jason song

Audio

Hard Rock Summer

TRACK #386

Hard Rock Summer by Alice Cooper

Speaking of Alice Cooper, who didn’t make an appearance on the soundtrack of the movie he appeared in (Freddy’s Dead) we’re gonna finally close out his hat-trick from Friday the 13th’s equal and opposite 6th installment (that’s odd) Jason Lives.

Seriously, that’s weird right? I hadn’t quite realized that until I just typed the above sentence. Both of the 6th installment of these franchises changes the title to feature the character’s names and their states of existence. Anyway….

Here’s the lesser celebrated of the 3 tunes Alice’s has in 1986’s Friday the 13th Part VI.

Used to fine effect as Megan tears ass through Crystal La…wait sorry…Forest Green, as she evades her dad’s goons attempting to free our hero, Tommy Jarvis, as he waits patiently in her crotch.

It’s a good get-away song, that’s for sure, but without the direct references to the film, or to monstery adolescent Frankenstein shit, it seems like Hard Rock Summer doesn’t get as much love as the others.

Well, as we’re wont say…on The Shindig, every song gets its day.

Except maybe Keeping Halloween Alive. I know Alice is a Shindig All-Star and that’s basically his Halloween song, but man oh man is that not something I want on this list. It’s been in the bullpen for years, and each season I give it another chance to have grown on me, for me to have grown a little and accepted it for what it is. But man, I just can’t do it. At least not yet, and maybe even never. Oh well, guy’s got like 6 songs or some shit on the playlist already and Identity Crisises will show up eventually, so give it a rest, will ya?

Here’s Joe Satrini’s Summer So…oh wait, I mean, here’s  Alice Cooper with Hard Rock Summer!

 

Audio

Nancy / Jason Lives

TRACK #385:

Nancy / Jason Lives by The Steves

If you’re someone who reads this website or listens to this playlist, there’s an outside but sporting chance you also know Matt Dillon.

No, not Marshall Matt Dillon from Gunsmoke, though there’s also a chance you know who that is too.

Oh, wait. You don’t know that Matt Dillon at all and just know Matt Dillon of My Bodyguard and One Night at McCool’s fame? Snap.

Well, that ain’t the Matt Dillon I’m talking about either, as much as I like You, Me and Dupree.

No, this Matt Dillon, though having appeared in both the hit comedies Idiocracy and Ninja Cop, is more a local celebrity. And that locality is Indiana.

That is where from Matt Dillon, and his band The Steves, hail. Hell yeah, Matt Dillon has a band, and he’s the guitarist and if I know my Matt Dillon licks (from our years of touring as 80ft Lincoln and the Astro Goblins) those riffs are all Dillon all day.

I have no doubt in my mind that he is also, at least partially, responsible for the band’s name, their Horror leanings, along with their graphic and shirt game. Here he is with a real banger of the statement T that I 100% know includes you, even if what you like is The Steves.

And as luck would have it too, they just released full length eponymous album onto Spotify and Apple Music last month. But our songs tonight were taken prior to this release from their EP entitled Amputated Brain, which you can get at their Bandcamp. While each song here appears on both albums, I couldn’t say whether they are the exact same recordings or not. They seem similar enough to me,

Now their songs are pretty short, so we’re gonna double you up and hit ya with 2 for 1 and let The Steves bridge the gap between Freddy and Jason.

First up is Nancy, the bands ode to Mr. Big Time, complete with the requisite intro pickin’ of Charles Bernstein’s unmistakable theme. Then we followed that up with Jason Lives, the bands thumping warning to any horny thrill seekers partying up at Forest Green this Friday night.

I love both of these tunes and indeed the whole album. Matt’s riffs are infectious, the drums and bass are relentless and the chaotic vocals suit this sound perfectly. I’m just pumped that they sang about some horror shit so I could get em on The Shindig.

So hit up their Bandcamp
Hit up their Distrokid
Give em some streams on Spotify
Or on iTunes!

But most of all make some noise, cause here comes The Steves!

 

Oh yeah, that’s Matt Mastrella by the way, for all you Shindig Radio fans. He gives this (albeit chopped up) synopsis of A Nightmare on Elm Street in the Heather Langenkamp documentary I Am Nancy.

Interestingly enough, I Am Nancy has a Title Track and that’s pretty wild for a documentary.

Audio

Overlay of Evil/ Main Titles (Friday the 13th)

TRACK #248:

Overlay of Evil / Main Titles (Friday the 13th) by Harry Manferdini

Well, it’s been 8 years. 8 long years that have passed, rather quickly it sometimes seems, since I began the website form of Halloween Shindig. Yet, despite that speed, it somehow still feels almost like a lifetime ago.

In those 8 years I’ve included numerous horror themes on the playlist, maybe not as many as I should have and certainly not as many as I’d like, but there’s plenty to go around.

Additionally, I’ve added 7 different songs from various Friday the 13th films. However, somehow I have yet to include Harry Manferdini’s iconic theme from the 1980 original.

As any of you that happened to read yesterday’s entry may now be aware, Harry scored not only the original film, but every subsequent installment in the 10 film saga, with the lone exception of Jason Takes Manhattan. Still, no small feat.

But that’s not all, cause Harry scored All 4 House films, The Hills Have Eyes 2, The Children, Slaughter High, Swamp Thing and Iron Eagle III!

I know it’s taken too long to get you here Harry, but that is no reflection on your incredible contributions to not just Friday, but to the whole of horror. Halloween Shindig is honored to have you among its ranks.

Thanks for all the jumps!

 

Audio

Teenage Frankenstein

TRACK #208:

Teenage Frankenstein by Alice Cooper

He may just be using the whole Frankenstein motif as a metaphor for teenage alienation, but Alice Cooper crams enough monster imagery in this cut to make that mostly irrelevant.

Add to that the songs inclusion within Jason Lives and you’ve got a double-decker monster song sandwich of Shindigging proportions.

Particularly considering the scene, which is one of the more badass moments from Friday 6.

Jason has stowed away on an RV and proceeds to cause a straight up ruckus, imprinting Nikki’s face through a wall and stabbing Cort in the neck. He then allows the motor home to completely upend itself before blasting out of the top in straight Boss Voorhees fashion.

All of this of course is set to Cooper’s Teenage Frankenstein, where Cort emphatically cranks the volume on the fiddle and shouts like an idiot while his motor-Rome burns all to hell.

Here’s Alice Cooper, reinforcing his All-Star status with Teenage Frankenstein.

 

Audio

Take the Time To Dream

TRACK #156:

Take the Time to Dream by FM

A Friday the 13th, in October? Now that’s a rarity. You know we gotta represent on this one. Good thing The Shindig is prepared with a poppy piece of Crystal Lake crooning from Jason’s later catalog.

A lot of people dislike Friday the 13th Part 7: The New Blood. I’m not one of them, but they exist and I can’t say I blame them.

Its heavily censored kills feel like highway robbery, it has one most disappointing endings in the series, the teenage fodder on display isn’t particularly interesting and the film just feels tired. Psychic girl unwittingly resurrects Jason? C’mon…

However, 7 has a lot going for it. I think of it as Jason’s last hoorah, for it’s the last time he’s in his element doing what he does best, before he takes off to Manhattan, other peoples bodies, Hell, Space, Elm Street, and ultimately Remakewood. Say what you want about 7, it never gets this good (or as true to itself) again.

But it is stretching its limits, as the whole thing finally succumbs to the Elm Street Effect and goes full-on supernatural.

The psychic angle, while a bit much, offers some interest though. Mainly, it puts a new spin on a formula that had already well worn out its welcome, having seen probably it’s best reworking in Jason Lives. It also finally gives Jason a formidable opponent, something really unseen up to this point in the series, silly as that opponent might be.

However, New Blood’s biggest plus come in the form of Jason himself, namely the addition of literal new blood, Kane Hodder, and the make-up work of John Carl Buechler.

Jason never looked this good before, or after. This is it. This is the most badass Jason around. With his spine-exposed and masked destroyed, he’s constantly dripping water and stalking around with a menace unmatched. And lets face it, that’s what we’re all here to see.

The soundtrack is coming up pretty short here though, in my opinion. Mostly just handed over to prog-wavers FM out of what feel like laziness, the songs never play much prominence, or hit any high notes. Even the score here feels a little wrong.

However, I’ve chosen one of those FM tracks for the Shindig, mostly so I can rant a little about Part 7 and post some gifs. Besides, that opening narration is too cool not too use somewhere.

And as if the psychic girl wasn’t Elm Street enough for you, this song’s all about dreaming. Sure, it’s a more figurative kind of dreaming, but I still I think it’s safe to say that by 1987, Freddy was winning the fight.

Happy Friday, October The 13th!