The Munsters Theme by Insatiable

Its been a long time since I posted (anything) a ska song. Or a Munsters cover. But here it is, what is probably the last song of the Ghost Town for This year. It starts out normal and slowly gets slower and then crazier. Enjoy!

Insatiable - The Munsters Theme

The Ghost Town Presents Ghosttown

Ahh, this is a really new cover and I discovered it a while back and was gonna wait to post it. I think my laziness (which is due to me moving and a million other things happening) decries that this is the perfect time.

This cover is by the Hot 8 Brass Band who also have an amazing cover of sexual healing. The original is by the Specials and is a classic song. You might remember it from Shaun of the Dead when Shaun awakes hungover as zombies are staggering across the city although he doesn't notice.

Anyways, this slow squirmy song is a pretty good selection for a version done by a New Orleans Brass band. They seem to be good at making things sneak and crawl smoothly.

Hot 8 Brass Band - Ghost Town

Rockin' the Graveyard

There's part of me that thinks I've posted this before but I couldn't find a trace of it...although I'm admittedly feeling a little tired and lazy so...who knows. This is a old rockabilly song that starts out with some great spooky whistling and an evil laugh. Its by Jackie Morningstar which sounds more like a Vegas show host type name then a Rockabilly singer but its a good track.

Jackie Morningstar - Rockin' The Graveyard

Chariots of Pumpkins

This song was actually inspired in an incredibly roundabout way but the image above is relevant. I was listening to Kevin Smith's Podcast called Fatman on Batman. I had never really gotten into podcasts but had heard of it and since I liked comic books gave it a shot since he was interviewing some interesting people who had been involved in the batman cartoon show of the early 90s. I must have watched every episode a million times as a kid so it seemed interesting. I also used to collect and read comics a lot as a kid and still try and read things here and there. Recent favorites like DMZ, Batman the Long Halloween and Y the Last Man amongst others.

Anyways, during one of his podcasts he was interviewing some of the people responsible for the more recent Batman animated movies that have been coming out direct to dvd. One of them was the composer and Kevin Smith got to talking about how one of his first vinyl purchases was getting the soundtrack to Halloween 3: Season of the Witch. My favorite story was him turning on the soundtrack as he tried to make out with a girl and shockingly that did not go well.

It does go well with Halloween however. This version is a lot more electronic sounding and drives a little harder than the original. Also its called Chariots of Pumpkins witch is just awesome.

John Carpenter - Chariots of Pumpkins

Monster Mash

To follow up the Monster Mash ripoff I posted yesterday I posted an old cover of the Monster Mash by the Mighty Echoes. This song is a doo wop with no instruments or backing music. It was down to this and another Monster Mash cover but this one was odd enough and good enough that it took the prize this year. I guess the Mighty Echoes are a acapella/doo wop group from Southern California that started in the 80s. That makes them around the same era as Rockapella...which makes me hope both bands were each other's worst enemies and battled it out like the image above.

The Mighty Echoes - Monster Mash

Nightmare Mash

You can't really come much closer to ripping off a song than the Nightmare Mash. Most of the music is the very similar but it has a bouncier piano loop then the Monster Mash but the vocals and lyrics are changed. Still its a nice little song to switch up around Halloween time and still get the same effect. What's really surprising to me is that while I've found plenty of Monster Mash covers it was only recently I found the Nightmare Mash.

Billy Lee Riley - Nightmare Mash

After Hours

This is a song from the Soundtrack to Martin Scorsese's After Hours. Its a strange bizaare film that I might classify as horror. I caught it on cable about 10 years ago or so at 5 in the morning when I used to stay up crazy late. It was just so strange and the perfect movie for that night. It also is strangely identifiable as its just about one, not necessarily exciting but just strange night that won't end. I think we've all had one. Where all you want to do is get home but you can't whether its a flat tire or stuck at work or can't find a bus or a taxi and you just get stuck, maybe you're only 10 miles from home but somehow it feels like you'll never make it back.

The soundtrack is done by Howard Shore. It reminds me a lot of John Carpenter's early work as its very digital. Its also relatively simple and there's something really disconcerting about it all. Paired with the movie it works perfectly.

Howard Shore - Midnight

Monster Party

Mostly an instrumental this is a great little bop and rock n roll song by Bill doggest. There are some good lines though, my personal favorite being "Knock Knock, Who's there, Frankenstein, Where's the Wine". I like the idea of Frankenstein showing up hoping to get crazy drunk on good wine. There's also a lot of evil laughter and a reference to Rodan which is either the Japanese movie monster or a german sci fi hero from a series of books.

Bill Doggest - Monster Party

The Mummy's Ball

One of the things I miss is that putting out a weird supernatural themed song like this was commonplace back in the day, just something you might make to try to get big. Imagine if Kanye or Pearl Jam decided to write a song about a werewolf or a mummy. Thankfully there's so much that I'm in no danger of running out of new songs to post. My lack of daily updates notwithstanding.

The vocals on this track by The Verdicts are amazing. One of my favorites I've posted in a long while. They were a band from New York that put out some singles in the 50s and early 60s. This track is from 1961 so it was released even before the Monster Mash. That's the crazy thing is that while the Monster Mash provoked a string of similar songs after its release, horror tinged singles were nothing new in 1962.

The Verdicts - The Mummy's Ballhttp://www.sendspace.com/file/tyid0q

Randy Fuller - Wolfman

This image encompasses all ther easons why I read comics. Its a werewolf battling a vampire...on the Moon. Its like everything I love all happening at once and something that almost never would appear in a movie, and never as crazy. Plus theres even what appears to be the Werewolf's girlfriend, also on the moon. Because, well, why not?

This is a psuedo instrumental combined with Wolfman Jack adding in his own vocals over the top and also occasional howling. One of my favorite things about werewolf songs is, you might be a bad singer, but its almost impossible for you to be bad at howling. Which makes me thing maybe more than just canine's used to howl...

Maybe the Werewolf myth is a little truer than we know?
(Probably not, but that won't stop me from enjoying a good werewolf flick)

Randy Fuller - Wolfman

Tomorrow I'm gong to be on the West Coast so my posts might be crazy late. Then again they always are, so probably no difference.

Still trying to get caught up this year. When I originally started this blog it was way back in 2006, I was in school, kind of, not working and had way to much free time. It's crazy that It's almost 7 years later, I'm totally out of school, working full time, still a lot hasn't changed. I'm definitely just as bad at time management, the biggest difference I have less of it. I also get tired easier. Stupid getting old...I need a recharge and a lightnight bolt through my hair. I think that would help.

The Squalls are a mid 80s band that came from Athens, Georgia. You can here some similarities to some of the other Athens Bands like REM but these guys are a little more upbeat than some of their alt contemporaries. It kind of reminds me of a hybrid of Huey Lewis and the News and Simple Minds...if that makes any sense at all. Still a good song.

Squalls - Bride of Frankenstein

Embodiment of Evil

Finally this year for the First Time I saw the Meat Puppets live. You could tell they've been playing together for decades. They went through a lot of songs without much banter just grooving into one song from the next during a nice night last July. I had meant to see them a few other times but never got around to getting tickets but managed to catch an outdoor festival they were playing at. I think I may have posted a Meat Puppets song in this past but I thought this was a cool little instrumental with a spooky flavor. I highly reccomend their stuff especially their 80s albums.

Meat Puppets - Embodiment of Evil

Blue Ghost

Today is another old one. Bubblegum pop that I don't listen to a lot but is good in small doses. I can't hear this stuff without thinking about Mr. Sandman playing during the scene in Back to the Future when Marty first walks into 1955 Hilly Valley. One of my favorite films of all time, I've probably scene it a few too many times. I always wanted to go as Marty but don't think I could pull it off for too many reasons.

Readers what are you going as this year?

Tommy Roe with the Jordanaires - Blue Ghost

Spook Walk

So last year in the midst of posting and October's craziness I had ended up suffering a hard drive failure and so I lost track of a big folder of stuff I had organized and gotten ready to post. Luckily I was able to find a lot of it, and even more than that realized some great songs I thought I posted are still just waiting.


I really love this Song called The Spook, by of all bands, the Spooks. Not necessarily the most creative guys on the planet but this could easily be the backing music to a late 50s or early 60's drive-in movie. I can already see the poorly filmed surf van driving to the beach where, well something stupid happens. It was a drive-in movie so, the point wasn't the plot but a rubber monster costume and maybe a car crash or two.

The Spooks - The Spook

Midnight

Tonights featured song is a little loose as far as it being paranormal or gruesome. Titled Midnight its not quite about anything more than heading out once it gets dark, but sometimes thats enough to be spooky. I was just riding my bike through the faded leaves on a trail underneath an overpass with no lights anywhere around me, that alone made everything seem just creepy enough, werewolf howl's weren't even necessary.

A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight

Somebody's Watching Me

 What's the best thing about being the son of the founder of Motown Records? Getting Michael Jackson on your record, easily selling millions...It has it's advantages. Rockwell put out his first album Somebody's Watching Me in 1985 and got Michael Jackson to sing the hook. It's got a fun if not surprisingly cheap video that does not feature Michael Jackson

This is a remixed version...it's more spooky I guess? Its mostly similar there's just what I might call a haunted breakdown in the middle of the track.

Rockwell - Somebody's Watching Me

Manfred Mann - Devil Woman

I don't even know how to quite describe this song. Its like Manfredd Man doing a weird Rolling Stones x Tom Waits distillation. Its got a weird smoky brass New Orleans vibe. It really started to get to me the more I listened to it. I really dig it, and was quite excited when I discovered it as sometimes I worry that I've already posted all the good stuff but its nice to prove myself wrong.

Also, I had to resist using a picture of of an ex for a post image. But this is from Marvel comics so I like it way better.

Manfred Mann - Devil Woman

I'm Alive...

Crazy week, had to deal with a break-in at my house, work and everything else.

But trust me, posts are coming. Adding one more tonight and more tomorrow.