Sounds Records "Hallowe'en Spooky Sounds" (Sounds EP 501, 1962), "Music for Monsters" (Sounds EP 503, 1962), "Spooky Sounds" (Sounds 1205, 1962)
Re-packaged a few different ways from the '60's to the '70's, these three links represent the output of the "Sounds Records" company out of Glendale, CA (where they moved around a bit -- looks like their final address is now the site of an Armenian book store as well as some law offices.)
Sounds Records seemed to primarily trade in a largely homemade effects library replete with all of the usual frightening suspects; on the "Hallowe'en Spooky Sounds" single and for much of the "Spooky Sounds" LP you'll find goblins laughing, footsteps with chains, people pretending to be cats & dogs -- all the material that makes these records so great (and their stuff IS great to my ears; striking just the right balance between generic dime-store style scary, and the more primitive personal efforts that impart such a unique flavor.)
Where they really step out to shine though, is in their array of totally cool & weirdo theremin sounds, which are unique to their output. Packaged separately on a 7" as "Music For Monsters" & then again on side two of the "Spooky Sounds" 12" LP, these pieces are bizarre other-worldly delights that, like many of my favorite Halloween records, manage to embody an "anything goes" approach which is pretty avant-garde in its bent. Now I don't know if that was the intent mind you (more likely someone said "Ahh, just make it weird!"), but with evocative titles like "Ghouls Glide" & "Banshee Love Call", it sure sounds like a good time was had conjuring these tracks up, and the results are pretty singular. So yeah -- functioning both as a soundtrack and an incidental time capsule, this is cool stuff all around and a more than worthy addition to yer arsenal of Halloween audio. Dig in!
Sounds Records "Hallowe'en Spooky Sounds" (192 kbps)
Sounds Records "Music for Monsters" (192 kbps)
Sounds Records "Spooky Sounds" (192 kbps)
posted by Jason at 10/10/2006 05:38:00 AM
18 Comments:
In-freaking-cedible! I've been searching for some theremin tones to use for my halloween show, and have been coming up empty; then suddenly, there you are! A million thanks for these posts.
10/10/2006 8:14 AM
Damn! You rock as always.
10/10/2006 8:23 AM
Holy crow!
Thanks to Scarstuff I (like so many other folks) have been able to cross off soooo many albums from my wish list.
So just last night I went a'lookin to see what else was out there for me to wish for and I excitedly made note of two of these. Hours later, here they freakin' are!
Thank you for making this October the best ever! Work doesn't seem like work when you have hours of spooky tales, music and sound effects to keep you company.
This has been a dream-come-true.
10/10/2006 9:14 AM
Thanks once again Jason. I have that last LP, but I always wanted the Music For Monsters LP. I've missed it a couple of times on ebay, but now i have it. Thanks!
Dave
10/10/2006 10:18 AM
More fangtastic stuff as usual. I love the laughing witches.
Jason , by any chance do you have an Mp3 of "Kara Kum of Hollywood" It's his spookshow radio advert. The one with "See it, Hear it, and Actually Fee-eeel It" ??
10/10/2006 2:50 PM
I'll tell you a little story about "Halloween Spooky Sounds" (the EP version). My mom had taken me shopping around Halloween time, probably around 1977, and we were at the Santa Anita Mall, which had a store which I think was a Hallmark store... But I'm not sure.
Anyway they had a lot of cards and stationery in there, and also some rubber monster masks and Halloween makeup. Their Halloween stuff looked old...sticks of greasepaint in boxes...nose putty...just a little archaic-looking. And under the counter, in one of their glass display cases, was a small stack of these EP records. Old. But pretty fresh looking. Even then, as a wee tyke, my eye was somewhat trained, and I knew these hadn't been made recently. I was taken with the look of these things, and Mom very kindly bought me one--I think it was $3.50 or something like that.
Anyway it somehow got lost a few years later, and now these EPs fetch really surprising prices on Ebay as they are now quite rare. But back in '77 one of them could be had for just a few dollars if you stumbled upon them in this little shop.
And yes, that is a photo of The Magic Castle in Hollywood on the back cover. About twenty years after that encounter with the record at the shopping center, I was lucky enough to be dining with some friends at the Castle, and we were seated at a table looking out of one of the windows you see in that spooky picture. I believe it is the pair of small windows closest to the center of that picture. How weird!
10/10/2006 4:54 PM
Could I possibly love your blog any more than I already do? I don't think so! I can't think of enough adjectives to describe the greatness.
By any chance do you have Night In A Graveyard by Haunted House Records?
10/11/2006 2:21 PM
inkydog: yeah, check out this post here for the LP version; I think the CD one is around somewhere too, but I don't have it (they're totally different)
10/11/2006 2:32 PM
inkydog: NOW I remember -- the CD version of "NIght in a graveyard" is on Dave's site here.
10/12/2006 5:03 AM
I just discovered your blog, and I think it's fantastic. As a kid I always enjoyed spooky records, and this is truly a treasure trove. I have especially fond memories of being truly scared of the "Famous Ghost Stories With Scary Sounds" record-I can't wait to hear that one again. Thanks for sharing all of this with us.
10/12/2006 9:43 AM
pink frankenstein -
I think anonymous answered part of your question above:
"And yes, that is a photo of The Magic Castle in Hollywood on the back cover."
Dave
10/12/2006 1:07 PM
YES. "A Night In A Graveyard/A Night In A Haunted House" is GREAT. I got a CD of that awhile ago. But seriously? SERIOUSLY? I really miss my friggin' CASSETTE TAPE of that. I bought it in 1986 or thereabouts and I used to put it on all the time while building stuff for low-budget horror films. The cassette tape had cool spooky lettering on it and was one of those things made by "The Haunted House Music Co." with the fake spooky address...I loved that tape because it sounded good and looked just as cool. I held onto it, too, until a couple of years ago. I was preparing for a date and took the car to the car wash. You guessed it, folks. When the car was done it was devoid of dirt and grime, and DEVOID OF MY TAPE. Now I can't find one anywhere and had to settle for a CD, which despite its digital clarity, does not look anywhere near as cool as the cheap tape did. Plus the added insult that in all likelihood, that tape went into a trash bin after whoever it was gave it a minute's listen. Oh, I don't mean to gripe. Fond memories. That tape served me well through many Halloweens and whenever I felt like a little chill.
10/12/2006 10:48 PM
Heya Creed, actually a couple of other folks have already done the work for me on these two:
You can get Spike Jones' "Spooktacular" right here (you'll have to right click in order to save each file individually), and Hans Conried & Alice Pearce's "Monster Rally" is right here. Enjoy!
10/15/2006 8:43 PM
this is great! i posted 'music for monsters' on my own blog for halloween - i found it at a flea years ago and was blown away by all the theremin . a really amazing use of it... and it's really friggin' scary. i had it on a few nights ago dubbing it into the computer and my wife made me turn the audio down beacuse it was giving her the heebie jeebies....
10/30/2006 7:11 PM
You made my halloween even better!! thanks for posting the music!!
10/31/2006 9:58 PM
Thank you, again.
11/21/2010 11:38 PM
Ok! I have the Hallowe'en Spooky Sounds record. Amazingly enough, it survived being shared with 5 siblings and a host of neighborhood kids! Thanks to your post, I now know where the photo of the house was shot!!! Great blog, btw!!! Thanks for posting!!!
10/11/2013 12:53 PM
Wow, what you have done here, posting these, for folks who love Halloween, is just so nice. This really made my day. We have to keep these things alive and some of them just fall through the cracks and disappear forever. I found this page from the Halloween Forum. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'm going to check out more of your stuff. Have a great week.
5/18/2020 7:28 AM
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