So here’s a curious situation that I’m not sure we’ve encounter thus far on The Shindig.
On the surface, this song (the debut release from British rocker’s Icarus) is a full blown Title Track. Now, that’s what I like to hear!
But wait a sec, this song doesn’t appear anywhere in 1968’s The Devil Rides Out.
That can probably be attributed to the fact this song wasn’t written for the film at all, but rather after the film was made. Turns out Icarus was inspired by the pre-release marketing for The Devil Rides Out to write this song. That’s a little weird.
However, it was totally released in tandem with the premiere of the film and the band themselves were even invited to the shindig. What’s goin on here?
So, written because of and about, and is named after the movie? So, is this a Title Track or not?
I say no. If anything it’s a Title Track After the Fact, but even that’s a stretch. It appears in no film that I’m aware of, sequel or otherwise, relegating it the land of Referential, I’d say. But it’s so close, so very damn close to being a Title Track.
But enough about that business, let’s talk The Devil Rides Out, Hammer’s straight-faced, Christopher Lee anchored, Christianity-conquers-all, Satan-banger.
Just check out this French Grande:
I have this thing, and it rules. Unfortunately, it’s goddamn giant and I don’t have any more wall space in The Hole for shit this big. Sorry also to my giant-ass Videodrome and Dracula AD posters.
Hey, check out this sweet Baphomet, which Christoper Lee calls The Goat of Mendes, which is what artist Éliphas Lévi was known to refer to his famous Sabbatic Goat image. He rules too.In fact, just check out The Devil Rides Out, cause it rules.
Our next stop on Satan’s Cannonball comes from a picture you could argue isn’t exactly a horror picture. I dunno though. Being rundown, raped and murdered by freaky, gakked out bikers sounds pretty goddamn horrific to me. But hey, everybody’s got different ideas of a good time. Either way, when you’re throwin’ me a tune which sounds as at-odds with its subject matter as this one does, The Shindig takes note.
From Al Adamson’s 60’s biker freak-out Satan’s Sadists comes our 318th track, Satan (Theme).
Starring the incomparable Russ Tamblyn as Anchor, leader of the biker gang “The Satans” with such fantastic biker members as Willie, Muscle, Firewater and Acid. The latter of which is played by none other the the films writer, and director of such classics as Without Warning, Satan’s Cheerleaders, Wacko, and The Uninvited, Mr. Greydon Clark.
It’s a 60’s biker explotation picture, so if you’re familiar, you know what you’re getting into and whether that’s frying your bacon or not. Again, it’s not explicitly horror in tone or vibe, but exploitation veers so close sometimes, and this song is just too awesome too ignore. And c’mon, we need a little more Satan around these parts.
Of all the categories on Halloween Shindig, the one that never seems to get much representation is The Devilish Track. I’m not even sure how many there are in total. Hang on a sec.
Jesus, there’s only 13 of these things? Really? I need to double check that number right quick, maybe I didn’t label a few.
Nope. 13 seems legit. Man, I knew it was low but geez, that’s only like 4% of the playlist.
At any rate, those are some pretty rookie numbers in this racket, so we’re gonna add a little padding to that percentage here (honestly only a measly 1% though) with a couple Satany tunes for all ya’ll to groove on.
Aptly leading off the charge is the song Hey Satan, from the San Fernando Valley’s own Clown Lord’s of the Garage-Bizarre, the splatter-glam festooned, Fearless Leader.
Known for the generalized insanity of their live stage shows (which often included the cramming of spam into various orifices) Fearless Leader were something of hometown heroes around these parts,…to a certain section of weirdos anyway.
Their album ¡#$;!, which features the bands name written in such a way as to maybe cause one to raise an eyebrow, actually got them banned in Germany. Worry not though, as it’s simply a KISS reference and not some secret Gestapo salute.
What’s more? These guys actually made a fuckin movie. Yep, and it’s pretty great. 1992’s Graveyard Rot is a bona fide piece of feature-length Rock-N-Roll music video horror-trash SOV madness, and comes highly recommended…to a certain section of weirdos anyhow. You know who you are.
Click to Watch!
This particular copy featured here may or may not have sold for $500 buck. Seriously? Even asking that much is ridiculous. Get real VHS community. You needn’t shell out that kinda dough though, cause you can just click that picture to watch the movie on Vimeo thanks to the fantastic Hamilton’s Trash Cinema. Big ups!
Sarge, Alien Rock, Oral B. Goode and Spammy Haggard set upon a little road trip to shoot a new music video for this very song. In the process they run afoul some hostile local rednecks and inadvertently raise a long dead Rock-N-Roll singer.
It’s silly, no-budget, band-just-having-a-good time-with a camcorder fun that features (as you might imagine) lots of Fearless Leader tunes.
However, if you’ve never seen Graveyard Rot, this song might still sound familiar if you’ve ever treated yourself to Everything Is Terrible’s The Great Satan.
If you haven’t, I recommend doing that as soon as possible, because it’s fucking bonkers, and Hey Satansets the whole thing off and running perfectly. Click this to get a little taste.
If you’re not aware of the found footage fiends over at Everything is Terrible, I also recommend familiarizing yourself with them as a whole post-haste.
The Great Satan specifically, is a mind-melting media-mashup of all things Morningstar, spliced at breakneck speed for maximum what-the-fuckery. We’re talking batshit Christian scare-programming, z-grade yard sale movie clips and bizarro homegrown freakouts.
A good-time Satany garage rocker, technically featured in 2 separate, definitely worth your time, movies? Hey, that’s Shindig material all day long.
Hey Satan, Fearless Leader wants to party, but don’t worry, they brought their own sandwiches!
I have been writing about the greatness of old horror Title Tracks for roughly 10 straight years now. They’re my favorite type of track on the playlist. They have the power to elevate bad movies to ones worth talking about, and the finesse to turn great movies into legends.
I’ve been speaking publicly about that same greatness for roughly 4 years now, half in the bag, obnoxiously crooning along out of tune. Hopefully, that has illuminated some of the finer, and even perhaps less finer, examples the sub-genre has to offer.
Presented for your enjoyment, is a Maxi-Playlist of all the Title Tracks currently present on the Full Playlist plus any featured on Shindig Radio (5 volumes, at the time of writing) including all the ones not presently included (or will ever be included) on The Full Playlist. So yes, that means even Body Melt (sorry, no 9 to 5 though, or Spaceballs, or any of the action extractions either.)
Rather than putting them together as they appeared on the show however, I have ordered this playlist chronologically with date makers to illustrate the rise of and eventual fall of this particular fad in film history.
I would also like to note that the new additions Bad Taste and I Was a Teenage Zombie plus previously unaccounted for The Monster Squad tips the scales into 1987’s favor for “The Year of the Title Track” at 8 total! That’s even with 1988 getting the padding of fake track Big Breasted Girls Go to the Beach and Take Their Tops Off. Not too shabby 1987. Let’s see what the future holds as these two juggernaut years continue to slug it out!
I will add to this playlist as more volumes of Title Tracks continue to spill out from the Halloween Hole, as (despite what this playlist may suggest) there are still so many Title Tracks in the bullpen left to revel in, make fun of, and sing along to poorly.
Speaking of dudes from our Freddy Raps episode and sampling classic horrors themes for raps beat…oh and recent questionable reboots of aging horror properties…oh and even Halloween, I guess, by way of Rob Zombie…
man, that’s a lot of tenuous connections for 2 songs to randomly have…
here comes an actual Referential Monster Rap in the form of Gregory D and Figgy Balls’ Love letter to The Munsters, Monster Booogie.
Now, why they didn’t just call this tune Munster Booogie is above my pay grade, but honestly that’s the only bone I have to pick with this track, because otherwise, it’s just the goods. Well, there’s is that one verse, but we’ll get to that.
Mannie Fresh twists up The Munster’s Theme into the kinda beat I wish every monster rap had, while Gregory D waxes nostalgic for the days of eating cereal and kickin’ it with the First Family of Fright.
They also spit barbs at The Addams Family, which for a song of this nature, feels right at home.
Then, there is that verse I spoke of earlier. Gregory D goes off on Eddie Munster a bit, and some words get thrown around. Now listen, we’ve laid into Eddie Munster ourselves, more specifically Butch Patrick for his crimes against music, but this is a bit of a different beast. Let’s just say he goes so far as to suggest Eddie Munster might prefer the company of men.
This bar-spanning gag which (in addition to being generally offensive to both Gays and Butch Patrick for a number of reasons) is a really weird joke to make considering the kid’s like 10 years old. But hey, I guess that’s just a little slice of 1987 for ya. Try to ignore it, if you can. If not, I’d understand.
Despite that, this is still a seriously referential tune though, with tons of great samples and a dope ass beat. It’s the kinda diamond in the rough you come across while looking for something else and then all you can do is sit back and bask in great weird wave of the universe.
So, instead of subjecting yourself to Rob’s Day-Glo prequel, just blast Gregory D and Mannie Fresh’s Monster Booogie, and then go enjoy a few episodes of the real thing while scarfing down a bowl of Frankenberry.
The real question is how much can you take of M.C. A.D.E.More specifically, his grating vocoder rapping.
Well, Adrian Does Everything (or Anus Do Exterminate, whichever you prefer) is challenging us to find out, with his tune that inexplicably uses John Carpenter’s classic Halloween Theme.
And to good effect, as thisbeat is pretty awesome. Unfortunately, that fat shit A.D.E. comes in with his monotonous vocoder sound and we quite literally begin asking ourselves “How man can we take?”
I get it. I know. But hear me out.
We gave A.D.E. a pretty hard time on the Freddy Raps episode, and we didn’t really redeem ourselves on Halloween H40 either, and I feel bad.
Dude essentially invented Miami Bass, used the Halloween theme, produced gnarly, trunk thundering bass and he made a Freddy Rap. C’mon, that’s worth some respect, no? And I know his Freddy Rap is pretty irritating, and we definitely took a firm stance on no Nightmare on ADE Street on the playlist, but we gotta throw him a bone, right? Just for being so shitty to a pioneer?
And this song is better! Isn’t it? I mean, I know it’s not much better, but it’s better, right? Plus, he uses the Halloween Theme to craft a great beat for crying out loud. And hell, I’d put money on him being one of the first guys, if not the first guy sample this theme.
But I’m really just guessin’ here. I don’t have that kinda info on hand. In fact, I wanna double check this claim. Gimme a sec.
Ok. So Jaybok the City Ace seems to be the first guy to do this, on 1987’s Hip Hop Phenomenal, followed closely thereafter by Slick Master Rick on his tune Brothers and Sisters House on 13th Street in 1988.
But then, 1989 rolls around with Esham, TheBeat Pirates and M.C. A.D.E. all sampling this theme.
Slick Master Rick and The Beat Pirates both made clubby electronic dance tunes with no rapping, and The Beat Pirates are sampling what sounds to me like the Part 2 theme, not that that matters really.
Esham is definitely using the tune, but it doesn’t sound sampled to me. And the part he uses is kind of a pushed-to-the-back-of-the-mix flourish that decorates a beat that isn’t really built on Michael’s theme. I will say his song is much better all around than A.D.E.’s though. So there’s that.
But then there’s Jaybok. Unfortunately, The City Ace has A.D.E. dead to rights. Hip Hop Phenomenal was released 2 years earlier, and it slaps. The beat is on point and his rapping isn’t all annoying like A.D.E.’s. And not for nothing, but Jaybok’s flow is smooth. Smooth like “is this really from 1987?” smooth.
However, I can’t say for sure, but I might argue that Jaybok isn’t sampling the song either. It sound different, like it’s just played in another synth. It could be a pitched sample, for sure, but it doesn’t sound like a straight sample the way A.D.E’s does.
So, he’s probably at least the 2nd, but at the most generous, I’d stand by my statement and sayA.D.E.was the first cat to really use the sample in this manner, for a rap song that relies heavily on Carpenter’s theme as the beat. You could argue against that effectively though.
Either way, that’s not bad, particularly considering how much it’s been used since, and whom by.
Ice T, Afrika Bambaataa, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Biggie, Soulja Boy, Juciy J and even (unsurprisingly) The Insane Clown Posse, have all had producers that dipped their MPCs into this classic piece of horror scoring.
But here we are, with our friend A.D.E., the man who makes me reconsider my love of the Vocoder. It’s like Adrian, I know it’s a dope tool, but you can’t rap the whole song through it like that bud, you just can’t. And what Vocoder are you using, cause it doesn’t sound that great. Is it even a real vocoder, or an FX pedal? Whodini had it right. You gotta get that VP330 Whodini had if you go hard like that. I know that fucker was pricey (still is!) and Whodini was Whodini, but there had to be someone around the studio with something close.
But I digress.
I’m sort of in a conundrum over this song. I’d like to include it, but frankly, it doesn’t really nest into any of The Shindig’s categories. It’s not Referential (unfortunately) and it doesn’t appear in any film (that I’m aware of anyway) and it’s certainly not about monsters or Halloween. But it is using the Halloween Theme, right?
But if I went around just adding every song that used this theme (Blood for Blood’sSpit My Last Breath comes to mind) we’d be here till Thanksgiving.
So, technically, it shouldn’t even be here. But we played it on Shindig Radio Ep. 20 and I’d like to commemorate that moment on the playlist and reproduce some of that Halloween Kills vibe here, and maybe assuage some of this guilt I’m feeling over giving A.D.E. so much grief.
So, if you’ll all indulge me for a moment, I’ll just chalk this one up as a Horror Theme and give M.C. A.D.E. his day on The Shindig, lord knows he’s earned it.
The Shindig Radio team returns to the scene of their original crime: Haddonfield!
3 years ago, Shindig Radio first exposed themselves to the world while jack-jawing about Halloween H40. So, you knew that when the sequel to that requel finally rolled around, we were gonna be right there weighing in.
Only that didn’t happen, did it?
Well, not as far as you’re concerned anyway, because a crippling technical difficulty prevented you from hearing that episode when it was originally intended to air.
Now, through the magic of modern audio technology and a little bit of patience, this once thought “lost forever” episode returns to life – a year late and totally irrelevant because a new Halloween has already come out.
STOP! wondering if evil is going to die tonight!
LOOK! at you’re phone or computer while 4 aging assholes complain about a thing not necessarily intended for them!
LISTEN! to Mikey blow the lid off of Tommy Lee Wallace’s 40-year-long mask deception!
Given their catalog, it’s actually shameful that it’s taken 10 years to finally get The Meteors on The Shindig.
These guys have been dishing out Horror and Sci-Fi tinged Psychobilly since…well…the beginning, as many credit them for being the very first Psychobilly band.
Whether or not they’re the one true originators of the genre, they are no doubt pioneers that shaped it’s sound and themes, that much is for sure.
I’ve had a couple Meteors’ tunes in the bullpen for a while now, but for some reason they’ve just never made the cut, and that’s the shameful part. They should have been given higher priority.
Well tonight they are, because they have just the song to prime us all for Michael’s big return tomorrow.
Yes, apparently it seems the Thorn Constellation is in alignment…again…and Michael Myers is back. To what? Face off against Laurie Strode. Again? To die maybe? Again? Finally maybe? Doubtful. When are we gonna be done torturing this poor dude, and ourselves to whatever I’ll-advised, money-hungry whim new producers have?
It doesn’t matter if you effectively incinerate him in a giant explosion, cause you can just give Loomis a little scar and have Michael wear some bandages. Let’s go!
Hell, it doesn’t matter if you cut off his head, cause you can always pull a Cincinnati Switch with some other poor bastard’s head in a Michael Myers mask. And off we go.
It doesn’t even matter if Paul Rudd mercilessly bludgeons him to an unrecognizable pile, cause you can always retcon your sequels to completely ignore that little detail, or any detail you’d like for that matter.
It’s the character that we can’t seem to kill, or perhaps more appropriately, audiences’ desire to make it worth the producer’s while to cook up some new fresh bullshit for poor Michael to sleepwalk through.
Now, say what you want about The Curse of Michael Myers (and people do…myself included) cause Lord knows the last thing…andI mean the absolute last thing…I want here is an explanation for this Michael Myers business. Michael greatest assets was always his mystery.
But hey, if you’re bent on giving people an explanation for this shit, because you’re 6 movies deep now and what the actual fuck is going on with this guy we’ve beaten, bucked and blown apart, then you can do worst than a weird cult of star-fearing Druids using Michael as a vessel for sacrifice.
So, let’s let The Meteors welcome Michael back…for the 11th time now I think, with their 1984 jam, Michael Myers.
God, I do hope that evil at least embarks on an incredible long hiatus tonight.
Our final Title Track from Episode 19 is provided by the incredibly prolific and long-standing garage-rock outfit known as The Fleshtones.
While a bit more generically about it’s subject matter than either Phantom tracks, I Was a Teenage Zombie scoots and boots in a way those other two just don’t. It’s a perfect playlist addition.
And the movie it hails from is definitely worth a watch too. It may be a low-budget affair, but it has plenty of spirit and some some really fun gore gags. The plot’s a bit convoluted for a movie of this nature, involving chemically tainted weed which isn’t (as you might suspect) the cause of the zombifcation but does inadvertently lead to it by way of a drug deal gone bad, an old huckleberry and a contaminated river.
Though not nearly as funny or brisk as the semi-similarly themed My Boyfriends Back, I Was a Teenage Zombie is a fairly fun time for those that don’t need their horror-comedy to be real polished. And it’s got those FX, something the comedic leaning My Boyfriend’s Back doesn’t really provide. It almost feels like a Troma movie, if Troma were a bit less grimy and a little more light.
It sports a great soundtrack too, featuring some young up-and-comers of the time like Los Lobos, The Del Fuegos, The Smithereens and even the Violent Femmes.
And hey, even if the movie’s not your bag, there’s no denying this is one hell of a Title Track. One that certainly understand this game and doesn’t try to get all cute. I Was a Teenage Zombie just makes with the goods.
Speaking of Phantoms, we have another Phantom that made his debut on Ep. 19 of Shindig Radio, and that’s the infamous Eric!
Yeah, Eric. You know Eric, right? He’s just like Jason or Freddy except his generic and innocuous name still sounds generic and innocuous cause no one knows who the fuck he is. But he got a subtitle, all about his revenge, which you didn’t even know he needed cause you’ve never seen him before in your whole goddamn life.
Yeah, it’s weird, but it’s The Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge, coming to you direct from the old (and way awesomer) Sherman Oaks Gallery.
Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge is a fairly late-in-game, but still pretty fun, slashery take on the Phantom storyline featuring an all-star (if you’re The Shindig, anyway) cast.
You got Death Spa’s Ken Foree, Action U.S.A.’s Gregory Scott Cummings, Pee-Wee’s Morgan Fairchild and a pre-weasel Pauly Shore all doing their damnedest to try and turn this business into a legitimate franchise. It didn’t quite work out that way for them, but it’s totally worth watching anyway. Maybe even more so.
However, there’s still the matter of this song, from LA punk legends The Vandals, to contend with and reconcile.
See, if there was ever a contender for “Almost a Title Track” then it was certainly this one, and we definitely should not have included it on Title Tracks Pt. 5. But I hadn’t really considered theoption of a Not Quite Title Tracks episode until after the fact. So, Eric just snuck on in, without paying his dues, just like he tried to do with the horror franchises, giving himself a subtitle like he was a somebody. The balls on this guy.
Cause, let’s face it, this track is flagrant two-time offender.
First, you got all these extra words, a Title Track faux pas from the jump. And it’s not just a simple addition either, it’s now a whole goddamn sentence, with punctuation no less!
And sometimes we’ll look the other way; He’s Rockula, The Toxic Avenger Theme, maybe even Midnight Again (but not fuckin’ likely, not after Eric’s transgression) but this one’s asking a bit too much.
Now, if that was all, then maybe all could be forgiven. But that’s not all, because this song title doesn’t isn’t even the name of the movie. Now they say, at one point in the chorus, is there a Phantom of the Mall, but when it came to titling the track, they went ahead with Is There a Phantom IN the Mall?
And baby, that’s just not the title of this movie.
Call me a nitpicker. Call me a hair-splitter. Call me an imbecile for devoting so many pseudo-serious words in a comedically aggressive tone to one of the most inane topics for a full 10 years of my life.
That’s fair. You call me whatever you’d like. But facts is facts, Jack.
And while this is a shinning example of everything a Title Track could and should be in almost every sense of the word, it just ain’t a Title Track where it counts…the Title itself.
Later Eric. You almost had it.
All that being said, this a great Referentially Inclusive Almost Title Track that 100% deserves to be here today.
So go grab a hotdog on a stick and maybe even a gun, cause you’re at The Chopping Mall, and there’s a Phantom in there too, and his name is Eric, and he’s lookin for some revenge. Are you a phony security guard with an ostentatious dangly earring? Did you burn down his house just so you could put up the coolest mall the 80’s had to offer? Boy, I sure hope not.
Since last year’s countdown got cut a little short, we ended up with a couple Shindig debuts on Title Tracks Pt. 5. Let’s take a moment here to get some of those guys on the official roster, shall we?
First up is this banger from The Waters.
Now, I’m not 100% sure The Waters listed in the credits of Phantom of the Ritz are actually THE Waters. Ya know, like how it’s not really Ray Stevens or Paul Williams.
But if this really is THE Waters, then they were a family band from LA that mostly worked as backup singers to the stars. Oren Waters specifically sang for the likes of Michael Jackson, John Fogerty, Paul Simon, Neil Diamond and has personally been featured on over 100 platinum albums. Wild.
He’s even responsible for the vocals on the The Jefferson’s theme song, Movin’ On Up! I guess imagining they are The Waters from Phantom of the Ritz isn’t so out of the question after all.
Additionally, Oren and his sisters Maxine and Julia, all appear in the 2013 Academy Award winning documentary 20 Feet From Stardom, which shines a light on all the great backup singers and musicians responsible for so many famous hits over the years.
Unfortunately, they were more like 20 miles from stardom when the recorded the Title Track to this turkey.
Phantom of the Ritz is not entirely unenjoyable but it is definitely missable. That is, unless you’re this guy, who’s all about Phantom of the Opera interpretations. His write-up actually made me reconsider my stance on the film. He’s into it. Maybe I end to rewatch.
However you feel about this Phantom, I think it’s clear that he doesn’t deserve a Title Track of this caliber, cause it jams, and The Waters, professionals that they are, absolutely belt it.
Here’s it is, Graham’s pick for Title Track of the year: 2022, he’s the Phantom of the Ritz!
If you have a playlist where every 10th track is a Halloween Song, and you start a 31 song countdown on October 1st, it’s mathematically impossible to get that song to actually fall on Halloween. Well, without skipping a day of course, or not doing 31 songs.
Originally, this song was slated post last year on Oct. 30th and I had a whole spiel about math and tactics that unfortunately no longer applies, as this cleanup act from 2021 has shifted everything earlier.
No matter anymore I suppose, so I’ll just delete all that bullshit and talk about Seducer, a band that managed to miss out on our Heavy Metal Halloween in 2018. I should drop them onto that playlist though for sure.
As I’ve said in the past, these 80’s metal “Halloween” tracks are just falling off of pumpkin trucks it seems and I find new ones all the time. Hell, I think there’s a bunch more in the bullpen at this point, although I know several are “Something” Halloween, or Halloween Something. Impressive still, no doubt.
Not Seducerthough. Nope, they’re comin’ correct with this dinger from 1985’s Caught in the Act.
Accidents, departures and record company troubles ultimately lead Seducer to pack it up before they could turn their early career momentum into full blown notoriety.
They are still well regarded by fans of British New Wave Metal, and they’ll forever live on, however dubious the honor may be, as Heavy Metal Halloween Shindig heroes.
Lead in here with a little clip from 1964’s Witchcraft, starring Lon Chaney. That’s a fun one, if you’re into the style and era. I’m pretty sure Tubi’s got it right now, if you’re lookin’ for something festive for the evening.
Witchcraft is extra cool because of this fresh gimmickry: The Witch Deflector!
Here’s what the actual device looked like, and it’s pretty dope. One just went recently on eBay for a cool 100 buck, if you’re interested in holding it in your hands at all times.
Man, I wish they still did stuff like this at theaters. Honestly though, I’ll bet it would be something lame now even if they did.
Oh yeah, the song. Here’s Seducer!
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go start a Doom Metal band called Witch Deflector.
Here’s a song that’s been kicking around the bullpen for a while now, just waiting for some poor rookie left hander to get taken deep back to back in the 2nd.
Now, I’m not entirely sure that’s happened here, but in the middle of a metal run to Halloween seemed as good a time to drop this Halloween track from Blind Guardian.
Ah, Blind Guardian: the sorta band that’ll get you laughed outta the room in some circles and a get you fat lip for saying a disparaging word in the other.
However, before this operatic and somewhat silly German metal outfit went clean off the D&D deep end, they meted out some pretty by the numbers, if not exacting, speed metal.
And their first album, at least their first album as Blind Guardian (their original name was Lucifer’s Heritage…yeesh) feels largely indebted to their German power metal brothers, Helloween.
And much like Helloween, they’ve got a song about Halloween! Well, they say Halloween a lot , anyway. Additionally, the song was originally titled Halloween (The Wizard’s Crown) back on their old Lucifer’s Heritage Demo. So, what gives?
Well, when it came time to re-record the track for their proper debut, Battalions of Fear, they dropped the “Halloween,” kicked the parenthetical to the curb, and sent that “the” packing. A choice no doubt in an effort to differentiate their track from Helloween’s famous and similarly titled tune. A shame, really.
But, no matter. These are small potatoes in the grand scheme of things. Besides, when your chorus is just you shouting “Halloween” along with the song’s title, it’s water under the bridge really, and The Shindig is happy to have you, “Halloween” or not. You ain’t lockin’ down no 10-slot pullin’ that kinda bullshit, make no mistake, but you can bring up the rear, no problem.
This move (aside from relegating them to a 9er) did keep Blind Guardian out of the rotation for Shindig Radio’s Heavy Metal Halloween. Sure, I could have used the demo and even could have added it here, but frankly, I like the studio version more, titles be damned.
So, if you don’t like Blind Guardian, maybe give their early stuff a go. It’s certainly a little less over-the-top nerds in their Mom’s basement rolling 26-sided die.
So, here they are, on Halloween as it were, taking the crown from Thelemic Wizard Aliester Crowley. Or maybe Crowley’s taking the crown from some other wizard. I dunno, it’s a little unclear with these wizard dust ups. I just know, that allegedly anyway, it’s supposed to be about Aliester Crowley, in some regard. Which is always just a little creepy.
When it comes to moments that embody the 3 principle of The Shindig – Halloween, Horror and Music – nothing quite combines them all like Angela’s dance from the original Night of the Demons. Set as it is on Halloween and to Bauhaus’ Stigmata Martyr, you can read me drool over his classic moment here.
So when Brain Trenchard-Smith and company we’re asked to take a trip back to Hull House and to, hey, why don’t you
bring Amelia Kinkade along with you while you’re at it – fans assuredly wondered if Angela would dance again.
The answer was “yes.” And an empathic “yes” at that, as they upped the ante in a few way, as a sequel is wont to do.
First and foremost, they gave Angela a larger crowd. Secondly, they put her up on a table in front of a banner that says “Happy Halloween.” Thirdly, they gave her a dance partner in the form of beautiful, genre staple, Zoe Trilling. And lastly, they slapped a Morbid Angelsong on that motherfucker.
This dance however, is a microcosm of the film itself, at least in relation to the original Night of the Demons. Bigger doesn’t always mean better.
As a result, this dance (this scene…this movie) is less elegant, less important, less interesting, less sexy, less creepy and above all, less memorable.
But that won’t stop Morbid Angel from making the playlist. No way. Cause when you’re the backing track to any Angela dance sequence, you’re in.
Well, I shouldn’t say that, cause that song from Part 3 is absolutely atrocious and will never grace this playlist. I’m not even sure what the producers where thinking with that one. Was that the only song they could actually get the rights to play? Was it on some generic, royalty free CD they had lying around the editing bay? Had they never seen the other 2 Night of the Demons films? It’s almost laughable how at odds it is with the other 2 Angela tracks.
Then, there’s still the matter of the dance from the remake to consider, which despite my hesitance, has a couple compelling things going for it:
It still happens on Halloween.
Though played by Shannon Elizabeth, it’s still technically Angela and
It’s set to a Type O Negative song. A song which is already under yearly consideration for being a Halloween song in its own right.
However, despite all of that, and the fact that I’ve already included 45 Grave’s Title Track Night of the Demons from the very same film, I still don’t think Type O is making the cut. At least not this year. Sorry gang.
We’re not quite outta the old country just yet folks, cause here comes Mr. Italy himself, Dario Argento.
We’ve no doubt got some Dario fans with us today, and our next song indulges in his mid-career tendency to load his soundtracks with rocking 80’s metal.
This one hails from 1987’s Opera, which (for my money, anyway) is probably Argento’s last hurrah. His 12 year, 6 film run from Deep Red to Opera is one gnarly lineup. Those two, plus Suspira, Inferno, Tenebre, and Phenomena all make up the bulk of what Dario is best known for and it’s a hell of a run.
After that, it’s a hit or miss affair for me with Argento. No matter, because that Cal Ripken-like streak is more than enough for this fan. Anything after that is dude playing with house money as far as I’m concerned.
You add his early 70’s giallos like Four Flies on Grey Velvet and his rookie outing, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (a personal favorite) and the guy’s a monster. Hell, any 3 of those films is enough to put you at the top of the heap. Quite frankly Suspira alone gets the job done just fine.
But Opera is where the run comes to its end. It’s truly the last time I feel like you’re watching something wholly Dario, and it’s quite good. It’s got plenty of Dario’s trademark stylistic flare, one rockin’ soundtrack and some seriously gnarly kills.
Chief among them is the one he affords to his former lover, Ms. Daria Niccolodi. Her bullet through the peephole demise is as artistically rendered a murder as Dario (or anyone for that matter) has put to screen.
And that gif cuts out the coolest part! Oh well.
With so many good songs though, it was tough to choose just one to include, but this shredder from Swedish metal band Norden Light is probably my favorite.
Played just after costume designer Giulia gets a clothes smoother tossed into her back, but just before she can reveal the true identity of the killer, all while poor Betty has to watch with eyes pinned back…literally.
From their lone LP, Shadows from the Wilderness, here’s Norden Light assuring us all there is No Escape.
Living After Death by Al Festa & Maurizio Cerantola
Since we’re talking about the Zombie series, let’s jump to this “Almost a Title Track” from Claudio Fragasso’s Zombie 4: After Death.
Claudio’s directorial effort never quite hits those moments of gonzo joy on display in Zombie 3, but it’s certainly not the worst thing to carry the “Zombie” moniker. And it does have it’s predecessor licked in one very important department; and that’s the opening credit number.
If you thought Clue in the Crew were 80’s up wait til you get a load of Metropole keyboardist Al Festa and singer Maurizio Cerantola’s Living After Death.
IMDb, surprisingly, has a fair amount of information about Signore Cerantola. Seems he was in a Led Zeppelin tribute band called Custard Pie. Then after that, he fronted 2 separate Whitesnake cover bands, one of which was fantastically named Cover-Dale.
Well he’s got the pipes, that’s for sure, as he belts it out here on the kind of song you just wish was a true Title Track. All the hallmarks of the finest are on display. It’s was right there fellas, starrin’ ya in the gullet, all you had to do was grab it.
But alas, their synthy banger will need to be relegated to an Almost Title Tracks episode of Shindig Radio in the future.
As for Zombie 4…that 2nd “Hey, let’s just take a movie that’s not really a sequel to Zombie and call it one anyway” installment…what’s the old chestnut? Zombie 4 makes Zombie 3 look like Zombie 2? Perhaps that’s applicable.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Blue Heart sets ‘em up and the Shindig knocks ‘em down.
Here’s the somehow even more 80’s rocker Living After Death.
Let’s keep the Italian horror train rolling along with this little number, straight off of Blue Heart’s turntable, Clue in the Crew’s rocking Zombie-Bird Winnebago Attack/Sweet Song, The Sound of Fear.
The Lucio Fulci/Bruno Mattei/Claudio Fragasso mega-team up Zombie 3 delivers just about everything you’d expect outta that unholy and contentious alliance: Italian weirdness, synthy goodness, nonsensical plotting , machete-wielding, decapitated-head-flying zombie madness and generous amounts flagrant intellectual theft.
I mean, let’s start with that poster art alone. It’s straight up the Force: Five fist mixed with Freddy’s eyes from Dream Warriors and the lady’s face from the Absurd poster. If Stay The Night didn’t indicate the kind of shameless theft that’s rampant in Italian cinema, or just what kind is in store from Zombie 3, then this pilfery collage passed off as “promotional material” ought to give you an idea.
What was marketed as the second sequel to Romero’s Dawn of the Dead actually plays out more like Italy’s answer to Return of the Living Dead and I honestly don’t have 1 single problem with that.
You throw in radio DJ Blue Heart, straight rockin’ the Jose Canseco shades, pushing his ecological agenda alongside the hottest Phillipino tunes 1988 had to offer, and the Shindig is in Paradiso.
Here’s Clue in the Crew’s referentially inclusive, 80’ser-than-shit hit, The Sound of Fear.
Attentive Shindiggers will not doubt recognize this album cover, as we’ve long used this image from Luigi Cozzi’s Paganini Horror as a banner here on Halloween Shindig cause c’mon, look at that thing!
However, we have never taken a moment to talk about that film or add any of the songs from its soundtrack. So this year, we’re gonna change all that.
What’s most interesting about that poster image is that it existed before the story for Paganini Horrorwas even written. It’s almost assuredly why those two actors and that awesome skeleton man never shows up in the picture.
Looking to piggyback on the imminent success of Paganini, a biopic about the legendary Violinist being helmed by actor Klaus Kinski, our producers thought “Hey! We slap the word “horror”on that shit and I think we got a winner.”
Well, they were wrong. On both accounts.
Not only was Kinski’s Paganini not a hit, but the horror iteration became a mish mash of chefs spoiling the pot. The resulting film found little success with audiences.
Horror historian Louis Paul even noted
“Nobody likes Paganini Horror, Cozzi included.”
Well, i kinda like Paganini Horror. I don’t love it, but it looks real nice, there’s a dude with a switchblade violin, Donald Pleasence gets real weird…and then there this song: there’s Stay The Night.
Now, when it comes to blatant, shameless and completely unapologetic rip-offs, I don’t know if you can pull a bigger offender than Stay The Night.
And I mean seriously. Gangster Rock may sound like China Groove, but it’s a different song. Stay The Night, the other hand, is 100% You Give Love a Bad Name.
I have to imagine that neither John Bon Jovi nor Richie Sambora have ever heard this song. That’s conceivable. Paganini Horror wasn’t busting blocks. But I have to assume that someone…anyone…who even knew them remotely, heard this song and was like “Yo, John…you gotta hear this fuckin’ thing.”
One might then assume a lawsuit of some sort would have arisen, but nothing seems to have come from it. So, I’ll just say they’ve never heard it. Or maybe they just shrugged it off like good sports, cause much like the film, I doubt this song was padding anyone’s bank account either.
The fact still remains, that unless you’ve never once heard You Give Love a Bad Name, Stay the Night is one of the most overt rip-off’s of all time.
But maybe that’s part of the joke, as their producer certainly leans into what unoriginal, rehashed bullshit the band is pumping out these days. Boy, I’ll say.
Since Switchblade Violin Man never makes good with an actual Title Track, here’s the best song Paganini Horror…a movie specifically about a band…making a video…for their new song…called Paganini Horror…which is also spray painted on the set…sigh…is cranking out.
Bet you never thought you’d see Incubus on The Shindig, huh? Well, I certainly wouldn’t have ever added them, because I don’t like Incubus.
And if you don’t like Incubus either, then you’re in luck, because this isn’t that Incubus.
Nope. Just like any band post-1990, there’s probably 4 other bands that already held that name in the past. And such is the case for, the perhaps inappropriately named, Incubus.
No, this one comes from New Wave of British Heavy Metal outfit Incubus, and their sound is much more aligned with what you might expect from a band named Incubus. Not wholly, but certainly closer.
Now I’ll admit, this isn’t strictly a referential track, I don’t think. But what few lyrics we are given don’t not conjure images of the film.
Should it be added? I dunno. I like the tune, and since To The Devil a Daughter is technically a Halloween movie, we’re pickin’ em up!
I would also like to add that there is no shortage of metal songs called To The Devil a Daughter. In fact, Shindig-adjacent Wytchfynde actually have one as well. I say adjacent because that’s not a typo, as Wytchfyndewith two Y’s was an offshoot of Witchfynde (with an I) vocalist Luther Beltz when he left the band in 1999. However, Luther Beltz didn’t join Witchfynde until 1983’s Cloak and Dagger, the album after Stagefright from which the Shindigger Trick or Treat appears.
However, Luther’s era of Witchfynde sounds pretty different from our Witchfynde, which kinda make’s Luther’s Witchfynde a completely different band altogether than our Witchfynde, which would then make Wytchfynde with two Y’s even more different still. So much so that I probably shouldn’t have even mentioned them at all, but here we are.
Are any of those other To the Devil a Daughter songs more aligned to the film? Not sure. I didn’t really like any of them very much, or at least enough to really cross reference the lyrics. Wytchfynde’s didn’t seem particularly referential, and it was a newer cut, so I wasn’t too keen on the sound. So Incubus it is, names be damned.
We kinda blew our To the Daughter a Devil sample load on the Hallo’s Eve track, but we’ll still pepper in some here, cause hey, it seems a bit more appropriate than maybe it was there.
I love the Abominable Dr. Phibes. You should too! It’s a great old horror flick with a neat premise and a sinister performance from Vincent Price. Here he is hookin’ himself into his acoustic contraption which recreates his lost voice:
It’s also quite musical, as Dr. Anton Phibes plays a mean pipe organ and even built a full-on band of automatons that play tunes for him: Dr. Phibes’ Clockwork Wizards. Here they are just shreddin’:
For years I’ve felt bad that I’ve never included any of the music from the film, but it’s brand of old-time Hollywood scoring doesn’t really fit a playlist of this kind.
And sure, there’s plenty of songs out there called Dr. Phibes, but none of them have ever really jumped out at me until I found this one, from another New Wave of British Heavy Metal outfit: Angel Witch.
And this one rips. However, like some other Phibes-based songs, for some reason it’s also an instrumental. No one really wants to sing about the Old Doc it seems.
So, loaded up with some Phibes samples to set the appropriate mood, here comes Dr. Phibesby Angel Witch.
I have this thing, and it rules. Unfortunately, it’s goddamn giant and I don’t have any more wall space in The Hole for shit this big. Sorry also to my giant-ass Videodrome and Dracula AD posters.
In fact, just check out The Devil Rides Out, cause it rules.
Here’s what the actual device looked like, and it’s pretty dope. One just went recently on eBay for a cool 100 buck, if you’re interested in holding it in your hands at all times.
