A band named Halloween wouldn’t be worth their weight in candy corn if they weren’t coming correct with a song called Trick or Treat.
Thankfully, Detroit’s Heavy Metal Horror Show doesn’t disappoint. From Halloween’s 1985 debut album Don’t Metal with Evil comes Trick or Treat, just like it says on the tin.
The British don’t really give a shit about Halloween. At least not according to me and this blog on the occasions when we’ve previously stated as such.
Strange then that innovative British Post-Punkers and Goth pioneers Siouxsie and the Banshees have a song titled Halloween. Or maybe not, given their whole gothy aesthetic. To be fair though, their song isn’t a parade of Milky Ways, Don Post masks and burning orange gourds.
No, Siouxsie Sioux’s track is a more atmospheric affair that seems to deal with a loss of childhood innocence.
Doubling fitting then that we bookend it with samples from the aforementioned Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, where American creepster Martin Sheen sleazes all over British child Jodi Foster on the Eve of All Saints in a decidedly less-than-innocent fashion.
He also provides us with a pretty solid and concise description of what Halloween represents stateside:
“Oh, it’s a big day here when all the kids get dressed up in scary costumes and masks and go around to all the houses. When you answer the door the shout ‘trick or treat’ and you’re suppose to act scared, and if you don’t give them a treat, they’ll pull some dirty trick on you.”
Yep, that’s pretty much what we got going on over here.
Let’s just cap off this 80’s metal block with perhaps the greatest 80’s metal Halloween track ever recorded.
If a band named Helloween didn’t have a song called Halloween, I might have to sit down with them and have real frank discussion. Fortunately, that’s not necessary thanks to this metal overture to the Eve of All Hallo’s.
Originally something like 13 minutes, I use the edited single version on the Shindig for the sake of movement. No one at your party has time for an 13 minute cautionary epic that finds time to include Charlie Brown, Linus and the Great Pumpkin. Nothing’s lost however as the song still remains a balls-to-the-wall heavy metal Halloween harangue and is essential party playlist material
Check out this single they released. Is there anything more Halloweeny-awesome then cutting your vinyl into the shape of a pumpkin and fuck all to everyone’s turntables?
This is the back image, with its sexy, high heeled and stockinged Halloween harlot leap-frogging over Jack-O-Lantern. Yep, everything checks out back here.
It housed the edited version, while the Jack-O-Lantern face held it down on the front with the 13min original. I love this thing. It’s one of the coolest vinyls I’ve ever seen.
Curiously and for no apparent reason, the edited version begins with a few notes from the old standard London Bridge, via the pan flute or some such instrument. Completely random selection? Perhaps not.
Fans of Halloween 3 (and that should be all of you) may wonder if the intro is a nod to The Silver Shamrock song, itself just London Bridge with different lyrics. And it’s possible, as the 1987 album Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt. 1 post dates Season of the Witch by 5 years, plenty of time for the German heshers to throw down referentially.
And apparently they did, according to Metal-Archives.com anyway.
User “hells_unicorn” says
“Helloween formed and began with a concept inspired by the 1982 Halloween sequel “The Season of the Witch”, one which enjoys a rather comfortable place in my library of old VHS tapes. To this day fans chant the famous Silver Shamrock jingle when the band takes the stage, as the melody can be found in full or fragmented form on most of their studio albums.”
Well, there you have it.
Appropriately the Shindig has the Silver Shamrock song lead this fucker in.
So, do as Helloween instructs, perhaps ominously considering the reference:
“Grab your mask and don’t be late.”
But beware, cause
“in the streets on Halloween the spirits will arise. Make your choice is hell or paradise.”
So, what’s it gonna be, Weeners?
For Halloween, we treat you with Halloween from Helloween.
What better way to celebrate Halloween than with a song called Halloween by a band called Halloween? Sounds like a triple threat to me.
But who the hell is Halloween? It’s a great question, one I found myself asking just a few weeks ago.
Known to the Motor City as Detroit’s Heavy Metal Horror Show, Halloween didn’t find a whole lot of notoriety outside of their niche in early 80’s metal. Hampered by line-up changes, delayed album releases and shelved efforts, Halloween just never seemed to gain any traction.
However, they’ve had numerous reunions over the years, re-releases and they even still play Halloween shows to this day. Hell, you could probably go see them right now in Detroit. They played last year, and I think they’re doing it again this year as well.
All I know is that we just found these guys and overnight they became Shindig All-Stars. How a band called Halloween somehow slipped through the cracks we may never know, but like all hidden Halloween gems, these treats don’t escape our tricking grasp for long. And with songs like Halloween Night, Trick Or Treat and Tales From The Crypt you can be sure you haven’t heard the last of Halloween.
So, let’s welcome the boys of Detroit’s Heavy Metal Horror Show into the fold with a ceremonious Hallo’s Eve initiation, aided in part by that creepy old druid lady from Halloween 6, and Tommy Doyle of course, overacted to perfection by a very young Paul Rudd.
Halloween, take your rightful place amongst your brethren, with all the other hallowed horrors of our Halloween halls.
And with that…on Halloween, here’s Halloween performing…Halloween.
Is it the ultimate Halloween song? Well, in certain circles, I’m sure it is.
While The Shindig isn’t quite sold on its top billing, there are a few things we are sure of:
It’s one hell of a Halloween jam.
It’s been on The Shindig since its very first 700mg CD incarnation.
It belongs on every Halloween party playlist ever created. Period. I don’t even care if you don’t like The Misfits. Include it.
It’s easily one of the 5 greatest Halloween songs ever recorded.
Danzig’s trip down memory lane hits all the high points of Halloween; pumpkin faces, brown leaves, kids trick or treating in costumes, candy apples and razor blades. Plus some other stuff about dead cats and burning bodies hanging from poles.
Now, while I’ve certainly never encountered such as this on any Hallow’s Eve I’ve ever lived through, that’s not to say they aren’t Halloween staples, especially not for Glenn Danzig. Guy remembers Halloween a little different than you and me. Or guy just parties a little harder. Or hell, maybe that’s the sort of thing that happened on October 31st in Lodi New Jersey during the 60’s, I dunno. Whatever the reason, it’s a pretty Halloweeny ass image none-the-less.
So, let us enter the triple digits, and kick off this, a most grand and seasonal block of Halloween Shindig with The Misfits and Halloween.
If you were following last year and caught Halloween Shindig’s 31 days of Halloween Horror, then you’re no doubt familiar with the bit of Samhain Horror goodness called Hack-O-Lantern(aka Halloween Night aka The Damning aka Death Mask aka The Most Awesomely Titled Movie With This Many Awesome Alternate Titles)
Unlike some other Rock ‘N Roll Horror outings claiming association with then Eve of All Saints, this one actually delivers the goods, and then some.
A perfect selection for an October night of drinking and buffoonery, Hack-O-Lantern is an absolutely ridiculous mess of low-rent satanism, Halloween madness and Rock ‘N Roll attitude.
What more do you want?
Skin? Got it.
Weird murders? Got that too.
Someone in a mask doing the murdering? Yup. Be Something’s Hooded Fear
Pumpkins? By the truckload.
Halloween decorations? Indeed.
A Halloween party? Totally.
Graveyard goings-ons?Oh, just murder, sex. kids trick or treating.
A Rock ‘N Roll video posing as a dream sequence?You know it.
Eye lasers which produce shrunken heads from drum equipment? Check that shit out ==>
More eyes laser that turn guitars into tridents? Only here.
Completely impromptu, unfunny and non-sequitor stand-up routines? Yeah, that’s there too for some reason.
Nonsensical theatrics and bizarre scripting? Boy howdy.
Easily accessible on YouTube, this one should not go unwatched by anyone this Halloween. And if your buddy pops over with Rocktober Blood, up the ante with this actual Halloween horror gem.
So here’s Tommy, pretending to know how to use a guitar with D.C. Lacroix, performing the certified Shindigger The Devil’s Son.
If you thought you’d only get Tim Curry singing as Dr. Frank-N-Furter here on the Shindig, then boy are you in for a treat.
From the 1986 shot-on-video oddity The Worst Witchcomes this ridiculous tune about Halloween itself, sung by Grand Wizard (did they seriously call him Grand Wizard?) Tim Curry to Mrs. Cackle’s Academy for Witches.
Anything Can Happen On Halloween reassures us that anything can happen on Halloween, like a dog turning into a cat, or a toad appearing in your bass guitar. You know, crazy shit. Demonic shit.
Though over listed and a decidedly cliched choice, for the purpose of this list, of course John Carpenter’s classic has to take the pole position.
Though I give much love and respect to it’s Yuletide predecessor and inspiration Black Christmas, I still feel Halloween does it better. It is hands down my favorite slasher film and one of my favorite horror films period.
Effectively and methodically paced, Michael’s rookie outing is awash in strange glows and Halloween energy. And the music, not simply the theme (which is great) but all the incidental scoring throughout is eerie and seminal horror business.
The Shape had many sequels and imitators, but nothing holds a jack-o-lantern’s candle to this true American original. And it’s all on Halloween.
Many years have I watched this film on Halloween night and it’s never been a bad decision. Simply watching this film any night is never a bad decision, but from a young age, into my teenage and adult years, Halloween still makes Halloween feel like Halloween.
Despite being the Michael-less entry, this bizarre and underrated installment trumps them all in the Halloween department.
It’s a definite must somewhere in the Halloween week. If you’ve never caught this entry, or have passed on it based on poor reviews or its non-canonical status, give it a shot this year, especially around Halloween.
It is by no means a flawless film, and its pretty rough around the edges, but it has a lot going for it, particularly if you’re in the need of a hefty dose of Hallo’s Eve atmosphere.
Initially, Carpenter wanted the franchise to be this; a different Halloween-themed film for each yearly “Halloween” installment. It’s a great concept, and had this film come 2nd, been a little better and done better critically and at the box office, it probably could have worked. Oh well, I suppose.
Essentially, mad Celtic Druids create face melting masks and peddle them to the public in an attempt to carry out the greatest single mass-sacrifice of children in history. Alright, sounds like a plan, Old Man from Robocop
If that’s not enough to sell you, how bout tons of Halloween ambiance, a fantastic synth-laden score from Carpenter and Howarth, Tom Atkins, masks, trick or treating in spades, some sex, dudes dumping latex into hydro-cal molds and that classic commercial jingle. Holy Samhain!
3 more days till Halloween, Halloween, Halloween. 3 more days till Halloween, Silver Shamrock!
Halloween (She Get So Mean)by The Ghastly Ones (feat. Rob Zombie)
If White Zombie was a garage band in the late 60’s, they might have sounded a whole lot like our next divisible by 20 track.
From the Zombie A Go-Go released holiday mix Halloween Hootenanny comes this great Halloween track from perennial spooksters The Ghastly Ones.
Providing some uncharacteristic lyrical accompaniment for the Ghastly’s this time around is the man himself, Mr. Rob Zombie.
Since the song is titled Halloween (She Get So Mean) I’ve led the track in with every Halloweener’s favorite Halloween avenger Rhonda from Trick R Treat, as she schools us all on the sinister origins of our Hallowed holiday.
Perhaps the granddaddy of all Horror Hosts, John Zacherle donned the guise of Roland (later Zarcherley in New York) as Philadelphia’s host of Shock Theater in 1957.
In addition to being one of the most iconic personalities of the genre and one of its earliest originators, Zarcherley also released tons of spooky music during his career as a Horror Host.
Just in time for #60, here’s the Cool Ghoul himself wishing us all a very Happy Halloween.
Ok, well, that was a little intense. Unfortunately, this blog rolls backwards if you aren’t following along, so you have no idea what I’m talking about.
Either way, we’re gonna lighten the mood up a bit with some novelty frivolity, in the form of a quick commercial break to feed our Frankenstein with some delicious Halloween treats.
But we’ll be right back with more Halloweeniness and audio atrocities soon.
Divisible by 20? That must mean it’s time for another Halloween song.
When it comes to straight up Halloween music, few songs pack as much adolescent cheer and Halloweeniness than this track from spookster Wade Denning and children’s performer Kay Lande.
It’s catchier than all get out and set to the tune of Saint-Saëns’ Danse Macabre, which itself used to be on the Shindig, until I came across this little ditty some years back.
Go ahead, try not humming this song to yourself for the next 72 hours.
H-A-DOUBLE L – O – W – DOUBLE E – N spells Halloween!
There are so many songs on the Shindig simply titled Halloween, that one appears roughly every 20 songs.
So, up at #20 is this vintage Betty Grable ditty from the 1950 film entitled My Blue Heaven.
The film, while not itself about Halloween, does feature this rather bizarre song and dance number. Stranger still, the movie is actually about a married couple (Dan Dailey and Grable) both radio personalities, that are expecting their first child. After a car accident, Grable miscarries and the couple look in adoption. Yeah, that sounds pretty light, let’s turn that into a musical. Shit, and while we’re at it, let’s throw in this completely unrelated song about Halloween!
Hey, if you’re singing about the Eve of All Hallo’s, the Shindig don’t judge, particularly when you have lines like “Hot jack-o-lantern it’s Halloween!”
