Witch Burners

Audio

Witchfinder General (Carl Douglas)

TRACK #425:

Witchfinder General by Carl Douglas

We’re gonna bring our HalloWitch Week to a close here with this straight heater from Jamaican singer Carl Douglas.

Now, Carl is probably best (and perhaps even only) known for his 1974 mega-hit Kung Fu Fighting. In fact, he is so only known for it that it takes 2 pages of google results to find a fuckin photo of the guy where he isn’t wearing a goddamn karate headband. I get it Carl, get the bag, but this is all a bit excessive with the Kung Fu, no?

Released right as the 1970’s Chopsocky craze was taking off, I wonder how much its success was a product of that wave and how much of its success keep that wave rolling. Like some sort of spinning, self-sustaining system of mirror-encrusted cultural appropriation and ethnic stereotyping. And that’s without even considering its extensive use of the Oriental Riff. It was 1974 after all.

Unfortunately, Carl never found much success outside of that tune, despite releasing 2 other albums and having 2 other singles fare well on the UK charts. Of course one of those was also about Kung Fu, but hey, if it ain’t broke, it ain’t broke.

Over here, we’re gonna cut Carl some slack, because the very next track after Kung Fu Fighting on his album Kung Fu Fighter is Witchfinder General, and that’s got Shindig written all over it.

It’s one seriously funked out, wah-ed up slice of 70’s satanic awesomeness. I wish this was a Title Track, as anachronistic as that would have been. I can’t say for sure that Carl is directly referencing the 1968 Vincent Price movie, as there is a book of the same name on which the film was loosely based. There’s also the fact that Witchfinder General was a very real title that verified piece of shit Matthew Hopkins, a man said to be responsible for over 100 death, bestowed upon himself.

Now, while I can appreciate the convenience of the rhyme (lazy though it may be), perhaps it’s just a tad insensitive to refer to very real and falsely accused women murdered by very real and confirmed douchebag Matthew Hopkins, as “mighty fine bitches.” But hey, this is just a feel good disco swinger bud, let’s not get all woke on it, huh? Sheesh. What the fuck are we here for? Some fuckin’ scolding or some fuckin’ bangers?!

Bangers – and bang this one does. I’ve never been a big fan of Kung Fu Fighting, despite its Gold Record status and Billboard #1 peaking chart performance. However, Witchfinder General is a stone cold groove.

So, let’s say goodbye (for now) to the mighty fine bitches known as Witches, with this 70’s time capsule from Mr. Kung Fu Headband himself, Carl Douglas.

 

Audio

The Witch (The Casuals)

TRACK #424

The Witch by The Casuals

Well, there’s certainly no shortage of songs simply titled The Witch. What can I say? Despite the reputation and all the, ya know, creating, musicians don’t seem terribly creative sometimes.

All that aside, our 4th witch tune of the week is perhaps the most explicit depiction of a straight up evil witch we’ve yet heard.

A black eyed queen who’s the devil’s machine, with icy fingers flying through the night is what The Casuals describe to us. The phrase “hocus pocus” is used, there’s some cackles talked about and even a classic reference to MacBeth is tossed in for good measure. Also, she’ll bewitch anyone that’s not inside. Thanks for the heads up, gang!

Now, this is a pretty rocking song for The Casuals. Formed in the early 60’s, this British Pop band performed more mellow, dare I say casual, listening music. They saw a lot of personnel changes over the years, recorded in Italy for a bit and had a pretty bit hit in ‘68 with their song Jesamine.

By 1974 though, they’re releasing this tune, which one YouTuber described as “proto-Iron Maiden” and once I read that I couldn’t unhear it. The commenter also suggests it would have been cool if Maiden had covered it, and I agree. This tune rocks and hearing Steve Harris gallop his way through that bassline while Bruce belts out “the witch will bewitch you if you’re not inside!” would be killer.

As it stands though, we got The Casuals doing it and that’s plenty good enough for our Halloween purposes.

 

Audio

The Witch (The Rattles)

TRACK #423:

The Witch by The Rattles

While a touch less ambiguous in its witchery than The Sonic’s The Witch, tonight’s The Witch is no less…vague? I dunno. There’s an argument to be made it’s more vague than October Country’s Witch, but I still think we’re dealing with an evil entity.

There’s not much to this one. In fact, the lone entry for it on songmeanings.com is literally someone opining:

“I think this means about someone running from a witch”

which reads like Homer explaining to Bart what he thinks “Gabbo” means. Well, that’s insightful, pal. I really hope that’s just a joke.

In that astute analysts’ defense, this is about all The Rattles are offering up lyrically. But this visceral and spooky Witch song should be no stranger to any Halloween playlist, and I probably should have added it years ago.

But I should preface it by saying this version of the song is visceral and spooky. See, German psych rock band The Rattles originally released this tune in 1968 with Male singer Henner Hoier.

But I much prefer this second version from 1970, with vocals by Edna Bejarano, despite some randos on YouTube claiming the original is clearly superior. One goofball even suggested it’s better with a male singer because it makes more sense for a Witch to be chasing a male protagonist, as if it was utterly nonsensical to depict a Witch attacking a female. Insanity.

But that’s pretty generalized. A couple of commenters actually suggested the song needed Grace Slick, and that Edna Bejarano is no Grace Slick. Jeesh! The internet really is a just place for people’s unfiltered and unsolicited opinions…myself included I suppose.

But honestly, the majority of the commenters, across multiple videos, overwhelmingly praise Edna and prefer this version of the song. I do like the original, don’t get me wrong, but I find this one sounds more raw, and with its creepy strings and all that witch cackling, is clearly the more seasonal choice.

So, let’s continue HalloWitch Week with an eerie and appropriately Halloweeny installment that’s a long time coming. Here’s The Rattles, running from, The Witch!

 

Audio

My Girlfriend is a Witch

TRACK #422:

My Girlfriend is a Witch by October Country

Several years after The Sonics broke ground with their Witch, folk rock outfit October Country threw another one on the stake with their hit, My Girlfriend is a Witch.

While we never get any kind of real physical description of our femme fatale, we’re given a much less ambiguous description of, let’s say, her “witchy” activities.

She flies on a broom. She’s got lots of spells around her. She’s apparently telepathic. She worships magic. OK. I think we’re dealing with a real life witch here, gang.

Now that we cleared that up, what about the band?

Well, October Countrywas a short lived affair that only released one self-titled album in 1968, on which you’ll find tonight’s jam. The band, the album and the title track October Country, were all named after a Ray Bradbury short story collection, which pretty much gets you instant access to The Shindig, even without a Witch song, but here we are none the less.

Interestingly, this song was re-recorded for an episode of The Chattanooga Cats, which was an old Hanna-Barbera cartoon featuring hep cartoon cats playing instruments. I dare say it’s the more popular version of the song, as you can find the clip spread across the internet, and it’s a pretty fun little video.

Another interesting notch on October Country’s short belt is having their music appear in Steven Spielberg’s 1968 short film Amblin’, of which his production company, Amblin Entertainment, takes its name. Nice.

That’s all we seem to get from these hippies for a paycheck (apparently they were pretty square and not at all into the psychedelic movement, despite their music) but when your name is October County and your song is My Girlfriend is a Witch, that’s all you really need to get hemmed up in The Shindig.

 

Audio

The Witch (The Sonics)

TRACK #421:

The Witch by The Sonics

When we did our classic monster run last year we not only left out a classic icon of monsterdom, but also a classic icon of Halloween itself – The Witch.

But that was OK, cause I was teeing up that Hallo-Women block and I could surely drop a Witch in there somewhere. And initially, I did. But I opted to put her off simply because I had too many Witch songs to cram in at the end of the season. So rather than do that, I decided to hold off until this year and just take everyone out of that Hallo-Women block and into Hallo-Witch Week!

So, we’re gonna kick off the new season with a whole block of Witch tunes. Sorry Graham. But hey! Who knows, maybe you’ll like a couple of these. I’d argue they’re all better than Witches’ Brew, but of course (just like everything of this nature) that’s all pretty subjective.

As we talked about last year, when speaking on Mr. Hyde’s The Witch, there’s a good number of songs about Witches that simply appear to be songs about regular women that the singer just doesn’t seem to like too much. Cool story bro.

Similarly, there’s a bunch of songs about Witches that aren’t really about Witches at all (especially in the late 60’s and early 70’s) but are rather about bohemian free spirits with a generically mystical vibe. You see these fuckers pop up all over Halloween playlists too. Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac comes to mind here. And certainly no disrespect, I love that song and I know she used to introduce it as a song about a Welsh Witch, but not only do you not need to hear that song anymore than you already do, but you certainly don’t need its vaguely adjacent renfaire vibery stinkin’ up your Halloween.

Same goes for other woo-woo offenders like The Eagles Witchy Woman or Santana’s Black Magic Woman (incidentally, also a Fleetwood Mac song) which are all Halloween staples for some reason. You look up any random Halloween playlist and you’ll probably find one, if not all of these songs, represented. Not only are they overplayed rock standards that possess a decidedly unspooky vibe that you’re just as likely to hear on any old afternoon in April, but their Witchery is of a metaphoric and non-Halloween variety. What are we doing here? Kick this shit to the curb. At least that’s what I’m doing anyway. Of course, feel free to listen to these songs at Halloween or deposit them on your own Halloween playlists, but you ain’t gonna find ‘em here, and that’s why.

Now, I say all this to preface tonight song, not only our first of the season but the first of Witch Week, because it’s a song you could potentially level the same exact criticism toward. I don’t, but one could.

Firstly, The Witch by The Sonics doesn’t really possess a terribly spooky vibe, I’ll give you that. But it’s also not a standard that’s getting smeared around all over the place. You’re not liable to hear this on some random summer evening. In fact, you’re not liable to hear it being played at all, which is why it’s being played here. So, there’s that.

Secondly, I think it’s a bit less vague about its Witchery. Now sure, is this some
green-faced, cauldron stirring, cackling concubine or the night? No, but she’s definitely not some radiant nymph in a paisley shawl, twirling in the midsummer sun and delighting your senses with her free spirit. Nope. She’s evil. She’s got long black hair. She’s got a black car. And she’ll make you itch and that’s good enough for me.

Is there a less literal read here? Is this itch of a seductive nature? Is this basically another case of “Oh singer’s got a boner so the woman is bad?” Yeah, maybe. That’s why I said one could level this exact criticism here. But I won’t, because I think it’s direct enough to be taken at face value and c’mon this song rips.

From 1964, this was The Sonic’s debut single, and it probably hits harder than anything else 1964 was serving up. In fact, this 5 piece outfit from Tacoma could be considered some of Punk’s earliest forebearers, with even Proto-Punk forefather himself, Iggy Pop, claiming the group to be the originators of the very sound of Garage Rock. That’s not to mention the countless artist over the years who have held them up as influences.

And when the legends consider you a legend, the argument is over. And you know how The Shindig feels about adding legends to the ranks.

So it gives us great joy to not only include The Sonics on The Shindig, but to have them jumpstart the 2026 season with their game-changing classic…The Witch.

 

Audio

Witches’ Brew

TRACK #375:

Witches’ Brew by Joyce Vincent Wilson

Ok, that’s enough fake Title Tracks. Let’s get to with real deal, cause we got a bunch of these.

The good news is I thought I’d be playing catch up here with all the new songs from Title Tracks Pt. 6, but since that episode has yet to air, they can all debut right here on the Playlist for a change, like the old days!

You can thank Mr. Josh Spiegel over at Movie Timelines for our first Title Track, as I became aware of this tune and film it hails from while watching an episode of his ongoing series, The 80’s Project.

But Josh is generally pretty good about throwing Title Tracks my way whenever he stumbles across new ones. I’m just grateful to have a guy in the field doings some work for Title Track identification and acquisition.

And this one is a funky, disco-esque groover from Joyce Vincent Wilson, who is perhaps best known for being part of the group Dawn, as in Tony Orlando and Dawn. They were a trio of singers responsible for a string of hits in the early 70’s including Candida, Knock Three Times and Tie a yellow Ribbon Round the ole Oak Tree. They were so popular in fact that they even had a short lived variety show on CBS called, you guessed it, Tony Orlando and Dawn.

I love this tune, and since he mentions it in the first 2 seconds of the show, it’s going to be no spoiler to say it was Kyle Sullivan’s choice for favorite Title Track out of the Ep. 6 lineup.

No one else felt that way however, particularly Graham, who used it as solid evidence that he didn’t actually need to watch the film. Which I had to concur with, he didn’t. No one does, honesty. I mean, it’s fine, for what it is, but it doesn’t need to be burning a hole in anyone’s watch list, knowhutimean?

It’s a bit of a lighter, comedic take on the Fritz Leiber novel Conjure Wife, which had previously been adapted into the 1944 film Weird Woman and the 1962 film Burn, Witch, Burn.

There’s a cool gargoyle thing that comes out of a giant egg, I’ll say that. Richard Benjamin, of Love at First Bite fame is pretty fun. Terri Garr is great, and it was Lana Turner’s final film appearance. Whether that’s a positive or not is up to you, but she gives a solid performance despite the general Made-for-TV vibes this movie generates.

But you can’t blame Joyce Vincent Wilson, that’s for sure, cause it may not really fit that vibe, but this is a certified jammer. Kicking off a full-on Title Track Pt. 6 block, here’s the 1980’s Witches’ Brew!

 

Audio

It’s Halloween Night (The Witches’ Jack-O-Lantern)

TRACK #241:

It’s Halloween Night (The Witches’ Jack-O-Lantern) by Acid Witch

Welcome back Weeners! Thanks for joining us. Here’s to a new season on Halloween Shindig. We hope you all enjoy all the new tunes we have lined up for you this year.

Last year, recording and editing Shindig Radio kept me on my heels once the season for songs rolled around. So this year, I decided to get a little head start.

But then, California decided making fake rubber bullshit for crummy new movies that you’ll never see popping up on this website, wasn’t an “essential” service during a global pandemic. Go fig.

Needless to say, I had a bit of extra time on my hands. So this year, we’re starting things just a little bit early (and on the first day of Fall even!) as we’ve got 40 new Title Tracks, Monster Raps, and Halloween Scats to fill your Autumnal airwaves.

Leading us off this year, as promised, is a group of Shindig All-Stars that dropped a brand new Halloween Song just as I was finishing up last year’s countdown. C’mon, it was a wrap! But along came Acid Witch making me wish I had lagged just a little bit longer.

No matter! They’re here now to start the season off right, with another sludgy ode to the Eve of All Saints. This time around, they’re detailing the necessary steps for a Witch to turn a dude’s head into a Jack-O-Lantern…on Halloween Night, no less.

All right, fella. Sold.

This song is tough as shit and an instant inclusion. We hope you like it too, cause there’s more Acid Witch on the way, as we’ve yet to tap into their 2017 release Evil Sound Screamers, which is practically a Halloween Album unto itself. But until then…

Black Cats and Witches

Bonfires burn bright

Ghosts and Ghouls they gather

It’s Halloween Night!

 

Audio

Witch Magic

TRACK #221:

Witch Magic by Peter Rochon

Let’s keep the weird late 70’s Halloween Special train rolling here with this strange number from perhaps the strangest Halloween cartoon of them all, Witch’s Night Out.

First aired on October 27th in 1978, this festive Canadian offering follows the Halloween adventures of 2 children named Small and Tender. Fully disillusioned after their Werewolf and Ghost costumes fail to scare a single soul in their small town, they unwittingly call an equally disillusioned Witch to their aid.

She promptly turns them (and their weird babysitter Bazooey) into literal versions of their get-ups. They then proceed to scare the hell out of an entire Halloween party and then the whole town. Despite being hunted down like dogs by a town full of joyless assholes, the children (and then everyone else) manage to rekindle their love of All Hallows’.

Highly stylized and very 70’s, the characters are all monochromatic and the voices (provided by Gilda Radner and Catherine O’hara to name a couple) are weird. Hell, this whole thing is just plain weird, but  if you grew up watching it on the Disney channel during the ’80’s and ’90’s, chances are it’s nostalgic as all get out.

YouTube can definitely provide you with several trips down memory lane of varying qualities, if you feel so inclined.

As for The Shindig, we’re gonna slot in its bizarro, vocoder heavy theme song, Witch Magic and send you down an audio nostalgia trip to a time when Halloween Specials were great, and filled analog airwaves with festive joy.It’s a bag of garbage!

 

Audio

The Salem Witch Trial

TRACK #186:

The Salem Witch Trial by Kiriae Crucible

Since Christopher Lee’s over here talking about The Salem Witch Trial, let’s follow that up with a song about The Salem Witch Trial, aptly titled The Salem Witch Trial.

This rockin’ piece of obscure psychedelia comes from none other than Kiriae Crucible, a band (or hell, even just a lone dude) that I can seem to find absolutely no information about at all.

Any web search for Kiriae Crucible will undoubtedly return this song, an seemingly only this song, the various compilations that contain this song, or places in which you can hear…this song.

Well, Halloween Shindig now proudly joins the ranks of places at which you can also hear this song but find no other information regarding Kiriae Crucible. If you were led here looking for such information (though I sincerely doubt it) then I apologize for being just another repository with absolutely nothing new to offer.

I will say this, though. The 45 above is curiously adorned with the name “Erickson,” which might lead you (as it did me) to wonder if it was not penned (and perhaps even performed) by Halloween hero, Shindigger and all around way-out-cat Roky Erickson.

Beats me though, as a cross-reference of the 2 also returned no results for me.

Bummer.

Anyway, if you do happen to be reading this and actually have information regarding Kiriae Crucible or this song, please leave a comment below or forward said info to ed@halloweenshindig.com. Thanking you in advance, your assistance is greatly appreciated.

For everyone else, just sit back and enjoy this random-ass song about The Salem Witch Trial by a random-ass band (or dude) known simply as Kiriae Crucible, a name which I’m still not even sure how to pronounce exactly.

 

Audio

Season of the Witch

TRACK #183:

Season of the Witch by Donovan

Speaking of Seasons of the Witch, here’s a song tailor made for the occasion.

Many years ago, while discussing the film Highway to Hell, I stated that simply naming your film after a preexisting song does not automatically quality that song to be a Title Track.

I said this because the song Highway to Hell only appears in the trailer for the film, and not in the actual movie, something I think is important. And while I don’t think that makes it a true Title Track, it’s definitely enough scratch to get a seat at the table.

Though George A. Romero may well have named his film after the Donovan song, he utilizes it to great effect during a montage of noob-witch Jan White procuring magickal supplies from her local witch shop.

You know, that weird store you have right around the corner with the creepy eyeball sign, filled with crucibles, bejeweled daggers and strange smelling shit?

Oh, you don’t have one of those in your town? Well thankfully Jan does, cause she’s gonna need to gear up if she wants her dick spell to work on the young Professors she’s been eying.

I don’t, however, recommend playing with Black Magick. I’ve yet to see one film where that works out in anyone’s favor.

Although, in fairness, it doesn’t not work out for Jan, now that I think about it. She might accidentally kill her husband, but that guy was kind of a douche, and she didn’t really like him anyway. So, I guess you can play with Black Magick and have everything turn out ok.

I still wouldn’t recommend it, though, cause that’s pretty rare.

Here’s Donovan’s classic Halloween witch hit, elevated to Title Track status by George A. Romero.

 

Audio

Witchfinder General

TRACK #34:

Witchfinder General by Witchfinder General

Sometimes bands name songs after horror movies.

Some bands even name whole albums after horror movies.

And sometimes they go full-bore and just name the whole goddamn band after a horror movie.

Such is the case with British doom-smiths Witchfinder General.

What’s more, they even have a band anthem. That’s a triple threat.

Led in and peppered with samples from the band’s 1968 namesake starring Vincent Price.

If you’ve never heard of the film, perhaps you’re familiar with The Conqueror Worm (which has this bad news poster right here) as it was billed in America. Huhwhaa?

The unnecessary title change was in an effort to sell the movie as another in the line of Corman/Price/Poe hits, which it most certainly was not.

It is however an interesting (albeit a little slow) abuse of power tale with a pretty creepy and understated performance from Price and lots of great shots of the English countryside.

If you’re down with movies like Mark of the Devil, The Blood on Satan’s Claw (considered by Tigon Productions to be Witchfinder’s successor) or even The Devils, then Witchfinder General might just have exactly what you’re looking for.