31 Songs For Halloween - October 10th: “Werewolves Of London”

Each day this month, I’ll be spotlighting a song that seems particularly appropriate for the season.

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. He 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.

31 Songs For Halloween - October 9th: “Alison Gross”

Each day this month, I’ll be spotlighting a song that seems particularly appropriate for the season.

Steeleye Span is known for updating centuries-old ballads with electric guitar and drum arrangements. Such is the case with “Alison Gross” from the band’s 1973 release, Parcel Of Rogues. It spins the tale of a witch who believes the way to a man’s heart is through bribery. She tries to woo a potential lover by offering him a series of riches, but he’s so repulsed by her appearance, he screams, “Away, away, you ugly witch/Go far away and let me be/I never would kiss your ugly mouth/For all of the gifts that you give to me.” Infuriated, Alison Gross waves a magic wand and turns him into a worm. According to Wikipedia, Steeleye Span added its own chorus and left off the original ballad’s happy ending, which had the man being restored to his proper shape on Halloween by a passing fairy. Also, he may not have been transformed to an earthworm, since the original lyrics used the word wyrm, which meant dragon. Unlike some of the ancient ballads, which can be slow and gloomy, “Alison Gross” feels like a rowdy party song villagers might have sung while swinging their steins of mead.

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When Chicago Comic-Con was held last August in Rosemont, it enticed sci-fi and pop culture fans with aisles of merchandise and numerous celebrity guests. Another highlight was Artist Alley, a sprawling marketplace where creators of printed as well as online comic books hawked their work. It was interesting to chat with them, but hard not to feel a twinge of guilt whenever I walked away without buying something.

One of the artists who caught my eye was Chicago native Steve Guzelis, who along with Tom Wachowski, founded Strange Fun Comics in 1999. They added other artists over the years, publishing titles like Legends of Tarot, Cali Enti, and The Party, as well as Strange Fun.

Guzelis also creates posters that feature his comic style renditions of rock stars like The Yardbirds and Pink Floyd. I was disappointed that Bands Of The Psychedelic ‘60s, a colorful montage that featured The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Jimi Hendrix Experience, didn’t include The Hollies. When I asked if he had ever done a poster of them, Guzelis explained that while he was aware of the band, he didn’t think a Hollies poster would be a big seller.

As if reading my mind, Guzelis offered to make one for me. His asking price was reasonable so I took his card and promised to think it over. Shortly afterward, the concept of a history of The Hollies came to me. A poster that would chart the band from the early 1960s up to the post 2000 line-up that featured Carl Wayne as lead singer. I sent an e-mail to Guzelis, detailing my ambitious idea, and adding that I understood it would cost more than the price we had originally discussed. Guzelis wrote back that the history poster would indeed cost more, but he was up to the challenge.

A few weeks later, the poster arrived, and I’m extremely happy with it. Guzelis tied the various incarnations of The Hollies together with a 60s style swirling backdrop and added assorted icons like a carousel horse and a sprig of holly. Once I have it framed, it will take a place of honor in my already crowded media room. For anyone interested in commissioning a portrait of a favorite band, or checking out some imaginative and humorous comic books, visit the Strange Fun Comics website.

31 Songs For Halloween - October 8th: "Shadowed"

Each day this month, I’ll be spotlighting a song that seems particularly appropriate for the season.

The English band Fingerprintz zipped through a variety of genres during a brief career that lasted from 1979 to 1981. They played punk on their debut, The Very Dab, moved on to power pop with Distinguishing Marks, and by the time they released Beat Noir, they were into techno. One thing that remained constant was lead singer-guitarist Jimme O’Neill’s penchant for matching disturbing lyrics with catchy melodies. “Shadowed,” from the aptly titled Beat Noir, offers intergalactic espionage set to a pulsating dance club arrangement. There’s a breathless chase down dark streets involving “an alien presence” and our hero: “Outside forces, foreign bodies in the atmosphere/I’ve got to shake them off and rub them out and get away from here.” Guitarist Cha Burnz throws in one of his distinctive solos, and O’Neill’s echo-laden vocals evoke U2, especially if Bono had been into comic books and sci-fi movies. Sadly, none of the Fingerprintz albums are available on CD or iTunes. O’Neill and Burnz went on to form The Silencers UK and had a moderate hit with “Painted Moon.”

31 Songs For Halloween - October 7th: "Guinnevere"

Each day this month, I’ll be spotlighting a song that seems particularly appropriate to the season.

Alfred Hitchcock understood that sometimes what is unseen is more terrifying than what is clearly visible. “Guinnevere,” a haunting folk rock tale from the first Crosby, Stills, and Nash record, plays a similar game of suspense. Set in a lush tropical paradise with peacocks and orange trees, and conveyed through gorgeous harmony vocals, the song describes two beautiful but doomed young women. One, Guinnevere has mysteriously vanished, perhaps a consequence of having dabbled in the occult with pentagrams. The second woman seems to be following in her footsteps. Writer David Crosby casts himself as a sailor who has romanced both women, and it’s left unclear as to whether he’s an instrument in their destruction or just a helpless observer. See “The Lee Shore” for another of Crosby’s mysterious seafaring yarns.

31 Songs For Halloween - October 6th: “Purple Girlfriend”

Each day this month, I’ll be spotlighting a song that seems particularly appropriate for the season.

It was an inspired choice when The Goldstars were tapped to open for The Hoodoo Gurus at The Abbey Pub a while back. Comprised of Dag from The Slugs; GT and Skipper from The New Duncan Imperials; and Sal from The Krinkles, The Goldstars share the Aussie band’s obsession with creating 1960s style garage rock with an offbeat sense of humor. “Purple Girlfriend,” the title track of The Goldstars second CD, is an energetic instrumental that would have worked great as a TV show theme song in the Batman and The Munsters era. The space-age keyboards and fuzzy guitars bring to mind a party with go-go girls, as well as an invasion of extraterrestrials. Since there are no lyrics, you’re free to let your imagination run wild. And dance.

31 Songs For Halloween - October 5th: “I Had Too Much To Dream”

Each day this month, I’ll be spotlighting a song that seems particularly appropriate to the season.

When “I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night)” by The Electric Prunes blasted from AM radios back in 1966, it was immediately evident that it was unlike any other Top 40 hit. Lead vocalist James Lowe kicked off the song by playing an autoharp that buzzed like a nuclear-mutated mosquito as he sang, “Last night your shadow fell upon my lonely room.” This apparition of an ex-girlfriend seeking to reignite the relationship vanishes just as things are getting interesting. The lines “Your eyes were filled with love the way they used to be/And when your hands reached out to comfort me” are followed by one of best howls in rock history. (Along with the one on Deep Purple’s version of “Hush.”) Surprisingly, the song was not written by a band member or any other heartbroken male. According to a post at http://www.classicbands.com/electricprunes.html, it was the work of professional songwriters Annette Tucker and Nancie Mantz, who envisioned it as a ballad. The Electric Prunes had other ideas, giving it a hard driving, psychedelic arrangement that makes it an undisputed garage rock classic to this day.