ZERO More Days til Halloween (Silll-ver Shamrock)

Only real horror junkies will get that title, but I digress. It's the actual holiday and not the movie and I caught myself chuckling at how my celebration of Halloween has changed over the years.

From dressing up and begging for candy as little shaver...to watching horror movies and defacing other people's property in High School...to dressing up and begging for girls in trashy costumes at bars in College...then, practically coming full circle, attempting to dress up MY little shavers so they can beg for candy (that we'll eat later) later this afternoon.

Keeping in that vein, while my love of the grindhouse/slasher horror flick is well-documented on this blog, I decided to go a little further back and highlight some of my favorite classic monster/horror flicks from my youth:

'Spider Baby'

While I don't recall actually catching this as a youngster, it seems like something I would have enjoyed on Son of Svengoolie some Saturday night. Theme song performed by and starring Lon Chaney Jr. himself, plus the debut performance of one Mr. Sid Haig (AKA Captain Howdy)! You can actually watch the whole flick online at AMC online as part of their yearly Monsterfest celebration.

'The Raven'

I remember stumbling upon this excellent flick based loosely around the Poe poem, on the WGN afternoon movie after school at a friend's house. Some gross FX for the time and an all-star cast including Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Vincent Price and a young Jack Nicholson. Creepy and funny...a really good time.

'Mad Monster Party?'

Rankin Bass flick featuring such legendary monsters as Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolfman, the Mummy, Invisible Man and Phyllis Diller...nuff said. Not at all scary, but silly stop-motion fun w/ a Halloween vibe.

'Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein'

Again, not that scary as an adult, but this flick rocked my world as a kid. I both laughed and hid behind the couch as Bud & Lou took on Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr. and Glenn Strange (reprising their roles as Dracula, the Wolfman and Frankenstein).

While these flicks may seem kind of wimpy by today's standards, when included in a more well-rounded Halloween filmfest diet that includes guests like Michael Myers, Freddy, Jason and/or Dr. Satan...you've got an evening that has something for the entire family. Boo, bitches!

And You Don't Stop!

Not counting my lukewarm review of Ye's latest, we haven't really talked about much hip-hop in a long while. A lot of that has been due to my lack of exposure to anything interesting on that front outside of Madlib's 'Beat Konducta in India' (which is fly as hell BTW). Well, that changed earlier this week when the new album for my man Ohmega Watts dropped on iTunes.

The sweet boom-bip has me floating on air and I'll have a full review next week. Until then, check this dope 'making of' video for one of the funkier-than-hell instrumental tracks on the album, 'The Platypus Strut' and have a good weekend y'all...

THE HIVES

'The Black & White Album'

I'll preface this review by saying that for me, a little bit of The Hives goes a long way. I mean, i've always enjoyed both their music and their ethos...just in small doses. Could it be that, while I enjoy it, the chunky, dirty brand of Swedish rock delivered in black and white uniforms is just too much for even me to handle?! Well...yeah...that seems to be the case.

That said, their latest release, 'The Black & White Album', is nothing less than a blast. Really fun stuff. The trademark punchy, buzz saw garage rock wrought on previous releases still flows through the album's veins on killer tracks like 'Square One Here I Come' and 'Hey Little World'.

Maybe it's just me, there seems to be an infusion of funk/disco touches on tunes like 'T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S.' and 'Giddyup' as well, that may be in part to some different producers that include both Pharrell and Jacknife Lee and/or thier work w/ Timbaland. Sometimes it works, sometimes...not so much. I like the tracks that lean a little bit on some new wave floursihes the most. 'It Won't Be Long' and the Tony Basil's 'Mickey' on steroids 'Try it Again' bring the fun in a major way, both gritty and polished at the same time.

While I love quirky, the Hives just don't do it well as far as i'm concerned. Tracks like 'A Stroll Through Hive Manor Corridors' and 'Puppet on a String' end up as disappointing filler after the first listen and leave you a little irked that they are taking space up on the record. Regardless, the album as a whole is still worth the listen...especially if you are looking for a good time.

As always, check out a taste in the sample area and, while it was released in the UK last week, buy the album when it's avail in the States on 17-Nov. Even more WTF?! than the video in the post previous...they are currently touring as openers for Maroon 5. Wow.

Yup.

Well, it looks like Grandpa may be finally going home tomorrow. There will be a lot to work through, but he's doing as best is possible. Just got back from a long weekend at my college alma matter's Homecoming festivities and it was a much-needed good time...although my liver may say otherwise.

I'm still not really feeling like going back hot and heavy on the blog...and don't really feel like finishing off the whole ROCKTOBER thing, but I do have some worthwhile music and the whatnot to talk about. So, in the next few days, look for a review of the new Hives album and maybe some other semi-interesting stuff. Until then, here's the most excellent video for the first single from that album:

Don't ask me. Hell yeah it's weird, but like the band itself...you can't help but enjoy it no matter how strange they get.

Hey There.

Haven't had an opportunity to post up due to a family medical situation. My Grandfather had been acting a little unlike himself for the past few weeks and, long story short, they discovered a tumor on both his brain and his lung last Saturday.

Flash forward to this morning and the operation yesterday on the brain tumor went as best as possible. They removed everything they could via surgery and Grandpa got through just fine. I stayed until they brought him back to the ICU and he was really tired but okay.

The CT they did this morning showed no clotting and it seems everything was a complete success! He could be home as early as tomorrow afternoon. He'll start radiation treatments for the little pieces that could not be removed via surgery in 10 days and somewhere in that time frame they will also determine what to do about the tumor on his lung.

A (hopefully) long road ahead, but at least we got through one major issue okay. Today, I don't foresee myself blogging for a while...but that could change. Right now, music, pop culture and goofing around are kind of low on the list of priorities. Versus turning this blog way too emo, i'll just take a break until i'm ready to serve up the useless crap you look forward to on a not-quite-daily basis.

In the meantime, i'll offer one parting shot for ROCKTOBER and ask that you go give somebody you love a hug...life is too short and you cannot take it for granted.

On the Cover of the...

Rolling Stone? Pfffft. If you were into hard rock/metal in the late 80's, the only one of your favorite bands you would have seen accomplish that was Motley Crue in 1987. Even then, they were poster children for a venemous article ('Heavy Metal: It's Loud, It's Ugly and it Won't Go Away') that pretty much trashed the genre at that time. I was so incensed I cancelled my long-running subscription and found a new mag to curl up with while I listened to my new Bullet Boys cassette.

That rag was the glorious Larry Flynt-published RIP Magazine. Until it's arrival, (outside of Metal Edge, which i'll be talking about later) your options were either Circus or Hit Parader...the former not good for much else other than concert pictures to hang on your bedroom wall and the latter looked like they had a 12-year old for a design editor.

RIP was like the Cadillac of metal magazines...real interviews instead of monthly regurgitation of press clippings, professional photography versus photocopied fan photos and coverage of a diverse line-up of artists from death to speed to glam. Seriously, you could find an article on Anthrax sandwiched between pieces on Vixen and King Diamond. Plus (see above), where else could you WIN A GREAT WHITE LEATHER JACKET?!

But, like the genre it covered, the mag started to jump the shark w/ the grunge/alternative boom of the early 90's and eventually died off in it's attempt to stay relevant. Shortly thereafter, I went back to suckle at the teat of Rolling Stone, until the Internet pretty much rendered it as useless as a Great White leather jacket and 'artists' like Britney and The Backstreet Boys adorned it's cover. Hmmmm.

Yngwie For Africa

Hear N' Aid - 'Stars'

I deemed that Sam Kinison video in the last post the hard rock/metal equivalent of the 'We Are the World Video', only to remember there actually was a legitimately bad metal version of the whole Band Aid / USA for Africa trip called (get ready for this) Hear N' Aid. The tune itself was a pretty awful garden-variety sounding deal reflective of the times, but there was just as much big hair in the 'Do They Know It's X-mas' video (Duran Duran, hello?).

I have absolutely no idea what they were actually raising money for...it could have been to buy Kevin Dubrow the hair extensions for the Quiet Riot video I posted earlier. Who cares though, because...'We'rrrrrrrrrrrre STARS!'

Hahn(s) Across America

Sam Kinison - 'Wild Thing'



An awful cover tune from his excellent 'Have You Seen Me Lately?' album w/ the 1988-89 hard rock equivalent of the 'We Are the World' video to go along with it. More cameos from the 'who's who' of the genre during that time frame, than a double-sized issue of Metal Edge w/ fold-out poster of C.C. Deville. I can't believe it received regular rotation on MTV, even during metal's heyday on the channel. That said...R.I.P, Sam.

ROCKTOBER BONUS: The only thing more obnoxious than Jessica Hahn's freakishly altered breasts in that video? The follow-up vid for his cover of 'Under My Thumb' that came from his next album that MTV wouldn't air. Hmmmm...I wonder why?

NO ROCK'N'ROLL!

Quiet Riot - 'The Wild & The Young'

A perfect way to kick off ROCKTOBER, Kevin Dubrow and bandmates save us from a rock-less Wink Martindale-ruled future using only sequined marching band uniforms and a tune that sounds way too close to 'I Know There's Something Going On' by former ABBA member Frida.

Good Morning!

Well, it's a brand new week and after the last 2-3, i'm sure it's going to be a good one. Just in case, I thought i'd kickstart it with a little audio pick-me-up for everyone to pour into their coffee...complete w/ a sneer and bad haircut. Herrrrrrrrrreeeee's Johnny...

A lot of fun stuff planned starting today. Now that i've got the Lydon out of my system, the rest of the month AMBFAD will be spent celebrating ROCKTOBER! What does that mean? It means we will be substituting precursors like 'indie' w/ 'glam' and/or 'hard' whenever we refer to thee rock. Videos, albums, books, film that will make you want to tease your hair, hold your hand up in devil horn formation, lift your shirt up and flash the monitor. ROCKTOBER!