And since we’re talkin’ about sweet songs and everything, nothing quite says “Halloween” without saying “Halloween” at all, like The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Poor Tim’s been sitting in the Shindig Bullpen for years now, just waiting for the right opportunity to provide some relief.
And rowing away from Camp Arawak aboard Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s transsexual canoe seems as good a place as any for him to step in at last and provide a nice hanging curve-ball.
So here, at number #194, it’s Tim Curry’s trash-camp classic, Sweet Transvestite.
The Time Warpby Richard O’Brien, Patricia Quinn, Nell Campbell and Charles Gray
You all know the moves, most assuredly, because you all know the song and the musical it originates from, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, all too well.
It’s just a jump to the left, and then a step to the right. Pretty simple shit honestly, but here’s a diagram anyway. Act like you know. Halloween is inexplicably associated with Rocky Horror. I may never understand exactly why, within the larger culture, these 2 things are so entwined but VH1’s Halloween showings of it in my youth have forever bonded them together in my own consciousness. Perhaps that’s the case for a lot of people.
According to the production however, the laboratory sequence and Rocky’s creation were filmed on the 30th of October in 1974. So there’s that and that’s pretty Halloweenish, not that Rocky Horror really needed any justification.
The most well known, oft played and Shindigable track is the bizarre inter-dimensional dance craze that was all the rage on Transsexual in the galaxy of Transylvania.
Is it about sex? Probably, everything else in Rocky Horror appears to be. Or perhaps it’s more literal, as they use a time warp to transport themselves back to Transexual. Maybe it’s both.
I’ve heard it interpreted that Riff Raff’s initial verse is about feeling horny and then orgasming. Magenta’s solo describes the viewing of pornography or perhaps a more direct for of voyeurism, while Colombia’s solo is a depiction of a rape scenario. Dunno if I cotton to all of that exactly (particularly since Colombia doesn’t seem to mind all that much) but it’s as solid a read of the songs intentions as anyone could ask for. And of course, there’s all that pelvic thrusting.
Whatever the hell the Translyvanian’s are on about, it’s certainly getting them riled up and causing them to dance like buffoons all over the place, just as you should be doing at your Halloween party right…about…now.
Science Fiction/Double Feature by Richard O’Brien & Richard Harley
Back in the day, VH1 used to play Rocky Horror on Halloween Night. This is probably because they really didn’t have access to much else, besides maybe Thriller, that would fit the bill.
Before I was old enough to actually comprehend what the hell was going on (if I’m even at that age yet) the strange sounds and imagery flickering wildly on the screen stuck with me. In later years I was able to catch more than just a passing glimpse and fully appreciate The Rocky Horror Picture Show for the many splendored experience it was.
To this day, anytime I watch Rocky Horror, it feels exactly like Halloween, and exactly like Halloween should.
Number 10 on the Shindig is that amalgamous, retro wonder Science Fiction/Double Feature, admittedly my favorite song from the film. Its 50’s sci-fi referencing is enough alone for it to make the cut, but with all that Halloween nostalgia on top, there ain’t even a second thought.
