Tag Archives: music

“Halloween” Music 2020

31 Saturday Oct 2020

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The following list is unchanged from 2019 and will be the final edition of this series. I’m moving on from popular culture, especially the materialistic, the hedonistic, and the (even partially) occult. It is, somewhat to my dismay, not 1982 anymore. Looking around, even as to “kids’ activities,” we simply cannot continue to ameliorate darkness. Still, some of these songs are good, great even. Enjoy for what it is. Happy All Saints Eve and All Saints Day, in advance.

Note: some of these links may have been disabled or changed. Sorry. Think of it as a suggestion list if nothing else.

The music:

Werewolves of London, Warren Zevon, 1978.

Werewolves, Alternate Take, Zevon, 2007 Release. I know more than a few people don’t like this version. Then again, more than a few people can be wrong. Cool, jazzy, and you always have the ability to listen to the damned original…

Long Cool Woman, The Hollies, 1971. No Halloween, per se, but fits with:

Devil Woman, Cliff Richard, 1976.

Evil Woman, ELO, 1975. All these women…

Witchy Woman, The Eagles, 1972. More women…

Self Control, Laura Branigan version, RIP, beautiful, 1984. The best-looking artist on the list.

Legend of Wooley Swamp, Charlie Daniels Band, 1980. Lucius Clay approves.

David Pumpkins – Elevator Skit, SNL and Tom Hanks, 2016. Not a song. Just funny.

Monster Mash, Misfits, 1997. Yeah, I have trouble understanding the words too.

Mash, Original, Bobby Pickett (with Dick Clark), 1962. Classic; those facial expressions.

Dragula, Rob Zombie, 1998. Burn through ’em.

Thriller (Full), Michael Jackson, 1982. Before we knew the real MJ (RIP) horrors. With commentary from Price (RIP).

Poison, Alice Cooper, 1989. A few Cooper songs I could have gone with; I chose this one.

House of Fire, Cooper, 1989. And this one.

Ghost Riders in the Sky, Johnny Cash’s Version, 1979. Scary with a message.

The Time Warp, RHPS Version, Richard O’Brien, 1974. No need to suffer a theater full of freaks. (They still do that?) You’re welcome.

Sweet Transvestite, RHPS Version, Tim Curry, 1974. Probably the only trans-friendly post I’ll ever make.

Blue Moon, The Marcels, 1961. Shout if you know why I included this one.

The Zoo, Scorpions, 1980. Why not?

Nightmare on My Street, DJ Jaz Will Smith, 1988. Just remembered this one!

Pet Sematary, The Ramones, 1989. My personal favorite – possibly tied with Werewolves.

Sematary, Last Live Show, 1996. You don’t know this…

Stranger in Town, Extended Studio, Toto, 1984. Is your hero a criminal?

Uprising, Sabaton, 2010. Scary history. Great gym song!

Dr. Demento Halloween Special, Demento, Westwood One, 1986. Hour and a half of crazy.

Little Red Riding Hood, Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs, 1966. For the g-g-g-generation.

Swamp Witch, Jim Stafford, 1974. Wonder if she knew Lucious?

Purple People Eater, Sheb Worley, 1958. Currently seeking the DNC nomination…

Ghostbusters, Ray Parker, Jr., 1984. Can’t believe I didn’t have this one earlier.

…and…

Here Comes Santa Claus, Gene Autry, 1947. Oops. Too early – for another week or two…

Have a great All Saints Eve!

The cigar-chomping, government-bashing, culture-questioning madness shall resume soon. Oh, curious about how Tom Ironsides spent a Halloween evening in 2018? Check out Chapter Ten of The Substitute.

Musical Elections – From TPC

11 Tuesday Feb 2020

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PERRIN’S Music Minute!

-Or, As Musical As We Can Get The National Affairs-

Warning! This one may wander all over the place like a glaucomic old man ensconced behind the wheel of a gracefully-aging Fleetwood. Feel free to sing along.

 

So! One thing led to another and last week I came across a superb edition, extended and rare, of a 1983 Berlin song. Thinking about it now, I can’t ever remember hearing Masquerade played on the radio (if it happened, it was campus rock radio back in ‘83); still, for my money, it’s some of the band’s best work, perhaps my favorite. For those who either remember or who never knew, please click that link and listen. The magnificent intersection of new wave and rock comes in hard around 6:19 with a rolling, pounding guitar riff which mingles perfectly with the lasting general melody, which itself is upbeat if thought-provoking – bordering on somber at intervals. (Note: MB actually plays and understands the music, PL merely rambles…)

The tune is-

Oh yeah, and Terri Nunn is forever HAWT!

The tune is about, so far as I can tell, the shattered dreams and hopes of aging or failed actors of the screen or the stage. The business, regarded with suspicion since ancient times, has a reputation for being rather harsh on potential talent. The lyrics speak to that darker side of entertainment, hauntingly and beautifully. The refrain is what landed the song at TPC this week:

♭

When you hear the price they paid,

I’m sure you’ll come and join the masquerade…

♭

I’m no expert, but I take that to mean that, despite everyone knowing how Hollywood, Broadway, etc. chew people up like hor d’oeuvres at a Harvey Weinstein party, people still keep patronizing the shows, with many intrepidly venturing into the fray, hopeful of professional success.

And, that is exactly the same kind of circus spectacle we witnessed in Iowa last week with the 2020 Hawkeye Cauc-eye: those zany Democrats and their presidential show. With my only paying nominal attention to practical politics and with November’s outcome being as clear as the recent Impeachment trial outcome, I devoted maybe .2% of my energies to analyzing what happened. Is “trainwreck” the word I’m looking for?

…

READ THE WHOLE THING AT TPC

Screenshot 2020-02-10 at 5.20.24 PM

Perrin’s Big Old Crazy Scary Halloween Music Fest 2019 – New and Disproved!

31 Thursday Oct 2019

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Music for that scary night when all the little Bernie Sanders wannabes come calling:

Note: some of these links may have been disabled or changed. Sorry. Think of it as a suggestion list if nothing else.

Now: the music for Great Pumpkin Night:

Werewolves of London, Warren Zevon, 1978.

R-2221286-1345014745-6414.jpeg

Zevon (RIP)/Asylum.

Werewolves, Alternate Take, Zevon, 2007 Release. I know more than a few people don’t like this version. Then again, more than a few people can be wrong. Cool, jazzy, and you always have the ability to listen to the damned original…

Long Cool Woman, The Hollies, 1971. No Halloween, per se, but fits with:

Devil Woman, Cliff Richard, 1976.

Evil Woman, ELO, 1975. All these women…

Witchy Woman, The Eagles, 1972. More women…

Self Control, Laura Branigan version, RIP, beautiful, 1984. The best-looking artist on the list.

Legend of Wooley Swamp, Charlie Daniels Band, 1980. Lucius Clay approves.

David Pumpkins – Elevator Skit, SNL and Tom Hanks, 2016. Not a song. Just funny.

Monster Mash, Misfits, 1997. Yeah, I have trouble understanding the words too.

Mash, Original, Bobby Pickett (with Dick Clark), 1962. Classic; those facial expressions.

Dragula, Rob Zombie, 1998. Burn through ’em.

Thriller (Full), Michael Jackson, 1982. Before we knew the real MJ (RIP) horrors. With commentary from Price (RIP).

Poison, Alice Cooper, 1989. A few Cooper songs I could have gone with; I chose this one.

House of Fire, Cooper, 1989. And this one.

Ghost Riders in the Sky, Johnny Cash’s Version, 1979. Scary with a message.

The Time Warp, RHPS Version, Richard O’Brien, 1974. No need to suffer a theater full of freaks. (They still do that?) You’re welcome.

Sweet Transvestite, RHPS Version, Tim Curry, 1974. Probably the only trans-friendly post I’ll ever make.

Blue Moon, The Marcels, 1961. Shout if you know why I included this one.

The Zoo, Scorpions, 1980. Why not?

Nightmare on My Street, DJ Jaz Will Smith, 1988. Just remembered this one!

Pet Sematary, The Ramones, 1989. My personal favorite – possibly tied with Werewolves.

Sematary, Last Live Show, 1996. You don’t know this…

Stranger in Town, Extended Studio, Toto, 1984. Is your hero a criminal?

Uprising, Sabaton, 2010. Scary history. Great gym song!

Dr. Demento Halloween Special, Demento, Westwood One, 1986. Hour and a half of crazy.

Little Red Riding Hood, Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs, 1966. For the g-g-g-generation.

Swamp Witch, Jim Stafford, 1974. Wonder if she knew Lucious?

Purple People Eater, Sheb Worley, 1958. Currently seeking the DNC nomination…

Ghostbusters, Ray Parker, Jr., 1984. Can’t believe I didn’t have this one earlier.

…and…

Here Comes Santa Claus, Gene Autry, 1947. Oops. Too early – for another week or two…

30+ hits sure to rock the candy off the beggars!

Have a great Halloween!

The cigar-chomping, government-bashing, culture-questioning madness shall resume soon. Oh, curious about how Tom Ironsides spent a Halloween evening? Check out Chapter Ten of The Substitute.

Long Live Rock

02 Monday Sep 2019

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For now…

But there’s another sense in which rock is very nearly dead: Just about every rock legend you can think of is going to die within the next decade or so.

Yes, we’ve lost some already. On top of the icons who died horribly young decades ago — Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley, John Lennon — there’s the litany of legends felled by illness, drugs, and just plain old age in more recent years: George Harrison, Ray Charles, Michael Jackson, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Glenn Frey, Prince, Leonard Cohen, Tom Petty.

Those losses have been painful. But it’s nothing compared with the tidal wave of obituaries to come. The grief and nostalgia will wash over us all. Yes, the Boomers left alive will take it hardest — these were their heroes and generational compatriots. But rock remained the biggest game in town through the 1990s, which implicates GenXers like myself, no less than plenty of millennials.

At least there was no mention of Cobain. And, the Boomers are steadily clearing out. Not all so bad.