Music and Counterculture

After an undead intermission, this week, we return to our spooky spell casters with a tune from the genesis of psychedelia. For our Spooky Season, I give you Donovan's "Season of the Witch" (1966). This song, released on the album Sunshine Superman , features a steady guitar riff alongside foreboding and paranoid lyrics, a groovy omen of oncoming devastation. Could this foretold disaster be the work of the supernatural? Well, in the context of the song's creation, the lurking danger is something a little more earthly. "There was a feeling...that all was not perfect in the Garden of Eden," Donovan spoke in Mojo magazine about this Season when the song was born. He called "Witch" prophetic, referring to the marijuana bust soon to occur within the countercultural community. Not long after, these busts seized Donovan as well. "Season of the Witch" has appeared on the soundtracks of numerous Halloween-appropriate films, including Season of th...

For the past two Shuddersome Soundscape installments, I've let witches take center stage. This week, however, I'd like to showcase another star of the Halloween screen: the zombie. And here to present this popular monster is the horror punk band the Misfits with their song " Night of the Living Dead." The song, of course based on George Romero's film Night of the Living Dead , was released on their third EP (of the same name) in 1979. Its lo-fi quality typical of many punk bands stood alongside horror-based lyrics, strong backing vocals, and Danzig's lead voice to create the signature Misfits sound that would carry on through their next albums. Along with this sound came their quintessential look, which came into its full, iconic fruition around this time. "Night of the Living Dead" later returned for the band's first full length album Walk Among Us in 1982 (they had recorded two other LPs before this, but Walk Among Us was the first to be rele...

Hello, all! I just wanted to let you know that this week's (well, now it's technically last week's) and next week's Shuddersome Soundscape posts will be delayed due to unforseen circumstances. Thanks for your patience, and I'll see you soon!

In my humble opinion, no Halloween is complete without a witchy classic that was probably the most unusual rhythm and blues recording of its time. Let me introduce you to "I Put a Spell on You" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins (1956). Although he originally recorded a gentle, romantic ballad a year before, Hawkins grunted and roared his way through a later drunken session that produced the version we know today. The resulting masterpiece became his biggest hit, though the song was hastily banned on many radio stations for its supposedly provocative nature. With has theatrical performances, macabre stage presence, and penchant for ghoulish props and antics, Screamin' Jay Hawkins became the progenitor of shock rock and leant his influence to various other dark rock genres as well. His iconic song actually never charted despite its popularity. Since then, it has been covered by a myriad of artists throughout the years (many of whose versions appeared on the charts). It also famo...

Greetings! After such a long hiatus, it certainly is great to be back! I present to you a new series called the Shuddersome Soundscape, a playlist of ghastly melodies for your Halloween season. Each week, I'll give you a different, Halloween-appropriate song from various subcultures. I'll try to post these every week in the "Spooky Season," from September 2nd to November 17th. "Why November 17th?" you may wonder. a few years ago, my sister and I established that day as the official end to the Halloween season (not counting the fact that Halloween can be every day if you want it to be). Only after then do we freely start singing Christmas tunes and watching Yultide-themed movies and episodes. I'm not entirely certain why we chose that specific date, although it may possibly be because I threw it into a song I wrote a while back regarding the too sudden end of Halloween. Since then, the date seems to have stuck. Nevertheless, it just feels like an appropri...