What makes a song feel scary? This week, we welcome podcaster (Horror Movie Night) and musician (Ichabod Crane) Scott Roger to our first ever Halloween episode! Scott guides us through the classic tunes of the spooky season, especially during the teen pop craze of the late-1950’s and early-1960’s. We try to figure out the tropes they used to give a song that macabre flavor, and see if some of those tricks have been brought back from the dead in some modern music. Ooooooh, surf guitar is scaaaaryyyy!

Music heard in this episode: Jim Burgett - “Jekyll and Hyde”, Oingo Boingo - “Dead Man’s Party”, Billy Lee Riley - “Nightmare Mash”, LaVern Baker - “Voodoo Voodoo”, Bert Convy - “The Monsters Hop”, Danny Elfman - “Introduction” of Edward Scissorhands, Danny Elfman - “Theme to Beetlejuice”, Jerry Goldsmith - “The Gremlin Rag”, Léonin - “"Viderunt Omnes (David Munrow and the Early Music Consort of London)”, Bohuslav Martinů' - Fantasia for Theremin, Oboe, String Quartet, and Piano (Apollo Chamber Players), Duke Ellington & His Orchestra - “East St. Louis Toodle-Oo”, Squirrel Nut Zippers - “La Grippe”, The Moontrekkers - “Night of the Vampire”, Cris Kevin - “Haunted House”, Jack Marshall - “The Munsters Theme”, Fallout Boy - “Uma Thurman”, Vic Mizzy - “The Addams Family Theme”, Charles Fox - “The Green Slime Theme”, Gerrit Graham - “Life at Last” (from Phantom of the Paradise)”, Dead Man’s Bones - “Buried in Water”, Dean Man’s Bones - “In the Room Where You Sleep”, The Dickies - “Killer Klowns from Outer Space Theme”, Ichabod Crane - “Raining Leaves”

Check out Scott’s retro playlist here, and his full epic Halloween mega-playlist is here.

Send us your thoughts at NeverMusicPod@gmail.com

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