31 Days of Halloween - Day Thirty-One - HALLOWEEN - Ron Haydock

31 Days of Halloween

Day Thirty-One:

RON HAYDOCK - HALLOWEEN  

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYBODY!!! 

31 Days of Halloween - Day Thirty - Jackie Morningstar - Rockin' in the Graveyard

31 Days of Halloween

Day Thirty:

ROCKIN' IN THE GRAVEYARD

 Great rockin' fun set to the classic skeleton dance cartoon. 

31 Days of Halloween - Day Twenty-Nine - Frank Zappa - The World's Greatest Sinner

31 Days of Halloween

Day Twenty-Nine:

FRANK ZAPPA - THE WORLD'S GREATEST SINNER

Frank Zappa composed the score for this 1962 cult classic written by, directed by and starring Timothy Carey about an unhappy insurance salesman who starts band and eventually becomes a leader of his own cult. From there his downward spiral is inevitable as he's seducing women and going around saying he's God...you can guess it doesn't end well.  

 

31 Days of Halloween - Day Twenty-Eight - Los Vampiranos - El Vampiro

31 Days of Halloween

Day Twenty-Eight:

LOS VAMPIRANOS - EL VAMPIRO

Wicked wild surf for the season! 

31 Days of Halloween - Day Twenty-Seven - The Ghouls - Graveyard Shift

31 Days of Halloween

Day Twenty-Seven:

THE GHOULS - GRAVEYARD SHIFT

Nothing but silly fun complete with an imitation Dracula voice lead vocal. 

31 Days of Halloween - Day Twenty-Six - Larry and the Blue Notes

31 Days of Halloween

Day Twenty-Six:

LARRY AND THE BLUE NOTES - NIGHT OF THE SADIST

Out of the music mecca that is Fort Worth, Texas, Larry and the Blue Notes were best known for this creepily uptempo garage rock song. Two versions were recorded in 1965, neither released because of the fear that the word "sadist" would lessen the chance of airplay. They dubbed the word "phantom" anywhere the evil "s" word occurred in the song and released it as "Night of the Phantom" on Tiris Records later in 1965. Can you believe the word "sadist" used to be considered too offensive for radio?  In some ways, I long for that kind of vulnerability.

 

31 Days of Halloween - Day Twenty-Five - Curtis Knight - Voodoo Woman

31 Days of Halloween

Day Twenty-Five:

CURTIS KNIGHT - VOODOO WOMAN

I love this brooding number, brought to us by a guy who made a lot of his money also running prostitutes. He also came across a young Jimi Hendrix when they were staying the same hotel, who joined his band for a short time.

31 Days of Halloween - Day Twenty-Four - Louis Jordan - Somebody Done Hoodooed the Hoodoo Man

31 Days of Halloween

Day Twenty-Four:

LOUIS JORDAN - SOMEBODY DONE HOODOOED THE HOODOO MAN

 

 

31 Days of Halloween - Day Twenty-Three - LaVern Baker - Voodoo

31 Days of Halloween

Day Twenty-Three:

LAVERN BAKER - VOODOO

Not all Halloween songs are about ghouls and goblins, Draculas and Vampiras, or werewolves or devils or demons. Some are about something much, much more common: evil boys. 

 

31 Days of Halloween - Day Twenty-Two - The Frantics - Werewolf

31 Days of Halloween

Day Twenty-Two:

THE FRANTICS - WEREWOLF

Awesome instrumental. Enjoy after dark.

31 Days of Halloween - Day Twenty-One - Round Robin - I'm the Wolf Man

31 Days of Halloween

Day Twenty-One: 

ROUND ROBIN - I'M THE WOLF MAN

 I like this one! Apparently there is some internet dispute on who actually is singing but to be honest I had never heard this song until right now so I have absolutely no idea on the subject. I am glad I came across this, it's definitely going to show up on the ROCK SEXY Halloween episode next week.

 

31 Days of Halloween - Day Twenty - Scottie Stuart - Nightmare

31 Days of Halloween

Day Twenty:

SCOTTIE STUART - NIGHTMARE

 Boss early 1960 rock and roll! I've heard at least one cover version. 

31 Days of Halloween - Day Nineteen - Fats Waller - There's Gonna Be the Devil to Pay

31 Days of Halloween

Day Nineteen:

FATS WALLER - THERE'S GONNA BE THE DEVIL TO PAY

  

The third installment of the cautionary tale rock set of this series is the great Fats Waller, taking it back to the roaring twenties, and the, well, what did they call the thirties? No matter I suppose, because it was never this fun being warned..."you can go to church on Sunday, you can wash your sins away, but if you're only good on one day..." you get the idea. 

 

31 Days of Halloween - Day Eighteen - Gin Gillette - Train to Satanville

31 Days of Halloween

Day Eighteen:

GIN GILETTE - TRAIN TO SATANVILLE

Another rare rockabilly tale of caution, in this one a sinner dreams of a fiery train picking up passengers and taking them to hell. When he wakes up he realizes the error of his ways and is ultimately able to make amends before his demise...but it still sounds eerie as hell! Like Freddie and the Hitch-hikers, this 45 is extremely rare. A copy was sold in 2012 for almost $300.

 

31 Days of Halloween - Day Seventeen - Freddie and the Hitchhikers - Sinners

31 Days of Halloween

Day Seventeen:

 FREDDIE AND THE HITCHHIKERS - SINNERS

From 1961, possibly the first rock and roll record to feature a theremin? Featured on the Sin Alley compilation, this creepy gem is a warning for those that misbehave. A copy of the original 45 was sold last year on Ebay for $536, making me all the more grateful it has been made available to us via compilations.

31 Days of Halloween - Day Sixteen - Tarantula Ghoul - Graveyard Rock

31 Days of Halloween

Day Sixteen:

Tarantula Ghoul and her Gravediggers - Graveyard Rock

Here's a fun one! Tarantula Ghoul was a TV personality in Portland, the vampy master of ceremonies for KPTV's House of Horror from 1957-1959. Her fans affectionately referred to her as "Taranch." 

 Suzanne Waldron was her real name. 

Sadly there is not any footage of the show that survived, only some articles and a couple recordings of some horror-themed Halloween novelty songs. 

 According to her son, House of Horrors ended when she got pregnant. She was not married yet and in 1959, it was just not a good thing. She continued to work in commercial and theater though the 1970's. She died in 1982 of cancer, just shy of her 50th birthday. 

I wish we had vampy TV hosts now. I'd actually watch TV if Tarantula Ghoul and Vampira (or someone like them) were hosting horror themed TV shows. 

31 Days of Halloween - Day Fifteen - Danny Ware - The Zombie Stomp

31 Days of Halloween

 Day Fifteen:
Danny Ware - The Zombie Stomp

 Tis the season for Zombie-stomping!

31 Days of Halloween - Day Fourteen - Skip Manning - Devil Blues

31 Days of Halloween

Day Fourteen: 

SKIP MANNING - DEVIL BLUES 

This song is so cool its hot. Eerie and fun, the perfect addition for any Halloween soundtrack. 

This dancer is the A-side! To me it doesn't even sound like the same person. 

31 Days of Halloween - Day Thirteen - The Poets - Dead

31 Days of Halloween

Day Thirteen:

THE POETS - DEAD

 Super fun Halloween doo-wop with appearances by Dracula,Vampira and more. 

This one's a groover!

31 Days of Halloween - Day Twelve - Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I Put a Spell on You

31 Days of Halloween

Day Twelve:

SCREAMIN' JAY HAWKINS - I PUT A SPELL ON YOU

No one is quite like Screamin' Jay and no one ever will be. So over the top, so dramatic, so entertaining! The best known version of this song written by Screamin' Jay Hawkins was recorded in 1956. His subsequent performances featured him rising out of coffins, wearing capes and accompanied by a cigarette smoking skull. The video here is from 1990, proving that 34 years later, he still had it raw. 

And if you are a 90's child, there's a chance this could have been your first exposure to the song:

31 Days of Halloween - Day Eleven - The Cramps - I Ain't Nothing But a Gorehound

31 Days of Halloween

Day Eleven:

THE CRAMPS - I AIN'T NUTHIN BUT A GOREHOUND

Well, I don't know about art but I know what I like...

Ah, The Cramps, it was only a matter of time before they showed up in the 31 Days of Halloween. Another band with a no shortage of Halloween appropriate songs, some might make the argument that almost any of their songs are appropriate for such an occasion. This one is pretty obvious. Here's a cool video out there from a 1983 performance at St. Andrew's Hall in Detroit (I saw Turbonegro in that venue a mere 20 years later) doing the song that boasts "even the devil gets dizzy at the stuff I dig" and "I'll be a-surfin' in your blood on a Saturday night."

FOR THE SOFTER SIDE
Check out this 1998 interview from Independent of how best rock and roll couple of all time met.
HOW WE MET - POISON IVY AND LUX INTERIOR

<3  RIP LUX  <3 

31 Days of Halloween - Day Ten - Roky Erickson - I Walked With a Zombie

31 Days of Halloween

Day Ten:

ROKY ERICKSON - I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE

There's plenty of Roky material that's appropriate for Halloween, many from the record "The Evil One," surprise surprise. Though himself not evil (good bad, he's not evil) he was subjected to mistreatment at a Texas mental hospital in the late 1960's and early 70's that caused many problems for him. If it weren't for the fact that his brother took over his guardianship in 2001 this story might have been much more sad, but Roky still tours to this day. Check out this documentary if you want the whole story.

31 Days of Halloween - Day Nine - Roy Fox - The House is Haunted

31 Days of Halloween

Day Nine:

ROY FOX - THE HOUSE IS HAUNTED

Super creepy sounding but the lyrics are so sweet. From 1934, it's sounds like it, it's great. 

For extra fun, check this out:

31 Days of Halloween - Day Eight - Cab Calloway - Ghost of Smokey Joe

31 Days of Halloween

Day Eight:

CAB CALLOWAY - GHOST OF SMOKEY JOE

"I got a date on my estate down in Hades!"

31 Days of Halloween - Day Seven - Victoria Spivey "Spider Web of Blues"

31 Days of Halloween

Day Seven:

VICTORIA SPIVEY - SPIDER WEB OF BLUES

Here's an eerie ditty I learned about last year when compiling Part One of my third annual ROCK SEXY HALLOWEEN episode. Nothing gives me the chills like these primitive, early-mid century songs that could have been out of the stone age for all we know. Let alone I have a beautiful spider with the most magnificent web living outside my porch door at this very moment. October!

31 Days of Halloween - Day Six - Kid Thomas "The Wolf Pack"

31 Days of Halloween

Day Six:

THE WOLF PACK - KID THOMAS

OOh another groovy wolf tune! I had to do it in three's, you know. This 1957 R&B groover is kind of creepy, he's howling at your door for goodness sake! Wolves=Halloween.

31 Days of Halloween - Day Five - Lord Dent and His Invaders "Wolf Call"

31 Days of Halloween

Day Five:

WOLF CALL - LORD DENT AND HIS INVADERS

While we're on the subject of wolves I thought I'd pull this one out of the box. Sure, it's not a "Halloween" song per say, but it does talk about wolves, or their calls, anyway. And wolves are for Halloween. Plus the song is a top choice, prime rib sexy-saxy groover. Besides "wolf call" sounds much cooler than "cat call" any time of the year.

31 Days of Halloween - Day Four - The Frantics 'Werewolf"

31 Days of Halloween

Day Four:

WEREWOLF - THE FRANTICS

Fantastic, creepy instrumental from late 1950's Seattle band The Frantics, aka The Four Frantics.

31 Days of Halloween - Day Three - Cris Kevin "Haunted House"

31 Days of Halloween

Day Three:

HAUNTED HOUSE - CRIS KEVIN

Here's a classic Halloween song! Stay stay away when the ghosts and the goblins play, advice I could certainly heed every now and then. This one's a nice rockabilly horror bop to get you in the mood. Innocent fun with ghosts, goblins, witches, zombies, Mr. Halloween himself, and many others - this  is what Halloween is all about!

31 Days of Halloween - Day Two - Eartha Kitt "I Want to be Evil"

31 Days of Halloween

Day Two:

EARTHA KITT - I Want to be Evil

This is one of my FAVES, so much so that I was going to save it for later but then I was like no, don't wait. 

Don't make the people wait

31 Days of Halloween - Day One - Bo Diddley "The Mummy Walk"

Hi there!

I'll be posting some of my favorite Halloween-ish songs every day for the month of October, also known as Rocktober. I am technically 50 minutes late for October 1st, in the eastern time zone anyway, but I stay up late so it still counts. I hope you enjoy the selections to come this month! I'll also be posting them on my Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter pages.

31 Days of Halloween

Day One:

BO DIDDLEY - The Mummy Walk

Hmm, so I am trying to figure out what the Mummy Walk is a euphemism for. Is it that obvious?