Halloween: Six-Six-Six

Last one of these Halloween posts. (‘Praise be to his noodly appendages,’ I hear you cry.) I hope you've all enjoyed at least some of the gore-splattered tracks on offer.

It' been fun for me, at least, though even now I keep thinking of other songs I could've included. Just including what I have ripped to my PC, the psychobilly folder contains near-on fifteen-hundred tracks, which should give an idea of just how spoiled for choice I've been. Ah, well. There's always next year…

To finish off, I've chosen three personal long-time favourites; The Sugar Puff Demons' Burke And Hare, Batmobile's Transylvanian Express, and The Griswalds' Fright Night.
Stay sick, stay psycho
—Daz

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Zombiethon, The Trashy Sequel: Day 9: Zombie Riot

Oops!

At the end of last night's post, I mentioned that ‘tomorrow’ I'd be doing a multiple Halloween post, as it would be the 31^st. Turns out I was a day behind, because I’d checked the date without realising 'twas past midnight; which means I have Day 9's to do, first.

Both Cannonball Jones and Alice have turned out some excellent posts today. (And kudos for Mr Jones, too, for managing to stumble on through both a hangover having several of his planned tunes pre-empted.) For myself, I’m marking my last all-zombie post with a couple of old-skool psychobilly tracks.

First up, the Tall Boys, with Another Half Hour 'Til Sunrise, an ‘unofficial theme’ to the film The Living Dead. The Tall Boys were Nigel Lewis's first band after the split-up of the first incarnation of The Meteors, and this first single comprised of two tracks from a shelved Meteors EP. (The B-Side was Island Of Lost Souls, based on HG Wells' The Island Of Doctor Moreau.) Paul Fenech kept the other two tracks, Mutant Rock and The Hills Have Eyes, which were released as The Meteors' first post-split single.

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Zombiethon, The Trashy Sequel: Day 8: It Goes Up To 11!

Both Alice and Cannonball Jones (warning: not for the faint-hearted!) have gone all metal with their latest offerings. Well, I can't quite keep up with the all-out, turn the gain up to max, stylings on offer, but I can at least lean in that direction.

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Zombiethon, The Trashy sequel: Day 7: Undead Ladies

Given our society's rather patriarchal habit of bringing up girls to be ‘nice’, I suppose it's not surprising that women are rather under-represented in the field of making horrible trashy-shouty music about the undead. There are some, though, and I thought I'd dedicate tonight's offering to pointing that out.

First up are Canadian band, The Creepshow, of whom I know very little except that I like 'em, performing Zombies Ate Her Brain…

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Zombiethon, The Trashy Sequel: Day 6: The Cramps

Cannonball Jones has put up his latest Zombiethon video. I must say, his music-knowledge is far more eclectic than mine. Good song, though.

Oh and Alice has joined the proceedings, too, with a stunning rendition of Grieg's In The Hall Of The Mountain King. Not exactly Zombie-themed, but definitely Halloween related; and who cares, when the music's that good?

Anyway, mine's a little more predictable, at least for those who may have noticed my psychobilly tastes. Someone mentioned The Cramps…
—Daz

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Zombiethon, The Trashy Sequel: Day 5: Brain Food

Oh dear! Cannonball Jones has written a piece praising me. He knows I'm British. We Brits never know how to deal with praise. Acknowledge it just a little too strongly, and one's showing off, dontcha know? Don't acknowledge it enough, and one's snubbing the person lauding one. It's a minefield, it really is!

The only thing to do is pay him back, and hope that the Scots are as susceptible to this self-effacing nonsense as us Sassenachs…

Seriously, though, his blog is really worth checking out. He's an ex-pat Scot (the adjective is ‘Scots’ by the way; ‘scotch’ is an alcohol-based medicine used for emergency-removal of the throat-lining), currently living and teaching in Thailand, and he writes on an eclectic mix of subjects, including such gems as narrow bus/bicycle related escapes, walks in the local forest (which I'd personally like to see lots more of; hint hint), and the Thai shopping-receipt-lottery. Also, he's apparently feeling a tad ‘smit’ of late, so if anyone feels like dropping him some love, I'm sure he'll appreciate it!

(On the subject of eclectic ex-pat teachers' blogs, Yokohamama Mama's hopefully going to be back blogging soon, after a too-prolonged absence. Welcome back, Amy!)

Anyway, he's already posted today's zombie-inspired offering (which I have to admit to having skipped, not being prog-rock's greatest fan). Time I posted those of my own. Yes, ‘those’, plural; it's a playlist of two.

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Zombiethon, The Trashy Sequel: Day 4: The Reverend Beat Man

I spent ages trying to find one as odd as Cannonball Jones's latest, but failed utterly. The closest I got were a couple of Screamin' Jay Hawkins numbers, but neither were zombie-themed, dagnamit!

Well, If you can't beat 'em, sidestep the bastards; that's what I say. Let's take the definition of ‘zombie’ to its logical conclusion… Here's The Reverend Beat Man with a romantic little number, all about the most famous zombie ever to stagger back from the grave. I give you, Gentle Reader, the Jesus Christ Twist.
—Daz

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Zombiethon, The Trashy Sequel: Day 3—The Spectres

It's Day Three of Cannonball Jones's Zombiethon run-up to halloween, and hence Day Three of my trashy sequel, in the best horror-movie tradition.

As I’m trying to stick to stuff I have in my collection, there was no way I was going to be able to match moods with his latest, by White Zombie, so I decided to go with a couple of old-skool-sounding psychobilly numbers by The Spectres instead. The whole album, The Great Erotic Zombie Shakedown, is great—my favourite track being a lovely, romantic little ditty entitled Scratchin' At My coffin Lid but that's not about zombies. These two, however, are; I’m Your Zombie and They Won't Stay Dead. They also encompass, between them, the plot of just about every zombie movie ever made. Which is nice…
—Daz

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Zombiethon, The Trashy Sequel—Day 2: Zombie Love

Continuing my replies to Cannonball Jones’s Zombie-themed run-up to Halloween…

I don't know much about this band, The Cold Blue Rebels. All I have are a few tracks on compilations. I'd love to have posted their Hell Block Thirteen, but it doesn't fit the zombie theme. Ah well, this song's almost as good. It's a '50s-schlock-esque number, a little reminiscent of The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band at their best/worst. Doo-wop plus zombies! What's not to love about that?
—Daz

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Zombiethon: The Invevitable Trashy Sequel

I couldn’t let this pass! It’s like a challenge to my psychobilly cred. Or something.

Okay, it’s an excuse to post videos of songs that most people will think me insane for liking, and probably cause bleeding from the eardrums of anyone with anything like refined musical taste. Happy now?

This one’s from the Meteors, and it’s either their first or second record-release, in 1981, the Meteor Madness EP—the soundtrack from a short movie they made. (Possibly Graveyard Stomp b/w The Radioactive Kid came out first; memory fails me, but this was the first song I remember hearing by them.)

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