A Graveyard Smash
An Unusual Halloween Playlist For The Vocal Challenge
A Graveyard Smash , is taken from Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt Kickers 1962 Hit “Monster Mash” , more Abbott and Costello than Bela Lugosi. So here is mine, I hope there will be nothing too obvious in here , so this is unlikely to be a winner as no Halloween DJ will have heard of any of these artists (well maybe) , but the records , I am not sure.
I was originally thinking of doing this as a poem , but I can say enough about most of the songs and hope I have shared at least one you have never heard of
So here we go.
John Carpenter - Halloween
An appropriate start , Carpenter as well as being a great director is a master minimalist composer who does most of his own film themes.Check out his other compositions and he does tours with a band.
Bonzo Dog Band - Eleven Moustachioed Daughters
They also covered Monster Mash , and had a song pon their first album called “Look Out There’s A Monster Coming” but this is a bit more edgy . The version I have included is by Viv Stanshall and BiG Grunt
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
Very ominous , and very grave yardy and very metal . Ozzy and his pals .
Uriah Heep - Rainbow Demon
From the Demons and Wizards album , the first band I saw live at Preston Public Hall in about 1972 . It’s now been turned into a Wetherspoons , now that is a nightmare.
Pitbull Daycare - You Make Me Feel So Dead
From the film "Saw" , which was a bit over the top for me , but I do love the menace in this song.
David Shire - Night on Disco Mountain
And where would you find this? On the soundtrack to "Saturday Night Fever" , a valiant attempt to fuse Modest Mussorgsky's "Night on Bare Mountain" with a disco beat , possibly fails but it's a fun failure.
Bad Pollyanna - Monstrous Child
Bad Pollyana are an EMO / Goth band I have seen many times , almost innocent horror. ANd they are from Huddersfield!!
White Noise - Black Mass:An Electric Storm In Hell
A band featuring the electronic music pioneer Delia Derbyshire (remember the original Doctor Who Theme) and she was a part composer of this closer to the “Electric Storm” album.
Blue Oyster Cult - Joan Crawford Has Risen From The Grave
There are a lot of Blue Oyster Cult songs I could have included (“Don’t Fear The Reaper” , “Nosferatu” and more) but this gets in with the title alone and that gorgeous gothic piano intro
Alice Cooper - The Ballad of Dwight Fry
Again there are a lot of Alice Cooper songs I could have included , but this is one one the band’s most disturbing with Vincent Furnier’s almost spoken delivery taking on the character of a possible child murderer.
CW Stoneking - Zombie
CW Stoneking sounds like someone from thirties New Orleans with his drawl , but he is Australian. Seen him live many times.
Come To The Sabbat - Black Widow
The only song I know of theirs, they were a rock band that formed in Leicester, England in 1969. The band were mostly known for their early use of Satanic and occult imagery in their music and stage act.
Black Widow Spider - Dr John
Doctor John’s New Orleans Hypnotic Voodoo Gumbo is sometimes very disturbing , but one of my favourite artists , and Spiders belong to Halloween.
Black Magic Woman - Santana
It’s a Peter Green song but I have a Fleetwood Mac song about a witch next and Santana’s version is acceptable.
Rhiannon - Fleetwood Mac
Stevie Nicks song about a Welsh Witch , good enough reason to include it
Season of The Witch - Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and The Trinity
A wonderful Donovan Leitch song , covered so many times, This is one of the most impressive.
Witch Queen of New Orleans - Redbone
In Dr John territory , gumbo voodoo vibes
The Witch - Rattles
Intense performance from I believe a German band , and a great video
Hammer Horror - Kate Bush
Not sure how many people will include this wonderful Gothic slice of music in their playlists, but it is an excellent record.
O Fortuna from Carmina Burana - Carl Orff
Carmina Burana by Carl Orff is probably my favourite piece of Classical Music , and the opener “O Fortuna” is positively apocalyptic, and a great way to finish this Halloween Vocal playlist., well it is in my opinion, though yours may differ.
Keep reading
More stories from Mike Singleton - Mikeydred and writers in Beat and other communities.
Workingmen's Dead
A lot of people have heard of the Grateful Dead , but know nothing of the band and know nothing of their songs. There are also a lot of people who have never heard of the band at all, which give the sheer size of their following , the Dead Heads, is at least a bit of a mystery.
By Mike Singleton - Mikeydred3 years ago in Beat
Frankie's Song of the Week: Espresso - Sabrina Carpenter
A little something different from me while I deal with the strain of writers block. I thought I'd do a song of the week, because I have been surely annoying my neighbours and my friends with this absolute musical GEM. I am of course talking about Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter.
By Frankie Martinelli4 days ago in Beat
KINGYADDA: A Journey from Orange County to Compton, A Decade in Music
From the sun-drenched streets of Orange County to the gritty neighborhoods of Compton, KINGYADDA's journey through music has been as diverse and dynamic as the landscapes that shaped him. Born on July 30th, 1995, in the heart of California, KINGYADDA's passion for music ignited at a tender age, setting him on a path that would define his life for the next 12 years.
By VocalMedia Editor's7 days ago in Beat
Comments (1)
I can’t believe I missed this when you originally published it. Love the music in this list.