TRACK 411:

Get Down Goblin by Jan Terri

There was no shortage songs featuring female performers waiting in the bullpen that could have easily taken the lead-off spot here for our Hallo-Women block.

But there was one Hallo-Women I had in mind when I cooked up this run. One very specific and overlooked Hallo-Woman in particular. And that woman, is Jan Terri.

We original featured Jan’s Halloween anthem Get Down Goblin in 2020 on our Halloweird episode of Shindig Radio. The intention was to put her on the playlist the following season, but every year since, Jan has gotten unceremoniously pushed, shushed, blocked and bumped each time. Well no more! Because if we’re gonna celebrate Hallo-Women and not include Jan Terri again, well then you can just pull the plug on this whole damn thing.

But why wasn’t Jan Terri and Get Down Goblin already on the playlist before that? Well, it’s a damn fine question.

Some of you listeners may know Aaron Matthews. He’s a pretty big Shindig fan and a friend of ours from way back in the Monessen, Pennsylvania days. In fact, I’d wager to guess he was right there when the very first CD which bore the name “Halloween Shindig” was spinning in the Academy Arts building. So he’s an OG of the highest order.

Well, back in 2020, he sent me this song and asked me if it was gonna be making the playlist that year. I had to inform him that, in fact, it was not, because it was literally the first time I was even hearing the song. He couldn’t believe it. And after I had a listen, I couldn’t believe it either. How had I never heard of Jan Terri? This had been a massive blind spot the whole time. I promptly squeezed Jan onto the Halloweird episode that year, but the playlist was already laid out. All the above transpires, and here we are.

Now, if you’re unfamiliar with Jan Terri, or only know her songs but not her story, here’s a small bit of  history to bring you up to speed.

Jan Terri is a bit of a Chicago legend. When she was young, she was in a jug band her mother, while her dad used to perform a black face act called Black Elvis at local bars. Whoa, ok then. Both of her parents were also an accomplished ballroom dancers, if that somehow cancels out the black face for you. In the highly likely event that it most certainly does not, I can somewhat confidently say Jan herself was not part of that act, nor has (to my knowledge anyway) performed in black face herself. Phew!

When Jan was older, she worked as a limo driver in the Windy City. Around that time she began recording songs and shooting backyard videos. She used to hand these tapes out relentlessly to her limo clients hoping one of them, or someone they knew, could help her hit it big.

And it worked! At one point one of these clients tossed one of these videos at a young Marilyn Manson, and the rest, as they say, is history. She would even end up opening for him in the Chicago area in the late 90’s. Talk about a weird lineup.

When The Av Club asked her if she wrote Get Down Goblin for kids Terri said…

“No, I wrote it because the only major [Halloween] song that I remember was “Monster Mash,” and there wasn’t another one if you don’t count “Thriller,” which I don’t really count. There was not another Halloween song, and that’s why I wrote “Get Down Goblin.” That’s why I wrote [“Rock And Roll Santa”]. All the other artists were just redoing other songs. There weren’t any really cool Christmas songs out there when I was writing.”

Now, we’ll forgive Jan for not realizing there was literally dozens of other Halloween songs, because if she knew that then maybe we would never have been blessed with this Halloween song, and we’re all better off for it. I know The Shindig is at least.

For an extra bit of festive joy, I highly recommend the Get Down Goblin video to everyone listening, because it is great.

So, let’s finally welcome Jan Terri off the Halloweird playlist and onto the Playlist proper. C’mon, it’s October 25th, and Halloween is less than a week away! Get Down Goblins!