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!

TOO TOUGH TO DIE: A TRIBUTE TO JOHNNY RAMONE

Until a few weeks ago, I had never heard of Too Tough To Die: A Tribute To Johnny Ramone. A friend of mine at work told me about it, and I searched it out.  It is a DVD of a concert that paid tribute to the guitarist of The Ramones, and raised money for cancer research.  Johnny died from cancer just two days later.

The concert was hosted by Rob Zombie, and featured sets by The Dickies, X and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. After that, there was a band featuring bassist C.J. Ramone, drummer Marky Ramone and guitarist Daniel Rey (not a Ramone, but he did produce some of their records). They did a bunch of songs that Dee Dee Ramone had sung, with C.J. singing. Pete Yorn, Dickey Barrett from The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Tim Armstrong from Rancid, Eddie Vedder and Henry Rollins each took the mic for a few tunes.  It was a pretty incredible show.

The film was directed by Mandy Stein, whose father signed The Ramones to their first deal and whose mother was their first manager. She mentions in the liner notes that her first Ramones concert was when she was 3 years old! Her parents couldn't get a babysitter that night, so they took her to CBGB. She filmed the concert so that she could show it to Johnny: they knew he wouldn't be healthy enough to make the show. Mandy Stein says that she hopes that the film would have made Johnny proud.  I don't know too much about the guy, but I'm sure it would.  It is a great film. Congratulations Ms. Stein.

How do you describe the greatness of The Ramones?  I was late to the party - not that I disliked them, but I didn't search out their music other than the few radio songs until the '90s, but I'm glad I did. A lot of people just don't get it though. It's like the blues.  Technically, almost anyone can play it. But everyone playing a blues lick ain't Buddy or Muddy, and just because just about anyone could bash out those few magic chords, doesn't mean they'll be worth listening to, much less earth shaking like The Ramones were. If you don't like The Ramones, do yourself a favor and get their first album and listen to it.  If you don't like it, listen to it again.  You'll probably get it. Sometimes there is a beauty in power and simplicity.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: HAPPY HALLOWEEN

I know that there's more Christmas

albums than Halloween albums, but for my money, Halloween is the most rock and roll holiday there is.

So, tomorrow on OutQ, I'll be talking about two Halloween compilations that I really dig.

Little Steven just released Halloween A Go-Go, a collection of previously released songs that aren't necessarily about Halloween, but which sort of have an appropriate theme. Lots of songs I already knew (The Electric Prunes' "I Had Too Much To Dream," Howlin' Wolf's "Howlin' For My Darlin'," Roky Erickson's "I Walked With A Zombie") and great songs that I hadn't heard before (The Fuzztones' "I'm The Wolfman," Jarvis Humby's "Man With The X-Ray Eyes (Silver Surfer)," and Sweatmaster's "I Am A Demon And I Love Rock 'N Roll").

I also love Rob Zombie's 1998 collection Halloween Hootenanny. This featured a bunch of artists recording Halloween songs exclusively for the album. Although I'm more of a Little Steven guy, I like this compilation better (although I like both). Highlights include Rob's "Halloween (She Get So Mean)," The Reverend Horton Heat's "The Halloween Dance" and The Swingin' Neckbreakers' "No Costume, No Candy."

I'll also be talking about one of my favorite soundtracks ever - to one of my favorite films ever, The Nightmare Before Christmas. There's been a lot of covers from that soundtrack over the years, but none beat the originals from the soundtrack. Although I do like Fiona Apple's "Sally's Song." But I wouldn't play it at my Halloween party.