W.O.C.K On Vinyl - Elvira Presents Haunted Hits (1988)

Before things get too serious here at Rock On Vinyl, I thought it might be fun to post a song / album at the end of each month, that could be categorized as being either Weird, Obscure, Crazy or just plain Korny.

Mainstream goth punk icon Elvira (Cassandra Peterson), Mistress of the Dark is a valley girl voiced vampire persona created during the 1980s by Los Angeles KHJ-TV "Movie Macabre" hostess Cassandra Wilson.

Elvira gained fame on Los Angeles television station KHJ wearing a black, gothic, revealing, cleavage-enhancing gown as host of Elvira's Movie Macabre, a weekly horror movie presentation which started airing in 1981. Her wickedly vampish appearance is offset by her comical character, quirky and quick-witted personality, and Valley girl-type speech.

In 1987, Rhino released Haunted Hits, the first of three Elvira Halloween compilation albums. This grab bag of theatrically overbearing routines is most likely to amuse teenagers and drunk people, or more specifically drunken teenagers. It will however come in handy for regular folks of all ages who wish to throw Halloween theme parties that have nothing whatsoever to do with the authentic traditional cultural roots of Halloween (as in ancestor reverence) or the Day of the Dead as celebrated throughout Spain and Latin America. This campy to corny compilation briefly taps into Afro-American culture (Screamin' Jay Hawkins and La Vern Baker), twisted hipster goofiness (Lambert, Hendricks & Ross), and classic '50s-'60s pop culture (the Marketts, the Five Blobs, Sheb Wooley's "Purple People Eater," Vic Mizzy's "Addams Family Theme") as well as topical rock from Alice Cooper, the Cramps, and Oingo Boingo. The last of 17 tracks is performed by Elvira herself, kitschy and overbearing as ever.

Elvira made a cameo appearance in Tim Allen's sitcom Last Man Standing (Season 1, Episode 4) entitled 'The Last Halloween' and played Ed Alzate's latest female companion.  Starring in one of my favourite TV sitcoms, it was a pleasant surprise to say the least, to see Elvira playing a seductive mistress.

A belated Halloween post, this month's W.O.C.K on Vinyl offering (MP3's/320kps) was gratefully sourced from Mr Weird & Wacky's blog and includes full album artwork. With tracks taken from TV shows such as  'Twilight Zone' and 'The Adams Family' to classics such as "Put A spell On You" and Skyhook's "Horror Movie", this collection of Haunted Hits has something for everyone, especially if you are into a little bit of Wizardry and Cleavage LOL  

Track Listing

01 Bobby Boris Pickett & The Crypt Kickers - Monster Mash
02 Jumpin' Gene Simmons - Haunted House
03 Ray Parker Jr. - Ghostbusters
04 The Marketts - Out of Limits
05 The Five Blobs - The Blob
06 Dave Edmunds - The Creature From the Black Lagoon
07 Sheb Wooley - The Purple People Eater
08 Vic Mizzy - The Addams Family (Main Title)
09 Alice Cooper - Welcome to My Nightmare
10 Neil Norman and His Cosmic Orchestra - Twilight Zone
11 Oingo Boingo - Dead Man's Party
12 Lambert, Hendricks & Ross - Halloween Spooks
13 The Skyhooks - Horror Movie
14 Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I Put a Spell on You
15 The Cramps - I Was a Teenage Werewolf
16 LaVern Baker - Voodoo Voodoo
17 Elvira - Full Moon

Haunted Hits (73Mb) New Link 24/06/2022