Andrew Gold: “Halloween Howls: Fun And Scary Music” (2021) Vinyl Review

As everyone should know by now, Halloween is the best holiday of the year. It’s all about candy and dressing up and watching scary movies. It’s basically pure fun, particularly the music that is associated with the holiday. And now with the new vinyl release of Andrew Gold’s Halloween Howls: Fun And Scary Music, you have more excellent choices to set your festivities in motion and keep the party going, whether the participants are adults or children or a mix of the two. As it says in the album’s liner notes, “Andrew, an avid fan of Halloween, decided that there was just not enough fun and scary music…so he decided to fix that.” And he certainly did. The album features mostly original compositions, and though Andrew Gold basically did everything on it (from singing and playing the instruments to engineering and mixing), there are a few very special guests on certain tracks. Halloween Howls was originally released in 1996, though apparently only on CD (and re-issued in 2019, also on CD). But vinyl just feels more appropriate, doesn’t it? It feels right. Plus, this record includes a gatefold with some cool artwork of a Halloween party that you can model yours after. The cover is also different from that of the original release, the new artwork done by Jess Rotter.

Side One

The record begins with the sounds of a storm, and then some spooky work on organ and a fun spoken word introduction (“It’s time to go trick-or-treating”), which leads to the first song, “It Must Be Halloween.” This tune is totally delightful, setting the right atmosphere for your party. “Spooks and monsters are all out/‘Cause the moon is full tonight.” This song provides opportunity for the children to sing along, creating the sounds of the various creatures mentioned, a fun twist on those songs urging children to make different animal noises. But don’t worry, this track is delicious fun for adults too. There is a humorous introduction to Andrew Gold’s rendition of “The Monster Mash” that actually made me laugh aloud the first time I heard it (and the second and third times too). This, as you are undoubtedly already aware, is one of the songs not written by Andrew Gold. It was written by Bobby Pickett and Lenny Capizzi, and originally recorded by Bobby “Boris” Picket And The Crypt-Kickers. Andrew Gold does a great job with it, capturing that early rock and roll vibe. And this is one of the tracks to feature some special guests. Steven Bishop takes lead vocal duties, and the backing vocals are by Linda Ronstadt and Karla Bonoff, in addition to Andrew Gold. Pretty cool! I love what Andrew Gold and company do with this song. There is some added playfulness at the end that is really wonderful. “I still think Transylvania Twist is a better name.”

The fun continues with “Spooky, Scary Skeletons,” a song that has me smiling the moment it begins. I can’t see a reality in which someone is capable of refraining from falling under the spell of this record. Andrew Gold was obviously completely into it during the recording, and the results are delightful. This song is one of the highlights. “‘Cause spooky, scary skeletons/Shout startling shrilly screams/They’ll sneak from their sarcophagus/And just won’t leave you be.” That’s followed by “Trick Or Treat.” Maybe it’s just me, but this one feels particularly twisted, perhaps because as it begins, it sounds even more like a children’s song, sort of in the same vein as that evil song from Halloween III: Season Of The Witch. I imagine children singing this and then doing some devilish things while smiling and popping candy corn into their hungry mouths. I mean, check out these lyrics: “Trick or treat, trick or treat/Give us something good to eat/If you don’t, we don’t care/We’ll put red ants in your hair.” The song then speeds up before the end, as these monsters are even more jacked up on sugar and human blood.

We then get a couple of covers, songs from television and film, first the theme from The Addams Family, always an enjoyable number, and then the theme from Ghostbusters, a song that was a big hit for Ray Parker Jr. in 1984. Ah, the ‘80s. “I ain’t afraid of no ghost.” No? But it’s so much fun to be afraid on Halloween. The first side of the record concludes with “Gimme A Smile (The Pumpkin Song),” which includes some cool, sexy work on saxophone right at the start. This is a strange and completely wonderful love song about a pumpkin and a “pretty little cutie in a lavender dress.” Yes, this holiday has its own sort of romance, which in this case involves a knife. This is one of my favorite tracks. It is totally original and, let me remind you, features saxophone. That’s David Woodford on sax. This one was co-written by Greg Prestopino, who provides the lead vocals.

Side Two

The second side opens with a scream. The song’s opening line (and title), “Don’t Scream (It’s Only Halloween),” is a response to that. This one has something of a Cajun vibe, with a good groove. The screaming continues throughout the track, and I imagine gruesome torture happening in the room adjacent to the party. It’s all good, right? “So what if that guy has no head/And who cares if that corpse is alive again/And crawlin’ out of that grave.” That’s followed by “The Creature From The Tub,” a silly song about a child taking a bath at the end of a night of trick-or-treating, with Andrew’s daughter Victoria Gold providing the voice of the child, and Nicolette Larson as the mom. This one is totally cute, particularly the kid’s part (“There’s something yucky in here”). And, hey, just because the night seems to be at an end, it doesn’t mean the scares are over. What is that creature in the bath with you? “Yikes, it’s attached itself to Mommy’s hands.”

Then David Cassidy (yes, David Cassidy) provides lead vocals on “Halloween Party,” a song with an old-time rock and roll vibe, particularly that great guitar work. It is a song that invites us to join the festivities.  Andrew’s first wife, Vanessa Gold, provides some backing vocal work, along with David Cassidy’s third wife, Sue Shiffron, and their child, Beau Cassidy, as well as David’s mother, Evelyn Cassidy (Evelyn Ward). “Some eerie music/Will go just right/So we can howl/At the bright moonlight.” Indeed! That’s followed by “Witches, Witches, Witches,” which again features Victoria Gold on backing vocals, along with Ruby Spiro. It also includes a nod to the witches of Macbeth in the lines “And eye of newt/Bubble bubble, toil and trouble,” which of course makes me happy. Plus, there is the return of that spooky organ work.

Storm sound effects begin “In Our Haunted House.” To escape the storm, we soon find ourselves inside a haunted house, with a twisted carnival atmosphere and screams, but we are told we are welcome. So no worries, right? “You must excuse those ketchup stains/We ate someone last night.” Well, all right then. Sure, they’re evil ghouls, but they are exceedingly polite. The record concludes with a different version of “Spooky, Scary Skeletons,” this one with a more prominent dance beat, so the party can continue on into the night. Let those strobe lights illuminate the terror on the dance floor. This song was not included on the original 1996 release, but as a bonus track on the 2019 release (that CD release has a second bonus track, an extended version of this remix).

Record Track List

Side One

1. It Must Be Halloween
2. The Monster Mash
3. Spooky, Scary Skeletons
4. Trick Or Treat
5. The Addams Family
6. Ghostbusters
7. Gimme A Smile (The Pumpkin Song)

Side Two

1. Don’t Scream (It’s Only Halloween)
2. The Creature From The Tub
3. Halloween Party
4. Witches, Witches, Witches
5. In Our Haunted House
6. Spooky, Scary Skeletons (Undead Tombstone Remix)

This vinyl edition of Halloween Howls: Fun And Scary Music was released on September 17, 2021 through Craft Recordings.

a portion of the gatefold artwork