Freaked

TRACK #55:

Freaked by Henry Rollins & Blind Idiot God

From the extra-90’s, ultra-FX-ladened, creature-feature-comedy Freaked, comes this Title Track from Henry Rollins & Blind Idiot God.

I love Freaked. What’s not to love?

Bill S. Preston, Esq. (Alex Winter) writes, co-directs and stars.
Randy Quaid turns up as a nutball mad-scientist.
You even got Mr. T in there as a Bearded lady.
Keanu Reeves sneaks in as the (uncredited) Dog Boy
Bobcat Goldthwait voices Sockhead.
and William Sadler plays a sleazy corporate greaseball.Not to mention…

Awesome creature FX from Steve Johnson’s XFX
More awesome FX from Screaming Mad George and company.
Some great stop motion from the Chiodo Brothers
One of the coolest title sequences ever
and this awesome spinning Randy Quaid head

Plus, it has a pretty kick-ass soundtrack. A soundtrack, I might add, that was never officially released. These puppies come stolen clean from the DVD.

If you’ve never seen Freaked, and you’re at all about creature FX, foolish 90’s comedies, or bizarre movies in general – find someone who has a copy of this, mug them, and watch it immediately.

More music and gifs from Freaked to follow this initial blast, later in the playlist. For now, enjoy these humble Shindig offerings.

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

TRACK #54:

Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes by Lee Lewis

The 1978 B-Movie horror-musical-comedy-spoof turned B-movie itself, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, was probably the first movie I was able to truly appreciate for its camp value.

I saw the light, so to speak, and it began the long love affair I still have today with horribly bad films. A love affair which was nurtured to its maturity on the early days of Comedy Central through Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Here’s the silly title track for the film. A film which, if you’ve never seen, I highly recommend…you know,…if you’re into that sort of thing.

Here’s a link to the full film on youtube.

Enjoy!

and remember…

House Of 1000 Corpses

TRACK #46:

House of 1000 Corpses by Rob Zombie

Well, Lords of Salem was released this past weekend, much to chagrin of critics and the Internet as a whole, it seems. Tumblr especially appears to be awash was some pretty negative reactions.

So, now seemed as good a time as any to drop in this previously unfeatured addition to the Shindig.

Why previously unfeatured? Well, at the risk of posting negative ideas, and alienating some followers, my love for Rob Zombie extends from about White Zombie to well,…White Zombie. Of Rob’s solo and film career, I can not say I am a huge fan.

So why add it at all? Well, its a Title Track and that’s a little hard to just straight-up ignore. Plus, of all his movie this is probably the one I enjoyed the most. And this song is cool enough and certainly Halloweeny enough to enjoy a position on the playlist.

And hell, I like Rob Zombie. He taught me how awesome samples are in metal songs and pointed me toward a lot of really great movies. What I think of his ability to remake them, or steal ideas from them, is neither here nor there.

So go support Lords of Salem. It may be derivative but at least it’s not another goddamn remake.

Spirit

TRACK #43:

Spirit by Doug E. Fresh and The Get Fresh Crew

When it comes to Monster Raps, no movie’s got that category on lock down like Ghostbusters 2.

Whatever your take on the movie itself (I happen to enjoy it, though not nearly as much as the superior original) its soundtrack is pretty serious, and as such has a lot of representation on The Shindig.

The year was 1989 and this soundtrack certainly feels that way, bridging the gap between 80’s pop and paving the way for what would be the mainstream explosion of rap the following year. Hats off the the music supervisor’s foresight on that one.

Like any good soundtrack it also consistently reminds one of the movie, as the music is featured so predominately within the film.

The first Shindig cut from that album is Doug E. Fresh’s Spirit. Some people hear it, some people fear it. Some people just won’t go near it.

Dig it.

The Addams Groove

TRACK #32:

The Addams Groove by Hammer

You knew it was coming. Perhaps you groaned, but you can’t tell me this track wasn’t telegraphed.

As silly as it is (and believe me, it’s pretty fucking silly,) The Addams Groove actually has a pretty positive message hidden underneath it’s thin, ridiculous shell. As Hammer states:

Now is the time to get in your mind
It’s ok to be yourself
Take foolish pride and put it aside
Like the Addamses, yo! They def.

Proper.

So, bust out your old hammer pants, do what you wanna do, say what you wanna say. Hell, maybe even kick and then slap a friend…there the Addams Family.

The Blob

TRACK #29:

The Blob by The Five Blobs

Sometimes in my attempt to mix things up and keep an even distribution of styles and bands, the Shindig kinda seems a bit musically schizophrenic.

So, in the spirit of cohesion, here’s the Beware Of The Blob, which I think doubles up pretty nicely with The Purple People Eater, and is even from the same year.

Much like The Dudes of Wrath (though the ridiculousness of comparing these two groups is not lost on me) The Five Blobs were assembled for the singular purpose of singing this tune, penned by the late Burt Bacharach.

Easily one of the oldest Title Tracks on the Shindig (if not the oldest) The Blob is also one of the more curious tunes on the playlist as well.

Such a fun and upbeat song for something as horrendous as The Blob is kind of alarming, and as such, a bit creepy. There’s no immediacy to their tone, almost as if you really needn’t worry about this whole indestructible and unstoppable goo-monster. Seriously gang? Its eating fucking everything, maybe a little urgency, or god forbid, terror?

Naw, they’ll just keep it light and breezy over here. Shit, it’s only The Blob.

Nightmare

TRACK #27:

Nightmare by Tuesday Knight

When it comes to horror movie icons, no one quite has the pop music angle cornered like Freddy Krueger.

The Shindig features multiple offerings from Freddy’s eurythmic career, from metal, to 80’s dance pop and even 2 monster raps.

First up from Krueger and Co. comes the not-quite-Title Track from A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 4: The Dream Master.

Nightmare is interesting as it is performed by actress Tuesday Knight, who plays Kristen Parker in the film, the role originally held by Patricia Arquette in Dream Warriors.

TerrorVision

TRACK #22:

TerrorVision by The Fibonaccis

Before Full Moon became synonymous with “shitty movie”, Charlie Band had Empire Pictures, which produced a fair amount of good genre offerings like Re-Animator, Ghoulies, From Beyond and Prison, just to name a few.

Among them was TerrorVision, a 1986 film you can easily catch on Netflix these days and won’t be disappointed with,…supposin’ you like that sort of thing.

And that sort of thing is ridiculous (not ridiculously bad, however) horror. With Charlie Band’s name attached, we could be walking into that territory, but TerrorVision manages to be 80’s enough and fun enough to avoid such trappings and deliver a flick that doesn’t take itself at all seriously and has a good time with some silly creature and gore effects.

Plus it’s got The Phantom of Paradise’s Beef, Garret Graham as the Dad and Jon Gries as his daughter’s punked-out boyfriend named O.D., and that’s gotta be worth a viewing.

From TerrorVision comes TerrorVision, the Title Track performed by the Fibonaccis.

Shocker

TRACK #16:

Shocker by The Dudes of Wrath

Once in a while a song is not only about a horror movie, or just featured in that horror movie but it’s named after the goddamn thing too. It’s the trifecta, the hat trick, the triple threat – it’s the Title Track, and little else ever competes.

Regretfully, Title Tracks mostly appear to be a thing of the past. Maybe they seem too corny or passe to modern filmmakers. However, dig around through the 80’s and early 90’s and these fuckers are everywhere, probably more out of some ridiculous sense of cross media marketing than any real attempt to make something awesome,…unless your talking about today’s Title Track, Shocker.

Whatever your opinion of Shocker (its definitely not Craven’s finest hour and a half) its soundtrack is out of control.

A supergroup like Voltron assembles from nowhere to rock your pumpkins off.

Paul Stanley, Desmond Child and Alice Cooper show up to sing.

Vivian Campbell and Guy Mann-Dude from Def Leppard stop by to shred.

Whitesnake’s Rudy Sarzo picks up the bass and Mötley Crüe hammer Tommy Lee keeps the beat.

Add in some backing vocals by Van Halen’s Michael Anthony and Cooper guitarist Kane Roberts and you got yourself a genuine fuckin’ supergroup to end all supergroups.

What’s more, these guys got together specifically for this soundtrack and never again. To top it all off they called themselves The Dudes of Wrath, a pun I’m not sure makes any goddamn sense, but is still pretty awesome none-the-less.

So bang your head for the dearly departed Horace Pinker, nobody may ever see him again.

Science Fiction/Double Feature

TRACK #10:

Science Fiction/Double Feature by Richard O’Brien & Richard Harley

Back in the day, VH1 used to play Rocky Horror on Halloween Night. This is probably because they really didn’t have access to much else, besides maybe Thriller, that would fit the bill.

Before I was old enough to actually comprehend what the hell was going on (if I’m even at that age yet) the strange sounds and imagery flickering wildly on the screen stuck with me. In later years I was able to catch more than just a passing glimpse and fully appreciate The Rocky Horror Picture Show for the many splendored experience it was.

To this day, anytime I watch Rocky Horror, it feels exactly like Halloween, and exactly like Halloween should.

Number 10 on the Shindig is that amalgamous, retro wonder Science Fiction/Double Feature, admittedly my favorite song from the film. Its 50’s sci-fi referencing is enough alone for it to make the cut, but with all that Halloween nostalgia on top, there ain’t even a second thought.

Scream and Scream Again

TRACK #9:

Scream and Scream Again by Amen Corner

Chances are your party’s not gonna have a 22 day gap between songs 8 and 9, so since everyone will still be busy screaming to ward off The Tingler, let’s scream again with the help of Amen Corner.

If you’ve never heard of Amen Corner don’t feel bad, I don’t think anyone has. Hell, I wouldn’t have either had I not been watching Scream and Scream Again a few years ago. They’re performing this tune (a Title Track,…more on that later) in a weird British nightclub. I said, “Hey this song kind of grooves. It would go great right after Homer tells Bart to take out the garbage.”

So that’s where I put it and there it’s stayed. Plus, it’s also a Vincent price flick, so that’ll make a nice two-fer.

If you’ve never seen Scream and Scream Again, I wouldn’t sweat it. Mostly you’re missing a largely incomprehensible mishmash of ideas and images, dumb cops, weird murders and a bizarre subplot of puesdo-nazi that never really pays off.

It has some good moments though, plus it’s one of 2 films featuring both Vincent Price and Christopher Lee (Peter Cushing is in there too, but not for long.) However, there’s a lot of other stuff I’d put ahead of it on a gotta see list.

Despite all that, this song still makes a nice retro addition to any Halloween playlist. Enjoy.

Partytime (Zombie Version)

TRACK #4:

Partytime (Zombie Version) by 45 Grave

Now it’s party time, literally. We’ve established it’s Halloween, now commence the rocking.

Fourth in line is the first of many selections from possibly the finest horror movie soundtrack ever – Return of the Living Dead.

Apparently the original version of this song was actually about a 5 year old whom is raped and abused by her family. Now, I don’t know if that’s more Halloweeny, but it’s definitely more horrific, that’s for sure.

Needless to say, the producers asked Dinah Cancer if she could rewrite the lyrics to make it a bit more relevant to the film, and a bit less, well, rapey.

The result? Our first official crossover song, and one of the most ass-kicking tracks from a kick-ass soundtrack.

So, do you wanna party? It’s not a bad question, Burt.

Oh, let’s do thaaaaat.

Halloween Shindig

The Horror Fan's Halloween Playlist

Referentially Inclusive Tracks