Music to Make Horror Movies By: Diana Dors

Published August 13, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

Diana 1

She was England’s answer to Marilyn Monroe, but the glorious Diana Dors soon proved she was her own very unique creature. Almost immediately, she lit up a bevy of British noir films and, by the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, was giving honest and heartfelt performances in a variety of horror films including Berserk (with Joan Crawford), the Vincent Price classic Theater of Blood, the anthology From Beyond the Grave and Nothing But the Night (with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee).

Dors was also an accomplished vocalist. Her album Swinging Dors, a fan favorite, features peppy versions of a number of standards, but she also knew how to rock ‘n roll. Her sensuality and common sense were put to great use with the one off single, So Little Time.

Move over, Presley!

Dors in the “Children of the Full Moon” episode of Hammer House of Horrors

Until the next time – SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: The Jones Girls

Published July 23, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

JONESGIRLS-Nice1

For several years, I lived with a guy with the last name of Jones. His mom was a petite blonde woman named Shirley. I could probably, truthfully, claim that I’ve never really been in love. But if I miss anyone, it has to be this guy. Therefore, (R and B sensations) The Jones Girls, no relation to my long distant paramour by the way, have always sparked a subtle interest in me.

Nicely, I have recently discovered that they performed a mysterious and sensuous version of Children of the Night, probably best known as a semi-standard of The Stylistics. (It’s even rumored that their version found its way onto an episode of The Walking Dead.) But, I have always preferred my luscious divas to my dapper gents and the spooky vibe provided by these siblings, including (perhaps necessarily) a sister named Shirley, makes me imagine that any creature, be it seductive vampire or trembling love struck ghoul, could find some romance in the witching hour.

Until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Laura Branigan

Published July 16, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

laura monsters 2

Power ballad diva Laura Branigan almost got sold into slavery on an episode of CHiPS, but her greatest acting role had to be the mysterious Amanda Smith-Jones on the A Face for Radio episode of the syndicated ghoul fest Monsters. There she confronted an obnoxious radio host played by Morton Downey, Jr. – no surprise there, huh? – and turned him into a hideous monster-puppet.

Of course, Branigan was much better known for her smoky and truly unique renditions of popular pop songs. Among her best loved numbers, which include Gloria, Shattered Glass and The Lucky One, Hot Night from the Ghostbusters soundtrack is probably the one that will get most terror lovers bopping.

Meanwhile, Branigan, who died at the age of 52 from a cerebral aneurism, is always being remembered, fondly, at www.laurabraniganonline.com.

laura-branigan

Until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

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Julie Wilson on Monsters

Published July 13, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

Julie Angry

Sultry cabaret legend (and Broadway performer) Julie Wilson joined the ranks of such acclaimed stage doyennes as Vivian Blaine, Gisele McKenzie and Patricia Morison when she appeared on the 1991 Monsters episode, A Face for Radio. All these grand dames of the dusky boards had horror credits to their names and Wilson was a welcome addition to the club.

Julie Morton Here as the clairvoyant Cassandra, Wilson tries to warn Morton Downey, Jr.’s obnoxious Ray Bright about impending danger. Of course, Bright treats Cassandra with nothing but skeptism and scorn. Despite this hateful onslaught, Wilson allows her character to maintain the cool regality that made her a wonder of the song set and establishes Cassandra as someone with both compassion and a rigid will. Naturally, Bright’s cynicism eventually relegates him to the clutches of a Dick Smith inspired creature in the episode’s penultimate awakening. Still, the finest moments here, for terror freaks who like the horror mixed with a cup of class, belong to Wilson.

Julie Monster

Interestingly, the smoky Laura Branigan, a singer who possessed a much different style yet equally passionate fan base, also appears here as the woman who helps spell Downey’s doom. All in all, it’s a twisted music lover’s wonderland.

julie singing

Until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Maria Vidal

Published June 25, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

Maria once

Sweet toned songstress Mara Vidal has a very public reminder of learning an ex-boyfriend was gay. Former beau (and master songwriter) Desmond Child’s lyrics for The Truth Comes Out on Runners in the Night, the last album of Desmond Child and Rouge (a band that Vidal was a member of), detail how Child revealed his orientation to her.

The understanding Vidal, known in metal circles for her backing vocals on Kiss’ Paul Stanley’s solo album, went on, after that group’s disbandment, to be somewhat of a soundtrack queen. Body Rock, the title song to a Lorenzo Lamas vehicle, was the only song of hers to crack the Top 40 in the early ’80s. But horror comedy lovers know her best for contributing 2 tracks to 1985’s Once Bitten.

Indeed, her seductive warbling on Hands Off! helped contribute to that film’s most memorable moment. Seemingly spoofing Chris Sarandon’s seduction of Amanda Bearse in Fright Night, here Lauren Hutton bedazzles a reluctantly flexible Jim Carrey on the dance floor.

Despite the magical mood created there, Vidal, who released a pretty self titled full length in 1987, never truly found the recognition that she deserves.

But, for the lucky ones, her best performances will always live on in our neon stroked dreams.

maria vidal

Until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Josie Cotton

Published June 18, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

josiecotton-jimmylovesmaryann

Johnny Are You Queer? put her on her on the map, but the fabulous Josie Cotton actually released a couple of albums in the ’80s, chock full of gorgeous New Wave tunes, that were worthy of equal attention. Nicely, she also applied a distinctly creepy vibe as she and Adam Ant stalked Pierce Brosnan and Lesley-Anne Down throughout the LA underground in the dreamy horror flick Nomads.

Interestingly, in her own right, Cotton is a lover of B-Movies and odd cinema. Thus her 2007 recording Invasion of the B-Girls, containing the theme songs to various drive-in classics, was born.

Here, though, she supplies a spooky carnival vibe, years before Ryan Murphy went there with American Horror Story, with the video to Jimmy Loves Maryann. It’s a highlight from 1984’s From the Hip, her excellent second album.

Until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

josie cotton nomads

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Eva Everything

Published June 4, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

eva everything

Independent and adventurous, Canadian singer Eva Everything produced an album, an E.P. and a handful of eclectic music videos in the ’80s, all decorated with a groovy, DIY vibe.

This energy led to the inclusion of No Pleasure, perhaps her most popular song, in Tibor Takacs’ mini-monster, home invasion fest The Gate.

Meanwhile, her video for that song’s companion piece, Painless, rings with comedy, truth and entrepreneurship. Everyone here worked on a volunteer basis.

Until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

the gate

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Robey

Published May 28, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

The scintillatingly singular Robey spent three years in the late ‘80s hunting down cursed objects on Friday the 13^th:The Series. Nicely, while Micki, her compassionate and adventurous character, continuously saved the world from mass destruction, Robey was also setting the music world on fire with a number of hummable dance tracks.

Her most popular song, of course, was a cover of One Night in Bangkok from the musical Chess. The astoundingly cool video also features a number of horror tinged references proving that this amber waved lass was always looking out for her favorite horror freaks, wherever they happened to roam.

Until the next time – SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

robey and vanity

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Lee Remick

Published May 21, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

lee remick the omen

Richard Burton threatened her with The Medusa Touch and little Damian broke her body (and her heart) in The Omen. But the scrumptious Lee Remick did have some heroes in her life, as well.

Surprisingly, famed composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim was one of them. Remick appeared in the original Broadway production of Sondheim’s well regarded (yet short lived) Anyone Can Whistle and she also glammed it up in an all star production of his Follies in the ‘80s.

Here, with direct forcefulness, she takes on the bad guys in her own way with There Won’t Be Trumpets, one of her best remembered numbers from Whistle.

Until the next time – SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

lee remick glamour

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Michael Parks

Published May 14, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

Michael Parks Tusk

He was marketed as the ‘60s heir to such rebels as James Dean and Marlon Brando. Despite multiple credits, the truly eclectic Michael Parks didn’t really find true fame until a role in From Dusk to Dawn revitalized him for a new generation, though.

Parks, who passed away at the age of 77 on May 9^th (2017), also recently did amazing, soulful work in such genre projects as We Are What We Are and Tusk. As many potential heartthrobs before him, Parks released a number of albums in the early ‘70s, as well. Although, his quiet country and folk anthems will probably have a more enduring resonance than the pop styles of so many cute one hit wonders that came before and after him.

Nicely, Long Lonesome Highway, perhaps his best known number, seems to have a particular meaning now as he, quietly and peacefully, goes on his final, most enduring journey.

Until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

michael bus

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