Dracula’s Daughter (1974)

TRACK #416:

Dracula’s Daughter by Thunderthighs

Remember when I said that’s there’s a song every year that’s been waiting around forever to finally get on the playlist? Well, I said that about Don’t Let Go this year because, well because that’s true, but mostly because our next song was originally scheduled for next year. Now, I did include the caveat that there’s usually more than one a year, especially at this stage in the game. And I’ll admit, Don’t Let Go has been waiting for much longer than tonight’s jam, but no song has been burning a hole in the bullpen for me quite like this one.

When I first ran across this tune (whenever that was originally) I dismissed it as a Screaming Lord Sutch cover, tossed it onto the YouTube Bullpen playlist and promptly forgot about it altogether.

Then, while randomly listening to that playlist in my car (who knows how many months later) this song fired up and it immediately grabbed my attention. What the hell was this? And when the hell had I added it?

I drop a lot of boring and forgettable songs on that playlist, just to see what they got going on. Some of it never gets a 2nd listening before being summarily dumped. But this song, this was a stake straight through the heart of a listless Dracula block filled with just those kind of boring and forgettable tunes.

An awesome Dracula voice, a spooky organ, a seriously fuzzed out guitar lick and an aggressive female vocal all demanded I take notice. This was no Screaming Lord Sutch cover. No, it was much more.

What follows, amid epic 70’s strings, some assaultive brass stabs, that classic werewolf sound effect and is that a fuckin clarinet (?) is one seriously rocking Monster Song. It’s like ABBA blasted a few rails and covered Spirit in the Sky at a Halloween party but forgot how it went so they just sang whatever the fuck about Dracula, and I’m about it.

And look at this 45 sleeve! That’s one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a long time. In fact, despite the song being readily available on the internet, I shelled out to get one shipped from England just so I could get a high rez scan and throw it on a T-Shirt. It’s available here, in the Shindig Shop (or here, if you prefer Redbubble). Don’t make me the only weirdo rockin’ this thing, alright? Everyone buy one cause that’s the coolest thing ever.

Back to this song, or rather to Thunderthighs, which is awesome name for a female rock group, let’s be real. I had never heard of this band and I wondered what their story was all about.

Turns out they were a backing vocal trio from the UK consisting of Karen Friedman, Dari Lalou and Casey Synge. The were most known from providing Lou Reed with the do-do-doos for Walk On the Wild Side. They are not, in fact, “colored girls”, despite chiming in right at the moment Lou suggests they might be. Over the years, some folks have taken umbrage with this fact, and I can see why. If you’re satirizing the music industry’s proclivity for taking advantage of minority singers without providing the proper credit, proper compensation, proper royalty structures or the opportunity to step out from behind the shadow of their white counterparts, doing so with trio white women may just be undercutting that point. Perhaps it’s not though. Perhaps that’s the only responsible way to make such a critique. Or maybe it’s not that deep at all and it’s simply Digital Blackface in the analog era. I’m not sure. All I know is that regardless of what Lou sings, the girl’s were Thunderthighs.

As an act on their own, Thunderthighs never really seemed to catch on. They released a handful of singles to critical acclaim and some chart performance, but nothing viewed as an undeniable hit. They recorded a debut LP, but the label cut their losses and shelved the effort. Years and years later the material was released as an untitled album and is currently available to listen to on the various streaming services.

Despite struggling to find solo success, these woman were still very sought after for their incredible vocal gifts. The trio can be heard on various albums from Mott the Hoople, Arthur Brown, Jerry Lee Lewis and David Verity.

But for our week of Hallo-Women, we don’t want them in the background. We want the ladies of Thunderthighs front and center singing about possibly the most monstrous woman of them all, Dracula’s Daughter.

Dracula’s Tango (Sucker for Your Love)

TRACK #415:

Dracula’s Tango (Sucker For Your Love) by Toto Coelo

Since we’re talking about women talking about monsters, how about 5 women talking about monsters. Or at least one monster anyway. Yeah, you guessed it – Dracula. Of course it’s Dracula. It’s always Dracula. So much Dracula. Too much Dracula.

I know I said I was only gonna give you 1 Dracula song this year, and that’s because this block wasn’t initially scheduled for this season. But as I was finishing up the Disco block I wasn’t quite settled about how it was segueing into the next part of the playlist. So, I decided to move these songs up a bit, shuffled out a few tunes, and viola! Now you got more Dracula. It’s honesty just that easy to suddenly have Dracula around here, such is the extent of Draculas littering the bullpen. There’s a whole other crop coming at you in 2026. Just Draculas. So much Draculas. Too much Draculas.

But this one’s a great monster dance song that’s pretty well known and exactly the type of song that should have made the list years ago. It’s been hanging around the bullpen forever just waiting to find the right spot to call home, and I think we’ve now found it.

It’s a poppy number that comes from a group of British ladies originally named Toto. The United States made them change their name though to avoid confusion with the real Toto, cause that’s the kinda bullshit the United States does. I suppose I get it, but this seems more geared toward preventing a customer from buying an album they maybe didn’t want, than it is seems geared toward maybe helping an artist sell some records on a little borrowed name recognition. The music industry suddenly developed a consciousness toward its customers, or something? Get the fuck outta here.

I will say that I wouldn’t have complained at all about an alternate cut of Lynch’s Dune scored by the likes of Toto Coelo.

Speaking of which, that’s what they changed their name to, Toto Coelo. In Latin it means “by all of Heaven” or “the whole of the Heavens.” It seems like a fancy way of saying completely, or absolutely. So there’s that.

According to Wikipedia, By The Full Breadth of The Heavens formed in ’81 and their first recording was a Buggles tune produced by Trevor Horn. How do you like that? Sometimes the small weird ways things end up unintentionally connected around here is kinda wild. Apparently this was an unreleased track though, but that little thread is still interesting.

Their actual breakout hit came the following year in the form I Eat Cannibals. Not exactly a number one hit, either in England or here (peaked at 8 in the UK and 66 here in the states) but it was enough to warrant a follow up single right on its heels.

Now, why someone thought a weird song about wanting to fuck Dracula was the ticket, I couldn’t say. Never seems to me like the thing to bet the farm on, and I’m a guy who literally wants your next hit to be a song about you wanting to fuck Dracula. Like I’m here for it, literally. I’m literally here at this domain for the express purpose of talking about your weird 1982 hit song about how you’re getting all horny for Dracula. But yeah, I’ve seen the numbers. It’s not a large constituency.

So, as you might imagine Toto Coelo’s flash was of an “in the pan” variety. They went for the hat trick and released Milk From The Coconut, the 3rd single off their 1983 album Man O’War, but that one didn’t really move the needle either. Anyone who was really feeling I Eat Cannibals had moved on.

Now, I’m usually a pretty generous listener with things like that, and there is a vocoder, and that’s awesome obviously, but I struggle with Milk from the Coconut a bit. It’s ok, but I’m not surprised this one failed to chart.

Now Dracula’s Tango, on the other hand, provides no such obstacle. It is the clear winner of the 3 singles, my biases not withstanding. Anyone claiming I Eat Cannibals is the better single is not to be trusted. So, while I think I Eat Cannibals could make for a perfectly reasonable addition to The Shindig, we have obviously and predictably staked our flag on Dracula’s Tango.

An interesting bit of trivia about the ladies of Toto Coelo; they fully appear performing in the 1983 sequel, Grizzly II: The Predator. That sucker was shot in Budapest, and the production ran out of money so the Hungarian government confiscated all their equipment. As a result, the movie was never released or finished. Canon bought the rights with the intention to release it in the late 80’s but that didn’t happen before Canon fell apart.

In 2020, an independent company shot some extra footage and finally got the film released as Grizzly II: The Revenge. It’s not good, and has tons of weird new footage spliced-in that feels all out of place. And since it featured a bunch of young actors that had since became famous, they bill them all like the real stars of the film.

It’s got John Rhys-Davies and Louise Fletcher and Charles Cyphers. But those are the real actors. In small ass cameos you had the likes of George Clooney, Laura Dern and even Charlie Sheen! According to IMDb Charlie Sheen actually turned down the role of Daniel in The Karate Kid so he could go to Hungary and be in this trash. Holy shit. Poor guy. No wonder he kept bangin’ 7 grams rocks. I would too if I had given up a shot at bring the Karate Kid for fuckin Grizzly II, only to see it get full-on shelved for 40 years.

Though, to be fair, being Topper Harley and Rick Vaughn kinda makes up for not getting to be Daniel Larusso. In the grand scheme of things, maybe that’s even better. Maybe he really was winning. In the end though, he’s still Charlie Sheen, and that don’t sound like any kind of winning to me. Rest in peace Corey Haim.

Holy shit, that was a detour. What the hell were we talking about again? Oh, another song about women obsessed with a fucking literal creature of the night, that will completely drain their body of life in order to sustain their own, with absolutely no thought or concerned paid to the very object of that sustenance, rendering them into what one Dracula referred to as a “beautiful wine press” ?Yeah, that sounds about par for the Dracula course.

Here’s Toto Coelo with a toto dance-floor ‘digger sure to get your blood flowing. It’s Dracula’s Tango (Sucker For Your Love)

Here Comes the Bride (The Bride of Frankenstein)

TRACK #412:

Here Comes the Bride (The Bride of Frankenstein) by Elvira

You didn’t imagine we could do a Block of Hallo-Women and not feature possibly the greatest Hallo-Woman of all time, did you? Of course you didn’t. You’re actually surprised she wasn’t in the top spot.

We haven’t heard from Elvira in a bit. 5 years to be exact, and it’s largely because we’ve run through most of her original tracks. But we did have an Elvira original tucked up our sleeves, one that coincidentally makes for a perfect inclusion in our Hallo-Women run. Cause what’s more Hallo-Womany than Elvira singing about the Bride of Frankenstein?

From her 1994 compilation Elvira Presents Monster Hits it’s Here Comes the Bride (The Bride of Frankenstein), a very 90’s-Elvira track with all of her trademark lampoonery.

Now, if that other singer sounds a bit familiar to you, that’s because it’s the song’s co-author, Mr. Fred Schneider of the B-52’s.

The other co-writer here is Ms. Holly Knight, who herself co-wrote both Tina Turner’s The Best and Pat Benatar’s Love is a Battlefield with Mike Chapman. Damn! That is some solid 80’s lineage on loan here to The Mistress of the Dark, who certainly makes this her own in the process.

I’m not sure if The Gal in Black Who Keeps Coming Back will truly be back after this. Here Comes The Bride really is one of the last big hitters we have from Elvira. There is still Zombie Stomp and 2 Big Pumpkins of course, but I’m not too crazy about either song. I know, it’s sounds like a sacrilege to say, especially about 2 Big Pumpkins, but that’s just the truth of it. There is one, very random other track I have in the bullpen from the Mistress, but barring that, this may be Elvira’s last hurrah on The Shindig.

If that really ends up being the case, then I can think of no better note for her to go out on than this block of Hallo-Women and with her track Here Comes The Bride (The Bride of Frankenstein)

Boogie Bogie Man (1985)

TRACK #409:

Boogie Bogie Man by Nightmare

Sometimes there’s just some bands that somehow fly just under the radar. Bands that almost seem to actively evade me. Bands that absolutely defy the odds that, given the stuff I’m searching for and the amount of time I spend searching for it, I’m guaranteed to find them.

Nightmare is just such a band.

Nightmare is so just such a band that they’re already Shindig All-Stars. It’ll take at least 3 seasons to get em in there, but they’ll join up soon enough, it’s already a done deal.

When I stumbled upon them last year it was like one of those weird explosive epiphanies where it almost feels like they’re being willed into existence at that very moment. How had I not come across them yet? How had no one sent them to me before? How were they not a more widely popular band?

At their core Nightmare was a shock-rock group from the UK that had wild onstage illusions in the vein of Alice Cooper, W.A.S.P. or GWAR. Their show was a show, and not just any show, but the Shock Show! They employed fire eating, sexy witches, hangings, impalement, an electric chair, burning coffins and beheadings with a big ass guillotine. Fun stuff.

Their music is a weird blend of goth, new wave, rock and novelty song. They’re like something that stepped out of an unofficial but scarier Rocky Horror sequel. And anytime horror meets rock, The Shindig should be there, tipping the hat.

Nightmare was the passion project of singer, bassist and testicle arsonist Ron Dickson, who started out in the late 60’s with the glam/psych outfit Light Fantastic. Their wild and unpredictable stage performances quickly gained them a following in the UK and no doubt set a blueprint for the onstage antics of Nightmare to come.

After about a 10 year run, Ron says himself in this detailed history of Light Fantastic, the band separated and that’s when he formed Nightmare. Their Facebook page is a wonderful repository for old newspaper clippings and videos of Nightmare in the glory days. Like this photo, used to produce the Great Balls of Fire EP sleeve.

In addition to touring extensively and firing off several EPs throughout the early 80’s, they released only one, but one glorious LP in 1985 entitled Children of the Night. The album itself claims it’s more of an approximation of the band’s work on stage. An afterthought almost. A souvenir, if you will, of that time you spent seeing the crazy Nightmare Shock Show. This entire album is a festive treat that I highly recommend spinning this and every Halloween.

While there are probably at least 7 different songs on here we could pump directly into the playlist straight away, it is Track #4 which is fashioning Nightmare’s debut on The Shindig.

While not technically a Haunted Disco, Boogie Bogie Man definitely concerns a haunted theater, a ghostly band and one hell of a lead riff. If this graveyard stomper doesn’t get you moving, you just might not be dead yet.

What’s interesting is that this song is a reworking of sorts (or a cover, if it do ya) of the Light Fantastic song titled Boogi Woogi Bogiman. The two tracks are strikingly similar, if not basically identical. I admit to liking the Nightmare version more, though I’m probably biased, as it’s the version I heard first. I do think it rocks a little harder and is a bit more sinister. That chipmunk voice in the Light Fantastic version kinda kills it for me. That album cover though, holy smokes, that’s a fun sleeve. Again, not quite as sinister as Nightmare, but definitely weird and hedging in the Nightmare direction.

So, let’s welcome a band that should have been here since jump. A band I shouldn’t even be talking about 13 years into this business because all of their songs should have already been added by now. Let’s welcome the children of the night! Let us welcome, Nightmare!

Haunted Disco (1979)

TRACK #408:

Haunted Disco by Chromium

Holy shit, more Haunted Discos? Yeah, it’s pretty crazy. It’s kinda why I kept the Disco Draculas together and held onto these for a different season.

This particular Haunted Disco, actually called Haunted Disco, comes to you from Chromium, a one-off project from British producer Trevor Horn and keyboardist Geoff Downes.

Now, if those names don’t sound familiar, (and let’s face it, they probably don’t) perhaps their original band, The Buggles, will ring some bells. Still nothing? Well OK, but how bout their huge single and MTV kickstarter Video Killed the Radio Star? There it is. Now we’re cooking.

Whoa, wait, whaddya mean you still don’t know who or what the hell i’m talking about? Really? Well shit, I don’t know what else to say if you don’t know Video Killed the Radio Star. This obviously means you’re entirely too young to recognize that song, which by default means you aren’t actually reading this post right now. In which case I guess you don’t exist in this reality and I’ll stop addressing you. If you are old enough and you still somehow don’t know that song, I’m still gonna assume you’re also not reading this and move on.

Now, it seems they recorded the Chromium album Star To Star between forming The Buggles in 1977 and releasing their own first album, Age of Plastic in 1980. But the single for Video Killed the Radio Star dropped in 1979, after the Chromium album was released. So they seem to have been jumping back and forth.

However, after that song hit, both Trevor Horn and Downes we’re back at it and recording next to Prog-Rock outfit Yes, whom had recently shed their lead singer and keyboardist (Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman, respectively.) They asked Trevor and Geoff if they wanted to join Yes, and who says “No” to Yes, so they stuck around to record their 1980 album Drama. But Yes called it quits a year later, so the duo fell back on The Buggles and released their follow up album entitled Adventures in Modern Recording.

Right after that though, Downes went for the Prog-Rock mega team-up with Yes guitarist Steven Howe, King Crimson bassist John Wetton and ELP drummer Carl Palmer to form the Supergroup Asia. The Shindig maintains a deep lineage, continuing to show that anyone who’s anyone in this game has some weird Monster Song roots.

Which brings me to a strange point. Wikipedia… OK yeah yeah, that’s the old trope, but I guarantee you it has more accurate and better sourced information than whatever Facebook link you just clicked or the dumb video you just watched.

But anyway, the Geoff Downes Wikipedia page claims “Then they formed the short-lived Chromium, with Anne Dudley and Hans Zimmer and recorded an album Star to Star in 1978”

I’m sorry, did you say Hans Zimmer? Like A League of Their Own, Zero Boys, Cool Runnings Hans Zimmer? Get the fuck outta town. I had to cross reference this claim.

Discogs, as you might imagine, makes no reference to Zimmer on the Star To Star album proper, so I was like, yeah, that shit ain’t true. But, searching within Hans’ specific discography does ping a small credit on some releases of Star To Star, including an unofficial expanded CDr release, the US cassette release and the Canadian LP. OK, that’s a little weird, but technically still true it seems. He is credited as “Electronics” whatever the hell that really means. Was he programing synths? Was he soldering SSM chips into a Fairlight CMI? What kind of electronics are we talking about here, fellas?

So, I don’t know if I’d say they formed Chromium like with Hans Zimmer or if he was just like a studio tech or what, but he is actually credited in there. So chalk up another one for the Monster Song and it’s long line of decorated purveyors!

Also, apparently Hans makes an appearance in the Video Killed the Radio Star video, which is also kinda weird. Way to go bud!

Anyway, let’s get on with this song, shall we? It’s almost midnight and my Internet’s been down for hours while I’ve been trying to wrap all this shit up.

Listen, the Disco Queen wasn’t buried where she should have been, and you know that shit is a problem. And if that same shit definitely doesn’t lead to a Haunted Disco, I don’t know what does!

Phantom of the Opera (1980)

TRACK #407:

Phantom of the Opera by Marzio

For a Halloween playlist that basically didn’t feature a Phantom of the Opera song from like 13 years, dropping 2 in one season might seem a little over the top.

But as I was putting together that block of Classic Monster tracks to close out the 300s, this was my original song for the Phantom slot. But, as you’ll hear, it ain’t really much of a Phantom of the Opera song at all.

Sure, it’s called that. And they definitely say it, but I’m not really 100% on what this song is really all about. Turns out though, they say “haunted disco” a whole shitload. And, since I was also lining up a Monster Disco Block, it seemed like a perfect fit.

So, who says “haunted disco?” Why it’s Marzio, who I’d say is like an Italian Dio, but, ya know.

But like Dio, Marzio is the name under which Marzio Vincenzi released his sole LP Smoke on the Volcano. In addition to tonight’s tune, this album also features his disco take on the Deep Purple classic, hence the title, I guess anyway. Here’s a picture of him looking not at all like the guy you imagine is singing this weird disco horror song.

Prior to this solo venture, Vincenzi lent his vocal talents to a disco team-up of Italian musician Mauro Malavasi and sketchy business man Jacques Fred Petrus called Macho.

Macho’s big number was a 1978 cover of Chicago’s cover of The Spencer Davis Group hit (written by Steven Winwood) I’m A Man. This 17 minute exercise in keeping coked-up boomers on the dance floor for as long as possible is impressive in its ambition. It’s a jam too, but 17 minutes of anything is asking a bit much, even for notoriously long disco songs.

Thankfully, tonight’s tune is only asking about 6 minutes of our time, which should be just enough to throw down a few moves on the floor and head back to the bathroom for bumps.

Holding up the back end our Monster Disco block, here’s Marzio with Phantom of the Opera!

Disco Monster

TRACK #406:

Disco Monster by The Saturday Night Disco Band

We’ve already established that disco was pretty big in Japan. I don’t remember when, but i’m pretty sure we did. Maybe Sweet Sexy Dracula? That’s a guess, but I’ll link to in anyway. Let me know, yeah?

But anyway, yeah, disco was big in Japan. And as you can see below, our next track, the title track from the 1978 compilation Disco Monster, was a Japanese release.

Unfortunately, I don’t speak Japanese, so I had no idea if the song was a suitable addition outside of its title.

So, I enlisted some assistance from Shindig Radio guest Matt Mastrella, as his wife is Japanese.

What I also don’t speak, evidentially, is internet, cause fuckin Google translate can process images and I could have very easily found all the information I needed simply by translating the album cover, like so.

But indeed, they were able to help, translating this cover and hunting down the group Pink Lady and then finding the original lyrics. See, the song Disco Monster (here performed by the dubious Saturday Night Disco Band) is just a fun disco version of this duo’s #1 hit Monsutā. This song topped the Japanese Oricon Charts for 8 whole weeks in 1978, and was the 3rd best selling record of that year.

You see, Pink Lady was a big in Japan, which is entirely non-pejorative if you’re actually a Japanese artist. From 1976 to 1979 the duo released 9 different #1 hits. Their 1978 hit Chameleon Army stayed at #1 for an unprecedented 63 weeks, a feat which went unmatched for another 37 years.

They were absolutely massive. They hosted nine different television programs and were even turned into an anime. They were the spokespeople for everything from Shampoo to Oolong Tea. Just the mere mention of a product by the 2 Pink Ladies would almost guarantee an increase in that products sales, such was their influence.

They were so popular in fact, that they even enjoyed fame here in the United States, becoming one of only 2 Japanese artists to enter the Billboard Top 40 with their 1979 English language record Kiss in the Dark. They road this success to their own damn variety show produced by Sid and Marty Croft. The ill-fate Pink Lady and Jeff (or just Pink Lady) with comedian Jeff Altman, lasted only 5 episodes and was a total disaster.

It appears the Japanese duo couldn’t speak a lick of English, an apparent and egregious oversight by the shows producers. Naturally, this misunderstanding led to a whole lot of confusion and caused difficulties recording the program. See, the network execs demanded the girls only speak and sing in English while only performing English language songs. As you might imagine, that didn’t go well.

The network tried to throw money and star power at the catastrophe, enlisting the likes of Blondie, Cheap Trick, Hugh Hefner, Sherman Hemsley, Florence Henderson, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lewis, Sid Caesar, Larry Hagman and even Alice Cooper, but the resulting fiasco was canceled after just 6 weeks.

It is considered by many to be one of the worst shows in television history and is cited as almost single-handedly killing the entire variety show format in America. Snap. That’s wild.

The duo was allowed to sing 2 of their Japanese songs on the final episode however, they’re massive hit UFO and…you guessed it, Monsutā

Here’s the Pink Ladies themselves performing the tune.

So all this to say, yeah we don’t even have that song on the playlist. Weird right? Yeah, I get it. But I like this weird Disco Version better.

Here translated (however accurately) by Google translate, are the lyrics to Monsutā:

I can get you tomato juice
I can get you an emery board
Night is young
Spread your wings
And enjoy the night
Take a walk

They are not necessarily scary people
They are not necessarily bad people
In this world now people who are not accepted are crawling around everywhere and this is pitch black

There is nothing to be scared of, just scream and run away
I’m worried about your wimpy heart
You are too kind, your heart might be hardened

Monster, this is my cute person.

Monsters wake up your eyes.

Monster, it’s your turn.

Monster, it’s a full moon. Wow…

If you’re thirsty and in trouble, I’ll buy you tomato juice.

If your fangs are itchy, I’ll buy you an iron file.

There’s still a while until dawn.

Let’s enjoy it. Take a walk at night.

Even if there are seams on the face, it’s not necessarily scary.

Even if your nails are sharp, it’s not necessarily a bad person.

I can’t get it in this world

I wonder if it’s dark with all the people.

I’m going to indulge in sex on summer nights.

Everyone dodges a hot kiss and I can’t stand it.

Get out of the way, get out of the way, get out of the way, get out of the way

Hey, hey, hey, hey

Monster, come on, be brave.

Monsters are big.

Monsters shouldn’t be shaking.

Monster, raise your hand.

The monster is here. The monster is here. The monster…

I’ll follow you, so there’s nothing scary.

If something happens, scream and run away.

I’m worried about weakness.

That heart that is too gentle may be hurt.

I’m going to indulge in sex on summer nights.

Everyone dodges a hot kiss and I can’t stand it.

Get out of the way, get out of the way, get out of the way, get out of the way

Hey, hey, hey, hey

Monster, you’re too kind.

Monsters are tattered.

Monster, this is my cute person.

Monster, good night.

Monsters are here. Monsters are here.

Outstanding.

Now how much of that is accurate, I couldn’t say. Matt’s wife insisted the translation wasn’t too bad. Without speaking Japanese myself, I can certainly spots instances where, if not inaccurate, a one to one translation is probably not in order. This is why context is important, and having a command of both languages is probably preferable for translation.

But I’d rather see crazy ass lines like:

I’m going to indulge in sex on summer nights.
Everyone dodges a hot kiss and I can’t stand it.

Than anything close to an accurate translation.

Seems to me like, I dunno, they’re hot for the monster? He’s into but he’s kind of a ween? Or maybe that’s what makes him a ween? I can’t really tell. Doesn’t really matter, honestly. Firstly cause the lyrics are in Japanese, and secondly cause it’s disco and really, that ain’t what anyone is here for really.

So, lets turn on the lights to the dance floor, toss on an old Don Post mask and boogie the fuck down with The Saturday Night Disco Band and their cover of Pink Lady’s Monsutā known simply as Disco Monster.

Transylvania Disco Hustle

TRACKS #405:

Transylvania Disco Hustle by Monsters

Do you remember back in 2023 when we were talking about The Monsters from the UK and I said they weren’t these Monsters over here to the left, but that we’d get to them in just a bit?

Oh course you don’t. Why would you? What am I, fuckin ridiculous? I barely remember it and I wrote all this dumb shit. Nobody even read that post, much less remembers it 2 years later, let’s get real here.

At any rate, I said that and you can cross reference that if you want, but I don’t know why you would. Either way, that “just a bit” I was talking about was apparently 2 years, cause we’re about to talk about those Monsters and their “disco jammer” right now.

The Monsters (pictured above looking appropriately fiendish in this graveyard, you ask me) started life as actual monsters, dressed up and everything, but calling themselves Children of the Night. Check them out over here on this other album looking just as Monstery.

Now, they dropped that album and an accompanying single in 1976, but began life their musical life 3 years prior in New York.

For some reason, after this LP and some monster swapping, they became The Monsters proper in 1977 and released this album. Even looking through some of this great promotional material and reading the interview with The Wolfman found there as well, it seems a bit unclear why they changed the name. I would venture to say it was less of a mouthful than Children of the Night. Catchier and easier to remember as well. But who knows. They’re dressed up as monsters and their holding guitars, they can call themselves whatever the fuck they want really. We’re on board, either way, I mean, c’mon.

That album features a cover of the Monster Mash, a solid jam about The Mummy and this banger that gives the disco treatment (yet again) to that Monster Party ethos. And as we like to say, if that kinda thing can’t be here, then it can’t be anywhere. This is the place where things like this land. This is where it belongs.

I will say the narrative on this one kind feels a little bit like The Monster Club, where this square fella gets seduced by a Vampire bar and then taken to a club where a bunch of different monsters are dancing and having a great time. It’s a fun story and when the guy goes back even, the club is gone!

It makes a for a fun Disco monster tune, that’s for sure. But no one old enough to know what The Hustle is actually reading this blog. In fact, I’d say no one is, period, but you get the point. No one that would have been doing The Hustle is here right now reading this.

But if there were, they might tell you that The Hustle was a popular line-dance that became associated with Disco and then sort of turned into a catch-all for several similar dances across the scene. It originated with Puerto Rican teenagers in the South Bronx in 1973 before becoming a mainstay at clubs all throughout the mid-70’s, then becoming the subject of a song by Van McCoy in 1975, culminating in John Travolta Hustling it up in Saturday Night Fever, simultaneously exposing the entire world to the dance and shooting it in the back of the head.

Eventually, like most dance crazes, it landed in Transylvania, were monsters of prestigious report, like Dracula and The Wolfman – to lesser ghouls, like The Cyclops and The Thing, all partook in its stepping shuffle of this

Apparently, at some point in the 80’s, the band were trying to get a TV show made. What? Gimmie a break, and no one gave the green light to that thing? If that had gone through you know I’d be posting those episode to TeleWeen right now, but here we are in reality without any Children of the Night TV show.

But we do have some Children of the Night music. Or at least some musics from The Monsters, at any rate. So let’s give in and do the Transylvania Disco Hustle.

Everyone was high!

Yeah, I’ll bet.

Ghost Dancer

TRACK #404:

Ghost Dancer by The Addrisi Brothers

If you’re like “Man, I really dig all this Monster Rap and Halloween Heavy Metal, but I really just wish The Bee Gees had written a damn Monster Song or something.”

Well, allow me to present Ghost Dancer from The Addrisi Brothers.

A weird, supernatural romantic ballad set to a disco rhythm? Ok, I guess that’s where disco was at it 1979 and we’re here for it. We may even be the only ones that are here for it anymore. I mean, now anyway. Some people were there for it in 1979, at least I imagine they were. Like literally they were obviously there for it, but like into it too…in 1979. Right? Someone had to be feeling this bizarro, supernatural disco jammer. Like, I don’t know how well this did commercially or anything, but this thing shreds. You tellin’ me people on the dance floor weren’t feelin’ this shit Halloween ’79? No way they weren’t. We’re feelin’ it now, I’ll tell you that much, and we hope you’re feelin’ it too.

Now, I’ll admit, this is way more Ghost than it is Ghost Fever, but it’s still about a ghostly apparition and a Haunted Disco, which will be a running theme for this particular disco block, as you’ll come to see.

Basically, a guy and a girl really liked dancing, then she died suddenly, but she swore they would dance forever, so now he rolls on the discotheque solo and this chick reappears and dances with him once again in ghost form. Nice.

Now, The Addrisi Brothers, Don and Dick, were actual real life brothers from Winthrop, Massachusetts. Hey, alright. They had a pretty big hit initially penning The Associations Never My Love in 1967.

I will say though that now, as looked them up today to verify their names, and it seems as though Dick just died, like yesterday, October 14th, 2025. It’s sad when someone passes, but it feels somewhat eerie to find out that someone has literally just passed away right as you decided to look them up randomly. Like, this song has been in the bullpen for years now. The first draft of this post was penned 2 years ago. I could have ended up placing this song anywhere in the month. I could have looked up Don and Dick Addrisi names whenever, but it was the day after he died. I dunno, maybe that’s not that weird, but it feels kinda weird.

Either way, it made me feel sad. It’s the season for it, I suppose, and there is some comfort in that. Dick Addrisi gave us song about a girl living on in ghost form through the music. Perhaps The Addrisi Brothers (Don passed in 1984 from pancreatic cancer) will do what so many singers and musicians have done for so long now, and live on through their music. They will live on here, with the hallowed halls of Halloween Shindig for as long as we can keep the lights on.

Rest in peace Dick Addrisi. This one’s for you.

Supernature

TRACK #402:

Supernature by Cerrone

To be completely honest, I have no idea how long I’ll keep doing this or how long the playlist will end up being when it’s all said and done.

Early on, some of my more inclusive lists had the total topping out at around 250 tracks. As such, in 2015 I claimed Track #120 (This is Halloween) was the center of the playlist. Yeah, that was 10 years ago and we’ve added almost 3 times that many songs to the playlist since. For those playing at home, we actually hit that end point 4 years later with Halloween by 220 Volt in 2019. Now, it’s 6 years from even then and we’ve put another 160 songs on top of that.

What can I say? I kept finding cool songs I thought needed adding.

That very same year (about a week prior, it seems, in the The Monster Mash post) I said I’d love to get the playlist’s total runtime to 24 hours, then your Halloween couldn’t possibly hold anymore music. I’m proud to say that, without really thinking about that goal much since writing it, we hit that marker just last year. About a minute into Track #368, Igor At Midnight by Cagé, The Shindig officially broke the 24 hour mark.

And yet here we are, 400 songs in the rear-view and we’ve got a playlist that’s entirely too long for any party and literally can not be listened to in a single instance of Halloween. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not, but it’s certainly a thing.

Should I keep going? Should I keep adding music to this playlist, because hell, isn’t October really just a perfectly structured 31 day countdown to Halloween anyway and now there’s a shuffle button and we got all the Mini-Playlists and people can cherry pick what they want and leave the rest and walk out knowing that regardless of what they came away with they were presented with a serious list of classic and obscure tunes appropriately suggested for their holiday festivities? Yeah, we’ll keep diggin’ up tunes a little while longer I suspect.

Well, at the very least there’s the rest of this year’s tracks, and whatever else I have sitting in the bullpen that can scratch its way out onto the field. Is that another 100 songs? Roughly 3 seasons worth of tunes?

I couldn’t say, but after 400 tracks, we need a little reset. We need something epic to recenter things and usher in a new phase of the playlist. We need something…supernatural.

And what better tune to fit the bill than the dystopian dance floor disco ‘digger, Supernature?

From French drummer Marc Cerrone’s 1977 album of the same name, comes a song about how scientists in the future basically use GMOs to battle starvation but unwittingly transformed creatures below the surface into hideous monsters that rise up and terrorized mankind back into the Stone Age. Ok, disco, let’s get fuckin’ serious, I guess.

Apparently this song enjoyed some popularity last summer when it was used by France during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics. I was unaware. I’m not tapped into the Olympics like that. Or at all. Like not even slightly. I kind of hate the Olympics, if I’m being honest.

My apologies if you’re an Olympic fan, an Olympic hopeful or even a former Olympian yourself (as my visitor data fully leads me imagine you probably might be) but the whole business has never sat right with me.

I have conceptual interest in the strongest and most accomplished humans from all over the globe competing in good natured feats of skill and strength. That sounds nice. Sounds nice. In practice though, it doesn’t really seem to be that and it mostly causes people to just be irritating.

And maybe this is me just living in the United States. Maybe it’s different in other parts of the world, but when my fellow countrymen, who couldn’t be arsed for the proceeding 4 years, suddenly won’t shut up about curling, are suddenly all experts in the pentathlon, or become inconceivably invested in the various athletic performances of underage girls or – its annoying.

I don’t care. You can’t make me care. I have no appetite for some nebulous surge in pride I’m supposed to feel cause “our” guy swam .2 seconds faster than that “their” guy. Yeah, you can miss me with this nationalistic horseshit.

And that is to say nothing of the legitimate economic, political or human right issues associated with the either the games themselves or the IOC. But realistically, it’s not going anywhere. I’m not even saying it should, or needs to, go anywhere. I obviously don’t patronize it and I will continue to do just that. I’m just saying, this is why I had no idea this song was making the rounds last year.

Which is probably good. This should make the rounds, cause this song is awesome. And it’s dance-able as all get out. So c’mon!

You’re not getting tired already, are you? It’s only been 400 songs! The night is still young!

Hyde’s Beat

TRACK #398:

Hyde’s Beat by Mr. Hyde

Despite enjoying a fair amount of success, by 1987 our dynamic and heinous duo of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde had called it quits.

It was at this point that Andre Harrell went out and formed Uptown Records. Mr. Hyde, known to the government as Alonzo Brown, ultimately went on to become a screenwriter and an Emmy winning producer of The Judge Mathis show.

Before he did that however, Mr. Hyde drop one final single for Profile Records called The Witch.

Now that song has been in and out of the bullpen over the years, because it’s a bop and it’s called The Witch. Problem is, it’s not really about a witch, it’s just about a girl that kinda pissed Mr. Hyde off, which is a bummer, cause it really is a cool song.

In fairness though, most songs about witches are just men complaining about some woman that spurned them or made them feel uncomfortable by being assertive or weird. This trend gets pretty annoying when you’re just looking for spooky songs for your Halloween playlist and you keep getting served up scorned men warning you about the last female they encountered. Men, please stop this. Resist the temptation. It’s cliched and tired to use a witch metaphor in your song about a woman that wasn’t interested in you. Stop sullying up cool evil witches with all your insecure sexism.

But all of that’s not really a problem, because I’m an idiot. See, the B side of The Witch is a song called Hyde’s Beat. Now, if I wasn’t an idiot, I’d have just listened to that B side straight away instead of just assuming that it was the instrumental to The Witch. If Alonzo Brown went by any other name, I may not have jumped to such a quick conclusion, but again, I just assumed it was the dub version, cause I’m an idiot.

Once I finally listened to it, and realized this Mr. Hyde was the Mr. Hyde of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, everything feel into place. Because Hyde’s Beat appears to be the spiritual successor (if not just the direct sequel) to Transformation. It picks up immediately after “Mr. Hyde” has killed “Dr. Jekyll,” and we find Hyde in a state of disarray – confused and scared at the prospect of the dead man on the floor, a dead man he’ll surely be blamed for killing.

Toward the end of the Robert Louis Stevenson’s original story, Jekyll begins involuntarily transforming into Hyde, such that he needs the serum to turn back into Jekyll rather than the other way around. Eventually, he runs out serum though and is doomed to transform completely into Hyde once and for all and remain that way forever.

Once that happens, Edward Hyde makes the decision to take his own life. He drink some poison Jekyll has laying around the lab, effectively kill the both of them and thus ending the story.

In our song however, we have Hyde “killing” Dr. Jekyll and completely coming apart at the seams as result. Because we’re people that know Jekyll and Hyde are the same person, we can only assume that this murder is purely metaphoric and represents the point at which Hyde can no longer turn back into Jekyll, right? Yeah, I think we can. Rather than take his own life though, Mr. Hyde just jumps out of a window and into a limo with Igor, as any one of us might do in the same situation.

Naturally, all the cops in the city are now looking for him, cause he just killed Dr. Jekyll, and since Dr. Jekyll is a totally separate person, there’s definitely a body on the ground indicting murder and thus leading to an investigation where law enforcement might be looking for Jekyll curios and off-putting friend, Mr. Hyde, right? Yeah, I think that’s safe to assume.

So, Igor does what a buddy might do, and he brings Hyde to a bar so he can lay low for a while. Unfortunately, everyone at the bar freaks out when they see Hyde and high-tails it outta there. But then, all of sudden its morning and Hyde is waking up next to a woman like he’s Jekyll again but has been dickin’ down all night like Mr. Hyde. Only he’s still Mr. Hyde, and she’s not really feeling that, so he jumps out of another window cause why not. Doors are for pussy. Get with it.

Then basically he just becomes homeless, wandering the city streets alone and shunned, proclaiming to whomever will listen that he didn’t kill Dr. Jekyll, which shouldn’t be a problem, because there’s no body, and everyone’s just like “Hey, where did Dr. Jekyll go,” right? I mean, if they’ve even noticed. Jekyll hasn’t even been dead a whole day yet, is anyone really looking suspecting foul play yet? Is this all just some delusion Hyde is spiraling into as he’s lays dying from the poison he drank in the lab? Is this thing coming at it all from an angle I hadn’t consider yet? Who knows.

Eventually though, Hyde comes to the realization that Jekyll being dead is actually kind of liberating and hopefully our humble narrator finally finds some peace. I sure hope so. He seems pretty distressed through most of this song. Or maybe his cries of “I’m free!” are his last words as he chokes on his own breath, dying on the floor of the laboratory. Who knows?

So yeah, it kinda deviates from the story a little, but there are references to Billy Dee Williams and Thriller and even Rodney Dangerfield, so that kinda re-centers things a bit back toward the original text.

So here’s Mr. Hyde, on his own at last, living his best life and rockin’ a beat that is truly his own.

Transformation

TRACK #397:

Transformation by Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde

So, The Phantom of the Opera, The 3-D Invisibles, what else can we toss on the “you’ve been doing this for how long and you still haven’t talked about” pile?

Well, how bout Jekyll and Hyde? There’s a classic gothic horror staple that hasn’t gotten but maybe a passing mention here in the most fleeting of monster party verses. And even that I’m not 100% on.

So, let’s put a little mustard on it then, shall we? Instead of adding just any old song about Jekyll and Hyde, how about one from a pair of dudes that actually named themselves Jeckyll and Hyde, spelling notwithstanding.

The 80’s electo rap duo Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde have been on the Shindig’s radar for some time now. How could they not be? They’re an electro rap duo called Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde. They’ve had a few songs in the bullpen for a while at this point. They’ve been waiting patiently.

They’ve also been pretty influential. In addition to being the first guys to sample the ridiculously sampled Genius of Love by Tom Tom Club, Dr. Jeckyll is actually Andre Harrell, the founder of Uptown Records. How’s that for crazy?

I love that monsters songs always seem to hiding in the closets of some of the movers and shakers in music. Call them novelties. Call them silly and unserious. Call them completely inconsequential in the grand breadth of musical history, because maybe they are. But you can not say that The Shindig does not boast among it’s ranks some of the most influential, popular and talented musicians, performers and producers the business had to offer, even if the songs represented here are not the pinnacle of those same artists careers.

But I digress.

Despite dropping their first single in 1980 (and then later a weird doo-wop style throwback mashup called Jeckyll and Hyde Dance that wasn’t terribly referential) it took 6 years for these guys to release a song about the men who gave them their names. But when they did, man did they unleash a doozy.

And that doozy was 1986’s Transformation, one hell of Golden Age Monster Rap that indulges in the clever gimmick of having each rapper assume their respective namesakes in alternating verses. Perhaps that’s the obvious choice, but a wise one never the less, and one that pays off for this fun modernization of the Jekyll and Hyde story, or at least the generally held notion of the Jekyll and Hyde story, anyway. Cause Jekyll and Hyde is kind of a…strange case…of apparent misunderstanding.

First and foremost, let’s look at the concrete stuff. The 1866 novella by Robert Louis Stevenson is a mystery that doesn’t so much focus on Jekyll had Hyde directly, as the story is mostly told through other characters reacting to the various actions of Jekyll and Hyde. Additionally, the reader is never really privy to Hyde’s actions directly. In the end, it is revealed that Dr. Jekyll was in fact Mr. Hyde the whole time and it is played as a surprise ending.

Now, that’s kind of a boring prospect for a moving picture though, I reckon, so Hollywood Hollywooded it up by focusing directly on the two titular characters, in particular Edward Hyde and the visualization of their transformation. Which is an interesting distinction. Most every adaptation plays with the idea the Dr. Jekyll is consumed by Mr. Hyde and then, like a werewolf almost, awakens the next day without any memory of what Hyde has done. The implication that Hyde is someone different and is no longer Dr. Jekyll. But this isn’t really what happens in the story, not expressly.

Dr. Jekyll does indeed transform into Mr. Hyde, but not in this somewhat metaphoric sense. Edward Hyde isn’t a separate person with conflicting goals and desires. Edward Hyde is Henry Jekyll. The Doctor does transform into Hyde, yes, but in the most literal sense, like Henry is wearing a Hyde costume. The serum changes Jekyll’s appearance, and that change (much like the Invisible Man) allows him walk unrecognized in the night, free to act upon his otherwise repressed desires, whatever they may be. Jekyll and Hyde isn’t a tale of a man with split personality disorder, it’s the tale a doctor inventing a physical mask as cover for his hedonistic desires.

Which brings us to another curious point about this story and its adaptations. Since we never really get to see Hyde doing what Hyde be doing, the reader is left to the second hand descriptions of his activies by Jekyll; activities that Jekyll is even reluctant to fully reveal on his deathbed, so there’s that. You’re a murder man, what else could you still be trying to…hyde? And why?

As such, many have taken to a queer reading of the story, with Hyde being an expression of Jekyll’s repressed Victorian homosexuality. To wit, there is practically no women in the story, it’s all a bunch of interpersonal relationships between these dudes. Homosexuality had been broadly criminalized in London the year before the story was released, and apparently Hyde Park was a a popular destination for homosexual rendezvous. Some of Stevenson’s close friends, including a former Reverend (curiously named Walter Jekyll,) were homosexuals themselves. One such friend wrote to Robert after reading the story, expressing his opinion that when viewed allegorically, (to borrow a modern phrase) it hit different.

There is this funny SNL skit with Bill Hader that (whether intentional or not) is in ways perhaps a more accurate adaptation on both accounts. Not only is Jekyll openly admitting to having sex with men after he takes the “serum,” but that he, despite claiming he doesn’t remember what is happening as Hyde…clearly remembers what is happening as Hyde. Indeed it is the reason he “invents” the “serum” to begin with – to provide cover for these acts to his wife and colleagues, as he can offload those desires directly onto “Hyde.”

Was this a widely held opinion of the story in the day? Was old time Hollywood aware of such an interpretation? Is that why Hyde was initially (and henceforth) always seen cavorting with female prostitutes, despite the fact that Mr. Hyde neither encounters, nor murders any prostitutes in Stevenson’s original story. Was it an attempt to redirect the story and reassert the character as unflinchingly heterosexual, lest anyone gets any untoward ideas? Who knows?

But where am I now? I was talking about this song, and now I’ve wandered dangerously far off course from this highly detailed account of a Dr. Jekyll just wanting to wear Timberland boots and embrace Hyde’s primal heterosexual trysts.

Let’s get back to this song that doesn’t concern itself with how Hyde should be interpreted, and certainly doesn’t have any patience for a queer reading of the text.

Here’s the duo themselves, Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde singing about their very specific predicament in the 80’s Monster Rap epic Transformation.

Let me show you this freaky side!

The Wolfman

TRACK #396:

The Wolfman by The Chaz Jackson Band featuring Rudy Gleason

There’s not much I can really say about Charles “Chaz” Jackson. There’s even less I can say about Rudy Gleason, but we’ll get to that in a moment. Sometimes that’s just the way of it.

Chaz’s discogs profile talks about him being in love with a trumpet and buying a guitar at 18 while stationed in Japan with the Army. Doesn’t mention him playing those instruments, mind you, just that he loved one and bought the other. Alright then.

It goes on to talk about all the different musicians he went to see. It’s like a paragraph of different famous musicians. Not musicians he performed with, but rather acts he just saw perform. Ok, I guess.

It’s a strange little blurb that speaks not to his talents or achievements, but to encounters and influences. Perhaps it is no surprise, then, to see Chaz only has 2 singles and about 5 songs to his credit.

Now, credited alongside Chaz’s band on each release is Rudy Gleason. So is Rudy the guy singing? If so, why isn’t he just covered under the umbrella of the “band” like the other players here? Is it because Rudy had a prolific career of his own and The Chaz Jackson Band was just a side project for him? Well, not that I can tell, as these tracks (and all of them, it appears) seem to be the only official music Rudy Gleason ever had to his name. So that’s a little strange.

But despite this curious write up and the limited output, every one of these tunes is kinda slappy , including tonight inclusion, The Wolfman.

Thing about this song is, well 2 things really. One of them is that it was a little long and repetitive, so I kinda trimmed it down a smidge. I know, a little sacrilege, a little presumptuous, a little shitty, but hey, I took the liberty all the same, justified or not. Call it a Shindig Special Cut.

But really the thing about it is, despite being called The Wolfman, it kinda gives off more of a Red Riding Hood vibe really, no doubt aided by this guy (Rudy or otherwise) literally saying “The Big Bad Wolf is gonna get you.” So, I dunno. Should I not have included it? It’s called The Wolfman. They’re certainly saying “The Wolfman” but really nothing about this songs feels Wolfman-like at all.

I kinda like it though despite. At least, when it’s not pushing 6 minutes, which this song definitely doesn’t need to be pushing. It has a decidedly 80’s dance floor jam quality, which I appreciate. If I didn’t know any better and you tried telling me this fucker was on the Teen Wolf soundtrack (as it should have been) I wouldn’t bat an eyelash. And hey, at the end of the day this is supposed to be a party playlist, and sometimes a little jiggle juice is just what the doctor ordered.

So, let’s inch a little closer to 400 with our next Monstrous inclusion, however unmonstrous it may actually be, with The Wolfman from The Chaz Jackson Band Featuring Rudy Gleason.

Spooky Shindig Post Script. SSPS? Yeah, I guess.

Tonight is a Full Moon! The Harvest Moon – and a Supermoon – to be precise. That’s a little weird. And while I’d love to say I orchestrated such a thing consciously, I did not purposefully place The Wolfman song on the Full Moon. That happened purely by coincidence.

Happy Halloween indeed!

The Creature from the Black Lagoon (3-D Invisibles)

TRACK #395:

The Creature from the Black Lagoon by The 3-D Invisibles

Speaking of things the Shindig has inexplicably avoided for 13 years, let’s talk about The 3-D Invisibles. Because it’s crazy to me that we haven’t talked about The 3-D Invisibles this far into this whole Halloween-Monster-Movie-Music-Whatever-The-Hell-Is-Goin-On-Around-Here Playlist thing.

Being a huge surf music goon from an early age, The 3-D Invisibles are a band that’s been on the edges of my radar forever, appearing on numerous surf and rockabilly compilations since the mid 80’s. Back before Spotify existed, Napster didn’t exist either and I certainly didn’t exist near a record store better than a Sam Goody, (Newbury Comics notwithstanding. They probably might have actually carried them, to be honest) so the chances of me having access to a band like The 3-D Invisibles was a pretty unlikely.

Now, that certainly doesn’t account for the nearly 12 year span from 2000 to 2012 before I created this website (where I had increased access to such music) or the 13 years since (where I had absolutely unprecedented access) where they have gone completely unheralded. But, like I said, existing on the edges. I wasn’t really thinking about them. If I was, it wasn’t for long and if I was hearing them, I certainly doesn’t appear as though i was absorbing them properly.

And that’s a shame. These guys could easily have been Shindig All-Stars by now, and probably should be. But all recalculations start somewhere, and for The 3-D Invisibles, and garage punk outfit from Michigan that’s been pealin’ off monster rock from over 40 years, that starts with Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Cause you can’t do a Classic Monster block without good ole Gill-Man, I don’t care how under represented he might be. And make no mistake, of the Big 5, poor Gil is woefully under represented. I think this is like the 3rd track we have that’s exclusively about him, and that’s not for a lack of searching either.

So, let’s finally welcome The 3-D Invisibles aboard and chalk up another one for ole Fishman, Lord knows he could use all the help he can get.

Also, if you are an Invisibles fan, I’m aware this song was released on the 1993 Split LP B-Movie Brain from Neurotic Bop Records, I decided to go with the Love of Mars/Monster Island single just cause it’s got a stereoscopic anaglyph of the Creature from the Black Lagoon and says it says The 3-D Invisibles. C’mon, how could I not?

The Phantom of the Opera

TRACK #394:

Phantom of the Opera by Long Tall Ernie and The Shakers

In an effort to flesh out our Classic Monster Block, we’re gonna lean on our old friends Long Tall Ernie and The Shakers.

These guys should probably already be Shindig All-Stars by now, as their 1979 album Meet the Monsters plays like ready-made, 8 track Shindig Mini-playlist. However, this is only the second time we’re pulling from that album. And the last time we did? 2019! That’s 5 seasons ago! That’s enough time for us to have added most of this album.

But who knows, maybe one day Long Tall Ernie’ll suit up with the All-Star Team, lord knows he could.

For today, we’re just gonna let them fill the Phantom of the Opera sized hole, not just in this block, but in this entire playlist. evidently. Seriously, is this really the first legit song we’re getting about the Phantom of the Opera? In 13 years? That can’t be true. Hold on.

Ok, yep. It’s true, I guess.

You get Title Track goofballs Phantom of the Mall and Phantom of the Ritz showing up in 2022 and that’s about it. You could argue Phantom of the Paradise made an appearance back in 2017, but I still don’t think that qualifies as a legit Phantom of the Opera tune.

Man, that’s crazy. The Phantom of the Opera is a a huge iconic character to have just roundly ignored like that. I mean, you have Lon Chaney, not even Jr. mind you, but Big Daddy Chain, pulling out all the stops to create one of Hollywood’s original movie-magic monster transformations. And the whole thing it’s about music! How have I seriously hit on this subject ‘til 2025? I guess there’s just not that many songs about the Phnatom? I dunno if that’s true. I’m sure it’s not. I just don’t think I was looking, for whatever reason. But hey, what are ya gonna do? We’re here now, ain’t we?

If you’re a real big Phantom fan that’s been patiently waiting for this blog to finally drop a Phantom of the Opera mini-playlist, I don’t know what to tell you. You never spoke up, I’ll say that much. I’ve yet to get one complaint about the lack of representation for Erik, The Phantom of the Opera, on this playlsit.

But, if that was you, quietly suffering like I’m not a DM shimmy slide away, tonight is your night. So let’s let Ernie and his Shakers introduce us all to…The Phantom of the Opera!

Dracula (The Zane Brothers)

TRACK #393:

Dracula by The Zane Brothers

For every Shindig All-Star with multiple songs on the playlist, or even huge stars with one-off additions like Michael Jackson or Chuck Berry,
there’s probably 10 tracks from guys that never cut another record in their entire careers. Hell, some of them never even released another song.

The Zane Brothers, whomever they may be, are just such fellas.

Now, thank the maker though, because with their one musical life they choose to make a song about Dracula. It’s quite probably the very reason they only got to shoot one shot, but it’s definitely what I’m looking for, and (by extension) what you’re looking for, as a person reading these words.

It’s a humdinger of Drac Track too, one that ought to get your feet moving. At least if you’re already in a dance-friendly environment that is, like maybe a Halloween party, expecting to hear dance worthy songs about Dracula. If you’re just driving in your ‘83 Ford Fiesta on your way to a double shift at the diner, perhaps a song about Dracula just gets shut the fuck off, who knows?

Me? I’m keepin it on, rolling down the window and leaning on the volume knob just pumped that any station is broadcasting a song about Dracula through actual radio waves. And that’s not simply because I’m the kinda guy who would compile songs like that onto an unnecessarily and obnoxiously long Halloween playlist for the past 13 years. I mean, that certainly doesn’t hurt, but it’s not the only reason.

Naw, it’s cause this song is cool. Trust me! I’ve waded through a several pints of Dracula songs that aren’t even worth mentioning, much less listening to, and this is definitely not one of them. Not at all. This one grooves and it’s even, dare I say, kinda funny.

And I still have a capes worth of Dracula songs sitting in the bullpen, but I’ll leave it at just the one this year. Maybe next year I’ll drop another full on Dracula block, cause man, they are seriously piling up.

For now, let’s let The Zane Brothers spin their unique yarn about that age old Halloween song staple, Dracula.

Frankenstein (Bart Lewis)

TRACK #392:

Frankenstein by Bart Lewis

When my 4 year old daughter first heard this song while driving around in my car this summer – which opens as it does with background singers proclaiming “Frankenstein is a great big friend of Dracula” – she very innocently asked me “Is that true, Daddy?”

So obviously I told her, “Of course they are! They hang out all the time.”

She accepted that answer, but I quickly realized that wasn’t gonna be quite enough for the internal nerd that was now silently screaming inside my head “Oh yeah, smart ass? Are they? Are they fuckin’ boys?”

So now, of course, I had to investigate.

So, Dracula and Frankenstein, the novels at any rate, both received the silent film treatment as far back as 1910 for Frankenstein (by Thomas Edison, no less) and 1922 for Drac, though German and totally unauthorized, as Nosferatu. They remained separate entities (as well they should have, they are completely unrelated characters) for the next 20 years of so.

The first time I think they even exist in each other’s realities is in Universal’s first full monster rally attempt in 1944, House of Frankenstein. But that movie sucks and they don’t actually share the screen together.

The following year, Universal tried again (and fucked up again) with House of Dracula, which also kinda sucks and again features no real interaction by these two characters, friendly or otherwise.

Now in 1948, Universal finally got the Monster Rally formula right with Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. This entry, in addition to finally being good, also featured actual Bela Lugosi Dracula reviving an actual Frankenstein’s monster in the form of Glenn Strange. Now those particulars are somewhat beside the point, but it is cooler than if it wasn’t them. Also, it establishes a long standing tradition of Dracula endeavoring to control Frankenstein as a means to his own ends, much like in Monster Squad or Van Helsing – two other instances where they’re together but I wouldn’t really consider the relationship friendly.

Things got pretty quiet for the dynamic duo through the 50’s and 60’s though, what with Hammer taking up the monster mantle but producing no crossover rally efforts of their own.

Then however, the early 70’s offered up 3 distinct versions of the two, but decidedly at odds with each other. At least, conceptually anyway.

First up, from 1979, was Germany’s Assignment Terror, where aliens hatch a Plan 9–esque scheme to take over the world using monsters. It’s not really Dracula and it’s not really Frankenstein, but it doesn’t really matter cause they’re not really friends. They’re just kinda there. This one got retitled Dracula Versus Frankenstein for US distribution, but they don’t really fight either, so, while it’s cool and totally worth watching, it’s kind of a bust for our purposes.

The following year, trash auteur Al Adamson unleashed his own Dracula vs Frankenstein on the world and everybody rejoiced.

Well, not really, but maybe they should have cause that shit is wild and absolutely worth watching. What’s more, Dracula finally squares off against Frankenstein and it’s pretty damn great. Seriously, if you’ve never seen Dracula Vs. Frankenstein (1971) I highly recommend a viewing. Well, I recommend it for a certain kind of viewer, cause it’s bad. Like bad, bad. But it’s also awesome cause Dracula has a laser ring and he basically dismembers Frankenstein, and that credit sequence! Oh boy. It’s a winner for sure.

But then, not to be outdone (or at least not to be left out maybe) good ole Jess Franco joined the party and offered up Dracula Prisoner of Frankenstein in 1972. Now this one kinda flips the script and sees Dr. Frankenstein using Dracula to further his plan for world domination. It’s got something to do with creating an Army of Shadows using Dracula blood or some shit. It doesn’t really make any sense, but it is kinda fun to watch. Frankenstein rolls around in a weird ass Van-Hearse, there’s a tiny bat with a giant stake through its heart, and then The Wolfman shows up for some reason and just fucks shit up. Its pretty cool. Unfortunately it isn’t helping us pin down this idea of platonic love between these 2 monsters.

But hold on, what if we step away from the movies for a moment and talk about some television? It may have been quiet at the movies in the 1960’s, but the television featured lots of the monsters interacting in a friendly capacity.

First up is probably no surprise, but 1964 gave us The Munsters, turning the family sitcom formula of the late 50’s on its head by inserting Monsters into the mix as an average suburban unit. Now, it’s not exactly what we’re talking about, but it’s certainly on the right track.

A closer approximation is not a TV show, (though certainly worthy of note at this point in the timeline) but Rankin and Bass’ 1967 feature Mad Monster Party. The stop motion animation from the team that gave us Rudolph and The Year Without Santa Claus delivered a full on Monster Party of friendly fiends.

After that, we got the Groovie Goolies from 1970, which was purposely fashioned as an animated Laugh-In for monster kids growing up with Aurora kits and Famous Monsters of Filmland. Dracula, a Frankenstein’s monster and the Wolfman all hang out in Horrible Hall, making jokes and performing monster songs. It’s pretty goddamn great and I’m sure you’d assume we’re fans over here at The Shindig – and we are.

Similarly, in 1976 we got the live action Monster Squad TV show, featuring wax versions of Frankenstein, Dracula and the Wolf Man coming to life to fight crime. If that sounds awesome to you, that’s because it is and you should watch it.

Then the early 80’s followed suit, bringing such things like Scooby Doo’s A Halloween Hassle at Dracula’s Castle and Hanna-Barbera’s Drak Pack, which almost plays like an animated version of The Monster Squad show, with the trio fighting crime in an attempt to redeem themselves for their former evil deeds. Weird.

Now, that’s a lot of examples of them being friends, but where did television suddenly get this idea?

While it certainly seems like we can point a finger squarely at The Munsters, I think the lion’s share of the responsibility falls on the shoulders of…and maybe you’ve already guessed it… but Monster Songs! Do we even get a prime time sitcom like The Munster’s if not for the popularity of The Monster Mash? I doubt it. But The Monster Mash doesn’t just spring up outta nowhere, and as avid visitors here can attest, it’s not even close to being the first Monster Party Anthem that suggests monsters might hang out.

So, somewhere between Universal’s Monster Rally pictures of the late 40’s and the 70’s homage-oddities from around the globe, we have a very interesting phenomenon, and it’s the Shock! Theater revival of the late 50’s.

In October of 1957, Universal bundled much of its back catalog into a syndicated packaged known as Shock! Theater. Suddenly, TV stations all across the country were playing classic horror movies while meteorologists dressed up like Draculas and Monster Mania took a nation by storm.

And wouldn’t you know it, 1958 seems to be the precise moment that we start seeing bona fide Monster Songs. And not just run of the mill monster songs about a Dracula or a Wolfman, but full-on, Monster Rally-style gatherings of monstrous proportions.

There’s A Screaming Ball (At Dracula Hall) from The DuPonts, Bert Convy’s The Monsters Hop, Big Bee Kornegay gives us At the House Frankenstein, and well, well, well…look at what we have here, also from 1958. It’s tonight song, Frankenstein by Bart Lewis, the song which posits that these 2 dudes might be friends.

So where did everyone get this idea, we ask? Well, hell…it might have just come from this very song itself. How about that?

The Mummy

TRACK #391:

The Mummy by The Naturals

Tonight, for our first track of the season and the first track of our Monster Rally, we’re gonna dig up our old pal, The Mummy.

Now, there aren’t a whole lotta songs about The Mummy.

I mean, there’s plenty, don’t get me wrong. In fact, there’s probably more than anyone ever really needed about this character, to be honest. But when compared to Dracula, or Frankenstein or even The Wolfman really, the repertoire starts looking a little thin.

However, between 1958 and 1959, we got at least 3 different songs about our bandaged buddy. And for some reason the Mummy character in each one of these songs is saying some dumb phrase over and over again.

First, we got Lee Ross’ 1958 trend setter The Mummy’s Bracelet. That one finds the Mummy repeatedly demanding the return of that selfsame bracelet; “Give me my bracelet back!” he pleads through the finest tape-based effects 1958 had to offer.

Jump to 1959, and we got Bob McFadden and Dor’s classic (and classically annoying) The Mummy, in which a poindexter-ass Mummy dweebishly repeats “I’m a Mummy” and it’s enough to make you want to punch your radio. If you’ve ever been curious just why this particular Halloween compilation staple has been ignored over here for 13 years, now you have an answer. I think it’s dumb and listening to it makes me mad, so you don’t have to hear it here. It is a classic, and I should probably at least acknowledge it. Maybe one day it’ll find its way onto the playlist, but not while there’s The Naturals to contend with.

Which brings us to tonight’s selection , a song also called The Mummy and also from 1959. This one is way less irritating and thus appears on the playlist. A group called The Naturals serve up this also-ran number which too features a Mummy catch phrase. “Put Me Back In My Tomb” is the mantra here, which is way better than the other two options. In fact, subjectivity aside, I’d say this is the best of the 3 tunes. Lee Ross’ song is a bit more moody and perhaps more fitting for the playlist, but I think I like this one better.

It’s funnier than Bob McFadden by a furlong and it’s far less irritating. Plus it grooves, something I definitely can’t say about Bob McFadden’s and would rather not say about Lee Ross’ take.

But enough about all of that, let’s get this Monster Rally, and indeed this entire season, off to an ancient start, with one of the oldest Monster Songs about one of the oldest monsters.

Here’s The Naturals with The Mummy!

Doin’ It in a Haunted House

TRACK #372:

Doin’ It In A Haunted House by Yvonne Gage

Sometimes you just wish you knew a song existed sooner.

This would have paired perfectly with the 2022 addition, Stay the Night, which sounded suspiciously similar to Bon Jovi’s You Give Love a Bad Name.

But even earlier than that, this song would have fit in nicely with all the other Haunted House hits in 2017.

Or perhaps, if I had know about this tune even earlier, I could have thrown it where it probably belongs, directly after Thriller, because damnit if this isn’t the most shameless Thriller knock-off I’ve ever heard.

Ok, maybe Golimar, but that thing was tucked away inside some obscure Telugu musical that no one saw for 25 years. Additionally, it doesn’t sound anywhere near as similar to Thriller as Doin’ It In a Haunted House does, which released to the American pop charts within a year of Thriller’s debut.

So shameless is this tune, in fact, that it sample’s directly from John Landis’ Thriller video in the opening minutes of the song. That’s either some kinda balls, or just plain wearing it on your sleeve. Cause if they didn’t think people would go “Hey! That sounds just like Thriller!” then someone is outta their goddamn mind.

And apparently they did, with Yvonne Gage herself stating (at least in retrospect) that she expressed concerns over its similarity to Thriller. These concerns were brushed away by the production team and they moved forward with the tune.

And boy am I glad they did, because Yvonne Cage’s Doin’ It In a Haunted House is a glorious thing. Not only is a fairly groovin’ tune, because well, it’s basically Thriller, but it’s called fuckin’ Doin’ It in a Haunted House. That’s just fantastic. And it’s not played for laughs either, at least as far as I can tell. This doesn’t strike me a jokey tune. This is just a straight faced Thriller knock-off with a ridiculous goddamn title and it’s beautiful.

It’s not terribly often that a song just gets an instant spot on the Plyalist based on its title alone. Most of them, I need to at least hear first. But this one? I was basically of the opinion that if it was even remotely listenable, it was goin on there, no question.

Then, I fire it up and it’s some ridiculous Thriller knock-off on top of that? Where has this song been all my life?! There’s still gems to be uncovered, even after years into this juggernaut.

But let’s talk about this song, shall we?

Let’s start with Yvonne, who began singing (as many girls do) at her local church from a very young age. Soon, she joined a band called the Soulettes and they even released an album under the band name Love, but Yvonne had already moved on by then, singing back up for a guy named Captain Sky. From there she met producer Don Burnside.

In addition to introducing her to Ministry (of all bands, with whom she recorded in their ) Don also produced her first 2 albums.

Originally, Doin’ It in a Haunted House was envisioned as a “response” record in the vein of Lydia Murdocks Superstar. If you’ve never heard that tune, I recommend giving it a listen, as it’s pretty wild if you’ve never come across it before.

Sung from the perspective of Billie Jean, Lydia posits Michael Jackson’s No. 1 tales omits some pretty big details and she means to set the record straight.

That record also sounds suspiciously like Billie Jean, aping the bassline and basic rhythm.

That sort of thing isn’t unheard of either, though not typically so overt. In fact, Response Songs (or Answers Songs) are as old as recorded music itself. Take a look at that list to see just how many songs are in fact (a good many of which I was totally unaware were) response songs.

What you might notice missing from that list, however, is Yvonne Gage’s Doin’ It in a Haunted House.

And probably not unjustly.

Despite being sold as the “Female Answer to Thriller,” the lyrics do little to suggest this is anything other than a similiar-ish concept wrapped up in a package sounding entirely too much like Thriller.

At least Rod Temperton thought so, anyway. See, he was the co-writer of Thriller and he proceeded to sue Gage for copyright infringement. Nothing really came from the suit, with Yvonne herself stating that Rod didn’t so much want money as he wanted to simply kill her record. Which, in effect, it kind of did, with deals and appearances evaporating from Yvonne upon the lawsuits release.

Mission accomplished pal, cause I haven’t heard of this thing in 40 years of its existence and I’m looking for shit like this. I guess I’m just not looking hard enough. Or maybe just not in the right places.

But like we always say, these kinds of things can’t hide from The Shindig forever, even if they should have been on there since day 1.

If you’ve never heard this one before, enjoy! If you’ve long been a fan, what the fuck? Drop The Shindig a line, will ya? This is too good an addition for ya’ll to have been sittin’ on.

Haunted House Rock

TRACK #371:

Haunted House Rock by
Cool Rock T and Daggy D

Our next tune is another Monster Rap from the absolutely Monster Rap-dominated year of 1987. In addition to the 9 (yes 9!) Freddy Krueger raps released in 1987, you’ve got the 2 songs we just posted, plus Gregory D’s Monster Booogie and Monster Rap Title Track juggernaut The Monster Squad.

That means tonights tune brings our grand total to 14 Monster Raps on the playlist that were released in 1987 alone. There’s also yet another one waiting in the Bullpen (feel free to click here if you find you’re too impatient for all that) making the true total 15!

And those are the ones that I’m aware of. There could be even more out there and I just haven’t hit the right search yet. So who knows.

Tonight’s ’87er comes from Cool Rock T and Daggy D, and it might sound a bit reminiscent of another…more famous…monster rap that you’re already familiar with, which is funny because the b-side to this single was called…Reminiscing.

This is another tune one that was sort of “lost” to the ages as the rip on YouTube right now is not the full song, and there didn’t seem to be any records floating around for sale. However, that was the case until a few months ago, when Monster Rap hero CCSchwiegert, listed this single on discogs.

Now, they listed it for $300 buck mind you, but to my amazement, they also posted a link to an audio sample of the record for potential buyers. And that sample? Yep, it was the entire fucking song. So, thank you CCSchweigert, you are an absolute legend. Sorry I didn’t kick you down the $300 bills, but owning a rare physical record simply because it is rare isn’t necessarily important to me, particularly at that price. See Track #370.

Now, you may be wondering why you’ve never heard of Cool Rock T (better known as Robert Tingle) and Daggy D (also known as Deron Wilson) and it’s probably because they don’t appear to have any other credits to their names unfortunately. This seems to be it from the duo.

As derivative as it may be, I love this tune. I love this beat. I love the lyrics. I love the way they make fake cars sounds during the intro. It’s just awesome. I mean it’s 100% aping Whodini, but in the best possible way.

Besides, I’m pretty sure I vote for Haunted House of Rock as my favorite Monster Rap of all time, and at present, it appears to be the originator. So what better tune to ape?

Here it is. It’s not a Haunted House made of, or where to find Rock, but rather the kind of Rock that is for, or of, a Haunted House. Ya know, Haunted House Rock.