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!)