ELVIRA PRESENTS HAUNTED HITS - Various Artists

YEAR: 1988

LABEL: Rhino

TRACK LISTING: Monster Mash - Bobby "Boris" Pickett, Haunted House - Jumpin' Gene Simmons, Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Jr., Out of Limits - The Marketts, The Blob - The Five Blobs, The Creature from the Black Lagoon - Dave Edmunds, The Purple People Eater - Sheb Wooley, The Addams Family (Main Title) - Vic Mizzy, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes - Lewis Lee, Welcome To My Nightmare - Alice Cooper, Dead Man's Party - Oingo Boingo, Twilight Zone - Neil Norman & His Cosmic Orchestra, Little Demon - Screamin' Jay Hawkin, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman - The Tubes, King Kong - Big 'T' Tyler, The Creature - The Jayhawks, Halloween Spooks - Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, Horror Movie - The Skyhooks, I Put A Spell On You - Screamin' Jay Hawkins, I Was A Teenage Werewolf - The Cramps, Voodoo Voodoo - LaVern Baker, Martian Hop - The Ran-Dells, Full Moon - Elvira

IMPRESSIONS: In 1988 when I picked up this 2 record set on vinyl, it was a pretty nice collection of Halloweenie songs all in one place. Despite the old favourites, there were several new songs I hadn't heard up until that time which have now become old favourites of mine as well. It's sad that several songs were dropped when the album came out on cd but most of them appear later on Elvira's "Monster Hits" series of EPs which came out in the 1999s. Oh, by the way I just thought I'd take this opportunity to say that I absolutely HATE HATE HATE Jumpin' Gene Simmons' song "Haunted House"; one of the most inanely repetitive and boring songs ever created in the history of Western Civilisation already!

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Monster Mash - Bobby "Boris" Pickett, The Blob - The Five Blobs, The Creature from the Black Lagoon - Dave Edmunds, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes - Lewis Lee, Welcome To My Nightmare - Alice Cooper, Dead Man's Party - Oingo Boingo, Halloween Spooks - Lambert, Kendricks & Ross, Horror Movie - The Skyhooks, I Put A Spell On You - Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Voodoo Voodoo - LaVern Baker, Martian Hop - The Ran-Dells, Full Moon - Elvira

FACT SHEET: HAUNTED HITS is Elvira's second compilation album of Halloweenie songs after Rhino Records' released ELVIRA'S VINYL MACABRE several years earlier. Since the original vinyl LP was a two-record set and the cd reissue of HAUNTED HITS was a single cd, several songs were dropped and do not appear on the cd version of this album: say goodbye to Attack of the Killer Tomatoes by Lewis Lee, Little Demon by Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman by The Tubes, King Kong by Big 'T' Tyler, The Creature by the Jayhawks and Martian Hop by the Ran-Dells.

MOONTAN - Golden Earring

YEAR: 1973
LABEL: MCA

TRACK LISTING: Candy's Going Bad, Are You Receiving Me?, Suzy Lunacy (Mental Rock), Radar Love, Just Like Vince Taylor, Vanilla Queen

IMPRESSIONS: Uncle Donald borrowed this album and didn't return it for over a year! Finally I had to insist that my father ask him to return it because I wanted to play it and it was never around. After several visits to our house empty handed, Uncle Donald one day appeared at the door brandishing the record in his hands. At last, I could listen to the album once again! Uncle Donald was cool and I miss him. But he had good taste. The MOONTAN album of course features the perennial radio hit "Radar Love" but that's not the best song on the album by far. "Candy's Going Bad" is a raunchy rocker that would certainly be my favourite song on the album if it wasn't for "Vanilla Queen"; the trashy epic which features that splendid instrumental break in the middle. Said instrumental break was actually played over the loudspeakers of a little rollercoaster called "The Matterhorn" at Seaside Heights, NJ when I was a boy. This was a "kiddie" rollercoaster, not the regular adult kind. Basically, you went round and round on an enclosed incline at faster and faster speeds. All during the ride that summer, they would play the instrumental section of "Vanilla Queen" because frankly it's perfect rollercoaster music. Tasty to drive to as well! "Candy's Going Bad" and "Vanilla Queen" are simply two of the pinnacles of 70's glam rock and I don't care WHO knows it!
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Candy's Going Bad, Radar Love, Vanilla Queen

FACT SHEET: MOONTAN is Golden Earring's 9th album. Golden Earrings (they later dropped the 's') is a Dutch band formed in 1961. The group is one of the oldest existing bands in the world still performing with the same lineup. In August 2011, a postage stamp was issued commemorating their 50th anniversary. MOONTAN reached #12 on the US album charts in 1974. The US version of the LP had a different song lineup; my original vinyl LP I grew up listening to had a song called "Big Tree, Blue Sea" and did not include the songs "Suzy Lunacy (Mental Rock)" and "Just Like Vince Taylor". MOONTAN was voted the best Dutch pop album ever by Oor magazine in 2008. While the internet seems to insist there was a different cover for the US version, the LP bought off the shelves by my dad in 1974 always had the "nudie" cover art on it. So there!