Category Archives: Halloween

Ghostbusters

Posted by Dave Zobrist on

thDYZSXIH8  Download    For all you keyboard arrangers out there, this is the time of the year to dig deep into your instrument and find the sound effects page.  It’s Halloween, after all, and you’ve no doubt got some scary sounds in there.  Be creative and use ’em in your Halloween party repertoire.

We’re not doing a job on Halloween this year – it’s on a Thursday.  We’re doing a private party on Friday instead – the day after Halloween and in a completely different month! Doesn’t seem right somehow.  But it’s still a “spooky” gig and we’ll be doing a lot of Halloween-type music.  “Ghostbusters” is our opener and you might consider using it that way too.  Great beat, pounding bass, and well-placed scary sound effects kinda sets the mood.  I can’t duplicate the back-up vocals (obviously) or the “speaking parts” in the song so this sequence is missing gems like “Who ya gonna call, Ghostbusters” and “I ain’t afraid of no ghosts” – but you can fill in the blanks.

Through the rest of the month of October, I’ll be featuring songs with a Halloween theme.  Your crowd wants to hear spooky music that night so… BOO!

Love Potion # 9

Posted by Dave Zobrist on

  Download Instrumental    This fun tune was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, a songwriting team in the fifties known for their inane but entertaining lyrics.  Included in their string of masterpieces are gems such as Hound Dog (Elvis) and Charlie Brown (The Coasters).  See what I mean by inane lyrics?  Downright “cheeky”, but who cares?  They were huge hits and a riot to perform.  This song in particular should be in your repertoire.

“Love Potion No. 9” was originally recorded by an R&B group called The Clovers.  It went to No. 23 on the charts – not huge, but respectable.  I think their arrangement was much better than a version that a British band released in 1965. The Searchers were riding the “British Wave” ushered in by The Beatles in the early 60’s so theirs was the greater hit.  My arrangement is based on the more popular version – because I’m a sell-out.

This song is about a guy who just doesn’t do well with women, so he goes to Madame Ruth (our resident gypsy) to enlist her help.  She tells him her Love Potion #9 will do the trick.  He drinks it and goes nuts… “I started kissing everything in sight”.  But a cop eventually breaks his bottle and the show is over.  But none of this makes sense if you think about it.  Here’s a guy who can’t score with the opposite sex (for whatever reason), but the silly twit gives him a potion that turns him into a wild man – attacking women instead of wooing them.  Methinks the gypsy lady had one warped sense of humor.

One of the things that makes The Clovers recording better is a change of lyrics in the last line.  The Searchers ended it with “But when I kissed a cop down on 34th and Vine, he broke my little bottle of – Love Potion No. 9”.  The much more inspired “Clovers” version ended with “I had so much fun that I’m going back again, I wonder what happens with – Love Potion No. 10”.  Ah, much better conclusion, don’t you think?

Oh, one more thing…. the original didn’t have any keyboards, but I put a piano track in there anyway.  A piano cures everything – much better than some lousy potion.

Witchy Woman

Posted by Dave Zobrist on

121129__witchy-woman_p  Download with Lead    One more Halloween song before the big night… if you don’t mind.  Of course,  everyone knows “Witchy Woman”was a big hit for The Eagles written by Don Henley for their debut album (it was the only song on the album featuring Henley on lead vocals).  But did you know that there was a real life “witchy woman”?

Zelda Fitzgerald is the prime suspect.  Henley had read a biography of her life and consequently used her as the model for the song.  She was the wife of famed author F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby) and was known to be wild, bewitching, and mystifying – much like my first wife (kidding).  Zelda is portrayed as the character Daisy Buchanan in Gatsby.  Now you’ll have to go back and read the book again.

At your Halloween music job, I guarantee you’ll have at least three women dressed as a witch.  Drag ’em out on the dance floor (physically if you have to) and feature them with this song.  It’s on the Halloween list.  Thanks, Zelda, for being such a witch!

 

Thriller (for Halloween)

Posted by Dave Zobrist on

th1EPZT3A4  Download    We’re going to change up this year. Instead of using “Ghostbusters” for the opener, we’ll try this one. It’s got that driving Michael Jackson beat that should get your audience on their feet right away.  You can use the last 32 kinda empty bars at the end to introduce the band (or yourself as the singer) and then go directly into “Ghostbusters”, or whatever.

The video for “Thriller” is quite remarkable.  Who knew Jackson could act as well as put out incredible music?  Yeah, he had some issues, but he was a genius.  Click on the link below to see the video…

As an aside, I’m using a shehnai as the lead instrument.  It’s a musical instrument very similar to an oboe, common in places like India and Pakistan.  It has that somewhat eerie tone that is perfect for a song like this – but, of course, you’ll be singing it so who cares.  Get it off the Halloween list on the home page.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=thriller&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=8E0893D58A0E4E68F3AC8E0893D58A0E4E68F3AC

Purple People Eater

Posted by Dave Zobrist on

thG2U7K7S4  Download with Lead    This song was recorded by Sheb Wooley (under duress) in 1958 and soared to the top of the charts. It’s about the silliest piece ever, even for what is termed a “novelty song”. It’s about a Purple People Eater who descends to earth to join a rock’n’roll band.  He has one eye, one horn, and flies.  But he won’t eat Sheb cause “he’s too tough”.  Told you it was silly! Actually, the creature wasn’t purple – he only ate purple people – but this confusion made the song even more popular. They were hurtin’ for entertainment in the late 50’s.
Anyway, it makes for a good Halloween song. Go to the home page and download it from the Halloween list without the lead and sing it yourself.

Ghostbusters

Posted by Dave Zobrist on

thDYZSXIH8  Download    For all you keyboard arrangers out there, this is the time of the year to dig deep into your instrument and find the sound effects page.  It’s Halloween, after all, and you’ve no doubt got some scary sounds in there.  Be creative and use ’em in your Halloween party repertoire.

We’re not doing a job on Halloween this year – we’re doing one on Friday, the night before.  But it’s still a “spooky” gig and we’ll be doing a lot of Halloween-type music.  “Ghostbusters” is our opener and you might consider using it that way too.  Great beat, pounding bass, and well-placed scary sound effects kinda sets the mood.  I can’t duplicate the back-up vocals (obviously) or the “speaking parts” in the song so this sequence is missing gems like “Who ya gonna call, Ghostbusters” and “I ain’t afraid of no ghosts” – but you can fill in the blanks.

Through the month of October, I’ll be featuring songs with a Halloween theme.  Your crowd wants to hear spooky music that night so… BOO!