No Halloween party would be complete without some creepy songs of zombies, graveyards and voodoo. Ancient, hair raising tales long forgotten and unearthed only once a year on Halloween.
The definitive Halloween classic must be Bobby ‘Boris’ Pickett’s attempt merging the Mashed Potatoe dance craze of 1962 with B-movie horror. ‘Monster Mash’ by Bobby and his Cryptkickers was even banned by the BBC in the sixties for having morbid lyrics. You gotta laugh at that one, really.
Do The Monster Mash!
As old as the hills, Screaming Jay Hawkins’ swamp blues ‘I Put A Spell On You’ is another certified Halloween classic. ‘Screamin Jay’ - or Jalacy to his mum - had already aborted short careers as an opera singer and a boxer when he decided to try his hand as a rock’n'roll singer. Spicing up his act with a bit of Voodoo schtick was the cleverest move he ever made. Just add a steaming Gumbo cauldron and throw some chicken bones on the floor to set the mood.
Watch Jay At His Voodoo Best Doing ‘Spell’ As Only He Can
Lyrically speaking, ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’ by Goth rockers Bauhaus is as neat a piece of Halloween poetry as you are ever likely to hear. Check this out:
“The bats have left the bell tower
The victims have been bled
Red velvet lines the black box
Bela Lugosi’s dead”
(’Bela Lugosi’s Dead’, Bauhaus, 1979)
Watch Bauhaus Perform ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’
Cue to Gothic Hillbilly rejects The Cramps. Lux Interior (RIP) and Poison Ivy, two fans of 1950’s B-Movies, Betty Page bondage pix and trashy Rock-A-Billy ditties, launched The Cramps onto the 1976 New York Punk Rock scene. Now watch The Cramps getting creative in the crypt:
Watch The Cramps Play ‘Garbageman’ In The Crypt
Play our Halloween Jukebox below and unearth some more ghoulish goodies.
Halloween Jukebox
Too tame for your taste? If slasher movies are your idea of Halloween entertainment, then listen to Iggy Pop spinning his yarn from the perspective of a serial killer on Death In Vegas‘ bone chillin’ stalker nightmare ‘Aisha’. You may find the voyeuristic video unsettling or plain offensive. You’ve been warned.
