Boo Who? Remembering My Favorite TV Horror Hosts

==================

When I 
was a boy
the king 
of all TV 
horror 
hosts 
was
John Zacherley.

Zacherley aka Roland aka
The Cool Ghoul hosted Shock Theater on WCAU-TV Channel 10 in Philadelphia from 1957 to 1958.



Zacherley (aka Zacherle) also recorded dozens of spooky songs parodies of popular dance hits.

His stomach turning "Dinner with Drac" impaled the top 20
in the early spring of 1958 and became one of the biggest horror hits of the 1950s.

"Dinner With Drac (pt. 1)" - John Zacherle 
(April 1958, highest chart position #6)



Zacherle's rusty relic "Igor" was the first of three different songs to be released on Cameo 130 as the fab flip side of
"Dinner With Drac," the other killer bees being "The Cool Ghoul" and "Dinner With Drac (pt.2)." "Igor" can also be
found lurking on Zacherle's Scary Tales album.

"Igor" John Zacherle (March 1958, uncharted)

During the late 50s,
I also pointed my TV
antenna southward
to catch Dr. Lucifer
(Richard Dix) hosting
Shock! on WBAL-TV
Channel 11 in Baltimore.

Richard Dix as Dr. Lucifer

Dr. Shock and Bubbles (Joe Zawislak and his daughter Doreen) hosted "Scream In", "Mad Theater" and "Horror Theater" on WPHL-TV Channel 17
in Philly throughout the 1970s. With Zacherley's blessing, Zawislak borrowed the look of Roland for his Dr. Shock character, but made his own distinct mark on the genre with brilliant comic timing, expert showmanship and goofy magic tricks.



But it was the inclusion of a child, "Bubbles" or "Bubzie" as she was often called, that set the show apart from others. Joe brought his tiny daughter on the show to reassure parents that it was safe to let their children watch his Saturday horror fest.



Bubbles, named after the program's soda pop sponsor, eventually opened every show by knocking on the closed coffin, at which time "Shocky Doc" would rise from the dead.

It was heartwarming to watch little Bubbles (Doreen) grow up on the air during the program's ten year run from 1969 to 1979 and to observe the interaction between father and daughter. Joe was gentle, playful and respectful in his handling of Doreen, making it obvious that theirs was a loving relationship.

In 1979 thousands
of horror fans
were stunned
and grief stricken
when Dr. Shock
suddenly died.

Heart failure
claimed the life
of Joe Zawislak
at the age of 42.

Joe's death came four years before that of another Philly broadcast great, Jim O'Brien of Channel 6 Action News.

The two men shared key similarities: 

* Both were extremely likeable and naturally funny 
Philadelphia based TV personalities whose popularity 
extended beyond the Delaware Valley to Central 
Pennsylvania. 

* Both men were in their early 40s when they died 
suddenly late in the month of September. 

* Both deaths are examples of what I call 
MacArthur Park moments. The Action News 
dream team was never the same without Jim, and 
the special chemistry between Shocky and Bubbles 
cannot be duplicated. In each case it can be said 
they'll never have that recipe again. 

Zach, Lucifer, Shocky - thanks for all 
of those great memories, guys. 
You too, Bubbles!

Have a
Shady
Halloween...

whatever
you are!

Rat Ron's Retro Rock Reminiscences: Deadly Ditties Part 2

--------------------------------------------

Darkness falls across the land.

The midnight hour is close at hand!

It's time to play more deadly ditties - novelty records of the past that were perfect for fright night. Dell Rat Ron's back with a couple of creepy ones and I dug up a few of my own.



Time for me to scoot
and say Ron, be my ghost  quest  guest. (dammit!)




 JIMMY CROSS 


 Shady, in our last post 
 I named Mark Dinning's 
 morbid 1960 hit "Teen 
 Angel" as arguably the 
 most popular of all tear- 
 jerkers. Years later, as a 
 teenager hanging out at 
 the Disc-O-Rama, 
 Burnell or Rodney 
 played the following 
 record for me and 
 eventually I had to have 
 a copy of it. I think you 
 might enjoy it, too! 


Ron, please allow me to expand on your intro because this one's a scream. "I Want My Baby Back" is an outrageous parody
of death rock records and you'd swear that you were listening to Ray Stevens. Instead it's Jimmy Cross, an American  producer and singer. Jimmy's "Baby Back" was such a groaner that it was declared The World's Worst Record by a British deejay!
Listen all the way through.  It's the sickest!

"I Want My Baby Back" - Jimmy Cross 
(February 1965, highest chart position #92) 



I want my baby back ribs and all!
Jimmy Cross is a tough act to follow, Ron. 
Who's up next?


 J. FRANK WILSON 
 AND THE CAVALIERS 

 Shady, it's the pair of records that inspired that hilarious 
 Jimmy Cross parody.  Jimmy's "I Want My Baby Back" 
 borrowed its gruesome storyline from "Last Kiss" and 
 "Leader of the Pack," two "serious" tearjerkers that had  
 become smash hits a few months earlier. 

"Last Kiss" - J. Frank Wilson & the Cavaliers 
(Halloween 1964, highest chart position #2) 



 THE SHANGRI-LAS 

"Leader of the Pack" - Shangri-Las (Halloween 1964, 
highest chart position #1) 




 DICKIE LEE 

Ron, let me follow the "Leader" with a couple of creepy weepies by Dickie Lee. The first one's about about a girl who took her own life.

"Patches" - Dickey Lee (Halloween 1962 highest chart 
position #6) 



Next, dig Dickie's grave goodie about a ghostly girlie.

"Laurie (Strange Things Happen in This World)" - Dickie Lee 
(June 1965, highest chart position #14) 



Ron, back to you!


 THE REVELS 

 Shady, I'm sure you remember the Revels, 
 the California surf rock band featured in 
 my series Instrumentally Yours a few 
 months ago.  The Revels group in today's 
 post is a different act, a 1950s doo-wop 
 vocal group from Philadelphia.  I was 
 introduced to this spooky song of theirs 
 Saturday mornings on the Rock 180 Club.  
 Original pressings of this 45 had "Dead 
 Man's Stroll" as the title. On later issues, 
 the name of the record was changed to "Midnight Stroll" 
 because "Dead Man's Stroll" was considered too disturbing 
 at that time.  Here's to Halloween all year long! 

"Midnight Stroll" - Revels (Halloween 1959, highest chart 
position #35) 



Ron, I hear Mummy calling. 
It's soon time for us to stick 
a pitchfork in it. Let's finish 
our fright fest with 3 more 
final vinyl creepy classics.


 DAVID SEVILLE 

First up, the man who taught Alvin and the Chipmunks how to sing. His real name was Rostom Sipan "Ross" Bagdasarian but he decided that the stage name David Seville might be easier to remember. Ya think? Seville was an actor, singer, songwriter and record producer who used a recording studio technique to achieve a string of hits. By speeding up vocal tracks, Seville created funny, high pitched character voices. In the summer of 1958, six months before the Chipmunks became a sensation, Seville used the goofy gimmick to tell the story of his bizarre encounter with a witch doctor.

"Witch Doctor" - David Seville (June 1958, highest chart 
position #1) 




 JUMPIN' GENE SIMMONS 

Tongues will be wagging over this piece of trivia.  Kiss icon Gene Simmons reportedly took his stage name as a tribute to this guy, a rockabilly artist from Tupelo, Mississippi who was once an opening act for Elvis Presley. Recording as Jumpin' Gene Simmons in 1964, the artist scored a sizable hit with a cover of Johnny Fuller's 1958 recording about spending the night in a haunted house!

"Haunted House" - Jumpin' Gene Simmons (Halloween 1964, 
highest chart position #11) 




 BOBBY "BORIS" PICKETT 

One of the best known spooky songs was co-written and performed by singer Bobby Pickett. Imitating veteran horror actors Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, Bobby spoofed the two most popular dance crazes of the early 60s, The Twist and The Mashed Potato, and whipped up the "Monster Mash."

"Monster Mash" - Bobby "Boris" Pickett (Halloween 1962, 
highest chart position #1) 



Thank you Dell Rat Ron 
for coming back here to
your old haunt and taking
us on a Halloween tour 
of the wax museum!

Have a Shady day!

Rat Ron's Retro Rock Reminiscences: Deadly Ditties Part 1

------------------------------------------

 Dell Rat Ron is back with 

 more music and memories! 

 Just in time for 
 Halloween...
 Ron and I put 
 together a two 
 part series that 
 is guaranteed 
 to creep you 
 out or double 
 your money 
 back!  

 Some records 
 you'll hear 
 in this series 
 tell stories 
 about close 
 encounters with monsters and aliens. 
 Other songs lay bare the groan pains  
 of teenage romance turned tragic! 

Science fiction and horror movies flourished 
in the 50s and similarly themed novelty ditties along with them.  Records in the so-called death rock category were equally popular!


With that 
I'll step aside 
and say Ron,
be my ghost
guest!



 MARK DINNING 


 Shady, remember how 
 popular the tear-jerkers 
 about tragic lost loves 
 were when we were 
 young? I believe this 
 first song of mine was 
 the most popular of them 
 all. "Teen Angel," a sad 
 and sappy single by Mark 
 Dinning, spent the first 
 18 weeks of 1960 on the 
 record chart and wound 
 up at #1. 



"Teen Angel" - Mark Dinning (March 1960, highest chart 
position #1) 




 RAY PETERSON 

 Earlier this year you mentioned "Tell Laura I Love Her," 
 the tragic tale of a stock car race gone horribly wrong.  
 In the USA, the version recorded by Ray Peterson 
 became a top 10 hit. 

"Tell Laura I Love Her" - Ray Peterson (August 1960, highest 
chart position #7) 




 RICKY VALANCE 

 Your follower Thisisme in England reminded us that 
 Welshman Ricky Valance drove his cover of the 
 sorrowful saga to the top of the pops in the UK. 

"Tell Laura I Love Her" - Ricky Valance (August 1960, 
uncharted in USA, #1 in UK) 



Ron, let me cut in and play a few death rock ditties from my youth beginning with a record that my older brother brought home.  I played this one a gazillion times on my tiny tinny turntable. It's Jody Reynolds shedding rock-a-billy tears because his gal made a deadly date with the deep blue sea.


 JODY REYNOLDS 

"Endless Sleep" - Jody Reynolds 
(July 1958, highest chart position #5) 




 TOMMY DEE 

Soon after the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and
The Big Bopper in a tragic plane crash (the day the music died) Tommy Dee was on the charts with a tearful tribute.

"Three Stars" - Tommy Dee (May 1959, highest chart 
position #11) 




 THE EVERLY BROTHERS 

In 1961 Phil and Don gave us the tale of a girl who also died in a plane crash.

"Ebony Eyes" - The Everly Brothers (March 1961, highest 
chart position #8) 




 BETTY JOHNSON 

We could have died laughing while listening to some of the wacky novelty records released in the 50s that reflected America's obsession with flying saucers and creatures from outer space. Mild mannered Betty Johnson, for example, was stalked relentlessly by a little blue man.

"The Little Blue Man" - Betty Johnson (April 1958, highest 
chart position #19) 




 SHEB WOOLEY 

Sheb Wooley was an actor and singer who used a number of stage names. As Ben Colder he recorded country songs and had a hit with "Don't Go Near the Eskimos," an answer song to Rex Allen's "Don't Go Near the Indians." As Sheb Wooley the performer attained the number one song in the land with a novelty record about an encounter with a one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater!

"The Purple People Eater" - Sheb Wooley (June 1958, 
highest chart position #1) 




 JESSE LEE TURNER 

Meanwhile, Texan Jesse Lee Turner discovered that space girls are easy and they also have funny little voices. The question remains, are they the marrying kind?

"The Little Space Girl" - Jesse Lee Turner (March 1959, 
highest chart position #20) 




 THE FIVE BLOBS 

Was The Blob Steve McQueen's best movie? Perhaps not.
Nor would most people argue that the theme song "The Blob" represented Burt Bacharach's best work. That's right! Burt Bacharach co-wrote "The Blob" with Mack David, Hal David's brother, and it was recorded by Bernie Nee and a group of studio musicians using the name The Five Blobs. The record helped promote the 1958 sci-fi horror flick about a jellylike alien life form that terrorizes the town of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. (Just don't swallow up the Dell, okay?)

"The Blob" - The Five Blobs (Halloween 1958, highest 
chart position #33) 



Keep it right here on SDMM!  
More deadly ditties from Dell Rat Ron and 
yours truly are coming up next time!

Have a Shady day!

Six Degrees of The Paris Sisters, Part 3: Gotta Hear Me I Been Chevy Chased, David Lynched and Julee Cruised

========================

A candy-colored clown they call the sandman
Tiptoes to my room every night
Just to sprinkle stardust and to whisper
"Go to sleep. Everything is all right."

 Dell Rat Ron Shearer is back to 

 help me continue my game of 

 Six Degrees of The Paris Sisters. 

 Perhaps part 3 should be called 

 Tales from the Dark Side! 


 Ron, go ahead 

 and start off 

 this segment. 




 THE FLEETWOODS 

 Shady, remember 
 this terrific, soporific 
 scene from the movie 
 National Lampoon's
 Vacation? 





"Mr. Blue" - Fleetwoods (December 1959, highest 
chart position #1, scene from 1983 movie Vacation) 



 "Mr Blue" was the perfect song to lull Clark Griswold 
 (Chevy Chase) to sleep at the wheel. 



 The soft, intimate vocal style used by Gary Troxel and 
 The Fleetwoods, Gary's Washington state trio, certainly 
 was sleep inducing, but it was a popular sound during 
 the late 50s and early 60s.  "Mr. Blue" streaked to #1 
 on Billboard and had a chart life of 20 weeks, nearly 
 as long as that of "To Know Him, is to Love Him," 
 the hit single by the Teddy Bears that charted one 
 year earlier. 

 The Fleetwoods went from sleep to trance induction 
 in their 1961 top 10 hit, "Tragedy," a sad and somber 
 recording that had the feel of teenage death rock. 

"Tragedy" - Fleetwoods (June 1961, highest chart 
position #10) 




 THOMAS WAYNE 
 AND THE DELONS 

 The Fleetwoods' version of "Tragedy" was a cover of a hit 
 record released in 1959 by Mississippi born and Memphis 
 based singer Thomas Wayne along with the Delons, a trio 
 of girls recruited from a Memphis high school to sing with 
 Wayne.  In a strange twist of fate, Thomas Wayne's own 
 life ended in tragedy.  He died in a car crash at age 31. 

"Tragedy" - Thomas Wayne and the Delons (May 1959, 
highest chart position #5) 




 Ron, please allow me 

 to jump in and make 

 a few observations.  

Those were gentle ballads,
but they were a far cry from
the rhymey, good timey
moon-spoon-June type of
love songs produced in the 30s and 40s by the Tin Pan Alley establishment. In the late 50s and early 60s some records for teenagers were imbued with a keen sense of despair. Popular recordings of the Great Depression and WWII years urged the listener to brush off the clouds and cheer up and put on a happy face. Songs like "Tragedy" made it okay to cry.


 GARY MILLS 

Maybe I've seen one too many
David Lynch movies, but when
I listen to some of the Paris Sisters recordings that we're showcasing and watch their performance clips
I get a chill. I can't help envisioning their sweet songs being used in the soundtrack of a horror movie to heighten the sense of dread and foreboding, much the same as the tender love ballad "Look For a Star" was used in Circus of Horrors, a 1960 suspense thriller that brilliantly juxtaposed beauty and innocence with sadism, cruelty, violence and death.

"Look For a Star" (Theme from 1960 motion picture
Circus of Horrors) - Garry Mills (August 1960, highest 
chart position #26) 




 THE PARIS SISTERS 

As a mental exercise, watch this Paris Sisters performance in a scene from the movie It's Trad, Dad! and imagine it in the dark context that I described. Imagine scenes of sheer terror flashing on the screen as these clean, wholesome young women sing their innocent song.  Does the clip take on new meaning?  Does it become surreal? Do you sense the danger? Do you experience a chill?

"What Am I To Do" - Paris Sisters (uncharted B side of 
"Let Me Be the One"/scene from 1962 motion picture 
Ring-a-Ding Rhythm! aka It's Trad, Dad!) 




 WARPAINT 

Perhaps without even intending, The Paris Sisters were the forerunners of today's dream pop and art rock sub-genres of which modern bands like Warpaint are leading practitioners.

"Baby" - Warpaint (from October 2010 album The Fool) 



 JULEE CRUISE 

In dreams I walk with you. 
In dreams I talk to you.
In dreams you're mine. 

 Why are there people like Frank? 

 Why is there so much trouble in this world? 

Dream pop was effectively revived in the mid 80s by director David Lynch who made liberal use of it in his work. In the following scene from Blue Velvet, Lynch's neo-noir cult film, Jeffrey (Kyle MacLachlan) and Sandy (Laura Dern) share a magic moment on the dance floor. Notice their childlike wonder as they discover love and how, in dreamlike fashion, their dialogue is barely audible, overpowered by Julee Cruise singing "Mysteries of Love." These are classic Lynch touches that reveal his genius as a movie maker.

"Mysteries of Love" - Julee Cruise (scene from 1986 
motion picture Blue Velvet) 



Julee Cruise gained worldwide popularity in 1990 when her ethereal vocals were featured even more prominently in the eerie, cutting edge, cult television miniseries Twin Peaks.

"Falling" (theme from Twin Peaks) - Julee Cruise 
(June 1990, highest chart position #11 Modern Rock, 
#7 UK, #1 Australia) 



Nobody but nobody is able to capture childlike innocence and absolute evil, dreamlike beauty and nightmarish terror as well as David Lynch. He frequently juxtaposes opposites for maximum impact.

"Rockin' Back Inside My Heart" (Twin Peaks soundtrack) 
- Julee Cruise (1991, highest chart position #66 UK) 



Julee Cruise's songs from Twin Peaks are gentle and angelic but at the same time profoundly disturbing because they are woven through Lynch's surrealistic tale of madness, mayhem and murder.

Whenever I hear them I find myself nervously glancing over my shoulder looking for Bob, the demon who slaughtered Laura Palmer's cousin Maddy in the scene prior to this one.

"The World Spins" (Twin Peaks soundtrack) - Julee Cruise 
(June 1990 from album Floating into the Night) 




 KENNETH ANGER 

Director David Lynch was heavily influenced by underground experimental filmmaker Kenneth Anger. Anger used the Paris Sisters' recording of the Bobby Darin hit "Dream Lover" as the soundtrack of Kustom Kar Kommandos, a short film inspired by the burgeoning West Coast custom car culture of the early 60s. The project, originally intended to be a full length feature that examined the role of hot rods as fetish objects among American males, was limited to this three minute clip due to lack of funding.

Kustom Kar Kommandos by Kenneth Anger (1965) 
Soundtrack: "Dream Lover" - Paris Sisters (June 1964, 
highest chart position #94) 



 Ron, you've got some where are they now 
 updates for us, correct? 

 That's right, Shady.  After the Paris Sisters disbanded 
 Albeth, the oldest sister, worked for ABC and went into 
 independent TV production with her husband.  Sherell, 
 the middle sister, formed her own band in the 70s and 
 worked in an executive capacity on the TV game show 
 The Price is Right as Bob Barker's personal assistant 
 until 2000. Sherell once stepped in as a guest model on 
 the show, modeling a karaoke machine.  Priscilla, the 
 youngest, moved to Paris and became a motivational 
 speaker for sales reps in the hotel industry.  Shady? 


 PRISCILLA PARIS 

 Ron, I can almost hear that song "Tragedy" 
 playing in the background as I write this 
 because the story of Priscilla Paris also has 
 a tragic ending, right there in Paris, France. 

The velvet voiced lead singer of the Paris Sisters established a solo career in the mid 60s but it came to an abrupt end in the late 70s when an accident left her with facial paralysis. Then, in 2004, amid plans for a professional reunion of the Paris Sisters, Priscilla died at the age of 59 from injuries suffered in a fall at her home in Paris. And so, one of the most distinctive voices of the 60s was silenced.

"Stone is Very, Very Cold" - Priscilla Paris (from the 1967 
album Priscilla Sings Herself) 




 SPELL 

In some circles The Paris Sisters are called one-hit-wonders, yet today their sound is hotter (or cooler?) than ever. The dreamy, breathy, sensual vocal style popularized by Priscilla Paris and her sisters can be heard in music produced from the 80s to present by girl groups and indie bands foreign and domestic.  We already listened to Warpaint.  Here's Scottish singer/musician Rose McDowall with American experimental artist Boyd Rice collaborating under the name Spell and performing a cover of Priscilla's original composition.

"Stone is Very, Very Cold" - Spell (from the 1993 
album Seasons in the Sun) 



Keep up to date on exciting new bands and cutting edge sounds by following the blogs of my dear friends Kelly-marie at A Harem of Peacocks, Amber at Amber Blue Bird and Emma at Ol' Green Eyes.

 Thank you, Dell Rat Ron, 

 for playing Six Degrees 

 and helping me to tell 

 the fascinating story of 

 The Paris Sisters! 

Have a Shady day!

Six Degrees of The Paris Sisters, Part 2: Decisions...Decisions... One Night in Paris or Past, Present and Future in Shangri-La?

=========================

 don't try to touch me, 

 don't try to touch me 

 'cause that will never happen again 

 It's time to continue playing our game 
 of Six Degrees with the Paris Sisters, 
 the early 60s sister act/girl group that 
 was groomed for success by the wizard 
 behind the Wall of Sound, Phil Spector. 



 Dell Rat Ron has joined me 
 again and Ron, looks like 
 you've got another great 
 Paris platter cued up! 




 Shady, in our previous 
 post we heard "Be My 
 Boy," the Paris Sisters' 
 initial release for Phil 
 Spector on Gregmark 
 Records as well as 
 their second release 
 and biggest career hit, 
 "I Love How You Love 
 Me."  Both recordings 
 featured the soft purring 
 of lead singer Priscilla, 
 a vocal technique she 
 learned from the group's
 mentor Phil Spector. On 
 "All Through the Night," 
 the B side of their big hit single, The Paris Sisters cut loose 
 and did some uncharacteristic rocking and rolling. 

"All Through the Night" - Paris Sisters (November 1961, 
uncharted B side of "I Love How You Love Me") 



The Paris Sisters' third Gregmark/Spector single, "He Knows 
 I Love Him Too Much," didn't burn up the chart like their 
 previous release, but it was popular enough to make the 
 top 40. It started out as WSBA York's Pick Hit of the 
 Week  

"He Knows I Love Him Too Much" - Paris Sisters 
(March 1962, highest chart position #34) 



 "Let Me Be The One," the Paris Sisters' 4th Spector/ 
 Gregmark single, I believe also made Pick Hit of the 
 Week on The Mighty 910. It was another excellent 
 recording but one of the least successful Gregmarks, 
 relegated to the lower end of the Billboard Hot 100. 

 Ron, those sistas 
 are sensational and 
 I'll be playing the 
 killer bee of that 
 4th Gregmark 
 single next time! 
 Now, move over, 
 Rover, and let 
 Shady take over! 

Three years after their string of Gregmark hits came to an end the Paris Sisters waxed "Always Waitin'," a quintessential girl group recording that was released on 45 but for some reason never even made the Bubbling Under chart. I found this gem on the girl group anthology Growin' Up Too Fast.



The recording was produced for Mike Curb and the backing track arranged by Jack ("The Lonely Surfer") Nitzsche, one of Phil Spector's famous proteges. Released as a single in 1965 by Mercury Records this one's an under appreciated genre classic.

"Always Waitin'" - Paris Sisters (1965, uncharted) 



 Shady's Rule: Good girls 

 are infinitely more exciting 

 than bad girls. 

The Paris Sisters came across as sweet and wholesome but at the same time there was also a hint of seduction. To me that is the most potent combination.

The Paris Sisters exuded more sex appeal than Spector's Ronettes, more than the Shangri-Las, more than Nancy Sinatra or any other female artist or group that opted for
a tough, bold look and sound. Understated girl power beats overstated girl power every time and Priscilla and the Paris Sisters delivered subtle sexiness!  Here's more evidence of
it in their 5th Gregmark single, "Yes - I Love You."

"Yes - I Love You" - Paris Sisters (1962, uncharted) 



In all fairness there were occasions when those brash and sassy girl groups managed to rival the Paris Sisters in terms of sex appeal. It was when they dialed back the tough girl vibe, revealed a softer side, and allowed themselves to express sadness and vulnerability. The best example I can think of is "Past, Present and Future," a dramatic spoken-word recording by Mary Weiss and the Shangri-Las voiced over Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata." "Past, Present and Future" was released as a single in the summer of 1966 and enjoyed only modest chart success. Today, however, it is regarded as one of the Shangri-Las' greatest recordings, a teen angst classic, and was named by Mary Weiss herself as one of the top 5 Shangri-Las executions. Please watch this marvelous interpretation of the Shangri-Las' "Past, Present and Future" performed by a gifted YouTube lip sync artist.

"Past, Present and Future" - Shangri-Las (July 1966, 
highest chart position #59, lip sync performed by 
melon38) 



 Question: 

 What thoughts and feelings run through you 
 as you listen to the following song? 

"In Dreams" - Roy Orbison (April 1963, highest chart 
position #7) 



I think of a room filled with sickos and I feel sheer terror.



 Question: 

 What kind of images do you see in your 
 mind's eye when you hear this familiar 
 old love song? 

"Blue Velvet" - Bobby Vinton (October 1963, highest chart 
position #1) 



My mind conjures up images of brutal, cruel, sadistic, twisted sociopath Frank Booth unleashing his pent up rage on innocent victims.



 Never underestimate the power of 
 juxtaposition and context to turn beauty 
 into horror.  Ron and I will be exploring 
 that topic in part 3 when we finish playing
 Six Degrees of the Paris Sisters this coming 
 Monday. Please join us! 



Have a Shady day!