MeTV: 11 SPOOKY, OBSCURE HALLOWEEN SONGS FOR YOUR RETRO COSTUME PARTY

11 SPOOKY, OBSCURE HALLOWEEN SONGS FOR YOUR RETRO COSTUME PARTY

DIG DEEP IN POP'S GRAVEYARD FOR TUNES CREEPIER THAN "MONSTER MASH."

BY: METV STAFF   POSTED: OCT 11, 2016, 10:52AM

Image: Power Records / Discogs.com

Halloween novelty songs were once so ubiquitous that they weren't really novelty — they were simply pop music. The high point was arguably 1958, a year steeped in horror. Movie marquees were lit with titles like The Fly, The Blob and It! The Terror Beyond Space. Four years earlier, the Comics Code Authority had been created to curb the bloody violence in comic books, though titles like House of Mystery and House of Secrets were still perhaps more popular than superheros. Alfred Hitchcock was spinning dark tales on black & white television.

Naturally, the world of music would follow suit. This love of B-movie monsters and graveyard rock carried through into the early '60s, as Americans tuned in to The Munsters and The Addams Family in their living rooms. In short, there was no better time to be a trick-or-treater. 

Everyone knows "Monster Mash," the smash by Bobby "Boris" Pickett and the Crypt Kickers that continues to soundtrack costume parties to this day. We wanted to dig a little deeper into pop's grave for lesser-played Halloween jams. The following tunes range from lounge music and doo-wop to rockabilly and garage. Do you remember these playfully eerie singles?

1

THE FIVE BLOBS - "THE BLOB"

1958

Believe it or not, the great Burt Bacharach co-wrote this theme from the hit horror flick, alongside Mack David, the brother of Hal. The Five Blobs were merely a studio creation, as Bernie Knee provided the singing.

Image: Columbia / Discogs

2

ALFRED HITCHCOCK WITH JEFF ALEXANDER - "MUSIC TO BE MURDERED BY"

1958

"The record is long playing, even though you may not be," Hitch intones in his memorable deadpan. What better way to kick off your retro party?

Image: Imperial / Discogs

3

KIP TYLER - "SHE'S MY WITCH"

1958

With its slinking surf riff, "She's My Witch" is a haunting rockabilly number that is perfect for any dive bar jukebox.

Image: Ebb / Discogs

4

BOB MCFADDEN AND DOR - "I DIG YOU BABY"

1959

Cartoon voice actor McFadden is the man behind animated characters Milton the Monster, Cool McCool and Snarf from ThunderCats. Here, he slips into his best vampire impression for a jazzy lounge cut off his album Songs Our Mummy Taught Us.

SEE MORE: DO YOU REMEMBER THE CARTOON 'COOL MCCOOL'?

Image: Brunswick / Discogs

5

BILL BUCHANAN - "BEWARE"

1962

More silly Dracula voices! "Have you ever thought your boyfriend might be a teenage ghoul?" Buchanan asks. He later warns, "You better check your neck," which sounds like something the Wu-Tang Clan might say.

Image: United Artists / 45cat

6

THE KAC-TIES - "MR. WERE-WOLF"

1963

Werewolves were all the rage, teenage or not. This Brooklyn doo-wop act recorded just a handful of songs, including this amusing plea to not be eaten.

Image: Shelley / Discogs

7

FRANKIE STEIN AND HIS GHOULS - "KNIVES AND LOVERS"

1964

Technically, it's an instrumental, unless you count all the screaming. The song comes off a party album that served up different Halloween numbers for all the dance crazes of the day. The rather sinisterly titled "Knives and Lover" was built for doing "The Swim," according to the sleeve.

Image: Power Records / Discogs

8

SCREAMING LORD SUTCH - "DRACULA'S DAUGHTER"

1964

David Sutch was a true English eccentric, having run for parliament under his Official Monster Raving Loony Party banner. He also recorded cool music with British rock legends, including pioneering producer Joe Meek and guitarist Jeff Beck, who played on the B-side of this tune.

Image: Oriole / Discogs

9

ROUND ROBIN - "I'M THE WOLF MAN"

1965

Baker Knight, who wrote "Lonesome Town," is the musician behind the moniker Round Robin. He rumbles through this scuzzy rocker with true Stonesian swagger.

Image: Domain Records / Discogs

10

F. XAVIER ATENCIO AND BUDDY BAKER - "GRIM GRINNING GHOSTS"

1969

This tune should be quite familiar to regulars at Disneyland. It is the song played on the Haunted Mansion ride. 

Image: Walt Disney / Discogs

11

JAMES DUHON - "GRAVE YARD CREEP"

1974

This funky obscurity came a couple decades later, but has a vintage sound right out of the crypt. Who knew that bongos and dusty soul could make for such a perfect Halloween song?

Image: Jetstream / Discogs

link to the original post here

THE AUTOMATICS "S/t" LP Out This Month from Mooster Records and MOOSTERMANIA 5!

THE AUTOMATICS LP IS ALMOST HERE

Unless youve been under a rock for the last month, you already know MOOSTER RECORDS is bringing you THE AUTOMATICS "S/t" LP

FIRST TIME EVER ON VINYL!

The long awaited 20th Anniversary edition of the 1st full length from Portland, OR's poppy punkers THE AUTOMATICS! Originally released in 1996 on CD by Mutant Pop Records and now finally on LP 20 years later, by Mooster Records

“S/t” is where it all began for THE AUTOMATICS! That Buzzsaw guitar, dueling Jesse's on vocals and thumping bass with stop on a dime drums have never sounded better now that they have been run through the masterful ear of MASS GIORGINI(Sonic Iguana Studios) for this special reMASStered package. 17 tracks including all the hits "All The Kids Just Wanna Dance", "My Life is Shit", "Do The Fish" and more!!

As always with Mooster pre-orders we have TONS of goodies. This time around you will be able to own ACTUAL pieces of punk rock history. Jesse K of THE AUTOS collected hundreds of pieces of ephemera related to AUTOS shows throughout the years and has graciously donated them to be included with every order. Flyers, posters, notecards, pics, reviews, CRAZY SHIT. Wait til you see it! Everyone get something.

Every order also includes a special 1 1/2" button featuring the album art!

AND there is a special option for purchase that will include 2005's V.M.Live Presents the Hanson Brothers/ Antiflag / The Automatics / J.F.A. on CD, VERY limited copies exist.

TONS of great stuff to celebrate 20 years of THE AUTOMATICS

The first pressing is on black and pink splattered vinyl and limited to 300 copies.

Order here: https://moosterrecords.storenvy.com

***These will ship sometime in Mid-OCTOBER***

MOOSTER MANIA 5

also coming this weekend MOOSTER MANIA 5! Our long running cheapo compilation series comes to and end!

This is the biggest tracklisting featured on a MoosterMania yet! We've got tracks from every release Mooster has put out in the last year from the likes of MORAL CRUX, MTX, POOL PARTY, THE HOMEWRECKERS, STILETTO BOMB 

as well as tracks from upcoming releases on MOOSTER RECORDS including NICK MINNOW, THE UECKERS, THE AUTOMATICS, (ORIGINAL FAMOUS) THEY LIVE!, VIBROLAS and more.

As well as tracks from friends of MOOSTER, SUNSHINE & THE RAIN, CRAZY & THE BRAINS, DARLINGTON, VISTA BLUE, THE DAMNED SHAMES, FASTPLANTS and more

Its a wonderful ride and will be up in the MOOSTER STORE and on BANDCAMP this weekend!

MIDPOINT MUSIC FESTIVAL -- CINCINNATI, OH -- SEPTEMBER 23-25

FULL WEEKEND SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED FOR CINCINNATI’S
MIDPOINT MUSIC FESTIVAL
SEPTEMBER 23-25
OVER-THE-RHINE | CINCINNATI, OHIO
FREE FESTIVAL APP NOW AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD

The full festival schedule for the 16^th annual Midpoint Music Festival is now available, featuring more than 75 local, regional, national and internationally recognized acts performing on four different stages at the Cincinnati festival in historic Over-The-Rhine this month.
Midpoint Music Festival will transform the historic Over-The-Rhine area into an all-day musical festival experience for people of all ages, as well as feature some of Cincinnati’s local restaurant and craft beer vendors. Three of the four stages set up as part of the event in Over-the-Rhine will be ticketed, and the fourth stage near Lightborne will be FREE for the public to enjoy all weekend long, thanks to the generosity of the good folks at Eli’s BBQ!

WHERE: Cincinnati’s historic Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, next to the Main street entertainment district near 12^th and Sycamore streets.

WHEN: Friday, September 23 – Sunday, September 25, 2016

TICKETS: Single day tickets are on sale now at the Taft Theatre Box Office, the Riverbend Music Center Box Office, MPMF.com and Ticketmaster.com ($50 plus applicable fees online, no service fees if purchased at a box office). Three Day passes are no longer available for purchase.

FESTIVAL APP: The official MidPoint Music Festival app is now available for download on iOS and Android devices. Powered by CincyMusic.com, festivalgoers can check the lineup and create their own schedules in the app to plan for the entire weekend and discover new bands while making sure not to miss the favorites. The app also features an easy-to-navigate interactive map of the festival area, artist videos, festival news, vendor information and more.

FULL SCHEDULE:

Friday, September 23
SKYLINE STAGE
3:00 p.m. – Darla
4:00 p.m. – Injecting Strangers
5:00 p.m. – Molly Sullivan
6:15 p.m. – The James Hunter Six
7:45 p.m. – Antibalas
9:30 p.m. – Future Islands

ELLIOT STAGE
3:30 p.m. – Joesph
4:30 p.m. – Julia Jacklin
5:30 p.m. – PUBLIC
7:00 p.m. – Cereus Bright
8:30 p.m. – Tokyo Police Club

WNKU STAGE
3:15 p.m. – Hoops
4:15 p.m. – Dead Horses
5:15 p.m. – Ona
6:45 p.m. – Lau
8:15 p.m. – Langhorne Slim & The Law

ELI’S BBQ STAGE (FREE)
3:45 p.m. – Smut
4:45 p.m. – Royal Holland
5:45 p.m. – The Slippery Lips
6:45 p.m. – Leggy
7:45 p.m. – Pluto Revolts
8:45 p.m. – Into It. Over It.

Saturday, September 24
SKYLINE STAGE
2:00 p.m. – Animal Mother
3:00 p.m. – Lucky Chops
4:00 p.m. – Mike Floss
5:00 p.m. – The Budos Band
6:15 p.m. – Kamasi Washington
7:45 p.m. – Reggie Watts
9:30 p.m. – JJ Grey & Mofro

ELLIOT STAGE
1:30 p.m. – Orchards
2:30 p.m. – WildPrxfits
3:30 p.m. – The Harlequins
4:30 p.m. – Multimagic
5:30 p.m. – Bob Mould
7:00 p.m. – Frightened Rabbit
8:30 p.m. – Wolf Parade

WNKU STAGE
1:15 p.m. – Ryan Fine and The Media
2:15 p.m. – Nights
3:15 p.m. – By Light We Loom
4:15 p.m. – Lucy Dacus
5:15 p.m. – Oh Pep!
6:45 p.m. – Car Seat Headrest
8:15 p.m. – The Mountain Goats

ELI’S BBQ STAGE (FREE)
1:00 p.m. – Honduras
2:00 p.m. – Baby Money and the Down Payments
3:00 p.m. – Smoke Signals…
4:00 p.m. – Knife The Symphony
5:00 p.m. – Mala In Se
6:00 p.m. – Sound & Shape
7:00 p.m. – The Honeyspiders
8:00 p.m. – Helms Alee
9:00 p.m. – Russian Circles

Sunday, September 25:
SKYLINE STAGE
2:00 p.m. – Blank Range
3:00 p.m. – The Mobros
4:00 p.m. – Amber Arcades
5:00 p.m. – Aubrie Sellers
6:15 p.m. – Nada Surf
7:45 p.m. – Houndmouth
9:30 p.m. – Band of Horses

ELLIOT STAGE
1:30 p.m. – Alone At 3am
2:30 p.m. – Kepi Ghoulie
3:30 p.m. – Diners
4:30 p.m. – AJJ
5:30 p.m. – Josh Ritter
7:00 p.m. – Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls
8:30 p.m. – Lucero

WNKU STAGE
1:15 p.m. – The Fervor
2:15 p.m. – Modern Aquatic
3:15 p.m. – Young Heirlooms
4:15 p.m. – Parsonsfield
5:15 p.m. – Vandaveer
6:45 p.m. – Elephant Revival
8:15 p.m. – The Wood Brothers

ELI’S BBQ STAGE (FREE)
1:15 p.m. – Us, Today
2:15 p.m. – Darlene
3:15 p.m. – Coconut Milk
4:15 p.m. – The Easthills
5:15 p.m. – Keeps
6:15 p.m. – Potty Mouth
7:30 p.m. – Joan Of Arc
8:45 p.m. – Aloha

MORE INFORMATION:
Website: www.MPMF.com
Facebook: /midpointmusicfestival
Twitter: @midpointmusic
Instagram: @midpointmusicfestival

ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME LIVE - VOLUME 2 LP

 

FROM McCARTNEY AND VEDDER TO FOGERTY AND CASH, THIS SEPTEMBER, CELEBRATE THE VERY BEST ROCK HALL PERFORMANCES WITH ROCK ROYALTY AND UNFORGETTABLE JAMS

ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME LIVE - VOLUME 2

The Limited-Edition Red and Orange Swirl Vinyl LP ($25.98), Available

September 16, Features All-Star, Jam-Filled Performances by Paul McCartney, Eddie Vedder, The Who, The Doors, Bruce Springsteen, 

Axl Rose, Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, John Fogerty, 

Johnny Cash and More! 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On September 16, Time Life invites music lovers to front row seats for ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME LIVE - VOLUME 2, a 180 gram "ticket" to the very best performances and all-star jams from the legendary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.  The unique vinyl LP pressed in bold red/orange swirl, VOLUME 2 features an unforgettable "set list" including the biggest names in rock 'n' roll, performing in intimate settings and jamming in combinations not seen anywhere else!  A must-have for any LP library, the second release in thelimited-edition ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME LIVE series is priced to collect at $25.98srp.

 

For the first time on vinyl, ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME LIVE - VOLUME 2 features a selection of the most memorable moments in the history of the induction ceremony, previously only available in digital and physical formats.  Featuring 10 choice tracks from 1990 through 2006, this LP includes performances from legendary, Rock Hall-caliber talents like Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, The Who, Johnny Cash, Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham, Jerry Lee Lewis and many more.  One of the hallmarks of Rock Hall performances are the unforgettable collaborations that take place: VOLUME 2 includes Eddie Vedder joining The Doors on their induction night (1993) on the classic "Roadhouse Blues", Creedence Clearwater Revival's founder John Fogarty performing "Green River"  with Springsteen and The Band's Robbie Robertson; and Springsteen and front man Axl Rose on the Beatles' "Come Together" at the 1994 ceremony when John Lennon was inducted as a solo artist.  A musical tribute to Wilson Pickett adds to the VOLUME 2 festivities, as do live performances from legends like Solomon Burke, The Young Rascals and more.

 

For over a quarter century, rock and roll's biggest stars have gathered annually on one special evening for an exclusive party and the ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME LIVE series celebrates this special evening.  Following the acclaimed VOLUME 1, which includes Prince's blistering guitar solo on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", additional limited-edition LP releases will follow in 2016, allowing fans to collect even more of these beloved performances on vinyl.  Additionally, the net proceeds go to The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, which  supports the exhibits and educational programs of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. 

 

ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME LIVE - VOLUME 2 

(RED/ORANGE SWIRL)

 

Format: Vinyl LP

Run time: 41 mins.

Genre:  Rock

Track Listing:

 

Side One

• "Whole Lot Of Shakin' Going On" -- Jerry Lee Lewis (2005) 
• "Roadhouse Blues" -- The Doors With Eddie Vedder (1993) 
• "Pinball Wizard" -- The Who And The Rock Hall Jam Band (1990) 
• "Big River" -- Johnny Cash And The Rock Hall Jam Band (1992) 
• "Come Together" (A Tribute to John Lennon) - Bruce Springsteen And Axl Rose (1994)  

Side Two 

• "Landslide" -- Stevie Nicks And Lindsey Buckingham (1998) 
• "Groovin'" -- The Young Rascals (1997) 
• "634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)"/"Mustang Sally"/"Land Of 1000 Dances Medley" (A Tribute to Wilson Pickett) -- Solomon Burke, Marc Broussard And Leela James (2006) 
• "Green River" -- John Fogerty & Friends (1993) 
• "Let It Be" -- Paul McCartney And The Rock Hall Jam Band (1999) 

NIGHT FLIGHT: “Physical Graffiti”: Led Zeppelin’s 1975 double-LP magnum opus gets the “Under Review” documentary treatment

Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti — their sixth studio album, released as a double-LP magnum opus on February 24, 1975 — gets the “Under Review” treatment in this 2008 UK documentary, which features rare and classic performances (including their epic masterwork, eastern-influenced orchestral rocker “Kashmir”), rarely seen photographs and expert analysis by a few of their critics and colleagues. Watch it now on Night Flight Plus.

This one hour and thirty minute doc tells the complete story behind what whatRolling Stone writer Jim Miller called “their Tommy, Beggar’s Banquet and Sgt. Pepper rolled into one.”

Physical Graffiti was an incredible album that mixed heavy rock blues, acoustic finger-picked folk, 50s-influenced rock ‘n’ roll (a la Little Richard and Ritchie Valens) and other styles, and contained both the longest and shortest studio recordings by Led Zeppelin (“In My Time of Dying” clocks in at eleven minutes and five seconds, while “Bron-Yr-Aur” is just two minutes and six seconds). It is considered by many, including Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, to be the band’s highwater mark.

Each of the fifteen songs on the two-LP set is examined and discussed in-depth by a host of contributors, including: Ron Nevison (who engineered recording sessions at Headley Grange); Chris Dreja (former Yardbird and bandmate of Jimmy Page’s); Maggie Bell (Swan Song recording artist); Nigel Williamson (author of The Rough Guide to Led Zeppelin; Dave Lewis (Tight But Loose editor and Led Zeppelin archivist); Malcolm Dome (Classic Rock Magazine); Rikky Rooksby (renowned guitar tutor and author); and, Neil Daniels (Robert Plant biographer), along with narration by the BBC’s Nicky Horne.

Of these, Chris Dreja — who originally played rhythm guitar with the Yardbirds before switching over to bass, so that Page could become the band’s once and future guitar god — provides the keenest insights as to how Led Zeppelin were formed; Page who had wanted to take the band into a heavier direction (originally they were to be called the “New Yardbirds,” but Dreja says they“would have never been Led Zeppelin.“)

Dreja:

“… The Yardbirds were a wonderful breeding ground of crazy ideas and free form, and of course Jimmy absorbed all that from us. I don’t blame him for taking them into the Zeppelin and making them tight and rock and heavy. It was an obvious thing for him to do, and he was lucky enough to find one of those rare things in the world. It’s like the Beatles. There are so few bands that have that mix of players that just feed off each other and create [such a] unique sound. It’s really rare, and I think Jimmy really hit the jackpot there.”

Dreja would end up dropping out of Page’s new Yardbirds project — he pursued photography instead — and John Paul Jones joined up on bass and keyboards.

From the documentary we learn that Stevie Wonder may have influenced “Trampled Under Foot,” Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young may have influenced “Down By The Seaside,” and we’re treated to a performance of “Ten Years Gone” at the Knebworth Festival in 1979 (one of the live concert performances that didn’t get released on Led Zeppelin’s official DVD in 2003).

Physical Graffiti originally began as a single album, with the band writing and recording eight songs at Headley Grange, a 3-story stone mansion (originally a workhouse for the poor, infirm and orphaned in Headley, Hampshire, England), where the band had previously recorded tracks that had ended up on Led Zeppelin III, Led Zeppelin IV and Houses of the Holy (we told you about how Page and Plant had also written several of the album’s tracks at Bron-Yr-Aur cottage in Wales in this post).

They used Ronnie Lane’s Mobile Studio at Headley Grange, and according to engineer Ron Nevison, the eight tracks recorded were “belters,” meaning Plant was really belting out the blistering rock vocals for these tracks.

When the band realized they had already surpassed the available album length (approximately 40-minutes)— and they didn’t want to cut any of these great heavy rock tracks they’d already recorded — they decided to pad it out with tracks compiled from tapes recorded at many of the band’s previous recording sessions — beginning in July and December 1970, then January thru March 1971, May 1972, and then multiple sessions recorded in January and February 1974 — although the material was so good it can still hardly be considered “padding.”

Nevison:

” “I never knew that Physical Graffiti was going to be a double album. When we started out we were just cutting tracks for a new record. I left the project before they started pulling in songs from Houses of the Holyand getting them up to scratch. So I didn’t know it was a double [album] until it came out.”

The album’s cover artwork — an intricate die-cut sleeve designed by Peter Corriston — was created from a photograph taken of two five-story brownstone tenement buildings side-by-side in the East Village in New York City, at 96 and 98 E. Eighth St. at St. Mark’s Place (the fifth floor of the building had to be cropped out to fit the 12-inch square album cover format).

Inside the little windows of the building were images of American icons — like W.C. Fields and Buzz Aldrin — along with a self-portrait by Marcel Duchamp and other images. The concept and design was created by AGI/Mike Doud (London) and Peter Corriston (New York). Photography was by Elliot Erwitt, B.P. Fallen, and Roy Harper. “Tinting Extraordinaire:” Maurice Tate, and window illustration by Dave Heffernan. The design was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of best album package.

When the album was released on February 24, 1975, Led Zeppelin had already begun their tenth concert tour, and immediately shot to number one on both theBillboard album charts in the U.S. and also #1 in the UK. It was the first album to go platinum on advance orders alone, a colossal achievement, and upon its release, each of the previous Led Zeppelin albums also simultaneously entered top-200 album charts again.

For much of 1975, Led Zeppelin were hammering gods of 70s rock, dominating sales charts and FM airplay, and towering over just about every other band in the land.

Check out Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti — A Classic Album “Under Review” over on Night Flight Plus.

ORIGINALLY APPEARED ON THE AMAZING NIGHT FLIGHT WEBSITE 

NIGHT FLIGHT: “O Superman”: Performance artist Laurie Anderson’s charting 1981 UK hit and video highlights NIGHT FLIGHT video profile

In her intro to Night Flight’s video profile on Laurie Anderson, which first aired in 1985, Pat Prescott says, “Laurie Anderson has brought the avant-garde into pop music’s mainstream. Anderson’s instrument is her body, and in 1982, the sculptor, violinist and multi-media artist hit the British pop music charts with a song called ‘O Superman.’ Using a Farfisa organ, tape loop and vocoder to manipulate her voice, Anderson — a self-confessed technocrat — parodied technology and ‘O Superman’ became new music’s first authentic sound sculpture.” Watch the complete 20-minute profile over on Night Flight Plus.

“O Superman” was actually extracted from a four-hour long musical performance art piece of Anderson’s called “The United States – Part 1-4,” which dealt with problems and issues involving communication and linguistics.

In the video, you can see that Anderson always adds a visual dimension to her performance art; during live onstage performances she also plays violin and small keyboards while singing/speaking in a playful, sing-songy voice which is often transformed with the use of a vocoder, an instrument that was originally developed as spy technology to disguise voices.

Behind her, a giant movie screen backdrop shows slides and presents an additional visual element to her unique way of storytelling mixed with performance art dance and music (the visuals are her own works, which often appear to have only a tangential relationship to the songs she’s performing).

Musically, she fuses electronics and simple melodies with sustained exercises in wordplay, using repetition as a device to sustain monotonous backgrounds over which she vocalizes  (“O Superman” features a tape loop of Anderson murmuring “ha, ha, ha” over and over, sounding like a Greek chorus run through an Eventide Harmonizer).

The full title of the half-sung, half-spoken minimalist piece that brought Laurie Anderson to everyone’s attention is actually “O Superman (For Massenet)” — the parenthetical dedication refer to French opera composer Jules Massenet whose composition “O Souverain” — an aria which begins as a prayer to an authority figure, which one can presume means God, from his 1885 opera Le Cid — which had inspired Anderson, who has said it reminded her of Napoleon’s fall at Waterloo.

Anderson apparently started to get the idea for “O Superman” after listening to African-American tenor Charles Holland’s recording of the beautiful 19th century aria from Le Cid, which begins “Ô Souverain, ô juge, ô père” (O Sovereign, O Judge, O Father).

She has also said it was at least partially inspired by the bungled attempt by the U.S. army to rescue the Iran Hostages being held in Tehran, claiming further that “O Superman” is a song of military arrogance and failure and ultimately about the price we all pay as citizens of a country who occasionally watch how their government fails to communicate for them, on their behalf.

In June 2008, Anderson talked to MOJO magazine about the song’s beginnings (perhaps confusing the Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages deal during President Reagan’s presidency with the aborted Iran Hostages rescue attempt, which happened during President Carter’s four-year presidency), saying:

“In this case it was the Contra affair and defeat as we were experiencing a series of techno disasters- helicopters trying to rescue hostages and crashing in the desert. Oh, and as well as now, yet another war that is endless-or as the same war. The same conflict with Islam.”

Anderson got the idea to juxtapose images of “arms” — in this case meaning weapons — with a mother’s arms (“Hold me, Mom, in your long arms, your petrochemical arms, your military arms.” )

Anderson says the image of “Mom” is meant to imply the Motherland, meaning the United States.

Anderson recorded the song with installation artist Perry Hoberman playing the drums, flute and sax, and Roman Baran on Farfisa and Casio, and also using a walkie-talkie. Anderson herself provided the vocals, and played violin and wood blocks.

The original 8-minute plus track was initially released as a 7-inch vinyl single during the first week in June 1981 on 110 Records, in a limited-run of 5000 copies, funded with a $500 grant she’d received from the National Endowment of the Arts. 110 Records was named because of its location at 110 Chambers Street in New York City.

“O Superman” became a huge hit in the U.K., however, climbing all the way to #2 on the UK Singles Charts in 1981, after Warner Bros. Records bought and released it as a 12-inch vinyl single (with the same picture sleeve), pressing up 80,000 copies in its first run.

Anderson scored an amazing eight album recording contract with Warner Bros., no doubt because the 12-inch single got picked up by BBC deejay and tastemaker John Peel, who played the song so frequently on his show that it seemed she might be on the verge of a hugely successful recording career.

Today, “O Superman” — which spent six weeks on the UK Singles Chart, reaching a peak position of #2 in October 1981 — remains the only hit song to chart by a performance artist.

Anderson toured to support her first album for Warner Bros., Big Science(released on April 19, 1982) which saw her performing at rock venues on a tour of the U.S., culminating with eight days at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in Brooklyn, NY, where her art opus “The United States, Part 1-4″ was performed live in its entirety during a two-night stand on February 7–10, 1983 (the performance that night was called “United States Live (1984),” after which she took ”United States” on a 16-city tour of Europe and the United States.

See and hear the music video for Laurie Anderson’s “O Superman” — which is now on permanent exhibition at MOMA in New York City — as well as other videos, and watch an exclusive interview with the artist as well, it’s all part of our 1985 artist video profile, and can be found over on Night Flight Plus.

originally posted on the amazing NIGHT FLIGHT website.