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seedarklyxeroWelcome to SeeDarkly Sunday DisCOVERies:
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
It's the fourth week of this year's five week series, Octoberween; celebrating covers of tracks specifically suited to the Halloween season. I've put off featuring this artist for a while, largely because he has so many popular covers that have also been covered by others. In this case, the track is exceptional its rarity of tribute and its pertinence to the holiday:
Marilyn Manson - This Is Halloween (Danny Elfman/The Citizens of Halloween Town)
Danny Elfman left Oingo Boingo behind to make a tremendously successful career scoring film soundtracks. He had already worked with producer Tim Burton on soundtracks to at least five other films before being brought in for the 1993 Disney animated musical feature, The Nightmare Before Christmas. The film ran in theaters for eight weeks during the Halloween and Thanksgiving season, earning mediocre box office returns despite favorable critical response. (Disney's previous animated film, Aladdin, made comparatively ten times as much and was in theaters nearly three times as long.)
The film reached "cult" status, though perhaps a little more prestigious than just "cult" as its general popularity was enough to have it reissued to theaters several times since and was reformatted to include "3-D."
This Is Halloween, the first song in the film, performed by Danny Elfman and the cast of the monsters and creatures in Halloween Town, introduces the setting and basic premise of the film: a hidden and magical town responsible for the very existence and continued celebration of Halloween around the world. According to Elfman, he and Burton discussed the creation of the film's songs and they agreed that they should feel "like they could be almost from any era, but not contemporary."
When Disney reissued the film in 2006, they also reissued the soundtrack. The reissue included a bonus disc that included several of Elfman's original demos and six covers recorded by modern popular alternative rock musicians of the time. Disney surprised Elfman with the idea of having Marilyn Manson do a cover of This Is Halloween. Elfman had already been attempting to collaborate with him on other projects and excitedly gave his blessing. Manson was also surprised that Disney came to him. He has admitted in an interview with Elfman that he was hesitant at first only because he thought it was "too obvious" a pairing, but finally decided that there was a reason for it. He claims that following the recording he was inspired to write and produce his sixth studio album, Eat Me, Drink Me. However, neither that nor any of his following albums to date had near the success of his previous work, making his cover of This Is Halloween his last popular single. (Maybe he'll surprise us with his upcoming release in 2017.) In 2008 his cover was also included on the full tribute album of the film titled, Nightmare Revisited, which included artists such as Korn, Amy Lee of Evanescence, and Shiny Toy Guns.
Manson's inherent goth-rock sound is obvious among differences between the versions, but also notable is the fact that he sings solo as every character that was portrayed in the film by ensemble. The original and cover versions are staples of the season and every DJ who plays the track at Halloween parties likely has to decide between competing requests for both.
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
We wrap up this year's Octoberween Edition with a Fifth Sunday A La Mode...
Does Depeche Mode have a track befitting the black celebration of ghosts and zombies that wander in the dead of night on Halloween? Let me think... ;-7
Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
I'll be spinning twice this week, in Boston and in Western Mass. If you want to join me in revels of Halloweek, click over to my schedule for links to details. ^_^
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Oct 16 - Lydia Lunch - Spooky (Mike Sharpe)
Oct 09 - Blutengel - Cry Little Sister (Gerard McMann)
Oct 02 - goJA moon ROCKAH! - Bloodletting [The Vampire Song] (Concrete Blonde)
Sep 25 - Grendel - Zombienation V.2K5 (Zombie Nation's Kernkraft 400)
Sep 18 - Bauhaus - Rosegarden Funeral of Sores (John Cale of Velvet Underground)
Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
It's the fourth week of this year's five week series, Octoberween; celebrating covers of tracks specifically suited to the Halloween season. I've put off featuring this artist for a while, largely because he has so many popular covers that have also been covered by others. In this case, the track is exceptional its rarity of tribute and its pertinence to the holiday:
Marilyn Manson - This Is Halloween (Danny Elfman/The Citizens of Halloween Town)
Danny Elfman left Oingo Boingo behind to make a tremendously successful career scoring film soundtracks. He had already worked with producer Tim Burton on soundtracks to at least five other films before being brought in for the 1993 Disney animated musical feature, The Nightmare Before Christmas. The film ran in theaters for eight weeks during the Halloween and Thanksgiving season, earning mediocre box office returns despite favorable critical response. (Disney's previous animated film, Aladdin, made comparatively ten times as much and was in theaters nearly three times as long.)
The film reached "cult" status, though perhaps a little more prestigious than just "cult" as its general popularity was enough to have it reissued to theaters several times since and was reformatted to include "3-D."
This Is Halloween, the first song in the film, performed by Danny Elfman and the cast of the monsters and creatures in Halloween Town, introduces the setting and basic premise of the film: a hidden and magical town responsible for the very existence and continued celebration of Halloween around the world. According to Elfman, he and Burton discussed the creation of the film's songs and they agreed that they should feel "like they could be almost from any era, but not contemporary."
When Disney reissued the film in 2006, they also reissued the soundtrack. The reissue included a bonus disc that included several of Elfman's original demos and six covers recorded by modern popular alternative rock musicians of the time. Disney surprised Elfman with the idea of having Marilyn Manson do a cover of This Is Halloween. Elfman had already been attempting to collaborate with him on other projects and excitedly gave his blessing. Manson was also surprised that Disney came to him. He has admitted in an interview with Elfman that he was hesitant at first only because he thought it was "too obvious" a pairing, but finally decided that there was a reason for it. He claims that following the recording he was inspired to write and produce his sixth studio album, Eat Me, Drink Me. However, neither that nor any of his following albums to date had near the success of his previous work, making his cover of This Is Halloween his last popular single. (Maybe he'll surprise us with his upcoming release in 2017.) In 2008 his cover was also included on the full tribute album of the film titled, Nightmare Revisited, which included artists such as Korn, Amy Lee of Evanescence, and Shiny Toy Guns.
Manson's inherent goth-rock sound is obvious among differences between the versions, but also notable is the fact that he sings solo as every character that was portrayed in the film by ensemble. The original and cover versions are staples of the season and every DJ who plays the track at Halloween parties likely has to decide between competing requests for both.
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
We wrap up this year's Octoberween Edition with a Fifth Sunday A La Mode...
Does Depeche Mode have a track befitting the black celebration of ghosts and zombies that wander in the dead of night on Halloween? Let me think... ;-7
Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
I'll be spinning twice this week, in Boston and in Western Mass. If you want to join me in revels of Halloweek, click over to my schedule for links to details. ^_^
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Oct 16 - Lydia Lunch - Spooky (Mike Sharpe)
Oct 09 - Blutengel - Cry Little Sister (Gerard McMann)
Oct 02 - goJA moon ROCKAH! - Bloodletting [The Vampire Song] (Concrete Blonde)
Sep 25 - Grendel - Zombienation V.2K5 (Zombie Nation's Kernkraft 400)
Sep 18 - Bauhaus - Rosegarden Funeral of Sores (John Cale of Velvet Underground)
Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies