 1977 release Spectres, an album which opens with the much more celebrated (though no less referential) Godzilla. As it happens, Nosferatu was actually the B-Side to Godzilla, making for one very referential 45.
Being horror fans, Nosferatu is a word I’m quite sure you are all fairly familiar with. But what hell is Nosferatu?
Well, it’s a word that for sure appears in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula, though Ole Bram claimed he got it from Emily Gerard’s Transylvania Travelogue The Land Beyond the Forest. However, Emily seems to merely claim it’s a Romainian word which means “Vampire,” although no such word really seems to exist in Romanian.
Some claim the word came from the Greek “nosphoros” which meant “disease-carrying.” Others say it takes root in the old Romanian term “necurat,” meaning “unclean.” It was the kinda thing you’d say so you didn’t have to say “vampire,” lest speaking it’s name called the creature to you.
Lotta ideas. No concrete answers.
At any rate, occultist producer Albin Grau and screenwriter Henrik Galeen liked the word so much, they used it to evade securing any rights for their unauthorized 1922 adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
They were unsuccessful however, as Bram Stoker’s widow, Florence, sued the shit out of them, bankrupted their fledgling occultist studio Prana-Film, and almost had every copy of the FW Murnau’s film Nosferatu burned into oblivion.
So, for almost 100 years now, “Nosferatu” has directly related to not just vampires, but specifically, Dracula.
And Blue Öyster Cult, like Grau, Galeen and Murnau, are clearly referencing Bram Stoker’s classic novel. So much so that some of the lyrics directly reference passages from the book.
But, since the 1922 Nosferatu is a silent picture, I’ve added some samples from Werner Herzog’s awesomely unsettling 1979 remake, just for a little ambiance.
So get unclean with Klaus Kinski and the disease carrying cultists of the Blue Öyster with…
Let’s keep the weird late 70’s Halloween Special train rolling here with this strange number from perhaps the strangest Halloween cartoon of them all, Witch’s Night Out.
First aired on October 27th in 1978, this festive Canadian offering follows the Halloween adventures of 2 children named Small and Tender. Fully disillusioned after their Werewolf and Ghost costumes fail to scare a single soul in their small town, they unwittingly call an equally disillusioned Witch to their aid.
She promptly turns them (and their weird babysitter Bazooey) into literal versions of their get-ups. They then proceed to scare the hell out of an entire Halloween party and then the whole town. Despite being hunted down like dogs by a town full of joyless assholes, the children (and then everyone else) manage to rekindle their love of All Hallows’.
Highly stylized and very 70’s, the characters are all monochromatic and the voices (provided by Gilda Radner and Catherine O’hara to name a couple) are weird. Hell, this wholething is just plain weird, but if you grew up watching it on the Disney channel during the ’80’s and ’90’s, chances are it’s nostalgic as all get out.
YouTube can definitely provide you with several trips down memory lane of varying qualities, if you feel so inclined.
As for The Shindig, we’re gonna slot in its bizarro, vocoder heavy theme song, Witch Magic and send you down an audio nostalgia trip to a time when Halloween Specials were great, and filled analog airwaves with festive joy.It’s a bag of garbage!
A Merry, Shh, Creepy Hallowe’en by David Levy & George Tibbles
The Addams Family is a staple of classic American pop culture that has evolved over time to adapt to any medium thrown its way.
The Addams took their first breaths in 1938 as a single panel comic strip from cartoonist Charles Addams. Featured in the New Yorker magazine, they would be run periodically for 50 years until Addams’ death in 1988.
During that span (and then beyond), The Addams set about conquering every corner of entertainment the tried their hand at. First as the 1964 sitcom we all know and love, which ran for 2 seasons.
In 1972, the first animated incarnation of the Addams met Scooby-Doo. After that, a variety show was planned featuring (strangley) Butch (Eddie Munster) Partrick as Pugsly. A pilot was filmed but the show was ultimately not picked up by the networks.
Then, in 1973 The Addams Family became another beloved show, this time a cartoon which also ran for 2 seasons and featured a young Jodi Foster as the voice of Pugsly. Weird!
After that, the original cast reunited for the Television film Hallowe’en with the New Addams Family. In it, the legend of old Cousin Shy is told; a Chirstmas-like tale about a family ghost that mysteriously carves pumpkins and brings presents on Halloween.
Then, in 1991, The Addams took to the big screen in the Paramount Pictures adaptation which spawned a sequel in 1993 and then a direct to video reboot starring Tim Curry as Gomez.
After that, another animated series based on the new film followed before a second live action television show took form in 1998 as The New Addams Family.
In 2010, The Addams Family took on Broadway in a musical starring Nathan Lane and Bebe Nuewirth. Was there anywhere The Addams could not make their own peculiar home?
Today, as I’m sure you’re all aware, America’s First Family of the Macabre takes another trip to the big screen and gets another animated makeover, this time of the digital variety. Now, while sadly this not the much anticipated (and later canceled) stop-motion animated film based on Charles Addams’ original designs that Tim Burton had planned, it is good to see The Addams back on their feet and ready to capture a whole new generation of fans.In honor of the return of The Addams Family, Halloween Shindig presents the very Halloweeny but Christmas-like carol A Merry, Shh, Creepy Hallowe’een from their 1977 Halloween Television reunion special.
Because how long could we ignore a Halloween song sung by The Addams?
Mostly a funked-out disco instrumental, we filled that track with some fun samples from Blacula and called it a day.
Now, the soul returns with Dr. Beezar, Soul Frankenstein!
True to form, it’s mostly a funked-out disco instrumental, so this time so we shoved in a bunch of samples from Blackenstein.
Unfortunately, BlaculaBlackenstein is not.
What could have (and probably should have) been a fun, campy and exploitative horror romp like its predecessor, slowly unfurls into a dull, plodding and joyless affair that isn’t funny, scary or entertaining.
The Dr. Frankenstein character (here called simply Dr. Stein) isn’t even Black! What kinda sense does that make?
Featuring a plot that resembles something more akin to The Island of Dr. Moreau, you’re getting limited horrific goings-ons and even less Blacksploitation from Blackenstein. It’s as if the filmmakers were neither familiar with Mary Shelley’s classic tale or even the concept of Blacksploitation.
But enough about this crummy movie, because Captain Dax will make all of it worthwhile.
One of several aliases used by The Lafayette Afro Band, this track was a big hit in Japan in 1976. So yeah, these guys were quite literally big in Japan. I guess that’s really a thing people can be.
This boogie-down creepster features so much synthy 70’s goodness, it feels right at home among the spooky ranks of Halloween Shindig.
While I typically recommend staying away from things lightly, because most movies are at least good for a single watch, I wholeheartedly advise avoiding Blackenstein at all cost.
I do not recommend, however, avoiding Captain Dax’s funked out, Franked-up, Moogin’ groove Dr. Beezar, Soul Frankenstein!
Because there seems to be a serious shortage of songs specifically about The Creature from the Black Lagoon, we’re gonna spin you a twofer for the old Gillman.
This one comes from Welsh singer/songwriter/producer Dave Edmunds, who had a pretty solid career performing in several different rock acts in the late 60’s and 70’s while also producing a number of different artists.
The story behind this album is a little goofy, because by all accounts, this is an album by the band Rockpile.
You see, after several years of limited success with different bands and a solo album, Dave hooked up with notable singer/songwriter Nick Lowe. Together, with guitarist Ed Bremner and drummer Terry Williams they formed the band Rockpile. However, Lowe was signed to Stiff Records at the time and Dave was signed to Led Zeppelin label Swan Song. This caused a bit of confusion for recording and releasing albums.
What followed was a series of solo releases that actually featured the entire band as background accompaniment. These included Edmund’s 1978 Tracks on Wax 4, Lowe’s Labor of Lust and this album from 1979, Repeat When Necessary.
Offically, the writing credits for this tune belong to Ed Bremner. Now, why Ed decided to write a strange toe tapper about a 25 year old soggy monster, we may never know exactly. Why they all decided to slip it among the rest of the tracks on a fairly standard Pub Rock album, we may also never know.
My guess? Well, it’s a pretty fun tune that’ll quickly worm its way into your head.
This has been in the Shindig Bullpen for years, as it appears on Elvira’s compilation Haunted Hits. The bullpen is a secondary playlist I have filled with songs yet to get officially added or songs that I’m considering for addition. I listen to it throughout the year. I add songs, remove songs, play around with order, see what fits together nicely. That sort of deal.
For years this was a song I kinda hated. Slowly but surely though and against all odds, it finally weaseled its way into my head and I’ve come to enjoy it quite a bit. Perhaps you may find yourself having a similar response. Though, I certainly wouldn’t blame you if this one never comes around for ya like it did for me. I get it.
However, since there is that shortage I mentioned earlier and Lagoony is one of the Big 5, Dave Edmunds and his strange by the numbers rock song about a classic monster get their chance to swim.
While we may not be entirely sure who the fuck The Wolf Man actually is, we can safely say we know exactly who The Mummy is, and his name is Long Tall Ernie.
Dutch rockers Long Tall Ernie and The Shakers started out life in The Netherlands in 1968 as a band called The Moans, which they later changed to simply Moans.
These guys were all a bunch of jokers I guess, because during live performances The Moans would go offstage halfway through the set and re-emerge as a sort of spoof act called Long Tall Ernie and The Shakers. As The Shakers,The Moans would play traditional Rock ‘N Roll from across the pound…as they probably don’t say over there because that’s a definitely a British phrase.
Whatever they say, these guys never found much success as The Moans, but people seemed to love Long Tall Ernie and his Shakers. No problem for them, they just said “fuck it” and changed the band completely to Long Tall Ernie and The Shakers and started knocking out albums.
One of the last of those albums, from 1979, was Meet The Monsters. While maybe a little late in the game for this brand of Shock Theater styled rocking , being a direct goof on 50’s Rock ‘N Roll sensibilities, it only makes perfects sense that these jokesters might eventually release a full on novelty Monster album.
And god bless ‘em, because they threw on a song about the Mummy, and those aren’t exactly spilling out of the sarcophagi.
The Mummy is a bit underrepresented in the Monster Song game, at least when compared to Bash Brother’s Dracula and Frankenstein. Even the Wolf Man, or at the very least, Werewolves, are getting more at-bats than The Mummy.
And rightfully so. Of the Big 5, you’d have to slot this bozo 4th.
The Wolf Man-Dracula-Frankenstein lineup is a veritable Murderer’s Row when it comes to Monstering and popularity. Them’s just the breaks, kid. These dudes are batting 1000, mercing fools left and right and you’re over there lumbering around all slow, reaching at people, looking for some a lost lover or purloined artifact or some shit.
You don’t think you belong 4th, band-aid breath? Come at me. I’ll take you the fuck out, Rudy style, without even breaking a sweat. Frank’s tossin’ me straight into a river, I got nothing for a walking corpse quilt of those measurements. The Wolf Man’s probably ripping my gentials straight off and God help me if Dracula’s got any of them bimbo’s in tow, cause I’m a goner. You? You’re getting unwrapped up quick.
But enough calling out of probably imaginary Monsters. Let’s get back to Long Tall’s take.
For some reason, The Mummy here sounds like any numbers of novelty Dracula’s or weird Igor fashioned character. Seriously, why does The Mummy sound like this? I understand these guys are Dutch, but surely they realize this is not a voice associated with The Mummy, right?
But maybe that’s the problem. Is any voice really associated with The Mummy? What is he supposed to sound like? Egyptian I’ll wager, at the very least. You do have Karloff just Ardath Bey-ing it up, and maybe that’s what they were going for here, cause you could claim this is a voice approaching Boris.
Either way, this is a fun Novelty Monster song about a guy we don’t get to hear too much about. And in regards to Meet the Monsters, it’s a great Monstrous album that deserves a full listen, if you’re into that sort of thing. An album we certainly haven’t heard the last from around here.
By far the spookier (and more mellow) track with this title, Blug Magic’sBorn On Halloween may take the prize for smoothest song on The Shindig. This a slow jam of the baby making variety. Provided of course you’ve found the right spooky lady.
No one affiliated with Blue Magic appears to have been born on Halloween. That’s okay though, because their song is not about themselves, but rather the spookiest girl in town; the Queen of Witchcraft.
She was born on Halloween, and since I’m 99% sure she’s 100% fictional, that can hardly be cross-referenced. We’re just gonna have to take their word for it.
So grab that witchy woman, dim the orange lights and fire up your favorite horror movie, cause Blue Magic’s about to smooth up your holiday with Born On Halloween.
We’re gonna slow things down a bit here, just before our run to Halloween, when things are bound to get all types of hairy.
In my research for an upcoming (and long overdue) addition to The Shindig, I came across not 1, but 2 different songs of the same title. Now you know what we say around here whenever that happens…
Pick ’em up!
From the 1976 album Winningfrom Russ Ballard comes Born On Hallowe’en.
Now, in case you were incredulous (I know I sure was) Russ Ballard was in fact born on Halloween in 1945, somewhere in Britain, if I recall correctly. Pretty spooky.
Unfortunately, this is the least spooky of the 3 songs featuring that title. Fine by us, as a song needn’t be spooky to find itself on The Shindig. It certainly helps, but it’s not a prerequisite.
While I’m quite sure none of us are terribly familiar with Russ, we’re probably familiar with his generous professional output, as many of his songs have been recorded and turned into big hits.
Originally the lead singer for the rock outfit Argent, who’s hits Hold Your Head Up and God Gave Rock N Roll To You are surely recognizable to anyone with even passing interest in classic rock or has seen Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey.
He’s also responsible for America’s comeback hit You Can Do Magic, Rainbow’sSince You Been Gone, Santana’sWinning, Peter Criss’Let Me Rock You and the Ace Frehley solo track New York Groove.
Coming in at #198 to pump the breaks a little, here’s a mellow rocker from Halloween Hero Russ Ballard, who was definitely Born On Hallowe’en.
And since we’re talkin’ about sweet songs and everything, nothing quite says “Halloween” without saying “Halloween” at all, like The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Poor Tim’s been sitting in the Shindig Bullpen for years now, just waiting for the right opportunity to provide some relief.
And rowing away from Camp Arawak aboard Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s transsexual canoe seems as good a place as any for him to step in at last and provide a nice hanging curve-ball.
So here, at number #194, it’s Tim Curry’s trash-camp classic, Sweet Transvestite.
As influential and essential as Alan Howarth may have ultimately been to that “Carpenter” sound, nothing proves John’s singular mastery like his score from 1978’s Halloween.
Everyone knows the iconic theme. Hell, people that haven’t even seen the movie recognize it’s repetitious, modulating sound.
However, John’s score is more than just that simple and oh-so-effective opening number. The entire sonic landscape of Halloween is synthy and unnerving, with buzzes and stabs that have become icons in and of themselves.
So we’d be remiss, particularly since our block of synthetic horror themes has bleed into Halloween, to leave out the man himself and one of his lesser heard arrangements from that classic seasonal favorite.
So, tingling your 31st spine is Shindig All-Star John Carpenter with the haunting and memorable and succinct, Laurie’s Theme.
