Rockin' In The Graveyard

For The Month Of October, Your One Stop Shop For The Best In Spooky Tunes

Unless you did some real digging into the farthest, dustiest corners of the web, you'd think that besides Arbor Day, Emma M. Nutt Day and National Beheading Day (wait, what...awesome) Halloween is one of the most sadly neglected holidays to have any sonic representation. Unlike Christmas, whose season produces enough music on a yearly basis to place an unsold copy or two of some boy band's rendition of Silent Night in every home on the planet, Halloween seemingly gets shafted time and time again with nothing other than cheaply produced CDs priced at $5 found at the checkout aisle in Walgreens. We've all heard Monster Mash one hundred times and we're all sick to death of it. "Surely," the discriminating Halloween lover asks himself "there has got to be better pickings then these same 10 songs on the same discs ever single season!" Well luckily for you, not only are you right but you've come to the right place. For the entirety of the month of October as part of our countdown to Halloween, we here at The October Country are going to be giving you dear readers, who can't stomach hearing The Purple People Eater one more time (lest you become completely unglued and pick up the nearest sharp implement and start stabbing in all directions), the opportunity to scoop up the very best in obscure, vintage music that couldn't be called anything other (or less cool) than "monster rock". By the time the clock strikes 12 midnight on October 31st, you should have enough music to throw a weekend long Halloween Party (or enough to fill your autumn tinted days and cloudy, spooky nights until then...it's the only music we listen to during this time of year). Oh. and don't even get me started on the Halloween themed horror film scores that should start popping up on these pages in the next few days. Lastly, before our month long countdown finishes, we are going to be unveiling two special albums (or mixtapes if you will) specially compiled for The October Country's dedicated readers. One album will consist of additional "monster rock" not collected on any other albums and the second release will act as an instrumental alternative to the standard (and yet again, tired and boring and played out) "special effects" albums that are seemingly nothing more than rattling chains and ghostly wails that most play on their front stoop during trick or treat. Keep checking back here for all your Halloween music needs.

Today's offering is a another double bill of vintage, eerie awesomeness. First, going even further back in time than before (as far as 1929 as with Frankie Trumbauer & Orch's Shivery Stomp, the majority of its tracks originating from the 30's) with a must have album of jazz and big band monster tunes from yesteryear, Halloween Stomp. In fact it's one of my most prized Halloween possessions. Next up is Doo Wop Halloween is a Scream, a compilation with enough rare monster music and doo wop to satisfy fans of both. So, c'mon boils and ghouls, get 'em while they're hot.



Halloween Stomp

1. The Haunted House - New Mayfair Dance Orch.
2. Shivery Stomp - Frankie Trumbauer & Orch.
3. Mysterious Mose - Radio All-Star Novelty Orch.
4. Boogy Man Is Here - Tom Gerun & Orch.
5. Haunting Blues - Red Nichols & His Five Pennies
6. Bug-A-Boo - Red Nichols & His Five Pennies
7. Got The Jitters - Don Redman & Orch.
8. Boogie Man - Todd Rollins & Orch.
9. House Is Haunted (By The Echo Of Your Last Goodbye) - Glen Gray & Casa Loma Orch.
10. Zombie - Gene Kardos & Orch.
11. Mr. Ghost Goes To Town - Louis Prima & Orch.
12. Skeleton In The Closet - Matt Gonella & His Georgians
13. Goblin Band - Glen Gray & Casa Loma Orch.
14. Hell's Bells - Sid Peltyn & Orch.
15. With Her Head Tucked Under Her Arm - Rudy Valle & His Connecticut Yankees
16. The Black Cat - Ozzie Nelson & Orch.
17. Strange Enchantment - Skinnay Ennis & Orch.
18. Ghost of Smokey Joe - Cab Calloway & Orch.
19. Ol' Man Mose Ain't Dead - Nat Cole & King Cole Trio
20. Swingin' At The Seance - Glen Miller & Orch.
21. Fanfare/Cherokee (Theme) - Charlie Barnet & Orch. w/ Peggy Lee
22. Old Man Mose Is Dead - Charlie Barnet & Orch. w/ Peggy Lee
23. Pompton Turnpike - Charlie Barnet & Orch. w/ Peggy Lee
24. Redskin Rhumba - Charlie Barnet & Orch. w/ Peggy Lee
25. Haunted Heart - Tommy Dorsey & Orch.
26. Headless Horseman - Kay Starr & Billy Butterfield Quintet
27. Dry Bones (Head Bone Connected To The Neck Bone) - Tommy Dorsey & Orch.

Link:
"Listen to that awful moan, I guess you better run on home, the boogeyman is here. Hurry up and go to bed and cover up your woolly-head, the boogeyman is here."




Doo Wop Halloween Is A Scream

1. Trick or Treat - 4 Flops
2. Zombie Walk - Magics
3. Headless Ghost - Nightmares
4. Monster Mash - Frankie & the Newports
5. Dead - Poets
6. Frankenstein's Den - Hollywood Flames
7. I'm in the Ground For Good - Newports
8. Zombie Jamboree - King Flash & the Calypso Carnival
9. Mummy's Ball - Verdicts
10. Queen of Halloween - Chotalls
11. Horror Pictures - Calvanes
12. Spooksville - Nu-Trends
13. Witch Doctor - Frankie & the Fashions
14. Dead Man's Stroll - Revels
15. Screamin' Ball - Duponts
16. That Halloween Night - Denise & the Double-Dates
17. Rockin' Zombie - Crewnecks
18. Frankenstein's Party - Swinging Phillies
19. My Baby Likes Scary Movies - Pete & the Bloodsuckers
20. Nightmare Mash - Bill Riley
21. Dorothy My Monster - Companions
22. The Vampire - Archie King
23. Monster's Love - Denny & Lenny with the Hollywood Ghouls
24. At The House of Frankenstein - Big Bee Knornegay & Group
25. Beware - Bill Buchanan
26. Dracula - Zane Brothers
27. Dr. Jekyll & Mrs. Hyde - Crystalairs

Link:
"Trick or treat, it's so sweet, all the candy I can eat. It's Halloween, at the end of October."

*Available during the month of October only. All the downloads on here are for evaluation/preview purposes and if you download something that you like, then you should buy the DVD, CD, tape, or vinyl it comes from if it's available. Thanks