I loved your postscript about the strangest record you have ever owned. Some weirdo albums out there had no intention of being odd, weird, or creepy, but they are downright haunting (same with some very disturbing album covers).
On the flip side, there are some really great acid/prog albums that create a deep, dark, and disturbing listen. Two that immediately come to mind are the bad trip, acid-drenched Comus "First Utterance" (with its equally twisted album art) and C.A. Quintet's "Trip Thru Hell." Both are downright ominous, weird, and quite demonic for their time.
On a side note, when I was 10 or 11 years old, on Halloween I used to turn our garage into a haunted house. I would get a folding table and put out slimy foods, olives, noodles, etc., and turn out the lights, play eerie music from those kid's records of "Scary Sounds," and invite my friends over. With the lights off, their sense of sight was taken away, and then I relied on their sense of touch by asking them to put their hands in the cold, slimy, or warm, noodly food and then would say it was "organs" and the olives were "eyeballs." It was fun; they thought I was the weird KISS guy who was crap at football and enjoyed looking at Fangoria magazine, but we all liked each other.
These days, however, I am a wimp and struggle with a lot of horror films. I thought 'Midsommar' was absolutely brilliant, and the sense of dread Aster created from start to finish was fantastic. But it is more psychological, which I can handle, appreciate, respect, and even like. It's the slasher, gore, and relentless violence that I really struggle with these days.
Your haunted house sounds perfectly kid-devious, that’s awesome. It truly is a lost art. My nephews can’t be bothered with Halloween, and I’m sure it has to do with how anything creative is tied what he can do digitally. I mean, in my case we were bored. Boredom and creativity are the peanut butter and jelly of childhood, or should be.
Organs, for sure. Oh, and I love that CA Quintet album, I was totally fascinted by it when I first heard it, and every now and again I hear a voice in my head saying “Cold Spiderrrrr”.
Glad you saved the playlist, I know you’ll probably not like most of it, but I love how game you always are!
Boredom and undeveloped executive functioning skills can also get you in a world of hurt. Like when you jump off your roof with a golf umbrella after your friend tells you it will "probably" work like a parachute.
Yeah, it doesn't.
In fact, the ground seemed to come faster than expected and harder than anticipated!
I LOVE Tales of Terror, although I didn't know they were from Sac town, thought they were OC. They also did an extended stint in Austin, hanging out with the dudes in Poison 13 which I just found out this year.
One thing I want to point out on this playlist (and maybe I'll have some other notes about it to add) is that there are two songs about serial killers here, although the term isn't outright: Jack Kittel—Psycho & The Misfits—Horror Business. Besides the power of the word "psycho" ("Psycho 78" being a top-tier Misfits singalong), they are also both rife with some of my favorite lyrical murder ballad lyricism. I first heard "Psycho" on the other great Houston radio resource, 91.7 KTRU-Rice University radio. One night I was waiting for The Funhouse to come on, and was listening—the DJ was playing something that caught my ear and I pressed record on the cassette deck, catching in this order: a field recording of African drumming, Television—Marquee Moon, and Beasts of Bourbon—Psycho. A three string tracklist that was so formative that I still remember it to this day, decades later. I can't decide who's version of "Psycho" I like best, although Eddie Noack's original feels the scariest as it is played straight (Jack Kittel adds the end outro, which Beasts of Bourbon darken up, Outback goth style). Just one of the gems from the pen of Leon Payne:
We were sittin on bench, Mama
thinking of a game to play.
Seems I was holdin' a wrench, Mama
And my mind just walked away
There's also a great line about having his hands near his brother's(?) throat, "wishing both of us were dead"
Just a chilling song.
Danzig is a bit of a lyrical savant too, and in "Horror Business", he creates a nasty brute of a character, driving around late at night, telling you not to go into his bathroom, where the mirrors are black, while giving us my favourite Misfits singalong chorus:
I'm warning you
I'll put a knife right in you
He's not going to stab you. He's going to put his knife into you. It's the difference between the two lines that is the real meat slab to the face kind of pulp that makes Misfits stand out from the rest of the American Hardcore scene, like Hubert Selby writing an EC comic while listening to a blown out radio blasting distorted Phil Spector girl groups.
OK this is a Twine Time type of song. I've been looking for it ever since the internet was born, and somebody finally posted "The Dead Man's Stroll" by the Revels. Still love it after all these years. You might too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edccEJPpi1w
I loved your postscript about the strangest record you have ever owned. Some weirdo albums out there had no intention of being odd, weird, or creepy, but they are downright haunting (same with some very disturbing album covers).
On the flip side, there are some really great acid/prog albums that create a deep, dark, and disturbing listen. Two that immediately come to mind are the bad trip, acid-drenched Comus "First Utterance" (with its equally twisted album art) and C.A. Quintet's "Trip Thru Hell." Both are downright ominous, weird, and quite demonic for their time.
On a side note, when I was 10 or 11 years old, on Halloween I used to turn our garage into a haunted house. I would get a folding table and put out slimy foods, olives, noodles, etc., and turn out the lights, play eerie music from those kid's records of "Scary Sounds," and invite my friends over. With the lights off, their sense of sight was taken away, and then I relied on their sense of touch by asking them to put their hands in the cold, slimy, or warm, noodly food and then would say it was "organs" and the olives were "eyeballs." It was fun; they thought I was the weird KISS guy who was crap at football and enjoyed looking at Fangoria magazine, but we all liked each other.
These days, however, I am a wimp and struggle with a lot of horror films. I thought 'Midsommar' was absolutely brilliant, and the sense of dread Aster created from start to finish was fantastic. But it is more psychological, which I can handle, appreciate, respect, and even like. It's the slasher, gore, and relentless violence that I really struggle with these days.
PS: Playlist saved!
Your haunted house sounds perfectly kid-devious, that’s awesome. It truly is a lost art. My nephews can’t be bothered with Halloween, and I’m sure it has to do with how anything creative is tied what he can do digitally. I mean, in my case we were bored. Boredom and creativity are the peanut butter and jelly of childhood, or should be.
Organs, for sure. Oh, and I love that CA Quintet album, I was totally fascinted by it when I first heard it, and every now and again I hear a voice in my head saying “Cold Spiderrrrr”.
Glad you saved the playlist, I know you’ll probably not like most of it, but I love how game you always are!
Totally.
Boredom and undeveloped executive functioning skills can also get you in a world of hurt. Like when you jump off your roof with a golf umbrella after your friend tells you it will "probably" work like a parachute.
Yeah, it doesn't.
In fact, the ground seemed to come faster than expected and harder than anticipated!
What a great playlist! You even included Tales of Terror from Sacramento.
Awesome.
I LOVE Tales of Terror, although I didn't know they were from Sac town, thought they were OC. They also did an extended stint in Austin, hanging out with the dudes in Poison 13 which I just found out this year.
One thing I want to point out on this playlist (and maybe I'll have some other notes about it to add) is that there are two songs about serial killers here, although the term isn't outright: Jack Kittel—Psycho & The Misfits—Horror Business. Besides the power of the word "psycho" ("Psycho 78" being a top-tier Misfits singalong), they are also both rife with some of my favorite lyrical murder ballad lyricism. I first heard "Psycho" on the other great Houston radio resource, 91.7 KTRU-Rice University radio. One night I was waiting for The Funhouse to come on, and was listening—the DJ was playing something that caught my ear and I pressed record on the cassette deck, catching in this order: a field recording of African drumming, Television—Marquee Moon, and Beasts of Bourbon—Psycho. A three string tracklist that was so formative that I still remember it to this day, decades later. I can't decide who's version of "Psycho" I like best, although Eddie Noack's original feels the scariest as it is played straight (Jack Kittel adds the end outro, which Beasts of Bourbon darken up, Outback goth style). Just one of the gems from the pen of Leon Payne:
We were sittin on bench, Mama
thinking of a game to play.
Seems I was holdin' a wrench, Mama
And my mind just walked away
There's also a great line about having his hands near his brother's(?) throat, "wishing both of us were dead"
Just a chilling song.
Danzig is a bit of a lyrical savant too, and in "Horror Business", he creates a nasty brute of a character, driving around late at night, telling you not to go into his bathroom, where the mirrors are black, while giving us my favourite Misfits singalong chorus:
I'm warning you
I'll put a knife right in you
He's not going to stab you. He's going to put his knife into you. It's the difference between the two lines that is the real meat slab to the face kind of pulp that makes Misfits stand out from the rest of the American Hardcore scene, like Hubert Selby writing an EC comic while listening to a blown out radio blasting distorted Phil Spector girl groups.
OK this is a Twine Time type of song. I've been looking for it ever since the internet was born, and somebody finally posted "The Dead Man's Stroll" by the Revels. Still love it after all these years. You might too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edccEJPpi1w
Oh, I absolutely love this! Thank you!