Must be the season of the witch.

October 17, 2007 7:45 AM

I need help making a Halloween-themed mix CD.

Yes, I know all of the usuals... "Monster Mash" and all that... but I'm looking for something a little different.

The recipient of said CD - Mrs. Kaseijin - is quite into music from the 60's, particularly of the French variety, as well as more recent indie pop. She is a big fan, among others, of Serge Gainsbourg, Francoise Hardy, Belle & Sebastian, Broadcast, Jesus & Mary Chain, The Clash, Ramones, France Gall...you get the idea.

I've got a few songs, but I'm looking for more - things I perhaps haven't thought of that would be good to fill the CD. Songs don't have to knock you over the head with how Halloweeny they are, they can just be evocative of the time of year. She does not like Oingo Boingo or Thomas Dolby... So far, I have:

Donovan - "Season of the Witch"
Ladytron - "Evil"
Echo & the Bunnymen - "Killing Moon"
Edgar Winter - "Frankenstein"
Serge Gainsbourg - "Cha Cha Cha de Loup" (tentative)
Yo La Tengo - "Autumn Sweater" (tentative)


I'm also planning on adding something by the Zombies and the Mummies, but haven't settled on tracks yet.

posted by kaseijin to media & arts (41 comments total)

Bonus for quirky tracks from the 60's.
posted by kaseijin at 7:47 AM on October 17, 2007

off the top of my head...

Devil Woman - Cliff Richard
Witchy Woman - Eagles
Witch Queen of New Orleans - Redbone
Werewolves of London - Warren Zevon
The Ghost In You - Psychedelic Furs
posted by rocket88 at 7:55 AM on October 17, 2007

Grimly Fiendish.
posted by googly at 7:56 AM on October 17, 2007

Dusty Springfield - "Spooky"
posted by Robot Johnny at 7:59 AM on October 17, 2007

Oooo fun! Some possibly relevant gems from my giant playlist of Halloweeniness, some of which comes from the most excellent Scar Stuff.

Sally's Song / Fiona Apple
Caspar the Friendly Ghost / Daniel Johnston
Wicked Annabella / The Kinks
I'm a Ghost / Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
The Ghost And Mr. Chicken / The Tiki Tones
The Fourth Dimension / The Ventures
posted by kittyb at 8:03 AM on October 17, 2007

Check Oddio Overplay for three solid albums' worth of some truly strange, quirky 60s Hallowe'en tracks. Particularly "Ghouls With Attitude" and "Calling All Fiends".

Then there's Martinibomb and the Coconut MonkeyRocket, with their Munster stylings.

Best part of all, it's all free and legal to download! Enjoy!
posted by LN at 8:04 AM on October 17, 2007

"there's a ghost in my house" either the original by R. Dean Taylor or the Fall's cover version
posted by oh pollo! at 8:12 AM on October 17, 2007

Micah P. Hinson and the Opera Circuit - Digging a Grave
The Decemberists - Shankill Butchers
Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy
The Beatles - Maxwell's Silver Hammer

All about serial killers

Also, "The Police - Every Breath You Take" has always given me the willies. It was the first dance song at a friends wedding too.

Required: Michael Jackson - Thriller
posted by JeremiahBritt at 8:15 AM on October 17, 2007

"Black Magic Woman" by Santana
"Phantom 309" by Red Sovine
posted by jquinby at 8:28 AM on October 17, 2007

Oh what a great idea!

Love and Rockets - Haunted (When the Minutes Drag)
The Pogues - Haunted
posted by Evangeline at 8:31 AM on October 17, 2007

Oh, oh! Some Kate Bush! I'm so excited I'm only using exclamation points!

Watching You Without Me (I think this is about a ghost, but it's up for interpretation)

Waking the Witch

Wuthering Heights (a song from the viewpoint of Cathy's ghost)
posted by Evangeline at 8:38 AM on October 17, 2007

Monster Mash cover by Bonzo Dog Band.

Mr. Apollo - Bonzo Dog Band (best line - I used to be a 98 lb weakling, now I am two separate gorillas)

Murder by Numbers - Police (or maybe sting)

Mother - Police (seriously creepy)

Someone's Watching Me - Rockwell

Texas Chainsaw Massacre by The Ramones (...Texas Chainsaw MassaCREE, They took my baby away from ME, but you'll never get dad to die, you'll never get dad to die.... sung to the tune of every other Ramones song :-P)
posted by ian1977 at 8:42 AM on October 17, 2007

The Comateens were an NYC band that were much more popular in France in the 80's.

They are known for their New Wave cover of the Munsters Theme, but there are even better spooky songs on the first album like "Cool Chick" and "Strangler". I've seen Cool Chick on P2P and music blogs. Or you can get the first album here
posted by kimdog at 8:44 AM on October 17, 2007

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown - Fire
Oldtime Relijun - Vampire Victim (crappy video, sorry)
Bright Eyes - Devil Town (covering Daniel Johnston)
posted by hydrophonic at 8:47 AM on October 17, 2007

Dr. Zaius - Troy McClure and the cast of Stop the Planet of the Apes, I Want to Get Off!
posted by ian1977 at 9:01 AM on October 17, 2007

My pal Andrew is hosting a themed month of mp3s on his blog. I'm pretty sure you'll find more than one or two acceptable tracks.
posted by beaucoupkevin at 9:08 AM on October 17, 2007

"Frenzy" - Screamin' Jay Hawkins
posted by Craig at 9:13 AM on October 17, 2007

Another by the Ramones - Pet Semetary (written for the movie of the same name, only adorably misspelled). I love this song because the chorus is "I don't want to be buried in a pet cemetary" over and over again. It's sublimely literal.
posted by Evangeline at 9:23 AM on October 17, 2007

No One Lives Forever - Oingo Boingo

Danny Elfman's band from the mid-70s to the mid-90s. They even used to have massive Halloween concerts.
posted by Nelsormensch at 9:32 AM on October 17, 2007

I'm starting to feel like an evangelist for Jonathan Coulton, but I think RE: Your Brains and Skullcrusher Mountain would be fun choices. You can find them here.
posted by Evangeline at 9:37 AM on October 17, 2007

Bonus for quirky tracks from the 60's.

Bob Ridgley - The Way Out Mummy

Also, take a look at this incredible playlist.
posted by hydrophonic at 9:50 AM on October 17, 2007

Another Coulton - Creepy Doll. It's fantastic and, yes, creepy.
posted by kdern at 10:17 AM on October 17, 2007

The Shaggs: "It's Halloween"
The Creation: "Nightmares" (LP here)
The Sonics: "The Witch"
The Lollipop Shoppe: "You Must Be A Witch"
Daniel Johnson: "It's Spooky" (LP here)
The Kinks: "Wicked Annabella" or "Autumn Almanac"
Brian Eno: "Spirits Drifting"
X: "Real Child of Hell" or "Come Back to Me"
Pet Politics: "The Ghost Mary and Her Friends"
Pink Floyd: "Lucifer Sam"
The Incredible String Band: "Witches Hat" (whole LP here)
The Lylas: "Bit by a Witch"
The Mountain Goats: "New Monster Avenue"
The Girls: "Jeffrey I Hear You"
Evangelicals: "Halloween Song"
The Dream Syndicate: "Halloween" (LP here)
Rogue Wave: Ghost

posted by ryanshepard at 10:25 AM on October 17, 2007

Also ...

Death Cab for Cutie: I Will Follow You Into the Dark
posted by ryanshepard at 10:37 AM on October 17, 2007

A different version of the DCFC song with better sound quality is available here.
posted by ryanshepard at 10:48 AM on October 17, 2007

The Cure: Lullaby
posted by inconsequentialist at 10:52 AM on October 17, 2007

Every Day is Halloween — Ministry
(not the Ministry you're used to hearing, this is before they went metal. It's an 80's pop-ish sound)
posted by iamkimiam at 10:56 AM on October 17, 2007

Or maybe Morissey: Jack the Ripper
Very sinister.
posted by inconsequentialist at 11:02 AM on October 17, 2007

Shivaree - Goodnight Moon
posted by Wavelet at 11:13 AM on October 17, 2007

A better Screamin Jay Hawkins song is "I Put A Spell On You".
posted by JJ86 at 11:16 AM on October 17, 2007

kaseijin - let us know what you ended up picking, huh?
posted by ryanshepard at 11:31 AM on October 17, 2007

60's? French? Creepy? She might be pleased to hear something from the Fantastic Planet soundtrack. Alain Goraguer composed it, and it's highly eerie and psychedelic. (Album available with the title Planete Sauvage.) It's all instrumental, but it could make a good opener.

Some other tracks:
Switchblade Symphony - Monsters (instrumental, dark & campy--good segueway piece)
New York Dolls - Frankenstein
The Adverts - Looking Through Gary Gilmore's Eyes

There are scores of tracks by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds that could fit onto a Halloween compilation or an autumn-y compilation, particularly for someone with such eclectic tastes as Mrs. Kaseijin. If I had to pick specific tracks to recommend, I'd probably say "Up Jumped the Devil," "Red Right Hand," or, predictably, at least half of Murder Ballads. His whole catalog sounds autumn-y to me.

Cave's previous band, The Birthday Party, also did some songs that might go, like "Release the Bats" or "Dead Joe."
posted by zebra3 at 11:31 AM on October 17, 2007

Half Japanese - Trouble in the Water (Spoiler: maybe the creature only wants to be loved)
Half Japanese - Rosemary's Baby
The Cramps - I Was a Teenage Werewolf
The Cramps - Goo Goo Muck
posted by hydrophonic at 12:07 PM on October 17, 2007

She does not like Oingo Boingo or Thomas Dolby

Is this code for something beyond Oingo Boingo or Thomas Dolby?

Anyhow, some classics are:

Godzilla, Blue Oyster Cult
Don't Fear the Reaper, also BOC
Thriller, Michael Jackson
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:54 PM on October 17, 2007

Yoko Ono's "Yes, I am A Witch" and "Death Of Samantha". The versions from "Yes, I am a witch" are wonderful.

Sufjan Stevens' "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." from Illnois

Voltaire's "When you're evil" from Devil's Bris, "Born Bad" from "Then & Again", "Dead Girls" from Almost human, and basically the entire Boohoo album, depending on the mood you're going for (BRAINS! and The Vampire Club for a more fun time, Graveyard Picnic (song referencing Poe's works) and See You In Hell for something darker. The Tori Amos & Bjork covers are pretty good too)

Shirley Bassey's version "Light My Fire". I like the Kenny Dope remix on the Diamonds Are Forever remix album.

The Rolling Stones' "Sympathy For The Devil"
posted by aristan at 1:27 PM on October 17, 2007

Bela Lugosi's Dead - Bauhaus
I Put a Spell on You (Nina Simone is my fave)
Devil Inside -INXS
Dead Souls - Joy Division
Sympathy for the Devil - Rolling Stones
Black Magic Woman - Santana
Cemetry Gates - Smiths
Suffer Little Children - Smiths
Psycho Killer - Talking Heads

There are a few from Air's soundtrack of the movie Virgin Suicides: Cemetery Party, Ghost Song & Dead Bodies.
posted by dreaming in stereo at 1:46 PM on October 17, 2007

Daniel Johnston, mentioned before, has a side project called Danny and the Nightmares which is full of spooooky lyrics that would probably be perfect. It's all very garage-rocky, so it would probably fit in with the more raucous side of weird 60's rock.

Also, Halloween by the Misfits.
posted by whir at 4:56 PM on October 17, 2007

Robyn Hitchcock? "My Wife and My Dead Wife", "Lady Waters and the Hooded One", "Demons & Fiends", "Creeped Out"...

R.E.M. - "Monty Got a Raw Deal" is pretty creepy.

In regards to the Cure, "Lullaby" is good, but "Three Imaginary Boys" is even better.

The Decemberists, "Shankill Butchers"

From Bubblegum to Sky, "Vampire" isn't creepy at all, but it's adorable.

Morrissey, "Ouija Board, Ouija Board"

Does she like the Pixies? I once put "The Happening" on a Halloween mix...

The Raveonettes might have something appropriately weird. "Attack of the Ghost Riders"?
posted by punchdrunkhistory at 7:26 PM on October 17, 2007

Oh wow, thanks all for the wonderful suggestions!

Here's what I've gathered so far (not in any order yet):

Rolling Stones - "Sympathy For The Devil"
The Kinks - "Wicked Annabella"
Nouvelle Vague - "Bela Lugosi's Dead"
Lylas - "Bit By A Witch"
The Damned - "Grimly Fiendish"
Echo & The Bunnymen - "Killing Moon"
Evangelicals - "Halloween Song"
Warren Zevon - "Werewolves of London"
Nina Simone - "I Put A Spell On You"
Luna - "Season of the Witch"
The Cramps - "Creature From The Black Lagoon"
Dusty Springfield - "Spooky"
Ramones - "Pet Cemetery"
Joy Division - "Dead Souls"
Stereophonic Space Sound Unlimited - "Mummy Walk"
Concrete Blonde - "Bloodletting"
Tindersticks - "Paco's Theme"
Ministry - "Every Day is Halloween"
Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks soundtrack - "Into The Night"


Now, I just need to cull it down to fit on a CD and order it properly for flow. Not a lot on there that's French, really, but there's more than enough to work with. :)
posted by kaseijin at 8:27 PM on October 17, 2007

So many other good songs I want to use, too. I may just have to make it a two-CD set!
posted by kaseijin at 6:15 AM on October 18, 2007

A French track for you:

Nicole Paquin: "Mon Mari C'est Frankenstein"

Also, a few more gems that slipped my mind yesterday:

Fairport Convention: "Tam Lin"
Tanya Donelly: "Witch Song"
Captain Beefheart: "Evil"
posted by ryanshepard at 7:59 AM on October 18, 2007