On Feb. 25 there will be a Facebook launch for the release of my novel To Touch the Sun, my vampire novel set in Chicago. I'm pretty excited about this. It took me many years to find a publisher for this novel but I finally found Dagda Publishers who've been great to work with. And the novel has been getting some good advance reviews on Goodreads.

Stop in at the Facebook launch and say "hi." There's a free book up for grabs to people who attend. The novel will be available beginning Feb. 25 on Amazon for Kindle and paperback format.

In honor of this release, I thought I'd post one of my favorite bits from Eddie Izzard regarding movie vampires. Eddie Izzard is one of the best comedians out there. He has an almost rhythmic quality to his stand up, which touches on a variety of topics from culture to politics to entertainment. I first "met" him when I picked up a VHS (yes, that long ago) of "Dress to Kill" on a whim. Kill he did in this concert and I was an instant fan. Enjoying later concerts like "Glorious", "The Definite Article" and "Circle" to name a few. He's a comic I can listen to over and over and never get tired.

In his bit on horror movies he addresses the points we all consider when we're watching them at whatever a.m. in the morning. Hope you enjoy it. And I hope to see you at the Facebook launch of To Touch the Sun Tuesday. Just click on the link above.

Vampire Music Part II

In my last post featuring bits from the music chapter of my book Vampires' Most Wanted, I offered #10 "Vlad the Impaler" by Kasabian, a grungy and bizarre little ditty, and reggae songs for the #9 entry featuring Lee "Scratch" Perry, Sinead O'Connor, Black Uhuru and Tribal Seeds singing songs titled "Vampire." I think of the latter bunch, my favorite would be Tribal Seeds for the sheer drama of its sound, but I like them all.

So let's continue with numbers 8 and 7:

8.  Love and the Horror Hostess

Formed in 1977 The Misfits are noted as the progenitors of horror punk which would influence later bands embracing more gothic elements.  A New Jersey band, it took its name from the 1961 Marilyn Monroe film “The Misfits” and plunged happily into the emerging punk rock movement that had been making its way over from England.  They released a few EPs and played live gigs, even touring the U.K., but it wasn’t until 1982 that they released their first full length album “Walk Among Us.”  Heavily inspired by horror films and sci fi of the 1950s this is mosh pit madness. Rarely going beyond one minute 50 seconds, the songs of The Misfits are surgical strikes:  You’re in, you’re out, you’re onto the next song before your ears have stopped ringing.  Or bleeding, depending on the song and how loudly you’ve listened to it.

“Vampira” is an ode to the 1950s TV frightfest host Vampira, she of the freakishly small waist and high arched brows.  There is no subtlety musically or lyrically nor should there be.  The singer has been in love with her since he was a kid and is calling to her now with the aggression of a high school quarterback juiced up on steroids.  “Mistress to the horror kid/Cemetery of the white love ghoul, well/Take off your shabby dress/Come and lay beside me.”  He’s only been allotted so much time to get his point across so he does so with the bluntness of punk.

7.  Dracula’s Wedding

There’s a lot going on musically for this quick song but the beginning lyrics say it all.  “You’re all I’ve ever wanted but I’m terrified of you.”

In 2003 the members of Outkast each recorded solo albums and put them together to give us the double CD “Speakerboxx/The Love Below.”  Nestled in on track 16 of Andre 3000’s “The Love Below” is the song “Dracula’s Wedding” which uses Dracula as a metaphor to illustrate the fear of commitment that strikes everyone when “till death do us part” comes into play.  “I wait my whole life to bite the right one/then you come along and that freaks me out.”  You may have found your forever love but forever is a long time and a lot can happen between now and forever.

Heavily jazz influenced, the whole CD has a sort of stream of consciousness vibe to it, Andre 3000 moving in any direction the impulse took him.  “Dracula’s Wedding” has an electro/gothic/folk/funk feel as it speaks to the fear of intimacy and being trapped between a desperate longing and fearful uncertainty.  It would seem when it comes to love, even the king of vampires can take fright.

Next time, a chemical romance and gothic metal.

Vampire Music

Halloween is sneaking up on us preparing to pounce. It's waiting, crouched in the bushes, just a few weeks down the street and if you're not careful, it's going to GET YOU!!!

You'll be covered in candy corn before you know it.

In honor of this, I thought I'd share my chapter on vampire-inspired music from my book Vampires' Music Wanted (2011 Potomac Publishers) for the next couple of days. As with most of my work I wanted to have a little fun, so I  picked and chose from a variety of styles to indicate that the vampire can infiltrate everywhere. Mwwwwhahaaaaaa!!!!

 We'll start backward with numbers 10 and 9:

10. Beware of Drifters Carrying Sticks

“Vlad the Impaler” by Kasabian is notable not only for the mind thumping music but also for the video, directed by Richard Ayoade and starring Noel Fielding of “Mighty Boosh” fame as Vlad, or a vampire, or a serial killer, or all three.  The song can be found on the British indie rock band’s 2009 album “West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum” but the lyrics seem to have no connection to Vlad or impalement.  Which is fitting since the video is left ambiguous as to who Vlad is and why he spends his time alternating between impaling and staking people for judging by his demeanor while doing it, it seems more a duty than a pleasure.  Never the less, the song is perfect for the video; or the video is perfect for the song.  The video has the look of a trailer for a 1960s Italian horror flick (or a Quentin Tarantino homage to a 1960s Italian horror flick) in which a mysterious man in black (aside from the white boots) travels the countryside, walking softly but carrying a big stick.  A distorted bass and drums slam into each other as Vlad marches with fixed determination down the road.  Dressed in a black cape with long hair and a thick mustache he even resembles the historical Vlad as he chases down people at a tennis court and a nighttime campsite the music swelling wildly as he chases women across a field.  Impalement may not be easy, but someone has to do it.

9.  The Rasta and the Vampire

For such a sunny sound, reggae has a surprising amount of vampires lurking in its songs, but Jamaica certainly has suffered its share of “vampires” from Columbus on through the years.

“Vampire” by Lee “Scratch” Perry is a catchy song telling the tale of a vampire hunter, “Obadiah Obadiah, Jah Jah sent us here to catch vampire,” later informing the listeners of what a true Rasta man would do so they can better recognize the vampire posing as the Rasta.  Perry, a producer and songwriter and one of the big names in reggae has been in the business since the 1950s.  In 2005, Sinead O’Connor, backed by some respected reggae artists, released “Throw Down Your Arms” a CD of Reggae covers.  Her version of Perry’s “Vampire” has a slightly faster tempo than the original and her malleable voice with its gentle brogue captures the spirit of the song nicely.  Her voice, as powerful at a whisper as it is at a scream, is well suited to this style of music.

            

“Vampire” by Black Uhuru has an almost joyful sound to it, its opening pronouncement “Oh what a sight to see/a goddamned vampire” sounding a bit like a tall tale told around a camp fire.  Black Uhuru has been around since 1972 when it was just called Uhuru.  The band found some of its greatest success in the 1980s, Rolling Stone ranking their album “Red” 23^rd of the 100 best albums of the 1980s.  The song is infectious the vampire slightly cocky when he insists, “You be man/you have no control over I and I.”  In the end, however, the singer vows that, “I and I gonna drive a stake through the heart of the bloodsucker.”  The righteous will ultimately triumph.

            

The third song was released by a band that started out a long way from Jamaica.  The Tribal Seeds have their roots in San Diego but seem drawn to the spiritual side of reggae and count among their influences Bob Marley and Midnite.  Their “Vampire” has a bit more urgency to it, starting off more dramatically with an almost regal blast of orchestral synth that falls into the steady rhythm of melody.  It’s a defiant cry, a charge to fight the hypnotic power of the vampires prowling everyday life.  These aren’t supernatural blood suckers, however but rather soul suckers in society.  “Beware of the system that preys ruthlessly upon you/It’s a corrupt authority claiming they represent you/Guilty of dishonesty, lacking all integrity/They come and try to suck our blood while we are sleeping.”  Vampires come in many guises and all are deadly in their own right.



Next time: Love and The Horror Hostess and Dracula's Wedding

Feel free to tell me some of your favorite songs featuring allusions to the children of the night.