Strange Musical Tales: The September 2023 Vinyl Spin Challenge Thread

Oh, and for an absolutely brilliant Lovecraft-inspired novel with lots of sea-monsterish goodness (that is also a profound meditation on grief and loss), I recommend John Langan's The Fisherman.

1*yP7ExgIP2BzTS0H9PDz1og.jpeg
 
Day 13 - THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH (Lovecraft, 1936)
Play something that sounds like a sea shanty and/or references the seas and/or aquatic life and/or play something that you could consider as being an “antique” collectible and/or something that features an object on the cover that could be considered a “mysterious relic”.

Keeping it simple. Great record. Incredible songs. Numerous tie-ins...





The Waterboys - This Is the Sea

20230914_005737.jpg
 
Day 14 - THE EVIL DEAD (Sam Raimi, 1981)
The three original films in this horror-comedy series feature the Necronomicon.
Play something that has comic lyrics, preferably darkly comic, and/or a cabin in the woods and/or any other horror film trope.

So, this should fit.

The last of two records by The Coolies, a late 80s band out of Athens, GA...

Doug is a rock opera that tells the story of a skinhead named Doug, who kills a drag queen short-order cook, steals his recipe book and becomes a "culinary giant" when the cookbook becomes a nationwide bestseller. Doug embraces the celebrity lifestyle of stretch limousines and partying. Soon, his guilt drives him to become paranoid, and he's certain that the entire food service industry knows of his crime and is out for revenge—so he decides he will stop eating and subsist solely on crack cocaine and alcohol. Having squandered his fortune on luxuries and drugs, Doug ends up back on the streets in poverty. As he should.

This is really a great record. Pays musical homage to many bands. One of those under the radar, unheard gems. more beautifully dark, comic lyrics than you can imagine. Sam Raimi would be perfect to bring it to the screen.

Not only is it dark, horrific and comic, it actually came with an accompanying comic book.

The Coolies - Present Doug-A Rock Opera And Comic Book




20230914_012250.jpg

20230914_012209.jpg
 
Day 14 - THE EVIL DEAD (Sam Raimi, 1981)
Play something that has comic lyrics, preferably darkly comic, and/or a cabin in the woods and/or any other horror film trope.

The G Spot - The G Spot (2002) - Gerald Levert


This song is definitely "darkly comic". First, it is seriously sexy, but so over the top that it's comical. Second, as for it's "darkness", Gerald Levert is certainly a "black-famous" artist.

IMG_20230914_072459873_HDR~2.jpg

 
Last edited:
Day 14 - THE EVIL DEAD (Sam Raimi, 1981)
The three original films in this horror-comedy series feature the Necronomicon.
Play something that has comic lyrics, preferably darkly comic, and/or a cabin in the woods and/or any other horror film trope.

There's a cinematic and dark comic undercurrent to many of the songs on this album, but none more fitting than the opening track, Days of Graduation - which could easily fit as a sequence to a horror movie. And I love the punchline.

Bobby went out for a joy ride with my best girl
Left me at the party,
He was my best friend and I miss him.
It was almost June and the 3/4 moon illuminated the rain-soaked streets like a candy wrapper.
I guess that's why Bobby had his lights off,
Tear-assing threw the back part of town and those deserted country roads where me and Bobby tear-assed so many times before.
Sometimes with my best girl and sometimes Bobby had him one too.

But this night he banked that curve just a little too hard and that 442 went airborne,
Hit a telephone pole and split in two, Bobby's skull was split right in two,
And my girl was pinned in her seat, partially embedded in the dashboard
And for the next twenty minutes the only sound in the night were her screams.
And the sound of the wheel still spinning.

In a little while the ambulance came and the sound of its siren mixed with the screaming girl and the spinning wheel.

But when the story was told the next day at the graduation ceremony,
Everyone said that when the ambulance came
The paramedics could hear "Free Bird" still playing on the stereo.

You know it's a very long song.


Drive~By Truckers ~ Southern Rock Opera

IMG_3257.jpeg

 
Day 14 - THE EVIL DEAD (Sam Raimi, 1981)
The three original films in this horror-comedy series feature the Necronomicon.
Play something that has comic lyrics, preferably darkly comic, and/or a cabin in the woods and/or any other horror film trope.

Warren Zevon "Excitable Boy"
(1978 Asylum; 2023 MOFI)
Well, this one is filled with darkly comic lyrics and even includes a horror film trope by referring to werewolves.

IMG_0450.JPG
 
Day 14 - THE EVIL DEAD (Sam Raimi, 1981)
The three original films in this horror-comedy series feature the Necronomicon.
Play something that has comic lyrics, preferably darkly comic, and/or a cabin in the woods and/or any other horror film trope.

There's a cinematic and dark comic undercurrent to many of the songs on this album, but none more fitting than the opening track, Days of Graduation - which could easily fit as a sequence to a horror movie. And I love the punchline.

Bobby went out for a joy ride with my best girl
Left me at the party,
He was my best friend and I miss him.
It was almost June and the 3/4 moon illuminated the rain-soaked streets like a candy wrapper.
I guess that's why Bobby had his lights off,
Tear-assing threw the back part of town and those deserted country roads where me and Bobby tear-assed so many times before.
Sometimes with my best girl and sometimes Bobby had him one too.

But this night he banked that curve just a little too hard and that 442 went airborne,
Hit a telephone pole and split in two, Bobby's skull was split right in two,
And my girl was pinned in her seat, partially embedded in the dashboard
And for the next twenty minutes the only sound in the night were her screams.
And the sound of the wheel still spinning.

In a little while the ambulance came and the sound of its siren mixed with the screaming girl and the spinning wheel.

But when the story was told the next day at the graduation ceremony,
Everyone said that when the ambulance came
The paramedics could hear "Free Bird" still playing on the stereo.

You know it's a very long song.


Drive~By Truckers ~ Southern Rock Opera

View attachment 182312



I've listened to this HUNDREDS of times and that last line still gets me every time!
 
Day 12 - DUNGEONS & DRAGONS (Gary Gygax, 1974)

Younger Brother – A Flock Of Bleeps
20230914_092142.jpg

  • "Even Dwarves Start Small"
  • "Evil & Harm" are definitely things you face playing D&D
  • "Magic Monkey Juice" sounds like a magical item
  • "Weird On A Monday Night" would be a good theme for my original and longest-standing D&D group, as Mondays were our D&D nights
  • This record is a treasure to me because it was one of my favourite electronic albums back when I was more deeply entrenched in that scene (as a dancer, DJ, and listener) - I didn't expect to ever see it on vinyl, but twenty years later he we are!
 
Day 13 - THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH (Lovecraft, 1936)

The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem with Pete Seeger & Bruce Langhorne – A Spontaneous Performance Recording!
View attachment 182328

"Haul Away Joe" sounds like a sea shanty because it IS a sea shanty. And, truly, a lot of these other songs sound shanty-ish too.
Not to mention the Cable Knit Sweaters! Sea Captain fashion 101.
 
So I was texting with @Potato-Socks about Lovecraft in general and I remembered these graphic novel adaptations by Culbard. They're quite well done. Another way to read these stories. Thought I'd share in case you all were not aware of these and might be interested.

View attachment 182341

My library doesn't seem to have the Lovecraft ones, but they do have The King in Yellow - which I've just placed a hold on!
 
So I was texting with @Potato-Socks about Lovecraft in general and I remembered these graphic novel adaptations by Culbard. They're quite well done. Another way to read these stories. Thought I'd share in case you all were not aware of these and might be interested.

View attachment 182341
I recently pickup an omnibus box set of Hellboy books, and those are VERY heavily influenced by Lovecraft. I didn't realise there were so many Hellboy stories; and the set doesn't include one-shot stories, which are in different trades. ALSO, there's the huge BPRD run.
71efupdZdkL._SL1500_.jpg
 
Last edited:
I recently pickup an omnibus box set of Hellboy books, and those are VERY heavily influenced by Lovecraft. I didn't realise there were so many Hellboy stories; at the set doesn't include one-shot stories, which are in different trades. ALSO, there's the huge BPRD run.
View attachment 182377

Nice! The Hellboy verse is huge. There were the 12 trades from the original run, then the Hellboy in Hell run. Without counting the one-shots. BPRD had I think 14 with one-shots thrown in then went into BPRD Hell On Earth. There is also Abe Sapien, Baltimore, Lobster Johnson, Witchfinder and I'm probably forgetting some.
 
Day 13 - THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH (Lovecraft, 1936)
The tale of an antique collector on a tour of New England, who finds a mysterious relic and learns of the human-fish hybrid people of the town of Innsmouth. There’s a weird collection of sea shanties that has been released that draws inspiration from this story, the shanties being sung from the perspective of the sailors of Innsmouth.
Play something that sounds like a sea shanty and/or references the seas and/or aquatic life and/or play something that you could consider as being an “antique” collectible and/or something that features an object on the cover that could be considered a “mysterious relic”.
For the seas I went with Sturgill. for the antique I went with an Edison record, and for a shanty I attached a link to my newest favorite, courtesy of my nieces's fiance, who I learned recently has great taste in music.

IMG_5292.JPG

IMG_5293.JPG

 
Back
Top