I hope the popcorn fans are still around. I'm not sure how many of the 20 tracks are rare, but the majority are rare to me. Bobby Angelle's "There Goes My Baby" is probably my top fav of the bunch. Johnny Restivo's "Last Night on the Back Porch" would be up there too. And so is Esther Phillips' Beatles take on And I Love Her as "And I Love Him." Obrey Wilson's "In a Woman's Eyes" is also another goodie. All tracks from 1960 to '67. Enjoy!
Continuing on... "Blitzen" (Joe Wilder on trumpet) by Leonard Feather & Ralph Burns is the earliest track (1954). The Modern Jazz Quartet's "England's Carol" is the other earlier track (1960). Aside from a few 80s & 90s tracks, the rest are 00s.
I don't think I could pick one track over them all. Wynton Marsalis' "We Three Kings of Orient Are" would be right up there though, at a mesmerizing 9 minute tour-de-force. Nary a moment of boredom or reaching for the fast-forward button. Gabriel Latchin Trio's "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is another to take note. Tia Fuller's "Little Drummer Boy" is another worthy addition to the many covers.
Vince Guaraldi Trio's "Skating (#3, take 7)" is close to the original release, that you may not notice a difference. Mark Shane's X-Mas Allstars' "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" and Alban Darche's "Hark!" are a couple more excellent tracks. They're all good. Enjoy!
You've probably heard some of the tracks. Favorites include the awesome version of "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" by the George Shearing Quintet. If you love Brubeck's "Take Five," you should enjoy it. Cyrus Chestnut's cover of "Linus and Lucy" is another worthy addition. If you love bebop, you'll love Herb Geller's "Sleigh Ride."
Rahsaan Roland Kirk's "We Free Kings" is a well known track amongst the jazz aficionados. If you like stride, then you'll probably enjoy Butch Thompson's "Deck the Halls." Brad Mehldau's "Christmas Time Is Here" is imo, the highlight from the set. I absolutely love his rendition of the Vince Guaraldi/Charlie Brown classic.
One of my all-time favorite Christmas carols is "Silent Night". I prefer the renditions to be more serene and subtly melancholic. Fabrizio Bosso Quartet's "Silent Night" is quite the opposite and it works. It's jazzy, funky, and a worthwhile addition to the mix. Anyway, all the tracks are good. Enjoy!
I'm a fan/sucker for "you've never heard" and similar wordings in comp titles. And here we are with 18 smooth, upbeat, jazzy tracks you've never heard... or may have heard...
All tracks are instrumental sans "Last Christmas" by Till Brönner, but only briefly. Of all the cover versions of Wham's big hit, it's one of the better ones. It toys on a bossa-nova rhythm, and it works. Fourplay's "Angels We Have Heard on High" is probably the best jazz-funkiest rendition I've ever heard. Another big highlight is Dirk K's "Have Yourself a Merry Christmas." Who is Dirk K? I have no idea. Check out those monster guitar licks.
Don't forget to get wow'd by Marco Marzola's "O Christmas Tree." Listen to those drum breaks. Oscar Peterson's "Christmas Waltz" slows things down for a bit, but his piano runs makes up for it and then some. And please note the third track (Don Patterson's "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer") is a needle drop, and not that clean either. It's passable but thought to let you know. I couldn't resist not adding it to the mix. As usual, they're all good. Enjoy!
I was asked for more popcorn, so why not! I stopped at 10 volumes back in May, and half a year later, presenting... volume 11.
20 tracks in all, from '58 to '67. My favs you've asked? Well, the first track is great - Dean Parrish's "Bricks, Broken Bottles and Sticks." Ronnie Love's "Chills and Fever" is another goodie. And so is Darrell Banks' "Somebody (Somewhere Needs You)." I wonder if Steve Cropper and maybe a bandmate or three from Booker T. & The MG's were involved, for that intro is reminiscent of "Time Is Tight." As for my top fav, it's either aforementioned, or Erma Franklin's "I Don't Want No Mama's Boy." Let's call it a tie. Enjoy!
The last Halloween mix of the season. The following mix are leftover tracks. They are not sub-par tracks by no means, but couldn't fit them in the previous mixes.
A mixed bag indeed. Todd Rollins & His Orchestra's "The Boogie Man" (from '34) has lyrics that may easily offend, especially the folks who stirred up a ruckus over the Christmas staple, Baby It's Cold Outside, and the Police's Every Breath You Take. There's also a couple of interesting 60s tracks in the Whatever's "The Valley of Death" and the Seeds' "Creepin' About." And if you really want to get spooked, put on the headphones and turn up Suicide's "Frankie Teardrop." No matter where I've read music discussions on the world wide web, when the subject of requested songs for Halloween or looking for something disturbing, Frankie Teardrop is usually mentioned.
You all have a safe and happy Halloween! Enjoy! 😎
Another goodie! Nineteen instrumentals and one with vocals - The Hellbenders' "The Ghosts of Boot Hill." It's more (sort of) rockin' country but has that surfie guitar going for it.
Favorites include the Treble Spankers' "A Man Called Curse," the Lava Rats' "A Phalanx of Terror," Insect Surfers' "Ghost Train," Los Plantronics' "Voodoo Astronaut," and the Surf Zombies' "Skullaballoo." Enjoy!
Another 20 tracks of maddening modern surf rock. Favs include the Killer Bananazz's "Freaks of Nature," the Galaxy Trio's "Surf n' Destroy," and Evan Foster's "Werewolves International." They're all good. Enjoy!
One of my Halloweenie folders had tracks collecting computer dust waiting to be heard. 18 tracks in all, most from the 2000s with a few 90s. A bit of pop-punk, rock, garage, etc, including one score, a couple of ambient tracks, and one dark modern classical track by Bára Gísladóttir. Favorites include 999's "Everyday Is Like Halloween," The Woggles' "Dracula's Daughter," and the surf rockin' "The Flyin' Pumpkin" by the Blackball Bandits. Enjoy!
Frightening! Seriously, if you play this blasting out your stereo speakers during Halloween, I don't think many trick or treaters will show up, lol.
20 score pieces from horror/thriller films. I also added a few recognizable scores to keep the interest. Here's a tip: Mix this with the other Halloween mixes for a well diversified listen. So, what's the scariest track(s)? All of 'em! Enjoy!
Lots of oldies. Mostly 50s with a few 60s, 70s, and one 80s (Joel Vandroogenbroeck's "Ghost Town"). Also, four tracks from the 30s (Cab Calloway's "The Nightmare," Glen Gray's "The House Is Haunted," Prairie Ramblers' "Ghost in the Graveyard," and Paula Kelly's "Jeepers Creepers"), plus a couple of film scores.
My favorites? Definitely The Naturals' "The Mummy," for it's so similar to Bony Moronie. Russ Garcia's "Monsters of Jupiter" is another fav from the exotic/easy listening genre. The Del-Vikings' "The Voodoo Man" is another goodie, especially for the doo-wop lovers. And last but not least, Pino Donaggio's "Bucket of Blood." If you've seen the awesome film Carrie (the original), you should recognize it immediately. Enjoy!
Volume 4 - it's right up there with volume 2 as my favs (so far). 20 tracks once again and way too many favs to mention. But, I still enjoy naming off a few of them. Let's see...
Man or Astro-Man?'s "King of the Monsters" is probably my top fav. The Balboas' "Green Death" would be high on the list too. The Cavernarios' "Laguna verde" (Green Lagoon) too! And I love the exotic/lounge groove in The Excelsiors' "Strange Planet." They're all good. Enjoy!
It appears to be a more diversified Halloween playlist this year. Something for everyone perhaps. This time out, horror-disco - a style/genre within the hierarchy/branch of EDM > Electro-disco, Italo-disco, Neo-disco, etc. I'm not a big fan of horror-disco, so it took a bit to find a suitable mix. Like all my comps, I'm very selective. With this mix, I preferred and chose the steady beats along the lines of Motorik.
If asked for a favorite, I suppose Bottin's "Slashdance" would be right up there. It has that Daft Punk going for it. Psychic Pollution's "Exorcisme" is another, with the Motorik style. A dozen tracks in all, mostly instrumentals. Maybe go nuts and mix it up with the other Halloween mixes. Enjoy!
And continuing with modern surf rock number 3. If you love lots of reverb-y guitar, check out The Verbtones' "Flight of the Vampyre." My favorite amongst the 20 tracks is probably Monsters from the Surf's "Mysterioso." The Fathoms' "Tracking Bigfoot" is another goodie. And so is Voodoo Court's "Psycho Surfer." Oh, and The Pyronauts' "Boogieman" would be another. They're all good. Enjoy!
20 more scorching Halloween-themed instrumental modern surf rockers. Actually, make that 19. The best track (Fiend Without a Face's "Green Slime") has vocals, but I haven't the slightest what they're singing other than the track title. I probably don't even want to know what they're saying, lol.
Favorite tracks are Fiend Without a Face's "Green Slime" (obviously). It's a repeated listens type of track. It rocks! The Invisible Surfers' "Godzilla Attacks" is another goodie and so is Huevos Rancheros' "Super Creep." And can't forget Big Lazy's "Just Plain Scared." Check 'em all out. And let me know what you think of "Green Slime." Enjoy!
20 more rare Halloweenie tracks (well, rare to me). Okay, make it 19, as the first track is the main title theme to the film "Son of Dracula." Most of the tunes from the 60s, a few 50s, one from the early 70s (Neil Blunt & Jack Miffleton's "Halloween Song"), and an oldie from '27 (Truett & George's "Ghost Dance").
My favs you ask? Merle Kilgore's "The Bell Witch" would be one. The Moontrekkers' "The Bogey Man" is another. And The Black Albinos' "Ghost Party." Enjoy!
20 frightening instrumental tracks (well, perhaps the titles) of modern surf rock. A long story short - I've always loved classic surf rock (The Surfaris, Dick Dale, The Shadows, etc), but wasn't all that keen for the modern neo-surf music. It wasn't until I heard the Surfaholics' '95 album, "Tiki-A-Go-Go." And that's all it took to be hooked.
My favs? Not surprisingly, Surfaholics' "Frankensurfer" is my top fav. The Moon-Rays' "Transylvanian Boo-Ga-Loo (Java's Pad)" would probably be my second fav. A toss-up for third, either the Silver Hawks' "Fear City" or Evil Waves' "Death Waltz." Enjoy!
I'm on a roll, lol. And once again, most tracks are rare. I don't recall any of them during my younger years save Buchanan & Goodman's "Frankenstein of '59." Eighteen tracks, plus a couple of sound effects, all 60s except a couple of 50s tracks (aforementioned plus The Blue Echoes' "It's Witchcraft"), one early 70s (The Cords' "Ghost Power"), and The Monsters' "Skeleton Stomp" from the 90s. Enjoy!
