Halloween 2023, Part 2--Break-ins, Jeane Dixon, and fakes--oh my!

Break-ins!  Get it?  (Frankie says, Hi!)  "Break-ins," as many of us know, are a genre invented by Bill Buchanan and Dickie Goodman with The Flying Saucer (1956). Of course, counting any given example as the "first" can be perilous, in the event someone manages to scare up any earlier instances.

After all, once magnetic tape became the chief audio medium for recording studios and radio stations, it was inevitable that folks would insert "sampled" sound effects into their records.  As Spike Jones did on his 1953 Dragnet, and Carl Weismann, pre-B&G, with his Singing Dogs.  But the use of snippets from current hits and oldies to accompany a silly storyline?  Maybe Bill and Dickie were the pre-cursers.  I mean, precursors.

"Break-ins, Jeane Dixon, and Fakes," I call the zip.  And is the "and" redundant, since we're talking a psychic famous for predicting an event she didn't predict?  Well, Jeane was--let's say--not a total truth teller, but she was providing a service for superstitious folks like my maternal grandmother, who cherished the $15 lucky leprechaun pendant and handwritten Jeane Dixon letter she ordered from Fate.  And I wouldn't be surprised if the note was in Jeane's own hand.  Compared to the big-time fraudsters in the ESP, telekinesis, and "past life" rackets, Jeane did no harm, in my opinion.  Nor did her 1966 single A Gift of Prophecy.  In fact, it's a camp classic.

But... neither did she actually predict JFK's assassination.  It's even stretching things to suggest that she made a lucky guess in that direction.  What happened was, back in 1956, Jeane predicted a Dem would win the 1960 election and would die during either his first or second term (if he was to have a second term--she didn't know).  As in, from natural causes or from assassination.  Between 1956 and the 1960 election, Jeane changed gears and decided the winner would surely be... Richard Nixon.  She held to that prognostication until, I guess, Nixon didn't win.  But, given that Jeane had made a none too specific guess in 1956, only to take it back, well... I'm not convinced that some people have a "gift of prophecy."  Including her.  And, not to be too critical, but what kind of "gift" did it prove to be in this case?  Was the 1963 tragedy averted?  Ummmm... no.

I'm no fun at Halloween, I guess.

In other noose--er, news--Elementary, My Dear Watson! is a don't-hear-ever-day novelty by William Indelli, whom I once devoted a post to--and ought to, again.  In a 2020 comment, I described Indelli: "(Bill) was a member of the Tommy Dorsey Orch. and had some songs recorded on legit Chicago labels, and then ended up in the song poem circuit."  A talented guy, if not the luckiest.  With a gift more useful than, say, Jeane Dixon's.

As for the budget Halloween sound-alikes, it seemed like epically good luck to locate John Logan's Promenade EP Dinner With Drac fake in my not-in-order 45 rpm boxes.  But not such good luck to discover the fatal needle gouge which ruins the final few grooves.  So, I ended up swapping the last several seconds of the Peter Pan LP (Monster Mash) reissue of the track, taking care to reduce PP's fake stereo to something like monaural, plus painstakingly match the two EQs.  Which I did so well, I doubt anyone will notice.  Well, unless I tell them.

Other seasonal fakes: Little Blue Man, Witch Doctor (both SPC) and Purple People Eater (Gilmar and maybe Broadway?).  I guess they could be classified as "Budget Boos!"

And the Buchanan and Goodman, Dickie Goodman, and Buchanan and Ancel "break-ins"?  Masterpieces of the art of so-stupid-it's-funny humor.  I mean that as praise--I love these things.  And, lest you think that just anyone can put out a halfway decent "break-in," I have a number of dreadful Buchanan and Goodman imitations which prove there was an art to that weird genre.

Time to enter "Halloween 2023, Part 2."  Nary a thing to dread.  And I can (possibly) assure you that your visit will be unlived.  I mean, short-lived...  (And thanks to Ernie for the year correction.  I'd originally traveled back a decade...)

DOWNLOAD: Halloween 2023, Part 2: Break-ins, Jeane Dixon, and Fakes, Oh My!

SLAYLIST

A Gift of Prophecy, Pts. I and II--Jeane Dixon, Arr, and Cond. by Joe Sherman, 1966

Ben Crazy--Dickie Goodman and Dr. I.M. Ill, 1962

The Mystery (In Slow Motion)--Buchanan and Goodman, 1957

Batman and His Grandmother--Dickie Goodman, 1966

The Creature (From a Science Fiction Movie)--(Bill) Buchanan and (Bob) Ancell, 1957

Buchanan and Ancel Meet the Creature (From a Science Fiction Movie), 1957

Frankenstein of '59/Frankenstein Returns--Buchanan and Goodman, 1959

Elementary, My Dear Watson!--William Indelli and His Orch., 1960

Purple People Eater--Stevens Mark (Thanks, musicman!) (Gilmar GH-92, 33 and 1/3 EP)

Witch Doctor--John Logan (Promenade, 1958)

Little Blue Man--Melody Jane (Promenade, 1958)

Dinner With Drac--John Logan (Promenade, 1958)

Transfusion--"Scat Man" Crothers With Lew Raymond Trio (Tops, 1956)

Lee

Frank-Tin-Stein presents... Halloween 2023, Part 1!

 

Three years after christening this cookie tin "Frank-Tin-Stein," I'm realizing, more than ever, what desperate word play that was.  But desperate word play is a sacred (or profane?) Halloween tradition.  And, at least in theory, the worse the pun, the better.  Not sure that works in this case, but Frank-Tin-Stein it is.  I built that crypt, so I'll have to live in it.  (Er, maybe "live" is not the right word.)

So, awful puns by the gravesite, let's proceed with the in-augggh-ural "I Decided at the Last Minute, With workupload Having Disposed of Most of My Rips, to Resurrect My Favorite Halloween Novelties, Plus Some 'New' Stuff" post, which I've shortened to "Halloween 2023, Part 1."

The moldies include David Rose's terrific Satan and the Polar Bear (1957), Mantovani's outstanding 1956 rendition of Morton Gould's 1938 Deserted Ballroom, Lawrence Welk's 1965 recording of Theme From the Addams Family (very snappy), and... Does it give me gruesome gratification to present Halloween classics by three "MOR" conductors?  I can't lie.  Well, actually, I can.  Who among us has always told the truth?

And, the Monotone's zany Zombi from 1958, plus Beatrice Kay's 1947 classic, Hooray, Horray, I'm Goin' Away, which must have been heard by a young Jerry Samuels (aka Napoleon XIV).

Then, a "new" offering from 1963, which was superbly imaginatively titled: Halloween, it's called.  On both sides, no less.  And no "Part 1" and "Part 2," even, though the A side is credited to the Friendly Ghosts (did the Casper people know about this?) and the B side blamed on the Lively Ghouls.  If only these two guys had put as much thought into the main title.  Anyway, these two sides (which I spliced together) are certainly cryptic--to the point of inspiring the listener to wonder what the point was (or, indeed, if the two culprits had a ghost of a point).  Bells sounding, a lot of moaning, and much screaming, then more screaming, and, to top it off... even more screaming/howling/screeching.  Enough inspiration for, say, 30 seconds, but they managed to push it past nine minutes.  The only thing crazier than someone listening to the entire combined track has to be the hour or better which I devoted to getting the sound (almost) up to par.  All the while, I asked myself, "Why am I doing this?"  I don't recall reaching an answer.

Really, Halloween isn't so much a poverty row Halloween sound effects disc as an obsessive study in reverb/echo.  "Wow, we can make stuff sound weird if we crank this knob to ten"--Friendly Ghosts, aka Lively Ghouls.  The effect isn't so much like two guys providing dungeon-style sound effects, plus short snippets from other recordings, but more like two guys thinking these things.  With their thoughts somehow captured on magnetic tape.  We just may be listening to a bold paranormal experiment.  I can picture Bellaire Records after listening to these sides: "You were supposed to provide us with a record."  "We did."  "Oh, okay.  If you say so.  I guess we'll, um, put this out."

Halloween makes Revolution 9 sound like a Top 40 ditty.  Anyway, feel free to use it for Halloween spook audio.  It'll have your guests asking, "Is that your plumbing, or...?"

Frank-Tin-Stein wants to know why he's always referred to by his creator's surname.  I dunno.  Because it's a by now ancient pop culture tradition.  And, really, thinking bout it, Frank-Tin-Stein isn't quite as awful as Frank N. Stein or Frank and Stein.  At least it breaks new ground.  Speaking of cemeteries, I have grave-loads more ripped and almost ready to go, but will I make the DEADline?  I'd better, or I'll suffer eternal darn-nation.  (Countless repeat-plays of Halloween.)

As the angry villagers said to the Frankenstein monster, "You've been warmed!"  Stay tombed to this charnel.

DOWNLOAD: Frank-Tin-Stein Presents...

Satan and the Polar Bear--David Rose and His Orchestra, 1957 (from the MGM LP, "Hi Fiddles")

The Deserted Ballroom--Mantovani and His Orchestra, 1956 (from the London LP, "Musical Modes")

Zombi--The Monotones, 1957 (Argo 5301)

Saturday Evening Ghost--Frankie Stein and His Ghouls (from the Peter Pan EP, "Monster Mash")

Hooray, Hooray, I'm Goin' Away--Beatrice Kay With Mitchell Ayres Orch., 1947.

Halloween--The Friendly Ghost/Lively Ghouls, 1963.

Lee

(Almost totally) Expert instrumental "interpretations" of "contemporary composers." The Sound Symposium, 1969.

 

With a jacket this weird and cool (if not a bit creepy!), and with the "Contemporary composers interpreted" claim, I figured the music couldn't possibly be as good as the packaging.  Luckily, I was wrong.  These are expert arrangements (by Larry Wilcox) which do justice to the mostly lite rock titles in question.  This LP affirmatively answers the question, "Can late-60s Top 40 be effectively rendered in a high-quality EZ style?"  A question we've all asked ourselves, and probably two or three times a day, I'm sure.

"Gosh, can late-60s Top 40 work in a pop-instrumental vein?  I wonder..."  "Honey, the Gorton's fish pieces are burning!"

But... one misfire in the bunch, and I can only guess that there wasn't time for a retake.  I refer to MacArthur Park (which Richard Harris insisted on calling "MacArthur's Park").  It starts with the harpsichord player hitting a series of wrong chords, and later we hear the pianist almost getting Webb's tricky syncopation as-written.  As if the performer were sight-reading his chart.  Park does have the feel of an "almost there" run-through.  Too bad, as it could have been terrific.

Because the excellent stereo is best experienced through headphones, I was unimpressed after my first boombox playing: The arrangements seemed lacking, and the stereo not properly balanced.  Wrong on both counts, as revealed by my decent quality phones.  This is the sort of stereo which, played through a middle-quality boombox, loses much of its detail.  I guess this is a classic example of a "headphone" stereo mix.

This LP is unlike any similar pop-instrumental effort I've heard to date--from Ken Thorne on Reader's Digest to the famous (Who was) Terry Baxter on his many Columbia Record Club releases.  The same pro-level playing, and the same level of creatively in the charts, but.. with a sound almost wholly consistent with that of the originals.  There's little sense of genre transplantation.  And, of course, I've always wanted to type "genre transplantation."  Finally, my wish fulfilled.

This set even got me to liking America and Little Green Apples, whose melodies are quite superior.  I just needed to hear them in the right setting, I guess.  But, why oh why did they have to retain the fumbled intro to MacArthur Park, plus the miscounted piano passages?  Oh, well.

I'd have to rate this as the best LP of its type (which I've heard to date), if only because it sounds (after all these years) every bit as contemporary as the source hits.  It promises an up to date sound, and it delivers.  Excellent engineering by Bill MacMeekin, even if it doesn't sound right on my middle-quality boombox.  I'm sure Bill wasn't thinking in terms of early-2000s boomboxes.  The probability seems quite remote.

Let me end with some awful word play: "This symposium doesn't seem very sound."  "Well, it's an old building.  And we didn't expect such a huge turnout."  Sorry.

DOWNLOAD: The Sound Symposium--Contemporary Composers Interpreted (Dot DLP 25909; 1969)

You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

Darling Be Home Soon

Medley: Respect/(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay

If I Were a Carpenter

Hey Jude

Don't Think Twice

Medley: Alfie/The Look of Love

America

Medley: Honey--Little Green Apples

MacArthur Park

Lee

Music From Hollywood (Themes From Great Motion Pictures)--Al Goodman and His Orch. (1953)

 

At Facebook, I was discussing the great mood music orchestras, and Al Goodman popped up.  His name, that is.  In connection with his superlative pop-orchestral music.  And this 1953 EP set is as good as mood music gets.  And its value as a collectable?  Between one and three bucks at Discogs.  Well, nobody said good and collectable were necessarily the same thing.  I never did, certainly.

Fabulous early-RIAA curve RCA Victor sound, incredible arrangements and musicianship, and... My pick for the all-time best rendition of The Song From "Moulin Rouge," the famous hit by Les Six member Georges Auric.  In this set, Rouge is followed by the almost-as-amazing The Happy Time, a Dimitri Tiomkin title from the 1952 movie starring Louis Jourdan, Charles Boyer, and The Outer Limits' own Marsh Hunt (memorably thought to death by a swarm of intelligent bees).

I knew Goodman made great recordings, having heard his fabulous forget-Arthur-Fiedler version of A Hunt in the Black Forest, but this is my first time listening to a Goodman LP.  (Unless I put up one of his Brand "X" releases.)  Or EP set.  Same thing, in this case.  Oh, yes, there's his wonderful 1950 12" RCA Victor 78, Christmas Fantasy.  Same killer arranging, fidelity, and playing.

So, why don't he get no respect?  Well, that's not an issue at this blog--here, he's going to get plenty of appreciation (once I find out what I've got by him and what I need).  Pure A-plus "semi-Class."  And whoever coined "semi-Class" (shortened form of semi-Classical) wasn't expressing a compliment, I'm sure, unless by some tiny chance he or she wasn't engaging in word play.

So, along with the two gems already mentioned, the themes from A Place in the Sun (Franz Waxman), Quo Vadis and Ivanhoe (both Miklos Rozsa) and The Snows of Kilimanjaro, credited to one Bernard Herman, otherwise known as Bernard Herrmann.  Bernard was never one not to repeat himself (and why not?), and so listen for the hints of Vertigo in the 1952 theme.

Was Al's stuff too lacking in gimmicks, too straightforward?  Musicals, the GAS (Great American Songbook), Strauss waltzes... no jungle drums or other "exotica" fare, no Al Plays the Great Beatles Hits.  (Wait, wait...  I take it back.  He did a Fab Four LP for SPC's Diplomat label!)  He did record an awful lot, but that shouldn't work against him.  Well, count me hugely impressed by this wonderful set, and if you're only up for two tracks, please experience Moulin Rouge (which I keep mistyping as Rogue) and The Happy Time.  Oh, and catch the Vertigo chord progressions to come in the Herman/Herrmann selection.  So, if you're only up for three tracks...

I determined the track order by the matrix numbers.  I suppose I could have consulted the ten-inch LP...


DOWNLOAD: Music From Hollywood--Al Goodman and His Orch. (RCA Victor EPB 1007, 1953)

High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me)

Theme Music From "The Snows of Kilamanjaro

Ivanhoe

Theme Music From "David and Bathsheba"

The Song From "Moulin Rouge" (Where Is Your Heart)

The Happy Time

A Place in the Sun

Quo Vadis

Lee

The Today People, more

 I just revived the Today People post (several entries past) at Box.  Using Box for the moment--still checking out storage site suggestions.

A little shakeup at the blog isn't a totally bad thing.  Usually.

And I came across two of my original pieces at Box, both of which I'd forgotten (he wrote, not shamelessly promoting his own stuff).  The second is a space-themed Halloween offering:

Dorky Dinos (Hartsfeld)

The Deserted Launch Pad (Hartsfeld)

Lee