2 posts tagged “halloween”

I  had about three or four different friends who would regularly make cassette tape mixes for me just like John Cusack in that High Fidelity movie, and over the years I’ve been introduced to many, many terrific groups (many of which I have mentioned here on this blog!)!

  Now, it doesn’t happen very often, but once in  a while there will be a certain group or artist that will appear on ALL my friends mixes at one time. None of these friends know each other, and a couple of them don’t even live here, but somehow, sometimes there is something in the air and  ALL my friends will get “turned on” to a new artist simultaneously! Even stranger was that most of the groups didn’t have radio or TV airtime, so most of these songs reached my friends through “the vine” as it were!

 Some of the groups I remember appearing simultaneously on two or three cassette mixes at the same time  were groups like Suddenly Tammy, Throw That Beat In the Garbage Can, Voice of the Beehive, and more recently groups like Bishop Allen.

Anyway, back in 1991, one of the groups that appeared on a bunch of tape mixes was a insanely wacky and catchy group called Too Much Joy. Apparently, their album Cereal Killers managed to make its way to three friends of mine at the same time, and they in turn, all attempted to turn ME onto it…and I liked it, I liked it! With Songs like “Long Haired Guys From England”, “My Past Lives” and  “Crush Story” , this was certainly a GREAT way to be introduced to the band, to be sure!

 Afterwards, I would see TMJ appear regularly on tapes and I got to know other songs like their zany take of “Seasons In The Sun” and the downright cracked “Take a Lot Of Drugs”, but the song that really stood out for me and became my favorite track from the group was a ditty called “Sort of Haunted House”.

 Although the song appeared on the Mutiny Album somewhere in the middle, my friend Gerg had used the song as the cassette mix closer, and what a melancholy closer it was! Filled with catchy guitar picking, groovy bass riffs and that traditional Dark Humor TMJ was famous for, it instantly won me over the very first time I heard it!

The song is about a guy whose house is haunted by the memory of his late girlfriend, He welcomes her ghost because he loves and misses her, but as the song progresses, we find she got killed by a stray bullet when he shot her lover in their house! He is riddled with guilt and wants to be punished, but when he gets acquitted of the crime, he decides to make amends by  killing himself. He wants to join her wherever she is, stating, “I join you now, in Heaven or in Hell”, but in true Too Much Joy black comedy fashion, adds the thought, “I pray HE’S not there as well!” Hahaha!

As I recall, the album Mutiny didn’t fare that well, and many blamed it on Too Much Joy’s change from a zany punky band to a more insightful (if not still decidedly skewered) outlook, but whenever I hear this bittersweet, brilliantly crafted song, I always feel that they were heading in the right direction!

A perfect song to get you all into the Halloween Spirit!

The Blue-Nosed Witch by Margaret Embry
Illustrated by Carl Rose

 Well, here's the story of a little witch named Blanche who is constantly getting into trouble because of her youth and carefree attitude (re: always arriving late for the meetings). She belongs to an order of responsible, adult witches, and is only a member because of her ability to turn her blue nose on and off!

The Tale begins on the eve of Halloween Night, where the witches have big plans to perform a flight formation later that night. Afraid of being late, Blanche sets her alarm clock extra-early, and, ends up flying out much, much too early for the coven meeting. She meets up with children her own age who teach the young witch how to have fun trick-or-treating on Halloween Night!

I first read Margaret Embry's story of Blanche The Blue Nosed Witch in a "Collier's Junior Classics" Collection entitled "Harvest Of Holidays".  I was completely taken in by the imaginative story and the characters you immediately fall in love with. It also has a timeless quality to it that all great stories seem to have: a "Once-upon-a-Time" feeling.

One day browsing the neighborhood Library I came across a bound library copy of The Blue Nosed Witch. As a child it never crossed my mind that the story might have been excerpted from an actual book! Quickly leafing through the pages I discovered to my surprise and excitement that the version I had read in the Collier's Junior Classic series was only an abridged excerpt of a longer, more detail story! Quickly leafing through the pages, I found a complete story chock-full of beautiful illustrations by Carl Rose on almost every page. Oh, the Joy!

  Whereas the Collier's version had Blanche getting up to early for the Witches' Meeting and meeting up with kids who take her to one house for treats, in the actual book, Blanche and the kids go on to many more houses and have a few adventures on the way as well! Then when the kids decide it's getting late and go home, Blanche roams around by herself (and her cat Brockett) before realizing that because of all her adventures, she's going to end up being late for the Coven meeting, after all!!

This wonderful story has become a tradition for me and must be taken out every Halloween. I believe this book belongs in company of Charles Shulz' classic cartoon "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and Robert Bright's "Georgie's Halloween" as essential Halloween Treats!