First, there was "Halloween in Space"! Now, there's my "Halloween in Space Suite" (Part 1)!!

This is my favorite Charlton Comics cover of all time (Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds, #13, 1959, Bill Molno), slightly modified by me.  Since this is not a political blog, I didn't use am image of the Speaker of the House ("Orange Face").

Anyway, here is the first half (second half to come) of my Halloween in Space Suite, recorded "live" on my marvelous Casio WK-3800, albeit multi-tracked.  By "live," I mean I'm playing in real time--no MIDI, no step time, no tempo adjusting.  I took the hard route--no MIDI cheating for me.  But once I learn the soft synth function on my Sonar X2 program, I'll be cheating with zeal.

I like the vintage-synth sounds I got on View from the Space Station, which required a number of tones (and notes) for that c.-1959 library music sound.  And who hasn't labored to produce a c.-1959 library music sound?

Magix effects helped, but mostly you're hearing the tones as they happened on my Casio.  As ever, keeping eight or nine separately-recorded tracks in time is the fun (and agony) of the one-man-band challenge.  And, if I don't quit now, this essay will get even sillier.

Hope you enjoy....

Click here to hear:  Halloween in Space Suite, Part 1

HALLOWEEN IN SPACE SUITE, PART 1 (Lee Hartsfeld, 2013)

Danger, Thrills, and Monsters (Hartsfeld)
Space Spooks (Hartsfeld)
View from the Space Station (Hartsfeld)

Combined tones from my Casio WK-3800, played by me.  Live (no MIDI).

Lee

Halloween in Space, Part 3!!

45 rpm, 78 rpm, and LP tracks--the usual MY(P)WHAE mixture thereof.  Thirteen Men, of course, was recorded four years earlier by Bill Haley as Thirteen Women (Rock Around the Clock's flip, and the A side on the 1954 RATC single).  1960's Take Me to Your Ladder (I'll See Your Leader Later) is early (i.e., pre-Dionne, Dusty, Gene, etc.) Burt Bacharach, with clever lyrics by Bob (Any Day Now, Dear Hearts and Gentle People, Our Day will Come) Hillliard.  From my 45 copy.  The lone 78 selection in our slaylist, Moon Winks, is a 1938 recording of a bland but nice 3/4 number from the early 1900s, and I can't believe I just typed "a 1938 recording of a bland but nice 3/4 number from the early 1900s," but I did.  It's from a set, but I only have the one disc.  A vastly typical 78-collecting situation.

In the Year 2525 is a Christian-folk cover of that hit (which I remember playing on the radio constantly back in the day--the original, not this cover), Dickie Goodman's Luna Trip is the usual stupid but highly enjoyable Goodman "break-in" (Ironically, Goodman did a Watergate "break-in"), and 1957's Rocket to the Moon demonstrates that Tony (Pscyho) Perkins had a very pleasant singing voice.  And nowhere does "Mother"'s voice join in.

Um, yeah.  The Moonbillies.  Well, just think gospel-style bluegrass with Fifties space sound effects added.  Or take the much easier route and simply turn on the tracks.

Click here to hear!    Halloween in Space, Part 3!!

SLAYLIST

Rocketship X--M--Main Title (Grofe, 1950 movie soundtrack)
Fall of the Planet Earth--The Moonbillies, 1960
The 'Lectronic Brain--The Moonbillies, 1960
Thirteen Men--Dinah Shore, 1958
Monkey Business (Billy Sherrill)--Eddie Hill and Group, 1959
In the Year 2525--The New World
Moon Winks--Three Step--Byron Wolfe's Orch., 1938
Rocket to the Moon--Tony Perkins, 1957
Luna Trip--Dickie Goodman, 1969
Take Me to Your Ladder (Bachard-Hilliard)--Buddy Clinton, 1960


Lee

Halloween in Space, Part 2!!

I first posted this delightful EP for Halloween 2009 (at my other blog).  Here's the essay I wrote for it:

My copy of Found Sound from Outer Space came with a pile of 45s from eBay, and I was expecting campy sounds. I mean, it had to be campy--the Wurlitzer 4037 Organ with a built-in synthesizer (Orbit III) and tracks like Spinning Wheel and Aquarius.

And it is. It's also expertly arranged and brilliantly performed. The first question that came into my mind as I listened to these numbers: "Who is Glenn Derringer?"

So far, I've discovered that he was a child prodigy on the accordion, a la Dominic Frontiere. He made a 1956 LP for ABC-Paramount called Young Ideas--at the time, he was a performer on the Mickey Mouse Club. Plus a 1957 ABC LP called Accent on Youth. And a bunch of albums for Wurlitzer.

And he is or was the president of Kustom. Well, I knew he was somebody, as they say. And he is. So nice to see the ultra-talented succeed.

The perfect background for a space-music Halloween (and who doesn't want a space-music Halloween?). The music is great fun, and this guy is good. Scary-good. And scary fits with Halloween. My favorite? If I had to pick, it would be the beautifully Bach-style arrangement of Walter Donaldson's Love Me or Love Me.

No year, but we can guess 1969/70.

That was my 2009 essay.  Listening to these tracks again four years later, I really appreciate the vintage synth sound.  It reminds me of my late, great Korg Poly-800 synthesizer.  And Derringer's keyboard technique, as before, has me weeping with envy!   To the spacey sounds: Found Sound from Outer Space

SLAYLIST

AQUARIUS (MacDermot, Rado, Ragni)
SUNNY (Hebb) SPINNING WHEEL (Thomas) 
LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME (Kahn, Donaldson) 
THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA (Jobim, Gimbel, DeMoraes) 
WHEN THE SAINTS GO MARCHIN' IN

Found Sound from Outer Space; Glenn Derringer, Wurlitzer 4037 Organ, w. Orbit III synthesizer.

Halloween in Space, Part One!!

Some 1962 Bill Molno space art for Charlton Comics.  I love Molno's Charlton space stuff, and he also did some nice horror material for that company in the 1970s.  Not a lot of the latter, unfortunately.

Ten space-themed from the 1950s and 1960s (maybe earlier, in the case of the Hal Herzon sides), including a Star Wars/Close Encounters medley from the LP Pizza & Pipes, which I'll explain someday when I have time.  In space, no one can hear you say, "Wow!  We're in space!!"

Click here to hear: Halloween in Space, Part 1

TRIP TO THE MOON--POLKA--Henry Ray and His Orch.
JOURNEY INTO SPACE (Phillips)--Frank Weir and His Orch., 1955
THE SCREAMIN' MEEMIES FROM PLANET "X"--MERV GRIFFIN, 1961
VENUS AND BACK (Shaw)--The Coronet Orch., 1954
ROBOT (Morton Gould)--Hal Herzon and His Orch.
SPACE RACE TO THE MOON (A. Snelling)--Alva Star (Snelling), 1966 or 1967
MARTIAN HOP--The Elektras
STAR WARS MEDLEY--Howard Rudolf at the Mighty Wurlitzer Pipe Organ
TELEVISION MOON--Diane Richards, c. 1952
ROCKETSHIP XM: COUNTOWN, LAUNCH, INTO ORBIT (Grofe, from 1950 soundtrack)


Lee

And now to kick off Lee's Halloween's Slaylists...

From 2008, my Christmas at Halloween suite.  The first and third parts are me playing live at my previous, much chintzier, Casio, and the rest were composed, step-time fashion, on Noteworthy Composer software, which is approximately 2,000 times less complicated to use than my Sonar X2.  Give or take a few hundred.

I tried to do more than simply minor-ize the Christmas songs and carols contained in this suite--I use the whole-note scale, clashing keys, and whatever else sounded wrong for the right effects. Lots of unexpected (read: inappropriate) settings, too. In fact, that was the general goal.  I had a lot of fun composing this. It's probably the most-heard original piece I've blogged.  Speaking of Christmas, my all-time download champ featuring me at the keyboard (playing non-original material) happens to be The One Horse Open Sleigh--1490, to date.

Anyway, on to a spook-tacular, cobweb-and-misteltoe Christmas at Halloween: Christmas at Halloween Suite (Hartsfeld)

  CHRISTMAS AT HALLOWEEN (Hartsfeld)

Misteltoes and Cobwebs
Santa's on His Way
Noisy Night
The Brittle Mummy Boy
The Little Train of Bethlehem
We Three Things Abhorrent Are
Call Dumb All the Faithful
Check the Halls
Door to the Weird
Desist Ye Scary Gentlemen
The First Noel
The Second Noel
The Third Noel
The Fourth Noel


Lee

WELCOME TO LEE'S HALLOWEEN SLAYLISTS!

Music will be showing up very soon, along with Halloween images, jokes, links, and so on.  So STAY TOMBED!!!

My flagship blog is Music You (Possibly) Won't Hear Anyplace Else, where you can download all sorts of non-Halloween sounds--though this blog will be my center of blogging attention this Halloween.

So... STAY TOMBED!!  (Oops, already said that.)

Lee