Ah, the 80’s. Was there a better decade for horror, or horror related music? Not according to this blog. Revel in the golden age of Horror sounds here.
Overlay of Evil / Main Titles (Friday the 13th) by Harry Manferdini
Well, it’s been 8 years. 8 long years that have passed, rather quickly it sometimes seems, since I began the website form of Halloween Shindig. Yet, despite that speed, it somehow still feels almost like a lifetime ago.
In those 8 years I’ve included numerous horror themes on the playlist, maybe not as many as I should have and certainly not as many as I’d like, but there’s plenty to go around.
Additionally, I’ve added 7 different songs from various Friday the 13th films. However, somehow I have yet to include Harry Manferdini’s iconic theme from the 1980 original.
As any of you that happened to read yesterday’s entry may now be aware, Harry scored not only the original film, but every subsequent installment in the 10 film saga, with the lone exception of Jason Takes Manhattan. Still, no small feat.
But that’s not all, cause Harry scored All 4 House films, The Hills Have Eyes 2, The Children, Slaughter High, Swamp Thing and Iron Eagle III!
I know it’s taken too long to get you here Harry, but that is no reflection on your incredible contributions to not just Friday, but to the whole of horror. Halloween Shindig is honored to have you among its ranks.
Sail Away Tiny Sparrow by Harry Manferdini & Angela Rotella
Hey gang.
If you’re here reading this, I’ll assume you’re familiar with Jason Voorhees. Seems reasonable. I’ll also assume then that you’re at least familiar with the Friday the 13th film series, in some respect.
From there, I’ll make a lateral maneuver and assume that, since you are here, you may also be familiar with The Halloween Shindig podcast called Shindig Radio.
If you are, then you’re no doubt familiar with Shindig Radio personality and professional Monstersmith, Mikey Rotella.
Now, perhaps then, given you’ve listen to enough episodes (or maybe just the right episodes) and you also have a steel trap memory for weird personal trivia, you may know that Mikey comes from a very musical family.
First, you have his Grandfather, Julius Rotella Sr. He was a drummer and big band leader who had a family band way back. First with his brothers, then later with his own children, including his namesake, Jules Jr., tickling the ivories.
Providing lead vocals for that family band? Why, that was Mikey’s dad – the perpetually good-willed, world-renown spiritual singer, Marty Rotella. That’s right.
Johnny Rotella, on the ready with his fellow Woodwinders.
But wait, that’s not all! Cause you also get Johnny Rotella, an accomplished woodwind session player and the author of over 200 songs, including Nothing But the Best, which Frank Sinatra recorded in 1962.
The Chairman of the Board wasn’t the only one who put a little Johnny Rot on wax either. Dean Martin, Rosemary Clooney, Tony Bennett and Doris Day have all recorded songs written by the illustrious Johnny Rotella. Pretty incredible.
As a session player, Johnny himself can be heard on tracks from the likes of Benny Goodman, Neil Diamond, Tommy Dorsey, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Zappa, and Steely Dan! Snap. That’s a murderer’s row of musicians right there, all with Johnny Rotella right at their side.
But that’s still not all. Because there’s also Johnny’s son, Bill Rotella, who’s band, Urban Shocker, provided the full-throttled action extraction Long After Midnight for the 1989 film Action USA. You can check Bill’s new music right here. Man, does it stop with this family?
Nope, because there’s also Bill’s sister, Geraldine. Who, like her father, is an accomplished flutist. One of the best in the industry, Geraldine can be heard on countless film scores including The Omen, Peter Jackson’s King Kong and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
Mikey’s VG+ looking copy of Tranquil Sun’s …Thinking of You. Hell, with that shrink, I might even go NM on that. And since there isn’t even 1 copy of this on Discogs, I’d hang onto that one pal.
But, back before Action USA,Friday the 13th, and Spock saving the Whales, Marty Rotella and his sister, Angela, had a band called Tranquil Sun. They produced a funky mix of disco pop and soul, with enough driving bass, stabbing brass and smooth synth to satisfy any aficionado. They have a sort of Chicago meets ABBA vibe that’s perfectly a product of it’s era and definitely grooves.
A part time member of this band, rippin’ a Sax himself and sweeping that analog cut-off filter, was a young, local New Jersey musician named Harry Manferdini.
Now, assuming (as I did above) you are familiar with Friday the 13th, then perhaps you are also familiar with Harry Manferdini. He’s the man responsible for scoring every film in the original 10 picture series, with the lone exception of Jason Takes Manhattan.
It was Harry’s “Ki Ki Ki, Ma Ma Ma” which went on to become the stuff of horror legend.
In addition to bustin’ reeds and detuning oscillators on Tranquil Sun’s 1981 release …Thinking of You, Harry also arranged and conducted the enitre album. Not a bad pull for a small New Jersey disco band.
The reverse of the LP, … Thinking of You. Harry on that synth and sax baby. And Jules Jr. hittin’ the organ!
Which brings us to Friday the 13th.
Harry revealed that an early cut of the film featured a fairly well known Dolly Parton tune called Fly Away Little Bluebird. However, Dolly was a bit out of budget for the small production and the track needing replacing. It’s kinda like what happened with Prom Night around the same time.
So, Harry penned the curiously titled, Sail Away Tiny Sparrow, as a replacement. He then tapped the best singer he knew, Angie from Tranquil Sun, to sing the tune.
Yep, that’s Mikey’s Aunt Angie all over the original Friday the 13th soundtrack. You can even hear Marty in the background providing, what Mikey referred to as, “the juice.”
A fan favorite in the Friday message boards, Sail Away Tiny Sparrowis just the kind of nice you’re not expecting from a film like Friday the 13th, and it adds a healthy dose of lived-in realism to environs of Crystal Lake. Lots of fans over the years have wondered about it’s origins and performers, and hopefully this will fill in some of the gaps.
But, is that the end of the Rotella’s musical contributions? Not by a long shot, And not even as it concerns this playlist, as Mikey himself can be heard right here, belting it out with The Kyrpt-Keeper 5 on their cover of The Monster Mash. Sure, it’s no Run-Off, but it’s probably more in-line with our listener’s proclivities.
And hey, don’t knock showing up on The Shindig as a musical accomplishment. The last time I checked, neither Al Jourgensen nor Peter Steele could make that claim. So, check your hater jacket at the door.
And how about Marty? Oh, Marty’s doin’ aces. Don’t worry about that.
He’s been shootin’ 73% from the floor, trailing the Hoboken Bigfoot and recording songs under his very own label, Spirit Power Music, for over 30 years. It’s the banner under which you can find him on Instagram. There you can hear nuggets of sage-like advice and his wonderful singing voice. Follow Marty and show him some love from us over at @spiritpowermusic.
But enough about The Juice, what of this song?
Well, it’s most notably heard in the beginning of the film, when Annie enters the Crystal Lake general store to ask for directions to Camp Blood.
A slightly different version of the song is heard again later, at the Blairsville Diner, when Steve stops in for a quick bite and a coffee during the rainstorm.
Now, a version of this song appears on the Orignal Motion Picture soundtrack, but anyone familiar with the film will immediately hear a discrepancy. It sounds nothing like the prominent version in the film. The tempo has been reduced and Angie’s vocals have been pitched shifted down. Probably just side effect of the tempo change.
There are a few low-bit rate versions floating around the internet which attempt to correct this, and some aren’t bad. But I decided, what the hell, and took a crack at correcting it myself to see if i couldn’t get it a little closer and produce a cleaner, re-timed version for all of the Shindig fans. I tried to match the tempo and pitch as much as I could without being too destructive.
However, such tricks can not be accomplished without introducing some digital artifacts, which the eagle-eared among you may be able to detect. Hopefully, that’s not too distracting.
So, what do you think Friday fans? Did I get it pretty close to matching Angie’s original voice? I guess only She, Harry and The Juice know for sure. But hopefully one day, that original recording will resurface somewhere.
Until then, sail away tiny sparrow, out into the world.
Young horror nerd Mikey Rotella stands next to Harry Manferdini, adorned in a Friday the 13th shirt. Coincidentally though, I’m sure.
Night of the Vampireby Roky Erickson and The Aliens
Speaking of folks who haven’t made an appearance at the plate for a couple season, here comes Roky Erickson and The Aliens, who haven’t taken a swing in about 6 years, 7 months and 18 days. About.
Ole Roky will probably end up as an All-Star eventually, but he already should be and I’ve neglected adding another one of his songs for far too long.
So we’re gonna line up and Vampire double-header here with Roky’s cautionary ode about a night of a generic vampire.
Or is it? What clues can we unearth?
Well, its all fairly unspecific. That is until Roky tells us a little bit about this vampire. Why, he’s from Transylvania! So, we could easily conclude he’s just talking about Dracula, of course!
Well, wait a minute. Not so fast, cause apparently this Vamp was also born on St. Swithin’s Day.
What in the Sam Hell is St. Swithin’s Day?
Good question. But don’t worry, I’ve already looked it up for us.
St. Swithin’s Day is a British holiday. It’s July 15th. It’s kinda like Groundhog Day, in that it purports to predict how the weather will shake out in it’s aftermath. Seems if it rains on St. Swithin’s Day, you’re lookin at 40 days of more rain to follow.
Got some sunshine? Well, you got some clears skies coming at you for the rest of July and August.
It even has a little limerick:
St Swithun’s day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St Swithun’s day if thou be fair
For forty days ’twill rain nae mare
Aces. But, what the fuck does that to do with Vampires?
Search me. Roky Erickson was a weird cat, man. God knows what all that electroshock therapy did to his noodle.
Wait, maybe Dracula was born on St. Swithin’s Day?
Well, since Dracula got his name from real life Romanian Aristocrat and gnarly sunofabitch, Vlad III, lets start there.
Vlad was a Prince, and his father, the king, was known as Vlad Dracul, which meant Dragon. That name is what they call a “sobriquet,” and that’s basically just a formal nickname that becomes more popular than your real name. Like Tricky Dick, or The Sultan of Swat, or the King of Pop. You know exactly who I’m talking about and I never needed to say their names. Unless you don’t, which probably just means your younger than shit.
Well anyway, Vlad III had one of these sobriquets too; Vlad Tepes, or Vlad the Impaler. Cause that’s what happens you you shove a fuck-ton of giant pikes through people – you get named for that shit.
Now, since his dad was Vlad Dracul….Little Vlad came to have another nickname, Dracula, which is like the equivalent of what calling a guy around here Johnson or Peterson used to be.
Ok great, but weren’t we taking about his birthday. Yeah, but the problem is that nobody’s really even sure what year Vlad Tepes, was born, much less the day. General consensus seems to be 1431. That’s as good as we can get on that front.
So, how about fake Dracula?
Same. And the novel was published on May 26th, so no winky references there.
Well, how about the guys who played fake Dracula? Let’s see…
Max Schrek? September 6th.
Bela Lugosi? October 20th
Carlos Villarías? July 7th. Man that’s close.
John Carradine? February 5th.
Christopher Lee? May 27th.
Jack Palance? February 18th.
Klaus Kinski? October 18th.
Frank Langella? January 1st.
Udo Kier? October 14th.
Judd Hirsh, maybe? Naw. March 15th.
Duncan Regehr? October 5th.
Gary Oldman? March 21st.
Gerard Fuckin’ Butler, even? November 13th.
That guy from Argento’s 3D shit show? That was Thomas Kretschmann. And nope, September 8th.
What about that new guy? It’s way too late for Roky at this point, but what the hell, right?
Luke Evans was in Dracula Untold. He was born April, 15th,
William Smith? Wait, really…William “Normad” Smith? Yep, he played ole Drac in The Erotic Rites of Countess Dracula in 2001. But no. March 24th.
Claes Bang most recently play him on Netflix. April 28th.
Fuck, really?
I dunno, Leslie Nielsen maybe? Nope. Februrary 11th.
Jesus, was anyone interesting born on July 15th?
Sure…
Hall of fame Basketball player Frank “Pop” Morgenweck, Country Singer Lloyd “Cowboy” Copas, Airwolf’s Jan-Michael Vincent, Painter and toothpaste spokesman Rembrandt, Linda Ronstadt, Filmmaker DA Pennebaker, Jesse “The Body” Ventura, Johnny Thunders, Terry “The Step Father” O’Qiunn, Lolita “I Have the Coolest Last Name Ever” Davidovich, Forrest “What’s Really Goin On With My Eye?” Whittaker, comedian Eddie Griffin, Brian “The Peach Pit” Austin Green and current Portland Trailblazer Point Guard Damian Lillard.
..were all born St. Swithin’s day.
From my extensive research however, I have found that only Brian Austin Green and Cowboy Copas were actual Vampires. Brian was born in 1973, which probably makes him a bit too young for the honor. So, I can only conclude this song is about legendary Vampire Lloyd “Cowboy” Copas.
By association, Shindig Superhero King Diamond finally becomes the Shindig All-Star he was always meant to be.
From Mercyful Fate’s 1983 debut album, Melissa, comes this Satany as shit foray into Halloween with Mr. Diamond at the helm, falsetto and all.
And, for King Diamond fans, the name Melissa is an important one.
According to the album’s final song (and title track) Melissa was a witch who owned the heart of King. She was (presumably) burned at the stake by a priest, to which King Diamond swore revenge.
Melissa then reappeared the following year, again on the final track, of the album Don’t Break the Oath called Come to the Sabbath. That song details the performance of a ritual that will curse the priest responsible for murdering Melissa.
King with his famous Melissa mic stand, though I doubt that’s the original skull.
Finally, Melissa appears on the 1993 Mercyful Fate reunion album, In the Shadows, on the song Is That You, Melissa? Here, King attempts to convince a Coven to perform a ritual which will allow him to speak with Melissa’s ghost. Though the Coven refuses, King is later visited by her spirit. They share a kiss and Melissa is never spoken of again.
However, Melissa holds even more significance to Mr. Diamond than that. See, sometime in 1981, King procured human remains from a medical school in Copenhagen. He then proceeded to named those bones “Melissa.”
King would go on to form his legendary mic stand from the femur and tibia of “Melissa’s” remains. Additionally, he would carry her skull around with him on stage. That is, he did, until one night at a show in the Netherlands (he reckons) Melissa’s skull was stolen!
King still uses his Melissa mic stand to this very day, but her skull has never…been seen…again.
Ok. So, now that I do have a record player, I can finally spin my previously only decorative copy of Whodini’s 12″ 45 for The Haunted House of Rock.
What does that mean for you, dear readers? Why a mini-playlist, of course!
Here, for your listening pleasure, are the 4 different versions of The Haunted House of Rock on offer from that single, including the exceedingly spooked-out Vocoder version.
For the uninitiated, a Vocoder is something you’re familiar with even if you aren’t familiar with the term.
Developed throughout the ’30s by Homer Dudley for Bell Labs, it was first unleashed to the public at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York.
It’s essentially a device that synthesizes human speech. It analyzes the source (your voice) and assigns different parts of that signal to different frequency bands. On the other side, a a series of band-pass filter reproduces those frequencies and, with the help of an envelope follower, creates a robotic facsimile of your voice.
Initially, it was intended to reduce the bandwidth of vocal information for transmission over long distances. Problem was, it kind of sucked at reproducing the human voice convincingly. Too creepy.
Since that sort of thing never stops the United States Military, they put it to use during WWII to encrypt voice messages. See, without the proper frequency band information on the other end, the enemy could not decode that messages. Pretty neat.
However, thanks to several industrious souls, the vocoder soon found its way into the hands of musicians. Not the least of those souls were legendary synth builder Bob Moog and equally legendary synth user Wendy Carlos.
The musical incarnation works a bit differently, but it uses the same principle. Your voice is analyzed and then reproduced by the band-pass filters, but in this case, a “carrier” is sent through that filter as well, like the notes of a synthesizer. This allows you to alter the pitch of that robotic voice and create something altogether more interesting and musical.
Used abusively throughout the 80’s by all all different genres, its has the unmistakable sound of a decade. Here, in modulated grandeur, Whodini asks…
Is this what you wanted?
Something funky and haunted?
To which I reply…
Yep.
Also of interest on the single is an Acapella version, which is kind of fun to hear and a Haunted Mix, which is mostly an instrumental track. There’s also a version which claims to be extended, but sounds no different to me than the version already present on Halloween Shindig.
Either way, it all adds up to the a spooky good time any fan of this song should definitely enjoy.
If you don’t wanna party, take your dead ass home!
Now, that should earn everyone hangin’ around here a new Halloween song. But the last time I checked, I noticed we completely flaked on our end on the Halloween last year.
We did deliver Acid Witch’sOctober 31st, so we didn’t completely abandon ya’ll. But, we didn’t make good with a new Halloween song, at least not one called Halloween, anyway.
So we’re making doubly sure we got you covered this year.
For our 2019 Halloween induction of a Halloween song, we figured we’d dig right into our Heavy Metal Halloween line-up and pull out an exclusive.
And what better exclusive than the secret song I stumbled upon the night before we recorded that episode – 220 Volt’s 1985 rockin’ Metaller, Halloween!
Ya know, that Swedish metal band that formed after an unfortunate mini-golf accident? I don’t know about you guys, but to me, nothing spells evil metal like minor hand injuries at the Dragon Castle on hole 7.
And since we had such a great time listening to all of Busta Rhymes’ nonsense from Halloween: Resurrection, and I have a habit of trickin’ out these tracks with Halloween franchise samples, we Busta Busted all over this one for yinz.
Happy Halloween everybody! Thanks for coming along for the ride. We’ll see ya’ll again on Oct. 1st, 2020 sharp!
Until then, stayed tuned for more episodes of Shindig Radio and definitely stay spooky!
Oh, and here’s that weird picture we referenced during the show. I think Matt was right, this singer definitely looks like a labradoodle.
No movie gets championed around here quite like 1986’s Trick or Treat. And why not? It’s everything we’re on about over here. It’s a Rock ‘N Roll Horror movie that takes place around and then on Halloween. An undead rock star electrocutes an entire gymnasium of teenagers with a real electric guitar. It’s got Gene Simmons. I mean, what more do you need?
The Super Soundtrack, which I thoroughly recommend listening to the day before Halloween, features loads of songs by Fastway, including tonight’s penultimate selection of the season.
When a movie like Trick or Treatis throwing a Sweet Song at you like After Midnight, how can we ignore that?
My personal pick for Favorite Addition to the Playlist: 2019 has got to go to Philip J. Settle’s rockin’ 80’s, four-to-the-floor Title Track, Dead Heat.
Shindig Radio personality and Showdown Shogun himself Graham C. Schofield brought this glaring omission to my attention just before the season started. And I couldn’t believe I had totally forgotten about this track.
How had this track, this Title Track of all things – particularly one as awesome as this – to a movie I thoroughly enjoy – eluded The Shindig for so long? I love Dead Heat, but I must admit, it’s been some years since I’ve just sat down and watched in it’s entirety…
And this track isn’t just a Title Track, it’s also a Sweet Song, so you gotta stick it through to the end credits to be treated to this dozy, which I definitely would have loved to have taken a go at on any one of our Title Tracks episodes of the Podcast.
All good things eventually reveal themselves to The Shindig and we can thank a dutiful rewatch from Graham for bringing this champion of Title Tracks home, where it belongs.
Playlist fans can now rock out to this tune, which is kind of an Indirect Title Track; one of those song where they definitely say the name of the movie incessantly, but aren’t quite talking about the movie at all really.
Playing off the films double-entendre, Philip J. Settle settles for steering this hot rod of the track toward the racing side of a dead heat, and it works out just fine.
If you’ve never seen this Treat Williams/Joe Piscapo/Kolchak The Night Stalker/Vincent Price zombie-gore bonanza, I say correct that as soon as possible.
With out of control FX from Steve Johnson’s XFX team and additional work from the likes of Todd Masters and Rick Lazzarini, Dead Heat is an 80’s gore/make-up/creature tour de force.
I first saw Dead Heat after my first day of work at an old video store called “Mike’s Movies” in Boston. I had just been introduced to a co-worker (and eventual good friend) named Malachi (I know, right?) and was tasked with assisting him in creating a small shelf of Halloween recommendations to be placed near the entrance for October. What a first day, huh?
We each split up grabbed a handful of titles from the impressive selection that store had to offer. He came back with some selections you might imagine, probably along with some foreign shit (he loved weird old foreign shit.) But it was one cover in particular (and the only one I 100% remember) that caught my attention.
“Piscopo? An Uzi? What the fuck is this?” I asked “This is a horror movie?”
“No.” He replied. “It’s so much more. You gotta see this.”
So we proceeded to get higher than shit that night, and became fast friends while watching his hero, Treat Williams, become the Dead Heat. And Malachi was right. Cause you gotta see this.
So, it seems only fitting then, that 2 days before Halloween, from a small Halloween shelf on the other side of the country, Dead Heat joins the ranks of Halloween Shindig. This one’s for you Malachi!
It’s Halloween again and Shindig Radio is celebrating its reason for your season: Halloween Songs.
But not just any Halloween Songs. These are songs exclusively called Halloween and performed exclusively by weird 80’s metal bands.
It’s a Heavy Metal Halloween!
Matt Mastrella returns to join Graham C. Schofield and Mikey Rotella on a Halloween journey through Heavy Metal history with 10 of the hardest, most head bangin’ Halloween hits the world has ever heard!
Originally filmed in 1984 and titled The April Fool, Killer Party wasn’t released until 1986, alongside 2 other foolishly themed slashers, April Fool’s Day and Slaughter High.
Though not terribly celebrated (from what I can tell) nor especially gory, Killer Party is a surprisingly enjoyable slasher despite, mixing elements of its contemporaries without all the rug pulling or meanness.
Slasher fans might say it’s too tame or too schizophrenic or that it takes too long for it to get to any genuine horror. They wouldn’t be wrong, but at least when it gets there, it’s real. Out of left field perhaps, Evil Dead-lite, no question, but definitely not a joke.
The characters here are fun, the actors likable and it’s got a fitting, almost Halloweeny, ambiance. The movie has a look and I vibe I just kinda dig, and it could certainly hold up to an October’s viewing.
The censors apparently had a field day with this one though, and the kills are so non-existent you’ll actually be surprised when it all doesn’t end up like April Fool’s Day. If you want something with teeth, you’d be better served sticking with Slaughter High, perhaps the most conventional (though still weird) of the 3.
But that’s not to say Killer Party doesn’t come correct at times, particularly out of the gate. Because it features this kick-ass track, the culmination of its effective double pump, April fool’s fake-out opening.
What starts out as a Creepshow-styled funeral gone awry, quickly reveals its melodrama to be the evening’s Drive-In fare of choice for 2 young neckers. It was only a movie!
The female viewer, April, excuses herself from the car to get some popcorn, but upon returning finds her date is nowhere to be found. Where could he be?
Why he’s creeping up alongside the car and looking mighty unhealthy. He suddenly brandishes a knife, thrusting it at April through the window! She flees as zombies jump out from all corners of the Drive-In parking lot.
Boom! Homeboy in the headband hits the OB-8 hard and Dollar Store Jack Burton lets his receding mullet do the talking. I dunno where I’m at anymore, but it’s definitely somewhere I wanna be.
What you now thought was the real movie reveals itself to be the Thriller-esque preamble for the zombie filled music video to White Sister’sApril (You’re No Fool). Bonus!
White Sister rocks the most lavish concession lobby I’ve ever seen while April dodges her zombie attackers as we the audience just look around confused, having absolutely no fuckin’ bearings anymore whatsoever. Where the fuck are we? Where’s the movie? Who edited this, and did he fall asleep?
It’s been about 9 minutes, and our movie has just started. Ah, our main protagonist Phoebe is just watching a little MTV. “Gotcha!” says the music video. It is about April being a fool, after all.
So rock out with April, a few zombies and the boys of White Sister, mourn the lost of a much more appropriate title, and enjoy April (You’re No Fool)!
Side Note: to any hardcore fans of Killer Party who may be a little baffled as to how we’re not including the film’s superior (and reoccuring) number Best Times…patience is a virtue. It’ll be coming soon enough, and that’s no April Fool!
Ah, Critters, the quintessential 80’s Sci-Fi-Horror-Creature-Feature if there was one.
Critters was a big film for me as a kid. Being a little too young for having anything but just passing exposure to the gorier slashers of the day, films like Monster Squad, Critters and Killer Klowns are what grabbed me early and drew me into the wide world of horror.
Incidentally, The Chiodo brothers, responsible parties for those Killer Klowns, are also the culprits behind the Crite, amazing little 80’s puppet monsters such as they are. These brothers definitely informed my youth, without question.
So what brings us here tonight? Why Johnny Steele, that’s who! The coiffed haired rocker from whom the intergalactic bounty hunter Ug steals his visage.
Those bounty hunters are cool, with their weird faceless goo-heads that mimic whatever person they’d like. Pretty neat.
Now, Johnny Steele’s just some Earth rocker Ug sees while getting a crash course in Earth culture from the video montage he’s watching en route to our planet. Ug likes the cut of ole Johnny’s jib, and quickly programs Johnny face into his weird goo-head for full metamorphosis. The scene is a great example of bitchin 80’s reverse FXery, and no doubt leaves an impression.
And Johnny’s 80’s arena-anthem Power of the Night is all over this movie. Dee Wallace is watching it’s video on the TV. Brad throws on it’s tape in defiance after being sent to his room. Even Billy Zane’s ponytail-rocking douchball Steve is bumpin’ this shit in his Porsche 944. Damn straight he is.
Curiously though, this song isn’t played during the end credits. Doubly frustrating is that it appeared on the original vinyl LP of the Critters soundtrack but not on any subsequent cassette or CD releases. So finding clean, uncompressed versions that don’t sound awful is harder than one might imagine. We made do with the best we could find.
Sweet song or not, it’s a certified Shindigger that was written and performed by actor Terrence Mann, who plays Ug/Johnny Steele in the film. Pretty solid. Now that’s commitment to a role right there, and damn it if Terrence doesn’t sell this shit out of that performance.
What’s more? Terrence is one of only 2 actors to appear in all 4 Critters films. This guy gets the fuck down on Crite.
So let’s bring Terrence aboard and rock out with Johnny Steele’s Power of the Night!
Hey, remember that one episode of CHiPs where Ralph Malph plays a Shock Rocker named Moloch who discovers secret backmasked messages on his own albums after someone mysteriously tries to murder him?
Oh. You’re using that real estate for actual memories of real experiences from your life and don’t have the any room for myopic bullshit from a 37 year old cheeseball cop show? Yeah, I get that.
Well, in the event that you don’t remember, or can’t remember cause you’ve never seen it, or wouldn’t remember cause CHiPs is some stupid shit you wouldn’t waste your time with, Halloween Shindig is here!
Rock Devil Rock was the name of that episode and it was the CHiPs Satanic Panic Halloween special in 1982. It aired on Halloween Night and guest starred Elvira! She MC’s the Highway Patrol’s holiday party and even cuts a rug with Ponch himself. Halloween bonus.
In fact, our bitchin’ Season 2 Shindig Radio logo that will probably totally earn us a cease and desist from the Mistress herself, is taken from this episode.
Anyway, so yeah Moloch. He’s this KISS-styled Alice Cooper type that sings about the Devil while uppity do-gooders protest his very existence. His car also starts spewing smoke from the vents and tries to kill him while spouting Devil shit from its wood-paneled cassette deck. Now, if that paragraph doesn’t grab ya, I gotta believe you’ve just stumbled upon this website by complete accident and may want to hit the back button.
Yep. This is totally Robert Trujillo playing Flippy on CHiPs
Yep. Someone’s got it out for old Moloch and it’s up to Ponch and the boys of the California Highway Patrol to save the day. After fraternizing with Elvira and helping the bassist from Suicidal Tendencies deal with some Halloween issues, of course.
This episode’s pretty fun, plenty festive and, as you may have already assumed, provides us with tonight’s musical selection.
From the man himself, Moloch, comes the Black Magic Rock Opus…Devil Take Me!
The Friday series was no doubt long in the tooth and well past it’s prime by Part 8, but Jason Takes Manhattan still remains totally 80’s and appropriate when compared to subsequent installments.
Attempting to take the series in a fresh direction and shake the claustrophobic confines of Crystal Lake, the producers thought Jason should get into the Muppet spirit and take Manhattan. This isn’t a necessarily meritless approach, except for the fact that rather than New York, the action takes place on a much more claustrophobic cruise ship on it’s the way too Manhattan.
So much for that.
Despite being a highly derided entry for this very reason, I’d argue it’s actually the film’s saving grace. Thank God this whole thing doesn’t take place in Manhattan. I know it was the draw card, but it’s really where the film starts to fall apart for me.
Because it’s just weird seeing Jason takin’ it to the streets. Perhaps funny, I guess, but only for a gag or two, and then what? The movie isn’t quite sure it wants to be a full-on parody yet, and as such it has a bit of a Jason Lives vibe to it; not totally embracing its sillier parts, yet not committed to being a fully horrific affair either.
Jason Takes Manhattan does have a meaner streak than Jason Lives though, and sharper teeth. It’s self aware, but not all neutered like Part 6. So it’s got that going for it.
I would say Jason X, for all it’s millennial sensibilities and glossy lameness, navigates this sort of self conscious ground much more deftly. As such, I think it’s delivers a much more self assured spin on this series than either Jason Lives or TakesManhattan. Even has some solid kills, and before Jason gets all Mechagodzilla meets Robocop, he looks pretty dope. But it’s still hard to get behind that movie.
That being said, Jason Takes Manhattan is still a Paramount Friday that’s 80’s to the max with Kane Hodder just giving it his all. So, for my money, its in a different sphere of Friday than everything after.
Of the Paramount 8 however, I do feel it might be least of the bunch. Depends on what day you catch me. I recently rewatched Part 6 this passed Friday the 13th and found myself more irritated with it than usual. Part 8’s pulling ahead of it for me at this particular moment.
But hey, what the hell are we here for? Not my unsolicited bullshit. We’re here for some music, and Part 8 ain’t coming up broke, depending on your musical proclivities. If you can get down on cheeseball 80’s Power-Ballad-lite Pop Rock, than Metropolis here has got you covered.
I actually wanted to include the song J.J. puts on right before Jason steals her pink flying V and smashes her head in, but apparently that’s not a real song, just some composite that was put together from 2 other songs. Bummer, cause that one rocks, Lita Ford style. Oh well.
Here’s Metropolis kicking off Friday the 13th Part 8 with The Darkest Side of the Night!
C’mon, ya’ll didn’t think we were gonna make it all the way through 2019 and not give ya a Freddy/Jason double header, did ya?
Naw, it’s tradition ’round here and this year we’re reaching back into The Dream Master’s bag!
And the treat we’ve pulled out is this 80’s Pop Rock classic that has much longer legs as a real standing hit than any association with Mr. Big Time.
However, associated it is and onto the Shindig it goes!
In the very ridiculous and very Karate Kid-inspired training montage from A Nightmare on Elm Street Pt. 4, you will here this Jack FM favorite.
The Dream Warrior Kristen Parker (who was here recast with theme song singer and Shindig inductee Tuesday Knight) is trying to piece a normal life back together. Part of that puzzle is her boyfriend Rick, who’s not too fond of her old “spooky” buddies Kincaid and Joey.
Sport-o Rick suits up early on to assure us that, if push comes to shove, Freddy ain’t getting to him without a fight.
He throws on one of Myagi’s spare headbands, hits the bag and flails a pair of nunchucks around to this not-particularly-tough but particularly-whiny popper from Wayne New Jersey’s own Dramarama.
Later, his sister Alice picks up the same nunchucks and Neo’s that shit with the quickness, also while listening to Anything, Anything.
If you think Rick looks kind of familiar, that’s because he plays nerdy shut-in lightweight Calvin in Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama! How’s that for timing?
So come on! Verbally berate your girlfriend and try to buy her off while being totally self absorbed and not understanding at all why she’s not at all interested in marrying your needy asss. Hey, maybe even try to beat up her dad! That’s a good move. You can use some of Rick’s bitchin’ Taekwonkido!
As I’m sure anyone reading this is probably well aware, the steaming horror platform Shudder has been airing new episodes of Greg Nicotero’s Creepshow revival.
And while the response seems to be pretty positive, with some even claiming the show “nails” the vibe and spirit of Creepshow, I would respectfully like to disagree. That show isn’t nailing anything for me except the coffin lid on the belief that “sometimes…dead is better.”
That isn’t to suggest it’s not worth watching. It’s a new, and weekly, horror anthology from Greg Nicotero and a pile of other guys directly involved with the original Creepshow. That’s definitely a commendable and worthwhile effort.
But Creepshow, it is not.
I do appear to be in the minority on this one though, so maybe I’m just an old, purest curmudgeon.
Whatever your impression of the show may be, I’d like to hope we can all agree that an area where it’s coming up disappointingly short, is its score.
I mean no disrespect to the team of composers creating music for these new installments, because they’ve produced some interesting and creepy arrangements that definitely sound good. They just don’t sound like Creepshow.
Because Creepshow has a very specific sound. And that sound is the sound of the Sequential Circuits Prophet 5.
Created by Dave Smith and released in 1978, The Prophet 5 was the first completely programmable polyphonic (5 individual and articulated notes simultaneously) that featured a microprocessor for scanning knob positions, allowing for the storing and recalling of sounds; a technological revolution for the fledgling Synthesizer.
And composer John Harrison made extensive use of those novel and stock Prophet 5 presets.
So much so that the Creepshowscore practically plays like a demo track for this breakthrough instrument.
The American made Prophet 5 then became indelibly stabbed into the heart of American Horror.
The bulk of Carpenter’s scores with Alan Howarth, from Escape from New York to Halloween 3 to Christine, all feature prominent use of the board, albeit with Alan’s own programming.
Tim Krog’s score for The Boogeyman, Wakeman’s for The Burning, Brad Fidel’s for The Terminator, Jay Chattaway’s for Maniac, and probably a dozens of others, are all smeared Sequential’s sonic signature. It’s the sound of horror
The Prophet 5 and its big brother the Prophet 10 (essentially just 2 Prophet 5’s strapped together in the same enclosure) became as ubiquitous as the MiniMoog, but with a sound all its own.
It saddens me that these new composers have yet to muster much what John Harrison accomplished with just a Steinway Piano and a Prophet 5; pure 80’s synthy horror. Creepshow.
But maybe they’re not trying to. And maybe that’s the problem. Or at least my problem with it. I think they’re fine horror scores. But, to me, if you’re trying to capture the spirit of Creepshow, at least a third of that vibe lies in the score, and if you’re not trying to capture that, you’re fighting a losing battling.
And it wouldn’t be hard to do. Vintage Prophet 5’s may be expensive, but nothing outside the realm of this production or any professional composers. Hell, you could easily just rent one in here in Los Angeles, if that was a concern.
But even then, assuming you couldn’t get your hands on an original Prophet 5, modern equivalents like the Prophet 6, or a Prophet REV2 or the older but still attainable Prophet 600, would all get you right in that ballpark. A Polysix, a Trident, hell, a 300 dollar Kawai K3, could all to get ya some Creepshowy sounding stuff.
Or shit, even if you just used a laptop. There are several software recreations of the Prophet 5 (including Uhe’s excellent Repro5) which would get you so close to the mark, you’d be Creepshowing out in no time.
Seriously, with just a few clicks: Preset 2-1: Unison Glide with Resonance or any recreation of that and you’re all over Richard Watches Them Drown from Something To Tide You Over. It’s seriously that easy. No programing necessary. It’s a fuckin preset. They practically all were. The thing just sounds like Creepshow straight from the factory. It’s nuts.
So, I’m a rambling nerd right now, and I get that, but I don’t get why this show sounds the way it does. Particularly considering John Harrison – the man himself! – is involved. He’s right there, on set, directing some of these stories.
That is, unless they’re consciously tying to make it sound different. So, I have to conclude that this is the case. And it boggles my mind why you wouldn’t want it to sound like that. It’s so iconic, so 80’s, so exactly the thing they’re trying to evoke.
Now, with all that being vented, if you’re finding yourself a little disillusioned by the new music as well, let John Harrison and The Creepshow Welcome You.
We haven’t had a good Horror Theme here in a spell and it’s also been a while since we’ve had a visit Shindig All-Star Danny Elfman.
So, we’ll take care of both here with this addition that’s been waiting too long in the attic to pop out and scare us all.
What can we say about Beetlejuice that hasn’t been said? If you’re reading this, chances are we don’t need to tell you how great this film is, but I’m sure I’ll tack on at least a couple sentences below this that will do just that. So, who am I kidding exactly?
Arguably Tim Burton’s finest contribution to the world, everything from it’s off-beat story, wonderful production design, inspired special FX and iconic titular performance from Michael Keaton all coalesce to make this a bona fide horror comedy classic that has truly stood the test of time. I’m still shocked to see how much Beetlejuiceshit I see around on Halloween. Hell, I just saw one of those obnoxious inflatable lawn decorations in a store that was a sandworm! It was the first one I ever even remotely considered putting on the front lawn.
And that is to say nothing of Danny Elfman’s amazing score, which fits this film like a black and white striped suit.
So grab a sheet, you’re handbook for the recently deceased and let’s scare the hell out of the Deetz’s!
Santa Monica Blvd. Boyby Linnea Quigley and The Skirts
About an hour into Nightmare Sisters, we get something much more interesting, appropriate and better than anything Haunted Garage has to offer, no disrespect to Dukey intended.
That’s when Linnea Quigley’s succubus-possessed Melody grabs a mic and puts on a show.
Yep, that’s right. Linnea Quigley herself sings this inclusive track and permanently seals her fate upon The Shindig.
When a Scream Queen (particularly one as beloved by this blog as Linnea Quigley) sings an inclusive (or hell, non-inclusive….more on that later) it would be a crime against the holiday not to include that upon our Hallowed list.
Linnea seems to be detailing a problem in which a boy she’s been seeing has left her for another person. A boy, in fact. A Santa Monica Blvd. Boy, even.
This boggles my mind. Not that this boy might leave Linnea for another boy. That’s fine. Do you’re thing, pal. Sexuality can be a tricky and grey spectrum which can defy all conventional categorization. No judgements here, friend. In fact, I’d like to extended a gracious “thank you” for freeing Linnea so that she might pursue a more meaningful physical relationship with say, oh i don’t know, me.
No. What boggles my mind is that he would leave her at all. This boy is obviously confused and looking for love in a place other than the vicinity of Linnea Quigley. Ok, don’t get that, but fine.
If I may, Linnea. I’d like to politely suggest that, rather than feeling forlorn over this dear confused chap, you could move onto one of the,.. shit, I’ll conservatively say tens of thousands of other boys that will not only not leave you for some other boy, but not leave you at all for any other person period. Just a friendly recommendation.
All kidding aside (seriously though Linnea, I can be reached at ed@halloweenshindig.com) it is our utmost pleasure to officially add Linnea Quigley to the roster of performers on Halloween Shindig, with her upbeat and inclusive track Santa Monica Blvd. Boy!
Right on the heels of Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama, David DeCoteau grabbed up Linnea, Brinke, Michelle and most of the crew, then ran across town to began shooting this sister film. 4 days later they had Nightmare Sisters in the can.
Another silly and scandalous horror/nudie/sex comedy from DeCoteau and company, Nightmare Sisters is a fun flick that would make a great double-feature with Bowl-O-Rama.
We mentioned Dukey Flyswatter in our last post, as he provides the voice of old Uncle Impy. Dukey also appears here, in his human form, as the opportunistic mystic Omar.
Dukey Flyswatter, however, is just the stage name of actor/singer/writer Michael Sonye, who also happens to be the lead singer of L.A. splatterpunk outfit Haunted Garage.
As such, Haunted Garage provides 4 different tracks for Nightmare Sistersand our selection this evening, Sorority Sister Succubus acts as an introductory track, running over the film’s opening credits.
What better way to follow up a David DeCoteau sorority flick without a title track, than with another David DeCoteau sorority flick with an almost title track about sorority sisters from a movie called something else?
If ever a movie was crying out for a Title Track, it might be David DeCoteau’s 1988 cheeseball classic Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama.
Unfortunately, we’re not that lucky.
However, we do get the superbly 80’s and synthed-out pop number Here In Darkness.
Could this have been a Title Track? Eh, maybe. That’s a hard Title to squeeze into any melodic structure, much less this one, which is pretty tight. Additionally, and probably more applicable, the film was originally (and more lamely) titled The Imp.
Legend has it (read: IMDb trivia) that Charlie Band himself held a contest at Empire Pictures to retitle the movie. Bitchin’ Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama was chosen. However, the MPAA, purveyors of quality changes the industry over, decided “bitchin,” (despite is non-derogatory use) wasn’t stickin’ around. Plain old Sorority Babes it is.
Which is fine by me, as the Sorority Babes themselves aren’t all that bitchin’ to begin with. Now, B&E babe Linnea Quigley’s Spider, on the other hand, is plenty bitchin for the lot of them.
But anytime you get Brinke Stevens, Michelle Bauer and Linnea Quigley tag teaming on a sumbitch, you’re in for the goods, full stop.
Now throw in Stoogie from Night of the Demons, Valerie from Slumber Party Massacre, career Bum and literal dude that’s basically been in everything Buck Flower, plus a Dukey Flyswatter voiced puppet Imp with attitude to spare and you’ve got all the makings for a late night, low budget cult classic in waiting.
So grab a brewski, a bowling trophy and a Tri Beta paddle and join them all Here In Darkness!
