GHOSTLY SOUNDS - Peter Waldron and Gershon Kingsley

YEAR: 1975

LABEL: Peter Pan

TRACK LISTING: Ghostly Sounds, The Ghosts From Outer Space

IMPRESSIONS: Apparently this lil album is well-beloved and remembered by children of the 70s (PRESENT, sir!!!) not only for one of the greatest album covers in all creation but also for the splendidly evocative moogtastic synth work by Gershon Kingsley. Let us not forget the dulcet tones of Peter Waldron whose narration takes its time for full creepy effect; the sombre intonations are pure Halloween for me. Side one's intro section starting with wolf howls and ambient spookiness under Waldron's nearly whispered soliloquy "Night falls. . .the forest holds its breath..." is simply unequaled in any other "Halloween" record I've ever heard. It's one of the most appropriate tours of Halloween you're likely to find. Even side two's "GHOSTS FROM OUTER SPACE" may seem odd at first but Waldron's classic opening line will put all doubts to rest: "Once upon a star far far away past the moon and Mars and Jupiter . . . . there were ghosts." The much-missed blog "Scar Stuff" points out the marvelously experimental aspect of this album: "...the curious use of human voices for most sound effects (to simulate working, a guy actually says 'work') nicely expose the avant garde influences that were at play on a lot of children's records in the late 60s & early 70s". If ever an old kids Halloween record demanded release on cd, this is the one; not only can it be loved by kids but also fully appreciated by adults.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Ghostly Sounds, The Ghosts From Outer Space

FACT SHEET: GHOSTLY SOUNDS is an album of two album side-spanning stories for Halloween; it is not a sound effects record. The storytelling is by Peter Waldron and the music/moog effects are by Gershon Kingsley. Kingsley is famous for his hit single "Popcorn" as well as his musical collaborations with Jean-Jacques Perrey on such classic lounge/exotica albums as "THE IN SOUND FROM WAY OUT". The classic album cover artwork is by all-time champ children's record cover artist George Peed; among many other projects Peed did the character designs for the TV cartoon THE MIGHTY HERCULES.