HALLOWEEN ROCKS: ROB ZOMBIE

Rob Zombie, like Alice Cooper, is sort of the perfect rock star for Halloween: dude lives it 24/7/365. Hell, he even directed two Halloween remake films! (I highly recommend the first one, the second, not so much.)  I just wrote about Rob's excellent Halloween compilation, Halloween Hootenanny, but all of his albums (solo and with White Zombie) are great for Halloween. You can hear the best of both eras on his Past, Present & Future collection.

But Rob has also had lots of great looks that you can use for your own Halloween costume, none are probably better than the one seen here on the cover of his 1998 album Hellbilly Deluxe.  Pasty white makeup, black/green makeup around the eyes, and an "X" on the forehead.  You can add a tophat if you have one. A Rob or White Zombie t-shirt would help, but even without that, it's a pretty cool and creepy costume for Halloween!

GREAT HALLOWEEN SONGS (THANKS ROB ZOMBIE)

I don't know why this album never got too much attention, but it is my favorite Halloween album (maybe it is tied with the The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack). In 1998 at the height of his popularity, Rob Zombie started his own short-lived record label, Zombie A Go-Go Records, and put out albums by bands like The Ghastly Ones and The Bomboras. He also put out The Halloween Hootenanny collection: it featured all songs recorded specifically for the record by lots of cool and creepy bands. Rob, backed by The Ghastly Ones, did "Halloween (She Get So Mean)."  Two bands who I am still a big fan of were on the album: The Reverend Horton Heat ("The Halloween Dance") and the late and missed Rocket From The Crypt ("I Drink Blood").  There are other great songs on the album by Southern Culture On The Skids ("Werewolf"), Los Straitjackets (their cover of "The Munsters" theme) and Dead Elvi ("The Creature Stole My Surfboard").  But the best song is probably The Swingin' Neckbreakers with "No Costume, No Candy." Unfortunately, this album seems to be out of print, and you can't get the songs on iTunes.  Someone should reissue it, and in the meantime, try to find it at a used CD store (or you can still order the CD on Amazon) - you'll be prepared for next year!

HALLOWEEN ROCKS: ALICE COOPER

So, you want to dress up as a badass looking rock icon for Halloween, but don't want to be the zillionth person dressed as a member of KISS? Try one of their influences, soon-to-be-Rock-and-Roll-Hall-of-Famer Alice Cooper! (at least he'd get my vote!)

It's actually a bit easier than KISS: all you need is some black makeup for your eyes (and the lines from your mouth), get a top hat and you're good to go! For added effect, a cane would help, and even a fake snake (using real snakes or any other real animal as part of a costume is definitely NOT cool, so don't do it!).

Also not cool: dressing like an artist whose music you aren't familiar with, so let me make some recommendations here. If you're just starting out, there are a lot of Alice collections to choose from , but go with the 2001 Rhino collection Mascara and Monsters. If you want to go deeper into some classic albums, I'll recommend 1971's Love It To Death, 1971's Killer, 1972's School's Out, 1973's Billion Dollar Babies or 1975's Welcome To My Nightmare.  And if you want to go really deep, pick up the excellent box set, The Life & Crimes Of Alice Cooper. Of his more recent stuff, I enjoy 2005's Dirty Diamonds. And one of my favorite things he's done was his Halloween single that he released last year, "Keepin' Halloween Alive."

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: I ATTEMPT TO DISCUSS COOL HALLOWEEN MUSIC

Last year around Halloween, I brought a bunch of Halloween songs onto The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick. Turns out, Larry hates Halloween!  Oops!  But I'm a bit too much of a glutton for punishment, and plus I actually love Halloween, so I'm trying again! This week, I'm going to be discussing bands who you can dress as for Halloween. I know that lots of women (and men) are going to dress like Lady Gaga, and that's fertile ground. Of course, lots of guys (and women) like to dress like KISS. And lets not forget Stevie Nicks, who gets her own night once a year where people dress like her. I thought I'd come up with some other costumes, and I'll do individual posts about different artists over the next few days about different bands you can dress as, and I'll be discussing them tomorrow morning.

But P.S. here are some great Halloween songs if you want to rock out on the 31st.

MY HALLOWEEN MIX

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm a big fan of Halloween. I wish there were as much music recorded for Halloween as there is for Christmas. I thought I'd put a short mix of my favorite Halloween (or Halloween-ish) songs.

The Cramps: "Human Fly"
The Misfits: "Vampira"
Alice Cooper: "Welcome To My Nightmare"
Ozzy Osbourne: "Bark At The Moon"
Black Sabbath: "Black Sabbath"
White Zombie "I'm Your Boogie Man"
Rob Zombie with Lionel Richie and Trina "Brick House"
The Fuzztones "I'm The Wolfman"
Jarvis Humby "Man With The X-Ray Eyes"
Tegan & Sara "Walking With A Ghost"
John Zacherle aka The Cool Ghoul "Dinner With Drac (part 1)"
Ryan Adams "Halloweenhead"
Creedence Clearwater Revival "Bad Moon Rising"