My A to Z Themes in the past have covered a range of topics and for 2025 the theme is a random assemblage of things that are on my mind--or that just pop into my mind. Whatever! Let's just say I'll be "Tossing It Out" for your entertainment or however it is you perceive these things.
Showing posts with label Frankie Stein and his Ghouls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Frankie Stein and his Ghouls. Show all posts
I was on Creativity Highway when I pulled over to a rest stop to take a break. I went into the bathroom building for a moment and when I returned my car was gone and I was stranded at the rest stop. Fortunately they have a nice comfortable waiting area with sofas and such so I can relax until my new mode of transportation comes. I mean this all metaphorically of course--not literally. Or do I?
Battle of the Bands Results
The Spooky Halloween Battle
My most recent Battle was a Halloween special that featured the beach music stylings of Frankie Stein and his Orchestra against the far out sounds of spacey Jeff Barry. These were both songs that entertained me when I was a kid and embedded themselves in my musical memory.
In my brief research effort I could not find any actual information about Frankie and his Ghoul Crew. It's likely the albums were compiled using various studio musicians. Several albums have been released under the band name and it's all pretty listenable sixties instrumental music if you can deal with the "scary" sound effects that are interwoven throughout the music. That's what I loved when I was a kid.
On the other hand, Jeff Barry was a credible songwriter who wrote many hits most of you know well. With his partner, they cranked out songs like "Be My Baby," "Hanky Panky," "Leader of the Pack," and "Do Wah Diddy," and so many others. He also with his wife and on his own wrote numerous television show themes and song used in film. "Face from Outer Space" is among his earliest efforts done when silly novelty songs were all the rage. That's when his song caught my attention. I've never heard it played elsewhere since then other than finding it on YouTube. The song really has stuck with me over the years.
Between the two songs, if I were to choose background music played on a loop then I'd probably go with Frankie Stein. However as far as the better--or at least my favorite--I'd have to cast my vote for Jeff Barry. Not what the majority opted for.
Final Vote Tally
Frankie Stein 7 votes
Jeff Barry 4 votes
Next Battle November 1
I won't say anything about how we're getting close to the end of another year. Or maybe I just did...
I've been given the Music and Words Award by Michele from Angels Bark which is one of the great blogs that participate in the bimonthly Battle of the Bands event. The Music & Words Award was created by blogger, Miss Andi, to acknowledge and link people who love music so much that they blog about it. She gives out 5 awards each Friday. The purpose is to feature great music blogs from all over the world and artists from all genres.
Once the award is accepted, there are five steps:
1. Link back to the person who nominated you
2. Answer the questions with words AND music
3. Pass the award on to 5 bloggers who inspire you with their posts about music
4. Tag your post with #MWA, for Music & Words Award so that we can all find you down the line
5. Quote these 5 steps and the award icon in your post. You can display the icon on your sidebar as well.
Q1: What does music mean to you?
Aside from the aural and mental pleasure derived from listening to the sounds of music, for me music is about connections. Music connects me to the artists who perform it, the composers who create it, and all of the other listeners who listen and enjoy just as I do. Like a time machine, music can transport me to places in my own memories as well into the lives of others and history itself. I can go around the world listening to music or I go into my own mind. Music can connect me to emotional states, modes of thought, or physical action. The listeners and the players of the music are connected by the music as David Crosby and his musical friends state in this song:
Q2: What is your first music-related memory?
My earliest memories of music are most related to my parents performing their juggling act. My father was always looking for the best songs to use in performances. He would buy the musical scores for songs he wanted to use since in the 1950's there was usually a live band backing them and he wanted them to play what he wanted to hear behind the juggling act. He would also buy the records with the songs so he could practice to the music that he expected the live band to play. In case he didn't have the band, he'd have a recording with the songs to play during the show. Those juggling songs are ingrained in my memory.
Here is the song my father opened his act with:
Q3: What was the first album you’ve purchased yourself?
In early adolescence I was interested in monsters and beach music. The two genres coalesced in a series of albums recorded under the auspices of Frankie Stein and his Ghouls. They were cheap albums, therefore with my limited funds affordable for me. A few of these were probably my first album purchases if memory serves me correctly. I bought them for the covers and the musical concept since I had no idea what they actually sounded like. Filled with horror sound effects and acceptable musicianship, they got plenty of play on my turntable. Eventually I realized that a lot of the songs appeared more than once on the album series, but with different song titles. Oh well, it didn't matter all that much to me.
Here is one example of the cover art and one song example--listen if you dare:
Q4: What was the latest music you purchased? (No online streaming or free downloads, I’m talking about cash here!)
I haven't bought much music in the past many years--not because I didn't want to, but due to budgetary constrictions. Besides that I don't listen to as much music as I used to. However I couldn't resist a purchase last summer when my youngest daughter took me to a New Jersey record store that had a large selection of used vinyl. She had gotten into vintage vinyl which I thought was pretty cool. So I started perusing the bins as she did the same and I came upon a pristine copy of Good Rats...Live At Last, an album that I had once owned on a cassette that had long ago been eaten by a player in one of my past vans. I consider this to be among the finest live albums ever so I had to buy this vinyl copy. I'd actually been looking for it on CD for quite some time--not an easy thing to find. Now I have the album. And someday maybe I'll hook up my old turntable so I can listen to it. But at least I do have the album.
To my knowledge there are no direct cuts from this album available on YouTube, but here is a studio recording of the song that Good Rats uses to showcase the band members:
Q5: Which song did you listen to last? (No cheating, come out with the dirty pleasures!)
Lately most of the songs I listen to are due to Battle of the Bands posts on my blog or the blogs of other participants. Prior to composing this current post or outside of any of my own BOTB posts, I think the most recent song I listened to was Jackie Gleason and his Orchestra playing "Melancholy Serenade" which was the theme song from Jackie Gleason's television variety show. I was listening to this after voting on the most recent BOTB post by John Holton.
Here is "Melancholy Serenade":
Those are my answers and now for the part that might get me in trouble. At the moment I can't think of five bloggers to pass this on to who haven't received it already. Of course, if you haven't received this yet then feel free to use it and if you want you can credit my blog. Sorry if I sound lazy, but that's why I usually don't do these award things anymore. This was about music though and how can I resist music?
Have you done this music exercise yet on your own blog? How often do you listen to music for the specific purpose of listening to music? Do you still buy music?
In today's post I have added links to youtube if you are interested in hearing some of the music that I am talking about.
In a post from last week I described how as I was growing up my musical taste was primarily developed according to what my parents had in their record collection. I don't recall listening to the radio much, but I listened to my parents records on their hi-fi often. There was always a wide variety of music to listen to so my musical taste became eclectic and I was pretty open-minded to hearing new music sounds.
In elementary school I played in the school orchestra and took private violin lessons. Also music appreciation periods in school introduced to classical and other forms of music. I was becoming fairly well musically educated. However, I was not really too aware of the rock and roll scene. All of that changed in 1963 when I entered junior high school in San Diego.
Almost a teenager entering a school mostly populated by those who were already teens was jolting. Childhood was officially over. I felt out of place. Now the day consisted of several classrooms and several teachers instead of the security of one classroom with a teacher who knew you. Now there was phys ed where we had to change into gym clothes and take communal showers, language class where I was going to learn Spanish, and school orchestra where I was no longer the best violinist in the lead chair. It was like starting school all over again.
One of the new experiences was a greater freedom at lunch. There was a Snack Shack where we could buy tacos and hamburgers. As we sat outside eating our lunches, music was being played over the loudspeakers. Day after day I recall hearing one song, the big hit of the fall of 1963, and that song was Sugar Shack by Jimmy Gilmer. I don't remember hearing any other song. For all I know "Sugar Shack" was the only song they ever played. My musical sensibility was resisting the pop sounds I was hearing, but at the same time I couldn't help but kind of like it as well--just a little bit. The teen chart hit sound was starting to worm its way inside of me.
Less than two months after I started junior high my family moved to Indiana. The transition was major, but occurring in the middle of the school year like it did it wasn't really that bad. No more orchestra, but there was a sort of general music class that all 7th graders were required to be in. But there was still the popular music that was starting to intrigue me. And then came the British invasion. I became hooked.
I started buying 45 RPM records--those were smaller records with one song on each side. They were less expensive than albums. Then I started finding albums that were intriguing to a 13 year old male. Early on I bought a knock off version of James Bond themes. I also bought a series of novelty records by Frankie Stein and his Ghouls. It was instrumental beach dance music. The one pictured here was Ghoul Music (1964) by Frankie Stein and his Ghouls. Much of the music sounded alike and eventually I realized a lot of the songs were repeated from album to album and just had different names. I still loved them at the time.
In 1965 I graduated to a different type of more sophisticated instrumental music-- Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. With an album cover that intrigued every adolescent boy, Whipped Cream provided hours of listening enjoyment for me. I built a collection of Tijuana Brass.
At this same time I was beginning to take note of my sister's Beatles records. Those are the records she was collecting. I had already began to appreciate some of the other English groups, but my sister owned the Beatles records. Then I discovered one that I could appreciate. The Chipmunks had been popular since the late 50s, and I had enjoyed their novelty songs. Now as they performed the Beatles hits, the music of the Fab Four was mine too. I could enjoy the harmonies Chipmunk style.
From here something happens to my memory. Music is everywhere and I am obsessed with it. Are the dates on Google and other internet sources wrong? I remember the time much differently than what the internet sources cite. Here is what I remember. I recall one very bizarre night in what I think is early 1966. I am with my family traveling to Rochester, NY where we are to perform in the Shrine Circus. It is the early hours of the morning and there is a great deal of snow. My father has the radio tuned to a station that is playing some very interesting music. First I hear "All My Loving" by the Chipmunks. Then I hear a bright and peppy vocal quartet called The Sugar Shoppe singing a vaudeville sounding song called "Poor Poppa". Then finally a hauntingly beautiful version of the Beatles song "A Hard Day's Night" performed by a sweet vocal duo call Tee and Cara. I swear it was all there that early morning, lost and circling the snowed in city of Rochester, New York in the mid-winter of 1966.
There was so much music then. Everywhere. It was on the radio in the car, on the school bus, and at home. My mind was filling up with great songs and new sounds. I began reading about music and watching it on television. It was a long time ago and I seem to remember it all so well, but then as I think about it I begin to wonder: How well do I really remember it all? I should have written it all down, but I never thought I'd be trying to remember it all later. I'll have to ask my mother and see if she can remember.
One thing I do remember for sure is that in December of 1965 everyone was waiting for the new Beatles album. Rumors were going around that this would be a very different album. I don't recall the exact date, but I remember hearing some songs, perhaps the entire album, debuted on WLS radio in Chicago. Every night thereafter, when WLS would play the most requested song for the night, it would be "Michele". I had to have this album. I got it for Christmas. From that point on my sister was not particularly interested in the Beatles, but I got every Beatles release after the release of Rubber Soul. I began building a collection of records that was only limited by how much money I had to spend and how many albums I would get for Christmas or birthdays, which was limited. In other words, the collection built slowly, but steadily. I only showed symptoms when I was getting those early novelty albums and 45 RPM records. With RubberSoul I became fully infected with musical fever.
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