Hell's Belles

Vintage sounds, dusty grooves, and 21st-century freaks.

I adore the geeky vocals on this cover of “Wild One”, courtesy of Crickets drummer Jerry Ivan Allison, with, I believe, Buddy Holly on guitar.  The original is by Aussie Johnny O’Keefe and has been covered tons, most famously by Iggy Pop, and most disturbingly by Alvin and The Chipmunks, as well as Lou Reed, Brian Setzer, Billy Idol and Jerry Lee Lewis.  I dig the dork the most, though:

 

 

 

Ivan – Real Wild Child by hells-belles

 

*That dork thing was semi-intentional.

 

I’d happily listen to trashy horror tunes any time of year, but this seemed like a particularly good time to stick my favourites into a little mix.  I hope Lux would dig it, bless his little soul.

Stream from the Mixcloud player below, or download it as an MP3 from soundcloud. Plus, as a bonus, a little scary surf instrumental MP3.

Happy Halloween!

 

Midnight Monsters Hop by Hell’s Belles on Mixcloud

Midnight Monsters Hop – Hell’s Belles Halloween Horror Mix by hells-belles

MP3: Ghost Train – The Electro-Tones

TRACKLISTING:

DIALOGUE: Plague of the Zombies – Hammer Films
Voodoo Walk – Sonny Richard’s Panics with Cindy and Misty
Fungus Among Us – Hugh Barret And The Victors
Voodoo Voodoo – LaVern Baker
Ghost Train – The Swanks
DIALOGUE: Whose Brain Is It – Gene Hackman and Marty Feldman in Young Frankenstein
Midnight Monsters Hop – Jack and Jim
Monster Surfing Time – Deadly Ones
Si Vous Conaissez Quelque Chose De Pire Qu’un Vampire Parlez M’en Tourjours Ça Pourra Peut-etre Me Faire Sourire – Stella
The Lions and the Cucumber – Manfred Hübler/Siegfried Schwab
I Put a Spell on You – Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
The Mummy – Bob McFadden
Goo Goo Muck – Ronnie Cook and the Gaylads
The Purple People Eater – Sheb Wooley
Watusi Zombie – Jan Davis
Werewolf (Don’t Eat Stuff Off the Sidewalk) – The Frantics
I’m the Wolfman – Round Robin
I Was A Teenage Werewolf – The Cramps
Dance of the Vampires – The Vampires of Dartmoor

Appropriately-named reissue label Fantastic Voyage has another stack of 50s gems from the southern US on the go. Check ‘em out:

Raunchy Sugar: The Pure Essence of Memphis Rock and Roll

(more…)

 

If you look really closely, you can spot Elvis between Jerry Leiber (right) and Mike Stoller (left).

I tried, and failed, to choose one favorite Leiber/Stoller track. Considering that they kicked off their career with “Hound Dog” at the age of 17, and racked up over a hundred more jaw-dropping tunes, it was a struggle to stop at six.

I implore you to check out the Ace Records compilation, The Leiber and Stoller Story.  In the meantime, a few to take away:

Down in Mexico – The Coasters

Love Potion No. 9 – The Clovers

John Parish & PJ Harvey – Is That All There Is?

 

Leaving us on the same day is Nick Ashford, who along with his wife Valerie Simpson, wrote some of the most genre-defining soul tunes of the late 60s, 70s and 80s:

 

 

Jimmy Heap – Gizmo by hells-belles

Jimmy Heap – Gizmo MP3

[BUY]