Halloween Song: Warren Zevon - “Werewolves Of London”

Another rerun from the BHT haunted vault. This was one of the first Halloween Song profiles I wrote; first appearing on October 10, 2009. And I dare say it’s guaranteed to go over well at parties.

Graphic from the official Warren Zevon Facebook page.

Although Warren Zevon had been an active singer-songwriter for several years before Excitable Boy dropped in 1978, it was his first album to achieve major commercial success. It also established his dark and ironic sense of humor, particularly on the title track and “Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner.” On “Werewolves Of London,” Zevon’s jubilant piano playing and boisterous howl celebrated the violent antics and fashion choices of a homicidal beast.

Zevon was joined by veteran session guitarist Waddy Wachtel (who along with singer-guitarist LeRoy Marinell helped Zevon write the song) and the Fleetwood Mac rhythm section of bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood. The lyrics ranged from the graphic “He’ll rip your lungs out, Jim” and “Little old lady got mutilated late last night” to the classic understatement, “Lately he’s been overheard in Mayfair.” Zevon conjures a trendy werewolf cruising Soho for beef chow mein and sipping a tropical drink at Trader Vic’s. Later, Lon Chaney appears with his son and the Queen, making this a full-fledged Halloween party.

Halloween Song: Hoodoo Gurus - “My Imaginary Friend”

At the risk of being repetitive, today’s Halloween Song is by the same Australian rock band that was featured yesterday. There’s a certain bookends effect since “Dig It Up” was from the Hoodoo Gurus’ 1984 Stoneage Romeos debut album, and “My Imaginary Friend” is from their most recent (2022) album Chariot Of The Gods. That’s a long time to be recording songs. Let alone so many clever, offbeat ones. As noted in a previous post, some of the Broken Hearted Toy Halloween choices aren’t particularly scary. Like this one, they’re just weird.

Set to a classic pop arrangement, “My Imaginary Friend” explores a problem that might have never been covered in a song before. Which is, the end of a relationship that only existed in a person’s mind. As the lyrics illustrate, there were obvious signs of trouble. “I keep going back to our last call,” vocalist-guitarist Dave Faulkner explains. “The silence was loud and clear. The poisonous atmosphere.” Apparently earlier phone calls with this nonexistent being went more smoothly.

“Now my imaginary friend won't talk to me,” Faulkner laments. “Can you imagine how that feels? To be rejected by someone who was not there?” As “My Imaginary Friend” continues, it becomes clear we’re dealing with a serious schizophrenic. “A lifelong friendship vanished in a puff of smoke. I ought to laugh but the pain is real.” The concept here almost seems like a put-down. That guy’s such a loser, even his imaginary friend broke up with him. But Faulkner’s song draws a sympathetic response. And it’s really catchy.

Hoodoo Gurus are currently touring the U.S.A.

Halloween Song: The Hoodoo Gurus - “Dig It Up”

Another repost from the BHT haunted vault. This one first ran on October 26, 2009.

The Hoodoo Gurus are not only one of the best garage bands around, they’re also one of the spookiest. This was already evident on their rollicking 1984 debut, Stoneage Romeos, which would be the perfect soundtrack to a Halloween party. “Leilani” is about a tropical human sacrifice, “In The Echo Chamber” is based on a torture scene from the 1960s TV spoof Get Smart, and “Death Ship” describes a ghostly crew that lures other sailors to their doom.

“Dig It Up” features a galloping backbeat, twanging guitars that raise the spirit of The Cramps, and opens with the line, “My girlfriend lives in the ground.” Lead vocalist-guitarist Dave Faulkner sings of placing flowers on a grave each day and laments, “I want her back/Because I look so bad, so bad in black/Like a maniac.” Later, he concludes, “You can’t bury love, you gotta dig it up.” The band breaks into some wild jamming, along with Faulkner’s ear-piercing screams.

The cause of the beloved’s death is never revealed, because it would be too painful. “My friends, you ask me why she’s six feet down/I can’t tell you why ‘cos if I even try/I’d fall flat down on my face.” Faulkner’s promise to paint his girlfriend’s room pink and blue doesn’t seem like much of an incentive to return from the dead, but then “Dig It Up,” like the best of the Hoodoo Gurus’ energetic garage rock, skillfully balances the macabre with the silly.

Incoming

A hearty welcome to Graham Nash, who’s come to the Chicago area for concerts at Evanston’s Cahn Auditorium tomorrow and Wednesday night. He’s been on the road since the beginning of August, and has just seven more shows before he wraps up his More Evenings Of Songs & Stories 2024 tour. Never a bloke to sit around very long, Nash kicks of another USA tour in March 2025. Writer Janine Schaults' interesting interview with Nash in yesterday’s edition of the Chicago Tribune includes his reflections on the soon-to-be-released album Live At The Fillmore East, 1969. “That music brings all those memories back. You can feel that me and David and Stephen really loved each other.”

Prog rock master and The Luck Of Eden Hall founding member Gregory Curvey, AKA Custard Flux, will open for vocalist-guitarist Jane Getter and her Jane Getter Premonition band at Reggies Shack in Chicago’s south loop this Thursday, October 17. The date is part of the Jane Getter Premonition Division World Tour 1st Leg.

Sting, the former Police vocalist-bassist, is coming to Chicago at the end of this month and he’ll stay a while. The Sting 3.0 Tour, which features the three-piece combo of Sting, guitarist Dominic Miller, and drummer Chris Maas, includes shows at the Auditorium Theatre on October 28, October 29, November 1, and November 2. His most recent album, The Bridge, was released in 2021 and included the terrific track “Rushing Water.” Concert pianist/DJ/film composer ELEW will be Sting’s special guest.

The 27th Annual Jeff Buckley Tribute will be held on November 17 and 18 at the Uncommon Ground venue on Chicago’s north side. In addition to the live performance, the event includes a three-course meal. Proceeds will go to the Old Town School Of Folk Music’s scholarship fund.

As noted on the Official Tom Petty Facebook page, a fully remastered version of the Heartbreakers Beach Party will be screened in cinemas this Thursday, October 17 and Sunday, October 20. Billed as The Lost Classic Documentary, Starring Tom Petty, it was directed by Cameron Crowe, and includes “20 minutes of additional, never-before-seen footage from the Petty Archive.” 

Trouser Press Books will release a new edition of This Ain’t No Disco, a joint effort from writer Roman Kozak and photographer Ebet Robert that honors the New York City CBGB rock club, tomorrow. That’s also the day when Trouser Press Books will release Robert Sellers and Nick Pendleton’s Marquee, a look at one of London’s most famous music venues. 

Halloween Song: Lene Lovich - “Bird Song”

This post made its BHT debut on October 29, 2009, and I’ve posted it just about every year since.

The arrival of new wave and punk rock in the late 1970s introduced an exciting cast of talented and sometimes intimidating female performers such as Chrissie Hynde, Deborah Harry, Annie Lennox, Siouxsie Sioux, and Nina Hagen. In 1979, Lene Lovich, a singer with a passion for bizarre outfits and even more bizarre hair, released “Bird Song” as a single on Stiff Records. While the lyrics don’t mention anything diabolical, Lovich’s high-pitched warble, the song’s gothic arrangement, and an ominous-sounding male chorus create a nightmarish ambience. All the while remaining catchy enough for the dance floor.

Basically, this is a dark twist on the old expression, “A little bird told me,” in which a scheming feathered creature steals a woman’s boyfriend by tricking her into thinking he’s been untrue. “So with the bird, one day, you flew away/I woke up too late, you had gone/Fading on . . . with this song/Of the hurting little bird.” Lovich delivers these lines, and others like, “Such a cold bird, so hard, captured your heart/Does it matter I am falling apart” with a Nora Desmond like intensity. When she later mentions “the dead little bird,” it’s unclear whether she killed it.

The avian metaphor carries over to the startling video Lovich created for “Bird Song,” which is executed in the style of a vintage European horror flick. She plays a runaway bride, leaving her guy at the altar while she runs outside to challenge a raven to a staring contest. The male chorus becomes a choir of priests or deacons, one of whom pounds away at the pipe organ like Lon Chaney. Maybe Lovich did lose out to an actual bird. “Still I watch the sky/Still I wonder why/Still I hope that I can carry on.” Regardless of whether the villain is animal or human, Lene Lovich’s “Bird Song” record and video are genuine Halloween classics.

Halloween Song: Sonic45 - “The Phantom”

Time for a brand new Halloween Song Profile.

Sonic45 has been known to set troubling lyrics to irresistible new-wave arrangements, so it’s not surprising to find “The Phantom” (track ten) on the Chicago-based band’s recently released second album SuperSonic. Likewise, I sometimes stretch the boundaries of what qualifies as a Halloween song, but make no mistake, “The Phantom” is the real deal. Some might suspect bassist-songwriter Len Kasper intends this tale of a creature who returns frequently but always unexpectedly has a political undercurrent. Or maybe it’s just about a carnivorous monster with invisible hands.

Following an extended and ominous instrumental intro, lead vocalist Matt Spiegel warns, “The world’s not as safe as you’d like it to be.” The mystery deepens with the lines, “Don’t know him now; didn’t know him then./There’s no telling how The Phantom shows again.” There’s a definite need to stay awake in order to survive. “If you don’t believe the Phantom is real, don’t close your eyes you will be his next meal.” Just like the ending of so many horror films, this song suggests we’ll never be rid of this menace. “I swear on my heart, The Phantom will come again.”

Sonic45 has a gig coming up at the Hey Nonny venue in Arlington Heights on November 24. In addition to Kasper and Spiegel, the band includes the likewise well-known members Liam Davis, Gerald Dowd, and Dag Juhlin.

Halloween Song: The Redwalls - “Into The Maelstrom”

Another post from the BHT haunted vault.

Nothing’s more frightening to a rock band than finding out their record company doesn’t love them anymore. Such was the case with the Deerfield, IL power pop band The Redwalls back in 2007. Despite the critical success of the quartet’s Capitol debut De Nova, the record company lost interest in releasing a follow-up. (What is it about highly talented Midwestern acts that makes major labels go all butterfingers?) The Redwalls quickly hopped to the indie label MAD Dragon and put out a new, eponymous CD.

Listening to The Redwalls, you have to wonder if Capitol had decided the music was just too spooky. In addition to the punchy rock of “Hangman” and the Pink Floyd-inspired “In The Time Of The Machine,” the CD offered the high-speed tale of invading spacemen, “They Are Among Us,” with its panicked refrain of “Save your wives and your children now!” “Into The Maelstrom” was even more unsettling, opening with the lines, “As I went out into the night./I came upon the strangest sight./It was a path so dark and dim./As I got close it seemed to pull me in.”

The Redwalls conjured an exotic, guitar-driven arrangement that also included strings, resembling Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir,” only more frantic. As the music swirls out of control, lyrics like “The fear was more than I could take” and “No one can help me out in here” convey a growing sense of despair as the ground gives way and darkness closes in. Still, the growling vocals and energetic musicianship make “Into The Maelstrom” an exciting psychedelic adventure on an album that proved The Redwalls were still at the top of their game.