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Ted, great post on the subject!
In the Daytonas we had our own go on the genre with "The Coffin"
(which also happens to be a longboard trick!). I've uploaded it for
anyone interested to check out:
/ Klas
--- 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.
> >
>
Great post Ted! I wish I had more time to visit this place
lately...looks like a lots going on.
What about some of the Davie Allan stuff? Some stuf fon the Blues
Theme album had a "spooky feel". I always thought the surfy side to
spooky music had a really kitschy 1960s side to it. It's like
Elvis' Harum Scarum, it has nothing to really do with the Middle
East, but it has such a 60s flavor to it, that it ties in with the
culture of the 60s.
Bill
www.reluctantaquanauts.com
--- In , "Klas Fjellgren"
<surfites@b...> wrote:
>
> Ted, great post on the subject!
>
> In the Daytonas we had our own go on the genre with "The Coffin"
> (which also happens to be a longboard trick!). I've uploaded it
for
> anyone interested to check out:
>
>
>
> / Klas
>
>
> --- 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.
> > >
> >
>
There were definately a few songs back then with the horror theme:
Richie Podolor's Coffin Nails and Draculas' Theme
and Cemetary Stomp by the Essex
For whatever reason horror and surf seem to be a natural. As does sci fi, and
spaghetti
western.
-Paul
> In the Daytonas we had our own go on the genre with "The Coffin"
> (which also happens to be a longboard trick!). I've uploaded it for
> anyone interested to check out:
>
>
>
> / Klas
>
Klas that is extremely cool! Thanks for sharing the mp3.
BN
Check out this link for some of the coolest surf-music-monster-themed-
album-artwork:
/ Klas
