Hell's Belles

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

 

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

One of my favourite UK websites, The Quietus, has just posted a rather excellent podcast by Terry Edwards.  You’ll have heard me mention Terry before, flexing his Zoot Horn Rollo muscle with Robyn Hitchcock’s Captain Beefheart ensemble earlier this year, and the eagle-eyed amongst you will have seen his name credited as sax player alongside the likes of PJ Harvey, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Tindersticks and Faust, or in The Higsons (with funny guy Charlie Higson).

Anyway, a while back, Terry wrote a book about Madness’s album, One Step Beyond.  The podcast below features music associated with that album including ace tunes from The Ventures, Roxy Music, Julian Cope, David Bowie and Prince Buster.  Have a listen, and do go read the article on The Quietus, so’s they benefit a bit from my embedding their podcast.

Terry Edwards’ Podcast Guide To Madness’ One Step Beyond by theQuietus

 

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:

Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil wrote this track with The Righteous Brothers in mind, but at the last minute Mann decided to record it for his own newly-landed contract at Red Bird (label home to the Shangri-Las and The Dixie Cups).  Single releases moved quickly in those days, even by today’s Pop Idol-fuelled manufacturing standards, and producer Mickie Most had heard the demo and set his sights on it for The Animals.  They recorded their million-selling version before Mann could, and Mann’s release was shelved.

Mann’s haunting reverb-laden demo, with that unforgettable bassline rendered on piano, is on the excellent Red Bird Story 2CD set.

Barry Mann – We Gotta Get Out Of This Place (Original Demo) by hells-belles

Rex Garvin is another one of those artists who’s responsible for the original version of a cover tune that became much more popular than the original – his track “Sock It To ‘Em JB” was covered by The Specials, and his version often makes appearances on on Northern Soul comps.

“Go Little Willie” is his first single with his own band, and was originally released in 1961.  DD likes to play this every so often when we DJ.  I love the ridiculously fizzy organs and finger-poppin’ sax.  I can’t find it on any compilations, bar one that seems to be out of print.  Another one for the ebay watch list.
Rex Garvin & The Mighty Cravers – Go Little Willie by hells-belles