Monster Music

I grew up after the big faddish bubble of monster-surf music, which is to say, I may have been alive, but I was not aware. I didn't really start to pay attention to popular music until (what a coincidence) Bobby "Boris" Pickett's "Monster Mash" was rereleased in 1973. I can remember listening intently to the radio, hoping to hear "Monster Mash" played again, and having to sit through interminable repeats of Paul Simon's "Loves Me Like a Rock" while waiting.

I don't know if my birthday's timing had anything to do with it, but I always loved Halloween and was fascinated with monsters. But as I said, the big monster fad had passed me by. This October has been especially fascinating, because I've been discovering retro blogs which have allowed me to revisit stuff from my youth that I had forgotten, as well as discover a lot of stuff I missed.

For instance, Retrospace posted this album by a guy named Wade Denning. I had this album when I was a kid. It struck me as basically a ripoff of (in my mind at the time) the far superior Disney album, "Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House," with a crappy cover of "Monster Mash" stuck on as the first track. Listening to it now after all these years, it still sounds derivative, with its canned screams and hokey narration. But there's some disturbing stuff in there, and my older self is able to recognize it in ways my younger, more ignorant self just overlooked. It was real kick to hear this again.

Retrospace also posted a Halloween music mix, featuring a lot of monster music that I hadn't heard before (and some I had), which then led me to Rev. Frost, who puts together some really kick-ass mixes. He has 16 in all from the past several years. Here's the latest one, with links to the earlier ones as well. There are sound clips from movies and commercials mixed in with movie soundtrack music, surf music from the 60's and today, as well as other random bits. They're a lot of fun.

I love the internet.