For those of you that have a Yamaha arranger keyboard, I thought I would pass this along for anyone that does Halloween parties. It's a somewhat difficult song to sing, but the chord progression is fairly easy.

Thriller

Enjoy,

Gary

Gary, What are some of the other titles that you use for Halloween in NH's? Other than, "Monster Mash", "Witchcraft", "Old Black Magic" ... Thanks.
Ciao,
Jerry

The list is pretty short, and you've already covered most of it. They tend to hire you for these jobs wanting more Halloween type songs, but in reality, there's really not many to work with.

Gary

Used to do Love Potion Number Nine

...worked okay for Halloween, as well as the rest of the year.


Ian

Yep, that's a good one, Ian.

Cheers,

Gary

A few more...

"Ghostbusters Theme." Who ya gonna call?

"Thriller" by Michael Jackson...tough one, but worth it; might be best to use a SMF.

"Superstition" by Stevie Wonder.

"Witch Doctor" - Ooh Eeh Ooh Ah Aah Ting Tang Walla Walla Bing Bang.

"Purple People Eater"....great for using the Spidey Voice Preset on Vocal harmonizer.

"Bad To The Bone"...by George Thorogood and the Destroyers

"Spooky" (Classics IV song)

Don't forget "Haunted House" by Gene Simmons, and "Monster's Holiday" by Buck Owens.



Dan

Edit: and "Marie Leveau" by Bobby Bare.

Add Who Do You Love by Bo Diddly, I Put a Spell On You, Black Magic Woman., Ghost Riders In The Sky, Long Black Veil (Lefty Frizell). . .
DonM

You guys are forgetting the Most popular song of all. Monster Mash

Ron would love to hear your version of this song...I usually play the MP3 for the costume parade and contest.

Jerry T had that one

I need to do one I will do one soon. I am on a 5 day stretch till Sunday and I will have a little time next week to work something up.

Did my first Halloween party last night at an upscale retirement community. Only did about 5 of the above songs, but the ladies and gents there loved them. I did Thriller for them, and they loved the Boris Karloff imitation I did at the end of the song with the maniacal laughter. I used to just play an MP3 of the song, but they seem to enjoy it more when I do it live. I had second thoughts about posting this link to the recording I did of the song during last year's Halloween Party I performed while cruising down the Intra Coastal Waterway to Florida, knowing it may generate some nasty comments from at least one source. Then I thought to myself, what the Hell, those comments, unless in the form of constructive criticism, really won't change the way I do things in the future. It was a fun night, and I'm back at the same location in two weeks to do their monthly birthday bash.

Thriller

Cheers,

Gary

Very nice job, Gary. Perfect style for it and a smooth, but still spooky, rendition by you. Really like the maniacal laugh at the end.

Like you, I generally consider the source of negative comments, and it's validity. before taking it seriously.

I hope you didn't scare those old folks too much.

Ian

Thanks Ian - Those old folks love to dance and party every chance they get. They are definitely party animals.

Gary

Donny thanks for posting that. I haven't heard it in years and it made me laugh as much as the first time I ever heard it. I think for some of us, that would be us if it wasn't for music.

Joe

Joe, I especially like the nice touch of the singer calling himself Napoleon Bonaparte.

Ian

Halloween .................
I'm ready baby!!

Welcome to my Nightmare

regrettably probably not known well enough to make it worth learninig

Went to Puerto Aventura (Universal Theme park near Barcelona) 7 years back at halloween, one of the kids antertainers dressed as Freddie Kruger and was leading them all in Thriller. Also the Addams family were lurching around the park during the day. Excellent.

Donny, I didn't realize you were that short ...

You could do that Everly Brothers classic, "Scream. Scream, scream scream. Scream.
DonM
Oh maybe that's Dream.

This is a classic song. Uncle Dave knows him. And the best thing is that the B side is the song in reverse and has the label mirrored. It sounds totally manic in reverse.

Try the great Warren Zevon...

Werewolves of London, Excitable Boy, Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner...

Classic skewed songs.

The eagles "witchy woman"

"They're Coming to take me away ..." was the fastest number one record in the history of the label. It shot right to the top in less than 2 weeks, I think. I had the privilege of remastering that classic tune for a re-issue a few years back, and we worked with the original reel tape ... it had dozens of dried up splices that kept peeling apart and stopping production. It was a nightmare just getting one, solid track to remaster in ProTools. We managed to do it though, as well as the sequel "They're coming to get me AGAIN, ha ha" and the NEXT sequel ... "I'm glad they took you away, ha ha" By Napoleons wife, Josephine! Funny, funny stories of that record getting made.
Jerry (Napoleon) is a long time Philadelphia resident, full time booking agent that specializes in retirement facilities and nursing homes, and still finds time to perform, himself on solo piano and vocals.
He's got a million stories ...

Oh I would sure love to hear that.

I am actually surprised to hear you could even work with that tape from all those years ago. Usually old tapes like that have deteriorated too much. It must have been kept in a dry room so moisture didn't destroy it. But I can imagine how those old splices would have been peeling.

Jerry is also my agent told me many great stories about this song and many other songs he wrote and recorded years ago, some for Sammy Davis also. Great Guy!