“So Long Thanks For All The Fish” from The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy 2005 Film

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish is the title of the fourth book in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams. Its title is the message left by the dolphins when the entire species evacuated Planet Earth just before it’s scheduled demolition to make way for a “hyperspace bypass”.

A song with the same name was created for the 2005 film. Right at the beginning of the movie we hear the vocal choir version of the song as performed by Hilary Summers, Kemi Ominiyi, & RSVP Voices.

But did you know that on the Soundtrack CD there is a second version of the song? That’s right and it’s done in the style of lounge singer Richard Cheese but it’s actually Neil Hannon.

The 2005 movie was good but this author highly recommends the six-part miniseries from the BBC. It’s streaming on Hulu right now in the USA. If you want to take a really deep dive, check out the BBC Radio-Dramas based on the books. They are far-out indeed.

“Anything Can Happen on Halloween” by Tim Curry as The Grand Wizard in A Bewitching 80s Made-For-TV Movie

Tim Curry appeared in a made-for-tv movie called The Worst Witch in 1986. He played the role of The Grand Wizard of The Witch Academy. Charlotte Rae also appeared as Miss Cackle the teacher, and Agatha, the teacher’s evil twin.

Curry performed a rather fetching number about Halloween Night in the film.

The movie was then released on VHS and DVD. You can still buy it on amazon but we have not found a streaming service that currently offers this film.

still frame from The Worst Witch

The movie was followed a TV Series of the same name. It can be found on free services tubi and Freevee.

“This Is Halloween” from The Nightmare Before Christmas by Broken Peach Live in The Woods But Dead

Danny Elfman wrote the quintessential Halloween carol, “This is Halloween” for Tim Burton’s smash hit movie, The Nightmare Before Christmas. Every nerd knows the original. A lot of us have heard the song covered by the sicko whom is never mentioned. How excellent it is to have this new version — and (sort of) LIVE.

Broken Peach is dolled up in death skull makup and play the song live to tape on an overcast day in the woods somewhere. The supporting floor tom drums are the perfect finishing touch.GloOooOoMY.

still shot from the video

I suspect this track gained them a lot of new fans since its was first published in 2015.

“Tequila” by The Champs (as seen in Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure) PLUS Collecting The Vinyl & Cassettes

Today is National Tequila Day and I can’t think of a better track to mark the occasion. I don’t drink hard liquor anymore but I used to enjoy Tequila shots.

“Tequila” by The Champs was first released in 1958 and hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was re-released in 1987 as the demand for the track suddenly rose because of it’s appearance in Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure.

It was available as a 7 inch 45 RPM disc. That version have a long and short version on sides A and B. It had a similar cover to what we see below, which is the 12 inch 45 RPM version.

The surprising thing about the 12 inch version is that the B side contains a rather wacky hip hop track called “Pee-Wee’s Dance” by Joeski Love.

courtesy of discogs
courtesy of discogs

Now I have a new record to add to my list of “grails”. If you are not a vinyl collector, let me explain what a “grail” is. The term comes from the Monte Python movie Quest For The Holy Grail. The records on a collector’s list of grails are usually hard to find items that may have special appeal to the collector.

It was released as a single in it’s own right. As a kid I remember hearing the Joeski Love track on the radio. I had a compilation cassette called Rap’s Greatest Hits that included the song. I used to bump this in my little boom box all day. I would love to find this on vinyl in good condition.

By now you must be wondering what this song sounded like. Well we won’t let you down! Here it is!

Note that the vocals are a little too low in the mix and hard to understand. It’s not you. They needed a better compressor on the vocals. I hope someone finds the master tapes and does up a nice new mix. Then they can re-issue the 12 inch double single again as a remaster.

TAKE MY MONEY!

“Just The Two Of Us” by Mike Myers as Dr Evil

Happy Birthday to Mike Myers, one of our favorite funny guys. Myers turns 59 today, assuming they use the same calendar up in Canada. (just kidding)

The second Austin Powers movie is considered by most to be the best of the three that have been released so far. The Spy Who Shagged Me arrived in 1999.

Look at how young Seth Green was in the video clip. Who knew he would go on to be such a bastard. (Just kidding, Robot Chicken rocks by the way.) Sadly, “Mini-Me” Verne Troyer has since died, RIP.

The movie and the soundtrack album both feature this parody on Will Smith’s take of “Just The Two Of Us”. The album was re-released on vinyl for record store day 2020. We have the original CD version here at the station but the cover art looks better on the LP shown.

The song was first made famous by The Great Bill Withers.

Do you like Mike? Let us know what you think of him in the comments.

-Wacky Alex