Witchfinder General (Carl Douglas)

TRACK #425:

Witchfinder General by Carl Douglas

We’re gonna bring our HalloWitch Week to a close here with this straight heater from Jamaican singer Carl Douglas.

Now, Carl is probably best (and perhaps even only) known for his 1974 mega-hit Kung Fu Fighting. In fact, he is so only known for it that it takes 2 pages of google results to find a fuckin photo of the guy where he isn’t wearing a goddamn karate headband. I get it Carl, get the bag, but this is all a bit excessive with the Kung Fu, no?

Released right as the 1970’s Chopsocky craze was taking off, I wonder how much its success was a product of that wave and how much of its success keep that wave rolling. Like some sort of spinning, self-sustaining system of mirror-encrusted cultural appropriation and ethnic stereotyping. And that’s without even considering its extensive use of the Oriental Riff. It was 1974 after all.

Unfortunately, Carl never found much success outside of that tune, despite releasing 2 other albums and having 2 other singles fare well on the UK charts. Of course one of those was also about Kung Fu, but hey, if it ain’t broke, it ain’t broke.

Over here, we’re gonna cut Carl some slack, because the very next track after Kung Fu Fighting on his album Kung Fu Fighter is Witchfinder General, and that’s got Shindig written all over it.

It’s one seriously funked out, wah-ed up slice of 70’s satanic awesomeness. I wish this was a Title Track, as anachronistic as that would have been. I can’t say for sure that Carl is directly referencing the 1968 Vincent Price movie, as there is a book of the same name on which the film was loosely based. There’s also the fact that Witchfinder General was a very real title that verified piece of shit Matthew Hopkins, a man said to be responsible for over 100 death, bestowed upon himself.

Now, while I can appreciate the convenience of the rhyme (lazy though it may be), perhaps it’s just a tad insensitive to refer to very real and falsely accused women murdered by very real and confirmed douchebag Matthew Hopkins, as “mighty fine bitches.” But hey, this is just a feel good disco swinger bud, let’s not get all woke on it, huh? Sheesh. What the fuck are we here for? Some fuckin’ scolding or some fuckin’ bangers?!

Bangers – and bang this one does. I’ve never been a big fan of Kung Fu Fighting, despite its Gold Record status and Billboard #1 peaking chart performance. However, Witchfinder General is a stone cold groove.

So, let’s say goodbye (for now) to the mighty fine bitches known as Witches, with this 70’s time capsule from Mr. Kung Fu Headband himself, Carl Douglas.

The Witch (The Casuals)

TRACK #424

The Witch by The Casuals

Well, there’s certainly no shortage of songs simply titled The Witch. What can I say? Despite the reputation and all the, ya know, creating, musicians don’t seem terribly creative sometimes.

All that aside, our 4th witch tune of the week is perhaps the most explicit depiction of a straight up evil witch we’ve yet heard.

A black eyed queen who’s the devil’s machine, with icy fingers flying through the night is what The Casuals describe to us. The phrase “hocus pocus” is used, there’s some cackles talked about and even a classic reference to MacBeth is tossed in for good measure. Also, she’ll bewitch anyone that’s not inside. Thanks for the heads up, gang!

Now, this is a pretty rocking song for The Casuals. Formed in the early 60’s, this British Pop band performed more mellow, dare I say casual, listening music. They saw a lot of personnel changes over the years, recorded in Italy for a bit and had a pretty bit hit in ‘68 with their song Jesamine.

By 1974 though, they’re releasing this tune, which one YouTuber described as “proto-Iron Maiden” and once I read that I couldn’t unhear it. The commenter also suggests it would have been cool if Maiden had covered it, and I agree. This tune rocks and hearing Steve Harris gallop his way through that bassline while Bruce belts out “the witch will bewitch you if you’re not inside!” would be killer.

As it stands though, we got The Casuals doing it and that’s plenty good enough for our Halloween purposes.

The Witch (The Rattles)

TRACK #423:

The Witch by The Rattles

While a touch less ambiguous in its witchery than The Sonic’s The Witch, tonight’s The Witch is no less…vague? I dunno. There’s an argument to be made it’s more vague than October Country’s Witch, but I still think we’re dealing with an evil entity.

There’s not much to this one. In fact, the lone entry for it on songmeanings.com is literally someone opining:

“I think this means about someone running from a witch”

which reads like Homer explaining to Bart what he thinks “Gabbo” means. Well, that’s insightful, pal. I really hope that’s just a joke.

In that astute analysts’ defense, this is about all The Rattles are offering up lyrically. But this visceral and spooky Witch song should be no stranger to any Halloween playlist, and I probably should have added it years ago.

But I should preface it by saying this version of the song is visceral and spooky. See, German psych rock band The Rattles originally released this tune in 1968 with Male singer Henner Hoier.

But I much prefer this second version from 1970, with vocals by Edna Bejarano, despite some randos on YouTube claiming the original is clearly superior. One goofball even suggested it’s better with a male singer because it makes more sense for a Witch to be chasing a male protagonist, as if it was utterly nonsensical to depict a Witch attacking a female. Insanity.

But that’s pretty generalized. A couple of commenters actually suggested the song needed Grace Slick, and that Edna Bejarano is no Grace Slick. Jeesh! The internet really is a just place for people’s unfiltered and unsolicited opinions…myself included I suppose.

But honestly, the majority of the commenters, across multiple videos, overwhelmingly praise Edna and prefer this version of the song. I do like the original, don’t get me wrong, but I find this one sounds more raw, and with its creepy strings and all that witch cackling, is clearly the more seasonal choice.

So, let’s continue HalloWitch Week with an eerie and appropriately Halloweeny installment that’s a long time coming. Here’s The Rattles, running from, The Witch!

Witches’ Brew

TRACK #375:

Witches’ Brew by Joyce Vincent Wilson

Ok, that’s enough fake Title Tracks. Let’s get to with real deal, cause we got a bunch of these.

The good news is I thought I’d be playing catch up here with all the new songs from Title Tracks Pt. 6, but since that episode has yet to air, they can all debut right here on the Playlist for a change, like the old days!

You can thank Mr. Josh Spiegel over at Movie Timelines for our first Title Track, as I became aware of this tune and film it hails from while watching an episode of his ongoing series, The 80’s Project.

But Josh is generally pretty good about throwing Title Tracks my way whenever he stumbles across new ones. I’m just grateful to have a guy in the field doings some work for Title Track identification and acquisition.

And this one is a funky, disco-esque groover from Joyce Vincent Wilson, who is perhaps best known for being part of the group Dawn, as in Tony Orlando and Dawn. They were a trio of singers responsible for a string of hits in the early 70’s including Candida, Knock Three Times and Tie a yellow Ribbon Round the ole Oak Tree. They were so popular in fact that they even had a short lived variety show on CBS called, you guessed it, Tony Orlando and Dawn.

I love this tune, and since he mentions it in the first 2 seconds of the show, it’s going to be no spoiler to say it was Kyle Sullivan’s choice for favorite Title Track out of the Ep. 6 lineup.

No one else felt that way however, particularly Graham, who used it as solid evidence that he didn’t actually need to watch the film. Which I had to concur with, he didn’t. No one does, honesty. I mean, it’s fine, for what it is, but it doesn’t need to be burning a hole in anyone’s watch list, knowhutimean?

It’s a bit of a lighter, comedic take on the Fritz Leiber novel Conjure Wife, which had previously been adapted into the 1944 film Weird Woman and the 1962 film Burn, Witch, Burn.

There’s a cool gargoyle thing that comes out of a giant egg, I’ll say that. Richard Benjamin, of Love at First Bite fame is pretty fun. Terri Garr is great, and it was Lana Turner’s final film appearance. Whether that’s a positive or not is up to you, but she gives a solid performance despite the general Made-for-TV vibes this movie generates.

But you can’t blame Joyce Vincent Wilson, that’s for sure, cause it may not really fit that vibe, but this is a certified jammer. Kicking off a full-on Title Track Pt. 6 block, here’s the 1980’s Witches’ Brew!

It’s Halloween Night (The Witches’ Jack-O-Lantern)

TRACK #241:

It’s Halloween Night (The Witches’ Jack-O-Lantern) by Acid Witch

Welcome back Weeners! Thanks for joining us. Here’s to a new season on Halloween Shindig. We hope you all enjoy all the new tunes we have lined up for you this year.

Last year, recording and editing Shindig Radio kept me on my heels once the season for songs rolled around. So this year, I decided to get a little head start.

But then, California decided making fake rubber bullshit for crummy new movies that you’ll never see popping up on this website, wasn’t an “essential” service during a global pandemic. Go fig.

Needless to say, I had a bit of extra time on my hands. So this year, we’re starting things just a little bit early (and on the first day of Fall even!) as we’ve got 40 new Title Tracks, Monster Raps, and Halloween Scats to fill your Autumnal airwaves.

Leading us off this year, as promised, is a group of Shindig All-Stars that dropped a brand new Halloween Song just as I was finishing up last year’s countdown. C’mon, it was a wrap! But along came Acid Witch making me wish I had lagged just a little bit longer.

No matter! They’re here now to start the season off right, with another sludgy ode to the Eve of All Saints. This time around, they’re detailing the necessary steps for a Witch to turn a dude’s head into a Jack-O-Lantern…on Halloween Night, no less.

All right, fella. Sold.

This song is tough as shit and an instant inclusion. We hope you like it too, cause there’s more Acid Witch on the way, as we’ve yet to tap into their 2017 release Evil Sound Screamers, which is practically a Halloween Album unto itself. But until then…

Black Cats and Witches

Bonfires burn bright

Ghosts and Ghouls they gather

It’s Halloween Night!