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.

The Bride of Frankenstein Rap

TRACK #369:

The Bride of Frankenstein Rap by L7

Our next Shindigger here is from the band L7. No Rach, not that L7.

But wait, you say you’re not this “Rach,” and you’ve never heard of any band named L7? Oh, that’ll make this a bit easier then.

See, there was (evidentially anyway) an American Funk band by the name of L7. I call them Funk because this song is listed as being Funk and since it’s their only release, I guess that makes them a Funk band. I genuinely don’t know enough about the in’s and out’s of Funk to say whether or not this claim holds any water, but they might as well be Funk. Sounds Funky, anyway. They’re definitely not a Country band. And I wouldn’t call it this Metal. It’s certainly something. Funk is something. So, let’s go with them on Funk then.

Now, this precursory Funk iteration of L7 it’s is best known for…well…this release. In fact, they’re only known for this release, cause it’s, ya know, their only release. And it’s a Funk release, and Frankenstein, which is always a plus around here.

The 12” Maxi-Single, The Bride of Frankenstein, contains 4 tracks, but essentially only 2 songs. There’s Mr. Boogie Bop, which gets the standard and instrumental treatment, and the title tune, The Bride of Frankenstein. That one gets the standard treatment as well, but also an extra-special “Rap” version. And I say extra-special because this single is from 1983, the very year I believe to be the birth of Monster Rap itself.

That year gave us Whodini’s Haunted House of Rock, Edgar Winter’s futuristic Frankenstein 1984 and now, The Bride of Frankenstein Rap. I’d say only one of these tunes is legitimately Rap, however. Can you guess which one?

Yep, it’s the only one not actually claiming to be Rap. Go figure there.

But while this song may not pass a street test, for us ‘Diggers lookin for Halloween tunes, you can’t ask for much better than this. It’s solid gold.

Dudes strapping some reasonable whack-simile of Rap onto an otherwise bizarre “Funk” tune and just running with it? Oh you know we’re all over this.

Apparently a guy in the graveyard (why he’s in this graveyard is anyone’s guess) meets a dancing corpse that claims to be The Bride of Frankenstein. At least she shows him a gravestone to that effect. Now, why The Bride of Frankenstein would have “Bride of Frankenstein” carved into her tombstone is also anyone’s guess, but here we are.

Then, all of sudden it’s Halloween and the Rap shows up. Nice! Now the guy is looking for the Bride of Frankenstein and he winds up at the Monster Club. Which isn’t a bad place to look for her really, so I get it. Does the actual song shed any light on these events?

No, not really.

I’ll say this, they are 2 separate songs. They’re pretty much the same song musically, but the lyrics are all different. This isn’t just L7’s The Bride of Frankenstein single with a Rap verse tacked on, and I can appreciate that.

In the original tune (which was perhaps a more fitting tune for the playlist, but oh well) our narrator is at a monster party where he meets a girl that he takes a liking to. However, he is warned, as he learns that she is the Bride of Frankenstein. Bummer for him I guess.

So, it’s kinda more dance-able, makes a bit more sense (albeit a very small bit) and is generally just a more regular tune. It definitely has less weird “mommmy mommy mommy” sounds, whatever the hell those are suppose to be, and that counts for something.

But that version of the song has no Rap (or whatever this is that is calling itself Rap) and it definitely doesn’t have any Halloween. So, when it comes to the playlist, we’re goin The Bride of Frankenstein Rap all day long on this one.

She can rock your mind.

Igor At Midnight

TRACK #368

Igor at Midnight by Cagé (Drac. E. “D”)

Our next Frankenstein adjacent track is the best kind of track; an 80’s Monster Rap.

This is a pretty rare tune it seems, and I had to ante up to catch this one. It wasn’t terribly expensive, but did take some waiting. Why this song isn’t in heavier rotation or found in more places online is beyond me.

So, we posted it up onto our YouTube channel DigTV a couple years back, as we wanted to get a clean copy out into the world asap.

But those things are fragile. Anything can get taken off YouTube at a moment’s notice and Lord knows I’m just waiting for Shindig Radio to get slapped with a cease and desist. So, we’re finally committing this one to the playlist, where it can hopefully have a second and long digital life, cause awesome vintage Monster Rap like Igor At Midnight, needs preserving.

This super referential and festive Electro Rap drops the names of everyone you’d expect, makes a reference to Halloween, and even includes a shout out to Thriller, a clear inspiration here for Cagé. I dunno bout that Darth Vader reference though, that one’s a little weird and random, but we’ll take it.

Once again, a huge shout out goes Werner Von Wallenrod and his Humble Little Hip Hop Vids for hipping me to this tune and sending me on the hunt.

From 1987, here’s the only release from Cagé (Drac. E. “D”), the extra halloweeny Igor At Midnight.

Igor’s Party

TRACK #367:

Igor’s Party by Tony and The Monstrosities

Hey, you know Igor, right?

Sure you do. Who can’t conjure up a mental picture of some hunchbacked lab assistant of a generalized nature?

But what is that picture exactly? And from where are we all drawing that imagery?

Igor is a strange character. The popularly held conception of him isn’t fixed to any one particularly version, nor even a character named Igor.

Whaddaya mean? He’s Victor Frankenstein’s assistant, right?

Well, even that’s a little tricky in and of itself, because Victor isn’t even Victor in Universal’s 1931 classic. He’s Henry. Even then, Victor has no lab assistant in the original novel.

And to complicate the matter, the Igor in the 1931 film isn’t an Igor at all, he’s a Fritz.

Igor, or rather Ygor, didn’t appear until 1939’s Son of Frankenstein, as played by Bela Lugosi.

But that Ygor was a bit of a renegade and hellbent on revenge. See, he was grave robbing, and the villagers caught him, so they tried to hang him. Only they fucked up and left him with a busted up neck and back.

He eventually gets involved with Frankenstein, but only because the particular monster that that particular Frankenstein brings to life only responds to Ygor’s commands. So, Ygor decideds to use the monster to get revenge on the villagers that hanged him. Nice.

Universal then tossed a hunchback assistant in House of Frankenstein, but his name was fucking Daniel, of all things. Later, Charles Bronson played an Igor to Vincent Price’s mad wax man in the ‘53 iteration of House of Wax.

And so went Igor’s trajectory, characters vaguely resembling Fritz playing assistants to whomever the movie happened to be about and sometimes no not even a Mad Scientist.

Time was, I think generally people thought of Marty Feldman’s Igor from Young Frankenstein. And just as well, as not only was he a wildly original and memorable take on the character, but he is literally the first Igor in film history to be a hunchbacked assistant to a Dr. Frankenstein. Wild right? But we’re old as shit and that was 50 goddamn years ago now, so the popular image might just as well be something akin to Dreamworks’ Igor, or (god forbid) Daniel Radcliffe.

But whatever that image is and whatever its sources, Igor is as classic horror staple, as iconic now as the Universal Monster’s themselves. So, we’re gonna take a brief moment here on The Shindig to finally honor that icon with a double shot of Igor goodness.

First up, is Igor’s Party from 1960, the lone record from Tony and The Monstrosities.

The Tony here appears to be Tony Wilde, who released a pair of very different singles that same year. One was Funny Bone and the other was a patriotic split featuring John Henry and There’s a Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere. Ok. Guy was diverse, what can we say?

Igor’s Party, as you might imagine, details a very swinging Monster Shindig happening over at The Frankenstein place. Our narrator got the invite from his buddy Igor. Dracula’s dancing, a mummy shows up. Hell, the Purple People eater is there biting shit. They even have dinner. It’s a classy occasion.

And yet again dear Weeners, not even one song later, we are presented with an example of this sort of thing 2 full years before Boris Picket ever did his graveyard smash. What is it about Pickett’s song that captured the masses? It was the only real hit, and thus why it has endured and is remembered. But I mean, in its day. There had already been a number of other (and perhaps better) monster party tunes before it that failed to chart. Was Boris’ just catchier? Was it funnier? Who can say? Right place at the right time, I suppose.

Whatever the reason, let’s give some airtime to Tony Wilde and his Monstrosities and dig ourselves a Rock ‘N Roll Band over at Igor’s Party.

Oh, and we got back to back Mysterioso abusers here folks. Chalk it it!

At the House of Frankenstein

TRACK #366:

At The House of Frankenstein by Big Bee Kornegay

Since we’re talking about Frankenstein, I figured this might be a good time to slot in a song that’s been waiting to get on the playlist for years now.

It’s an old Halloween classic you might recognize straight away called At the House of Frankenstein!

Coincidentally, this swinging booger from Big Bee Kornegay, was released along with Burt Convey’s Monster Hop in 1958, a full 4 years before The Monster Mash, proving once again that one needn’t be the first to do something to be everyone’s immediate association.

There ain’t a whole lot of info on Big Bee, or rather Big Bob, Kornegay (or even rather Bob Cornegie) other than some attributions to vocal groups like The Du Droppers, The Dixieaires and The Ravens.

Whoever this Mystery Man of R&B really was, he knocks it outta the park here with At The House of Frankenstein, a monster party blueprint from as far back as they come.

What’s more? It’s our first Mysterioso Pizzicato offender of 2024, and doubtful to be our last.

Frankenstein (Chuck Osbourne)

TRACK #364:

Frankenstein by Chuck Osbourne

Whether talking about the man himself or his godforsaken creation, lots of folks have sung about Frankenstein. I still think not as many as Dracula, but it’s a pretty hefty list either way.

However, I don’t think anyone has sung about him as enthusiastically as Chuck Osbourne does here, on his 1975 single, Frankenstein.

Like the bastard son of Louie Armstrong and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Chuck practically throws my voice out screaming the praises of the creature for doing a bunch of shit I’m not even sure he ever did. Hard to know really, cause I can’t rightly understand most of whatever the hell Chuck’s even saying in this song. But man, is it awesome.

I might even go so far as to call this the coolest song I’ve ever heard about Frankenstein, Doctor or otherwise. I’m not sure why it took me so long to find this one, but I’m sure glad I did, and I hope that you are too.

Seems there’s a little confusion over Chuck’s name, though. See, he released this song twice on a Pennsylvania label called Hittsburgh USA, which I gotta say, is a pretty outstanding name for a label from the Monongahela Valley.

Can’t tell which record was first though, as they both got released in ‘75. One of them was the B-Side of Day Dream Drifter. That one is credited to Chuck Osborne. And that guy had a couple of other singles.

The other one is a A-Sider with an instrumental version of the tune on the B-side. Now, that one is credited to a guy named Chuck Osbourne, with a U. That’s weird. Chucky U doesn’t have any other singles, just this one.

Was this just a typo? What gives? Guy hiding from the Feds? What’s the deal here?

I imagine if my name was spelt wrong on my own goddamn single, the only single Hittsburgh USA had to their name mind you, I’d be pretty pissed off. Maybe that’s why he spends the whole song just screaming.

And it’s not like they didn’t know how to spell it. One of these pressings got it right. Useless, of course, that’s not even his name at all, and it’s some kinda cover. Maybe he is hiding from the Feds. Guy sounds a little unhinged here about Frankenstein, it’s not outta the realm of possibility to think he’s done some wild shit. I better stop asking so many questions.

I’d say I’m gonna go with Osborne, cause that guy had more releases, but I don’t think so. That no U business is some B-Side bullshit.

I’m goin Osbourne, cause that’s the guy who released the full-on Frankenstein single, with the instrumental on the flip. Frankenstein by Chuck Osbourne is an goddamn A-sider, fuckin’ Hittsburgh USA. Put some respect on that name, however you spell it. Cause if this song is any indication, Chuck deserves it.

Frankenstein (The Doctor)

TRACK #363:

Frankenstein by The Doctor

So here’s another (allegedly) Italo tune about Frankenstein. This one is really from Italy as well, which is nice. It also appears to definitely be about the Doctor, which is also nice.

It’s also by The Doctor, which is a little confusing. It also seems to be The Doctor’s only musical contribution to the world.

Here he is rockin a sweet Frankenstein mask, which is more than I can say for the intense and sweaty Phoebus. But maybe Phoebus had just taken his Frankenstein mask off. Latex is notorious for inducing a good sweat.

What’s also peculiar about this song, is that it too is from 1986. So, that year saw 2 separate Frankenstein related Italo-Disco tracks that were actually from Italy, by acts that never released ny other records? That’s weird. I mean, at least i think so. Is that weird? Seems weird to me anyway. What was going on in Italy in 1986 with Frankenstein that produced such similar efforts? Beats me, cause these songs don’t even really sound similar.

I do like this one though. More than the Phoebus tune anyway. It’s strange. What’s also strange is that The Doctor here is sporting that mask while the song appears to be about Doctor Frankenstein for a change. Meanwhile Phoebus, clearly singing about how The Monster gives him a boner or whatever, appears mask-less, all intense and sweaty. Hmm. Perhaps that’s more apropos than I initially gave it credit for.

But I digress. This song is fun and certainly very danceable, but I’ll be honest here, I don’t really know what The Doctor is saying. But, unlike the Ecstasy song, I’m not sure I really care. Something about Chris Dobarts accent and the variety of words in Hey Frankenstein made me genuinely curious as to the lyrical content.

But here, I dunno. I guess I’m just not as interested. Either way, this could be the night!

Frankenstein (Phoebus)

TRACK #362:

Frankenstein by Phoebus

We’re gonna segue out of Disco here with 2 different Frankenstein tunes from the same year out of the Italo-Disco scene.

We’ve got a few Italo-Disco tracks already on The Shindig, namely Disco Halloween from Forbidden Fruits. But what the hell is Italo-Disco? It doesn’t seem much like Disco, nor does it sound terribly Italian.

It’s been years now since we posted that song, and you don’t feel like clicking away to reread stuff you maybe never even read back then, so why don’t we just talk about it again, huh?

Well, it seems the question of “what is Italo-Disco” elicits a fairly complicated answer. Enthusiasts and historians can’t seem to agree on what exactly is, where and when it all started or what even really qualifies as, Italo-Disco.

As such, the sound of Italo-Disco can be a bit elusive. Some of it skews more Disco and Space Disco, while a bunch of it leans more toward dancey 80’s Pop.

The short versions seems to be that it’s what happened when inexperienced Italian producers in the late 70’s tried to imitate the Disco hits that were no longer flooding in from outside Italy in the wake of Disco’s stateside decline.

That said, it was also the eventual electronification of Disco and the precursor to just about every form of EDM that now exists. Wow, ok Italo-Disco, shit. Take it down a notch, huh. That’s a pretty bold statement.

These 2 things seem to be most important to a definition though: heavy use of electronic instrumentation (synths, drum machines and vocoders) and either overly melodramatic themes of love and sex, or robots. There’s lots of robots.

Most of it was sung in English, perhaps explaining why a lot of it doesn’t sound terribly Italian. Dunno if that was an attempt to mimic classic disco tracks or simply to appeal to an American audience.

Oddly enough, it’s was a German Record label ZYX, that is largely cited as being the originators of the term. They marketed full-on mixes of the emerging pop scene out of Italy as “Italo-Disco.” Soon, that sound was coming from all corners of the globe and getting slapped with the same moniker.

Meanwhile, over here in the States, guys like Patrick Crowley and Bobby Orlando were touching upon some similar sounds with Hi-NRG. That also featured heavy use of electronic instruments, but typically ran at a higher tempo than Italo, so is somewhat easy to pick out of a lineup. It was popular in the Gay club scene of the mid-80’s and was very much a precursor to Techno and House. We even have a Hi-NRG hit here on the playlist courtesy of Bobby Orlando’s own Whisper to a Scream, which appeared (perhaps less than coincidentally) in 1985’s Freddy’s Revenge.

So, as you might suspect, I’ve been listening to a lot of Italo-Disco over the last year or so, and given its overall variety, I find it to be a wildly mixed bag. Some of it I love, some of it I hate.

The beat and the bass are typically right on the money. The first couple minutes of any Italo song is usually pretty great. But by the time the singer joined the party, it seemed like a 70/30 split on whether I was bailing out. A lot of it just sounds like cheeseball dance music of a variety I’m not terribly fond.

Now, I love Giorgio Moroder, and his pop-driven 80’s work is great. Kano released some good tunes. Koto, Scotch and Casco too. But the genre seems less defined by particular artists then it does the one-off records dropped by total randos never to be heard from again. Those can definitely be hit or miss.

I seemed to prefer the older, earlier variety which leaned a little more into Space Disco territory, a genre that I love which has a lot of overlap with Italo.

But the point at where a thing stops being Italo and starts being any number of other genres that sprung up in its wake, is located somewhere just outside my range of hearing.

Consensus seems to be that the genre had mostly dried out by the early 90’s and had given way to House, or Eurobeat or Eurodisco.

Tonight’s selection, Frankenstein by Phoebus, is a great example of what I’m talking about. This song doesn’t bear the hallmarks of what I think of when I think of Italo-Disco. To me, this just sounds like generic 80’s dance music, which isn’t not what Italo is, but it’s hard to explain. I dunno, maybe I’m not even really sure what Italo is, but I don’t know if it’s this. However, according to the folks on Discogs anyway, it definitely is.

Despite that, I still kinda dig this tune. Perhaps it’s a testament to the fact that just singing about Frankenstein can afford you a fair bit of goodwill over here with The Shindig.

This one seems to be about the Monster. And specifically the monster from the movie, as Phoebus has just recently seen a Frankenstein picture at the cinema.

From what I can gather, the monster has left an impression on our dear narrator. The nature of which, however, I can’t exactly say. Is this guy sexually attracted to the creature? Is that what’s goin on here? Am I adding that in? Am I sexually attracted to the creature? What’s the deal? Cause Phoebus seems to be getting real worked up over this thing, and I’m not sure it’s of the “Hey, just pick up a copy of Famous Monsters and an Aurora Model kit and work it out” variety.

So much so, in fact, that his friends all say he needs a doctor, his dad has kicked him out of the house and his girlfriend won’t even talk to him.

As such we dropped in some clips from Andy Warhol and Paul Morrisey’s Flesh For Frankenstein, cause…c’mon.

But enough of my rambling about a genre you probably don’t care to know about for some Monster song that I’m not even sure is prime example of that genre, in theme or sound.

He’s talkin’ about Frankenstein, so lose your mind already.

P.S. – If anyone listening happens to be familiar with this song but is finding they not familiar with this particular version, that is because it is a Shindig specific edit exclusive to the playlist.

It is a mashup I made of the 7” Mix and the Horror Mix. Not sure why I did this exactly, as I did it quite a while back. I think I liked the Horror Mix better in general, but preferred the opening of the 7” Mix. I think anyway. There’s something going on at the end too that’s different. Either way, we hope you enjoy!

Hey Frankenstein

TRACK #361:

Hey Frankenstein by Ecstasy

So, what’s all the fuss about Dracula, anyway?

Guy’s kinda boring, ain’t he? Drink a little blood, flash a little cape, hiss a bit with some fangs maybe, whatever. Big deal. Why’s this dude getting so much love in the tracks?

What about ole Frankenstein?

Well, while seemingly not as referenced as The Count, Frankenstein is still no slouch when it comes to recordings. In fact, according to a title search of “Frankenstein” on Discogs, there’s 785 master recordings. That’s almost 120 more than Dracula! Maybe old nut-neck ain’t 2nd banana after all. Maybe he is the big dog at the party. Though in fairness, a ton of those releases are just various compilation appearances and covers of the Edgar Winter classic. Without meticulously scrubbing either search for duplicates of that nature, it would hard to say for sure who emerges as the clear winner.

That’s of no real concern to us though, cause we’re gonna show Frank a little love now anyway, cause Lord knows he’s been getting the high-hat. Plus, I got a bunch of Franken-Jams clogging up the bullpen. Not as many as Dracula, but still quite a few.

I think it’s worth noting that in 9 out of 10 songs it’s the monster that’s being referenced rather than the Doctor. Sometimes that can be hard to determine with some of these songs, but it’s a safe bet it’s usually the creature.

And we can look the other way on that one, right gang? We can just accept that most people are calling the creature “Frankenstein,” accurate or not. I’m prepared to let it go for a block of Franken-Rock, aren’t you?

Yeah, of course you are, cause you don’t give a damn. Does the track groove? Yeah? Well then fire it up.

And groove this one does, cause we’re flippin’ the switch on this block with another song I had to fish outta the drink just to hear. And once again, it was definitely worth it. Some people had the A-side from the Ecstasy single What’d I Say? but no one seemed to have the B-side, Hey Frankenstein.

Ecstasy was a French disco band in the late 70’s that cut a number of 45s, but seemed to fizzle out just before the turn of the decade.

Chris Dobat, otherwise known as Mister Ecstasy, was the driving force behind that band and he seems to have pivoted to solo Funk work in the 80’s. Not bad.

Here, he lets it all hang out with some funky disco dedicated to Doctor himself. At least, I think anyway. Cause I’m not gonna lie, half the time I can’t tell what the hell Chris is actually saying. The fact that this is the B-side to What’d I Say? seems entirely appropriate.

However, I didn’t wanna leave y’all hanging. So, I decided to listen to this song on repeat, for an ungodly amount of times, until I figured out what the lyrics are.

Here is my best attempt. If anyone would like to assist me or correct any of these lines, I’ll take all the help I can get. We posted the song to YouTube last year, and you can use their playback speed to help with the translation. Though I warn you, it’s only so helpful.

Hey Frankenstein
Hey Hey, Hey Hey (x2)

Hey Frankenstein
Comes walking in
you know its him
Oh, bad Frankenstein

Hey, Frankenstein
He’s gotta prove
He’s in the groove
Oh, bad Frankenstein

He takes a drink
To make it quick
It’s all feelin fine
He can’t play fair
He doesn’t care
He’s bad Frankenstein

Hey, Frankenstein
He’s doctor
When his medicine
Oh, he’s Frankenstein

Hey, Frankenstein
He wore his dice
And they’ll look nice
He’s no valentine

So full of ice
He wore them twice
He’s no friend of mine
And if your taught
To live to start
Don’t, bad Frankenstein

Hey Frankenstein
Hey Hey, Hey Hey (x2)

He’s moving fast
He’s moving where it’s at
Looking for fun
Anyway, anywhere, anyone

When there’s no more fun
He’s back on the run
Playboy #1
Always looking for fun

On the run

?
He’s got a secret
Dice!
He wore them twice!
Louder
Sexy
Horns
He begs it

Mr. Frankenstein
Comes a-walking in
Mr. Frankenstein
Funky Valentine

Hey, Frankenstein
He’s gotta prove
He’s in the groove
Oh, bad Frankenstein

Hey, Frankenstein
When it get hot
He’s very bad
He’s bad, Frankenstein

He knows the way
To scare his prey
Oh he’s Frankenstein
He’ll never let you get away
Here comes Frankenstein

Hey Frankenstein
Comes walking in
you know its him
Oh, bad Frankenstein

Hey, Frankenstein
He’s gotta prove
He’s in the groove
Oh, bad Frankenstein

He takes a drink
To make it quick
It’s all feelin fine
He can’t play fair
He doesn’t care
He’s bad Frankenstein (x4)

So, that’s what I got anyway.

Can’t say I’m entirely convinced I got any of this right, and lots of it just sounds wrong. But some it of seems right, and after entirely too many listens, I gotta call it a wrap. But please, if you’re feeling like maybe you also gotta know what this guy is saying and my translation seems like trash, help me out. Lemme know what you think.

Oh, and hey! Speaking of letting it all hang out, that’s a full on fully up there adorning the front of this 45. Cause hey, if you jump into a tub to record your single, maybe a nipple slips out, ya know? It’s ‘78! It’s disco! What’s a nipple? C’mon, get loose, will ya?

Mary Shelley would have wanted to see her nipple.

Love Me Dracula

TRACK #358:

Love Me Dracula by Meco

Ah Meco. You know know Meco, right? He’s the guy you can thank (or blame) for The Star Wars Christmas Album Christmas in the Stars. I’ll be thanking him, thank you very much, but your mileage may vary.

Years before that Imperial entanglement though, he was known as the guy who made John Williams watch as a disco version of his Star Wars Theme hit #1 on the Billboard charts while his own version peaked at #10. He also almost stole John’s Grammy Award to boot, and for the same composition! The balls on this guy.

Well, he did it again, in the same fuckin year, with the theme from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. John got his revenge that time though, with his original theme besting Meco’s disco version in the charts, and winning another Grammy, while Meco didn’t even see a nomination.

But, that didn’t stop Johnsonburg, Pennsylvania’s Domenico Monardo, though. No way. The following year he tried to rebottle boogie lightning yet again with a version of another Williams score. This time it was Superman, but it didn’t fare quite as well as the others, unfortunately.

Additionally, he took a disco stab at The Wizard of Oz, Shogun, Anything Goes, Jerry Goldsmith’s Star Trek, and even more John Williams with Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Empire Strikes Back. What can I say? The guy had an M.O.

In between all that disco apery though, Meco somehow found time to release a genuine original album in 1979’s Moondancer. The album’s cover was designed by Meco himself and the back has an introduction written by him as well, and it’s perhaps the best part:

“One night I dreamt that I was at a disco. What was so unusual about the dream was that the disco was on the Moon, and among the regular clientele were many Creatures of the Night.

I asked the intergalactic Council to teleport me there to see if such a place existed.

Sure enough, there it was; just as I imagined it would be! I couldn’t believe it.

Down in a huge gorge, stretching for miles was the disco:

MOONDANCER.

Dancing the endless night away were all the creatures I had dreamed of.

I asked Casablanca Records to allow me to record my impressions of that night.

My orchestra and I invite you to listen and enjoy:

MOONDANCER.”

Outstanding.

Because it’s Meco though, 2 of its 6 tracks are covers. However, because it’s also Meco, the man who never met a fad he didn’t wanna capitalize on, there’s a Disco Dracula number on there too. Fuck yeah there is.

And it’s a good one too. It wasn’t written by Monardo (as most of the album is not, unsurprisingly) but it’s a standup double of a Disco Dracula and (I think) the bright spot on an a fairly bland and generic disco album.

For me, it’s somewhat reminiscent of Rock Me Dracula by Mokka. Is this just another count on Meco’s lengthy larcenous indictment, or did Mokka try to out-Meco Meco?

Or hell, maybe great Disco Dracula minds think alike the whole world over. But, since they both dropped in ‘79, without any concrete dates, we may never know for sure.

What I can say though, is that this is where our Disco Dracula block will come to an end. For now, we will bid The Count farewell, but like all immortal creatures of the night, he will rise again soon enough, to strike fear into our ears once more.

Until then, Love Me Dracula!

Ooh Dracula

TRACK #357:

Ooh Dracula by Empire

So here’s a weird Disco Dracula with a confusing release history.

I originally came across this song as simply Dracula, sung by Linda Susan Bauer. I loved it and shoved it in the bullpen, as is custom.

Later, while digging around for other monster disco madness, I ran across the suggestion of the song Ooh Dracula, as performed by Hysteric. I listened to that, but it wasn’t really much of anything except a remix, yet it sounded a little different from Linda’s song.

What was it a remix of then?

Well, apparently the song Ooh Dracula by the German Disco group Empire.

So, I double checked around on Linda Susan Bauer and found out she was one of the singers for Empire, and that her version was itself a reworking of that version. Ok then.

Problem is, the band Empire isn’t really a band at all. They’re basically just this other band called Methusalem. Wait, what?

Ok, so bear with me with on this, cause the information is a little spotty. From what I can garner, Methusalem was a project of a producer named Jack White. Not that guy with the white pants, but this guy.

See, he was German. He also used to be a professional soccer player. But more importantly, he produced David Hasselhoff’s albums, including his Berlin Wall-leveling hit, Looking for Freedom.

More famously (I would assume), he was the man responsible for producing Laura Branigan, including her very actual hits Self Control, How Am I Suppose to Live Without You? and her insanely popular version of Umberto Tozzi’s Gloria. In fact, he also produced her hit The Lucky One, which appears in 1986’s Killer Party, is sitting in the bullpen and waiting it’s debut on The Shindig.

I think even more importantly though, Jack White is the man that produced the soundtrack to the 1984 Sci-Fi Musical Pia Zadora vehicle Voyage of the Rock Aliens. Choice.

However, before all of that success, Jack had been releasing disco singles to limited acclaim in the late 70’s. Methusalem’s lone album, Journey Into the Unknown, was released in 1980, also to limited acclaim.

So, Jack just continued producing disco singles, including one with Linda Susan Bauer entitled Shot Down under the moniker Empire.

When that single performed well, Jack figured he’d try and give Methusalm a new set of legs. So in 1981, he took Journey Into the Unknown, added Shot Down and another a new song he’d also produced with Linda entitled Ooh Dracula and released it as Empire’s lone LP, The First Album. Incidentally, that was also their last album as neither Empire nor Methusalem released anything after.

Some later, bootleggy repressings of Journey Into the Unknown feature the additional 2 songs, but from what I can tell, those are mostly erroneous. Even some places online will attribute this song to Methusalem, which is just as well I suppose. But as far as I can tell, nothing official by the Methusalem moniker was ever released containing Ooh Dracula. This appears to be “Empire” song, whatever that really means.

Linda herself released the song as just Dracula in 1982, and that’s the one I was familiar with. It’s not terribly different, from what I can tell. Maybe a little less synthy. Hard to say, really. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think it was the same track.

So what is Empire then? Well, basically Shot Down and Ooh Dracula, that’s what Empire is, featuring vocals by Linda Susan Bauer.

Methusalem is the rest of that album, with vocals from English singer Vicky Brown.

Now that that’s cleared up, what with this song?

Well, it’s your typical sort of Dracula tale. A woman is obsessed with that god forsaken creature of the night, and despite what everyone (including common goddamn sense) tells her, she’s determined to become a slave to that thing.

Oh well.

Better her than me, I suppose. Seems like it’s hard to resist that guy. Thankfully, we’ve never crossed paths. However, I do feel confident that my years of listening to Dracula songs has given me the tools necessary to fully protect myself from his evil ways.

Oh fuck yooh, Dracula! I dont’ care what you say!

Sweet Sexy Dracula

TRACK #356:

Sweet Sexy Dracula by Café Au Lait

Disco was pretty big in Japan. While American Rock ‘N Roll grabbed Japanese pop culture for the late 60’s and early 70’s, by 1974, that island was dancing to a new beat.

As such, lots of Disco artists enjoyed great success overseas. Some even went so far as to release records exclusively in Japan. Ice (aka Captain Dax) is a good example of a band directing their attention almost entirely to the Japanese market. And it seems such was the case with our next Disco Dracula enablers, the curiously French named, Café Au Lait.

Café Au Lait is a coffee drink. I know this now because if you try and search for this band, the results are pretty much exclusively this drink. It’s kinda like a latte I guess, only it’s made with regular coffee instead of espresso. Great. I feel more sophisticated already.

Now, what the fuck a French coffee beverage has to do with Disco, Dracula or Japan is anyone’s guess. But let’s talk less about coffee and more about those other 3 things for a moment.

Hot Blood’s 1975 gateway drug Soul Dracula, was a pretty big hit in Japan. I mean, it was a pretty big hit here too, and practically spawned what’s shaping up to be an entire sub-genre of music, but in Japan, they were clamoring for it a bit more insatiably.

So much so it seems that, according to wild and unconfirmed sources on the crazy ass internet, Japan (the entire country, I guess) asked Mr. Alain Goraguer to produce his Soul Dracula sound-alike Sexy Dracula. Ok, that seems plausible, weird commenter on discogs, sure. We’ll just go with that.

Was it a hit. I dunno. Maybe?

Not to be outdone, Café Au Lait sought to court a case of Japanese disco fever 3 years later with Sweet Sexy Dracula.

Now, it can be tricky digging up info on these old, sometimes one-off, bands from over 40 years ago. And that difficultly gets compounded if you name your group after a fuckin’ coffee drink.

They don’t sound French to me. Could be Canadian, I suppose. Hell, could be French, but I’m not hearing it. Least not from the lead singer.

So, who were Café Au Lait? Where were they from? Surely they’re not Japanese, but this record was released there. They actually produced a whole LP titled Midnight Bazaar. That’s more than you can say for a lot of these Disco Dracula folk. Sweet Sexy Dracula is the lead-off batter on that album too and you’re goddamn right it is.

I search and type, and dig through YouTube comments and discog notes. Search again with different keywords but mostly I just find people selling the record or featuring it on write-ups or mixes of Disco Dracula songs with no more information than “Hey, here’s another one.” Maybe I’m just bad at looking. Maybe I can’t read Japanese. Maybe the information just isn’t out there.

I did find this fascinating article recently from Diabolique Magazine in 2018. It details a bunch of the big Dracula Disco hitters, in addition to the films of 1979, all as a framework for Disco Demolition Night.

That was the night of the infamous anti-disco promotional shitshow cooked up by Shock Jock Steve Dahl in Chicago. They held it at Comisky Park after a White Sox double-header in July of 1979. The plan was that everyone who came to the stadium that night would bring a disco record with them and then Steve would blow up the whole lot after the games. And he did! Then shit got a little out of hand over at the ballpark. It always comes back to baseball around here, it seems.

But this article appears to be the only thing of its kind really. And perhaps rightfully so. But it doesn’t touch upon any of the little guys; the Hotlines, the Bob Babylones or sadly, the Café Au Laits.

Am I crazy? Am I the only one who cares? Am I the lone person hearing these tunes thinking – man, I’d like to know just a little bit more about the people that made this weird song, so I can write more than “Hey Dracula and cocaine were a crazy duo in the 70’s, huh?”

Feeling at my wits end I actually consulted the harbinger of human civilization’s ruin du jour, ChatGPT.

After wrestling for hours with that goofball, who can’t even seem to return the results of a basic Google search, I did get a bit of information.

Who knows how solid that it is though, as I have yet to get that dipshit to provide me a link that actually takes me where it says it’s suppose to.

Seriously, anyone who’s afraid ChatGPT might be the end of humanity, go have a fuckin’ conversation with that nimrod about a 40 year old Dracula Disco song. Your fears will be instantly quelled, particularly when it repeats back the information you just feed it as though it dug it up on its own. Oh Café Au Lait seem to be fairly obscure Disco band that only released 1 record called Midnight Bazaar, huh? No shit, buddy, I just fuckin’ told you that.

So alas, that’s what I’m left with. That and some speculation. Maybe no one actually cares. Maybe no one wants to read about me caring that no one seems to care. Maybe nobody wants to read at all, particularly dumb things written by dumb me on this dumb blog devoted to dumb shit. Who knows?

Maybe all they want (if they even want this at all) is to just hear the damn song and move on. And maybe that all ya’ll want too, so here it comes.

Sexy Dracula

TRACK #355:

Sexy Dracula by Monsieur Goraguer

Now, I know when I started this Dracula block, I forgot to mention that it was basically gonna be another Disco Dracula Block. Sorry about that.

If you’re all like “Seriously? There’s more of these fuckin’ Disco Dracula songs? How is that even possible?” I feel it’s only courteous to inform you that this batch doesn’t even cover them all.

So, you’ll definitely be hearing more, eventually. But this will probably be the only other “block” of them, as after this batch, there aren’t as many I really like.

First and foremost, there’s Sweet Exorcist’s Disco Vampire. There’s a few different versions, but even the best of them can’t stop that tune from being just a little bit irritating.

Sweet Exorcist was one of many aliases used by our old friends The Lafayette Afro Band, whom you may remember as Captain Dax of Dr. Beezar Soul Frankenstein fame. They used a lot of names over the years like Krispie and Company, Bionic Unlimited and Ice.

As Ice they actually released a grip of Playlist prospects like Disco Frankenstein, Igor’s Reggae and Creature from the Freak Lagoon. Unfortunately, I don’t particularly like those much more than Disco Vampire.

Then there’s Possession’s Black Dracula. That one kinda grooves. You might catch this one of the playlist eventually.

Of course there’s also the other 2 tracks I mentioned from Dracula Blows His Cool. I may still include one of those yet, I dunno.

Pan Demonium cut a tune in 1979 called Dracula’s Dream, which definitely looked to jump on Disco Dracula train. That song’s fine and all, but it wasn’t really exciting enough for this block. Later on in the playlist? Possibly.

Maya’s Mister Dracula is definitely worth a spin and likely to join this playlist within the next few years I’m sure, while Bobby Babylone’s Viva Dracula definitely will be and narrowly escaped not being featured this year.

There’s also Disco Vampirella, Vampire State Blvd., Super Blood Sucker, there’s even The Rah Band, with their cut Vampire Vamp. Now, I like that one a lot, but it’s only an instrumental and doesn’t directly reference Dracula or have much ambience.

Tonight’s Disco Dracula tune, however, has that in spades. It too is mostly an instrumental, like Soul Dracula or Disco Blood. But also like those songs, it’s got Dracula vibe to spare.

From Monsieur Goraguer, comes Sexy Dracula, a sort of Disco Blood with a French tickler twist complete with the requisite moaning and sucking sounds you’ve come to expect from this kind of thing.

Monsieur Goraguer was a barely-alias used by pianist Alain Goraguer, who was an incredibly prolific composer and arranger in France. Though having scored music for dozens of features and TV shows, he’s perhaps most famous for his work with the French legend, Serge Gainsbourg.

Now, why this classically trained and renowned Jazz musician would cut something like Sexy Dracula is anyone’s guess. The pull of Disco Dracula was just too great, I reckon.

We’re all glad he did though, cause he uncorked a doozy here, as maybe only someone of his skill could.

Here’s Sexy Dracula.

Haha! I Need Your Blood (Disco Dracula)

TRACK #354:

Haha! I Need Your Blood (Disco Dracula) by Solcyst

If you would have told me 10 years ago that some of my favorite songs on this playlIst would turn out to be disco jams, I’m not sure I would have believed you.

But here we are, and it’s definitely true. Struck By Boogie Lightning, Fly By Night, Dr. Frankenstein’s Disco Party are all recent additions I enjoy more than I probably should.

There’s something about the combination of this era’s empty, danceable sound and monster bullshit that at once seem so completely at odds yet uniquely suited for each other.

Like Monster Raps, it’s bizarre that these song even exists, but man, am I sure glad that they do. They make for great playlist inclusions.

If you don’t happen to agree, I apologize, as the rest of our Dracula block is unquestionably disco, because there’s just an inordinate amount of these fuckin’ things, and I can’t seem to stop finding them.

Leading the charge is a song I absolutely love. Legit. I love this song. It’s been in the bullpen for years now and over those years I randomly toss it on cause I haven’t heard it in a while and I miss it.

I’m not sure if I can even fully articulate why either. Is it the key? Is it the melody? Is it that short Rhodes solo? Those mean-ass Minimoog hits? I couldn’t rightly say. I guess I just like the way it sounds. I suppose that’s the reason anyone likes any song, really.

Unlike the last couple tunes though, which lean a bit more funk and soul, this one’s a true-blue Disco Dracula tune, at least in name anyway. There isn’t any explicit mention of him, but you do get the double-shot Disco Dracula hallmark of a vaguely Dracula-sounding voice mumbling bullshit while a woman basically orgasms into a microphone. Nice.

From the short lived band, Solcyst comes 1980’s Haha!…I Need Your Blood (Disco Dracula.)

Now strangely, this track was released in Germany. But the band only has one other single, featuring 2 songs, and that one was released in France. So is Solcyst German? Are they French? Italian? None of the above?

They’re singing in English, but it’s a bit strained. This was just around when Italo-Disco was starting to emerge, which was rife with tracks coming out of Germany sung in English by people from neither place, so who knows. This definitely isn’t Italo, though it’s Disco features a nice amount of electronic instrumentation, which is always appreciated.

We may never know with some of these artists, as real information doesn’t seem to exist. So, let’s just be thankful then that the song exists and be satisfied in that.

Our version here on the playlist is pulled directly from the 45, which sits proudly in the Halloween Hole. The single is split between side A and B, featuring Parts 1 and 2, respectively. We’ve combined them both for your epic Disco Dracula pleasure.

I will note that there is a nice rip of this on YouTube that also combines parts 1 and 2. For whatever reason though, that version cuts ’em together a bit early and completely forgoes the 3rd chorus. Not sure why it does that, but ours does not. Perhaps the other one is a bit less repetitive, and the impact of that climatic crescendo isn’t lessened by having already heard it. That version flows a little better too, not gonna lie. Maybe that’s why they did it. I’ll never know, unfortunately, because you can’t send people on YouTube messages and you can’t comment on that particular video, cause for some reason, the Disco Dracula sex song with the lady audibly climaxing is on YouTube Kids. Search me.

I think this is the way the song was meant to transition though, assuming it was meant to be combined at all. Besides, any excuse to make this one last a little longer is alright in my book. And it made some sense to me to let that version exist over there and have a different option over here, rather than just having the same version exist in 2 places.

We’ve bookended this one with samples from 2 contemporaneous Dracula adaptations. The first, 1977’s lengthy and faithful multi-part BBC production Dracula, and the other from Frank Langella’s classic 1979 turn in John Badham’s verison.

Hey, is it weird that 2 years after directing Saturday Night Fever, John Badham directed that Dracula and released it in 1979, the year you couldn’t get away from Disco Dracula? I dunno, but I think we were robbed of a classic John Badham crossover disco horror hit. Oh, well.

Kicking off the Disco portion of our Dracula Block, here’s Solcyst with Haha! I Need Your Blood (Disco Dracula.)

Count Called Dracula

TRACK #353:

Count Called Dracula by The Showman

Looks like we got another Shindig Exclusive coming at ya, cause with all the Dracula Disco out there, we still somehow managed to dig one up that didn’t seem to be available anywhere else.

Finding this one wasn’t too big of a trick, but finally getting to drop a needle on it was definitely a treat. How this song isn’t in more places is beyond me, cause it grooves.

The song is titled Count Called Dracula, which is in the chorus, but it also features the line “Just a dude named Dracula” which is immeasurably cooler. Now, why they didn’t go ahead and call the song Just a Dude Named Dracula is beyond me, but I’ll take this track whatever it’s name might be, cause it’s a jam.

The funked out disco beat, the silly voices, the dated (even for 1978) Mae West joke. It’s all pretty great.

The Showman is actually a guy by the name of Alexander Simmons, who wrote and produced this one. He doesn’t seem to perform on the track however, which is a bit strange.

Here he is Dracin’ the fuck out with 2 ladies of the night, presumably Catalina Sevilla and Linda Kaye Hal, who both provide vocals on the tune.

Smooth.

Unfortunately, Alexander didn’t seem to produce anything else. The album lists a ton of players, but only Ray Chew seems to have much of anything under his belt. For the rest of the crew, a Count Called Dracula appears to be it.

But if I had a chance to produce and release one song, and only one song in my lifetime, I would be so lucky as to drop a banger like Count Called Dracula. Ya’ll should be proud, cause in deference to the songs lyrics, it is pretty spectacular.

Dracula’s Boogie

TRACK #352:

Dracula’s Boogie by Top Shelf

Here’s another Drac-Track about the good count getting down. Or at least a dance that’s named after him, at any rate. Ya know, like The Lurch, or The Freddy. Either way, boogieing and Dracula are involved and that’s what we’re here for.

This one comes from Top Shelf, a Funk/Soul/maybe Disco (I guess) group from possibly New York. Discogs lists all three and the record company Sound Trek Records is a NY based outfit, so it’s inferences all around.

Sound Trek Records doesn’t seem to have released much outside of these singles and LP from Top Shelf. Though the label did aslo release a pair for singles from successful soul singer Laura Greene. Laura even had a role in Robert Downey’s classic satire Putney Swope as Mrs. Swope. Nice!

Laura Greene, however, has nothing else to do with Top Shelf (that I can tell), outside of this minor intersection.

Needless to say, I couldn’t seem to find much in the way of information on these guys. Night People seems to be their only real album.

The funny thing is, Night People was released in 1980, however the single for Dracula’s Boogie (with the excellent b-side Goin’ Thru the Motions) was released in 1979. So, this song was certainly recorded and released in the 70’s, despite the release of the albums. I guess I’ll chalk it up to a 70’s, cause hey, that seems like a more appropriate place for it to be anyhow.

So, grab a cape and cut a rug with Dracula’s Boogie!

Dracula Pt. I

TRACK #351:

Dracula Pt. 1 by The Jimmy Castor Bunch

I dunno what the cocaine was cut with in the 1970’s, but people were goin fuckin’ nuts for Dracula. The amount of Soul, Funk, Disco and Rock tunes from that era, dedicated specifically to the old leech, is staggering.

In the bullpen right now I have another 16 Dracula songs from the 1970’s, of which 6 are from 1979 alone. And there’s already 7 of those on the playlist! So, I had to be a little picky here or we’d be stuck listening to Dracula songs until track #400.

We’ll stake out a healthy block here though, cause I gotta clear out some of these long suffering prospects.

And to kick off our Dracula block in style, we got Jimmy Castor, aka The Everything Man, and his funked out ode to the Prince of Darkness.

In 1975, right on the heels of (or perhaps even before) Soul Dracula, Jimmy and his Bunch dropped Dracula Pt. 1. Don’t worry about Pt. 2 though, it’s just an instrumental version.

Jimmy takes on the persona of Drac and slips in and out of character on this laid back cut that pays tribute to what a smooth motherfucker that count was.

According to the BBC (who are clearly the authorities on such matters) Jimmy Castor is one of the most sampled musicians of all time. And Jimmy’s been sampled quite a bit, no doubt. Specifically, bits of his 1972 songs Troglodyte and It’s Just Begun have popped up on tracks from the likes of N.W.A., Kool Moe D, Ice T, Arianna Grande, JJ Fad and Redman!

But one of the most sampled musicians of all time? I dunno about all that.

So, I consulted an actual authority, ya know, not just some tosser over at the British Broadcasting Company, to find out if that claim held any water.

According to whosampled.com, Jimmy isn’t even cracking the top 100 most sampled artists of all time. At 320 samples, Jimmy is a full 183 samples away from the 100th most sampled musician, legendary composer Ennio Morricone.

So, one of the most sampled? Not exactly, but definitely more than most.

And what of Dracula Pt. 1? Well, unfortunately no one seems to have sampled any parts of this tune. Which is a shame, cause this thing grooves. If the hip-hop constituency doesn’t wanna show this Jimmy Castor track any love, it’s ok. That’s what Halloween Shindig is here for.

So let’s let Dracula introduce himself now, cause we’re gonna be spending a little time with the old Count.

Scary Scary Movies

TRACK #349:

Scary Scary Movies by Ossie D. and Stevie G.

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.

You know the kind I mean!

Scary Movies

TRACK #348:

Scary Movies by Pleasant Company

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 Movies plays 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.

Halloween Shindig

The Horror Fan's Halloween Playlist

Monster Songs