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Monsters and Music
I’ve always enjoyed Halloween so I thought I would start a thread to celebrate and honor all the great songs and traditions of this spooky holiday. Do you observe Halloween in your area? Do you have Halloween traditions? Do you pass out treats or go to Halloween parties? Let’s celebrate by sharing Halloween stories or just spooky or scary experiences. Also share your favorite songs about Halloween, monsters, psycho killers or anything spooky or scary. There are a lot of great songs and movie clips if you think about it. I will start with one classic song and one of my favorite monster songs.
https://youtu.be/5jV-E09efRE?feature=shared Sheb Wooley was an American actor known best as Pete Nolan on the western TV series Wagon Train. He was also a singer, songwriter known best for the monster hit Purple People Eater.
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134 Replies
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One of my favorite “monster ” songs, Godzilla by Blue Oyster Cult
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Tim
I like this monster video! Those old 60s/70s special effects were something else in the day when I use to watch these. Godzilla vs Rodan, Godzilla vs the 3 headed monster. Now Godzilla vs King Kong was the ultimate like Ali vs Frazier Thrilla in Manila! Godzilla kind of looks cute here. I always liked his bad breath that could melt steel bridges and towers.
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Jung,
I think the video is a mix of the old original Japanese made low budget effects and some of the effects made for the newer remake film. I prefer the old special effects, they are quirky and funny. I remember watching some of the early original Godzilla movies and easily noticing the buildings were doll house type creations and little diecast Matchbox type cars. I like the horror movies where you can see the zippers and stitching in the costumes. Back in the day when I was a kid, the old horror shows were scary to me but now they are quite funny.
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One of the coolest “monster” songs ever. The late great Warren Zevon and Werewolves of London.
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Ed Gein was a real life monster, a psycho killer and grave robber who inspired (doesn’t seem like the right word) a few Hollywood horror movies including Psycho and Deranged. He was from my neck of the woods in Plainfield Wisconsin USA. A small farming community where everyone knew everyone else including Ed Gein. He was a little ahead of my time but I heard plenty of stories about him, some fabricated but some stories were true. One particular story I read in a book was how Ed was a friendly and cordial neighbor who would often share gifts of venison (deer meat) with his neighbors. After he was caught and arrested and all the facts became public knowledge, there was evidence of human body parts in his refrigerator and a human heart in a pan on his stove. People then realized Ed was one of only a few men in town that didn’t hunt deer. It was one of the reasons he was caught and convicted of killing a female hardware store owner. He had stopped there during deer hunting season to buy something and police found the receipt.
So what was in the packages of venison he gave to his neighbors? Sickening but true. I have been in the town of Plainfield a few times and it always gives me a weird feeling, like his spirit is still there. If you are interested, read his Wikipedia biography. A strange man and real life monster.
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This is the nightmare-inducing theme song from a Saturday morning TV show I watched when I was a little kid:
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David, I don’t remember that show or at least don’t remember watching it. I can see how it would induce nightmares. It’s funny but I enjoyed shows like The Munsters or The Adams Family but the ones that freaked me out were the ones with clowns like Bozo or Captain Kamgaroo.
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I enjoyed the Munsters and the Addams Family too, Tim. I guess the laugh track kept the viewing experience “safe”.
There were some things about Captain Kangaroo that really disturbed me. For example, what was the source of those ping pong balls that Mr. Moose always mentally summoned to fall on the Captain’s head? And that big black circle beneath Dancing Bear’s eyes: was that supposed to be a nose, or a mouth frozen in a perpetual expression of horror?
Fun fact: I don’t know if you noticed it in the credits, but the protagonist on Lidsville was played by Butch Patrick, a.k.a. Eddie Munster.
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David, I liked the Captain Kangaroo show but like you it was the rabbit, Mr. Moose and the Dancing Bear that were disturbing. Bill Cosby also played some bit parts on that show that are kind of disturbing now, Lol. I did notice Butch Patrick’s name on the credits. About a month ago was the very popular Iola Car Show in Iola WI. It’s one of the oldest and biggest car shows in the upper midwest. Two of the celebrity guests this year were Butch Patrick and Jerry Mathers (Beaver Cleaver). I didn’t go this year but have gone in the past and some friends went this year and got pic’s and autographs. Mather’s charged money for his but Butch’s were free. The said he was very friendly to the fans.
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David, this is Butch Patrick at the cars show in Iola Wisconsin this summer. From left is my nephew Chuck and his wife April, My niece Wanitta (Chuck’s sister) and Butch. He brought Grandpa Munster’s coffin Dragster to the car show. I wished I would have went this year.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by Tim Arnold.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by
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Neat, Tim! My brother and his daughter met Butch Patrick a few years ago at a comic con. He signed her box of Lidsville DVD’s, and seemed happy to be recognized for a role besides Eddie Munster. Oh, and in between the Munsters and Lidsville he starred in the Christmas episode of the Monkees.
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I like this video and this version of the theme to The Munsters television series.
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I’m only seeming to come up with things from my childhood, but I guess that makes sense because your threshold of fear is lower as a kid. Here’s one from the Electric Company (twice in a row for some reason):
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I think you are a few years younger than me David, I remember the names of these TV shows but I grew up before the educational TV shows were popular on PBS. When I was little our TV reception was limited to CBS from La Crosse WI or NBC from Eau Claire WI, and then sometimes we would have to go up on the roof and turn the antennae to get a clearer picture, Lol. I’m afraid the children’s programming was limited to Saturday morning cartoons that are now deemed unfit for kids, Looney Toons, Tom and Jerry, Yogi Bear, all the classics. Sometimes during the holidays they would air children’s shows in the evening, mostly Charlie Brown specials like The Great Pumpkin.
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Whenever I feel sad that I just missed out on the music of the 60’s, I remind myself that my generation had the most imaginative children’s programming to watch on TV: Sesame Street, the Electric Company, the Krofft brothers shows, Schoolhouse Rock, etc. I believe it was the last gasp of the 60’s mindset being brought to bear on a new demographic, and I think it shaped me just as deeply as the Beatles shaped the boomers. Which explains why I mention it so much!
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Lol… Purple People Eater….I’ve been teased in a fin way about that song eing my theme song as I love the colour Purple… it’s my trademark ….lol..
I grew up across 3 cemeteries, one of which some family are buried there, my late parents included.
And at Halloween I was never keen on that fact, as my 2 older brothers insisted that ghosts were going to come over to our house to haunt…. I don’t care too much for Halloween or Horror Movies , unless they are comedy stuff… I get anxiety/panic attacks so watching Horror/Halloween in general, I don’t care for, and the fact I’m somewhat genuinely psychic in terms/regards to ghosts, spirits, etc and have experienced physical issues , stemming from thos, that cements my psychic abilities /belief in that realm ( please don’t laugh or make light of it, as it’s not an awareness, I’m exactly happy to posess , though it is kind of fascinating at same token but the anxiety,etc, it causes me to experience, not pleasant ) I only mention this fact of me because it’s a Halloween related theme. I do know there are nob-believers/skeptics out there but nit in my family, I have relatives whom share this awareness to that I gave, moreso on my late Mom’s side of family then my late Dad’s…🎃👻
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Jacki, I would never intentionally belittle anyone for any of their conditions or beliefs, and if I do I hope you scold me good. I had the bejeezes scared out of me plenty of times when I was a kid, mostly by my older relatives. There was an old lady that lived down the road that always dressed as a witch for Halloween. She didn’t need make up, just her black dress and hat. She wore little round glasses and a big hooked nose (real). She walked bent over and naturally spoke like a witch. She was in her 80’s when I first met her. We trick or treated her house and when she opened the door I took off running for home. I never went back until I was older. I found out that was the best place to stop and we always made it our last stop because she always fed us cookies, caramel apples and played games. We never felt like eating anymore candy after leaving her house, our bellies were full. She was so much fun. Later, I married her great grand daughter. She lived to be 107 and lived her last 10 years in a nursing home still very spry. She had a small refrigerator in her room and always kept a 6 pack of Blatz beer in it. When I and my wife would visit, Granny Peck would yell (She was hard of hearing) “Do you want a beer Arnold, well grab one for both of us”. She knew I was an Arnold but couldn’t remember which one, Lol. Great old lady, I miss her.
I don’t really like the scary movies either. I like the old campy Hollywood movies from the 40’s and 50’s where you can tell it’s all fake and the old special effects. I hope you have a great and fun Halloween. I enjoy reading all of your groovy posts and enjoyed your video question at the livestream, take care.
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Hi Tim,
when I was a kid, Halloween was a strange tradition celebrated somewhere far, far away 😄. In the meantime, the Halloween wave has also reached us.
As far as I know, this tradition originally comes from Ireland and is of Celtic origin. I did a little research: Samhain was celebrated as one of the four major festivals in the Celtic calendar at the end of summer. In the minds of the Celts, the dead returned that one evening. The strong influence of sweets and dressing up – to scare away the dead with evil intentions – is also rooted in this idea.
In our country, evil spirits are traditionally driven away on carnival day so that they do not destroy the coming harvest. And the good spirits should be awakened so that spring comes. This is in the period before Easter, i.e. sometime in February and March ( also called „Fasching“ in southern Germany and Austria).
But it’ll still be a while until then, so back to Halloween. Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” always comes to mind. I like his weird films.
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However, I like Tim Burton’s “Corpse Bride” best. It also fits well with this topic.
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Jurgen, I love both of those Tim Burton animations, especially the second one. I’ve never seen that one before. I like when they are using the skeletons and bones for instruments. His animations are both genius and wacky at the same time. Crazy good, thanks.
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Jurgen, this one was a YouTube recommendation after your Tim Burton video. I kind of forgot about these guys. I loved them when they first came out. They were so different. Maybe not the best musically but they were loud and crazy and when you are a teenager and the music you listen to shocks your parents and your teachers then it is very cool.
https://youtu.be/rRXx5hfk58M?feature=shared
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This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by Tim Arnold.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by
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Tim, I didn’t like Kiss that much back then. Glitter Rock (or Glam Rock) wasn’t my era of music (Hard Rock was). But you are right: they were the appropriate means to shock the parents (some of my teachers were late ’68 generation, you couldn’t shock them with something like that) and „I was made for loving you“ is still a cool song that I enjoy listening to today. The band’s make-up was also very popular in the 80s as a carnival mask. I have no idea whether that kept away the evil spirits 🙂
Below maybe a nice song to ring in Halloween. I tried to understand the lyrics, but I couldn’t get any results. Maybe you have an idea.
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Hi Jurgen
I like all the posts, thanks. I’m a big AC/DC fan, especially their early stuff with Bon Scott as lead vocalist and lyricist. Here is one that Bon penned that gets right to the heart of this Horror theme. It supposedly inspired the serial killer Richard Ramirez (The Nightstalker) and urged Congress to make warning labels for graphic lyrics mandatory. It’s best to listen to this song at midnight with the lights down low and the door unlocked, if you dare.
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Tim, I also liked Bon Scott better as the singer of AC/DC. I still remember when “A touch too much” came out (my first touch with AC/DC), I was in seventh grade. It was exactly the right music to break away from the listening habits and music of my parents’ generation. If you would only knew what kind of music was played on the radio in our country in the 60s and 70s. You wouldn’t believe it. In hindsight, that’s really scary. So back to the good old days, when Halloween was largely unknown to us, but this band wasn’t:
PS: Thanks for the pictures. The girls’ Kiss outfit is really hot. And also the Playstation guitars ha, ha.
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Hi Jurgen, I love all the posts. One of the things I am liking about this thread and the other music based forum threads is listening to a lot of songs that I haven’t heard in a long time. I look through a lot of great songs and videos finding ones to post and man, there are so many great ones. I love Touch Too Much and all the Bon Scott records. It’s a shame he died just when they were on the brink of becoming world famous but somehow I couldn’t see Bon as an 80 year old rock star like Paul and Ringo or Mick and Keith. Here’s another Bon Scott AC/DC bloody treat.
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Jurgen
The KISS make up is still a popular Halloween costume in my area, This is my niece Sierra and 3 classmates from a couple years ago and the other is a nephew named Carter. From last year
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I remember Tim’s stuff – I still like Blue Oyster Cult, I was listening to them the other day. That was a band that could rock out, and they were great live. Some people only heard their later stuff where they had a few commercial hits, but their early stuff was great.
David, I’m impressed at your ability to come up with stuff that I don’t know. I remember my youngest sister watching Sesame Street and that kind of educational thing, but she was a lot younger than me, so maybe that’s it.
Jürgen, I never heard of either of yours. But like you said, it’s a different tradition. I’m over half German ancestry and the rest is mostly Irish, and I never heard of those traditions you mentioned. All of my great grandparents were born in Europe, but that was a while ago.
Here’s one for your neighbor Tim:
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Chris, yeah I’ve always liked Blue Oyster Cult. I seen them once in La Crosse opening for someone, I don’t remember who the headliner was but I thought BOC was better. I turned 18 in 1977 (legal drinking age) and was working in La Crosse. Between 77 and 80 I seen a lot of good bands there but I don’t remember a lot of the particulars. You could smoke in the old auditorium back then and there was always some great weed coming into La Crosse from Columbia and Hawaii. I worked with and hung out with a few potheads and I guess I became one for a while. La Crosse was a great town back then, a lot of great clubs with lots of great music. Rock, Country, Jazz, Blues, pretty much anything you wanted. A couple strip joints too. It’s all changed now, still a lot of music but too much meth, crack and heroin and security, Lol. It’s 3 am, I got to go to bed. Have a great day.
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I saw BOC play once, in the mid ’70s, headlining a show which opened
with Status Quo and then Bob Seger. Their final song had all six
guys gradually switch from playing their regular instruments, while
the song was going on, so that by the time they finished, all 6 were
playing guitar. Lots of fun. Of course, since their shtick was to be mildly satanic (all in good fun of course), lots of their songs could fall in the scary category, if you could stop laughing long enough. -
Hi Chris
Here’s another great Blue Oyster Cult tune that fits this theme. This live video is well put together. I used to have a live album of theirs but the only song I remember was a cover of The Animals, We Gotta Get Out Of This Place. They could really play some good music.
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I read a story about BOC not long ago — after they released their first album, they were touring to support it, and while they were touring, whenever they had a spare moment, like when driving to the next gig, or in afternoons or whenever, they were writing the music for their next album, so that when the tour ended, they got back home and went straight into the studio to start recording that next album. Sounds like they had the same boss I used to work for.
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Chris
That makes sense. I imagine most artists do something similar, it works in cycles, while you are out supporting your latest album you are working on new ideas for songs. Yeah, probably some pressure by your record company too to start working on a new album as soon as you get off the road. I can see how bands get burnt out after a few years. I always thought, in most cases, a bands best work is their earlier work when they are hungry and trying to make it. After a while they get burned out or complacent and just push out albums to satisfy their contracts. That’s why I like the Wagner’s approach to their whole operation, to be in control of every aspect of their business. I’m sure it is very satisfying to them and it sure produces some great results. They are getting ready to release their 12th album and I believe their music is only getting better. Thanks for your posts Chris.
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Captain Kangaroo is what my Mom used to calm us down. Not sure what episodes you guys were watching. If we wanted to get worked up, we’d watch Soupy Sales. Throw some pies.
I know the Charlie Brown movies. I still like Vince Guaraldi music for Christmas.
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And another nice creepy music video. I’ve posted this one before on a similar topic (I think it was about Halloween or something like that… 😀). But I believe you can watch it again every year.
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I had totally forgotten about this video! I generally detested 80’s music, but Huey Lewis’ little movies were always so entertaining!
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Hi Jurgen and David,
I haven’t seen that since, well, the 80’s. Good old MTV, the music wasn’t very great but MTV was a cool new concept and there were a lot interesting videos coming out every week. Huey and the News were one of the best at videos and their music was quite good for the times. With their knack for quirky funny videos along with some beautiful heartwarming videos I wonder how The MonaLisa Twins would have fared on MTV. I think they would have done pretty well.
Speaking of the MonaLisa Twins, they have a song that fits with the theme of monsters and psychos. The song about about that sweet little girl with a touch of insanity, Sweet Lorraine.
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Yep, that one. And this one too.
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Chris,
Yep, These girls are way too cool and too pretty. I would so easily fall victim to them. I would be lured in by their charm and beauty only to feel the brunt of Maxwell’s (Papa Rudi’s) Silver Hammer, Lol. At least I would die a happy man.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by Tim Arnold.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by
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Hi David,
the humor of Huey Lewi’s music video reminds me a little of Abrams, Zucker, Abrams. Weird and bizarre, but very funny. We only had an edited (cut) version on German television. The beginning is missing (probably because it’s too brutal…) and the whole video doesn’t make any sense. I was all the more surprised when I found the unabridged version years ago. Dr. Frankenstein and his creature or Prince Dracula were probably quite popular topics in the 80s. The Pet Shop Boys also produced a nice music video for this. I know that pop music isn’t that popular here in the forum, but I like this kind of music.
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Abrams/Zucker/Zucker humor indeed, Juergen! I remember one video (I forget the song) that begins with Huey at a fancy party. He asks a young woman, “Would you like to go for a ride in my yacht?” Then we see the two of them in a small rowboat with “MYOTT” painted on the side.
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To me, the most frightening, meanest, hideous character ever produced by Hollywood was the Wicked Witch of the West in the classic movie The Wizard Of Oz. When I was a kid it was aired on American TV every year around this time. Many scenes I thought were quite scary for children, like the flying monkeys and talking trees, even the munchkins were a little disturbing. But we stayed glued to the TV screen and we always knew Dorothy would triumph in the end. What a fantastic movie and amazing performance by Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West.
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I watched it every year too, Tim. It was absolutely required viewing. I still remember where all the commercial breaks were, and I find it jarring now to see it “skip” from one scene to the next without ads.
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Damn David, once Zucker too little and once Abrams too much. Always these Zucker brothers. I still have to practice that… (and likewise to find the right place in the chat).
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Since I first saw The Wizzard of Oz, I have always been fascinated by the movie and its subject matter. We didn’t used to have commercial breaks. If you had a bad bladder, you had a problem. Even getting chips in between was a risky undertaking, as you ran the risk of missing an important scene when leaving the TV room.
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Don’t feel bad, Juergen. As P.T. Barnum said, there’s a Zucker born every minute.
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1973 was a great year, I was 14 and we had some of the greatest music ever. So many great bands on the radio, on records, and on TV shows like The Midnight Special. One of my favorite bands was the Edgar Winter Group. No Halloween list could be complete without their Monster hit Frankenstein. One of the coolest rock instrumentals ever with Edgar showing his talents on Synthesizer, Sax and drums, along with Rick Derringer on guitar, Chuck Ruff on drums and Dan Hartman on bass. This is an absolutely amazing 9 minute studio jam, one of my favorite music videos on YouTube.
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I first heard this one on a compilation cassette called “Teenage Tragedy”. It’s more narration than song, but the ending is pretty creepy:
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David, that’s a good one, I’ve never heard that one. Very funny. when they are actually singing it reminds me of some of the early Rolling Stones pop records. I liked a lot of the novelty records when I was a kid like Surfin’ Bird or Snoopy and The Red Baron. They were fun for the kids and they actually still sound pretty good today. Here’s one of those that should be on every Halloween playlist.
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