While the George Romero Dead series is obviously near and dear to our hearts, let us not forget the John Russo side of the house–he who gave us the excellent, original Return of the Living Dead. Along those lines, we have the band Zombies! Organize!! and their track based on the film, “Trioxin.”
So there are a ton of instrumental songs whose tenuous connection to Halloween is only the title. However, tonight’s music pick from 1961, “Night of the Vampire” by The Moontrekkers, suffers no such problems. Listen for yourself.
Then we come to another episode of the old-time radio horror show, The Weird Circle. This episode, from 1943, is based on “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Poe. It’s story that may make even you feel better about your existing family relationships.
Lastly, we come to The Beast With Five Fingers from 1946. So, you know it’s never a good start when a horror movie features a not-well person who is talking about their will. Because where there’s a will, there are people who really to see it. And because this is a horror movie, prepared to die to get people out of their way for it. Enjoy.
First, we go to the band Baroness and their excellent double album, Yellow & Green. It’s “Board Up the House.” And working on a massive Halloween playlist over in Spotify has brought something important to light: just because a song has something Halloweeny-sounding in its title, doesn’t mean it’s a very Halloweeny song. So check the lyrics. For example, Matt Pond PA has a song called “Halloween.” It’s not very Halloween-y. Don’t get me wrong. It’s a damn good song.
So somebody might say the same about “Board Up the House.” It’s not overtly Halloweeny, no. But once you read the lyrics, there’s just this sinister undercurrent that gives me the heebie jeebies. Something’s going on in there, and it ain’t good. But the song sure is.
As we round the corner of a circle which leads toward the inevitable First Halloween of 2019, we pause for a musical interlude from 1937. It’s “With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm” by Rudy Vallee & His Connecticut Yankees. You should know your English history, but just in case you don’t, the song sort of explains itself as it goes along.
Yes, if I was being menaced by Lon Chaney Jr’s disembodied, floating head, I’d probably pull a sword on it too. But more on that in a moment.
Tonight, we begin with a lovely ballad about the end of the world from The Misfits. This is “Hunting Humans,” from their 1999 album, Famous Monsters. What side is the singer/protagonist on? Who can say?
Today’s musical selection is from 1983: “Surf Bat” by 45 Grave. There are, of course, many great stories of how bands got their names. Their story is one of the best I’ve heard in quite a while. Don Bolles said in an interview over at Victim of Time that bandmate Paul Cutler had gotten him a gift at a thrift store. A giant button with a slogan on it.
It said “We Dig” and a huge number “45” and underneath it said “grave.” WE DIG 45 GRAVE. I said what? I’m just lookin’ at this thing like it’s this mystical object from space. We were laughing our asses off! ‘What the hell is this?’ … And I said, obviously this…obviously 45 Grave is now the name of our new band and this is obviously our 1st fan club button. And everyone said yes, of course, obviously.
Fantastic. So…”Surf Bat.”
So today we kick off with a #TrackoftheDay that’s mainly Halloweenish by association. Yes, you may recognize this song–it was covered by INXS for The Lost Boys. But “Good Times” originated back in 1968 with another Australian band, The Easybeats. Both versions have their merits, but for tonight, here’s the original.
Yes, before we get to our silent film featured tonight, our 32 Days of Halloween tram stops to check out this 1971 live performance of “Witch Queen of New Orleans” from Redbone. You might know them as the people who brought you “Come and Get Your Love” from Guardians of the Galaxy, but they have a lot more to offer. Enjoy this.
Today’s Halloween festivities begin with the Canadian band (though it’s more recently into a band of one), Zombie Girl. I’ve actually had this on my computer for quite some time and I do enjoy it for more than just this time of year. Then again, this time of year for me is all year round…but you get what I mean. This is from their EP, Back From the Dead.
So Krispy Kreme have gotten into the spirit of the season by offering up three decorated Monster Doughnuts. They spell it “Doughnuts,” I usually spell it “Donuts,” let’s call the whole thing off. Anyway, I felt compelled to due my Halloween duties and try them out. And if you think I used this as an excuse to buy Krispy Kremes, well…you’re not wrong.
Don’t be worried that they’ve gone and done something outlandish. Two of them are easily recognizable. The orange one, “Hypno-Henry, The Cake Batter Monster,” is basically a decorated doughnut filled with their cake batter filling (which they’ve offered before). The mummy is “Mumford, the Mummy Monster,” which is basically a regular glazed donut with some decoration on it. All three Monster Doughnuts have eyes (and in some cases mouths) made of pure solid sugar. This is for those of you who feel like eating a Krispy Kreme doughnut isn’t blood sugar level destroying enough. So business as usual thus far, but…it’s the third one that bears some explanation.
