Hello boys and ghouls! Welcome to the first grisly installment of Little Tape of Horrors! Since its Days Are Numbers’ favourite time of the year, I thought it would it be devilish to put together a couple of special Halloween playlists for you to enjoy.

Part one is Gravest Hits, a dastardly mix of 50s death hits, howlin’ rockabilly, sinister soul and some (black) magic courtesy of the mercurial Joe Meek.

If these monster favourites don’t kick open the crypt or get the werewolves dancing, then wait for part two! LOL!

Sleaze Week wouldn’t be Sleaze Week without an appearance from Nico Fedenco. The sleaziest don of all the sleazy dons when it comes to soft-core porn soundtracks, Fedenco composed nearly all of the legendary mucky film series Emmanuelle! He also composed the experimental electronic score to Emanuelle’s most prominent director Joe D’Amato’s other well-known flick Zombi Holocaust. In fact, both this score and Emanuelle E Gli Ultimi Cannibali’ (aka ‘Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals’)* were issued as a single album release back in 1996. Sexy zombies indeed…

Anyway, ‘Eternal Anguish’ is taken from 1977’s Emanuelle Around The World (“She’s doing the world in 80 ways!!” GENIUS) and is a naughty little Moroder rip off. The ubiquitous ‘I Feel Love’ is teased out under a wave exotic percussion and sound effects resulting in an erotic yet slightly sinister track. It’s still a bit sexy though….

*why haven’t I seen this??

Nico Fidenco – Eternal Anguish

The Man From U.N.K.L.E David McCallum, teamed up with legendary producer David Axelrod in 1967 to record the cult crate diggin’ classic, Music- It’s Happening Now! (great title) in 1967.

House of Mirrors was sampled by DJ Shadow on his track Dark Days back in 2000. The lopsided and laidback feel of the track makes it ever so inviting and slightly bewitching…

The lovely and hypnotic grooves provided by the superb musicianship of Carol Kaye and Earl Palmer, as well the silky production stewardship of Axelrod, creates the perfect Halloween warm up track. Put it on while you’re making your Zombie punch, it’ll add a touch of swinging 60s glamour to the proceedings. Or something like that.

David McCallum – House Of Mirrors

I was tempted to post DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince’s Nightmare On MY Street today and then I thought, nah, let’s listen to the final track of Charles Bernstein’s underrated score to Wes Craven’s 1984 film Nightmare On Elm Street instead!

Bernstein’s brooding use of creepy electronics perfectly complements the claustrophobic dreamlike world inhabited by our heroine Nancy and the quite loveable in a way, Freddy Krueger.

The sinister high tempo synths and the jagged and unsettling bass line makes ‘Run Nancy!’ the adrenalin-fuelled highlight of the soundtrack.

Charles Bernstein – Run, Nancy!

‘Flying Machine (The Chase)’ is considered by many to be War’s finest moment. Taken from the soundtrack to Youngblood, a film about an L.A. street kid starring Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs, it has since been proven to be the LA’s street band’s most diverse recording to date.

Released in 1978, War’s first soundtrack is reminiscent of Isaac Hayes’ score to the 1974 Blaxploitation classic Truck Turner (check out the sumptuous ‘The Pursuit of the Pimpmobile’), thus making it an essential 70’s funk “chase” scene theme, if you know what I mean. Ahem.

The fast and quirky breaks are skillfully intertwined with Charles Miller’s sublime flute flashes, resulting in an urgent and energetic funk explosion. Due to the up-tempo nature of the song, it quickly became a cult favourite amongst legendary disco DJs such as David Mancuso and Nicky Siano. Still sounding ‘right-on’, this fantastic track  has lost none of it’s appeal and marks the moment when War bolstered their credentials as serious but eclectic purveyors of funk and soul.

War – Flying Machine (The Chase)

Who’d have  thought that Janis ‘At Seventeen’ Ian recorded a sexy disco song?  Well she did and she did it with the one and only Giorgio Moroder. The pair teamed up in 1979 to record a song for the Jodie Foster-starred movie ‘Foxes’ (no, me neither but its got Jodie in it so it might be good) and ‘Fly Too High’  was the result.

Slinky and quite seductive, Moroder plays to Janis’ strengths (vocals and lyrics) and produces a sophisticated disco song (it even has a smooth and sexy sax or ‘saxy’ bit!). The soundtrack actually contains some good stuff. From long-term collaborator Donna Summer (‘On The Radio) to Moroder’s own compositions, its worth checking out. Especially for Cher’s stinker of an effort (‘Bad Love’). Saxy stuff indeed!

Janis Ian – Fly Too High

Janis Ian – Fly Too High

Welcome to Monday Morricone Madness!!! We know its been a while but don’t worry as we’re back with a bang!! With more Morricone features being planned in light of  Quentin Tarantino’s patronage to the Maestro on his new film ‘Inglorious Basterds’, there’s no better time to discover the magical world of Ennio Morricone!

As Alan is on his hols, we’ve managed to rope in the lovely Paul from the lovely LoveLockAndLoad to step in to Al’s big ol’ shoes (not literally - but he does have big shoes) this week and tell us all about Sergio Corbucci’s 1970′s classic ‘Companeros’. With myself casting a critical over the soundtrack afterwards, it makes for a cracking Monday Morricone Madness comeback. So Paul, who’s this Franco Nero fella I keep hearing about?

Back in the sixties, on the soundstages of Cinecittà or throughout the vast open spaces of Almería, you couldn’t spit without hitting a Sergio directing a spaghetti Western. Of course, the work of Sergio Leone is considered to be pinnacle of the genre, but what about the lesser known, but in many ways equally talented Sergios Sollima and Corbucci? Outside of the film cognoscenti, Sollima and Corbucci aren’t afforded the same level of respect as Leone; this is probably due to the fact that both endured careers that saw them pursue the path of journeymen directors, working within many different genres, rather than being synonymous with just one, like Leone has since become. Leone’s ‘Dollars’ trilogy was incredibly popular throughout the world, and with a massive share of the profits from the second and third films in the series, the auteur was soon wealthy enough to become incredibly choosy when picking projects. To Sollima and Corbucci, filmmaking was a job that paid the bills, and while both directors had had their fair share of artistic triumphs and box office hits, most of them were modest by comparison to those of Leone.

While Leone is often credited as the originator of the Italian Western, some of his peers had been making them a good few years before, Corbucci included, with his first, RED PASTURES released a year before A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS. It wasn’t however until the release of DJANGO in 1966 that Corbucci’s credentials as a filmmaker became clear for all to see. DJANGO has a much darker tone than that of Leone’s westerns and is far more brutal. In fact, the film’s violence proved so problematic that it remained banned by the British censor until the early 1990s. As commercially successful as it was innovative and audacious, DJANGO would not only establish the prominence of its director, but that of the film’s grey-eyed star, Franco Nero. Nero, who had languished in supporting roles previously, found his career as a leading man taking off almost over night.

 Nero and Corbucci were soon reunited when the pair embarked upon IL MERCENARIO (THE MERCENARY aka A PROFESSIONAL GUN) a couple of years later, though due to it being co-financed by a US studio, United Artists, it’s far lighter in tone than DJANGO and far less subversive.  IL MERCENARIO finds Nero playing Sergei Kowalski, a Polish immigrant mercenary who becomes entangled in a plot that involves shipments of silver, Mexican revolutionaries lead by Paco (Tony Musante – best known as the lead in Dario Argento’s debut, THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE) and Curly and Sebastian (played by Jack Palance and José Canalejas, respectively), a pair of gay hired killers. While never pushing the envelope quite like DJANGO had, IL MECENARIO is a fun film and one that’s definitely worth seeking out. Nero’s character is a likeable lead and there’s a typically majestic score by Ennio Morricone, cues from which were later reused in KILL BILL films almost four decades later.

IL MERCENARIO’s greatest legacy is that its storyline serves as a template for Corbucci’s COMPAÑEROS (aka VAMOS A MATAR, COMPAÑEROS). Made in 1970 and again featuring Franco Nero as the lead, COMPAÑEROS follows IL MERCENARIO’s set-up quite closely. Nero stars as Yolaf Petersen, a Swedish arms dealer who becomes embroiled in a scheme with a Mexican General to rob a safe belonging to rebels. In order to do so, Petersen must first spring the rebel leader Professor Xantos (Fernando Rey) from a US prison, as he is the only person known to have the safe’s combination. Reluctantly and under false pretenses, Petersen is paired with Basco (Tomas Milian), the rebel leader, and the duo cross the border into the States. However, the tables are soon turned when after busting Xantos out of prison, a deal is made between the shady General and US officials, resulting in the hiring of one-armed, pot-smoking killer, John (Palance again), who is dispatched to murder Xantos.

 Nero and Palance are playing the same characters essentially, with Milian filling Musante’s shoes. With COMPAÑEROS, rather than being a boring rehash of IL MERCENARIO, Corbucci managed to surpass the earlier film in almost every possible way. For starters Nero and Milian make a far more appealing duo than that of the pairing in the previous film. There’s plenty of humour in the banter between the two characters which is quite far removed from anything seen in Cobrucci’s films up to this point and one would assume this may have been borne out of a desire to ape the success of THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY. There was humour present throughout IL MERCENARIO (which was co-written by UGLY’s co-writer, Luciano Vincenzoni) but is by far more successful here. Palance’s John is altogether quirkier here too, spending much of the film pie-eyed and in the company of his pet Falcon. Corbucci’s himself also seems far more assured as a director than he did when making IL MERCENARIO too, as COMPAÑEROS is faster paced and far more action-packed. Once again Morricone provides a suitably infectious score, with a main theme that stands as one of my own personal favourites.

COMPAÑEROS has dated impeccably and is a film that and something for everyone. There is no DVD currently available in the UK, but the US disc is region free and easy to find on Amazon. The film is presented in its original Technovision widescreen ratio and looks sumptuous. The feature is accompanied by interviews with Nero and Milian and the original trailer. (Paul Alaoui)

A big, big thank you to Paul! I should send Alan away on holiday more often! Arf!

 COMPANEROS was collaboration number six for Morricone and Corbucci. With the Maestro being famously associated with’ Sergio ‘Mr Spaghetti Westerns’ Leone , his incredible output for Corbucci is somewhat overlooked .His scores for IL GRADE SILENZIO and IL MERCENARIO are two of his finest and accomplished works.

 Close friend and long-term collaborator Bruno Nicolai (who also worked on IL GRANDE SILENZIO) conducted the score, providing style and quality which illuminates Morricone’s original compositions. Whenever Corbucci and Morricone get together, it’s always a memorable and joyous adventure and this Monday Morricone Madness is no exception.

 The music is a perfect accompaniment to the rip-roaring action on screen. As Paul mentioned earlier, the film is laced with humour and the light heartedness that Morricone undertakes adds a gentle and playful tone to the film. His trademark sound for Leone also features heavily. The fuzzy, twangy guitars, whistling banjos, the feral shrieks from ‘THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY’ all appear. The sound rattles and soars within the ragged location captured beautifully by the cinematographer Alejandro Ulloa. Most memorable is the galloping, haunting and slightly melancholic title theme. This will stay with you for a long time.

Overall, this is one of Morricone’s best (but we say that on every Monday Morricone Monday, don’t we?). It’s a passionate, imperious display from Il Maestro. It’s worth adding COMPANEROS to your Morricone collection as it has the versatility and character that epitomizes the film. Effortless, charming and simply unforgettable, this is an outstanding and enthralling effort. It will also make you shout ‘COMPANEROS!!’ for a week or two. This isn’t a bad thing, believe me.

Once again we say, ‘Maestro, we salute you!’

Here’s the aforementioned opening title theme…

We all know John Carpenter is a talented little so and so (says so here) when it comes to recording his own music and that. So, I don’t really need to go into detail about Mr. Carpenter’s genius but today’s single is taken from his underrated score to his film adaptation of the Stephen King novel ‘Christine’.

I won’t go into detail about the film itself (quick overview: crazy car kills crazy teenagers) that’s Alan’s job but with that quick and concise overview I think I’ve given Alan a run for his money, anyway… The soundtrack is well worth tracking down. Bearing all the hallmarks of a Carpenter score, it’s atmospheric, eerie, desolate, minimal – in another words you know it’s John Carpenter. Dismissed by many on it’s release because it contained none of the fifties music in the film (not even the title theme ’Bad To The Bone’), it’s been languishing in the ‘meh’ file of Carpenter’s back catalogue for far too long now.  

‘Moochie’s Death’ is one of the highlights of the soundtrack and demonstrates the slightly (!) deranged curiousness of the film. Chilling, warped and obsessive, the track resonates well with the current ‘electro/leftfield’ scene. You could easily open your DJ sets or mixes with this and be subsequently lauded for being the electronic connoisseur. Go on, try it! And let us know how you get on but watch out for that crazy car.