Star Time #40: I Put a Spell on You

 
I do believe this is the first-ever Halloween-themed episode of your favorite R&B revue. I lined up as many scary, frightening, spooky or strongly disconcerted songs as I could. Short of that, I took the easy route and just picked songs with scary keywords in the titles. All in all, I think we did pretty okay. We've got graveyards, nefarious creatures, haunted or just really depressing houses, several excursions into voodoo, bad health-care advice, hotbeds of eternal afterlife torment, unregulated intestines, and plain ol' no-frills death. And Screamin' Jay Hawkins, of course, because I'm not so dumb that I'd exclude him. Make this your soundtrack for Tuesday's celebration of our own worst impulses, not including New Year's Eve or St. Patrick's Day. Boo. That's what they say, right?

ArtistSongYearLabel
Set 1
Screamin' Jay HawkinsI Put a Spell on You1956Okeh
LaVern BakerVoodoo Voodoo1961Atlantic
The BlendersGraveyard1962A.F.O.
The Kac-TiesMr. Werewolf1963Kape
Jumpin' Gene SimmonsHaunted House1964Hi
Claudine ClarkWalkin' Through a Cemetery1962Chancellor
The VelvetsNightmare1964Monument
Shorty BillupsBlack Cats1965Blast
Jimmy FraserOf Hopes and Dreams and Tombstones1965Columbia
Set 2
The Four Tops7-Rooms of Gloom1967Motown
Silent MajorityFrightened Girl1969Hot Wax
Cresa WatsonDead1969Charay
Clea Bradford My Love's a Monster1968Cadet
Dusty SpringfieldSpooky1970Philips (UK)
J.J. BarnesTo an Early Grave1970Magic Touch
Dr. JohnI Walk on Guilded Splinters1968ATCO
Set 3
Stevie WonderSuperstition1972Tamla
Ted TaylorHow Do You Walk Away From Fear1971Ronn
SylviaEasy Evil1974Vibration
Bunny SiglerTheme for Five Fingers of Death1973Philadelphia Int'l
James BrownHell1974Polydor
Blue MagicBorn on Halloween1975ATCO
Set 4/Outro
Hot BloodSoul Dracula1975ERA
Jimmy Castor BunchKing Kong1975Atlantic
Instant FunkWitch Doctor1979Salsoul
TavaresThe Ghost of Love1978Capitol
C.J. & Co.Devil's Gun1977Westbound
Earth, Wind & FireEvil1973Columbia


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