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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.
Looking for something previously featured? Click here.
We live by a edict... Everyday is Halloween. But we know once October starts, we REALLY let the floodgates open! So here we are again to enjoy four covers of Halloween-specific spooky songs, the first of which features spectral creatures with sinister smiles who haunt an abode of antiquity!:
Creature Feature – Grim Grinning Ghosts (The Mellomen)
Walt Disney World opened their Haunted Mansion attraction in August of 1969. Grim Grinning Ghosts (The Screaming Song), a song written by Buddy Baker and Xavier "X" Atencio, is played throughout the tour of the house. The title is believed to be taken from the poem Venus and Adonis by William Shakespeare. Narrated and sung by Thurl Ravenscroft and his quartet, The Mellomen, and a small number of additional vocalists, the first known release of the track seems to be on a commemorative record, likely sold at the gift shop at the end of the ride, titled, The Story And Song From The Haunted Mansion. Ravenscroft is apparently a part of the ride in the form of a bust that sings a portion of the song in the graveyard scene. Ravenscroft was Disney's usual go to for these types of darker productions. Just prior to this he was called upon to soundtrack Winnie the Pooh's anxiety dream in the short film, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day.
Grim Grinning Ghosts was of course adapted to the soundtrack of the 2003 Haunted Mansion film starring Eddie Murphy.
Creature Feature, a gothic/cabaret/horror rock band, announced that they intended to offer up an annual Halloween cover to be released on the first Friday of every October, starting in 2018. Their seminal effort was their vaguely Oingo Boingo-inspired version of Grim Grinning Ghosts. They've not revealed much about their motivation for this particular track apart from their general commitment to making their music somewhat of a one-stop "Halloween party playlist." Their version streamlines the song to make it a tight and bouncy dark dance track, omitting all the narration and with only vocalist Curtis Rx singing, adding a modulated growl for an eerie effect near the end. As to their promise to deliver a new cover on the aforementioned schedule, their release for this month is now over due and they've not announced if it should be expected, but it might be worth keeping an eye out!:
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
Not a "creature feature" but an ookie spooky family film hits theaters next weekend so we'll revisit the twentieth century an extra time this month, forgoing our usual Second Sunday Slowly, for a late nineties industrial version of this timeless TV and film theme song.
Feel free to tell me what you think about today's cover! Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome! You do NOT need a Dreamwidth account to reply below, but all replies are screened for spam prevention.
My next gig comes up in two weeks on the night of a full moon! For details about that and other upcoming gigs, please check my schedule!
(And if, after 4 years and 232 weekly entries, you find this blog of any value, consider leaving me a tip in the form of the gift of music and get me something from my wishlist on Bandcamp if you like. It'll go to good use! Thanks!)
Thanks for reading and keep dancing in darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Sep 29 - Synthetic Division – Somebody (Depeche Mode)
Sep 22 - Sawtooth – Mindfields (The Prodigy)
Sep 15 - Massive Attack – Man Next Door (The Paragons)
Sep 08 - Lana Del Rey – Doin' Time (Sublime)
Sep 01 - HexRX – Living On Video (Trans-X)
Aug 25 - Iris – I Wanna Be Adored (The Stone Roses)
. 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.
Looking for something previously featured? Click here.
We live by a edict... Everyday is Halloween. But we know once October starts, we REALLY let the floodgates open! So here we are again to enjoy four covers of Halloween-specific spooky songs, the first of which features spectral creatures with sinister smiles who haunt an abode of antiquity!:
Creature Feature – Grim Grinning Ghosts (The Mellomen)
Walt Disney World opened their Haunted Mansion attraction in August of 1969. Grim Grinning Ghosts (The Screaming Song), a song written by Buddy Baker and Xavier "X" Atencio, is played throughout the tour of the house. The title is believed to be taken from the poem Venus and Adonis by William Shakespeare. Narrated and sung by Thurl Ravenscroft and his quartet, The Mellomen, and a small number of additional vocalists, the first known release of the track seems to be on a commemorative record, likely sold at the gift shop at the end of the ride, titled, The Story And Song From The Haunted Mansion. Ravenscroft is apparently a part of the ride in the form of a bust that sings a portion of the song in the graveyard scene. Ravenscroft was Disney's usual go to for these types of darker productions. Just prior to this he was called upon to soundtrack Winnie the Pooh's anxiety dream in the short film, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day.
Grim Grinning Ghosts was of course adapted to the soundtrack of the 2003 Haunted Mansion film starring Eddie Murphy.
Creature Feature, a gothic/cabaret/horror rock band, announced that they intended to offer up an annual Halloween cover to be released on the first Friday of every October, starting in 2018. Their seminal effort was their vaguely Oingo Boingo-inspired version of Grim Grinning Ghosts. They've not revealed much about their motivation for this particular track apart from their general commitment to making their music somewhat of a one-stop "Halloween party playlist." Their version streamlines the song to make it a tight and bouncy dark dance track, omitting all the narration and with only vocalist Curtis Rx singing, adding a modulated growl for an eerie effect near the end. As to their promise to deliver a new cover on the aforementioned schedule, their release for this month is now over due and they've not announced if it should be expected, but it might be worth keeping an eye out!:
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
Not a "creature feature" but an ookie spooky family film hits theaters next weekend so we'll revisit the twentieth century an extra time this month, forgoing our usual Second Sunday Slowly, for a late nineties industrial version of this timeless TV and film theme song.
Feel free to tell me what you think about today's cover! Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome! You do NOT need a Dreamwidth account to reply below, but all replies are screened for spam prevention.
My next gig comes up in two weeks on the night of a full moon! For details about that and other upcoming gigs, please check my schedule!
(And if, after 4 years and 232 weekly entries, you find this blog of any value, consider leaving me a tip in the form of the gift of music and get me something from my wishlist on Bandcamp if you like. It'll go to good use! Thanks!)
Thanks for reading and keep dancing in darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Sep 29 - Synthetic Division – Somebody (Depeche Mode)
Sep 22 - Sawtooth – Mindfields (The Prodigy)
Sep 15 - Massive Attack – Man Next Door (The Paragons)
Sep 08 - Lana Del Rey – Doin' Time (Sublime)
Sep 01 - HexRX – Living On Video (Trans-X)
Aug 25 - Iris – I Wanna Be Adored (The Stone Roses)
. Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies .