Various Artists - Ace Records Halloween Compilations

No long-winded Halloween stories this year; I couldn't think of any that were of any import or interest. But during the year, I gathered up a few more releases related to the holiday, and wanted to get a couple of them posted here before Friday - so here you are.

The first, These Ghoulish Things - Horror Hits For Halloween, was released in 2005. It contains some superb selections of horror rock from the Golden Age of Rock 'n' Roll, between 1957 and 1964. Artists both renowned (like Screamin' Jay Hawkins and Bo Diddley) and obscure are featured here. But what makes this release unique is that it also several 1962 radio station plugs recorded by Mr. "Monster Mash" himself, Bobby "Boris" Pickett. In all, many of the tunes on this disc had never before been released on CD, making this an essential album for connoisseurs of this genre. Here's the lineup:

1 Radio Plug for Monster Mash on Station KFWB - Bobby 'Boris' Pickett
2 Screamin' Ball (At Dracula Hall) - the Duponts
3 Drac's Back - Billy Demarco & Count Dracula
4 Midnight Stroll - Revels
5 Ghost Train - Virgil Holmes
6 The Mummy's Ball - The Verdicts
7 Frankenstein's Den - The Hollywood Flames
8 I'm the Wolfman - Round Robin
9 Spooksville - The Nu-Trends
10 The Munster's Theme - Milton Delugg & the All-Stars
11 Coolest Little Monster - John Zacherle
12 Monster Party - Bill Dogett
13 The Creature (From Outer Space) - The Jayhawks
14 Mr. Were-Wolf - The Kac-Ties
15 Radio Station Promo for Bill Gavin - Bobby 'Boris' Pickett
16 My Son, the Vampire - Allan Sherman
17 The Monster - Bobby Please & the Pleasers
18 Theme from the Addams Family - The Fiends
19 Nightmare Mash - Billy Lee Riley
20 The Voo Doo Walk - Sonny Richard's Panics W/Cindy and Misty
21 Feast of the Mau Mau - Screamin' Jay Hawkins
22 Frankenstein's Party - The Swingin' Phillies
23 Legend of Sleepy Hollow - The Monotones
24 Bo Meets the Monster - Bo Diddley
25 Rockin' in the Graveyard - Jackie Morningstar
26 Radio Plug for Monster Mash on Station WCOP - Bobby 'Boris' Pickett
27 Monster Mash - Bobby 'Boris' Pickett
28 The Vampire - Orvin Yoes

The second one here, Mostly Ghostly: More Horror for Halloween, was a follow-up to These Ghoulish Things that came out a few years later. All of the music on this album is from the same general time period as the earlier comp, i.e., late '50s/early '60s. Allmusic.com put together a great summation of this compilation that I really can't add much to or refute:

If you're looking for a non-run-of-the-mill soundtrack to your next Halloween party, this disc, and its predecessor, These Ghoulish Things: Horror Hits for Halloween, should just about tide you over the first round of trick and treat. Devoted wholly to rock/horror novelties from the mid-'50s to the mid-'60s, just a couple of these 25 tracks... were hits. And as a matter of fact, just a few of the other artists... will be familiar to the average knowledgeable rock fan. Since these are essentially novelty songs, you might not feel much like pulling them out on occasions other than Halloween, much like you only play Christmas albums at a certain time of year.

The songs are longer on novelty than musical value, but if nothing else, they're entertaining relics of just how outrageously silly early rock & roll performers (and labels) would get in search of a quick hit. Some of the songs, too, are pretty strong in their own right, especially Sutch's "'Til the Following Night" (one of the best pre-Beatles rock & roll records from Britain), "Haunted House," and the Moontrekkers' instrumental "Night of the Vampire" (one of Joe Meek's best productions). It doesn't get much weirder than Gary "Spider" Webb's "The Cave, Pt. 1," consisting mostly of a boy and a girl sporadically calling out to each other in a cave as guitars twang and drums throb. Beatles' novelties, to stretch the thread more, don't get much weirder than Gene Moss & the Monsters' "I Want to Bite Your Hand," issued in the wake of the Fab Four's invasion of the U.S. For Cramps fans, there's the original version of "The Goo Goo Muck," as first heard on Ronnie Cook & the Gaylads' 1962 single.

Here's the track list for this one as well:

1 Dracula's Theme - The Ghouls
2 Til' The Following Night - Screaming Lord Sutch & The Savages
3 Do The Zombie - The Symbols
4 Haunted House - Jumpin' Gene Simmons
5 Dinner With Drac - John Zacherle
6 The Goo Goo Muck - Ronnie Cook & The Gaylads
7 The Mad Scientist - Zanies
8 The Cave - Chuck Holden
9 Spooky Movies - Roy Clark
10 They're Here - Boots Walker
11 Black And Hairy - Screaming Lord Sutch
12 The Hearse - Terry Teen
13 Terrible Ivan - Art Roberts
14 Night Of The Vampire - The Moontrekkers
15 The Mummy - The Naturals
16 I Was A Teenage Creature - Lord Luther
17 The Cave - Gary 'Spider' Webb
18 The Cat - Rod Willis
19 Zombi - The Monotones
20 Alligator Wine - Screamin' Jay Hawkins
21 Morgus The Magnificent - Morgus & The Three Ghouls
22 Sleepy Hollow - The Last Word
23 Rockin' Zombie - The Crewnecks
24 I Want To Bite Your Hand - Gene Moss & The Monsters

So, that's that. For your enjoyment this holiday weekend, here are two superb and lauded Halloween-themed releases put out on the Ace Records label: These Ghoulish Things - Horror Hits For Halloween in 2005, and Mostly Ghostly: More Horror for Halloween in 2012. Have a spooky, scary, fun listen, and as always, let me know what you think.

Please use the email links below to contact me, and I will reply with the download link(s) ASAP:

• Various Artists - These Ghoulish Things - Horror Hits For Halloween: Send Email
• Various Artists - Mostly Ghostly: More Horror for Halloween: Send Email