A four hour show on Halloween was sort of a test: Could I play three hours of holiday music?
Oh yes. We learned a lot of things: There were certainly a lot more novelty songs in the 60s, specifically the early 60s. It was all about the success of “Monster Mash,” one song I declined to play (though I did play Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s follow-up, “Monster’s Holiday”). Some artists seem to better suited to Halloween, particularly The Cramps and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. But there was some variety of approaches to the music as well.
And then, after midnight, when October was over, it was all about the Fleshtones and Los Straightjackets, who play a show in town tomorrow.
Here’s what I played on the radio tonight:
Friday Night Rock, Radio CPR 97.5 FM , 10-31-2014, 9 p.m. – 1 a.m., Washington, D.C.
- “Haunted House,” Johnny Fuler
- “Feast of the Mau Mau,” Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
- “Witch Queen of New Orleans,” Redbone
- “Castin’ My Spell,” The Johnny Otis Show with Marci Lee
- “The Green Slime,” The Green Slime
- “Lil’ Red Riding Hood,” Sam the Sham & The Pharaohs
- “I Ain’t Superstitious,” Willie Dixon
- “Drac’s Back,” Billy DeMarco & Count Dracula
- “Midnight Stroll,” The Revels
- “Ghost Train,” Virgil Holmes
- “The Mummy’s Ball,” The Verdicts
- “Coolest Little Monster,” John Zacherle
- “Monster Party,” Bill Doggett
- “The Creature from Outer Space,” The Jayhawks
- “Mr. Werewolf,” The Kac Ties
- “My Son, the Vampire,” Allen Sherman
- “The Monster,” Bobby Please and the Pleasers
- “Theme from ‘The Addams Family,'” Fiends
- “Nightmare Mash,” Billy Lee Riley
- “the Voodoo Walk,” Sonny Richard’s Panic with Cindy & Misty
- “Frankenstein’s Party,” The Swingin’ Phillies
- “Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” The Monotones
- “Rockin’ in the Graveyard,” Jackie Morningstar
- “Monster’s Holiday,” Bobby “Boris” Pickett & the Krypt Kickers
- “The Vampire,” Orvin Yoes
- “Morgus the Magnificent,” Morgus and the Ghouls
- “The Purple People Eater,” Sheb Wooley
- “Beep Beep,” Louis Prima
- “The Blob,” The Five Blobs
- “Martian Bop,” The Ran-Dells
- “Planet Claire,” The B-52’s
- “Gigantor,” The Dickies
- “Flying Saucer Attack,” The Revillos
- “Flying Saucer Rock n’ Roll,” Billy Riley & His Little Green Men
- “Theme for Creature from Under the Sea,” Milton DeLugg
- “Humans from Earth,” T-Bone Burnett
- “Fear (Theme from ‘One Step Beyond’),” The Ventures
- “Lost in Space,” John Williams
- “My Favorite Martian,” Theme
- “It’s Your Voodoo Working,” Charles Shefford
- “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman,” The Tubes
- “Werewolves of London,” Warren Zevon
- “Do They Know It’s Halloween?”
- “Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon,” The Cramps
- “Goblin Girl,” Frank Zappa
- “Halloween Parade,” Lou Reed
- “You Must Be a Witch,” The Lollipop Shoppe
- “Wise Up Ghost,” Elvis Costello & The Roots
- “Season of the Witch,” Stephen Stills, Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield
- “I Put a Spell on You,” Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
- “I’m Your Witch Doctor,” The Chants
- “Weird Science,” Oingo Boingo
- “The Time Warp,” The Rocky Horror Picture Show
- “Everyday is Halloween,” Ministry
- “Devil in My Car,” The B-52’s
- “Pet Sematary,” The Ramones
- “Chain Saw,” The Ramones
- “I Don’t Wanna Go Down the Basement,” The Ramones
- “The Creature from the Black Lagoon,” Dave Edmunds
- “Halloween,” Siouxie & The Banshees
- “Halloween,” The Dream Syndicate
- “Halloween,” Dead Kennedys
- “Halloween,” The Misfits
- “V.O.T.E.,” Chris Stamey & Yo La Tengo
- “Oh Well,” Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac
- “Buddy’s Song,” Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac
- “Honey Hush,” Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac
- “Dick Tracy,” The Fleshtones
- “Beautiful Light,” The Fleshtones
- “Do You Swing?” The Fleshtones
- “Pretty, Pretty Pretty,” The Fleshtones
- “DiPinto Twist,” Los Straightjackets
- “Squid,” Los Straightjackets
- “Galaxy Drive,” Los Straightjackets
- “Black is Black,” Los Straightjackets with Raul Malo
- “Hey Criloolo (King Creole),” Los Straightjackets with El Vez
- “La Suegra (Mother in Law),” Los Straightjackets with Big Sandy
- “De Dia y de Noche (All Day and All of the Night),” Los Straightjackets with Big Sandy
- “El Microscopico Bikini (Dizzy Miss Lizzy),” Los Straightjackets with Cesar Rosas
- “Calor (Slow Down),” Los Straightjackets with Big Sandy
Friday Night Rock returns Nov. 14 at 9 p.m. on Radio CPR, 97.5 FM, Washington, D.C.