Thursday, October 31, 2024

Halloween Music Trivia!


Due to trying not to have an aneurysm by needing to finish writing a review of Agatha All Along overnight for Halloween after a double size finale, I started posting Halloween Musical Trivia Questions on social media.

Technically there were only five days worth, but since I can't help myself and added a bonus question to each one, its a Top Ten.

Answers are Way down at the bottom following  a spoiler space.

Have Some Spooky Fun!!!!

#1. Since I cleaned a crapload of leaves the day I had this idea, and came up with these last minute, the first is a basic one. In the Sheb Woolley 1958 classic about the “One eyed one horned flying purple people eater” what color does the song say the musical creature is?

Bonus question- what weird tv show did Anabelle identify a distorted version of the song before me on, and will never let me live it down?



#2 When released in Japan the 1962 Kaiju Clash King Kong vs Godzilla had an awesome orchestral score by Akira Ifukube. (Who scored 12 Godzilla films completely and his music was used in a total of 28 of them.) Along with the goofy idea of including a clearly insane American paleontologist in the satellite, Universal also replaced his score with music from which two of their classic monster films?

Bonus Question- Older Universal Monster films like Frankenstein and Dracula didn't have full scores, only opening and closing music, making them feel overly silent throughout. Which monster film was the first American film with a feature length score?



#3 In December of 1983, Michael Jackson's "Thriller" became a Halloween staple due to the Vincent Price narration, Rick Baker effects, and the dancing undead. However, in July of that same year, a horror comedy (and McGinley family favorite) was released with a very similar "Zomboogie" musical number in it. The number was cut from the original VHS release of the hour and twenty-six minute film for reasons I have never discovered. What was the name of this Hudson Brother's flick.

Bonus Question- A tour boat guide, Bob X. Cursion, was an early appearance to an actor who would go on to much larger and more famous roles. Before this appearance, he was also the narrator in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Who is it?



#4 Weird Al has done several songs over the years that were either fake themes or fake trailers for films. What was his very first, for a non existent slasher movie, with lyrics that inspired the title of the album it was on?

Bonus-  I have no idea why, however, from when I first heard it and would drive my sister's friends places, up through when my daughter was younger and beyond, pre-teen girls have found this 1973 fake monster movie theme (until someone really made a movie in 1996) by Rose and the Arrangement to be hilarious. What is the song?


A multi-parter for the big finale!
#5  The 1962 undisputed king of Halloween songs is "The Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett. In 1985 the song got a sequel by him about teaching the monster to talk. (Because, the Eighties.) What was the name of the song, and what lyrics did it copy from an existing song of that genre to pad out the "extended dance mix" version?

Bonus- Picket teamed with friend Peter Ferrara to do an audio only parody of a famous Science Fiction show in 1976. What was it?


Spoiler space:






























































End Spoiler Space
Answer 1- The color of the creature is never identified. When asked "What's your line?" it responds "Eatin' purple people and it sure is fine." 
It is an eater of "purple people." 
It is not a "purple eater" of people.
Bonus- The song appeared distorted in season 2 (2017) of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.


Answer 2- For whatever reason, music from The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and The Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954) was used for the US release of King Kong Vs. Godzilla.
Bonus- The first American film with a full original score was 1933's King Kong.
Bonus information in the bonus- the first in the Universal Horror cannon with a full score was the following year's The Black Cat featuring both Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi.
That year's Werewolf of London had a score that was a mix of original and other pieces.
And bringing us full circle the first "Universal Monster" film with a full original score was 1935's the Bride of Frankenstein.


Answer 3- The 1983 movie with the Zomboogie, which predated "Thriller" by months was Hysterical...
and YOU'RE DOOOMED!!!
Bonus- John Larroquette was the tour guide making a bunch of weed jokes. (Coincidentally, rumor is that's how he was paid for recording the narration of Texas Chainsaw Massacre.)


Answer 4-The Weird Al song is "Nature Trail to Hell" the final and longest cut off the 1984 Album (which the film is described to be) In 3D!
Bonus- "The Cockroach that Ate Cincinnati," has been unfathomably popular with pre-teen girls throughout my life. I offer no explanation for this. "It's catchy" would seem to be a reason, yet they also seemed to hate the differently catchy "Eggplant That Ate Chicago," leaving me with no idea.


Answer 5- The sequel to "The Monster Mash" (which had a whole album of other rock n roll monster songs, of varying quality) was "The Monster Rap" and aside from Frankie's original rapping (which is a hoot) the extended version (AKA the Special 12 Inch Horror Mix) has him covering part of The Sugar Hill Gang's 1979 "Rapper's Delight."
"Said a hip-hop, the hippie to the hippie
The hip, hip-a-hop and you don't stop rockin'
To the bang, bang the boogie, say up jump the boogie
To the rhythm of the boogie, the beat"
Boy they don't write lyrics like that anymore...
and I think it's clear why.
Bonus- The spoof sketch was "Staaaaar Drek!"  ("Ain't I somethin'?"- Capain Jerk)


If you got them all, CONGRATULATIONS!
You're as big of a horror/ comedy geek as I am!

If you got any of them, also CONGRATULATIONS, you're less weird than me.

If you got none of them...
you probably already have your Christmas decorations up and don't care about this creepy stuff anyway.

Thanx for playing everyone.

What? 
You say there is a tie in a competition over these questions and you need a tie breaker? 
Good thing I'm a buffoon and forgot one of the original five questions when I first came in from raking and made up another question before I remembered it!!!!!

Tie Breaker Buffoon Question:
In 1993, the film Hocus Pocus put the song "I Put A Spell On You" back into Halloween consciousness. However, it is my personal, and I venture to say expert (on spooky stuff, novelty records and general weirdness) opinion, that the semi-original version from 1956 is far crazier and therefore more appropriate for the holiday. This is due to the fact that the performer originally recorded it as a sweet blues ballad in 1955. However things changed when he recorded it again the following year after his producer brought in chicken and ribs and got the entire band hammered. What is the name of the performer of the more fun, grunting, growling and howling version of this number that fit in well with his stage theatrics of entering in a coffin and such?
Bonus- What star of stage and screen, (including appearing in the grand poohbah of Halloween appropriate cult films) recorded a disturbingly sultry version of this song on his album Simplicity in 1981?


Another spoiler space








































Tie breaker answers:
The insane and wonderful performance was by Screamin' Jay Hawkins. 
Bonus- The later version was by the one and only star of The Rocky Horror Picture Show Tim Curry. 

4 comments:

longbow said...

My Halloween music is the soundtrack to the original The Crow

Jeff McGinley said...

That is an excellent one. Thanx for playing.

Jesse said...

"Olé? That's dumb."
Thanks for posting these! Here's one more for posterity...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtaFg7hSblw

Jeff McGinley said...

Thanx for playing Spike's Monster Movie Ball is a hoot. I thought about getting a Jumpin' Gene Simmons one in there for Haunted House. There's just so many good ones. https://youtu.be/tKcy23_X6Xc?si=6DEC9qN0Hzaj2JeS