FunHouse Radio

Novelty Records, Parodies, Weird Covers, Outsider Music, Oddities, Mashups, Comedy, Nonsense & Cringe.

“Spooky” by Classics IV – Halloween Classic – COVERED by Dusty Springfield, Martha Reeves, Daniel Ash and More!

Posted on 2023-10-20 by Wacky Alex

“Spooky” was originally an instrumental tune by saxophonist Mike Sharpe. It charted as an instrumental in 1967 hitting No. 57 in the US. One year later vocals were added by Dennis Yost and the song was re-released as by Classics IV. That’s the version featured above. This version went on to hit No. 3 in the USA and 46 in the UK.

Shortly after, Dusty Springfield released her version, with genders flipped. This version is my favorite but does not lend itself to the Halloween season quite as well.

Eleven years later, a band called The Atlanta Rhythm Section recorded a nice 70s pop-rock version. Man the bass playing on this kicks ass.

Martha Reeves went on to recreate the song in the first person. This time it’s a Spooky Old Lady and she specifically mentions Halloween. It appeared on her 1986 album In the Midnight Hour.

Daniel Ash, best known for he work with goth-rockers Bauhaus and the new wave Love And Rockets released his take in 2006.

It got the Latin Jazz treatment earlier this year by the Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band on the 2023 CD, Vox Humana featuring Janis Siegel on vocals.

And if you are curious about how the original 1966 instrumental sounded, here it is!

That’s a lot of versions. There are probably dozens of others. If you know of one that we missed, let us know in the comments!

“Jamaican In New York” by Shinehead – Alternate Lyrics to “Englishman In New York” by Sting

Posted on 2023-02-22 by Wacky Alex

It’s kind of crazy to hear this take in 2023. New-Jack-Swing beats were on EVERYTHING in 1992, the year this one dropped. At least is slowed down a bit so as to be more tolerable.

The melody is all Sting. He naturally received a writing credit on this track. It’s not quite a parody and not quite a cover. Le’ts call it a reinterpretation. It charted in several countries reaching #30 in the USA and #5 in New Zealand.

For your reference, here is the original version by Sting.

“Xmas At K-mart” by Root Boy Slim & The Sex Change Band With The Rootettes

Posted on 2022-12-22 by Wacky Alex

This wacky track was first released as a single in 1978. I first heard it on a 1996 Christmas Music Compilation from Rhino Records called Just Can’t Get Enough: New Wave Xmas. When it’s not Christmas, we also play “Boogie Till You Puke” on the live stream. Root Boy Slim was a strange dude.

But what about K-Mart? If you are older than 30 you may remember a discount retailer called K-Mart. They were headquartered in the Detroit Area until a merger Sears corporation in Chicago.

Back in the 60s, 70s, & 80s, K-Mart was a great place to shop for Christmas gifts. I always enjoyed going there as a kid. The music on the PA and all the merchandise was exciting.

They had small cafeterias to get sandwiches, pretzels, soda, pie, gelatin or coffee. It was however very nasty that people smoked cigarettes indoors. There were disposable ashtrays everywhere.

Does Yoko Ono Have an Orgasm at The End of This Song? – Listen (If You Dare) – Decide for Yourself

Posted on 2022-11-19 by Wacky Alex

We’ve never shied away from cringe at FunHouse Radio. Before you listen to this you need to be warned. There are shrill vocalizations that make some people get neck-hair erections. Others cover their ears, yell, and stomp feet. You might even go cross-eyed.

Not only that, but we are treated with a lot of dissonant chords on a clean tone electric guitar. If you hate Jazz, you will really hate this.

“Kiss, Kiss, Kiss” was released on the album Double Fantasy in 1980. It also appeared as the b-side to Lennon’s “(Just Like) Starting Over” single. Stylistically quite different from Lennon’s track, I think it can safely be classified as New Wave. Ono fans consider this one of her best productions. It’s been remixed several times as well.

The “orgasm” starts at 1:42 in the song. The official story is that she just simulated the sounds in a studio but you have to wonder if she captured her and John doing the deed. The two were known to keep recorders by the bed. What do you think?

“The Witch Queen of New Orleans” by Redbone – About A REAL Voodoo Priestess And It’s A Funky Song for Halloween

Posted on 2022-10-30 by Wacky Alex

Here’s an unofficial video for created by a pop music chart show from Bremen, West Germany. The song is a funky jam and I think better than their other well-known single “Come And Get Your Love”.

Redbone released a recording of the song in 1971. Pat and Lolly Vegas, brothers and band-mates wrote the song together. Their recording combines elements of Southern Swamp-Rock, Native Folk-Rock and Funk.

Redbone was actually the first All Native American band to reach number one on a singles chart in any country. It was with this song. “Witch Queen” reached number one in Belgium. It hit number two on the UK Singles chart. It got to 15 in Canada but only 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA.

Because of the subject matter, the song has become a favorite for Halloween celebrations in the US, UK and Canada.

The song is about a 19th century Voodoo practitioner named Marie Laveau. You probably didn’t read about her in your high-school history book. She was a free woman of color, Creole, born and died in New Orleans, 1801-1881.

1920 portrait formerly identified as Marie Laveau (1794–1881) by Frank Schneider, based on an 1835 painting (now lost?) by George Catlin.

Her life story is long and interesting. There is far to much to cover here in this blog. The short version is that she was a famous Herbalist, Voodoo Priestess, Beautician and Midwife. Despite being a person of color, she herself owned slaves. For a while she was the elected leader of The New Orleans Voodoo Organization. This is why they gave her the nickname “Witch Queen”.

Her unique life experience has inspired many writers and musicians to referenced her in their work. You can still visit her grave today. Notice the marker refers to her VooDoo organization as a cult. Her former home and grave-site are both thought to be haunted by her dead soul.

“I Want Candy” by Bow Wow Wow, The Strangeloves, Kidz Bop & Many Others – Now A Halloween Classic – Add It to Your Playlist

Posted on 2022-10-21 by Wacky Alex

“This song certainly did not begin it’s life intended for Halloween. The lyrics even mention summertime. Nevertheless, the obvious connection between Halloween and candy has made the song slowly find its way into Halloween mixes. It is now considered a standard include by DJs worldwide. We probably need more songs about candy.

Most of our readers will remember the New Wave version that came out in 1982. The band was called Bow Wow Wow. The single hit No 9 in the UK and 22 in the USA.

12 inch single cover courtesy of discogs

The song was originally written from the male perspective. The narrator is talking about a woman named Candy. In the Bow Wow Wow version, Candy is now a male but it feels like it’s secretly woman to woman in this listener’s mind. The subtle lesbian-code did not register with the mainstream audience at the time.

But of course the story does not end there. The song was first made famous in 1965 by The Strangeloves. The band used a type of syncopation called The Bo Diddly Beat on the track. Some footage has unearthed of the band performing on TV. It is thought to be from a show called Shindig. Tony Basil might be one of the dancers in this video, though that has not been verified. See if you can spot her.

Since then a number of other artists have performed or recorded this song. A British group called Candy Girls charted with the song in 1996. Aaron Carter performed the vocal modulation for auto-tune back in 2000. I won’t ask you to listen to Charlie XCX murder the tune live but you can find that on YouTube.

You know you’ve made it as an artist if your song gets covered by The Kidz Bop franchise. Looks like The Strangeloves and Bow Wow Wow have really hit the big time now. The Kidz Bop version appears on the 2012 release Halloween Hits.

Don’t forget to tune in to FunHouse Radio for more Halloween Fun!