Halloween Song: Charming Disaster - “Disembodied Head”

Here’s a repost from the BHT haunted vault that made its debut just a little over a year ago.

I discovered the Brooklyn-based, goth-folk duo Charming Disaster via a Facebook post promoting a four-act gig at Reggies Music Joint in Chicago in 2023. Considering the dark and catchy tunes such as “Monsters,” “Grimoire,” and “Bat Song” on their album Super Natural History, you’d feel lucky to have Ellia Bisker and Jeff Morris show up at your Halloween party. And probably a little afraid.

On “Disembodied Head,” Bisker and Morris take a mad scientist movie cliché and explore how it would actually feel, using imagination and clever wordplay. “Wake one day and here you are/You’re just a brain inside a jar,” they sing over a sparse guitar arrangement. “Now what you get is what you see/You’re on your own got nobody.” The song might also serve as a satire on meditation and the dangers of overthinking things. At any rate, it’s fun.

Charming Disaster won’t be haunting the Chicago club scene this Halloween, but they have a busy schedule coming up. They also plan to release three stripped-down covers “that pay tribute to a few of our musical inspirations: Leonard Cohen, Bauhaus, and The Cure.” They’re available for pre-order via Bandcamp.

Halloween Song: The Severed Limb - “The Severed Limb"

Somewhere around 2010, the London-based skiffle band The Severed Limb took its name from one of its best, and most unusual compositions. “The Severed Limb” is set to a bare bones rockabilly arrangement and spins a tale that starts out scary, but turns out pretty funny. A guy hears a knock on his front door at 4:00 am and finds nothing more than “an arm and a hand all pale and thin” waiting to greet him. “It didn’t have a brain and it didn’t have a bum/Just a tattoo on the arm that said I love Mom.”

After letting itself in, the appendage decides to stay, and the guy learns to enjoy its company. The only drawback is the occasional obscene gesture the severed limb makes while playing poker or gin. “It makes the finger when it loses and makes a fist when it wins.” Listening to the homespun instrumentation and goofy backup vocals, it’s easy to picture The Severed Limb performing this song on a front porch while waiting for trick or treaters.

“The Severed Limb” is one of 14 tracks on a compilation titled Kill You And Bill You For The Price Of The Bullet the band released in 2013. Other fun songs on the album include “Woo Eee Ha Ha!,” “Washing Machine Bop,” “Welcome To The Boneyard,” and “Are You Loathsome Tonight?”

Halloween Song: The Human League - “Darkness”

Another repost from the BHT haunted vault.

George Harrison wisely warned us to “Beware Of Darkness,” but in 1981, The Human League created a song in which the mere flicking off of a light resulted in a terrifying, mind-altering experience. As with the hit singles “Don’t You Want Me?” and “Love Action” on the band’s groundbreaking, platinum record, Dare, “Darkness” was driven by synthesizers. On this track, the keyboards are equally effective in scaring people and enticing them to dance. 

Founding member Philip Oakey’s lead vocals establish darkness as a place “filled with sounds of fear” where the imagination runs wild. “I see shadows (don’t turn out the light)/Moving, changing shape.” Even the senses become a confusing mishmash. “I hear colours black and red/I see sounds that fill my head.” This was the only song on Dare Oakey didn’t have a hand in writing (other than the instrumental snippet, “Get Carter”) but he certainly gives it a chilling delivery. “And the clock stops as darkness closes in./I hesitate but it’s too late, I scream and scream again.”

“Darkness” has that unmistakeable allure of 1980s synth rock, but its message stretches back through the centuries. For anyone putting together a Halloween party playlist, this is a good candidate for the opening track.

Slumgullion

Shindig!, the British magazine that does a fab job looking back at everything people loved about the 1960s (or would have loved if they had lived through them) has another Montage Collector’s Edition issue on the way. This one’s titled The American Psychedelic Explosion 1965 – 71, and offers a 128-page “carefully curated collection of articles originally published between 2010-2017.” The articles and interviews have been “edited, redesigned, and updated” for this issue. It’s available to pre-order for £10.99 plus postage from Silverback Publishing Ltd. 

The 2024 Chris and Heather’s Country Calendar Show at FitzGerald’s In Berwyn, IL will take place on December 21. Andrew Sa; Jodee Lewis; Zachary Stevenson and The Oh Boys; Dave Drazin; Phil Angotti; Nora O’Connor; The Hushdrops; Jane Baxter Miller and Kent Kessler; Casey McDonough; Hillbilly Frolic; Scott Ligon and Kelly Hogan; and The Saturn Kings will be the entertainers joining Chris Ligon and Heather McAdams. Each local act will cover a well-known country or rock act.

McAdams’ Country Calendar is always an ambitious, fun, and informative gem you’ll want to save long after the year has ended. It was a pleasant surprise to see Dave Drazin making what I believe will be his debut as a Calendar particpant. I’ve known Dave since we started performing together in the Famous In The Future comedy group back in 1989. Frank Carr is now the only original member, but Dave did a fabulous job as a guest musician playing piano between skits at the 2024 FIF YippieFest and the Chopin Theatre this past August.

 

Also, at FitzGerald’s, a charity event titled To Find A Friend: An Evening of Tom Petty Music for Hurricane Relief will take place on November 23. Ryan Joseph Anderson, Scott Tipping, Brian Morrissey, Jim Tuerk, Mike Holtz, and James Farrell will perform Petty songs, and proceeds will benefit the North Carolina Arts Disaster Fund.

Since this year’s International Pop Overthrow - Boston will run from October 30 through November 2, CFO/Founder David Bash decided to take a spooky, Halloween approach in his promotion of the live music event. There will be 21 indie rock and pop acts are scheduled to perform at The Square Root in Boston, MA, and according to the Facebook post, some of them are from Beyond. IPO - New York is scheduled to take place a week later, at The Parkside Lounge.

WXRT radio personality Terri Hemmert will be at the Treetime Christmas Creations store in Lake Barrington next Thursday, October 24th from 6:00 to 9:00 pm for a holiday season kick-off celebration. Hemmert will play some of her favorite holiday songs starting at 7:00 pm, and patrons will have a chance to win prizes. Treetime Christmas Creations suggests those interested to pre-register in order to guarantee a spot at the event.

Tickets are now available for the Joey’s Song Freezing Man Festival taking place January 8 – 11, 2025 at the Majestic Theater in Madison, WI. Several well-known acts will take part in the charity event, which raises funds to help find treatments and cures for epilepsy. This year’s performers are Debbi and Vicki Peterson, Jane Wiedlin, Tracy Bonham, Belly, The Know-It-All Boyfriends, Cory Chisel, Letters To Cleo, Look Park, John Cowsill, Garbage, Against Me!, Kenny Hoopla, Freedy Johnstone, Portugal. The Man, Silversun Pickups, Heather Porcaro, Steve Porcaro, The Goo Goo Dolls, Sierra Swan, The Nielsen Trust, and Gina Volpe.

The 60th Chicago International Film Festival opened this past Wednesday and will run at various locations through October 27.

As noted on the Official Tom Petty Facebook page, a fully remastered version of the Heartbreakers Beach Party will be screened in cinemas this Sunday. 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.” 

Here’s an important date to mark on your calendar if you’ve already bought one for next year. A Pat DiNizio - Smithereens Tribute Night will be held on April 24, 2025 at Montrose Saloon on Chicago’s north side. The venue has started offering some good tribute events, including Squeeze and  XTC.

Soundtrack Serenade, the self-described “Chicago-Based Eclectic Cover Band,” will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the cult classic Pulp Fiction next Tuesday at Montrose Saloon on the city’s north side.

Tickets are now on sale for Stevie Wonder’s tour, which opened in Pittsburgh on October 8. Its slogan, Your Song! As We Fix Our Nation’s Heart, is inspired by Wonder’s call for peace and unity on his new single “Can We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart?” New York City; Philadelphia; Baltimore; Greensboro; Atlanta; Detroit; Milwaukee; Minneapolis; Grand Rapids; and Chicago are the other stops on the tour. 

Six Stories Up On The Campaign Trail - A Student Council Calamity runs  at Filament Theatre November 8 – 17 weekends only.

Psychedelic Renaissance: 1982-1986 is now available to preorder as a double-LP or CD Digipak from the Futurismo site. It’s the next volume in Futurismo's Altered Vision compilation series, and features tracks by The Three O’Clock, The Rain Parade, True West, The Bangles, Thin White Rope, Game Theory, The Dream Syndicate, The Long Ryders, Green On Red, 28th Day, The Pandoras, and Wednesday Week.

The official schedule for this year’s Halloweekend has been announced, and once again the lineup features local musicians paying tribute to an eclectic selection of world famous acts. The event was staged at various Chicago venues for the better part of this century before finding a home at Montrose Saloon in 2018. Halloweekend 2024 will run on October 25 and 26, with long-time participants such as Rachel Drew; Phil Angotti; Metropolis; Androgynous Mustache; and Dead Freddie scheduled to appear. If some of the other band names seem unfamiliar, keep in mind musicians sometimes craft a one-off identity strictly for this event.

I was happy to receive an update from the people working on the Melanie And Kim Monday fanzine that’s due out soon via the GiveSmart Fundraise campaign. Pre-orders are now closed for the limited-edition, 60-page tribute to musicians Melanie Vammen and the late Kim Shattuck, and it’s now in the process of being printed. All proceeds from the fanzine will benefit the ALS Network.

Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets will likely play tracks from his recently released album Indoor Safari at Lincoln Hall in Chicago on October 29 and 30. The final shows for his fall will be on November 2 and in Minneapolis.

 

I just received my copy of Issue 19 of the Second Scene alt rock newspaper, and once again, it’s filled with eye-catching graphics, along with news and reviews. Readers won’t find much copy here on big-name acts, other than a profile on the legendary KROQ DJ Rodney Bingenheimer. But, much like MOJO magazine promotes Brit musicians many of us in the States are unfamiliar with, Second Scene introduces us to indie acts worth checking out.

Sonic45, the self-proclaimed “Chicago-based new-wave quintet” led by sports broadcaster/musician/songwriter Len Kasper, will return to the Hey Nonny venue in Arlington Heights on November 24. The band’s second album, SuperSonic, has several standout songs, such as “You And I Are Stereo,” “Flying Away,” and the quite unnerving “The Phantom.” In addition to Kasper, the band features Matt Spiegel, Dag Juhlin, Gerald Dowd, and Liam Davis—all veterans of critically acclaimed Chicago area acts. Tickets for the Hey Nonny November 24 gig will be available soon. 

Record Store Day has released the list for this year’s Black Friday Record Store Day, and once again, there are vinyl treasures to be found in all genres of music.

What could be a better night for a new batch of “21st Century Druid Music” than Halloween? The Chicago-based band whitewolfsonicprincess, which proudly applies that label to its inventive indie rock approach, will unveil a new album titled Love Without Fear on October 31 at Evanston SPACE.

Chicago: Home Of House, an exhibit honoring the city’s pivotal role in widespread success of house music over the past 40 years, runs through the end of October. 

English musician Matt Johnson will bring his band The The to The Salt Shed in Chicago on October 25 as part of radio station WXRT’s Fall Jam Series.

Steve Wynn of The Dream Syndicate has a performance coming up this Sunday at Hideout Inn on Chicago’s north side. Autographed copies of Wynn’s recently released memoir I Wouldn't Say It If It Wasn't True are now available on his Bandcamp page, which is where you can also order his a new solo album Make It Right. Rick Rizzo from Eleventh Dream Day will be the opening act.

Sting, 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.

Halloween Song: October Country - “My Girlfriend Is A Witch”

Another rerun from the BHT haunted vault.

October Country’s “My Girlfriend Is A Witch” sounds like it could have been the theme song for a mid-1960s sitcom. Which makes sense since it was written, performed, and recorded in 1968 by producer Michael Lloyd, who would later use an updated version for the Saturday morning cartoon series The Cattanooga Cats. He formed October Country with guitarist Marty Arsenault, keyboards player/vocalist Jimmy Greenspoon, and drummer Jim Gordon but the act never achieved a following beyond the West Coast music scene.

“My Girlfriend Is A Witch” is just one of the many audio artifacts to be found on the very fun Rhino CD compilation, Where The Action Is! Los Angeles Nuggets: 1965-1968. The boxed set comes with a book that provides background info for each track. In addition to singing lead, Lloyd joined Arsenault on some furious garage rock guitar licks. Almost half of this catchy psychedelic gem is taken up by the band’s spirited jamming, creating a live performance at a go-go club ambience. 

Lloyd introduces the lead character with the opening lines, “Riding high/Leaving trails of smoke across the sky/On a broom,” and quickly adds “Glad that I am safe within my room.” The girlfriend’s telepathic ability and other creepy talents don’t seem to cause any harm, but they do inspire a bit of competition. “What a fate/A worshiper of magic for a date/But tonight I become a warlock just for spite.” 

Weekend Reminders

Recently, Thursday posts have focused on events that were previously mentioned on Broken Hearted Toy, and are taking place during the upcoming weekend. Today’s post follows that format, along with a few brand new weekend events that have only now come to my attention.

Chicago indie rockers The Handcuffs have a gig coming up at Liar’s Club this Saturday to promote the vinyl release of their latest album, Burn The Rails. Morgan Fisher from Mott The Hoople will be their guest keyboards player that night. The gatefold LP comes with a seven-inch blue vinyl single featuring the new Handcuffs track “Jubilee” and a cover of the George Harrison/Jackie Lomax song “Sour Milk Sea.” Special guests Jon Langford And His Fancy Men will open the show, and CHIRP Radio DJ Stevo will also be on hand. The music starts at 8:30 pm.

The Lost Record, a collection of songs Susanna Hoffs recorded with Charlotte Caffey and Jane Wiedlin from The Go-Go’s in her garage back in 1999, will be available to stream tomorrow. The CD comes out on October 25, and there will be a vinyl edition in early December.

Steve Wynn of The Dream Syndicate has a performance coming up this Sunday at Hideout Inn on Chicago’s north side. Autographed copies of Wynn’s recently released memoir I Wouldn't Say It If It Wasn't True are available on his Bandcamp page, which is where you can also order his a new solo album Make It Right. Rick Rizzo from Eleventh Dream Day will be the opening act at Hideout Inn.

Chicago FM radio station WXRT has been presenting Live From The XRT Archives—recordings of major rock act concerts—for a while now. Tomorrow night brings a 2003 performance at the Double Door venue by guitarist Johnny Marr, who started with The Smiths and has gone on to impressive solo projects as well as collaborating with acts such as The Pretenders, The Cribs, and Modest Mouse. The concert airs at 9:00 pm, WXRT can be accessed via the Audacy app.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow at 10:00 am for Alison Moyet at the Vic Theatre on May 7, 2025. Moyet started her career as half of Yazoo (known as Yaz in America) and went on to a successful solo career with hits such as “Love Resurrection” and “All Cried Out.”

The Creston Illinois Acoustic Music Festival will be held at the Opera House this Saturday. Cornelius And The Sleddogs; Mark Walters; Wesley Carr; Peter Irving; Josiah Simon; The Woodruffs; Nik Person; Joel La Vaughn; and Beaverhead are scheduled to perform. The event starts at 3:00 pm; Creston is located approximately 80 miles west of Chicago and 30 miles south of Rockford.

Vinto Van Go has a gig coming up tomorrow at the LiveWire Lounge on Chicago’s north side. In the meantime, the Chicago band’s REMIX Single “Comeuppance” is now available “everywhere in every way.”

Smashing Pumpkins founder Billy Corgan and his wife Chloe Mendel are planning a Bozo-themed festival on this weekend at their Madame Zuzu’s restaurant in Highland Park, IL. Tickets are $8.50 for kids, and $14 for grownups.

T Bone Burnett will perform songs from his latest album, the acoustic-based The Other Side, during a pair of shows at The Old Town School Of Folk Music this Saturday and Sunday. As noted in writer Selena Fragassi’s preview in yesterday’s Chicago Sun-Times, the Sunday show is already sold out.

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.