Halloween Repost

I know that this may step on the toes of Dave over at A Sound Day as his feature Turntable Talk this month will feature write ups about “Spooky Hits.” What follows is a piece I wrote about DJing Halloween Parties and the “must have” songs.

It shouldn’t ruin Dave’s feature much, as all I am doing is listing songs. So be sure to be on the lookout for Dave’s Spooky edition of Turntable Talk starting today.

(This post was originally from October of 2022.)

I have DJ’d countless Halloween parties. This year I had to turn down one of my favorite ones. For the past few years a local daycare throws a big party and kids and their parents dress up in costumes and it is always a blast. Due to my current work schedule, I was just not able to be there this year.

I always had to have a variety of “haunted” hits to play at these parties. In case you are looking for musical ideas for your Halloween party, here is a starter list.

As much as I hate this record, you have to play Bobby “Boris” Pickett

You’ve also gotta play Michael Jackson’s Thriller. (Love Vincent Price’s narration in this!)

A personal favorite is from the Classics IV – Spooky

I always loved Jumpin’ Gene Simmons version of Haunted House

A favorite of the kids – This Is Halloween from The Nightmare Before Christmas

Speaking of nightmares, DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince offer up Nightmare on My Street

A great one from The Eagles – Witchy Woman

Kid Rock sampled this one for All Summer Long – Werewolves of London from Warren Zevon

You gotta play Clap for the Wolfman from the Guess Who

How about the silly song called The Blob by The Five Blobs?

The Hocus Pocus movie brought this one back, but the original is the best version – I Put a Spell On You by Screaming Jay Hawkins

How about some Rockwell? Somebody’s Watching Me

Be careful who you run around with …. Van Halen – Runnin’ With the Devil

Another favorite of mine – Santana – Black Magic Woman

It’s a very rare occurrence to have a full moon on Halloween, but this song works all year round. Bad Moon Rising – CCR

The moon causes the Shadows in the Night – Pat Benatar

Beware of the walking dead …. Zombie by the Cranberries

Another overplayed Halloween Song – The Purple People Eater – Sheb Wooley

I suppose you have to play Ray Parker Jr. – Ghostbusters

Going back to the 50’s for a couple crazy songs …

The Mummy from Bob McFadden and Dor

From Chipmunk creator David Seville – The Witch Doctor

Grab a bite with a vampire – Dinner With Drac from John Zacherle

Three Devilish songs now –

Devil with the Blue Dress – Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels

Sympathy for the Devil – The Rolling Stones

A classic from The Charlie Daniels Band – The Devil Went Down to Georgia

Alice Cooper did this one in Wayne’s World – Feed My Frankenstein

Speaking of Frankenstein – how about the Edgar Winter classic instrumental..

Need some cowbell?? Don’t Fear The Reaper – Blue Oyster Cult

A song I have blogged about in the past – Superstition – Stevie Wonder

Demons – Imagine Dragons

Trick or Treat … I Want Candy – Bow Wow Wow

Another 80’s flashback … Dead Man’s Party – Oingo Boingo

Lots of requests for Enter Sandman – Metallica

All good lists need a cut from Frank Sinatra – Witchcraft

I’ve never really understood how this is a Halloween song, but everyone wants to do the Time Warp from the Rocky Horror Picture Show

From another film (Rain Man) The Delta Rhythm Boys -sing about Dem Bones

Now, some kid favorites which had me searching YouTube a lot ….

Spooky Scary Skeletons

I sang this in music class when I was in elementary school and kids are still singing it today – Witches Brew

Then you can fill in with various Theme songs from films and TV …

Scooby Doo

Tales From The Crypt

The Twilight Zone

The Munsters

The Addams Family

The X-Files

Whew!!

Watch for my Turntable Talk pick in the days ahead on Dave’s sight (and eventually here). It is a song that I don’t mention in this blog!

Earth Day Kicks Off a New Feature

Happy Earth Day!

In a past blog I mentioned that I had a few ideas for new features – most are music oriented. I haven’t decided whether to do some weekly or biweekly, so I’m playing it by ear.

Today is the first installment of Movie Monday Music. As a fan of movie soundtracks, I thought it might be neat to feature from them. This will allow me to feature some hits and some odd cuts, too.

For Earth Day, I wanted to pick a song from a movie featuring Earth or World in the title. One movie jumped right out at me – 1992’s Wayne’s World.

The soundtrack album topped the Billboard Top 200 album chart and for a good reason – it had some great music on it. There were songs from Jimi Hendrix, Alice Cooper, Eric Clapton, Tia Carrere and, of course, Queen.

I suppose I could feature Bohemian Rhapsody, but that would be too easy. Instead, I chose a song that I’ve always liked – Dream Weaver by Gary Wright.

The song was recorded and released in 1975. With the exception of the percussion, all the instrumentation was done on a synthesizer. It went to number one in Canada, but topped out at number 2 in the US.

Another movie connection for the song: Wes Craven once said the song was the inspiration for his film Nightmare on Elm Street.

Book Recommendation: The Blues Brothers by Daniel de Visé

Recently, I was made aware of the NetGalley site (www.netgalley.com), where I could actually read books that had yet to be published. I created an account and began searching for a book to read. It didn’t take long to come across The Blues Brothers by Daniel de Visé. I requested to read it and was granted the opportunity.

I have been a fan of The Blues Brothers since it hit theaters. In my opinion, it remains one of the best movies of the 1980’s. I was aware that the characters were created on Saturday Night Live and that was all I really knew about how the film came to be. Looking back now, I guess I just assumed that it was something that Lorne Michaels gave his blessing to like Wayne’s World or the Coneheads movies. That wasn’t necessarily the case. As a matter of fact, it was quite a fight just to get the characters on the air!

As I dove into this book, I learned the backstories of John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. It was interesting to walk along side them on the road as they rose to fame. I also loved reading about the other now famous names that they worked with prior to coming together at SNL, how they landed their gigs at 30 Rock, and the idea that eventually became The Blues Brothers.

The book does a fine job of also giving readers a look at the personal lives of Belushi and Aykroyd. It was hard to read about the struggles that Belushi had with drugs. I was unaware of the steps that he had taken to try to break free from them. Sadly, we all know that he eventually succumbed to them.

Making a movie is certainly not an easy thing. Throughout this book, you will learn how an idea led to a huge script that had to be cut down, how the amazing musicians were put together, and how many of the great R&B singers came to be a part of the film.

Blues Brothers fans will love this because of the familiar stories and the ones they haven’t heard. There is a good mixture of both. There were plenty of stories in the book that will make me watch particular scenes in the film a bit more closely because of things it revealed.

I truly enjoyed the book and will be rushing out to get a hard copy of it when it is available March 19, 2024. You can preorder it on Amazon now if you wish.

I want to thank NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this before it was published. I look forward to my next read!