Friday, October 28, 2005

Mischief Day

Whatever October 30 is called these days, it isn't going to be like the old days when one threw cabbages or sheared goats, not that that activity took place in my childhood's neighborhood. We were more into the egg-throwing, window-soaping, and merde a la flambe-ing. Not that I condone, these days, the former or the latter. Besides, it's tough finding goats and I've heard that they can put a spell on you. At least that's what my grandmother used to say.

This Sunday is my turn on the dj shift at WVUD. The Sunday show, The Morning After, that a bunch of us do (we all are carbon-dated to the Vinyl & Cassette Age of Music) is eclectic, which means we don't let the Man tell us what to play! Eclectic also means that, along with the weak 1,000 Watt signal the station operates on, the audience is limited to the Sunday Morning sleepers and readers who can't stand watching talking heads on Sunday morning. It's more of a show that keeps us older dj's off the streets on Sunday morning. Crime has dropped noticeably in the 9:00 - 12:00 morning hours thanks to this alternative of spending our time. You can listen to it over the internet here.

I'm still planning out the show. Each of us has their own musical taste and dj-ing style. My musical preferences cover a broad scope. Jazz & blues mainly, with dollops of R & R and music from other countries (sorry, can't stand labelling it World Music). Talking is at a minimum; why waste air time on my voice when I could be playing some tunes! I'm trying to incorporate some music for the day/season, i.e., Mischief Night and Halloween, so if anyone has suggestions, I'd be pleased to receive and consider them. There is always great autumnal music to play, so I may stay in that area. Don't want to rile up the listeners and have them engaging in property damage related activities. It's a sad sight seeing a middle-aged guy in sweats chucking eggs at condos; I'm here to help.

Comments:
How about:

The Louis Armstrong version of the Arthur Johnson/Johnny Burke tune, "The Skeleton in the Closet" recorded with Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra,

"The Headless Horseman" by Don Raye and Gene De Paul. Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby and the Rhythmaires perform the song featured in the "Legend Of Sleepy Hollow," a portion of the 1947 animated Walt Disney film The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad,

"She’s My Witch" by Kip Tyler & His Flips was recorded in November 1958. Sexy, spooky and lazy this is Halloween music performed with a hoodlum’s sneer. The Flips were a Hollywood black-leather clad Rockabilly gang who would ride to their shows on motorcycles,

Gary Warren’s "Werewolf", recorded August 18, 1958 on the Nasco label. Re-recorded in 1998 by Southern Culture On The Skids

Calypso, Reggae and Ska also have some excellent seasonal representatives. Zombie Jamboree is a funny story about zombies from across the land celebrating at a cemetery on Long Island and is said to have won an extemporaneous composition contest for Lord Invader and his Twelve Penetrators at Trinidad’s Calypso Carnival in 1955. This, according to the Kingston Trio’s Dave Guard, who has a knack for entertaining song lead-ins. The song was actually written by Conrad Eugene Mauge, Jr. (which is not Lord Invader’s real name—he was born Rupert Westmore Grant); Lord Invader’s band was known as his Calypso Orchestra. No matter, the Kingston Trio is responsible for one of the most notable versions of this song. Early recordings of Zombie Jamboree (which is also known as Back to Back [Belly to Belly]) are by such Calypso artists as Noel Anthony, The Castaways and The Charmer (The Charmer was Louis Farrakhan’s stage name back in the 50s). Harry Belafonte recorded my favorite version of Zombie Jamboree in 1962. In 1990, Rockapella (an acappella group) released a radio only single of Zombie Jamboree (one of the first songs they had recorded as a group) bringing the song to a new audience and making the song hip again,

Another favorite is Ghost Town by The Specials. Written by Jerry Dammers (their keyboard player and principal songwriter) in 1981, Ghost Town was The Specials last single.

Can't claim to knowing all this myself, found it at: http://www.13thtrack.com/unearthing.htm
 
Being a great lover of the blues myself, I'd recommend three from the big, bad Howlin' Wolf:

Moanin’ At Midnight
Evil
Ain’t Superstitious

And Screamin' Jay Hawkins is perfect, too.
 
Now there is a Pumpkin who . . . I'd say, hit the Jackpot.
 
Thanks for all of the suggestions. Not sure if I'll be able to scrounge up some of those older ones, but I'm sure Screamin' Jay and Southern Culture on the Skids will be available. Pink Floyd's "One of These Days" from "Meddle" is an option as is Julies Brown's "Earth Girls are Easy, Mojo Nixon's "I'm Gonna Dig up Howlin' Wolf", Quicksilver Mesenger Service's "Bears", and anything from Rhythm Devil's (Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead;s band) "The Apocalypse Now Sessions".

Thanks for the ideas; time to dig through the old vinyl.
 
B. Mouse, Actually that P. Floyd instrumental has a guy saying, "One of these days, I'm going to..." The "Lunatic runing inside my head" is from of the songs from "Dark Side..". As regards Quicksilver, it's a rule here that at least once every six months, the "Who Do You Love" suite gets pulled out and played, high volume and all loose objects nailed down, of course.
 
I'd like to congratulate you on making it through this tricky slot of air-time without once resorting to "The Monster Mash" - no small feat!
 
How about the Bonzo Dog Band's "Monster Mash" ... oh, sorry, I appear to have mentioned the unmentionable.
My word verification for this comment was "zicpcnfh" - I always get the best ones on your site, D.
 
Our Deluxe Random Word Generator has been pre-programmed to generate a specific unidentifiable verbal oddity just for you Stephenesque.
To all the commenters, I give you thanks. In yesterday's (10/30/05) show, I was able to play quite a ew Screaming Jay's, Howlin' Wolf, and a Louis Armstrong. The radio station's library, unfortunately, was a bit scant in the other suggestions, so unacompanied moaning and chain-dragging sufficed. I especially appreciated all of your efforts; I didn't realize how much enthusiasm this topic would bring.
 
I agree with Bleak completely. A radio station without a Bonzos LP is merely a audio turd transmitter.
 
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