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Something I have always been curious about is the obvious sub-genre of
surf music that is the so-called horror music. How did all of this
start? There are the Portland band's who are really into the whole
thing and then there are the Ghastly One's. And all the way back we
have the Ghouls. There are many more modern bands that have this sound
as well. How did this whole idea start and evolve?
And do we think of the horror sound because of the image of the band
or do we associate the actual melodies with creepy music we have heard
in our youth.
Are the Ghouls really the start of it all? In other words were they a
popular enough band to influence the bands that came.
Jacob,
I assume that Satan's Pilgrims is one of the "Portland bands" you
speak of-. Speaking for SP, bands like the Ghouls were an influence
(especially in our dress code)as were Frank E. Stein and the Ghouls
(not surf, but monster-themed instrumentals). Check out this link for
more on them and to see how we paid tribute (ripped them off) for our
Creature Feature album.
I always think of the Ghastly Ones as taking a cue from the Deadly
Ones, who were obviously the monster-themed parody of the Lively Ones.
I've posted this before, but there were also individual songs, like
Satan's Theme (the first song we ever learned as a band), and Devil
Surfer that weren't by bands that had any kind of horror or monster
theme, but influenced us in the direction we wanted to go.
When we started MOAM was doing the space/sci-fi thing, the Untamed
Youth and Phantom Surfers were doing the surf band thing, so we just
sort of went for the vampire thing, and the Ghastlys followed
soonafter and one-upped us with their background in Hollywood mask
making and special effects.
As far as SP and the Ghastly Ones go, if I may speak for them, what's
really going on here is that we were/are not only fanatic about surf
and other early 60s music, bit we were/are fanatical about early 60s
pop culture in general. Just as Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, Mooneyes, Honda
Bikes, and early skateboarding are peripherally tied to the surf
culture of the early 60s, so was the huge explosion of interest in
monsters and horror movies.
The classic Universal Monsters created from the 30s through the 50s
(Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy, Wolfman, Creature From the Black
Lagoon, Bride of Frankenstein, etc) enjoyed their height in popularity
during this time thanks to drive-ins recycling the films and the
popularity of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. Thus, you get
"Monster Mash" and its copy cats, the Munsters, the Addams Family, the
Haunted Mansion opening at Disneyland etc.
To the mind of a pre to early-teen male, monsters were just as cool as
surfing and hot rods. Aurora introduced the Frankenstein model in 1962
, it sold like hotcakes, and soon all of the Universal Monsters were
available as hugely popular models. Then,in the mid-60s, Aurora
combined two big sellers, monsters and hot rods and came up with
models like Dracula's Dragster and Mummy's Chariot, while Grandpa
Munster's Dragula car was wowing everyone along with the Batmobile.
Drag Nut, Surf Fink, etc. by Ed Roth were all basically monsters
surfing and dragging, and they were copycatted to create the
"Weird-Oh" series of models, which had its own "surfy" companion album
by the Silly Surfers.
I was born in '67, so I don't remember any of the "first wave" monster
stuff (ha ha) but I clearly remember it still being popular through
the mid-70s along with the hot rod stuff (at least for young boys).
Maybe someone who was around for the first wave might shed more light
on this and validate it or not...
Maybe we we're using a form of revisionist history, like modern
rockabillies with all of their tattoos-did Carl Perkins have a tattoo?
Maybe he did....I don't know. Anyway, we have fun with it and while we
didn't stick to the genre as closely as say, the Ghastly Ones (we've
never been able to stick to anything) it gave us an identity.
Sorry, I'll stop now.
Ted Pilgrim
--- In , "Jacob Dobner"
<jacobdobner@y...> wrote:
>
> Something I have always been curious about is the obvious sub-genre of
> surf music that is the so-called horror music. How did all of this
> start? There are the Portland band's who are really into the whole
> thing and then there are the Ghastly One's. And all the way back we
> have the Ghouls. There are many more modern bands that have this sound
> as well. How did this whole idea start and evolve?
>
> And do we think of the horror sound because of the image of the band
> or do we associate the actual melodies with creepy music we have heard
> in our youth.
>
> Are the Ghouls really the start of it all? In other words were they a
> popular enough band to influence the bands that came.
>
Thanks for the awesome response Ted.
--- In , "spskins" <superchimp9@h...> wrote:
>
>
> Jacob,
> I assume that Satan's Pilgrims is one of the "Portland bands" you
> speak of-. Speaking for SP, bands like the Ghouls were an influence
> (especially in our dress code)as were Frank E. Stein and the Ghouls
> (not surf, but monster-themed instrumentals). Check out this link for
> more on them and to see how we paid tribute (ripped them off) for our
> Creature Feature album.
>
>
>
> I always think of the Ghastly Ones as taking a cue from the Deadly
> Ones, who were obviously the monster-themed parody of the Lively Ones.
> I've posted this before, but there were also individual songs, like
> Satan's Theme (the first song we ever learned as a band), and Devil
> Surfer that weren't by bands that had any kind of horror or monster
> theme, but influenced us in the direction we wanted to go.
> When we started MOAM was doing the space/sci-fi thing, the Untamed
> Youth and Phantom Surfers were doing the surf band thing, so we just
> sort of went for the vampire thing, and the Ghastlys followed
> soonafter and one-upped us with their background in Hollywood mask
> making and special effects.
> As far as SP and the Ghastly Ones go, if I may speak for them, what's
> really going on here is that we were/are not only fanatic about surf
> and other early 60s music, bit we were/are fanatical about early 60s
> pop culture in general. Just as Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, Mooneyes, Honda
> Bikes, and early skateboarding are peripherally tied to the surf
> culture of the early 60s, so was the huge explosion of interest in
> monsters and horror movies.
> The classic Universal Monsters created from the 30s through the 50s
> (Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy, Wolfman, Creature From the Black
> Lagoon, Bride of Frankenstein, etc) enjoyed their height in popularity
> during this time thanks to drive-ins recycling the films and the
> popularity of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. Thus, you get
> "Monster Mash" and its copy cats, the Munsters, the Addams Family, the
> Haunted Mansion opening at Disneyland etc.
> To the mind of a pre to early-teen male, monsters were just as cool as
> surfing and hot rods. Aurora introduced the Frankenstein model in 1962
> , it sold like hotcakes, and soon all of the Universal Monsters were
> available as hugely popular models. Then,in the mid-60s, Aurora
> combined two big sellers, monsters and hot rods and came up with
> models like Dracula's Dragster and Mummy's Chariot, while Grandpa
> Munster's Dragula car was wowing everyone along with the Batmobile.
> Drag Nut, Surf Fink, etc. by Ed Roth were all basically monsters
> surfing and dragging, and they were copycatted to create the
> "Weird-Oh" series of models, which had its own "surfy" companion album
> by the Silly Surfers.
> I was born in '67, so I don't remember any of the "first wave" monster
> stuff (ha ha) but I clearly remember it still being popular through
> the mid-70s along with the hot rod stuff (at least for young boys).
> Maybe someone who was around for the first wave might shed more light
> on this and validate it or not...
> Maybe we we're using a form of revisionist history, like modern
> rockabillies with all of their tattoos-did Carl Perkins have a tattoo?
> Maybe he did....I don't know. Anyway, we have fun with it and while we
> didn't stick to the genre as closely as say, the Ghastly Ones (we've
> never been able to stick to anything) it gave us an identity.
>
> Sorry, I'll stop now.
> Ted Pilgrim
>
> --- In , "Jacob Dobner"
> <jacobdobner@y...> wrote:
> >
> > Something I have always been curious about is the obvious sub-genre of
> > surf music that is the so-called horror music. How did all of this
> > start? There are the Portland band's who are really into the whole
> > thing and then there are the Ghastly One's. And all the way back we
> > have the Ghouls. There are many more modern bands that have this sound
> > as well. How did this whole idea start and evolve?
> >
> > And do we think of the horror sound because of the image of the band
> > or do we associate the actual melodies with creepy music we have heard
> > in our youth.
> >
> > Are the Ghouls really the start of it all? In other words were they a
> > popular enough band to influence the bands that came.
> >
>
Wow Ted! Great post! It's a keeper!
I was going to mention the Frank E Stein thing. Satan's Pilgrims
thanked them "wherever they are" in your liner notes. Then the
Nebulas must have went out, inspired by you, and dug up the Frank E
Stein "Bodies Under The Bridge" and covered it...they also thanked
Satan's Pilgrim's "wherever they are" or something along those lines
too.
Let me also comment on:
> I was born in '67, so I don't remember any of the "first wave"
> monster stuff (ha ha) but I clearly remember it still being
> popular through the mid-70s along with the hot rod stuff
> (at least for young boys).
Ted we are the same age! Yes, I also had several of those monster
model kits when I was a kid growing up in the 70's. I had forgotten
about that. In fact, I put together my first one, and then promptly
found it too scary, so I had to hide it in a dresser drawer until a
few years passed..ha-ha..
>
> Sorry, I'll stop now.
> Ted Pilgrim
No, please don't... ;-)
I am guessing, Jacob, that just about every few years, some
executive at a record label says "we need to put out a novelty
record for Halloween". When this happened in the 60's, during the
surf boom, POW! You had a lethal combination of surf music and
monsters. And then you throw in the hot rod angle as Ted suggested.
A winning combination in my book.
I'd also like to hear Rick Mill's take on horror surf...as he is/was
in several horror themed bands: 3-D Invisibles and Zombie Surfers.
BN
Oh ya, I had those models too. I seem to remember a Creature From the Black
Lagoon
that had some glow in the dark parts. (I was born in '66) So i do have a soft
spot for
those Universal Monsters as well as memories of watching Creature Features as a
kid, late
on Saturday nights. This was in the S.F. Bay Area. I think the hosts name was
John Stanley
and he smoked a cigar and had a skull candle on the set.
I wanted to give props to Gein and the Graverobbers though, especially around
this time of
the year. Their style is more modern horror, but with trad roots. Maybe more
violent and
menacing, like being chased through the forest by a psychopath wearing a suit
made of
human skin, brandishing a chainsaw. And since I grew up with KISS in the 70's
their whole
zombie make-up/blood and gore schtick sits well with me. I like their drummers
style
too. Jazzmaster and Fender reverb galore. Check'em out if you haven't.
joe
p.s. Has anyone ever covered Tubular Bells? (Exorcist Theme?) Surf style of
course.
Speaking of the Ghouls, MP3s from "Dracula's Duece" can be had here:
johndetrich.com
--- In , "Jacob Dobner"
<jacobdobner@y...> wrote:
>
> Something I have always been curious about is the obvious sub-genre of
> surf music that is the so-called horror music. How did all of this
> start? There are the Portland band's who are really into the whole
> thing and then there are the Ghastly One's. And all the way back we
> have the Ghouls. There are many more modern bands that have this sound
> as well. How did this whole idea start and evolve?
>
> And do we think of the horror sound because of the image of the band
> or do we associate the actual melodies with creepy music we have heard
> in our youth.
>
> Are the Ghouls really the start of it all? In other words were they a
> popular enough band to influence the bands that came.
>
did anyone mention ZACHERLEY?
my hero!!!!
though not "surf" he certainly deserves honorable mention!!
Unsteady Freddie
i see the horror surf genre as being horror like "the
munsters". not seriously "scary" horror. I believe the
ventures in space, was a pretty serious atempt as
being 'scary horror'. The closest moden day thing i
have heard ( if they lost the vocals ) is deadbolt.
its funny jacob, because this is something i have been
thinking about on and off recently. In the late 90s i
was trying to produce this exact thing ' horror surf
'. But the images was not of wolfman or frankenstein,
but of nuclear holocausts and such.
I have made some sdtrks for horror type movies, but
that was when i was into my 'pure noise' phase.
on a side note, since i see most of you seem into it.
check out this doc thats coming out on horror hosts :
--- Jacob Dobner <> wrote:
> Something I have always been curious about is the
> obvious sub-genre of
> surf music that is the so-called horror music. How
> did all of this
> start? There are the Portland band's who are really
> into the whole
> thing and then there are the Ghastly One's. And all
> the way back we
> have the Ghouls. There are many more modern bands
> that have this sound
> as well. How did this whole idea start and evolve?
>
> And do we think of the horror sound because of the
> image of the band
> or do we associate the actual melodies with creepy
> music we have heard
> in our youth.
>
> Are the Ghouls really the start of it all? In other
> words were they a
> popular enough band to influence the bands that
> came.
>
>
>
>
Brian Neal wrote:
> I'd also like to hear Rick Mill's take on horror surf...as he is/was
> in several horror themed bands: 3-D Invisibles and Zombie Surfers.
I think Ted hit the coffin nail on the head with his post. Monster
fandom was part of the whole delicious stew that was '60s pop culture.
Surf, hot rods, spies, garage combos, Rat Fink, monsters, bikinis...
IMHO it was a period of unmatched creativity (and fun!!!).
So, mix monsters and surf? Sounds good to me.
Rick Mills
In a message dated 10/20/2005 12:07:13 A.M. Central Daylight Time, writes:
Monster
fandom was part of the whole delicious stew that was '60s pop culture.
Surf, hot rods, spies, garage combos, Rat Fink, monsters, bikinis...
IMHO it was a period of unmatched creativity (and fun!!!).
Yeah, too bad I wasn't even born until they were half over, and long gone by
the time I was old enough to enjoy it.
-M. Crunk
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
