TRACK #232:

The Creepshow Welcomes You by John Harrison

As I’m sure anyone reading this is probably well aware, the steaming horror platform Shudder has been airing new episodes of Greg Nicotero’s Creepshow revival.

And while the response seems to be pretty positive, with some even claiming the show “nails” the vibe and spirit of Creepshow, I would respectfully like to disagree. That show isn’t nailing anything for me except the coffin lid on the belief that “sometimes…dead is better.”

That isn’t to suggest it’s not worth watching. It’s a new, and weekly, horror anthology from Greg Nicotero and a pile of other guys directly involved with the original Creepshow. That’s definitely a commendable and worthwhile effort.

But Creepshow, it is not.

I do appear to be in the minority on this one though, so maybe I’m just an old, purest curmudgeon.

Whatever your impression of the show may be, I’d like to hope we can all agree that an area where it’s coming up disappointingly short, is its score.

I mean no disrespect to the team of composers creating music for these new installments, because they’ve produced some interesting and creepy arrangements that definitely sound good. They just don’t sound like Creepshow.

Because Creepshow has a very specific sound. And that sound is the sound of the Sequential Circuits Prophet 5.

Created by Dave Smith and released in 1978, The Prophet 5 was the first completely programmable polyphonic (5 individual and articulated notes simultaneously) that featured a microprocessor for scanning knob positions, allowing for the storing and recalling of sounds; a technological revolution for the fledgling Synthesizer.

And composer John Harrison made extensive use of those novel and stock Prophet 5 presets.

So much so that the Creepshow score practically plays like a demo track for this breakthrough instrument.

The American made Prophet 5 then became indelibly stabbed into the heart of American Horror.

The bulk of Carpenter’s scores with Alan Howarth, from Escape from New York to Halloween 3 to Christine, all feature prominent use of the board, albeit with Alan’s own programming.

Tim Krog’s score for The Boogeyman, Wakeman’s for The Burning, Brad Fidel’s for The Terminator, Jay Chattaway’s for Maniac, and probably a dozens of others, are all smeared Sequential’s sonic signature. It’s the sound of horror

The Prophet 5 and its big brother the Prophet 10 (essentially just 2 Prophet 5’s strapped together in the same enclosure) became as ubiquitous as the MiniMoog, but with a sound all its own.

It saddens me that these new composers have yet to muster much what John Harrison accomplished with just a Steinway Piano and a Prophet 5; pure 80’s synthy horror. Creepshow.

But maybe they’re not trying to. And maybe that’s the problem. Or at least my problem with it. I think they’re fine horror scores. But, to me, if you’re trying to capture the spirit of Creepshow, at least a third of that vibe lies in the score, and if you’re not trying to capture that, you’re fighting a losing battling.

And it wouldn’t be hard to do. Vintage Prophet 5’s may be expensive, but nothing outside the realm of this production or any professional composers. Hell, you could easily just rent one in here in Los Angeles, if that was a concern.

But even then, assuming you couldn’t get your hands on an original Prophet 5, modern equivalents like the Prophet 6, or a Prophet REV2 or the older but still attainable Prophet 600, would all get you right in that ballpark. A Polysix, a Trident, hell, a 300 dollar Kawai K3, could all to get ya some Creepshowy sounding stuff.

Or shit, even if you just used a laptop. There are several software recreations of the Prophet 5 (including Uhe’s excellent Repro5) which would get you so close to the mark, you’d be Creepshowing out in no time.

Seriously, with just a few clicks: Preset 2-1: Unison Glide with Resonance or any recreation of that and you’re all over Richard Watches Them Drown from Something To Tide You Over. It’s seriously that easy. No programing necessary. It’s a fuckin preset. They practically all were. The thing just sounds like Creepshow straight from the factory. It’s nuts.

So, I’m a rambling nerd right now, and I get that, but I don’t get why this show sounds the way it does. Particularly considering John Harrison – the man himself! – is involved. He’s right there, on set, directing some of these stories.

That is, unless they’re consciously tying to make it sound different. So, I have to conclude that this is the case. And it boggles my mind why you wouldn’t want it to sound like that. It’s so iconic, so 80’s, so exactly the thing they’re trying to evoke.

Now, with all that being vented, if you’re finding yourself a little disillusioned by the new music as well, let John Harrison and The Creepshow Welcome You.