The Tingler – Halloween Shindig

TRACK #374

The Tingler by The Tinglers

We’re gonna hit ya with another Tie-In Title Track here, this one from 1959, that I very much wish was in the actual movie.

Cause I love The Tingler. It’s easily and simultaneously one of my favorite William Castle and Vincent Price movies. It balances the right amount of camp with just the right amount of ingenuity to create a memorable picture that has truly stood the test of time. And not for nothing, but it features the very first LSD trip ever shown on film. And it’s taken by Vincent Price no less. What could be better?

Well, how about this song? C’mon, it’s amazing. It’s everything you want from a Title Track in 1959 to a movie about a creature that lives in your spine and feeds on fear. So why wasn’t it featured in the film itself? Well, it’s a great question and of course it’s one that I have absolutely no real answer for.

I could suggest that it’s perhaps because the song was produced after the film was shot and edited, solely for the purpose of marketing the film. That seems reasonable. Maybe it was just an after thought. Doesn’t mean they couldn’t have dropped it on the credits real easy before they released the film, but they didn’t, so here we are.

Or I could assume it’s because they didn’t think the tone of this song really matched the tone of the movie, like say The Chucky Song. And perhaps just like that tune, they pulled it from the release. However, unlike The Chucky Song, they didn’t want the tune to go to waste and used it’ll as a piece of the marketing. Perhaps.

I honestly don’t think this song would have felt that out of place played over the credits or diegetically featured somewhere during the film. I guess I can understand why maybe Williams Castle and team thought so. It is a bit campy and silly. But I guess that’s my point, so is The Tingler.

Interestingly, the B-side to this Tie-In Title Track was another (Truncated) Tie-In Title Track called The Thirty Foot Bride from the Lou Costello comedy The 30ft Bride of Candy Rock, also from 1959.

But who are The Tinglers? Well, much like The Five Blobs, they were studio musicians and we might never know for sure. Except, that is, for once vocalist in particular. A very prominent voice you might just be familiar with.

Yep. That main voice belongs to Tony the Tiger himself, Mr. You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch, Thurl Ravenscroft. How cool is that?

Now, I don’t know about you guys, but you give me something like this, sung by someone like that, then watch out, cause that shit’s hittin’ The Shindig harder than a cease and desist from the Universal Music Group. I don’t care if it was featured in the film or not. Don’t get me wrong, that would certainly help, but it definitely won’t detract from The Tingler by The Tinglers.

TRACK #8:

Scream! by The Misfits

“Blasphemy!”

Yeah, I might just say that too, cause I know what you’re thinkin’, “Newfits? For real? You haven’t even posted any actual Misfits songs yet, and you’re coming with some Newfits bullshit?”

All I can say to that is, I like the actual Misfits more, so they’re buried deeper in the playlist, for when everyone’s good and sauced up and the stragglers have had time to settle in. And don’t worry, there’s no shortage of classic Misfits tracks on Halloween Shindig.

Say what you want about this secondary incarnation of The Misfits, they had some good tunes. Tunes that are kind of hard for a Halloween playlist to straight up ignore. Tunes like today’s track for instance, entitled Scream!

Despite its (perhaps) misleading name, the song is actually an ode to William Castle’s wonderful 1959 classic The Tingler, about a terrible creature living inside all of you, which feeds on fear, and grows up your spine and into your brain! A creature that can only be stopped by the sound of screaming!

It’s a great premise, and it makes for one hell of a bizarre and imaginative film. Castle, master of the in-theater gimmick, made it even more fun by rigging some of the seats with vibrators to give certain audience members a special jolt at the right moment. 3D? Fuck all that shit, this is Percepto!

The lead-in for this is none other than Williams Castle’s own introduction to the film. Oh, and that’s Bart screaming at the end from Treehouse of Horror IV’s “Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace” segment. Enjoy!