Halloween is 31 October – i.e. tomorrow – but I thought I’d do my little bit for it today, to avoid posting on consecutive days. The irony of the day’s popularity in the US isn’t lost on me: the origins of Halloween can be traced back to this side of the Atlantic, in a pagan festival mostly known (in Ireland and Scotland) as Samhain, though there are different names for similar festivals in other Celtic regions. The name has been in existence since the mid 18th century, and is given to the day before All Hallows Day, on which remembrance of the dead takes place. Present day Halloween costumes are a hand down from the days of mummers and their attire. Witches’ clothes are an obvious garb for the day, among others, while some others that you see are just plain weird! But none of this explains for me why the US goes so totally over the top for it!

I say this every year but it is still true: I’m not really a fan of the commercialised mess that Halloween has become, and spend most of the evening laying low and hoping that I don’t get assailed by scroungers. But it is still a good excuse to play some fun music. I have a set of tunes for this which I tend to rotate, so that it doesn’t become stale, and for a change this year I’m adding one in that is making its debut. I’m playing six this time, making room for that new one amongst some of my other favourites.

I have two songs with which I start these posts, and this is the one that has the honour of getting the ball rolling this year:

In case you didn’t know it, that was Werewolves Of London by the late, great Warren Zevon. It was a track on Warren’s third album, Excitable Boy, which was released in January 1978 and gave him his breakthrough, reaching #8 in the US and #9 in Australia. The song was released as a single and got a fair bit of airplay here: it peaked at #21 in the US, #8 in Australia, and squeaked into the UK chart at #87. The video was the third updating for the song, released in 2022 having previously appeared in both 2020 and 2021. This most recent update has some lovely touches: I especially liked him playing the ‘Weredle’ game, and the tribute to our late Queen was rather touching.

Next up is another classic which has been given an updated animation in recent years:

Monster Mash was first released as a single in May 1962 by Bobby “Boris” Pickett (and the Crypt-Kicker Five) and topped the US Singles chart that year in the week before Halloween. It was re-released in 1973, getting to #10 in the US that time round, but peaking at #3 here in the UK and making #1 in Canada. It has been a perennial Halloween favourite ever since it first came out, and even made the US chart again as recently as 2021. Yes, it’s corny, but I have always loved it!

Time now for the new one. This is an unofficial video, but I think it’s brilliant:

Zombie Zoo was the closing track on Full Moon Fever, the debut solo studio record by Tom Petty, released in April 1989. The album features contributions from members of his band the Heartbreakers, notably Mike Campbell, as well as from Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison (who died prior to its release), and George Harrison, three of Tom’s Traveling Wilburys bandmates. The album is fantastic and was deservedly a huge success, reaching #2 in Canada, #3 in the US and #8 in the UK, selling more than 5m in the US (5x Platinum), 600,000 in Canada (6x Platinum), and 100,000 in the UK (Gold). I played the album to bits, and loved the way this song brought it to an end. As I said this video is, of course, unofficial, but I think they do a great job with it, and their dressing up is very much in the Halloween tradition. Above all, they are having fun doing it.

Another longtime favourite of mine now:

Jethro Tull and The Witch’s Promise – another unofficial video which adds to the spirit of the song, I think. This track was released as a non-album single in January 1970, getting to #4 in the UK and #6 in Ireland. It also had some lower placings in other countries, but wasn’t a hit in the US. I’ve always liked it, having been a fan of the band since they first started, and it is always good for me to play it at this time of year. And I’m pleased to have found this rather nice video for it which is, I think, rather atmospheric.

I have sometimes opened with this one, but decided to save it till later this time. It just wouldn’t be Halloween without it:

That was, of course, the full cinematic version – I don’t like short-changing you with the abbreviated cut! It now has more than a billion YouTube views, and the record didn’t do too badly either. Thriller was the title track of Michael Jackson’s sixth album, which was released in November 1982, made #1 just about everywhere, and has gone on to become the biggest selling album of all time, with worldwide sales of more than 70 million. The song was the seventh and final single taken from the album, in November 1983 in the UK and January 1984 in the US, and made #1 in many countries. It *only* got to #4 in the US and #10 in the UK, but has still sold in huge quantities in both: 10 million in the US, and nearly 2 million in the UK, as part of a further 9 million global sales. I think you can consider that a success!

I’ve made this final one a regular feature since it first came out, so you’re getting it again! The song and video were first released in October 2021, and the video now has more than 3m views on YouTube. As they are one of my favourite bands it feels right to give them another airing:

Faun describe their style as ‘pagan folk music,’ which seems apt for this time of year. At other times I have featured them singing in their native German, but they have occasionally used English lyrics on their albums and this is one such. Their music is great, and the video is amazing: not least for what they have (so far) got away with on YouTube! The band have also shared a ‘making of’ video for this song, which is quite revealing – in more senses than one. This link should take you to it: it was originally in German but has been overdubbed in English, as well as having English subtitles, and shows what goes into a video like this – it looks like hard work! Halloween was included on their album Pagan, which was released in April 2022 and reached #3 in Germany – quite an achievement for a pagan folk band! I am closing with this one as the first three verses of the song sum up what I think is the essence of Halloween – the Eve of All Hallows Day, on which we celebrate the departed, as I have said:

Spirits haunt these magic hours, Dwelling in the sylvan bowers; In the trees is a ghostly breeze.

Light a candle for the dead, With sprigs of fir do warm their bed; And in songs bless the ancient ones.

Halloween – in moonlight we gather; Halloween – to join with the unseen; Halloween – calling the spirits who come forth on Halloween

If you are celebrating Halloween I hope you have a great time, and if you are out on the trick or treat trail do stay safe: there are some weirdos out there at this time of year!

See you again for Song Lyric Sunday 🎃