Often times Horror Movies feature great songs either directly related to the action, or just plain cool. Here’s a breakdown of all the Inclusive Tracks found on The Shindig.
So, it’s been about 4 years or so since we enlisted any news players onto The Shindig All-Star Team. At almost 400 songs deep on the playlist, that either seems perfectly reasonable to you, as we’ve tapped out most of the big hitters already, or it seems completely unreasonable because how the fuck is that possible after so many goddamn songs?
Well, take your pick, but the fact remains, no one has hit 3 songs since Acid Witch and King Diamond both did so back in 2020. And honestly, it’s amazing to me that either one of them hadn’t already.
Well, today we welcome abroad new All-Stars Blackie Lawless and the boys of W.A.S.P.
The White Anglo-Saxon Protestants from Los Angeles lent their tune Tormentor to Charlie Band’s 1984 bat-shit anthology The Dungeonmaster. It shows up specifically in Charlie’s own segment entitled Heavy Metal.
What’s more? The boys actually appear in the film, playing this very song and it’s awesome. Charlie forever immortalized their short-lived and controversial on-stage Torture Rack gag.
And if that’s somehow not good enough for you, Tormentor also makes an appearance in 1984’s resurrected Samurai rampage picture Ghost Warrior, and once again in Charlie Band’s own TerrorVision, playing on the television. And hey, is OD wearing a W.A.S.P. shirt?
You’re goddamn right he is.
So, let’s not belabor the point. W.A.S.P. rules and it’s good to see them finally get the All-Star representation they deserve. Welcome aboard, fellas!
Do you like this noise?! Then you shall have your fill of it!
Speaking of Alice Cooper, who didn’t make an appearance on the soundtrack of the movie he appeared in (Freddy’s Dead) we’re gonna finally close out his hat-trick from Friday the 13th’s equal and opposite 6th installment (that’s odd) Jason Lives.
Seriously, that’s weird right? I hadn’t quite realized that until I just typed the above sentence. Both of the 6th installment of these franchises changes the title to feature the character’s names and their states of existence. Anyway….
Here’s the lesser celebrated of the 3 tunes Alice’s has in 1986’s Friday the 13th Part VI.
Used to fine effect as Megan tears ass through Crystal La…wait sorry…Forest Green, as she evades her dad’s goons attempting to free our hero, Tommy Jarvis, as he waits patiently in her crotch.
It’s a good get-away song, that’s for sure, but without the direct references to the film, or to monstery adolescent Frankenstein shit, it seems like Hard Rock Summer doesn’t get as much love as the others.
Well, as we’re wont say…on The Shindig, every song gets its day.
Except maybe Keeping Halloween Alive. I know Alice is a Shindig All-Star and that’s basically his Halloween song, but man oh man is that not something I want on this list. It’s been in the bullpen for years, and each season I give it another chance to have grown on me, for me to have grown a little and accepted it for what it is. But man, I just can’t do it. At least not yet, and maybe even never. Oh well, guy’s got like 6 songs or some shit on the playlist already and Identity Crisises will show up eventually, so give it a rest, will ya?
Here’s Joe Satrini’sSummer So…oh wait, I mean, here’s Alice Cooper withHard Rock Summer!
Alright, so we’re running outta Freddy songs here. Not really, but songs I feel like adding to this playlist anyway. After almost 400 tunes, we’ve covered all the heavy hitters from The Elm Street series and then some. But there’s one film we’ve yet to touch on, and that’s the much-maligned, Freddy’s Dead.
This is the instillment which purported to, in no uncertain terms, kill its main character and end the series. And that’s a particularly tricky proposition when that character was dead from the beginning and the franchise is still making money.
Though in fairness, Freddy’s post “dead” appearances are fairly well justified and certainly number less than his “pre-dead” escapades. The fact that Jason had more outings after his “Final Chapter” than before is the stuff of Hollywood irony.
But that’s neither here nor there when it comes to the film’s soundtrack, which, like the movie itself, is probably not what anybody actually wanted.
For one thing, there’s an uncomfortable amount of Goo Goo Dolls on this album for some reason. While certainly gaining a fair amount of popularity in the mid 90’s, I’m not sure they had the notoriety, or even the sound, to warrant 3 inclusions on a horror soundtrack in 1991. They’re not a band I wanna hear in a Freddy movie period, much less 3 times. More to the point, they’re not a band I even wanna hear, Freddy or not. Adding Freddy, and 2 other songs, is just offensive.
The 80’s were a hazy and slowly dissipating dream by that point, and the 90’s were unfortunately on full display with the Freddy’s Dead soundtrack.
This is particularly disappointing considering that the Prince of Darkness himself, Mr. Alice Cooper, turns up in a cameo as Freddy’s Dad. They couldn’t get him to throw together a Title Track for this fucker? Hell, even lend a preexisting song to the proceedings? Nope, apparently not. And I’m sure you can guess that Music Supervisor David Chackler is nowhere to be found on this roster.
Yet, rising above the din of whatever-the-fuckery, like some emaciated spectre of 70’s swagger, is Iggy Pop.
They didn’t quite have the tenacity to let Iggy loose on a full-blown Title Track, however. Seems by 1991, folks were a little gun-shy (or perhaps a bit too hip) to indulge in the time-honored tradition of full synergistic Title Trackage . No, they pulled their punches with, what I will call, a Parenthetical Title Track. C’mon, grow some fuckin’ balls gang.
But while this may not be a full-on, true-blue Title Track, it’s a Title Track from the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise and it would be unbecoming of The Shindig to ignore it completely and with intention. Besides, it’s ain’t that bad. It’s not the best track on the playlist, no. It’s not the best Title Track either. In fact it’s probably not even a good one, but if you ask me, it’s not that bad.
Now, if you ask our old pals over at the Golden Raspberry Committee, Iggy served up one of the 3 worst original songs of that year.
I think it’s important to note that the 3rd song up for consideration that year was Vanilla Ice’s own Reverse Parenthetical Title Track, Cool As Ice (Everybody Get Loose.) So Iggy Pop, lead singer of The Stooges and Rock ‘N Roll legend, is now associated with 2 of the biggest running gags of 90’s pop-rap nonsense. My condolences Iggy.
This also affirms that 2 of the “worst” songs of 1991 are now featured on this playlist. A dubious honor. And that 3rd song is a goddamn Title Track from a guy already represented on this playlist?! Yeesh. I’m not sure what that suggests about this thing I’ve been wasting my time with for last 12 years, so I’ll let you come to your own conclusions.
Since the worst song category only lasted for about 20 years, and we’ve added probably our last nominee/winner, I’d like to take a moment here to draw attention to a few other awesome songs deemed “unlistenable” by this group of unelected buzzkills.
Yor’s World by Guido and Maurizio De Angelis (who I guess is also known as Oliver Onions. What?) This one hurts fellas.
The Last Dragon by Dwight David Really? And a Track Track to boot? You gotta be kidding me.
Smooth Talker from Body Talk by Michael and David Sembello. For shame. At least it wasn’t that movie’s Title Track.
Drinkenstein by Sylvester Stallone and Dolly Parton from Rhinestone. This one actually took the title in ‘84. I get it I suppose, but seriously? This shit is great, and has been sitting in the bullpen for consideration on this playlist for many, many years.
Going back-to-back Stallone on it, you have Peace in Our Time, a great song by Frank Stallone from Rambo 2. This was also a winner in its respective year.
Then you got Howard the Duck sung by the lovely Lea Thompson in 1986. Now this is a solid Title Track. Thankfully it didn’t “win” but a disrespectful nomination for sure.
You Can Be a Garbage Pail Kid from 1987. Ya know, we might actually add this song as Expanded Title Track at some point.
Big Guns by AC/DC from 1993’s Last Action Hero. Really? C’mon! Again though, it’s thankful that the film’s Title Track escaped unscathed.
But enough of all that hemmin’ and hawin.’ Ya’ll know how I feel about this Golden Raspberry dildos, so let’s just get to it.
Here it is, playing as a sweet song over the end credits to Freddy’s convoluted, bizarre and mostly unsatisfying demise, it’s Iggy Pop’s Parenthetical Title Track Why Was I Born (Freddy’s Dead).
PS: Oh, since we talk about this on the “next” episode of Shindig Radio, an episode that was recorded before this song was posted, we discuss whether it should be included on the playlist. I think Mikey essentially makes the argument I’m making here that it’s a Nightmare on Elm Street and it’s a Title Track and c’mon, are you serious? Of course you need to add it. Needless to say, I agree with him. And apparently I have, because my first draft of this post was dated from 2019! Ha! Takes a while to get around to some of these. And even then, sometimes i’ll bump songs from year to year.
So here we are, 12 years and almost 400 songs into this whole endeavor and we’re only now acknowledging iconic 80’s MTV Corey vehicle and known for its soundtrack vampire extravaganza, The Lost Boys? What in the actual bloody fuck, gang?
It’s shameful really, that it’s taken so long, and that its inclusion was ultimately by request, cause it shouldn’t have needed to be that way. A special shout out is in order though for Shindig enthusiast and Creep Phone caller, Peter Ostrowski, for finally asking what everyone probably should have been asking all along: “Hey! Where’s all the fuckin Lost Boys at, bud? And with the all the stupid shit you’ve forced us to listen to? Seriously?”
It’s a good question, as this is a pretty glaring omission. And, what’s more, is that it’s an especially shameful omission once you consider that this song, from Foreigner frontman Lou Gramm, is a Title Track.
I will add the caveat though that this is a Parenthetical Title Track, which certainly does not absolve me of failing to include it until now, but might possibly explain why. For years I simply assumed the song was only called Lost In The Shadows.
However, and as I must reiterate and can’t stress enough, this should not have prevented me from adding it to the playlist as an Inclusive Track during any one of the last 11 years. There’s just no excuse for that. Cause listen to this fuckin thing, it absolutely destroys. The 80’s synth, the driving bass line, the snare that doesn’t let your feet sit still. If there’s a song that had “Halloween Shindig” written on it, it was Lost in the Shadows.
But, like we always say around here, every song the should be on The Shindig will be on The Shindig…in time.
As for The Lost Boys, I’ll spare you any unnecessary dissertations. There’s a 99.9% chance that if you’re actually reading what’s written here, I don’t need to sell you on The Lost Boys, one way or the other. The odds that you might be sitting there all “The Lost Boys, huh? I think I’ve heard of that. Hmm, I wonder if I should watch it?” are practically fuckin zero.
So, let’s just blast through all that blah blah blah Corey Feldman is awesome, blah blah blah that sweaty saxophone guy from Monsterpalooza, and hey how bout that Jaime Gertz huh? Or man, it’s shame about Corey Haim though for real, he was great and yadda yadda yadda that Echo and The Bunnymen cover sucks, and hey it’s not nearly as badass as Near Dark but whatever I guess, cause it’s still cool cause man wouldn’t it be awesome to be a Lost Boy, with the dirt bikes and the hair and the sleeping all day and shit? Yeah.
So grab your copy of Batman #14, some takeout maggots and don’t waltz, cause with Lost in the Shadows, we can all Rock ‘N Roll.
It also has a scene where a very conflicted Antichrist magically makes his bully grow a pair of tits. That’s pretty wild too.
But let’s get back to this music, huh?
So yeah, this soundtrack is kinda nuts. Like, I’m not sure if they knew it at the time (maybe they did, who knows?) but looking back it’s like a who’s-who of the late 70’s punk and new wave scenes. It’s crazy to see a low budget directorial debut just stacking tracks like this.
The Ramones, Patti Smith, Talking Heads, The Rezillos, the B-52s, Richard Hell, The Boomtown Rats, The Sex Pistols! It’s plays like a compliation album you used to only be able to by off a TV commercial that came of 4 Cassettes or 2 Compact Discs.
It doesn’t appear as though they released this soundtrack, though. They released the score, by director Frank LaLoggia and David Spear, but not this. That seems like a real missed trick to me. I’ll bet they coulda sold a metric shirtsworth of these things at that time. And then I wouldn’t have to pull the song from the end of the DVD. But at least it’s clean and clear and presumably complete. Can’t say that about a lot of In-Movie-Only songs.
Now, I’m not sure how any of this actually works, cause I’m just a dumbass that recklessly types potentially unsubstantiated nonsense onto the internet for people all over the world to not read. But I’m gonna blame this collection of songs on Soundtrack Coordinator Jonathan Brett.
Jonathan had just come off coordinating the soundtrack for 1979’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Highschool, which we know definitely featured the Ramones. Hell, the whole movie does. That’s an interesting story too.
Apparently that movie was originally titled Disco High, and producer Roger Corman wanted Todd Rundgren, despite Todd not producing anything close to what I’d call Disco. But Todd wanted more money than the notoriously cheap Corman was willing to part with for the job. At least that’s how I read it. Wikipedia says it was a “scheduling conflict” but IMDb says they “couldn’t come to an agreement.” Oh yeah? An agreement about the scheduling, I’m sure.
So, they went to Roger’s second choice, Cheap Trick. As it turns out Cheap Trick isn’t quite as affordable as they bill themselves and not nearly enough for the miserly Corman, and they were summarily dismissed. Or rather, ya know, they just couldn’t come to an agreement.
However, The film’s director, Mr. Allan Arkush, had some connections over at Warner Bros. Music, and after poo-pooing both Van Halen and Devo, they finally landed on The Ramones, because they recorded on Warner subsidiary Sire Records. Ahh interesting.
Ok, well that’s just fuckin’ swell, buddy. What the fuck does all this Rock ‘n’ Roll High Schoolhave to do with Fear No Evil?
Well, just about the entirety of the Fear No Evil soundtrack is Sire Record acts, including Title Tracker’s Trybe.
And outside of that fact, I can’t find a one lick of information about this fuckin band. Discogs list about 6 different Trybes and not a single one performed this Title Track.
I will say that Colin Jacobson over at DVD Movie Guide called the tune an “awful title song by some flop band called Trybe.” Nice!
This is good news, as it seems to suggest that he thinks they were some band that just didn’t make it. I wonder what he knows?
Me? I’m not convinced they’re even band at all and aren’t are just some one-off from writers Andy Paley and Erik Lindgren. We may never know.
Oh, but hey! What about the movie?
Well, I’ll tell ya, as derivative as it feels most of the time, it’s not terrible. It’s got some good moments in it, some creepy, some with fun FX or some that are just plain bizarre. It’s a weird movie, with a weird vibe.
I like the look of it. It’s hazy and warm, like comfort photography. This isn’t too surprising, directed as it is by Frank LaLoggia, the man behind the Class of 1988 alumni Lady In White. That movie have a spot on feel of fuzzy vintage Halloween, with a hazy glow of its on.
But that’s all a whole lot, so I’m gonna let y’all get the song already.
Here’s Fear No Evilfrom Trybe, whoever the hell they even are.
If a movie hits you off so with its Title Track before introducing you to all of its main characters or even an inkling of its plot, than you know you’re off to a good start.
When that Title Track get played diegetically in the film by a literal garage band, that’s even better.
If that Title Track is played directly after a young boy drives a stake through his grandfather’s heart cause the old bastard was terrorizing the kid by screaming “I’m a Vampire!!?” at the top of his lungs…then you’re watching Hard Rock Nightmare, my friend.
This psychological thriller cum Scooby Doo episode features a fair amount of rocking from our heroes, The Bad Boys, a name so dumb even their own band members clown on it. But as you’ll hear in the song, the local police force is getting a little tired of their loud and lousy rock.
So, now they’re out practicing at Jimmy’s Grandma’s house. Ya know, the one she left him despite him ruthlessly murdering her husband like a creature of the night. Hey, he was being kind of an asshole. She said as much herself.
But, it seems that there’s a werewolf on the loose too and doing some murdering of its own. But is the wolf real? Are the mysterious phone calls Jim’s getting from his Grandfather hallucinations? Is anyone gonna get to bang the undercover reporter writing about the band for her sister‘s rock magazine? Who knows!
What we do know is that it’ll be a Hard Rock Nightmare, cause they’ve let us know that shit right out the gate. And God bless ’em for that.
Here it is, just another Title Track from 1988. It’s Hard Rock Nightmare!
We’re keeping Title Track train chuggin’ along with a Title Track to 1989’s Night Visitor.
Now you may notice, however, that this song is not Night Visitor. That is because tonight’s Title Track is an Alternate Title Track, where the song was very much a True Title Track for most of the film’s inception and production (and hell, even in some Foreign market releases) but for some reason was stripped of its status by reckless executives.
Because dear readers, I ask, is Night Visitor a better title than Never Cry Devil? I should think not.
This thick slice of late 80’s Rock ‘N Roll cheesery comes from Willy DeVille, whom is perhaps best known being the leader of Mink DeVille, an early house band at New York’s famed CBGB.
Willy also earned himself an Academy Award nomination for writing and recording Storybook Love with Dire Straits’ Mark Knophler for the film The Princess Bride. Aces.
Here, Willy sets a mood while vaguely (very vaguely) singing about the things that might have something to do with the plot of this 1989 thriller about a boy who thinks he’s gonna see his sexy neighbor Shannon Tweed get buck, but just ends up seeing his fat History teacher ritualistically murdering her in a crazy Satan mask. It’s kinda wild.
But I can picture wilder. Much wilder.
Michael J. Pollard plays the muderer’s brother and (as always) just about steals the show. Elliot Gould showed for a few days to collect his checks and they somehow talked Shaft himself, Mr. Richard Roundtree, into playing the investigating detective.
None of it’s bad, per se, but it doesn’t quite amount to what you want from the premise.
However, it might just be more evidence for Mikey’s theorem that the quality of a movie’s Title Track is directly, and inversely, proportionate to how much that movie sucks.
Now, I’m not sure if that’s always true, particularly for the heavy hitters (Fright Night, Monster Squard, fuckin Ghostbusters for fuck’s sake) but it definitely seems to be the case here again at Track #375, cause this song’s delivering the goods. It’s Wily DeVille with Never Cry Devil.
Ok, that’s enough fake Title Tracks. Let’s get to with real deal, cause we got a bunch of these.
The good news is I thought I’d be playing catch up here with all the new songs from Title Tracks Pt. 6, but since that episode has yet to air, they can all debut right here on the Playlist for a change, like the old days!
You can thank Mr. Josh Spiegel over atMovie Timelinesfor our first Title Track, as I became aware of this tune and film it hails from while watching an episode of his ongoing series, The 80’s Project.
But Josh is generally pretty good about throwing Title Tracks my way whenever he stumbles across new ones. I’m just grateful to have a guy in the field doings some work for Title Track identification and acquisition.
And this one is a funky, disco-esque groover from Joyce Vincent Wilson, who is perhaps best known for being part of the group Dawn, as in Tony Orlando and Dawn. They were a trio of singers responsible for a string of hits in the early 70’s including Candida, Knock Three Times and Tie a yellow Ribbon Round the ole Oak Tree. They were so popular in fact that they even had a short lived variety show on CBS called, you guessed it, Tony Orlando and Dawn.
I love this tune, and since he mentions it in the first 2 seconds of the show, it’s going to be no spoiler to say it was Kyle Sullivan’s choice for favorite Title Track out of the Ep. 6 lineup.
No one else felt that way however, particularly Graham, who used it as solid evidence that he didn’t actually need to watch the film. Which I had to concur with, he didn’t. No one does, honesty. I mean, it’s fine, for what it is, but it doesn’t need to be burning a hole in anyone’s watch list, knowhutimean?
It’s a bit of a lighter, comedic take on the Fritz Leiber novel Conjure Wife, which had previously been adapted into the 1944 film Weird Woman and the 1962 film Burn, Witch, Burn.
There’s a cool gargoyle thing that comes out of a giant egg, I’ll say that. Richard Benjamin, of Love at First Bite fame is pretty fun. Terri Garr is great, and it was Lana Turner’s final film appearance. Whether that’s a positive or not is up to you, but she gives a solid performance despite the general Made-for-TV vibes this movie generates.
But you can’t blame Joyce Vincent Wilson, that’s for sure, cause it may not really fit that vibe, but this is a certified jammer. Kicking off a full-on Title Track Pt. 6 block, here’s the 1980’s Witches’ Brew!
It’s October and if you’re listening to the Halloween Shindig playlist and you hear a song that sounds like it doesn’t belong, that’s probably because…
IT’S IN THE MOVIE!
Special guest and YouTube creator Josh Spiegel – writer, director and star of the new film The Last Amityville Movie – joins Graham C. Schofield and Mikey Rotella as they wade through some out-of-place inclusive tracks from the likes of Trick or Treats (1982), Night Train to Terror (1985),Berserker (1987), Paganini Horror (1989) and more!
It might not sound like it belongs on a Halloween playlist, but it does, cause it’s not only in the movie, but it’s definitely in the movie on…
Cause what would the Shindig be if we only offered up one referential tune called “Scary Movies” from a referential horror movie about Horror Movies themselves?
I guess technically this one is called Scary Scary Movies, but that’s close enough for me, especially since it’s a Referentially Inclusive Monster Rap to boot.
From our old Prom Night pal Paul Zaza comes this tune, the sweet song from 1991’s horrorthon gone wrong, Popcorn.
Now, if you’re a keen eared viewer, a giant fan of Popcorn or you just happen to own this soundtrack, you’ll note that there actually is a song featured in the movie called Scary Movies. It’s briefly played and in front of the theater too, right before the horrorthon starts.
To be fair, it’s pretty much the same song, only it’s not a fun rap, and you know how we roll on The Shindig.
We’re using the term “rap” here pretty loosely, as you’ll hear, cause this thing ain’t droppin bars. In fact, it’s kinda difficult to listen to, but that’s never stopped us before and it probably never will when a certain set a circumstance arrives.
And all of those boxes are being ticked by this one;
From a horror movie? Check
About horror movies? Check
Fits the current block like a glove? Check
A monster rap? Goddamn right
A sweet song? Oh yeah
So here is where you’ll find it, no matter how it may sound.
Now, IMDb claims the song was written by Paul Zaza (the film’s composer) Yvonne Murray (another performer on the soundtrack) and Alan Ormsby (the film’s writer and original director.) Curiously though, the soundtrack credits only Paul Zaza and no one else. However, the film itself credits Alan Ormsby as its sole writer, with Ossie D. and Stevie G. as the song’s performers. Ossie and Stevie were a duo of prolific Reggae artists from Jamaica. They may very well be the band playing out front of the theater as well. If they were, which I suspect, they are uncredited for their performance.
Now, if that seems a little weird it’s probably because Popcorn was shot almost entirely on location in Kingston, Jamaica, and I’m sure they scooped up some locals to lend some tunes.
If you’ve never seen Popcorn (which isn’t so crazy, as this early 90’s slasher has somewhat fallen through the cracks) I highly recommend giving it a go. Certainly do not judge it by this song alone. If you’re a genre fan, the film department’s William Castle inspired horrorthon of in-theatre gags like Fright Form Waivers, Aroma-Rama and the Shock Clock countdown, is a definite treat.
Then there’s all prop building, life-casting, mask masking and movie theatre hokery that brings the horrorthon to life. Add to that the absolutely incredible crowd that shows up to the theatre. It’s a bevy of Don Post and Distortions mask and homemade costumes. It’s a blast and makes for great Halloween viewing.
Genre staples Jill Scholen, Dee Wallace, and Kelly Jo Minter are joined by the likes of Mr. Hand, Crispin Glover’s dad, and One Crazy Summer’s Clay Stork (in an inspired turned as the face-swapping Toby) all conspire to make this early 90’s offering a fun time.
It wouldn’t make a bad double feature with last night’s Return to Horror High either. So, pick up that one, grab some popcorn and kick back this October with the very Halloweeny Popcorn and enjoy some scary scary movies.
We’ve been on a pretty solid referential run here so far in 2023. It’s been 13 tracks since we had an inclusive jam (that I’m aware of anyway) and to be fair, that last inclusive tune was a pretty classic referential monster song that just became inclusive less than a year ago.
Tonight’s tune, however, was born into that role. And 36 years ago to boot.
At least, that’s how it appears anyway. The band Pleasant Company has only 1 release, so far as I can tell. It’s a 5 song eponymous LP with the inscription “Featured in New World Pictures – Return to Horror High” on the label.
So, I think it’s safe to say it appeared in the film before it appeared on this LP. Now, I couldn’t say whether is was written specifically for the film, but Scary Moviesplays like just the right kinda comedically self referential thing for a film like Return to Horror. So much so in fact, I find it hard to imagine anything other than it being written for the film. But I could not say.
And the movie lucked out, cause Pleasant Company smashed out a banger for ‘em, that’s for sure. I love this tune, and its tone is perfectly suited for the picture. Return to Horror High knows exactly what it is, and it’s exactly the sort of thing that ends with Scary Movies by Pleasant Company.
All the tropes and cliches of horror are on display in this end credit Sweet Song. And what better way to send off a hyper referential, movie-within-a-movie meta-meditation like Return to Horror High.
It’s probably best known now for being an early film in the career of George Clooney, who takes his leave pretty quick despite his name being smeared across subsequent DVD releases.
So, I wouldn’t watch it specifically for him, Return of the Killer Tomatoes this is not. But it’s fun to see him, and Marcia Brady and Moe Greene, and that jerk from the diner who beats up Clark Kent in Superman 2, all playing it for laughs along side some good gore gags with a behind the scenes bent.
Those are all pluses to an already fun and self aware late 80’s slasher story that, when capped it all off with a song like Scary Movies, is a return worth making.
It’s Halloween (Stop Look and Listen) by Pete Antell
Since everyone’s all Myersed-up right now from Halloween Ends and Fallacy and since over here (a year behind) we’re still yakin’ about Halloween Kills, we thought it’d be a perfect time to drop this addition.
One of the few moments of genuine interest I experienced while watching Halloween Kills last year was the introduction of Big John. A curious tune began to play during the establishing shots of the Myers house. A tune I was unfamiliar with. Even as it played, I couldn’t quite tell if it was a bonafide Halloween oldie I had just never heard before or some new song made to sound old.
I stayed through the whole credits of that dumb movie just to find out the name of that song.
Turns out it was It’s Halloween (Stop Look, and Listen) by Pete Antell, and the answer to that question, evidently, is somewhere right in the middle.
The song was apparently written by musician and band leader Raymond “Dutch” Wolff way back in 1952. According to his daughter, Melora (who provides several bits of interesting history via the YouTube listing where this song debuted) it was a tune he used to sing to the children when they were all young.
However, the song was never actually recorded. At least it hadn’t been until Wolff’s friend, a musician/singer/songwriter and producer named Pete Antell urged him to lay down the track.
So, they all set about recording it, getting the old band back together as it were, with Pete on vocals and Ray himself firing up the sax. They then released the track in 2012 on YouTube, where it stayed, mostly under the radar, for almost 10 years until it magically appeared in David Gordon Green’s Halloween Kills.
Then, it blew up. Thousands upon thousands of views and hundreds upon hundreds of comments demanding the song be released later, Pete and company dropped a digital single onto streaming platforms within a couple of weeks.
Curiously though, they changed the name of the song to Stop Look and Listen, It’s Halloween for its official release. I’m not sure why exactly, and I rather prefer it’s original title, but hey, it’s their tune.
Pete is kind enough to pop into his own YouTube comments thread at times, but most of his responses are terse and lack elaboration. Trust me, I read through all 800 and whatever of them just to try to dig up information on this track.
And though I’m sure you’re aware, I’d just like to say here, a YouTube comments section is an awful place to spend any amount of time.
Pro-tip for young YouTubers reading: no one gives a shit why you’re there watching a video, or even that you are. Please refrain from wasting peoples time and bandwidth with the unnecessary and tiresome “Here cause of Halloween Kills.” Yeah, no shit.
Oh, and I’d like to double that sentiment for the even more annoying “POV” prefaced “no one was watching this video until Halloween Kills.” Again, no shit, jackass. And that includes you, nimrod. Just watch the video, thumb it up and move the fuck along. Yikes.
My apologies. I just felt particularly stupefied after wading through that insipid thread for nuggets of information that were few and far between. Back to the tune!
So, though it was recorded only 10 years ago, this number has all the Hallmarks of a jazzy tune written in 1952. It’s a little piece of nostalgia that taps right into the heart of an old time Halloween, cause that’s where it originated. And I doubt I’m in the minority when I say that this, not even this scene, but exclusively this song, is the best thing Halloween Kills has to offer.
So we’ve peppered it with some H43 samples and used the original title here, as it is listed in the film, cause old or not, you got a bonafide inclusive Halloween track on your hands now.
Lead in by hometown hero Willy the Kid, on WURG, Haddonfield’s home for rock, which makes a sneeze and you’d miss it appearance there in Kills. You can expect to hear a little more Willy next year, cause you know there’s nothing we like more around here than Horror movie DJs. And Halloween Ends put Willie right in the drivers seat, as he opened up that whole shitshow with the Halloween monster party playlist staple and Shindig bullpenner Midnight Monster Hop by Jack and Jim. Which, true to the precedent set by its predecessor, is the single best part of that whole movie.
We got kind of a Halloween thing happening here right now, so we’ll just have to leave that ditty in the pen for one more year.
Until then, stop look and listen…it’s almost Halloween!
Our next stop on Satan’s Cannonball comes from a picture you could argue isn’t exactly a horror picture. I dunno though. Being rundown, raped and murdered by freaky, gakked out bikers sounds pretty goddamn horrific to me. But hey, everybody’s got different ideas of a good time. Either way, when you’re throwin’ me a tune which sounds as at-odds with its subject matter as this one does, The Shindig takes note.
From Al Adamson’s 60’s biker freak-out Satan’s Sadists comes our 318th track, Satan (Theme).
Starring the incomparable Russ Tamblyn as Anchor, leader of the biker gang “The Satans” with such fantastic biker members as Willie, Muscle, Firewater and Acid. The latter of which is played by none other the the films writer, and director of such classics as Without Warning, Satan’s Cheerleaders, Wacko, and The Uninvited, Mr. Greydon Clark.
It’s a 60’s biker explotation picture, so if you’re familiar, you know what you’re getting into and whether that’s frying your bacon or not. Again, it’s not explicitly horror in tone or vibe, but exploitation veers so close sometimes, and this song is just too awesome too ignore. And c’mon, we need a little more Satan around these parts.
Speaking of Phantoms, we have another Phantom that made his debut on Ep. 19 of Shindig Radio, and that’s the infamous Eric!
Yeah, Eric. You know Eric, right? He’s just like Jason or Freddy except his generic and innocuous name still sounds generic and innocuous cause no one knows who the fuck he is. But he got a subtitle, all about his revenge, which you didn’t even know he needed cause you’ve never seen him before in your whole goddamn life.
Yeah, it’s weird, but it’s The Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge, coming to you direct from the old (and way awesomer) Sherman Oaks Gallery.
Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge is a fairly late-in-game, but still pretty fun, slashery take on the Phantom storyline featuring an all-star (if you’re The Shindig, anyway) cast.
You got Death Spa’s Ken Foree, Action U.S.A.’s Gregory Scott Cummings, Pee-Wee’s Morgan Fairchild and a pre-weasel Pauly Shore all doing their damnedest to try and turn this business into a legitimate franchise. It didn’t quite work out that way for them, but it’s totally worth watching anyway. Maybe even more so.
However, there’s still the matter of this song, from LA punk legends The Vandals, to contend with and reconcile.
See, if there was ever a contender for “Almost a Title Track” then it was certainly this one, and we definitely should not have included it on Title Tracks Pt. 5. But I hadn’t really considered theoption of a Not Quite Title Tracks episode until after the fact. So, Eric just snuck on in, without paying his dues, just like he tried to do with the horror franchises, giving himself a subtitle like he was a somebody. The balls on this guy.
Cause, let’s face it, this track is flagrant two-time offender.
First, you got all these extra words, a Title Track faux pas from the jump. And it’s not just a simple addition either, it’s now a whole goddamn sentence, with punctuation no less!
And sometimes we’ll look the other way; He’s Rockula, The Toxic Avenger Theme, maybe even Midnight Again (but not fuckin’ likely, not after Eric’s transgression) but this one’s asking a bit too much.
Now, if that was all, then maybe all could be forgiven. But that’s not all, because this song title doesn’t isn’t even the name of the movie. Now they say, at one point in the chorus, is there a Phantom of the Mall, but when it came to titling the track, they went ahead with Is There a Phantom IN the Mall?
And baby, that’s just not the title of this movie.
Call me a nitpicker. Call me a hair-splitter. Call me an imbecile for devoting so many pseudo-serious words in a comedically aggressive tone to one of the most inane topics for a full 10 years of my life.
That’s fair. You call me whatever you’d like. But facts is facts, Jack.
And while this is a shinning example of everything a Title Track could and should be in almost every sense of the word, it just ain’t a Title Track where it counts…the Title itself.
Later Eric. You almost had it.
All that being said, this a great Referentially Inclusive Almost Title Track that 100% deserves to be here today.
So go grab a hotdog on a stick and maybe even a gun, cause you’re at The Chopping Mall, and there’s a Phantom in there too, and his name is Eric, and he’s lookin for some revenge. Are you a phony security guard with an ostentatious dangly earring? Did you burn down his house just so you could put up the coolest mall the 80’s had to offer? Boy, I sure hope not.
Since last year’s countdown got cut a little short, we ended up with a couple Shindig debuts on Title Tracks Pt. 5. Let’s take a moment here to get some of those guys on the official roster, shall we?
First up is this banger from The Waters.
Now, I’m not 100% sure The Waters listed in the credits of Phantom of the Ritz are actually THE Waters. Ya know, like how it’s not really Ray Stevens or Paul Williams.
But if this really is THE Waters, then they were a family band from LA that mostly worked as backup singers to the stars. Oren Waters specifically sang for the likes of Michael Jackson, John Fogerty, Paul Simon, Neil Diamond and has personally been featured on over 100 platinum albums. Wild.
He’s even responsible for the vocals on the The Jefferson’s theme song, Movin’ On Up! I guess imagining they are The Waters from Phantom of the Ritz isn’t so out of the question after all.
Additionally, Oren and his sisters Maxine and Julia, all appear in the 2013 Academy Award winning documentary 20 Feet From Stardom, which shines a light on all the great backup singers and musicians responsible for so many famous hits over the years.
Unfortunately, they were more like 20 miles from stardom when the recorded the Title Track to this turkey.
Phantom of the Ritz is not entirely unenjoyable but it is definitely missable. That is, unless you’re this guy, who’s all about Phantom of the Opera interpretations. His write-up actually made me reconsider my stance on the film. He’s into it. Maybe I end to rewatch.
However you feel about this Phantom, I think it’s clear that he doesn’t deserve a Title Track of this caliber, cause it jams, and The Waters, professionals that they are, absolutely belt it.
Here’s it is, Graham’s pick for Title Track of the year: 2022, he’s the Phantom of the Ritz!
When it comes to moments that embody the 3 principle of The Shindig – Halloween, Horror and Music – nothing quite combines them all like Angela’s dance from the original Night of the Demons. Set as it is on Halloween and to Bauhaus’ Stigmata Martyr, you can read me drool over his classic moment here.
So when Brain Trenchard-Smith and company we’re asked to take a trip back to Hull House and to, hey, why don’t you
bring Amelia Kinkade along with you while you’re at it – fans assuredly wondered if Angela would dance again.
The answer was “yes.” And an empathic “yes” at that, as they upped the ante in a few way, as a sequel is wont to do.
First and foremost, they gave Angela a larger crowd. Secondly, they put her up on a table in front of a banner that says “Happy Halloween.” Thirdly, they gave her a dance partner in the form of beautiful, genre staple, Zoe Trilling. And lastly, they slapped a Morbid Angelsong on that motherfucker.
This dance however, is a microcosm of the film itself, at least in relation to the original Night of the Demons. Bigger doesn’t always mean better.
As a result, this dance (this scene…this movie) is less elegant, less important, less interesting, less sexy, less creepy and above all, less memorable.
But that won’t stop Morbid Angel from making the playlist. No way. Cause when you’re the backing track to any Angela dance sequence, you’re in.
Well, I shouldn’t say that, cause that song from Part 3 is absolutely atrocious and will never grace this playlist. I’m not even sure what the producers where thinking with that one. Was that the only song they could actually get the rights to play? Was it on some generic, royalty free CD they had lying around the editing bay? Had they never seen the other 2 Night of the Demons films? It’s almost laughable how at odds it is with the other 2 Angela tracks.
Then, there’s still the matter of the dance from the remake to consider, which despite my hesitance, has a couple compelling things going for it:
It still happens on Halloween.
Though played by Shannon Elizabeth, it’s still technically Angela and
It’s set to a Type O Negative song. A song which is already under yearly consideration for being a Halloween song in its own right.
However, despite all of that, and the fact that I’ve already included 45 Grave’s Title Track Night of the Demons from the very same film, I still don’t think Type O is making the cut. At least not this year. Sorry gang.
We’re not quite outta the old country just yet folks, cause here comes Mr. Italy himself, Dario Argento.
We’ve no doubt got some Dario fans with us today, and our next song indulges in his mid-career tendency to load his soundtracks with rocking 80’s metal.
This one hails from 1987’s Opera, which (for my money, anyway) is probably Argento’s last hurrah. His 12 year, 6 film run from Deep Red to Opera is one gnarly lineup. Those two, plus Suspira, Inferno, Tenebre, and Phenomena all make up the bulk of what Dario is best known for and it’s a hell of a run.
After that, it’s a hit or miss affair for me with Argento. No matter, because that Cal Ripken-like streak is more than enough for this fan. Anything after that is dude playing with house money as far as I’m concerned.
You add his early 70’s giallos like Four Flies on Grey Velvet and his rookie outing, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (a personal favorite) and the guy’s a monster. Hell, any 3 of those films is enough to put you at the top of the heap. Quite frankly Suspira alone gets the job done just fine.
But Opera is where the run comes to its end. It’s truly the last time I feel like you’re watching something wholly Dario, and it’s quite good. It’s got plenty of Dario’s trademark stylistic flare, one rockin’ soundtrack and some seriously gnarly kills.
Chief among them is the one he affords to his former lover, Ms. Daria Niccolodi. Her bullet through the peephole demise is as artistically rendered a murder as Dario (or anyone for that matter) has put to screen.
And that gif cuts out the coolest part! Oh well.
With so many good songs though, it was tough to choose just one to include, but this shredder from Swedish metal band Norden Light is probably my favorite.
Played just after costume designer Giulia gets a clothes smoother tossed into her back, but just before she can reveal the true identity of the killer, all while poor Betty has to watch with eyes pinned back…literally.
From their lone LP, Shadows from the Wilderness, here’s Norden Light assuring us all there is No Escape.
Living After Death by Al Festa & Maurizio Cerantola
Since we’re talking about the Zombie series, let’s jump to this “Almost a Title Track” from Claudio Fragasso’s Zombie 4: After Death.
Claudio’s directorial effort never quite hits those moments of gonzo joy on display in Zombie 3, but it’s certainly not the worst thing to carry the “Zombie” moniker. And it does have it’s predecessor licked in one very important department; and that’s the opening credit number.
If you thought Clue in the Crew were 80’s up wait til you get a load of Metropole keyboardist Al Festa and singer Maurizio Cerantola’s Living After Death.
IMDb, surprisingly, has a fair amount of information about Signore Cerantola. Seems he was in a Led Zeppelin tribute band called Custard Pie. Then after that, he fronted 2 separate Whitesnake cover bands, one of which was fantastically named Cover-Dale.
Well he’s got the pipes, that’s for sure, as he belts it out here on the kind of song you just wish was a true Title Track. All the hallmarks of the finest are on display. It’s was right there fellas, starrin’ ya in the gullet, all you had to do was grab it.
But alas, their synthy banger will need to be relegated to an Almost Title Tracks episode of Shindig Radio in the future.
As for Zombie 4…that 2nd “Hey, let’s just take a movie that’s not really a sequel to Zombie and call it one anyway” installment…what’s the old chestnut? Zombie 4 makes Zombie 3 look like Zombie 2? Perhaps that’s applicable.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Blue Heart sets ‘em up and the Shindig knocks ‘em down.
Here’s the somehow even more 80’s rocker Living After Death.
Let’s keep the Italian horror train rolling along with this little number, straight off of Blue Heart’s turntable, Clue in the Crew’s rocking Zombie-Bird Winnebago Attack/Sweet Song, The Sound of Fear.
The Lucio Fulci/Bruno Mattei/Claudio Fragasso mega-team up Zombie 3 delivers just about everything you’d expect outta that unholy and contentious alliance: Italian weirdness, synthy goodness, nonsensical plotting , machete-wielding, decapitated-head-flying zombie madness and generous amounts flagrant intellectual theft.
I mean, let’s start with that poster art alone. It’s straight up the Force: Five fist mixed with Freddy’s eyes from Dream Warriors and the lady’s face from the Absurd poster. If Stay The Night didn’t indicate the kind of shameless theft that’s rampant in Italian cinema, or just what kind is in store from Zombie 3, then this pilfery collage passed off as “promotional material” ought to give you an idea.
What was marketed as the second sequel to Romero’s Dawn of the Dead actually plays out more like Italy’s answer to Return of the Living Dead and I honestly don’t have 1 single problem with that.
You throw in radio DJ Blue Heart, straight rockin’ the Jose Canseco shades, pushing his ecological agenda alongside the hottest Phillipino tunes 1988 had to offer, and the Shindig is in Paradiso.
Here’s Clue in the Crew’s referentially inclusive, 80’ser-than-shit hit, The Sound of Fear.
Attentive Shindiggers will not doubt recognize this album cover, as we’ve long used this image from Luigi Cozzi’s Paganini Horror as a banner here on Halloween Shindig cause c’mon, look at that thing!
However, we have never taken a moment to talk about that film or add any of the songs from its soundtrack. So this year, we’re gonna change all that.
What’s most interesting about that poster image is that it existed before the story for Paganini Horrorwas even written. It’s almost assuredly why those two actors and that awesome skeleton man never shows up in the picture.
Looking to piggyback on the imminent success of Paganini, a biopic about the legendary Violinist being helmed by actor Klaus Kinski, our producers thought “Hey! We slap the word “horror”on that shit and I think we got a winner.”
Well, they were wrong. On both accounts.
Not only was Kinski’s Paganini not a hit, but the horror iteration became a mish mash of chefs spoiling the pot. The resulting film found little success with audiences.
Horror historian Louis Paul even noted
“Nobody likes Paganini Horror, Cozzi included.”
Well, i kinda like Paganini Horror. I don’t love it, but it looks real nice, there’s a dude with a switchblade violin, Donald Pleasence gets real weird…and then there this song: there’s Stay The Night.
Now, when it comes to blatant, shameless and completely unapologetic rip-offs, I don’t know if you can pull a bigger offender than Stay The Night.
And I mean seriously. Gangster Rock may sound like China Groove, but it’s a different song. Stay The Night, the other hand, is 100% You Give Love a Bad Name.
I have to imagine that neither John Bon Jovi nor Richie Sambora have ever heard this song. That’s conceivable. Paganini Horror wasn’t busting blocks. But I have to assume that someone…anyone…who even knew them remotely, heard this song and was like “Yo, John…you gotta hear this fuckin’ thing.”
One might then assume a lawsuit of some sort would have arisen, but nothing seems to have come from it. So, I’ll just say they’ve never heard it. Or maybe they just shrugged it off like good sports, cause much like the film, I doubt this song was padding anyone’s bank account either.
The fact still remains, that unless you’ve never once heard You Give Love a Bad Name, Stay the Night is one of the most overt rip-off’s of all time.
But maybe that’s part of the joke, as their producer certainly leans into what unoriginal, rehashed bullshit the band is pumping out these days. Boy, I’ll say.
Since Switchblade Violin Man never makes good with an actual Title Track, here’s the best song Paganini Horror…a movie specifically about a band…making a video…for their new song…called Paganini Horror…which is also spray painted on the set…sigh…is cranking out.
