From its very
beginnings, rock and roll has been rife with songs inspired by
monsters, aliens and zombies. Taking their cue from horror-movie
classics and comic books, artists from Bauhaus to Alice Cooper to the Cramps
have offered campy odes to the fright-filled pop culture of their
youth. In tribute to Michael Myers’ favorite holiday, below are 10
songs that evoke the spirit of Halloween.
“Monster Mash” (1962)
This classic novelty song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot
100 chart in October 1962. Horror-film actor Boris Karloff was so
smitten with the song – which was co-written and sung by aspiring actor
(and Karloff imitator) Bobby Picket – that he performed the tune on a
1965 episode of the rock variety show Shindig. A very young Leon Russell (www.leonrussellrecords.com/) played on the recording, as part of a group dubbed The Cryptkickers.
Fear Factor: 2“Frankenstein” (1973)The Edgar Winter Group
lifted the synthesizer to a whole new level with this 1973
instrumental. Named, in Winter’s words, after its “monster-like,
lumbering beat,” the song was a tour de force for Winter, who played
keyboards, saxophone, timbales, and various other instruments. That
same year, the New York Dolls recorded a song with the same title on
their debut album.
Fear Factor: 4“Werewolves of London” (1978)Warren Zevon
and guitarist Waddy Wachtel penned this classic at a time when both men
were working with the Everly Brothers. The song became Zevon’s only Top
40 single as a solo artist, although his composition, “Poor Poor
Pitiful Me” had previously been a hit for Linda Ronstadt. In his live
shows, Zevon would often replace the line, “I’d like to meet his
tailor,” with the phrase “and he’s looking for James Taylor.”
Fear Factor: 3“Ogre Battle” (1973)
This lead track on “Side Black” of Queen’s
second album was one of the most ferocious songs the band ever
recorded. Kicked off by a piercing scream from Freddie Mercury, the
track subsequently dives headlong into some of Brian May’s most
memorable riffs. Think Led Zeppelin-meets-Yes, at warp speed.
Fear Factor: 8“Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)” (1980)
This title track from one of David Bowie’s
darkest albums was powered by the shrill, metallic ring of Robert
Fripp’s guitar and Bowie’s portentous, Cockney-accented vocals. Some
have speculated that Bowie’s portrayal of John Merrick in the
theatrical version of The Elephant Man – staged on Broadway concurrent with the making of Scary Monsters
– inspired the dark tenor of the album. Bowie’s incendiary performance
of “Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)” on a 1997 episode of Saturday Night Live ranks among his best-ever TV appearances.
Fear Factor: 7“Purple People Eater” (1958)
Is it possible that this 1958 novelty hit inspired the creation of
“Ziggy Stardust”? Perhaps not, but the track – which centers on an
alien who comes to earth in hopes of joining a rock band – had its
genesis in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s obsession with creatures from
outer space. Come to think of it, the voice of the “Purple People
Eater” bears a strong resemblance to that of Bowie’s own creature in
the novelty song, “The Laughing Gnome.”
Fear Factor: 1“Feed My Frankenstein” (1991)
The inclusion of this song in the film “Wayne’s World” made the
track an instant classic. More importantly, the song marked the first
instance in which guitar maestros Joe Satriani and Steve Vai
had recorded together. Cooper, of course, loves the Frankenstein
monster, who served as the inspiration behind such other songs as
“Teenage Frankenstein” and “Ballad of Dwight Frye.”
Fear Factor: 7“Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon” (1990)The Cramps’ psycho-billy brand of rock and roll fits horror-comic motifs like a hand-in-glove. This song, from the band’s 1990 album Stay Sick!,
was one of the campiest tracks on one of the band’s campiest records.
Guitarist Poison Ivy channels Scotty Moore and Carl Perkins and infuses
those influences with a brazen punk attitude.
Fear Factor: 4“Bela Lugosi’s Dead” (1979)
This goth-rock classic from Bauhaus
remains one of the creepiest songs ever committed to vinyl. Peter
Murphy’s gloomy baritone sends shivers, while Daniel Ash’s droning
guitar moans like a ghost in a graveyard. Small wonder the track served
as a memorable opening-scene kickoff in the cult vampire film, “The
Hunger.”
Fear Factor: 10“Night of the Vampire” (1980)
This melodramatic ballad from cult figure Roky Ericson
brings to mind the gothic rumblings of a Black Sabbath song. Recorded
with his band, the Aliens, the song ranks among the best of several
Ericson-penned horror-film inspired tracks, including “I Walked with a
Zombie” and “Creature with the Atom Brain.” Ericson’s most recent
release, a compilation of live recordings from 1979 through 1981, is
titled, fittingly, Halloween.
Fear Factor: 8
Original article w/ YouTube videos: link
This goth-rock classic from Bauhaus
remains one of the creepiest songs ever committed to vinyl. Peter
Murphy’s gloomy baritone sends shivers, while Daniel Ash’s droning
guitar moans like a ghost in a graveyard. Small wonder the track served
as a memorable opening-scene kickoff in the cult vampire film, “The
Hunger.
That song and David Bowie are the only two things that make "The Hunger" worth spending thirty minutes on (after those thirty minutes, it degenerates into really bad soft-porn).
ThomasQuinn wrote: “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” (1979)
This goth-rock classic from Bauhaus remains one of the creepiest songs ever committed to vinyl. Peter Murphy’s gloomy baritone sends shivers, while Daniel Ash’s droning guitar moans like a ghost in a graveyard. Small wonder the track served as a memorable opening-scene kickoff in the cult vampire film, “The Hunger.
That song and David Bowie are the only two things that make "The Hunger" worth spending thirty minutes on (after those thirty minutes, it degenerates into really bad soft-porn).
and anyone with half decent hearing and a taste in great music should get a copy of Bauhaus' version of Ziggy Stardust
Bauhaus made Bowie sound decent (they also made me watch The Hunger).
Sepultura also made a cover of Bela but it sucks.
Another good song still in the goth domain is Dead and Re-buried of Alien Sex Fiend. Sounds a bit like Sigue Sigue Sputnik, only without the hype.