Popnarcotic

O Pitié Dracula! (Halloween Music Mix, 2012)

October 24, 2012 at 4:23 pm (Music Mixes)

Of course you knew this was a-comin’.  Of course you did.

Let me go one step beyond, so to say, though:  of all the Halloween Music Mixes I’ve done, I’ve never thought of one as being as good as this one.  Really.  This one’s my favorite.

A few credits need to go out, especially to a turntable DJ named UncleJim who managed to turn me onto some fan-damn-tastic and great Halloween tunes.  Not all of them fit the spirit (haha, Halloween puns) of this year’s mix, but at some point in some mix, I’ll absolutely make room for Rosemary Clooney’s “Wobblin Goblin” or Patsy Montana’s “Yodeling Ghost” (seriously, now you’re dying to find out what a song sung by Patsy Montana called “Yodeling Ghost” sounds like, aren’t you?)

Another thing:  there’s only one repeat here from past mixes that I’m aware of:  back in 2002 I made a CD-only mix that had a certain Bunnymen song on it.  I’m pretty sure that’s the only time I used it.  This year I planned to use Grant Lee Phillips’s acoustic, folky version of that song…but as I listened, it just didn’t fit or really work.  I wanted Ian McCulloch’s over-the-falls vocal and Will Sergeant’s reverby guitar and missed them greatly.  So.  Original version is back, but probably a first for most folks reading this.

Now, there are two covers of songs I’ve used in the past.  One is at least as good as the Donovan original that I’ve nicked previously (no spoilers, but seriously, if I told you what the cover was and you hadn’t heard it yet, you’d be all “That’s gonna suck, dude”; I’m here to tell you that not only does this unlikely cover work, but it kicks ass nine ways to Sunday).  The other cover I have come to believe is far superior to the goofy, almost uncomfortably minstrel-show-sounding original.  I’ve used that original, and even a Nina Simone cover, but honestly this is one blues number where the angry hippie from San Francisco does the angriest and most-frightening and unhinged version.  Plus, I love Creedence….(more Halloween references for the win!)

For bonus points, this year’s mix also has a Holland/Dozier/Holland song (see if you can spot it!) as well as a Joe Meek production.  We’re nothing at Popnarcotic.com if not a little bit aware of our hip forebears.  Also, yes, I know that given the untimely demise of Broadcast’s lead singer that one particular track is a little…ookie.  I prefer “eerie” here to “inappropriate”.

Enough of my yakking.  Here’s the mix, all stitched together like a 71-minute podcast in 192 kb mp3 glory, with all tracks mixed and normalized to maintain fidelity and volume consistency.  As ever, I strongly urge you to just listen at least once without checking the track list.  It’s more fun that way.

Also this year a warning, since I’ve heard from some of you that you play these mixes in the car with kids or when handing out treats on the 31st:  The very end of the very last song on the mix has pretty clear NSFW language; it’s a lyric that quotes a pretty famous movie, and it’s fleeting before the fadeout, but it’s there.  Just fair warning–if kids or bosses or moms are actively listening, probably best to hit skip when the Lambs get all Silent.

Let’s get to some music!

O Pitié Dracula! (Halloween Music Mix, 2012)

Click Drac’s picture for the MP3….

or for the reading averse, here you go:

O Pitié Dracula!

Track list?

Fine.

Fine.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you about spoilers, though.

1. …
2. Billy Taylor “Wombie Zombie”
3. Cavemen “Vampirer”
4. Rockwell “Someone’s Watching Me”
5. Christine Pilzer “Dracula”
6. Superdrag “Do The Vampire”
7. The Gothic Archies “Scream And Run Away”
8. Lou Rawls “Season Of The Witch”
9. Jackie Morningstar “Rockin’ In The Graveyard”
10.Broadcast and The Focus Group “Seancing Song”
11.Portishead “Over”
12.Chet Baker “That Old Devil Moon”
13.The Moontrekkers “Night Of The Vampire”
14.R. Dean Taylor “There’s A Ghost In My House”
15.Echo & The Bunnymen, “The Killing Moon”
16.The Fall “I’m A Mummy”
17.The Soft Boys, “Strange”
18.The Chameleons U.K. “Swamp Thing”
19.The Tombstones “Black Cat”
20.Creedence Clearwater Revival “I Put A Spell On You”
21.Don Bishop “Nightmare”
22.The Greenskeepers “Lotion”