Music to Make Horror Movies By: Harold Lloyd, Jr.

Published June 12, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

Harold

“Me and my shadow / Strolling down the avenue / Me and my shadow / Not a soul to tell our troubles to” – Rose, Dreyer, Jolson

It was easy to escape the influence of my forebears – a couple potions and a naked rendezvous or two with devilish types and I was as good as new. Harold Lloyd, Jr. (1931 – 1971) had a bit more difficult time. As the son of Harold Lloyd, one of cinematic comedy’s early kings, Lloyd struggled to make his way in show business…and life.

Still, the troubled man landed roles in a couple cult classics. He sensitively (if slightly exaggeratedly) paints a portrait of a kind yet conflicted youth in The Flaming Urge (1953), the story of an obsessed fire chaser who is accused of a series of arsons in a small town. He is probably best remembered, though, for his energy filled take on the extremely horny Don in the fun teen drive-in horror Frankenstein’s Daughter (1958).

Lloyd Jr. also pursued a singing career, releasing one album. His smooth delivery and easy tones work well with this version of Go Back to Him. Meanwhile, astute Hollywood followers may note this selection with some sense of irony as Lloyd Jr.’s homosexuality was a fairly well known secret in a time when such matters were less socially acceptable.

Unfortunately, this brave yet sensitive soul died from complications from a stroke, perhaps caused by his alcoholism, at age 40, long before reaching his full potential. Here’s hoping that posterity will, eventually, be kinder to him than he was to himself.

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

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Connie Stevens

Published May 22, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

connie Two-On-A-Guillotine-horror-movies-2885712-532-391

Someone lend this lady a comb! The delicious Connie Stevens has been knocking fans cold for generations. But, while afternoon movie lovers have thrilled to her screams in the 1965 drive-in classic Two on a Guillotine for decades now, many may not realize that Stevens, who also graced an existential episode of Tales from the Darkside, was also a chart topping teen, renowned for such hits as Sixteen Reasons. The re-release of her take on The Hank Williams Songbook also garnered positive vibes from the hardcore alt-country crowd, in recent years.

Here, her sweet and sensual take on I Couldn’t Say No, written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin, could apply to everything from that swarthy thug on the street to that irresistible carton of chocolate dabbed donuts at midnight. Enjoy!

Meanwhile, Connie is always merely a cricket’s chirp away at www.conniestevens.com.

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

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Hoyt Axton

Published May 16, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

hoyt gremlins

Decades before he entered an entire generation’s collective heart as the slightly flummoxed American benefactor of Gizmo in Gremlins, Hoyt Axton was already hanging out with the cool kids. His mother, Mae Boren Axton, was the co-writer of the popular Elvis number Heartbreak Hotel and, as a beloved songwriter and singer in his own right, his songs were covered by such personalities as Cher, Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie and Three Dog Night.

Axton, whose other horror credits include Retribution and Buried Alive, was even joined by Linda Ronstadt on the beautiful and heart breaking Lion in the Winter, which was featured on his popular 1975 A & M album, Southbound.

Pretty enough to make a Mogwai cry, no?

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

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Frankenstein’s Daughter

Published April 24, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

frankenstein's daughter

Sometimes when you need to be taken into hand, it doesn’t matter who is doing it. Heck…even a Daddy Bird would do in a pinch!

Of course, as Page Cavanaugh and his Trio warned us in 1958 drive-in horror Frankenstein’s Daughter, a daddy bird is bound to fly away.

So….until next time, when perhaps beggars can be choosers…

SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Killer Fish/Amii Stewart

Published April 11, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

amii

1979’s Killer Fish was part heist flick, part disaster epic and part nature gone wild horror flick. Perhaps fortunately, The Winner Takes it All, the film’s end credit theme song, performed by the glorious Amii Stewart, is all disco, though.

Stewart, best known for her outrageous costumes (as witnessed above) and a popular (late ’70s) cover of ‘60s hit Knock on Wood, has also released an album featuring composer Ennio Morricone’s best known songs, which should further endear her to Euro exploitation buffs. killer fish

The gloriously bad Killer Fish, meanwhile, was recently released on Blu-Ray by ITV Studios and Scorpion Releasing after years of VHS obscurity.

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

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Pier Angeli

Published April 3, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

Folds: Pier wigs out!

Perhaps best known to celebrity connoisseurs as the tragic love of the rebellious James Dean, the beautiful Pier Angeli (1932-1971) had a respectable if unremarkable career in Hollywood during the 50s and 60s. Cult film lovers, of course, adore her for two of her latter day projects.

In fact, Octaman, in which she plays researcher Susan Lowry, has to one of the most amateur, and therefore memorable, eco-monster horrors ever produced while In the Folds of the Flesh, with its overtones of incest, Nazi exploitation and delusional double crossing, is one of the more bizarre and sleazier Euro terrors to emerge in the early 70s.

While Angeli attacks her sensual and murderous Falesse/Ester in Folds with calculated authority, she brought a much more sophisticated sexuality to many of the tunes on her 1959 recording Italia con Pier Angeli. Her take on Luna Rossa is a prime example.

The talented Angeli, who died at 39 of an overdose, has been memorialized, nicely, at http://www.annamariapierangeli.com.

pier octaman

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

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Daliah Lavi

Published March 27, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

daliah

Enacting the passionate throes of Nevenka Menliff as she endured the casual cruelty of Christopher Lee’s Kurt in Mario Bava’s Gothic horror The Whip and the Body surely gave the delicious Daliah Lavi some insight into those less fortunate than others.

Indeed, one need only listen to her dramatic vocalizing of Sympathy to grasp how deeply this exotic beauty, whose other groovy genre style credits include The Return of Dr. Mabuse, The Demon and Ten Little Indians, recognizes the plight of those in need.

Lovely…

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

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: George Maharis

Published March 20, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

Maharis ‘sees the light’ in Rosemary’s Baby sequel.

Using his handsome swarthiness with toxic intent, Greek maverick George Maharis brought slick evilness to such 70s television terrors as The Victim, Look What’s Happened to Rosemary’s Baby, where he took over the role of Guy Woodhouse from John Cassavetes, and (Mystery Science Theater 3000 favorite) SST: Death Flight.

One of the first male celebrities to pose entirely nude for Playgirl, Maharis proved his resilience when a 1974 arrest for lewd conduct with another man didn’t totally stall his career. But, this should come as no surprise when you view this smooth, theatre trained performer, who released multiple albums during his prime, in this clip from an episode of Hullabaloo. Maharis was, obviously, way too groovy to let any scandal ever slow him down!

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

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George in repose.

Music to Make Horror Movies By: Rough Trade

Published March 6, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

rough trade

Get out those bedazzled telescopes! You might need them to spot Carole Pope and Kevan Staples, AKA Rough Trade, who were so far ahead of their time, musically and culturally, that they almost belong in outer space.

Blending cinematic violence with humor and advanced queer politics, a mixture more effective than a combination of Anita Ekberg and Mamie Van Doren, this duo revolutionized sexuality through their sophisticated new wave and pop tunes (and tongue-in-cheek name) – and also, occasionally, entered the public consciousness at large with such tunes as High School Confidential and No Contact.

Pope’s work has even found its way onto the soundtrack of horror parody Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13^th. But the bloody consequences inherent is such songs as Vertigo, Endless Night, Grade B Movie and others should have placed them on many a terror film soundtrack if this was truly a just world. In fact, the video for Crimes of Passion, one of their most noir-like creations, serves as prime evidence to back up that statement.

While Staples (www.kevanstaples.com) has successfully concentrated on composing for film, as of late, Pope is still battling it out in the singer-songwriter trenches and can be found at www.carolepope.com. Send them some much deserved loving!!

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

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Tallulah Bankhead

Published February 28, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

Madame Bankhead strikes a cutting pose with Stephanie Powers in Die! Die! My Darling!

Wrapping up an illustrious (yet controversial) acting career with a Hammer Horror may not seem like a fitting exit to some, but her appearance in Die! Die! My Darling! (AKA Fanatic) allows thankful terror freaks to claim the irreplaceable Tallulah Bankhead as one of their own. (Note: Bankhead would go on to appear on shows like Batman and do vocal work for a film called The Daydreamer, but this was her last major onscreen cinematic experience.)

Of course, even the most heartfelt admirers of this notorious theater doyenne would probably never claim that her charms belonged, full time, in a concert hall. Yet the adventurous Bankhead was known to warble a tune or two in various revues and on select radio programs.

Granted, her singing voice is not a technical wonder, but this hard living broad brought the breadth of her experience to the numbers she performed, allowing audiences to believe that she had truly lived every wrangled syllable.

Such is the case with this 1930 recording of What Do I Care? Viva la life experience, darlings!

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

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