Thursday, October 29, 2020

THROWBACK THURSDAY: Ghostly Voices from the 1930s


Five years ago in my Terrell's Tune-Up column, I spotlighted an album called Halloween Classics: Songs That Scared the Bloomers Off Your Great-Grandma. Besides boasting one of the coolest subtitles in the history of the recording industry

It featured songs, mostly from the 1930s, pertaining to ghosts, corpses, dancing skeletons and other spooky subjects. (Sorry, there were no songs about vampires, werewolves or zombies in this collection.)

Here are a few of my favorites from the album. (More can be found HERE)

Let's start with a morbid little Depression-era ditty called "It Must Be Swell To Be Laying Out Dead" by Alex Bartha's Hotel Traymore Orchestra:

Here's a guy named Putney Dandridge (1902-1946) performing a song called  "Skeleton in the Closet" from 1936:

Rudy Vallee sang this 1937 tribute to Anne Boleyn, one of Henry VIII's exes, called "With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm."

This one, by a band called The Prairie Ramblers, is called "Ghost in the Graveyard." It's from 1935.

Have a safe and terrifying Halloween.



Sunday, October 25, 2020

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST





Sunday, October 25, 2020
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrell(at)ksfr.org

Here's my playlist :

OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Stand by Your Ghoul by The Cavemen
Phantom Girl by The Breakers
One Dark Day by Dave Del Monte & The Cross Country Boys
Messed Up Mary by Muck & The Mires
Wooly Bully by Hasil Adkins
Cheater Bar by Mud City Manglers
Bottle Up and Go by The Mile Ends
My Daddy is a Vampire by The Meteors
Land of Spook by Drywall
(Background Music: Night Creature by The Run-a-ways)

The Night by Alien Space Kitchen
Haunt by Roky Erikson
Ghostified by Persian Claws
Empty Airport Lounge by Assignments
Dragstrip Riot by New Bomb Turks
All I See Are Bones by Lonesome Wyatt & The Holy Spooks
I Scare Myself by Johnny Casino
(Background Music: Cemetery Stomp by The Essex)

Jonathan Toledo by The Toll 
Murder in the Graveyard by Screaming’ Lord Sutch
Jack the Ripper by Los Peyotes
Vampires and Failures by Grandpaboy
La Llorona by Kid Congo Powers & The Pink Monkeybirds
Hearse With a Curse by Mr. Gasser & The Weirdos
I Walked with a Zombie by Dead City (with Cheetah Chrome) 
(Background Music: The Spook Walks by The Spooks)

The Halloween Parade by Jack Hardy
Halloween Parade by Lou Reed
I Hear Voices by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
Daniel Webster and The Devil by Big Daddy
The Ballad of Dwight Fry / Sun Arise by Alice Cooper
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

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Want to keep the party going after I sign off at midnight?
Go to The Big Enchilada Podcast which has hours and hours of music like this. CLICK HERE

Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast CLICK HERE

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

WACKY WEDNESDAY: Strolling With The Zombie


 Just a few days before Halloween, it's a good time to celebrate a ghoulishly catchy singalong written by the late Roky Erikson: "I Walked With a Zombie."

The song comes from Roky's classic horror era, when he was cranking out titles like "Bloody Hammer," "If You Have Ghosts" and "Don't Shake Me, Lucifer." (Although the original 1981 copy of The Evil One by Roky Erikson & The Aliens -- a cassette tape recording of my pal Alec's LP -- didn't have the song, subsequent CD releases do.

The title of the song comes from a 1943 movie directed by Jacques Tourneur for RKO. It's the tale of a nurse who "is hired to care for the wife of a sugar plantation owner, who has been acting strangely, on a Caribbean island." It's basically a rewrite of Charlotte Bronte's 1847 novel Jane Eyre. except it's set in the Caribbean.  And it's got zombies.

Here's the trailer for the movie:


Getting back to Roky's song, as I said above, this tune is a singalong. The lyrics are simple:

I walked with a zombie
I walked with a zombie
I walked with a zombie last night

It's so simple, other musicians found it easy to cover. Here are a few of those, starting with Jack Oblivian, who's leading some kind of zombie uprising on the streets of Memphis:


Mike Edison (The Raunch Hands, Edison Rocket Train, etc.) also walked with a zombie:


As did Cheetah Chrome, with the band Dead City, whose singer,  Joe Dias, took a few little liberties with the lyrics:


I hated the first cover of "Zombie" I heard. This was by R.E.M. for the 1990 Roky tribute album, Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye. Onenthing that pissed me off was when Michael went into a corny Boris Karloff imitation in one of the latter verses. When I reviewed the album for Terrell's Tune-up, I wrote something to the effect of "Michael Stipe never walked with no zombie. But Roky Erikson did."


And here's Roky's famous walk:


Have a safe and meaningful Halloween!



For more deep dives into songs, check out The Stephen W. Terrell Web Log Songbook

And if you like spooky music, check out the latest Big Enchilada podcast, Spooktacular 2020

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

BIG ENCHILADA 148: SPOOKTACULAR 2020

THE BIG ENCHILADA
 



Boo! Twelve years ago this month, I unleashed my very first podcast full of tacky Halloween humor, dumb audio clips and crazed ghoul-adjacent rock 'n' roll. The podcast quickly evolved into The Big Big Enchilada, and the Spooktacular became an annual monstrous tradition of terror. 

Remember, The Big Enchilada still is officially listed in the iTunes store. So go subscribe, if you haven't already (and please, gentle listeners, give me a five-star rating and review if you're so inclined.) Thanks. 

DOWNLOAD | SUBSCRIBE | MIXCLOUD FACEBOOK iTUNES! |


Mixcloud is now the official home of Radio Mutation

Here's the playlist:

(Background Music: Satan Takes a Holiday by Anton LaVey)
The Night by Alien Space Kitchen
Ghostified by Persian Claws
Goin' to a Graveyard by The Fuzztones
Phantom Girl by The Breakers
Vampire Twist by Brave Combo
Champagne Halloween by St. Paul & The Broken Bones

(Background Music: El Vampiro by El Vampiranos)
I Hear Voices by Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Shadow World by Undercover Bonobos
Wicked Wanda by The Monsters
Chillidos en la Noche by Los Eskeletos
Night of the Phantom by Larry & The Blue Notes
Land of Spook by Drywall
Ghost in My Boot by Johnny Foodstamp

(Background Music: Lost on Ghost Road by Torn Down Units)
My Daddy is a Vampire by The Meteors 
I'm Your Frankenstein by ChazDaddy
Vampires and Failures by Grandpaboy
Haunted by God by Lonesome Ghost
Stand by Your Ghoul by The Cavemen
(Background Music: It's a Scream (Halloween Mix) by Figures of Light (featuring DJ Chrisz)

Play it below:





Sunday, October 18, 2020

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST




Sunday, October 18, 2020
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrell(at)ksfr.org

Here's my playlist :

OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Superbird/Tricky Dick by Country Joe & The Fish
Welcome to My Nightmare by Alice Cooper
Something to Believe In by The Woggles
Give Me the Hammer by Mud City Manglers
Make My Move by Acid Fascists
Down Home Girl by The Mummies
It Came From Beyond by The Barbarellatones
(Background Music: Let’s Go Trippin’ by Dick Dale)

She Caught the Katie by Taj Mahal
Thinking ‘bout Me by Fuzzstainz
Teenage Lobotomy by The Ramones
Problem Child by Four More
Laserbrain by The Electric Mess
What Happened to Delila? by The Mekons
Hatt Slough Bridge Deathwish Trip by TAD
Surrender My Heart by Pussycat & The Dirty Johnsons
Let’s Do Wrong Tonight by Simon Stokes with with Annette Zilinskas,
(Background Music: Rokula by Los Straitjackets)

Cracklin’ Rosie by Shane MacGowan & The Popes
Non-State Actor by Soundgarden
Penetration by Iggy & The Stooges
$ I Got Money $ by Ghost Wolves
Black Diamond Express Train To Hell Part One by John Schooley & His One-Man Band
People Get Up and Drive Your Funky Soul by James Brown
Question of Life by Fishbone
Ya Ha Ba Be by Ana Threat 
Honey Don’t by The Beatles
(Background Music: Spooky Bongos by Beach Girls & The Monster)

How I Love You (I’m Telling’ the Birds and the Bees) by Loudon Wainwright III
I’ll Be Glad When You’re Dead You Rascal You by Dr. John
I’m Going to Give it to Mary With Love by Cliff Edwards 
Jack, You’re Dead by B.B. King
The Meanest Jukebox in Town by Alvin Youngblood Hart
In Tall Buildings by John Hartford
I Woke Up in a Fucked Up America by Lonnie Holley
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

Like the Terrell's Sound World Facebook page


Want to keep the party going after I sign off at midnight?
Go to The Big Enchilada Podcast which has hours and hours of music like this.

Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast CLICK HERE

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

  Sunday, March 24, 2024 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM, 101.1 FM  Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell E...