ELECTRIC LARRY'S FUNKTASMIC FREAK-OUT FESTIVAL CD

Our good buddy and partner in crime Dr Penis aka The Purple Zombie DJ has this amazing funky party mix available for free download or just to listen to online. I will confess that I provided some technical assistance to Electric Larry to help him create his ultimate party mix CD. If you're hosting a New Year's Eve party this will help kick it off right! Go there now to check it out!

HORRORWITZ'S 8 NIGHTS OF HAPPENIN' HANUKKAH HITS! #8: "Tzena Tzena" by The Temples plus Sam Chalpin bonus (?) tune!

For our last night of Hanukkah we present to you another rockin' tune by The Temples, a cover of the Jewish classic "Tzena Tzena", a party song that has something to do with telling girls to go out and meet up with soldiers. (I kid you not!) The Temples cover brings along another Twist... um... twist... to the popular Jewish song.



And, as a bonus track, I bring to you Sam Chalpin and his brain-numbingly meshugga cover of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction".


While lyric-wise this is not technically a Jewish record per se, Chalpin's "Satisfaction" is another novelty track sung somewhat in the in the same vein as Gefilte Joe and The Fish (ie- an old Jewish guy destroys a classic).



I hope you've enjoyed listening to these past 8 Nights of Happennin' Hanukkah Hits as much as I've enjoyed posting them.

HORRORWITZ'S 8 NIGHTS OF HAPPENIN' HANUKKAH HITS! #7: "Dayeinu" (Twist) by Lou Klayman and His Orchestra

Tonight we have an instrumental twist variation of the old Jewish party classic "Dayeinu". It's taken from the Sonodor label LP called "Twistin The Freilach". Freilach, or freylekh, has several meanings. (Not, it isn't about that giant pack of French fries from Aqua Teen Hunger Force.) As an adjective it basically means "joyous". And as a noun it is it refers to the kind of joyous dance that Klezmers do. And what more hoyous a dance is there than The Twist I ask you? So I suppose it only made sense to try and combine the 2, right? Well at least Lou Klayman thought so. Enjoy!

HORRORWITZ'S 8 NIGHTS OF HAPPENIN' HANUKKAH HITS! #6: "Walk On The Kosher Side" by Gefilte Joe and The Fish

For the 6th night of Hanukkah we present Gefilte Joe and The Fish from the Star Of David shaped vinyl EP "Hanukah Rocks" (on Rhino records). This 4 track EP is a novelty classic and although the title track is technically more Hanukkah oriented, I think that the best song on this record is their cover of Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side". This is also a personal fave of Bella Buttons, the world famous Trash Palace Pooch. Enjoy!



Bella likes to play this record after she lights her candles. She says it's one of the best records she's ever tasted!

HORRORWITZ'S 8 NIGHTS OF HAPPENIN' HANUKKAH HITS! #5: "Let's Put The 'CH' Back In Chanukah" by Stanley Adams and The Chicken Flickers

It's always frustrated me that there were so many spellings for Hanukkah. My personal favorite was always "Chanukah" (with a CH!). And apparently Stanley Adams is one dude who agrees! And in tonight's song he takes it one step further. The story of of one tough Tateh trying to whoop a little tough Chanuka love on his son's tucas! Amazingly, the "Chanukah Carols" LP from the early 1960s is still available on CD today. Enjoy!

HORRORWITZ'S 8 NIGHTS OF HAPPENIN' HANUKKAH HITS! #4: "The Kosher Twist" by Benny Bell & The Pretzel Twisters

On the fourth night of Hanukkah I bring you one of my all time faves. This track speaks for itself. It's a 1960s recording by Benny Bell (aka Benjamin Samberg), the same novelty singer who brought you the Dr. Demento favorite "Shaving Cream". Enjoy!

HORRORWITZ'S 8 NIGHTS OF HAPPENIN' HANUKKAH HITS! #3: "Yamaka Mama" by The Ubangis

This next track comes from our in-house band The Ubangis. The complete title is actually "(She's A) Yamaka Mama (At Chanukah Time)"Originally released as a 7" holiday 45 in 1994 (a split by both Brutarian and DeCeased Records) and given away free with the then newest issue of Brutarian magazine as a split Christmas / Hanukkah record. Both tracks were also featured on the first volume of the CD compilation series "It's A Rockin' Christmas" (on the Run Wild Records label). I thought the idea was pretty funny at the time but I guess a couple of people found it slightly offensive. Luckily most of us Jews have a sense of humor. The Xmas side, incidentally, was a swingin' little rockabilly number called "chickens For Christmas". Enjoy!

HORRORWITZ'S 8 NIGHTS OF HAPPENIN' HANUKKAH HITS! #2: "Downtown" by Al Tijuana and his Jewish Brass

For our second night we have the zany parody of the Petula Clark hit "Downtown", originally written by Tony Hatch, but performed for us tonight by Al Tijuana and his Jewish Brass! Taken from the oddball Capital Records LP from 1966, back when major music labels had more of a sense of humor. (Remember, Capitol also released the Mrs. Miller records!) The Herb Alpert parody album performed by "Al Tijuana" (real name Lou Jacobi) has a bit of a Spike Jones feel if Spike had been raised in Queens by a Jewish family. Got all that? In the words of Al, "Now that's what I call Downtown!" Enjoy!

HORRORWITZ'S 8 NIGHTS OF HAPPENIN' HANUKKAH HITS! #1: "Hava Nagila Twist" by The Temples

For the first night of Hannukah we're gonna kick things off with an old Jewish classic "Hava Nagila". This tune is probably the most well known of all Jewish "party" music and has been covered a gazillion times. And so there have been many different variations including a well known surf guitar version by Dick Dale. But for me this Twist version by The Temples really kicks out the borscht! It totally swings and no other version I know of comes close to it. It comes from their 1960s LP on the New York based Ad Lib Records label called "Be Mir Twist Du Schön" which roughly translates to something like "Twist With Me Already". Enjoy!

DREIDELMANIA!

I have a little dreidel
I made it out of clay
And if you think that's boring
Then give this list a play!

So, you think dreidel's are boring, eh? And what about that dumb little song we were forced to sing in Hebrew school? Well, just so happens there are a lot of cool variations of that tune that I found on Playlist.com . Some of them are less then 10 seconds long even. (Those are the best versions!) Okay, if you can make it through this entire playlist then you're a better Jew than I am. And if that happens then please give yourself an honorary "Mazel Tov!" on me!

Yes, tonight is the first night of Hanukkah. And since this little dreidel playlist doesn't completely cut the latke's, prepare yourself for Horrorwitz's 8 Nights Of Happenin' Hanukkah Hits! Yes, each night I will post 1 very cool Hanukkah tune for you to enjoy, and to show the world that there are some pretty cool Hanukkah song covers. Well... there's at least 8 of them that I know of! (I hope!)

"THANKSGIVING": FUN FOR THE WHOLE (MANSON) FAMILY!

This year I give thanks to the nice person who uploaded this trashy fake movie trailer (from the movie Grindhouse) to Youtube. GOBBLE GOBBLE!

FAREWELL COUNTESS DRACULA

I was just forwarded the email below that actress Ingrid Pitt has suddenly and unexpectedly passed away. I had the pleasure to meet her a few times and thought she was really down-to-earth and witty. As a young lad seeing House that Dripped Blood in the theater and Countess Dracula on tv she was one of the first sexy vampires that caught my eye. She once told me she lived for awhile in Silver Spring, Maryland - my home town! That blew my mind. I hadn't seen her in years. She will truly be missed by myself and the thousands of horror fans who've grown to love her from her film roles as well as her many convention appearances.

---

From the BBC News 23 November 2010 Last updated at 17:55 :


Hammer horror actress Ingrid Pitt dies aged 73
Hammer horror actress Ingrid Pitt, best known for starring in cult classics such as Countess Dracula, has died at the age of 73. The Polish-born star passed away at a hospital in south London after collapsing a few days ago. She was regarded by many fans as the queen of Hammer Horror films. The star's death comes weeks after film-maker Roy Ward Baker, who directed Pitt in The Vampire Lovers, died at the age of 93. Pitt's daughter told the BBC News website that her mother's death had come as a "huge surprise". After the actress has collapsed recently, doctors told her was she suffering from heart failure. "She could be incredibly generous, loving, and she'll be sorely missed," Mrs Blake said. She added that she wanted her mother to be remembered as the Countess Dracula with the "wonderful teeth and the wonderful bosom".

'Gloriously uninhibited'

Official Hammer historian Marcus Hearn paid tribute to the star, calling her a "talented actress and fine writer".All fans of Hammer and of British horror are going to miss her terribly”. He added: "She was partly responsible for ushering in a bold and brazen era of sexually explicitly horror films in the 1970s, but that should not denigrate her abilities as an actress." A good friend of the actress, Mr Hearn said she was "gloriously uninhibited" and "great fun to be with". Although she was not the first female star of a Hammer film, Mr Hearn said she had always been "very proud" of becoming the first prominent female protagonist in a Hammer after her role in The Vampire Lovers. "All fans of Hammer and of British horror are going to miss her terribly," he said. She began her career with fairly minor roles in several Spanish films in the mid-1960s. But in 1968 she landed a supporting role in war movie Where Eagles Dare, appearing alongside Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton. The actress got her breakthrough role two years later in the horror thriller The Vampire Lovers, which was a box office success. Several Hammer movies followed, firmly establishing her as one of the key women of British horror of the 1970s. Her other film credits included The Wicker Man (1973), Who Dares Wins (1982), Smiley's People (1982) and Wild Geese II (1985). Pitt made regular appearances at horror conventions and penned several books about her career in the genre.

Ingrid bares her fangs in House That Dripped Blood (1971)

A tense moment from the 1964 Spanish sci-fi thriller Sound of Horror also with Spanish actress and Jess Franco fan favorite Soledad Miranda.

Ingrid as the bloodthirsty Mircalla Karnstein in Hammer Film's The Vampire Lovers (1970)

THE SOUND OF VIOLENCE

Recently I was re-watching William Peter Blatty's quirky movie The Ninth Configuration, an under rated thriller of sorts from 1980 that is rather hard to pin a label on. And there's this intense scene where lead Stacey Keach, as the seemingly pacified Col. Vincent Kane, gets badgered into a bar fight with a group of nasty bikers with bad eye liner. Kane is pushed and pushed to the very edge of tolerance and finally, when he snaps, he lets loose a "gut wrenching scream" that sounded strangely familiar to me. A sort of deja boo!, as it were. In fact I was quite sure I had heard it many times in other movies or tv shows. One for certain was the over-the-top comedy series Wonder Showzen which seemed to have use it several times. Later I was reading what comments people had made about Ninth Configuration on the imdb message board when, lo a behold, a discusion of said scream included a link to a website called Not The Wilhem Scream. Yes, an entire website that is a tribute to that same one scream. The scream which, incidentally (and thanks to them), can be heard here:



Once you visit this website and learn the history of the scream I know that you, like myself, will sleep better tonight. God bless.

EERIE PUBS MEETS JOHNSON SMITH: THE COOLEST MONSTER VIDEO EVER MADE?

Jason Willis of the legendary Scarstuff monster record blog has just posted the most amazing video on youtube and it is being re-posted here below with his permission.



Some of you might remember my blog last year about the Eerie Publications and how a copy of "Weird" magazine blew my little 8 year old mind out back in the Summer of 1973. Well Jason has taken a bunch of that great cover art and made an animation set to the sounds of the Johnson Smith horror sound effects record from the 1970s. I myself remember originally hearing this record in the '70s when my friend David Balaban ordered it from a comic book. The first side was your standard ghost and thunder type effects. But the second side really cuts loose with demons, banshees, space aliens and a torture chamber. Even as young kids we thought that it sounded so ultra-cheezy, with flubbed lines and effects that sounded like it was recorded by 2 drunk dudes in a large bathroom on their lunch break from the office. But that didn't keep us from playing it several times over! The record ends with Krishtor the alien threatening to destroy the Earth. I used to leave that as the my outgoing message of my answering machine. I later learned that much of the Johnson Smith 7" was lifted from a full length LP called "Spook Stuff" which I was later lucky enough to find on eBay. Anywho, I was thinking of posting the record on the Trash Palace blog when I stumbled across Jason's great video which I gratefully re-post here! (Thanx Jason!)

HALLOWEEN BURLESQUE SPOOKTACULAR!

This Sat. October 30th Trash Palace will be providing the monster wallpaper videos at this wild upcoming event which also features a live performance by our in-house cave-stompers The Ubangis! If you are anywhere in or near Washington, DC this Halloween weekend you could do worse then to attend...

Saturday, October 30th: It's the Voodoo Nights Halloween bash! Doors 8pm; Show 9pm Price: $15.00 . Mayhem, Music and Ghoulesque! Featuring: The Ubangis live in concert! Plus: Live Sideshow & Burlesque hosted by Jonny Porkpie with Rev. Valentine, DC's sideshow girl Mab Just Mab, Baltimore's Kay Sera and the High Priestess of Burlesque Jo Boooobs!! Don't miss the Costume Contest with cool Prizes! *Post show DJ & Band Dance Party with live Go-Go Dancing by Candy Del Rio! This show is for ages 21 and over. Advance tickets are available at www.redandblackbar.com .

MONSTERS WE'VE KNOWN AND LOVED (1963)

Around 1970 I remember seeing a re-broadcast of this black & white 25 minute tv special when I was just a kid. I didn't realize it was an episode of a 1963 tv series called "Hollywood and the Stars". If I recall, it ran one Saturday afternoon on our local UHF station WDCA - Channel 20 - in Washington, DC, in between a few old horror movies. (Thank you Dick Dyzell!)


This fun collection of clips ranging from monsters of the silent movie era to classic Universal-type monsters to the z-budget zombies of Ray Dennis Steckler's "Incredibly Strange Creatures..." cult flick, from classic horror stars to giant monsters, is a long time fave of mine. And as I didn't see it posted online anywhere I thought I'd slap it up just in time for Halloween. And so, in the words of narrator Joseph Cotten, "Now, don't send the children to bed. We want all of you to meet... Monsters We've Known And Loved."!

WATCH PART 1 OF 2:

WATCH PART 2 OF 2:


LINKS:
Buy Monsters We've Known And Loved along with the 1944 feature film Cry of the Werewolf, both on 1 DVD-R, at Trash Palace here!

Hollywood And The Stars on the Internet Movie Database at www.imdb.com/title/tt0056765/

THE HORROR, THE HORROR... REALM, THAT IS! (AGAIN!)

This year's Horror Realm convention (known as Zombiefest a few years back) has a TON of guests from the original Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead movies, plus John Amplas, star of George Romero's Martin, the lead actress from the recent scat-tastic cult film Human Centipede, and a Basket Case reunion! Plus other horror actors, artists, authors and... wrestlers! There will be film screenings and a costume ball dj'd by yours truly! And Trash Palace will have a dealer's table there Saturday afternoon and Sunday and, yes, Bella Buttons - the world famous Trash Palace pooch - will also be in attendance! Oh boy!! For more information on the 2010 Horror Realm convention check out the Horror Realm website at http://www.horrorrealmcon.com/

Speaking of Bella Buttons: Below you can check out a very brief 34 second excerpt of a video review from last year's 2009 Horror Realm convention shot by some blokes called Visions Magazine. If you look closely you'll catch a brief glimpse of me chatting with blogmeister Max Cheney aka The Drunken Severed Head. Or The Severed Drunken Head, depending on what angle you are looking at him. But more importantly it ends with Bella Buttons manning her own little doggie DVD store. For the full 4 minute video clip check out this Youtube link.

SERGE GAINSBOURG: FRANCE'S SECRET VICE (1992)

Several years ago my buddy Shabby unearthed this short UK tv documentary on French music legend Serge Gainsbourg and now you can check it out over at the Purple Zombie DJ blog. I found it really entertaining and quite informative considering it is only 25 minutes long. But I think, possibly because of the short running time, they focused a bit more on the scandals and sensationalism of Gainsbourg's life and I kind of wish there was a little more time spent looking closer at his music. Still, this fast-paced little doc has some great interviews with Jane Birkin and others that knew him, some nice footage of Gainsbourg singing as well as interviews (including the infamous F-bomb dropped on live tv in front of Whitney Houston), recording sessions and other rare footage.


LINKS:
"Serge Gainsbourg: France's Secret Vice" video at the Purple Zombie DJ blog is at http://purplezombiedj.blogspot.com/2010/09/serge-gainsbourg-frances-secret-vice.html

Under Arrest: A Tribute To Serge Gainsbourg website (French language) is at http://www.gainsbourg.org/

LOCAL CULT HIT POPPING UP AGAIN: "OF FLESH AND BLOOD" ERUPTS AT THE AFI THIS FRIDAY!

I always get strange looks when I tell people I had a very "small part" in a movie about John Holmes. But in the late 1980s a co-worker of mine at Joe's Record Paradise, Jeff Mentges, actually pulled off the feat of shooting a feature-length movie - on film! - a biopic based on the life of porn star John Holmes aka "Johnny Wadd". The mostly black & white feature had a brief run at The Biograph theater in Georgetown, Washington, DC and at the old American Film Institute (AFI) at the Kennedy center in DC. This Friday Of Flesh and Blood will once again rear it's gigantic, throbbing head at the AFI in Silver Spring, Maryland for a 20th Anniversary screening. Most of the cast is expected to show up. Of Flesh and Blood beat Boogie Nights by several years and Wonderland by several decades. Although shot on a minuscule (by comparison) budget with all the roles portrayed by non-actors (guilty as charged!) OFAB has some surprisingly effective moments. The murder scenes, for instance, are particularly disturbing and have much more of an impact to me than those in the big-budget Wonderland. Breon as "Johnny Wade" (the characters' names have been slightly changed to protect the innocent - from getting their arses sued!) is suitably trashy and Joe Lee's performance as club tycoon / alleged crimelord Eddie Nush (sic) is excellent. His portrayal of Nush / Nash comes across as much more believable than the ones in the other 2 aforementioned flicks. The original jazz/noise score by Jeff's post-punk band No Trend is also truly effective. I myself am only in the movie for about 5 minutes total, however my gorilla suit somehow has gotten more screentime than I did.

Local film documentarian Jeff Krulik, whos Heavy Metal Picnic played at AFI last Friday, sent out this press release email below:

In the late '80s, Jeff Mentges turned his attention from fronting infamous DC band No Trend to attending film school. Not content to graduate with a short film like the rest of his classmates, he decided to produce and direct a 16mm narrative feature film. The result: Of Flesh and Blood, a black-and-white noir retelling of porn star John Holmes' sordid descent into drugs, mayhem and murder. Shot for just $15K and featuring his former co-workers and denizens from Joe's Record Paradise, as well as beloved school janitor Al Breon in the starring role, the film had its grand premiere on August 15, 1990, at the Biograph Theater in Washington, DC. This special anniversary screening is as much a celebration of low-budget 16mm independent filmmaking before digital video took over as it is a 20-year reunion for everyone who was involved in making it happen.

Plus, for those No Trend fans out there, now's your chance to meet Jeff Mentges, in a rare local appearance. Also invited is the entire cast and crew, including Dr. Joe Sasfy, Dick Bangham, Steve Lorber, Cha Cha Lemeaux and Brian Horrorwitz of The Ubangis.

Below is a brief clip. As it states at the beginning this video was shot directly off of the editing machine screen and the actual film looks MUCH better than this which I can attest to. Also the intro music before the clip is not actually from the film itself.

A Scene From "Of Flesh and Blood" uploaded from Dave Nuttycombe on Vimeo.


Of Flesh and Blood screens this Friday, August 23rd, at the American Film Institute at 9:30pm, Rated R (although in this film there is no nudity nor sex per se it is still quite raw in the language dept. ie- they say "fuck" about a gazillion times.)

LINK: Of Flesh and Blood screening information at the American Film Institute can be found on their website at http://www.afi.com/silver/new/nowplaying/2010/v7i3/mars.aspx#offle

UBANGIS GIG IN MD THIS SUNDAY!

This Sunday, July 18th, our in-house band The Ubangis perform at another ALL AGES Sunday matinee at The Quarry House Tavern in lovely Silver Spring, Maryland (8401 Georgia Avenue)! And looky here: Our good buddies The Midnight Creeps are back in town making their de-butt appearance at Quarry House! Come check them out for some fur-ocious female lead old school punk rawk, baby! Also on the bill are the Casio-tastic stylings of The Sweet Sixteens (from Indiana) and the amazing Poppetes all the way from Sweden! You don't wanna miss this one! The show starts at 2pm and ends promptly at 5pm. (When we said 'matinee' we f'ing meant it!) And it's ALL AGES so bring yer foetus!

MOTHER'S DAY SPECIAL (a new playlist)

MACHETE - A TIMELY NEW TRAILER FROM ROBERT RODRIGUEZ!

If you saw "Grindhouse" a few years back then you remember director Robert Rodriguez's wild fake trailer for the fictional movie "Machete". Well now it's been made into a real movie and this week he released this timely trailer presented here for promotional use only.

TUNE OF THE MOMENT: YETI

Yes, it's "Yeti", the end title track from Sante Maria Romitelli's score to the immortal 1977 Italian movie Yeti: The Giant of the 21st Century!



The track was also release as a 45 (pictured above) that was credited to The Yetians! Dig some of the lyrics:

The Yeti's big
The Yeti's tough
But he's so good

He is so big
The Man of stone
But he won't harm you
The Yeti
He is so tough
The man of stone
But he won't kill you
The Yeti

I ask you: does it get much better than that? Me thinks not. And, for maximum effect, while you are listening, feel free to stare deeply at this picture of the Yeti:


The movie Yeti: The Giant of the 21st Century is available on DVD-R from Trash Palace (if you must). You have been warned!

MUSIC FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2010

ROCKIN' RELIEF THIS SATURDAY!

If you happen to be in the Baltimore, Maryland area (or like to drive) please consider attending this event faeturing Trash Palace's in-house band The Ubangis:

For more info please check out www.trashpalace.com/UbangisGigs.htm