Artificial Radio Hour with Rev. Dr. Dr. Phill Part 43g

It's the Halloweekend, so it's time for part 43g!

Some of these ones might be familiar. Some of these you've never heard before.

Mysterious Mose is that tune. That one tune? You'll know it when you hear it. The sneaking-up music. In cartoons? You'll know it.

If you've ever heard Teddy & Darrel before I'd be surprised. It's kind of an amazing song. Gay-surf-horror?!? A three-way novelty song. Teddy & Darrel's record "These Are the Hits, You Silly Savages" was basically gaysploitation. It was released in 1965 on (future Lieutenant Governor under Brown, and noted "leading conservative supporter of gay rights") Mike Curb's Mira record label. Supposedly it was a scheme to track homosexuals by finding out where it sold. "The plan didn't work because record sales were just too spread out".

Darling Pet Munkee is a concept band. A supergroup composed of the guitarist from Axemunkee and members of a "The Prisoner" (Patrick McGoohan TV show) tribute band called Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling, they are named after the headline of an advertisement for live spider monkeys that used to appear in comic books. Each one of their songs is based on a real advertisement that appeared in comics or magazines in the 60s & 70s, and in some cases into the 80s.

"The Phantom" really isn't kidding around with that name. I couldn't find any information about who that person was. There are a few masked and anonymous musicians, and The Phantom is one. (Maybe I'll do a show featuring others? Somebody ask me to do that. I will.)

"Mr. Ghost Goes To Town" is a great tune by a vocal group called the 5 Jones Boys. (They weren't really named Jones.) I'm not sure what it was called in 1937 (maybe just vocal jazz?), but it definitely seems like a precursor to doo-wop.

The Frugal Gormets'[sic] first record was a tape called Home Cookin'. They were two 14-year=olds messing around with a busted tape recorder they used to alter their voices. From this recording, it sounds like it got real crazy. (A note: I censored this. I know, that's odd considering all the murder stuff in that previous show, but I felt weird about the transphobia in this clip. While not surprising coming from 14-year-olds from Indiana in 1985, it isn't the kind of thing I want to put out. Although you can probably hear where I edited, and easily figure out what I obscured.)

illustration by Drew Friedman

Raymond Scott was a very interesting composer. His intricate jazz compositions were used in many Warner Bros. cartoons. Later in his career, he created electronic instruments and recording techniques to achieve the precise sounds he was looking for. Members of his Quintette, like drummer Johnny Williams (father of composer John Williams), chafed at the methods Scott employed:

"All he ever had was machines, only we had names." Williams, explaining Scott's (commercially successful) penchant for recording rehearsals and using the reference discs to develop and finalize his compositions, said, "He didn't write anything, but he edited everything. We would work these things up and we would never change them, ever. We had to do them note for note. It was highly unsatisfactory, and it sold like hell."

Nilbog: The Band is my friend Bret's band. They play covers of music from horror movies, primarily music by the Italian band Goblin. This piece, recorded live at Cinefamily, is the main title theme for 1984's The Return of the Living Dead. It's called "Trioxin Theme" and was composed by Francis Haines.

Hot Blood was a German studio act. The members were Stefan Klinkhammer, Penny Duke, and May Ambruster. Klinkhammer was a musician and arranger for groups like Boney M, but that's about all I can find out. They released this single (backed with "Sans Dracula") and one more album of horror-themed disco. Also, the Japanese sleeve for the 12" is fantastic. It's credited to H. Masuyama, design, and I. Sansui, illustration.

Wiley Wiggins is an actor and filmmaker from Autin, TX. He is also a blogger and sometime musician, which is where this Muppets cover comes from. He posted it on his blog (at wileywiggins.com) in 2006. This cover has seeped into my brain, so know when I hear Kermit singing the original Paul Williams version I start hearing these "alternate" lyrics instead. Creepy!

That's all for today, the slog continues tomorrow!

Enjoy!

-Rev. Dr. Dr. Phill

Mysterious Mose - Ted Weems & His Orchestra (1930)

Gary Ghoul Boy - Teddy and Darrel (1965)

Genuine Soil From Dracula's Castle - Darling Pet Munkee (2012)

Satan Takes a Holiday - Rosengarden and Kraus (1965)

Last Ride - The Phantom (1955?)

The photo is sculptor Lee Bontecou in her studio

 Dracula's Cigarette - Spoon (2007)

Mr. Ghost Goes To Town - The Five Jones Boys (1937)

Satan's Blood - The Frugal Gormets (1985)

New Year's Eve In A Haunted House - Raymond Scott (1939)

Return of the Living Dead (Live at Cinefamily March 29, 2011) - Nilbog: The Band (2011)

Soul Dracula - Hot Blood (1975)

Wiley in Dazed & Confused

Rainbow Connexion - Wiley Wiggins (2006)

Artificial Radio Hour with Rev. Dr. Dr. Phill Part 43f

<spooky voice>
Greetings, everyone!
</spooky voice>

Today in part 43f, HALLOWEEK GOES TO THE MOVIES!

This one is all movies! Also, some early 60s instrumentals. Man, I love early 60s instrumentals.

First a cut from a late 60s album full of movie clips. This one is a montage of scenes from 1935's The Bride Of Frankenstein.

"The Grunt" is from a series of compilations of sleazy rock'n'roll called Las Vegas Grind. Vol. 2 was called "Louie's Limbo Lounge". Fun fact, a 50 Miler is a patch that a Boy Scout can earn by completing a 50-mile hike or canoe trip.

Vampire Playgirls seems like a bad horror/sexploitation movie, at least from the trailer. I've never seen it. The only description I could find just said: "Seven stranded travelers find themselves at the mercy of a sinister European noblewoman." Pretty generic.

Another great tune from Tarantula Ghoul. Just an excuse to post another photo of Ms. Ghoul.

Monster Mash/Sounds Of Terror! was on Pickwick records. Most of their content was for kids, but the section of that album called "Man's Inhumanity To Man" was pretty damn intense.

Monsters Crash The Pajama Party actually sounds interesting, and it's short enough that it could be tolerable but only in its original context. It was a 1965 short (a little over 30 minutes) about some high school girls having a sleepover in a spooky house, which turns out to have a mad scientist's lab in the basement. The big gimmick is that the mad scientist shoots a laser and the monsters "come out of the screen" and roam the audience looking for victims. They find one and take her back into the movie. It's the sort of thing that just doesn't translate into home video.

Other than Little Shop of Horrors and part of Night Of The Living Dead, I haven't seen any of the movies in this episode. The Mind Of Mr. Soames does feature actors I've heard of (Terrence Stamp and Robert Vaughn) so it might not be too bad.

Louise Huebner was, she claimed, a sixth generation witch. She had a radio show on KLAC in the 60s and was declared "Official Witch of Los Angeles County" in 1968.

Mosquitos aren't that scary, but I was being tormented by one as I edited this episode so I had to include that Tune Rockers tune.

That's it until tomorrow!

Enjoy!

- Rev. Dr. Dr. Phill

Ha Ha Ha - The Bride Of Frankenstein - Boris Karloff & Friends - (1935, from a 1967 album)

The Grunt - The Fifty Milers (1962)

Vampire Playgirls - Movie Trailer (1971)

King Kong - Tarantula Ghoul & Her Gravediggers (1959)

The Exorcism - Sounds of Terror! (1974)

Black Widow - The Tarantulas (1960)

Monsters Crash the Pajama Party - Movie Trailer (1965)

Give Her The Axe, Max! - Art Roberts (1958)

Little Shop Of Horrors - Movie Trailer (1986)

The Whip - The Frantics (1960)

The Mind of Mr. Soames - Movie Trailer (1970)

Night On Bald Mountain - Marty Manning and His Orchestra (1961)

Intro, “Seduction Through Witchcraft” - Louise Huebner (1969)

Brain Eaters - Movie Trailer (1958)

The Green Mosquito - The Tune Rockers (1958)

Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde - Movie Trailer (1971)

Burned at the Stake - Sounds of Terror! (1974)

Night of the Living Dead - Movie Trailer (1968)

Werewolf - The Frantics (1960)

Artificial Radio Hour with Rev. Dr. Dr. Phill Part 43e

they had some weird masks back in the day

<spooky voice>
Greetings, everyone!
</spooky voice>

HALLOWEEK CONTINUES! with part 43e.

So this one is about murder. There's a lot of killing here, it's less lighthearted than some of the other podcasts have been. The first part is about real-life murders, so I feel I should put a content warning here, at least for the first two minutes.

The first track here is in what might generously be called questionable taste. It's purportedly a monologue by Albert DeSalvo, known as the Boston Strangler. He confessed to a series of murders while he was in prison for other crimes, but was never convicted of the murders and was eventually killed in prison. WEEI Boston reporter Dick Levitan reads the monologue, which was purportedly based on those interviews. One source claims DeSalvo was paid 59 bucks for "rights", others say Levitan was paid (I hope so, he did record it). Either way, the music is by a local group called The Bugs, and the whole thing is supremely creepy.

Shakin’ Jake Woods (sometimes "Shakey Jake") was a street musician who performed on the streets of Ann Arbor, Michigan for 34 years. His only album has 31 tracks and only clocks in at just over 45 minutes.

Howlin' Wolf was born Chester Arthur Burnett in Mississippi in 1910. The "killing floor" of the title refers to a slaughterhouse. This song may have been inspired by the 1931 Skip James song, "Hard Time Killing Floor".

Not to spoil "The Gift", but I don't think there's any intentional killing in it. The story was recited by John Cale and written by Lou Reed while he was in college.

It's possible that I could have made a whole show with just Nick Cave and Tom Waits. Lots of creepy tunes.

Tom Waits is followed by a cover of that Skip James song that I just mentioned, this one from the Hellcats. They were an all female blues band from, apparently, France.

Victoria Spivey was a blues singer who had a long career, recording from 1926 to the mid-60s. She may have recorded other songs that could fit this theme, but I'm not familiar enough with her catalog to know what they are. This one had "murder" in the title, so...

Tito & Tarantula is a band fronted by Tito Larriva, a musician and actor. He and his music have appeared in many films. His band The Plugz are on the soundtrack of Repo Man, The Cruzados are on the soundtrack of Road House, and Tito & Tarantula are characters in From Dusk 'til Dawn, in addition to being on the soundtrack. Tito also appeared in True Stories as an actor, singing a Talking Heads song.

The Murder Mystery by The Velvet Underground is from the band's late (mid, I guess) period, when Doug Yule joined. Interestingly enough, I have done performances (two different texts being recited simultaneously) like this before. With only two people, however, it's harder to have musical accompaniment when there's only two of you and you didn't bring any instruments.

Actually, I don't think Chachi is in this photo. This might not actually be Toys That Kill.

Toys That Kill is a band from San Pedro, featuring at least one guy (known as "Chachi") I work with on the waterfront. He plays bass. This is another one of those songs that doesn't quite fit the theme, but it does have the word "killing" in the title.

Finally, one more song that actually is about murder and death. This version of "25 Minutes To Go" was recorded live at San Quentin in 1969.

That's it for today folks!

Enjoy!

- Rev. Dr. Dr. Phill

Strangler In The Night - "Albert DeSalvo" (Dick Levitan) (1967)

Scream Bloody Murder - Shakin’ Jake Woods (1978)

Killing Floor - Howlin' Wolf (1970)

The Gift - The Velvet Underground (1968)

Murder in the Red Barn - Tom Waits (1992)

Hard Time Killing Floor - Hellcats (1988)

Murder in the First Degree - Victoria Spivey (1927)

Killing Just for Fun - Tito & Tarantula (1997)

The Murder Mystery - The Velvet Underground (1969)

There's Chachi. The one with the headphones.

This Ain't Killing Time - Toys That Kill (2001)

25 Minutes to Go - Johnny Cash (1968)