BREAKING DOWN CHRISTMAS SONG TYPES

Christmas music has been with us for many years. It has seen a boom thanks to radio stations going "All Christmas" in the past seventeen years. I recently saw a post on Tumblr about types of Christmas songs. The post was by a Millennial and very funny. I had thought several times about doing a post about different sub-genres of Christmas music. The Millennial kept his simple (about 5 types), but I had thought of some others. Some are obvious.

* JESUS IS BORN: "Joy To The World," "Away In the Manger," "Silent Night," "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," "Do You Hear What I Hear?" & "What Child Is This." One of the more recent songs of this sub-genre is "Mary Do You Know."

* SANTA CLAUS IS COMING: "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town," "Here Comes Santa Claus," "Up On the House Top."

* THE LITTLE MISFIT WHO SAVES CHRISTMAS: Well, hands down the biggest one here is "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer." Second, would be "Little Drummer Boy." There was also "The Bell Who Couldn't Jingle," "Little Sandy Sleighfoot," and "Ding A-Ling the Christmas Bell."

* WE LOVE WINTER & SNOW: Hands down the biggie here would be "Jingle Bells." Then comes, "Winter Wonderland," "Sleigh Ride," "Marshmallow World," "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm," "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow."

* ALONE & DEPRESSED AT CHRISTMAS: Most of these came out of World War 2. With that said, I find most of depressing. "I'll Be Home For Christmas," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "Blue Christmas," & "White Christmas." More recently Wham gave us "Last Christmas."

* CHRISTMAS AMERICANA: The best example would be "No Place Like Home For The Holidays," however, I would count "The Christmas Song" & "Silver Bells" in this group. They are bigger songs. Another example of this is a song called "Christmas In My Home Town."

* BRITISH ROCKERS CHANNELING CHARLES DICKENS: For some reason, this is my favorite sub-genre, because it has only four songs in it and all are from the 70s.  Jethro Tull's "Christmas Song," Emerson Lake & Palmer's "I Still Believe in Father Christmas," The Kinks "Father Christmas," and, of course, "Happy Xmas (the War Is Over)" by John Lennon.

* CHRISTMAS GOES HAWAIIAN: This one has even less songs than the British rocker/Dickens sub-genre. It is also the one I understand the least. My guess it is an off-shoot of the exotic trend of the late 40s & 50s. There are only two songs, but they surprisingly get played on "all Christmas" radio. They are "Christmas Island" & "Mele Kalikimaka."

* PRETTY DECORATIONS:"Deck The Halls," "O Christmas Tree," "It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas" and "We Need a Little Christmas."

* CHILDREN'S CHRISTMAS: "Frosty The Snowman," "I Want a Hippopatamous for Christmas," "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," "Nuttin For Christmas," & "The Chipmunk Song."

* CHRISTMAS PARTY CELEBRATION: "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," "Happy Holidays," "Rockin Around the Christmas Tree." I would also count "12 Days of Christmas," "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," & "Here We Come A-Caroling."

* THE XMASTIZED VERSION OF THE BIG HIT: These rarely get played. Bobby Boris Picket's "Monster's Holiday," James Brown's "Santa's Got a Brand New Bag." My favorite is Mickey Gilley's "The Girls All Get Prettier at Christmas Time" and my least favorite is "Santa Claus is Coming In a Boogie Woogie Choo-Choo Train" by The Tractors.

Yes, this is just typical geeky blogger over analyzing, but also something fun. Feel free to share this with your friends.



   

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2018

MONSTER PHOTO FUN 2018

HORROR MOVIE MUSIC IPOD PLAYLIST

I'm going to start off this post by telling you something that the snobby "timeless love song/Great American Songbook" crowd doesn't want you to know. One of their favorite "standard" songs, that was a favorite of our grandparents and parents, was introduced in a HORROR FILM.

The song, "Stella By Starlight," first appeared in the 1944 film The Uninvited, about a woman named Stella, who is possessed by a ghost. In the movie, Ray Milland plays a composer, who tries to woo Stella by composing the song for her on a piano, while she stands by an open window.  The song has been recorded by many artist since it was first introduced, but most of those familiar with the song would probably never guess it was from a horror film. The Uninvited was also groundbreaking in that it portray ghost and the paranormal as serious, instead of a criminal gimmick or for comedy purposes.

I brought up ghost and comedy, because one of the biggest songs of the 80s, was from a comedy about ghost and demons. Of course, that was Ghostbusters. That song dominated radio in the summer of 1984, but some would say Ghostbusters is a comedy not a horror film.

That is why this is a Ipod playlist, because 1)) doing a really educational "countdown-of-the-greatest-ever" post would lead to hairsplitting and Internet bickering about what I should consider a "real" horror film or horror comedy or a mystery thriller or science fiction movie or an original composition for a horror film or using a previously recorded song. So, I'll just give a playlist with the movie the song was featured in and you can decide for yourself what category it belongs in, 2) I haven't done one in a while, and 3) it's quick and easy.

I have left out orchestral scores, in favor of pop & rock songs, featured in the film. Some were hits before the film came out or "oldies" used to memorable effect in the film. I tried to give the name of the original version or version in the film, if I use a substitute, I'll mention why.

Stella By Starlight - Andre Previn (This is a piano instrumental, as in the movie) - The Uninvited - 1944
The Blob - The Five Blobs - The Blob 1958
The Web - Abie Baker - The Brain That Wouldn't Die 1959
Bird Is the Word - The Rivingtons - The Crawling Hand 1963
Look For a Star - Gary Miles - Circus of Horror 1960
Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte - Al Martino - Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte 1964
My Son, The Vampire - Alan Sherman - Vampire Over London 1952/My Son The Vampire 1964
That's The Way It's Got To Be - The Poets - Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster 1966
That's All That I Need You For - The Birds - The Deadly Bees 1966
Shadows - The Electric Prunes - The Name of the Game Is Kill 1968
Green Slime - The Green Slime - The Green Slime 1968 (The title of the song, movie and the band are all Green Slime)
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Roberta Flack - Play Misty For Me 1971
Season of the Witch - Donovan - Season of the Witch 1972/Dark Shadows 2012
Ben - Michael Jackson - Ben 1972
Tubular Bells  - Mike Oldfield - The Exorcist 1973
Popcorn - Hot Butter - Shriek of the Mutilated 1974
Daybreak - Harry Nilsson - Son of Dracula 1974
Science Fiction/Double Feature - Richard O'Brien - Rocky Horror Picture Show - 1975
Time Warp - Richard O'Brien, Patricia Quinn & Cast - Rocky Horror Picture Show - 1975
Sweet Transvestite - Tim Curry - Rocky Horror Picture Show - 1975
Don't Fear The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult - Halloween 1978
I Love The Nightlife - Alicia Bridges - Love At First Bite - 1979
Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival - American Werewolf in London -1981
Moondance - Van Morrison - American Werewolf in London - 1981
Blue Moon - The Marcels - American Werewolf in London - 1981
Cat People (Putting Out the Fire) - David Bowie - Cat People - 1982
Bela Lugosi's Dead - Bauhaus - The Hunger - 1983
Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Junior - Ghostbusters - 1984
Weird Science - Oingo Boingo - Weird Science - 1985
Wanted Man - Ratt - Weird Science - 1985
Tesla Girls - Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark - Weird Science - 1985
Pretty Woman - Van Halen - Weird Science - 1985
Blue Kiss - Jane Wiedlin - Night of the Creeps - 1986
The Stroll - The Diamonds - Night of the Creeps - 1986
Teen Beat - Sandy Nelson - Night of the Creeps - 1986
Good Times - Inxs with Jimmy Barnes - Lost Boys - 1987
People Are Strange - Echo & The Bunnymen - Lost Boys - 1987
Who Made Who - AC/DC - Maximum Overdrive -1986
For Those About To Rock - AC/DC - Maximum Overdrive - 1986
Dream Warriors - Dokken - Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors - 1987
Into the Fire - Dokken - Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors - 1987
Youth of America - Birdbrain - Scream - 1996
Red Right Hand - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Scream - 1996
Who's Gonna Mow Your Grass? - Buck Owens - House of 1000 Corpses - 2003
Turn Around, Look At Me - The Lettermen - Final Destination 3 - 2006
Nights In White Satin - Moody Blues - Dark Shadows - 2012
I'm Sick of You - Iggy & the Stooges - Dark Shadows - 2012
Ballad of Dwight Frye - Alice Cooper - Dark Shadows - 2012

MONSTERS - 70s VINYL RECORD MYSTERY

A well-meaning co-worker gave this to me. I can’t find any information on who these guys really are. All I know is Hugo & Luigi we’re executive producers. It is not very good. Some of the original songs are mediocre at best. The covers are horrible. Especially the version of “Monster Mash”. Below is one of the original numbers entitled "Transylvania Disco Hustle." The whole LP is on You Tube.

KXVO "PUMPKIN DANCE"

This appeared during a Halloween newscast on CW affiliate in Omaha, Nebraska over 10 years ago. It was on the TV stations You Tube channel and sort of forgotten, until someone found it. If you wonder who is behind the mask, it is the "floating head" guy at the end of this video. Why can't we have anything cool like this on the TV news in Springfield, MO.

CARNIVAL OF SOULS GIF

Because you need this! Can't wait to watch this movie again this year.