In Honor Of SERIAL MOM, Here Are The Best Band Cameos In Cult Flicks!

Out this week from Scream Factory, just in time for Mother’s Day, is John Waters’ cult classic horror comedy SERIAL MOM, starring the great Kathleen Turner as a homicidal maniac mom who really, really thinks you shouldn’t wear white after Labor Day.

It’s personally my favorite of Waters’ films, not only because it features an homage to the late, great Herschell Gordon Lewis, or because both Traci Lords and Ricki Lake are hilarious in it, or the fact that it has my favorite Don Knotts gag of all time, but because one of my favorite bands was featured in it!

The great L7 can be seen performing the track “Gas Chamber” under the band moniker “Camel Lips,” which refers to their… umm… tight pants? (See pic above!)

In honor of both SERIAL MOM and L7, I thought it’d be fun to remind you of some other great band appearances in cult flicks. Let’s have a look and listen, shall we?

L7 in SERIAL MOM



Well, might as well start with this one! L7 had already found success with their major label debut “Bricks Are Heavy” and had just released the follow up “Hungry For Stink” in 1994 when Waters asked them to appear as “Camel Lips” in the film. They wrote a brand new song, specifically for the movie called “Gas Chamber.” The only place to find the studio version is on the SERIAL MOM soundtrack CD, which consisted of the L7 track, Barry Manilow’s “Daybreak” and the full score by Basil Poledouris. I couldn’t find the scene on its own, but you’ll find the full track above, edited to scenes from the movie!

Offspring in IDLE HANDS



Back in 1999, Offspring were still a pretty huge band. And I kind of hated them. I’ve since come to appreciate them in retrospect! But because of my feelings torward them, it made it a bit more satisfying to watch singer Dexter Holland suffer a horrible fate at the hands of IDLE HANDS evil… well, hand! The band can be seen performing a cover of The Ramones “I Want To Be Sedated” and their own track “Beheaded” right as singer Dexter Holland gets… well, beheaded. Clever! PS: Director Rodman Flender rules!

Deftones in THE CROW: CITY OF ANGELS



I bet you totally forgot about this one, huh? I think the soundtrack to the first CROW was one of those defining albums of the early 90’s. Everyone had it, everyone loved it, and everyone knew it by heart. So, you figure by the time they got around to the sequel, they had to try to accumulate a playlist of similar bands! Much like the movie however, they were unable to capture lightning in a bottle twice. Sure, there are a few cool songs on there like the Hole track, or NY Loose, but none of the break out hits like the first film had. However, one cool tid-bit, in the actual movie, you can spot the mighty Deftones performing the track “Teething.”

Medicine in THE CROW



Speaking of THE CROW, I mean… what a soundtrack, right? The Cure’s “Burn” is probably my favorite track by them. Nine Inch Nails cover Joy Division with “Dead Souls.” And a relatively unknown band called Stone Temple Pilots has a track called “Big Emtpy” on the soundtrack. Alas, the band in the actual movie with that catchy jangly guitar riff on delay is Medicine playing the track “Time Baby III.” Also of note, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult can be seen performing live during the later part of the movie.

The Dickies in 18 AGAIN



I’m cheating a little bit with this one as it’s, obviously, not a genre movie. But I’ll argue that 18 AGAIN is a cult film! I’m personally a big fan of the “switch” comedy, which became popular in the late 80’s. (BIG, LIKE FATHER LIKE SON, VICE VERSA) In 1988, around the same time The Dickies had provided KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE with their theme song, they also blew me away as the punk band that plays a track called “You Drive Me Ape (You Big Gorilla)” in the night club scene from 18 AGAIN. This was my first introduction to them, and I’ve loved them ever since!

Oingo Boingo in BACK TO SCHOOL



I am, yet again, going with a “cult” comedy, if anything so I could incorporate a little Oingo Boingo into this article. And why not? It’s for a track called “Dead Man’s Party!” A Halloween and karaoke favorite among my friends. First time I saw Danny Elfman and company was in this movie performing this track, all while a young Robert Downey Jr makes a case for being the poster boy for birth control. (That’s a Rodney joke, bless him.)

Primus in BILL & TED’S BOGUS JOURNEY



Faith No More’s Jim Martin appears as himself in BILL & TED’S BOGUS JOURNEY, but the band that gets to kick off the epic music competition at the end is none other than the great Primus, performing the track “Tommy The Cat,” with Pam Grier MC-ing!

Cannibal Corpse in ACE VENTURA



I have to admit, my first introduction to death metal titans Cannibal Corpse was in the above scene from ACE VENTURA: PET DETECTIVE. Rumor has it, because Jim Carrey was a big fan. Let’s not forget, Carrey also lip-synced some Guns N’ Roses in the Dirty Harry sequel THE DEAD POOL. But anyways, one of the funniest bits from Carrey’s star-making vehicle was his little dance to the Cannibal Corpse track “Hammer Smashed Face.” As a bonus, here’s a fun deleted scene in which Ace Ventura makes an escape while crowd surfing:



Twisted Sister in PEE WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE



My earliest memories of MTV involved those wacky videos from Twisted Sister, such as “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” featuring that crazed teacher who also appeared in ONE CRAZY SUMMER. (What the hell ever happened to that guy?!) Anyways, even cooler was seeing them shooting the music video for “Burn In Hell” while Pee Wee Herman is avoiding studio security on the backlot in PEE WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE! Easily, one of the many highlights and fun surprises of that movie!

Alice Cooper in WAYNE’S WORLD



I mean, can this guy party or what?! Everyone loves WAYNE’S WORLD. So, how cool was it to see Alice Cooper performing the track “Feed My Frankenstein” at the concert?! While that bit is fun, none of us can ever forget the history lesson he gives to Wayne and Garth about the history of Milwaukee when they pop backstage after the show.



Alice In Chains in SINGLES



Ah, how I miss the 90’s. What a glorious time. And at the height of the grunge revolution came Cameron Crowe’s SINGLES, which isn’t exactly about the Seattle music scene, but really more of an examination of the dating scene. (Back when an answering machine could ruin an entire relationship!) Sure, the members of Pearl Jam pop up as Matt Dillon’s band Citizen Dick, but the highlight has to be seeing Alice In Chains playing the tracks “It Ain’t Like That” and “Would?”

SERIAL MOM is now available on Blu-Ray through Scream Factory in a special collector’s edition! Get your copy right here!

Why TEEN WOLF Is My Favorite Movie Ever

There always comes a point early in a newfound friendship when you’ll ask the other person what their favorite movie is. Since we’re horror fans, we tend to gravitate towards the genre first. My conditioned response to “what’s your favorite scary movie?” is usually always EVIL DEAD 2, followed very, very closely by Alfred Hitchcock’s PSYCHO. But if we expand beyond the horror genre, what else do I love? Well, I grew up a child of the video generation, and of the early days of HBO. So, I love ’80s movies, teen comedies, slashers, things with fantastical elements, etc. But really, when I stop to think about it, I’m pretty sure TEEN WOLF is my favorite movie of all time.

Yes, I’m well aware there are better movies, but this is my comfort film. I can put it on at any time or place, and start it from any moment, and I know every scene, frame, music cue, joke, piece of dialogue, character quirk and so on. It’s just one of those movies that hit me at just the right time.

I was 9 years old in 1985 when it came out. I was already a huge fan of the Universal Monster movies and tended to gravitate the most towards the sympathetic Wolf Man. Simultaneously, my brother had taken me to see BACK TO THE FUTURE, which was a life-changing and imagination fueling piece of cinema for an impressionable young boy. BACK TO THE FUTURE is a film I still consider one of five perfect movies. (The others being JAWS, DIE HARD, THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION and PULP FICTION) So, when TEEN WOLF came out, and it starred the kid from FAMILY TIES and BACK TO THE FUTURE as a teenage werewolf, it was everything I loved all in one flick.

Also, look – as middle school approached, I wasn’t exactly the most popular kid in class. The two things I found comfort in were horror movies and comic books. I enjoyed the thrill of vicariously surviving a horror film, but I learned my morality from reading Marvel comic books, in particular Spider-Man where I learned that “with great power comes great responsibility.” So, TEEN WOLF, written by Matthew Weisman and Jeph Loeb (who would go on to have a significant role in comic books, and currently helps guide the Netflix Marvel TV universe) was the culmination of both of the worlds I was so embedded in.

Scott Howard is a good hearted kid that is tired of being so “average.” Sure, he plays basketball with his high school team, the Beavers, but they kind of stink, and the hot, popular gal that he pines for, Pamela Wells, dates the over-age Mick, who is on their rival team. Scott does have his dad, his best friend, Stiles, and the girl next door, Boof. But he’s also going through… changes.

As it turns out, Scott comes from a long line of werewolves, something his father had hoped would pass him by, but as it turns out, being “the wolf” comes with a tremendous amount of responsibility. In fact, the script lifts the same adage that good ol’ Uncle Ben once told Peter Parker about “great power” and “great responsibility.”

It turns out maybe that popular girl isn’t such a nice person to want to be with? Maybe your true friends are the ones that already liked you before you were able to show off your newfound abilities? And maybe that girl next door that not-so-secretly pined for you is the person you should be with? It’s a very traditional morality tale that distinguishes right from wrong in a way that was completely indelible to me as a 9-year-old.

In one of my favorite scenes, while debating whether or not he truly needs his wolf alter-ego, Stiles begs Scott to “do the right thing.” And Scott replies, “that’s all I want to do, Stiles. That’s all I want to do.” For all of us that don’t feel like we 100 percent fit in, we at least desire to do the right thing, especially by the people we care about. And I think what makes a movie like this with a goofy premise work as well as it does is, despite all the jokes and outlandish scenarios, is that its heart shines through and through.

A few years ago at a Q & A for the film, the writers said that they knew Rod Daniel was the perfect director for this material because he was the only filmmaker that came in, and when asked what he thought the movie was about replied, “it’s about a father and son, just trying to figure it out.” There’s your heart and soul, folks.

What’s interesting about TEEN WOLF is that it was shot before BACK TO THE FUTURE, but released after. And naturally, BACK TO THE FUTURE was a cultural phenomenon and catapulted Michael J. Fox into household-name status. Capitalizing on the success of BACK TO THE FUTURE, TEEN WOLF came out a mere month later, and was also a huge hit, coming in number 2 at the box office, right behind BACK TO THE FUTURE.

Would TEEN WOLF have been as big a success had it come out before? We can hypothesize all we want, but this is the way it happened, and because of it, plenty more TEEN WOLF-esque properties came into being. It became a franchise! In 1986, a cartoon series was produced based on the movie (with a few minor alterations). In the series, Scott also had a grandfather, his “Teen Wolf” persona was secret except to Stiles and Boof, and Mick was no longer a 21-year-old that got left back, but another high school jock bully that constantly taunts Scott. It lasted 2 seasons and 21 episodes were produced.



In 1987, a sequel was released, but instead, it focused on Scott Howard’s cousin Todd Howard, played by Jason Bateman, whose sister, ironically enough, was played Michael J. Fox’s sister on the sitcom FAMILY TIES. At the time, I was already TEEN WOLF crazy (between both the original movie and the cartoon series) to the point that I don’t think I could’ve been more excited for a sequel than I was for TEEN WOLF TOO. In fact, I remember convincing my older cousin, Daniel, to take me because I had volunteered to write a review of it for the Middle School newspaper. This would be the first ever piece of film criticism I’d ever give, and who would’ve thought it would lead me to where I am today? It began with TEEN WOLF TOO! I don’t have that review anymore, although my vague memory was that I gave it a considerably good review, mainly because I so desperately wanted to love it that I forced myself to.

In retrospect, it was a disappointment, but it was also the first time I started to realize specific things about movies, franchises, and how studio mentality worked against them. For starters, the story picks up in college, so was this originally intended to be a direct sequel that followed the characters we knew and loved into the next chapter of their lives? And at that point, because Michael J. Fox was so huge, did they opt instead to change the lead character to his cousin? Sure, James Hampton (Scott’s dad) and Mark Holton (Chubby) returned, but Couch Finstock and Stiles were recast. It basically follows along as a loose, less successful remake of the first one (instead of basketball, it’s boxing!) but this version doesn’t quite connect, despite the best efforts of Bateman, who got to redeem this performance on Jimmy Fallon a few years back!

Also, character actors Kim Darby and John Astin help add some positivity to the proceedings. This one didn’t do as well as the original and hence, the proposed third TEEN WOLF movie, which was slated to do a gender-switch and star Alyssa Milano, was canceled! (Although, rumor has it that the 1989 feature TEEN WITCH with Robin Lively started out as a potential TEEN WOLF sequel/spin-off as well.)

Now, when younger people hear TEEN WOLF, they think of the hit MTV series, rather than the goofy coming-of-age comedy from 1985. I guess that’s ok. I tried to watch the TV show and made it maybe 4-5 episodes, but it just wasn’t for me, and it was so far removed from the movie it’s based on that I gave it up. I assume it’s similar to BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER; sure, the movie exists (and I rather like that a lot!), but the show was intended for a different audience. And it was huge for that audience, much like TEEN WOLF, the series, was huge for a new generation.

But that doesn’t mean that the original TEEN WOLF isn’t still out there as part of the pop-culture zeitgeist. For some inexplicable reason, the lead singer of the band M83 performed the track “Do It, Try It” from the album “Junk” on the Jimmy Kimmel show, complete in TEEN WOLF make-up. I still have no idea why! It wasn’t Halloween, it was in April. But kudos, regardless!

And like I said, I revisit the movie often, as it’s something I can put on at any time and feel like I’m with an old friend. The things that stand out to me now are the craft behind the picture. What was great about this era of movies was that everyone from every department took their job very, very seriously, and it was all about the craft of their work. I often have had this conversation with filmmakers Ti West and AJ Bowen. Sure, the premise of TEEN WOLF may be ridiculous, but no one on that set showed up and said, “this is silly, let’s half ass it.” One of the best scenes is a long, one-take tracking shot with Scott and Boof walking down the street talking about how they almost ran away together when they were kids. It’s a beautifully acted, shot and executed scene that, out of context, would fit in perfectly with any drama of that era. This is made all the more awesome by the fact that it’s actually from a movie about a kid that turns into a werewolf.

I’ll leave you with some advice from the great Coach Bobby Finstock in TEEN WOLF. It’s 3 rules that I, myself, have lived by ever since I first heard them in this movie, and I think they’re valid.

“Never get less than twelve hours sleep; never play cards with a guy who has the same first name as a city; and never get involved with a woman with a tattoo of a dagger on her body. Now you stick to that, and everything else is cream cheese.”

You, Me, And NIRVANA

This blog post was a long time coming. In fact, it’s about 2 years late at this point, but who’s really paying attention anyways?

I had wanted to sign off on all things NIRVANA back when the documentary “Montage Of Heck” was released theatrically. After all, to most of my friends, colleagues and associates, I’m known as the “NIRVANA” guy. It’s been hard for me to wrap my head around the way “Montage Of Heck” made me feel. Back in high school, Nirvana were my all-time favorite band. After several failed attempts to play instruments, Nirvana was the band that gave me the confidence to start my own band. And through sheer will, and genuine enthusiasm, I somehow was fortunate enough to find myself in the audience of the now infamous MTV taping for their Unplugged performance. Little did I know it at the time, but a mere 5 months later, Kurt Cobain would be dead, and Nirvana would be over.

They remained my favorite band through all those years, occasionally relinquishing the crown to acts such as SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE, or FAR. But after Kurt's death, they became something much more than just a great rock band. Kurt’s demise gave him some sort of strange martyrdom. He became this tortured artist that couldn’t handle fame or depression in the eyes of the general public, whereas I just missed those goofy guys that would play pranks, make out with each other live on Saturday Night Live, or sing Teen Spirit one full octave lower on a Top Of The Pops appearance to sound more like Morrissey. The humor that came with Nirvana somehow got lost in the shuffle of the tragedy that followed the untimely end of the band. And only sporadically would we be reminded of their brilliance, such as when the self-titled “best of” collection came out and included the never before released final Nirvana track "You Know You’re Right." which in itself feels extremely sad and melancholy rather than celebratory, as it should be.



Documentarian Brett Morgen was granted exclusive access to years of archival material to put together a definitive documentary that focused solely on Cobain, the “genius” artist, as opposed to Nirvana, the really awesome band. And I guess it’s this perception over the years that has bothered me. Before I get into my thoughts about “Montage Of Heck,” I wanted to recommend perhaps what I consider the best ever documentary about Nirvana, and that’d be “Classic Albums: Nirvana Nevermind.”

It was a VH1 series where each episode would focus on one specific classic album, and break it down, track by track, with the key people involved in its creation. Nevermind is now over 25 years old. But at the time of this doc’s release, it was only 10 years after the fact, and we got to hear directly from Dave Grohl, Krist Novesellic and recording engineer/producer Butch Vig. Because of Kurt’s absence, the trio focused specifically on the actual damn songs! Back when Nirvana were actually around, getting a serious response from Kurt seemed damn well impossible, so hearing this perspective was tremendously refreshing, and inspiring.

Take, for example, this break down of the track “In Bloom.” Once you hear Butch Vig break down the individual instruments, and playing Cobain’s isolated vocal track with Dave’s backing vocals (which are buried in the final mix), you’ll never hear the song the same way again! And it’s a reminder that in this day and age where musicians go into a studio and punch in bits of songs with Pro-Tools, or “auto-tune” their voices for perfect pitch, this was an album that 3 guys went into a room, recorded, and rocked. Plain and simple!



Don’t get me wrong. Of course, Cobain was an insanely talented artist in every capacity. An incredible vocalist, singer and songwriter. His lyrics were pretty mind-blowing, even if they don’t all seem to make coherent sense. That's the beauty and poetry in his words. All of it worked towards making Nirvana what it was, but I also believe it was these 3 key people that made the band work at exactly the right time. Dave Grohl has proven with Foo Fighters and the dozen other side projects he's participated in over the course of the last 20 years just how incredibly versatile and talented a musician he is. There’s no doubting that. But Nirvana wasn’t just Kurt. It was the combination of Kurt, Krist and Dave that made it work. Otherwise, they would’ve hit big with “Bleach!” It took the right combo, and the right timing for Nirvana-mania to happen the way it did. And I only bring this up as a way to illustrate that I’m not 100 percent on board with any narrative that paints Kurt as an artistic genius that would’ve been huge no matter what. It took these 3 to make Nirvana the Nirvana that we still hear on the radio (or Pandora) today.

“Montage Of Heck” is a fascinating film, and a good documentary, but one that I don’t find completely honest or genuine in its execution. The best bits are all the unseen footage of Cobain as a child. Getting insight into what kind of kid he was is a wonderful snapshot at a certain moment in time, even if it doesn’t fully explain why Nirvana was the cult phenomenon it was. But then again, teenage Kurt is still an enigma. I don’t believe any of the stories he tells that were presented in the doc as animated sequences. He was never even remotely serious in interviews during the band’s run, so why would he confess to some of these elaborate stories, like losing his virginity to a mentally handicapped girl from his high school? Lifelong friend and Melvins frontman Buzz Osbourne called the doc out for its inaccuracies, and I kind of believe him. I’m sure if Kurt was alive today, he’d probably be unhappy with the depiction we see in the latter half of the film where he’s nodding off, high as fuck, while trying to hold his baby daughter in his hands. It’s pretty rough.

I guess what bothers me is they skip over the Nirvana part in this Kurt Cobain documentary, and go straight to the “Kurt and Courtney” years, which, to be frank, are rather difficult to sit through as well. Did I learn anything new that I didn’t already know? Not really. Did it change my view of Kurt as a person or artist? A little bit. The candid footage with him and Courtney revealed a willing participant in the rock star lifestyle he publicly would constantly shame. And that’s the bummer part.

The positive? The book version inspired by "Montage Of Heck." I was a little disappointed that Kurt’s father Donald Cobain was finally interviewed for the first time publicly about his son, and he has maybe one line of dialogue in the finished film, whereas Kurt’s mother, who bears a striking resemblance to Courtney in personality, is very, very prominent all throughout. However, the book version of “Montage Of Heck” is the full transcripts from the 5 people closest to Kurt. His mom, his girlfriend, his sister, Krist and his father (and his wife). Getting to read those full interviews painted far more interesting a picture than the doc itself managed to do. And here’s the thing. I was hoping that repeat viewings would change my view on the actual doc, and accompanying album… but it only got worse and worse.

The “Montage Of Heck” CD promised never-before-heard Kurt Cobain compositions; long lost songs! But quite frankly, it’s unlistenable. As a musician myself, I do a lot of rough demos when it comes to figuring out songs. Sometimes it’s just a riff or a melody I have in my head that I put down on my tape recorder, and it’ll take me months to convert it into a functional, listenable song. Point being, I would never, ever want anyone to listen to those early sketches. And the “Montage Of Heck” album is all that. Private bits that should never have been released. The most coherent of the bunch s a cover of The Beatles “And I Love Her.” The rest? Just plain awful. So, why release it? Because it’s a Nirvana release where they don’t have to pay the other members of Nirvana, because it’s released as a “Kurt Cobain” album! At least, it could’ve featured the lullaby version of Nirvana songs by “Rockabye Baby!” (which I ended up buying separately), or the Vitamin String Quartet orchestrated version of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” that features so prominently in the documentary. But alas, none of that is here.



The best bit of getting to see “Montage Of Heck” on the big screen here in Los Angeles at the Arclight, Hollywood was getting to see it with a Q & A moderated by filmmaker Scott Derrickson, right before he went off to shoot DOCTOR STRANGE, with director Brett Morgen. Since I'd been following Scott since the pre-SINISTER days, I knew he was a huge Nirvana fan, and in full Nirvana mode leading up to this particular screening. I decided to craft a 3 disc Nirvana box set to gift to him. Well, and also for myself.

You see, I’ve always been pretty disappointed in the officially released Nirvana box set “With The Lights Out.” Over the years, long before the days of Napster and the Internet in general, I used to make weekly trips into New York City, and hit up all the record shops in search of bootlegs. Between all the import singles I found, bootleg releases, and rare LP's, I could craft my own little mini-albums solely made up of all the B-sides or unreleased songs. So, I’ve always imagined that at some point, someone would officially release all this material. While a lot of the stuff on “With The Lights Out” is, in fact, versions or takes of tracks I’d never heard before, they left out so, so much.

So, I made my own box set, in 3 discs.

Disc One is all the officially recorded, but never properly released B-sides. It includes all the leftovers from “In Utero,” “Nevermind” and even some odd tracks from various compilations such as their long-lost KISS cover of “Do You Love Me?” and the original studio version of “Spank Thru,” recorded by Jack Endino (who also recorded Bleach) and ended up on the SUB POP 200 comp. So, Disc One is a whole new album of Nirvana songs you didn’t know existed!

Disc Two? Well, this one is compromised from all the bootlegs over the years and let me tell you, it is something special. As I mentioned earlier in this write-up, when Nirvana were actually around, they were hilarious. I think people forget just how funny, sharp, and satirical they could be on the fly. So, I pulled my favorite bits from the vast library of bootlegs I owned. Everything from a guy screaming like a lunatic for them to “sing about fucking girls!” to which Kurt replies, “This song is called About A Queer” before launching into their track “About A Girl.” There’s the accordion malfunction before “Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam” at one show, which prompts Kurt to suggest, “throw it in the smash pit!” Or the live electric version of their David Bowie cover of “The Man Who Sold The World,” which absolutely rocks.

The third disc is an oldie but goodie. Basically, I closed it out it off with my “Case For Nirvana” mix as the final disc. To refresh your memories, a while back, my friend and colleague Joe Maddrey and I got in a big Nirvana versus Pearl Jam debate. By the end of it, we decided we were going to make each other CD mixes of their best tracks to prove who was the better band. The one rule was “no singles!” It had to be on the merit of songs that weren’t generally known. And so, we exchanged our mixes, I wrote about it in this blog here, and quite frankly, I think I won that debate.

In using this pre-existing mix, however, there's a tiny bit of cross over between the 3 discs, but I'd like to think it's not too noticeable.

Without further ado, below is the full track listing for my 3-disc epic Nirvana box set:

DISC ONE - ALL THE B-SIDES:

1. Verse Chorus Verse (No Alternative comp)
2. I Hate Myself And I Want To Die (Beavis & Butthead Do America Soundtrack)
3. Moist Vagina (All Apologies B-Side)
4. Marigold (Heart Shaped Box B-Side)
5. Gallons Of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through The Strip (In Utero import)
6. D-7 (Hormoaning EP)
7. Return Of The Rat (Fourteen Songs For Greg Sage and The Wipers)
8. Oh, The Guilt (The Jesus Lizard split)
9. Curmudgeon (Lithium B-Side)
10. Where Did You Sleep Last Night? (from Mark Lanagan's 1st solo album "The Winding Sheet")
11. Spank Thru (SUB POP 200 comp)
12. Do You Love Me? (Hard To Believe: A KISS Tribute)
13. Pen Cap Chew (Demo)
14. Blandest (Demo)
15. Clean Up Before She Comes (Demo)
16. The Extreme (Wipeout demo)
17. Everything and Nothing (alternate Verse Chorus Verse demo from Wipeout)
18. Here She Comes Now
19. Dumb (Radio Appearance)
20. Drain You (BBC Sessions)
21. Something In The Way (BBC Sessions)

DISC TWO - BEST OF THE BOOTS:

1. Negative Creep (Acoustic Version from Outcesticide 2)
2. Jesus Doesn't Want Me For A Sunbeam (from More Live Tits)
3. School [Live] (from Bleach reissue)
4. Aneurysm (from Europe 1991 - 91.11.16)
5. About A Girl "About A Queer" (from Out Of The Blue)
6. Help Me, I'm Hungry [with Tad] (from Out Of The Blue)
7. Smells Like Teen Spirit (from Europe 1991 - 91.11.16)
8. Polly [Electric] (from Europe 1991 - 91.11.16)
9. Lithium (from Europe 1991 - 91.11.16)
10. Rape Me (from Seattle Sound, Sounds Great)
11. In His Hands (from Ourcesticide 2)
12. Serve The Servants (from Make Me Sick, Live At Roseland)
13. Scentless Apprentice (from Make Me Sick, Live At Roseland)
14. The Eagle Has Landed [aka Torrettes] (from Outcesticide III)
15. Milk It (from San Francisco 1993)
16. Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam (from Meltdown)
17. Improvisation [Including Drum Solo] (from Live In Rome)
18. Where Did You Sleep Last Night (from New Year's Eve)
19. The Man Who Sold The World (from New Year's Eve)

DISC THREE - THE CASE FOR NIRVANA:

1. Breed (Nevermind)
2. Aneurysm (Incesticide)
3. Drain You (Nevermind)
4. School (Bleach)
5. Turnaround (Hormoaning/Incesticide)
6. Oh, The Guilt (The Jesus Lizard split)
7. Very Ape (In Utero)
8. Territorial Pissings (Nevermind)
9. Son Of A Gun (Hormoaning/Incesticide)
10. Negative Creep (Bleach)
11. Curmudgeon (Lithium single)
12. Milk It (In Utero)
13. Lounge Act (Nevermind)
14. Return Of The Rat (Fourteen Songs For Greg Sage & The Wipers)
15. Marigold (Heart Shaped Box single)
16. Spank Thru (Sub Pop 200)
17. Talk To Me (Europe 1991 bootleg)
18. On A Plain (Nevermind)
19. Something In The Way (BBC Session)
20. Opinion (With The Lights Out Disc 2)
21. Do Re Mi (With The Lights Out Disc 3)
22. You Know You're Right (Nirvana)


So, “Montage Of Heck” is kind of a bust. But what else should you watch?

Well, again, my top pick is Classic Albums: Nirvana Nevermind. It’s by far the best Nirvana related documentary. Not quite as great, but featuring some of the best, most infamous Nirvana gags, you should also check out “Live! Tonight! Sold Out!” You’ll get glimpses of a lot of their high jinx on that disc. If you’ve never seen “The Year Punk Broke,” that’s another documentary that follows Sonic Youth on their Goo tour with Nirvana supporting. Even though they’re secondary in the doc, Nirvana steals it every chance they get. With a stellar version of “Negative Creep,” to Kurt pretended he’s Kevin Costner meeting Madonna to Kim Gordon backstage, “The Year That Punk Broke” is filled with a lot of pure fun.



Live-wise, there are two definitive shows that encapsulate Nirvana at their peak for both the Nevermind and In Utero albums. For Nevermind, it’s the “Live At The Paramount” gig. This is the show they used footage from for the “Lithium” music video. It was shot in 35mm film and it looks spectacular. It’s also from right before “Nevermind” exploded as big as it did, so it was the band at their best as a 3 piece act. Then, for “In Utero,” there’s the “Live And Loud” MTV special which aired on New Year’s Eve 1993. The full show, which features additional touring guitarist Pat Smear is a magnificent look at a band finally coming into their own as a successful rock group. Granted, it didn’t last beyond the few months after this performance, but it’s still a great, satisfying watch.

Well, there you have it, whether you asked for it or not, there’s my 2 cents (and 2000 plus words) on Nirvana. Take it or leave it! Or you know, whatever…  never mind.

The CJH Sessions: You'll Never Hear These Songs The Same Way Again

I love song breakdowns.

I wasn't fully aware of just how powerful an experience it'd be to single out each individual instrument, and analyze them one by one, until I first stumbled upon the DVD Classic Albums - Nirvana: Nevermind. Basically, these were original VH1 documentaries that would focus on a specific classic album, and then talked to everyone involved in the creation of that album. They'd go track by track and play each individual instrument one at a time so you could really understand the role that each musician played into its canvas. In the "Nevermind" one, there's a bit where producer Butch Vig breaks down "In Bloom," which was one of the first tracks they recorded for the album. Now, I've always liked the song, although it was never one of my favorite Nirvana singles. But it wasn't until I saw this that I absolutely fell in love with it. Check it out:



It makes you realize just how great a rhythm section Dave and Krist were for Nirvana. It's also so cool hearing both Kurt and Dave's isolated vocal tracks, especially since we're now so used to Dave's voice in the Foo Fighters. Ever since I watched this doc, I've never been able to hear this song in the same way. I now love it and am in awe of the fact that back in 1991, 3 guys walked into a studio and recorded this. They didn't need freakin' autotune for the vocals. They didn't do any studio wizardry. They just wrote great songs and recorded them exactly as they'd rehearsed them. Modern bands really have no excuse.

Several months back, my roommate Dave Foy asked me if I wanted to join him to go see his buddy Christian James Hand do a live breakdown at the Swing House Studios in Atwater in Los Angeles. I'd never heard of him before this, but he's all over 95.5 KLOS and hosts a similar show titled "The Session" which airs on the station on Sunday evenings.



For this live version, however, Christian picks 2 completely different songs, and spends about a hour on each with a brief intermission in between. The show we happened to go to, his two selections were RUSH's "Tom Sawyer" and OZZY's "Crazy Train." Within the first 5 minutes when he just played Neil Peart's isolated drum track, I knew I was in for a treat. And I don't even like Rush! Yet, after spending 60 minutes hearing what each of these guys does in the song, I had a completely new-found respect and admiration for the band. And then? Ozzy! Randy Rhodes! "Crazy Train" was just as rich an experience as the first track. Listen for yourself:

OZZY OSBOURNE - Crazy Train:



I became obsessed with trying to make sure I could catch his show every month. The next one I went to, I bought a bunch of tickets in an attempt to turn some mutual music loving friends onto what he does, and everyone freakin' bailed on me at the last second! But, whatever. I still went by myself and this time, it was Guns N Roses Vs David Bowie. He broke down "Welcome To The Jungle" and "Ziggy Stardust." And it was amazing.

Look, I was only 11 years old when Guns N Roses "Appetite For Destruction" came out. Of course, I loved it at the time. But in all these years, I never stopped to analyse the craftsmanship of the songwriting on any of their music. Basically, they were rockin' degenerates that made parents nervous, and that gave us all the more reason to crank their tunes. Hearing "Welcome To The Jungle" piece by piece is really ear opening. Duff McKagan has got to be one of the most underrated bass players out there. Slash and Izzy were no slouches either. They could freakin' play!

The Bowie segment felt even more special, given that none of us have gotten over his untimely death. Breaking down Ziggy Stardust was a thrill, but it was really being in a room full of strangers, sitting in silence, and listening to Bowie's isolated vocal track that broke us all. There's never been a voice like the one that came out of that man, and he's gone. At one point, Christian put up only his acoustic guitar and vocals, so we got to examine and listen to just what Bowie was playing on Ziggy Stardust. And as I've said countless times on this blog, it's truly amazing how music can connect us. (That track is not embeddable, but you can listen to an abbreviated breakdown right here.)

By the way, the other thing I should mention is that Christian has an unconditional love of Phil Collins. As a fellow drummer himself, he often brings up, cites or compares things to the work of Collins, which I find tremendously endearing.

The first "Session" of the year 2017 focused on Faith No More's aptly titled first single from their album The Real Thing "Epic." Yet again, I've always loved the song, and now I love it even more knowing what each and every person is doing in it. I mean, the drums & bass isolated truly make-up the sound that Rage Against The Machine have gotten famous for. And I never realized it, but Roddy Bottum is, in fact, the greatest name for a keyboarder player ever. (And he's in Faith No More.) A fan posted that particular episode to You Tube, so it's embedded below for your convenience.

FAITH NO MORE - Epic:



There's so many more of these to comb through and listen to. I've already made my way through just about all of these. If you head over to iTunes, you can do a search for "Christian Hand Song Breakdowns" in podcasts, and you'll find a list of abbreviated versions of all of the above. As a "grungster" myself, I'll share one more of my personal favorites, his breakdown of Alice In Chains' "Man In A Box," a song I always liked but didn't realize was truly as exceptional as it was until hearing this. Check it:

ALICE IN CHAINS - Man In A Box:



While the radio versions are cool, and all worth a listen, I can't recommend enough going to catch one of his live shows. They're fully improvised and that makes them have a certain air of magic to them. His next planned one is for Saturday, January 21st, and it's a breakdown of a QUEEN song and a PANTERA song! Followed by an encore of "Bohemian Rhapsody," so that should be quite something. Takes places once a month at the Swing House Studios in Atwater Village, Los Angeles.

Keep tabs by "liking" his Facebook page here. And who knows? Maybe I'll see you there!

My 10 Favorite Vinyl Releases Of 2016!

Horror soundtracks are more popular than ever. The same applies for music on vinyl, which has seen a major resurgence over the course of the last few years. Tons of specialty labels are either reissuing classic soundtracks, fully remastered with impressive new art and packaging. Some are clearly focusing on capitalizing on new properties or hit TV series. And in some cases, these labels are bold enough to put out vinyl for fictional horror movies that don’t actually exist!

Regardless, as a fan and consumer of physical media, we’ve seen some great Blu-Ray releases this year, and equally, if not more, great vinyl releases. It was tough to narrow them down to 10, so the following are not ranked, but listed in random order. Let’s see how many of these you guys already have!

BLACK CHRISTMAS (Waxwork Records)

For the first time ever, we got Carl Zittrer’s disturbing and slightly off-key score to Bob Clark’s 1974 “slasher” classic. (And by classic, I mean the one that started them all!) What’s interesting is it’s two long tracks, one for Side A as “Silent Night,” and Side B dubbed as “Evil Night.” I heard this played and discussed on an episode of The Damn Fine Cast earlier this year and they theorized that perhaps the reason it sounds so “off” is because we’re hearing these bits of music from the perspective of Billy, the film’s killer. With that in mind, it adds an extra sense of creepiness every time you spin this bad boy! While Waxwork Records did an amazing job with reissues of things like SALEM’S LOT, THE HOWLING and even their non-genre releases such as THE WARRIORS and TAXI DRIVER, BLACK CHRISTMAS is the one that stands out to me as their most special release of 2016.



FROZEN EXISTENCE (Lunaris Records)

This was one of my favorite new discoveries of the year. Repeated Viewing is the created composer on this release, and it’s the moniker of Alan Sinclair, who has been making soundtracks to fictional horror movies for years. This particular one was actually recorded back in 2011 and finally got a vinyl release in 2016 courtesy of the fine folks at Lunaris Records. FROZEN EXISTENCE looks like an old Italian horror movie from the late 70’s, courtesy of the authentic packaging and cover art by Adam Burke. The music itself is awesome! Have a listen below:



COVEN (Forever Midnight)

Here’s a soundtrack I didn’t know I needed in my life until I heard it and now I feel like I can’t live without it. I freakin’ love the documentary AMERICAN MOVIE, which follows Milwaukee filmmaker Mark Borchardt as he struggles to complete his short horror film COVEN. When the DVD of the doc came out, it included the final short film as a bonus feature. All these years later, the fine fiends over at Forever Midnight (which is a podcast!) have put out the epic soundtrack on vinyl, and filled the package with all sorts of goodies. If you want to hear a little sample of it, I played it before the interview section on episode 4 of Shock Waves! Begins at the 34:55 mark! (Embedded below!)



SYNCHRONICITY (Death Waltz Recordings/Lakeshore Records)

SYNCHRONICITY was the 2015 release of director Jacob Gentry’s super ambitious time-traveling epic. One of the standouts that truly makes this film feel much bigger than it’s budget is the score by Ben Lovett. Part John Carpenter, part Tangerine Dream, the lush melodies of this film’s music will wash over you and teleport you to another time and place. I find myself impulsively throwing on this record regularly. Have a listen below and hear what I mean.



THE MIND’S EYE (Relapse Records)

THE MIND’S EYE, the latest film from Joe Begoes plays like a long lost sequel to David Cronenberg’s SCANNERS, and considering I’m a huge fan of those movies, in particular SCANNERS III: THE TAKE OVER, I had a blast with this one. The first title card that pops up on the screen instructs you to “play this movie loud.” And rightfully so! On top of the killer sound design, Steve Moore’s soundtrack has quickly become one of my favorite scores of the year. While most people know Steve from his band ZOMBI, I actually became familiar with his work when he did the main theme for the 2006 documentary HORROR BUSINESS! Between THE GUEST and this, it’s amazing to hear how prolific he’s become as a composer. Hear a sample for yourself below.



THE MONSTER SQUAD (Death Waltz Recordings/Mondo)

Not only have I always loved THE MONSTER SQUAD, but it’s impossible not to get excited anytime you hear tracks like the epic pop montage “Rock Until You Drop” or the closing credit Monster Squad rap. But, the score by Bruce Broughton is pretty terrific too! And thanks to Mondo and Death Waltz Recordings, we got a full vinyl release, sprawled out over 2 LP’s and in packaging that will pull on the heart strings of every one that grew up as a monster kid. Seriously, the recreation of the old monster magazine ads is perfect and as one of the many, many horror fans out there that have always loved this movie, this release was long overdue. Happy that the Mondo gang did it justice!



TWIN PEAKS (Death Waltz Recordings/Mondo)

People can argue if David Lynch’s work can be considered “horror” all they want. I think some of the craziest images and scenes I’ve ever seen have come from his work, and in particular from TWIN PEAKS. So, I’m counting Death Waltz long-in-the-works TWIN PEAKS soundtrack release as one of my favorite picks this year. This is one of those albums I love just putting on repeat in the background while I work and write, and drink coffee, of course. And pictures of the actual packaging don’t do it justice. It’s gorgeous. Best of all, it comes in coffee colored vinyl. Damn fine indeed.



THE MUSIC OF DAVID LYNCH (Communion Records)

Since we’re talking about David Lynch, why not mention another album inspired by the man and his work that immediately became an instant favorite? THE MUSIC OF DAVID LYNCH is a double LP set of a live performance conducted with various musicians, all performing various songs and music from all his films and held with the goal of raising money and awareness to the David Lynch Foundation. Composer Angelo Badalamenti performs some of his TWIN PEAKS themes, and musicians such as Duran Duran, Lykke Li, Sky Ferreira, Moby and Zola Jesus do impressive covers of songs from his various soundtracks. The highlight for me is Lykke Li’s cover of “Wicked Game,” which I’d argue is better than the original! This was a vinyl only release, and the initial batch reported had skips in it, but I was lucky enough to snag one with no issues. It’s still readily available on places like Amazon or Discogs and gets my highest recommendation.



STRANGER THINGS (Lakeshore Records)

The world was not prepared for the juggernaut that was the Netflix original series STRANGER THINGS, but for a spell there, it was all anyone could talk about. It was amazing to see just how quickly The Duffer Brothers creation managed to infiltrate pop culture as strongly and impressionably as it did, and that’s because the show harnessed the best of the Amblin movies by way of a classic Stephen King novel and delivered something pretty darned cool and unique in it’s own right. Adding a groovy pulse to the whole thing was that terrific score by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, which was released first digitally, and then as part of an epic two volume collection of double LP’s from Lakeshore Records. It literally feels very 80’s, very John Carpenter-esque, but you know what? That’s just fine! Easily one of the best releases this year and something everyone can enjoy.



JOHN CARPENTER: LOST THEMES II (Sacred Bones Records)

One of the great joys of this year was getting the opportunity to watch John Carpenter and his band go on their first tour to perform John’s classic movie themes live. Part of his set-list included tracks from last year’s LOST THEMES, but the thing that kicked this whole tour off was the release of LOST THEMES II. While I love the first album, I think this one is actually a stronger, more concise record. This project started as a cross country collaboration between Carpenter, his son Cody and his godson Daniel Davies. What’s apparent on LOST THEMES II is the three of them wrote and performed these songs in a room together. Basically, it sounds more organically like a full on band. And the fact that this has led to John’s new-found career as a rock star is just so awesome. I love this album! Below is the official live music video for the opening track “Distant Dream.” And for fun, their second narrative video “Utopian Facade” is below that!

Bill Lustig On His Love Of Movie Soundtracks!

Below is an interview I conducted with William Lustig on our mutual love of movie soundtracks. Enjoy!

Rob G.: Bill, thanks for joining me today! Mondo has just released another vinyl reissue of Jay Chattaway’s MANIAC score. And I listened to an interview with him recently on the Talkin’ Trax podcast via the Damn Fine Network where he mentions how when you both first met, you had him over and played a bunch of your favorite soundtracks for him. It got me thinking, and I wanted to know what it was you referenced and tried to turn him onto? I just thought in general it’d be fun to talk about movie soundtracks!

Bill Lustig: Well, originally, MANIAC was going to be scored by Goblin. And the deal with Dario (Argento) didn’t happen for various reasons, so we were finishing up the movie and we had no one to score the film. Jay Chattaway, at that time, had never scored a film before. I was introduced to him as a prolific jazz arranger/producer, but he had never done a feature soundtrack. I can’t recall what it was that made us higher him! Maybe it was because he was willing to do it for the money we had available, which was all of $10,000. That included everything. Jay was hired and when he was, I played for him all the John Carpenter scores, Goblin – everything I could think of to try to open him up to the kind of music I was looking for. Well, what was interesting was after going through all that, Jay disregarded it all! And he really came up with a much more interesting score than anything I had presented to him. And I think it was a major reason for the success of MANIAC; that he created a score that gave Joe Spinell empathy, and it was something that was very unusual. I sat in on all the scoring sessions at a studio in Connecticut, I was quite amazed at what he had done. I wasn’t sure at first, but as we were getting into it, I could see that he came up with something very interesting.



Rob G.: It’s amazing to me that not only did that MANIAC score start a long-standing working relationship between you and Jay Chattaway for several more films, but also the amount of times MANIAC has come out in multiple formats! My personal favorite is the CD shaped like Joe Spinell’s head! (Laughs)

Bill Lustig: That was my favorite. I was shocked it worked and actually played! (Laughs)

Rob G.: It was also the first Mondo vinyl release! In general, how important is movie music to you, not just as a filmmaker but as a movie watcher?

Bill Lustig: Oh, very. It’s very important. The major influence, for me, music-wise was Ennio Morricone. I was and still am a huge Morricone fan. And what always interested me about the European genre films was how often the music in those films are in the forefront. Especially in certain sections of the movie. You would see that in Dario’s movies where he’d have these interludes where the music was front and center, versus, when I came to California and worked for CineTel, they looked upon music as secondary. They looked at it as an after-the-fact thing you add to the movie to maybe create or enhance emotion. I always looked at music as being integral to the movie. When I worked with Jay, I worked with him while we were shooting the movie. The mentality I found was that most studios would hire a composer after they finished the film. So, the way I saw European films and the way they treated music was always a huge influence on me.

Rob G.: You mentioned Morricone before. What I love about him is how vast his library is. What are some of your personal favorites by him?

Bill Lustig: My favorites of his scores are usually because of the directors he works with. Anything with Sergio Leone, of course, are my number one. Number two would be the Dario Argento movies. In fact, what’s funny is regarding THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, I think it was the first soundtrack LP I ever purchased. I remember it like it was yesterday! There was a record shop in New York called Colony Records. It’s no longer there, but Colony Records was one of the few places that imported LP’s. And I bought the Italian LP of THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE at Colony Records for $20 bucks! And we’re talking about back in 1969!

Rob G.: In the last year, I’ve been rediscovering a lot of the Morricone stuff. I saw THE GREAT SILENCE at the New Beverly, and thankfully that great score by reissued on vinyl. Just this weekend, I saw ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, and was reminded how fantastic that score was.

Bill Lustig: Oh, I love that one. Every time I see ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST and there’s that scene where Claudia Cardinale arrives by train. There’s a cue that rises as the camera rises over the building; you don’t see her, she’s walking through the station and when the camera settles above the train station and she emerges into this town filled with people, it always gives me tingles! It’s sure fire. Every time I see it and hear that cue, it affects me.

Rob G.: It’s movie magic, man!

Bill Lustig: Yeah, it really is. It’s a great moment in terms of merging music with cinema. It’s just incredible with how beautiful it is. I agree, ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST is a masterpiece. I’ll tell you, some of his lesser known scores, I’ve used. For example, there was a score for a not-very-good George Kennedy revenge film called THE “HUMAN” FACTOR. And I remember I was working on an action film, and I had the soundtrack to that in my Walkman. And when I was doing action scenes, I would play the score in my headphones. I’d watch this scene that I’m shooting, while listening to Morricone’s score for THE “HUMAN” FACTOR. (Laughs)

Rob G.: And if it worked with that score as you were watching it, then you knew it was going to work!

Bill Lustig: I’m always thinking about music while I’m shooting. I always think of music cues. It’s intuitive to me.

Rob G.: Do you keep up on modern soundtracks? Any composers these days that excite you?

Bill Lustig: Honestly, I can’t think of a contemporary film with music that really stand out to me. It’s interesting, because I’ve heard so many compliments about the score to the MANIAC remake, and yet I listen to the score and it sounds so ordinary to me. It didn’t feel like it had its own voice. But other people have given it raves, so that’s good. But I like the guy who does all of Nicolas Winding Refn’s films, Cliff Martinez. Well, what scores have you heard lately that have affected you?

Rob G.: I like Rehn’s guy Cliff Martinez. I love the stuff that Jeff Grace does. He scores a lot of the Glass Eye Pix movies and he did THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, THE INNKEEPERS, I SELL THE DEAD, COLD IN JULY. Joe Bishara does interesting, scary things with his scores for INSIDIOUS and THE CONJURING films. I like the BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW soundtrack a lot.

Bill Lustig: You know which one I really liked? The score for IT FOLLOWS.

Rob G.: Oh right, by Disasterpeace! That’s a great, great score.

Bill Lustig: I thought that was really, really good. It was a movie where I thought the music worked so, so well.

Rob G.: Bill, thank you so much for your time and for talking soundtracks with me! Really appreciate it!

The new MANIAC vinyl reissue is now available direct via Mondo!

The Thrill Of The Spontaneous "Give Yourself A Present" Record Hunt!

The work week is tough. Life, in general, tends to be too. So, I'm a strong believer in keeping a delicate balance between all things and occasionally treating yourself to the sometimes surprising fruits of life. I adhere to one simple piece of advice gifted to me by the great Agent Cooper of TWIN PEAKS.


"Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don’t plan it, don’t wait for it, just let it happen. It could be a new shirt at the men's store, a catnap in your office chair or two cups of good hot black coffee."

"A present. Like Christmas!"

The daily coffee "present" is a given. I dropped the low-brand stuff a while back and only drink good quality coffee, because... well, life is short and you should never cheap out when it comes to coffee, cheese or toilet paper.

I also tend to have ice cream or milkshakes regularly, because if there's anything that can brighten any day, it'd be ice cream!

But, I'd say every other week, as soon as I'm finished with my weekly workload, usually around mid-day Thursday, I go record/movie shopping. I don't really have a wishlist. For me, I love the spontaneity of it all. I like the idea of leaving my apartment one afternoon, and having no idea what goodies I might possibly come home with later. The thrill of the hunt!

Another ritual I partake in while I'm out in the wild & skimming fast and furiously through record bins, is to text back and forth with my brother from another mother, and overall soundtrack expert/fellow enthusiast Tony Giles. For those of you that don't know him, he's the co-host (along with Scott Johannsson) of The Damn Fine Cast, one of my favorite podcasts on the web that specifically covers soundtrack releases on vinyl. And over the last few years, not only have we repeatedly guested on each other's shows, but we've become good buddies! So, I like vicariously taking Tony record shopping with me.

This week, I hit my usually Burbank spot Atomic Records and immediately stumbled upon this vinyl edition of VERTIGO. I had never seen this particular cover, and I couldn't tell if it was the original score or a performance of it, so I texted this photo to Tony for spiritual and financial guidance. Is this worth $15 bucks to me? Should I go for it?

Before he texted me back with the facts, I had already decided to put it back. Sometimes you just know. "It's a Dutch import reissue of the original version." You know.... if it were PSYCHO, I'd buy it because I buy anything PSYCHO related, but for now, this particular VERTIGO was going to be a pass.

Now, it's not an easy thing to put a record back anymore. I had the lovely opportunity to interview Henry Rollins last year for a documentary project I'm working on (and have vaguely alluded to repeatedly in this blog.... but DETAILS SOON, I SWEAR!), and there was one quote that has stuck with me ever since. He said (and I'm paraphrasing), "you never regret the records you buy, you only regret the records you don't buy." So, ever since he put that damned notion in my head, I've been inclined to act on instinct and just buy it! But alas, I did show some self control this time. So, no VERTIGO!

I mean, you never know what you're going to find on any given record store stop. For example, if you want to own a record from a total douchebag, Scott Baio's "The Boys Are Out Tonight" (no doubt about him and Trump) is available for a mere $3.99!

Nah, pass.

But then there's the random finds you just can't pass on. THE BANGLES "Hazy Shade Of Winter" on 12" caught the corner of my eye. Wait, what?! Multiple remixes? 4 versions of that same song? For $3.99? SOLD! Also, one of the few Scream Factory titles I neglected to pick up when it initially came out, RAVENOUS for $7.99.

I was just about ready to call it quits when I briefly thumbed through one more aisle and spotted this. "Spin The Wheel" by HI-TEK3 from the 1990 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES movie. For $2.99! This is most certainly a nostalgic buy. I already have the original motion picture soundtrack for TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES on vinyl, as well as the 12" single for "Turtle Power" by Partners In Krime. So, this seemed like a no brainer.

My final tally, which also included Jack Johnson's second album "On and On" came to $30 bucks total with tax. Not bad. For that amount, I came home with several records and a movie I didn't anticipate I'd want or need to own, and yet here they are. (RE: Jack Johnson, I actually love his first 2 albums and didn't realize they were on vinyl, so had to snag it!)

The thrill of the hunt.
A present to myself.
At least that's how it feels to me.

Go out and try it for yourself.
You've earned it!