Blues for the RedBoy Presents: Revenge of 'Things That Go 1-4-5 in the Night'!

Got time for one more post before Halloween drops so I’m gonna do my best to make it a dozy! Several years ago I posted my first BFtRB mix in honor of this auspicious occasion, drawing my inspiration from the instrumental craze of the late fifties / early sixties. And while “Things That Go 1-4-5 in the Night!” had some heavy hitters on it’s roster, I figure I gotta try and up the ante w/ this-here follow-up, a task made all the more daunting in the face of some of my fellow bloggers great Halloween posts. I will, however, do my best to set the mood with some standards and buck the trend w/ some odd hen’s teeth here and there, both of which spell certain doom as I unleash upon the earth BFtRB presents: Revenge of the Things That Go 1-4-5 in the Night!

As is previously the case, we are going strictly instrumental here and this first track is a fairly unknown killer! ‘Graveyard’ by the Blazers had been alluding me for a long time up until fairly recently. I have seen copies go for $$$ w/ the picture sleeve (Just a band photo, by the by) though I’ll settle for my new-old stock copy direct from the Blazer’s vault.



The ‘Mr. Guitar’ album by Dean Hightower might seem like a strange choice for a spooky throw down, but like every major studio effort, there always seems to be one sleeper hidden amongst the AM gold, and in this case it’s Dean showing the world his ‘Purple Monster’ (Infer what thou whilst).

‘Cemetery Stomp’ by the Essex has been makin’ the rounds on several comps for awhile now, eschewing the surf vibe that is prevalent on most of these tracks for a decidedly Go-Go take on the post mortem material. Look for a cool cover of said song on the Von Drat’s ‘Dratsylvania Album’.

I’m sure some folks out there have heard the incredibly weird Ken Nordine “Colors” album; the one where each color of the spectrum is given a track like some strange sinesthesiatic revelation, but most people don’t know that Nordine put his stamp on some straight-forward fair, or at least, as straight-forward as a track called ‘Strollin Spooks’ can be.



Now, I know you have all heard Zacherlie’s ‘Dinner w/ Drac’, and if you haven’t, then I’m afraid some of this BftRB pomp might be lost on you. Seeing as how ‘Drac’ is such a standard w/ the deification of NYC’s première horror host (The Maniacal laugh that launched a thousand cable access ships). I had to find some way to change it up a little though, hence the all instrumental version of ‘Drac’ released by Zach’ backing band ‘Dave Appell & the Apple Jacks. Warning: Do not take internally!

‘The Mummy Walks’, so proclaims the label on this Diamond records release, though I think the subtitle ‘The Walking Death’ takes the cake as the most fatalistic of all novelty titles. This track in particular has been a Halloween staple on NJ’s own 91.1 WFMU for as long as I can remember…and I got a looooong memory.

Fellow blogger and all around curmudgeon DevilDick managed to let the black cat out of the bag on this next track by the Tomkos, though it’s so good (And more importantly, mid tempo!) that I think I’m gonna co-opt it for a little shallow breathing room before launching into…



’Vampire’ by the Crystals. Some of you might be familiar w/ this tune on account of it being on a Major label for a change (Mercury), as well as pretty much every monster R ‘n’ R comp, and rightfully so. This tune is a killer, even if it is pressed on the crappiest styrene ever. Seriously, every copy of this I have ever owned, no matter how clean, sounds kinda crappy (Same for the Tomko’s disc), but I’d say that’s all part of it’s inherit charm. Plus, if I were to tweak the hell out of all these tunes before posting I’d never get anything done.

Last, but not least, my copy of ‘Haunted Sax’ by the Akies came in a killer lot of instro stuff out of Ohio, all of which is pretty off-beat and will, no doubt, wind up in these hollowed internet halls as soon as I get around to it, which if this late track listing is any indication, I wouldn’t start holding my breath just yet (Lest you turn blue). Speaking of breath, I’d say it’s about time I catch mine and say good-bye to the haunted shtick until next year. We now return you to our regularly scheduled crap….

BftRB Presents: Revenge of 'Things That Go 1-4-5 in the Night!