TRACK #271:

The Winner by Lance Owg, Gabriel Rohels & David Cole

Whenever I throw on an 80’s slasher flick I’ve never seen, I want it to sound exactly like The Boogeyman. It lets you know, right out of the gate, that a certain vibe is headed your way. The shoulders relax a bit and you can settle right into that warm, grainy fuzz of analog era horror.

In the event that the movie doesn’t sound like The Boogeyman however, I want it to sound exactly like Graduation Day; the sort of upbeat, discoed-out answer to that sound.

Can you beat this song? Sure. There’s a whole host of of better songs. There’s even better songs that have started off other horror movies. But if you’re giving me some B-grade horror movie bullshit, raise the flag. And it’s a short list of songs raising that flag higher than The Winner.

Listen to this thing. Are you kiddin’ me with this song? Lance Owg (which is a great name by the way) teams up Gabriel Rohels and David Cole to produce a song so suited to its surroundings, so perfectly a product of its era, so seemingly at odds with the movie, yet so wonderfully in tune with it, that you almost have to stand in awe.

Played over an extended slow motion montage of a highschool track and field competition, it’s priming you for an evening of go-for-the-gold and give-it-your-all horror. Whether Graduation Day makes good on that promise is a bit dubious. Ultimately, that’s up to you, but I like it well enough.

From 1981, right in the thick of the action, it skimps ya a bit on the gore, but there’s plenty of hallmarks here for slasher lovers to embrace; sub-par acting, strange behavior, a live rock band performing at a dance (more on them later) and, of course, some nudity.

In fact, The Queen herself, Linnea Quigley, was cast to replace an actress that would not fulfill her contractual nudity clause. And when you’re in a tight spot, you need to bring in a big gun, and our girl Linnea’s about as big a gun as you can get. Maybe not in 1981, sure, but in retrospect, it’s a serious pull.

Sorry. Linnea gets me sidetracked every time. What were we talkin’ about again? Oh yeah, a song. And a questionable song, to say the least.

Is this a song people wanna hear? I dunno. I doubt it. It’s a song I wanna hear and that counts for something, I think. At least around here, anyway.

Is it a song people are gonna associate with Halloween? Probably gonna go with a big “no” on that one too. But there’s no shortage of songs like that on this playlist.

Is it a song your party goers are gonna wanna hear on Halloween? 2+2 still equals 4, so this one, maybe not such a big hit at the party. Though certainly danceable, you can’t deny.

But, is it Shindig Material? Oh, you better believe…it’s a winner. The Winner, in fact.

And everybody wants to be the winner.