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.
Let’s hang out here for a little longer on The Satellite of Love and listen to a couple more choice cuts from Mystery Science Theater 3000’s 11 year reign of terror.
Perhaps the most famous of the terrible songs Joel and The Bots had to sit through was Hear the Engines Roll, also known as Burning Rubber Tires, from the bizarro Spanish E.T.knock-off, Extra Terrestrial Visitors, also known as Pod People.
Idiot Control Now(as Joel and the bots sing in their parody) serves as a nice respite from some of the heavier and darker songs populating this playlist, and I actually kinda like it.
I dunno. It’s fun, catchy, and hearing it just makes me happy. It kinda reminds me of Everybody But You from Night Train to Terror, which is another song that kinda just makes me happy to hear.
Maybe that’s familiarity, or MST3K nostalgia, or just a general disregard for my own well being. Call it whatever you’d like, just don’t get me wrong here, cause there’s no doubt this is an awful song. It’s just an awful song I like hearing. But it’s still awful.
And Pod People itself isn’t any better. Strange puppets, stranger voice dubbing, and one overly enthusiastic young weirdo. It also features Trumpy, the bizarre anteater E.T. named after our President, Donald J. Trump. I keep hoping someone will Deepfake Trumpy into a Presidential debate or some shit, but that doesn’t seem to be happening. Get on that, Interent!
However you may feel about this song, or this film, it’s makes for some great Satellite of Love fodder, and it has definitely become an MST3K fan-favorite. I have to imagine at least some of that can be chalked up to this strange tune.
Now, I don’t know about you gang, but I got a sack of monkeys in my pocket, and my sister’s ready to go!
When it comes to 80’s Party Monster Movies (read: Gremlinsrip-offs) I don’t know if there’s a more joyless entry than 1988’s Hobgoblins.
I mean, it is good for a laugh or two, sure. And it’s certainly not the most horrendous thing you could watch, not by any means. But good it is not.
And I don’t think that’s the Hobgoblins fault. Ok, they aren’t all that fun, nor do they have much in the way of personality, you got me there. But c’mon, they aren’t given a whole lot of screen time to really develop any magic, or work what little magic they have. And it’s a shame, cause this movie could have used all the help it could get.
Naw, Hobgoblins doesn’t have much going for it, and tragically, its under-featured creatures are perhaps its finest asset.
However, it does feature a band trying to put it out there on celluloid. In this case, it’s The Fontanelles, whom we have the pleasure of seeing perform at Club Scum.
Of course, “pleasure” here should be taken with a grain of salt. I think, given their surroundings, the film could have done a lot worse than pull The Fontanelles, a band that seems to need Hobgoblins a lot less than Hobgoblins needs them.
If you’re a Mystery Science Theater 3000 fan, then you’re probably already aware of Jean Paul Sartre and The Heartbreakers Bosch Separatist Rock hit Pig Sticker. Mike and the Bots don’t have many options when powering through something like Hobgoblins, and The Fontanelles’ performance of Kiss Kicker ’99 is ripe for the picking. The guy practically chicken dances with a goofy hat and you can barely tell what he’s singing. It’s totally understandable and an enjoyable distraction.
To be fair though, I think this song ain’t half bad. In fact, it’s a far cry better than Hobgoblins is, that’s for sure.
Hey, what gives? You’re gonna include some whatever-ass Metal song and just gloss over Motörhead?
Yep, and I’m about to do it again.
Cause listen, we’ve all heard Ace of Spades. Nobody reading this right now doesn’t know Ace of Spades. Quite frankly, you’re probably all sick of Ace of Spades. Never mind the fact that no one is associating Ace of Spades with this movie or even Halloween. So, forget Ace of Spades. You’ll hear it on the radio soon enough.
More importantly though, for my money, the Zombie Nightmaresoundtrack doesn’t get any better than Danger Zone.
Nope, not the Loggins classic, but rather this choice thumper from Canadian metallurgists Fist.
In fact, Fist’sDanger Zone predates the Giorgio Moroder composed Top Gunhit by at least an entire year. No real matter though, as Wilson Pickett recorded a song called Danger Zone in 1966. So whatever to claiming on that, ya 80’s upstarts.
If you’re watching Zombie Nightmare, you may note that The Twist ‘N Creme plays an unnaturally prominent role in the film. A lot of stuff happens there, and this Fist tune can be heard loud and clear as car-hop Susie shuts in down for the night.
Unfortunately, she’s about to be accosted (again) by our old friend Jimmy “I Can’t Drive 35” Batton. He leans into yet another unrelenting string of juvenile innuendos regarding his inordinately large dick. The classic art of woo.
Susie is not amused. You might be though, at least that is until Jimbo flips the rape switch and shit gets weird.
Thankfully, our dead-signated Hitter Tony Washington shows up and shoves a softball bat straight through Jimmy and saves that day.
Way to go Zombie! Gotta love a movie that lets you root for the Monster.
John Fasano is an honorary Shindig All-Star because the man understood a simple truth: horror movies and heavy metal fit like a latex mask.
When we honored John back in 2014, we glossed over one Fasano production that definitely abides by this universal law: Zombie Nightmare.
Though uncredited due to some bizarro Canadian financial regulation, John basically wrote and directed Zombie Nightmare. And as such, it’s got what you need: Adam West, Tia Carrere, Voodoo, Rec-League Softball, Dollar Store Columbo, Fasano himself body slamming a dirty greaser, John Mikal Thor’s nipples, a zombie with a baseball bat and one rocking soundtrack.
Letting you know what’s up right from the jump is Motörhead and Ace of Spades. Not a bad way to kick off any movie. Throw in some tracks from Death Mask, Virgin Steele, and a bevy of song produced by pseudonymous Thor bands (including a sweet song called Zombie Life) and you got yourself a soundtrack. Thor also added credited-track Rebirth to the mix and even took it upon himself to synthesize a score as the Thor-kestra. Snap.
If you’ve ever seen the film, then you know defacto-gang leader and vehicular-manslaughterer-turned-food-thrower-turned-bad-innuendo-peddler-turned-sexual-predator Jimmy Batten is one weenie of a villain.
Such a weenie in fact, that he can’t even burn rubber in his sweet Porsche 944 to this Girlschool song that was definitely built for speed. You should at least approach 65 if you’re listening to this tune. What you shouldn’t do is leisurely cruise down Quebec’s miracle mile, particularly if you’re riding high on last night’s hit-and-run murder and you just threw a bunch of spaghetti in your mom’s face. What kinda Teen Beat rebel are you?
Despite Jimbo’s internal governor, you can feel free to let your lead foot linger just a little and get that sucker redlined. C’mon, let’s go!
The deeper you dig into the heaping pile of 80’s slasher movies, the more trash you’re liable to dig up.
It’s honestly not a bad practice. It can help one develop an appreciation for more accomplished slashers you had previously considered total garbage. Plus, every once an a while, you a find a little gem.
Now, maybe The Last Slumber Party isn’t quite that gem (it really depends on who you ask) but it’s a fair bit more entertaining than a lot of unequivocal duds.
But listen, this thing is just gonna seem boring, poorly made, and of virtually no value to a horror fan looking for any of the things a normal horror fans wants from a movie of this nature.
However, to a certain breed of horrornaut, this is definitely in the venn diagram of gold. So much of its dialogue is so goofy, and the 3 girls so charming in their delivery, that it’s hard to watch this without cracking a smile. That’s more than I can say for a lot of other turkeys.
Poorly recorded references to Charlie’s Angelsand To Have and To Have Not co-exist with calling everyone “queer” and a constant desire to “munch out.”
All that bad audio mixes with budget pop which is simultaneously layered underneath an atonal synth score, inducing auditory hallucinations.
Xanadu posters share walls with Tom Selleck photos and the gang from Sesame Streetwhile a healthy dose of 80’s butt rock fills in the moments of synthlessness. But maybe those are more auditory hallucinations. The movie has that sort of vibe. It’s like a video fever dream you’re never quite sure is really happening, It’s a fun vibe.
And what of all this rock you’re hearing? Well, it’s all provided by Firstryke, an Oklahoma metal band previously known as Slayer. They obviously had to change their name and they unfortunately chose the unfortunate Firstryke, complete with it’s prerequisite metal-respelling. However, they did like to say they were known as “Texas Slayer.”
However, their greatest claim to fame is that they weren’t the actual “Texas Slayer” from San Antonio, who had to change their name to S.A. Slayer. Yeah, they aren’t those guys.
Oh, and Last Slumber Party. They also did this soundtrack. And it’s pretty rocking.
Bookending the film nicely is their tune Just A Nightmare, a stiff shot of red-blooded American 80’s metal that can’t sense it’s own impending doom. You got a couple more years fellas, so enjoy the big hair, tight pants and cocaine while you can, cause this ship is sinking. Pretty soon you’ll be capsized by a wave of flannel and heroin rising up out of a complete vacuum of fun!
But, until then, let’s just go munch out you queers!
The Beast Withinby Perry Monroe, Mike Pasqualini and Asbestos Felt
Next up is The Beast Within, another solid Title Track from 1982…
..,is what I would be saying if this song was actually from the film The Beast Within and not confusingly from Tim Ritter’s 1986 fever dream Killing Spree.
If you’ve ever seen Killing Spree, than you might recall that most of the music is practically note for note homages to John Harrison’s Creepshow score. And they sound good, too. I wonder if composer Perry Monroe had an actual Prophet 5 on hand.
No matter though, because wrapping up this bawdy and almost Shakespearean tale of paranoia and deadly misunderstandings, is the aforementioned Beast Within.
It may not be a Title Track, but someone must have hipped Tim to the next best move, cause this Rock ‘N Roll Sweet Song 180’s into a full on Monster rap, complete with a highly detailed plot summary. Yeah, you bet.
It’s also predictably spit in that hard, racially appropriative fashion of the late 80’s, by none other than the films lead, the curiously named Asbestos Felt! Check him out.
But don’t judge this book by its title alone. Judge it by its cover. Then, go ahead judge it by its contents, and then come back and rejudge it by its a title, cause all 3 are working perfectly in tandem to deliver exactly what you’d imagine.
Felt is all-in here and his maniacal expressions and glorious performance are much of what make Killing Spree such a joy to behold. I love this guy, and wish he had more films to his credit.
So, let’s enjoy some low-budget 16mm 80’s backyard madness with the boys from Killing Spree. Here’s The Beast Within.
A Critical Madness by Kay Reed with The Church of Our Savior Choir
Tim Ritter is pretty awesome. If you’re a fan of 80’s shot-on-video, backyard horror, than you’re definitely familiar with old Tim.
The auteur behind such insane fare as Twisted Illusions, Creepand Day of the Reaper, Tim was a to-the-bone horror fan armed with a camera who just said “Hey! I can do that.”
And did it he did, creating some of the most entertaining and charming additions to this bizarre, homespun sub-genre. If you like that sort of thing.
And I do, so I’m gonna give you all a double shot of Tim Ritter tunes. First up, the by-line Title Track to his 1986 bonkers opus Truth or Dare: A Critical Madness.
Like most of Tim’s output, it’s a film that really must be seen to be believed and even then I’m sure it’ll be a little tricky to fully wrap your mind around.
After happening upon his wife fuckin his best friend, Mike Strauber begins spiraling into a critical madness, first by playing increasingly masochistic games of truth or dare with people that aren’t really there, sending him straight to the nuthouse.
Eventually, he disfigures his own face and then fashions himself a weird-ass cooper mask. Then the dickhead orderlies give him a picture of his wife, ya know, to warm up his cold, padded cell. Yeah, that’ll probably lead to increased mental stability.
Predictably (and thankfully for us) it does no such thing, propelling Mike to escape and embark on a Silent Night, Deadly Night 2-style daytime killing spree complete with nunchucks, a full-on mace and maybe even a grenade, I dunno.
Shot when Tim was only 18, it belies his age and at times appears to be the work of more mature folks. Not all the time of course, but it’s still pretty impressive for someone who couldn’t even legally get drunk.
Which leads us to this song, this gloriously bizarre and out of place song. Some kinda Dion Warwick sounding left field commission, A Critical Madnessappears to be sung from perspective of Mike’s wife, by crooning woman Kay Reed, complete with an accompanying children’s choir.
I dunno why Tim thought a movie like his should end with a song like this, but thank God he did.
Dr. Hackensteinby Claude LeHanaff and Hard Roaders
Sometime after Stuart Gordon made Re-Animator but before Henenlotter made Frankenhooker, writer/director Richard Clark released his lone feature, Dr. Hackenstein, which combines elements of both in a more traditional Frankenstein setting.
It’s a quaint little horror comedy that, while not especially noteworthy, is perfectly watchable and even somewhat charming. I’d have a hard time imagining anyone who likes either of the aforementioned films not finding at least something about this one they enjoy. Particularly considering the FX, which were provided by none other than Kurtzman, Nicotero and Berger EFX Group. Ya know, B.C. KNB EFX
It stars David Murr from Neon Maniacs as the titular physician, a guy who you’d almost mistake for Roddy McDowell. Playing along side him, as the main damsel in bodily distress, is the lovely Stacey Travis, whom some of you may recognize from Phantasm 2, Hardware or even Earth Girls Are Easy.
Additionally, you get some fun guest appearances from both Ramseys Anne and Logan, Phyllis Diller, and that cheapskate Hotel Manager from Ghostbusters! Not a bad showing.
What’s more? You guessed it. With only one feature to his credit, Richard Clark had the wherewithal to include an honest to God Title Track.
That egghead Stanley Kubrick never had a Title Track. Some auteur he was. No wonder he never got an Oscar. And don’t give me any of that “Well, Dr. Strangelove’sWe’ll Meet Again was technically a Title Track from the musical We’ll Meet Again” baloney, cause I ain’t having it! If we all just start throwing other people’s Title Tracks into our movies with different titles and no Title Tracks and and then calling them Title Tracks, what does that make us? No better than the terrorists, that’s what.
100% anachronistic and totally 80’s, this goofy as all get-out Title Track gets the extra special treatment of being a Sweet Song too boot. Double bonus!
So, sit back and relax, the doctor will see you now.
He calls himself an Obstetrician! He’s Dr. Hackenstein.
Call me an idealists. Call me old fashion. Hell, call me an 80’s fetishist, but I wish every movie ended like 1986’s portmanteau horror, Cat’s Eye.
The 3-pronged anthology from Stephen King and Lewis Teague isn’t even particularly fantastic. It’s all right, I enjoy it, but I wouldn’t put it at the top of any anthology list.
The James Woods story about an invasive smoking cessation program has some fun moments, despite being a little under cooked.
The second story has an intriguing premise, is well acted and provides a fair amount of tension, given a predisposition to acrophobia.
And the final story, the one which everyone remembers, with a cat named General protecting a young Drew Barrymore from a horrible, little, breath-stealing troll. That troll, designed by FX maestro Carlo Rambaldi, is fantastic. And all that set dec making the him look tiny is 80’s practical FX gold.
But that’s not what I mean. No, what I want is for every movie to end with this same kind of weirdly referential, ridiculously popped-out, Title Track bullshit. Say that Title over and over! Gimme that hot synth bass! Talk about the movie in indirect ways! Make it feel like an event. Make me feel like I just watched a movie. Leave a mark.
And boy howdy does Ray Steven’s Cat’s Eye do just that. He Billy Oceans the fuck outta this thing and produces a shinning example of a Title Track. It’s doing everything right.
After 3 Monster Raps, 2 of which I can fully understand struggling with, we have to break out the plastic pumpkin and make with some treats, right?
And around here, nothing spells “treat” like Title Tracks.
So here comes a rockin’ block of plot-talk with some of the finest Title Tracks xx yet featured on the playlist. And it you listened to last months Fistful of Title Tracks episode of Shindig Radio, you got an idea of what’s comin’
First up? Hidden.
Ever seen The Hidden? It’s kinda like The Thing meets Dead Heat, just with less Piscapo and no snow. There’s also little bit of Men In Blackgoin’ on too.
Plus, if you’re a Twin Peaks fan, it can serve as a quick Dale Cooper fix, with Kyle Maclachlan playing another FBI agent amidst high strangeness. Additionally, Hank Jennings shows up, just for good measure.
But that’s not all, as you get Clu Gulager, Jermone from Summer School, a young Danny Trejo, Lin Shaye and even Kincaid’s dog Jason, who took a piss on Freddy’s grave in The Dream Master. Weird.
What’s also weird, is that just like Men in Black, it also has a Title Track. It actually has a pretty kickin soundtrack altogether, as the body jumping alien imposter seems to have an affinity for loud, ruckus music.
Before we get into any of that though, we’re gonna highlight the soundtrack’s crowning achievement, from The Truth.
Since we seem to be hearing a lot from Shindig members we haven’t seen in a while this year, let’s welcome back That Gal in Black Who Keeps Coming Back, Elvira.
Yep, it’s been about 4 years since The Shindig’s gotten a hitter from Casandra Peterson’s beloved horror icon. To be fair though, we front-loaded this playlist with a ton of Elvira, so giving ourselves a chance to cool off has been helpful.
By 1988, Elvira had burst from the confines of local Los Angeles late-night Television and into homes across the nation with guest appearances on shows like CHiPS, The Fall Guy and endorsements with companies like Coors Light.
However, that was the year Elvira made the great leap from the small screen to the silver screen with Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, a film she co-wrote herself with disembodied Pee-Wee’s Playhouse head, Jambi!
It’s a fun piece of 80’s horror camp that’s very entertaining, with some great special FX work and Elvira at her double entendre-delivering best.
After being sexually harassed by her station’s new owner, Elvira quits her job. Then, she finds out her Great Aunt Morgana died and left her a giant old house! So, she moves to Massachusetts to receive that inheritance.
Unfortunately, the town’s uppity constituency of conservative buttinskis don’t like the cut of her jib. This doesn’t stop Every Tricker’s Treat from indulging in a montage to fix up the old mansion or host a late-night horror fest at the local movie palace. Eventually she gets accused of Witchcraft and almost gets burned at the stake!
All’s well that ends well for Elvira though, as she ultimately uses her inheritance to finance a life-long dream of starring in a lavish Las Vegas show; an occupation Casandra herself actually held at a rather young age.
I do regret to inform you, dear readers, that our beloved Casandra was nominated by those despicable cretins at the Golden Raspberry Committee, for worst actress 1989! Can you believe such a thing?
The good news is she lost to Liza Minnelli for a double-dose of dreafull performances in Arthur 2: On the Rocksand Rent-A-Cop. Still, I can’t believe Casandra was even nominated. Really? It’s a character, and a singular one at that. God, I really think I hate those Razzie fucks.
At any rate, Here I Am is the song she performs in that lavish Vegas show. And while it’s a tad short of my liking, it eventually evolves into a full on Monster Rap, which more than makes up for it’s brevity, in my opinion.
Since the very end of the song has no lyrics, due to Elvira beginning her famous tassel-swinging dance, I’ve included a gif of said dance, to fill the void.This is a dance, I’m proud to say, that I finally got to see Casandra perform live back in 2017, which was the farewell season of her famous, 21-year running Halloween stage show at Knottsberry Farm.
To kick off October proper, we’re gonna pull the lead-off batter from last year’s Heavy Metal Halloween episode of Shindig Radio, which segues nicely, being that it makes good use of a crude reworking of John Carpenter’s classic Halloween theme.
The oldest Heavy Metal Halloween track thus far on The Shindig, this one comes from Danish rocker’s Wasted, who formed in 1981. After releasing this demo in 1984, they toured extensively across Europe and began putting together a follow-up record.
Unfortunately, their record company at the time didn’t much care for this new material at all. They added insult to injury by suggesting the band would be more successful if they altered their style to sound more like Twisted Sister or Bon Jovi.
Wasted didn’t handle this seemingly constructive, yet mostly damn questionable, criticism all that well and slowly began imploding.
However, they reunited recently and just last year released a new album of brand new material that thankfully sounds nothing like either Bon Jovi or Twisted Sister.
So, despite the record company’s shortsightedness and the toll that not playing that type of ball offered Wasted, I’d like to personally thank them guys for sticking to their guns and providing this solid stand-up double, that wholly secures their place on Halloween Shindig.
Main Titles (A Nightmare on Elm Street) by Charles Bernstein
Well, it would be practically un-Halloween Shindig of us to have a Friday the 13th song, much less 2, and not follow them up with a Nightmare on Elm Street song. It’s a practice we’ve long indulged, though typically in the reverse order, with Freddy usually getting the double shot.
As such, in its 8 years of internet life, Halloween Shindig has been home to 10 different Freddy Krueger songs, no doubt aided by his very own release, Freddy’s Greatest Hits.
However, similar to Friday the 13th (and perhaps then more understandably) we have yet to feature Charles Bernstein‘s classic theme from the original Nightmare on Elm Street.
And a fantastic theme at that.
But not just the theme, because the entire score from Freddy’s rookie outing is a stand-alone marvel of horror composition.
And though it’s intricately threaded into the fabric of the film, and largely responsible for both creating its surreal atmosphere and then using those cues to misdirect the viewer, its an album that’s just as enjoyable to hear apart for the film. If you’re into just listening to that sort of thing, that is.
In a recent interview with Gibson Guitar, Charles admitted he didn’t initially think the picture was going to do well commercially. He thought the thing was just too bizarre and destined for a straight to video release, where no one would hear his music. As such, he felt liberated to just do whatever he wanted, and thank the horror God’s for that, because what he wanted to do was unique, surreal and perfectly suited for this specific film.
And it’s all Charles on this thing, too. With a limited budget to work with, Bernstein told Wes Craven he’d have to do it alone. So with an 8 track TEAC recorder, a guitar, a bass, a few percussion instruments, a handful of synths, his own voice and a stack of Boss pedals, Charles wrote, performed, recorded and mixed everything you hear on this score himself. And that’s pretty nuts.
Various gear forums suggest large helpings of Yamaha’s DX-7 mixed with an Oberheim OB-SX, a Roland Juno-106 and possibly even an ARP 2600 as comprising the electronic palate of Elm Street’s synth ladened soundscape.
However agreed upon the above may be, there doesn’t seem to be a definitive list from Charles himself. Unfortunately, he isn’t exactly sure what all made it onto the final score. He does seem pretty convinced there’s at least an OB in there, whether an SX or something more grand, and the DX is probably a lock regardless of anyone’s memory.
Charles did say though, looking at this old photo from 1984, that he spied a Sequential Circuits’ Pro-One. Indeed! It’s right there on the stand in front of him.
The Pro-One was the monophonic little brother of the infamous Prophet-5 – the old horror composers trusty sidearm of choice. No surprises there, if that’s true, though I personally couldn’t say for sure and apparently neither can Charles.
Whatever he used exactly, it just worked. It was the right score, for the right movie at the right time, and I would certainly credit it as being an important part of what made this first Freddy film so effective and loved, and no doubt a contributor to its continued endurance.
Eerily ethereal, eminently electronic, and unmistakably Freddy, here it is at last, The Main Titles from Wes Craven’s original game changer, A Nightmare on Elm Street.
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.
