2020 NY Night Train Haunted Hop Halloween Mix is up!

Jonathan Toubin / New York Night Train · Jonathan Toubin's 2020 Haunted Hop Halloween Mix



While this is the first year without a New York Night Train Haunted Hop since 2006 (this year we had Amyl and the Sniffers confirmed!), you can use this, my 11th annual Halloween mix, to pretend you’re at the party in the comfort of you own home! I hope you get a kick outta this odd and broad combination of punk, funk, country, garage, blues, what the heck, calypso, Halloween novelties, and the beyond.

You can stream the last 7 Halloween mixes continuously in my Soundcloud playlist and 11 hours of the old Halloween mixes here on my Mixcloud playlist… Here’re the original 45s you’re listening to…



1) POCKET FISHRMEN “THE LEADER IS BURNING” (NOISEVILLE, 1989) Not specifically a Halloween song but I figured it’d be good juju to open with this one right now! Pocket Fishrmen were one of my favorite bands when I lived Austin. I must’ve seen ‘em dozens and dozens and dozens of times and I could’ve died happy after my band got to open for them for the first time at Austin Outhouse in my teens. They were a group of misfits who all had distinct visual and musical styles and when they got together conjured a wildly distinctive racket even for freaky Austin back then. Also they were unique in that they were a 50/50 racially mixed punk band. And did I mention they wrote loads of memorable material and were sweaty spectacular showmen? While still obscure outside of my old world, this single got a bit of notoriety when it appeared in John Peel’s favorite 100 45s record box after his death. Also dig the wild phased-out guitar solo! This band was still shakin’ last time I checked!

2) THE N’ BETWEENS “EVIL WITCHMAN” (COLUMBIA UK, 1966) The N’ Betweens were the four members of Slade before they changed their name and this Kim Fowley-produced horror garage rocker is one of my favorite 60s platters ever! Exploding from the grooves with speed, dynamics, and passion, “Evil Witchman” also executed with very virtuosic chops and supremely rockin’ aesthetics that made this quartet stand out from the rest of the pack when they changed their name and their style evolved a few years later.


3) BOBBY BYRD “BACK FROM THE DEAD” (INTERNATIONAL BROTHERS, 1974)
After a couple of decades as James Brown’s righthand man, Bobby Byrd didn’t feel he was getting properly credited and paid for his quintessential role in Brown’s enterprise and material and also ran off and married Brown’s former chanteuse Vicki Anderson (who this song is also a love letter to). So he split and came “back from the dead “as a solo act – proving on tracks like this that he didn’t need the godfather to be to get this funky! This copy has seen better days but means a lot to me as its from the first 45 lot I ever bought (from a friend working at a junk store… a few hundred insane soul and funk platters for a few bucks – giving me get my start as a 45 jock with no financially means!)


4) THE DEVILS “X-SORCIST” (PEOPLE, 1974)
While Bobby Byrd was back from the dead, and “The Exorcist” was the #1 movie in America, James Brown, billing himself here as “Minister of New New Super Heavy Funk,” was experimenting with horror funk when he wrote and produced this obscure masterpiece featuring Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley, and the rest of his iconic band under “The Devils” pseudonym. This evil ember has been setting my Halloween parties on fire for a decade now and it’ll keep it burning as long as I can.


5) EDDIE MILLER AND HIS BAND “GHOST TOWN” (4 STAR)
This is the kind of lonely spacious western reverb dirges that wouldn’t be outta place in a Cohen Brothers’ flick… Eddie Miller was a prolific songwriter (“Release Me” and hundreds of others) but only waxed a handful of records between the 40s and 60s.


6) THE TRAITS “NOBODY LOVES THE HULK” (QUEEN CITY)
An oddball favorites of many NYC DJs – maybe because of the cool primitive picture sleeve copies Norton used to have in bulk in their office? Or just how heavily its been comped? Written and produced by comic book fan Rosalind Rogoff (who has a blog and writes about it) and recorded by a New Rochelle high school band called The Traits (not to be confused with Texas’ Roy Head Traits), this novelty only sold a few hundred copies in its time but was way too charming and unique to remain in the dust bin! “Nobody Loves The Hulk” is back from the dead!


7) JOHN ZACHERLE “IVAN” (CAMEO)
Another one the all-time mightiest and sickest Halloween jams and I don’t know how I put over 250 of these on my mixes and didn’t include this masterpiece yet! Dick Clark, whose daughter was a big Zacherle fan, decided to capitalize on the Philadelphia horror host’s popularity by making a record. But once he heard “Ivan” b/w the original “Dinner With Drac,”, he refused to play it and had Zacherle go back to the studio and re-record “Dinner With Drac” with safer lyrics. They had to drop “Igor” in its entirety because there’s nary a salvageable line to appease Dick Clark’s worldview. But Clark’s commercial sensibilities were once again confirmed when “Dinner With Drac” hit the Top 10. Its commercial success created a whole new horror pop market that made the “Monster Mash” and all of the other hits and misses that followed possible. But what would’ve happened if “Igor” got its chance in the spotlight? At the least it would’ve shook things up a bit. And, no offense Bob Dylan, but all of the lyrics from start to finish may be worthy of a Nobel prize. “A werewolf once tore his own hide/to find out just what was inside / He bit and he tore / ‘Till his hands ran with gore / But before he found out he died”… Really, all the verses tho… And listen to that raw sleazy band go for it! Blow man blow!


8) THE PHARAOHS “THE GREEN WEREWOLF” (IONA, 1960)
This band and record are both so obscure that I can’t find any info except its on the cool short lived L.A. Iona imprint. Uncommonly relentless and super-charged proto-surf exuberance!


9) MAE WEST “SHAKIN’ ALL OVER” (TOWER, 1966)
Mae West was so ahead of her time that this 20s/30s starlet she fit right in when the 60s started swingin’! And listen to her killer band!!! And the huge sound!!! One of my favorite versions of one of my favorite songs!


10)THE RAINBOWS “GONNA GO DOWN (TO SEE MY BABY)” (LIL, 1962)
A really creepy love song that I pitched down a few hairs to accentuate your sense of discomfort! While this record was briefly later licensed by Mercury, I could find nothing about this band or even the existence of this strange imprint….


11) GOOGIE RENE “BIG FOOT” (CLASS, 1958)
L.A.’s prolific and shockingly under-rated pianist/organist/bandleader/producer Googie Rene made so many killer sides and this is one of his finest – a massive ode to your favorite outdoorsy monster and elusive celebrity!


12) THE ECHOS “HAUNTED” (SAGE, 1960)
Another unknown record by an unknown band on a L.A. imprint. This one has an elegantly percussive Blob-ish groove augmented by a “Love Is Strange” style guitar break, ectoplasmic vocal chorus, and some creepy honking near the end!


13) SCREAMIN’ JAY HAWKINS “FRENZY” (FONTANA SWEDEN, 1958)
A stone cold classic and one of my top Screamin’ Jay tracks by far! Really a perfect track in every way and while the vocals are always the star of the show, Mickey Baker’s guitar work is so amazing and this solo has been such an inspiration to me since I was a teen! Weird wild spooky kookie sexy supreme stuff all around! “If blood gushes from my heart like water from the spout…” I can’t believe i never put this on a Halloween mix before!


14) GRIZ GREEN “JAM AT THE MORTUARY” (BLUE RIVER, 1965)
The flip side to “Creepy Willy” (see my 2016 mix!)… The former miner who earned his fame as a


15) DR. SHOCK “LET THERE BE FRIGHT” (GREENTREE, 1970)
Philadelphia horror show host and heir apparent to Zacherle Dr. Shock made some killer singles that often turn up on my Halloween feasts and this one coupled with “The Bloody” (see my 2016 mix) is definitely my favorite! The band is really groovy and Dr Shock even does the funky chicken! Let there be fright!


16) LITTLE ‘GUITAR PICKETT’ AND HIS FABULOUS ROCKIN’ FENDERS “THE BUZZARD” (JACK, 1966)
Another unknown artist with only one known release on an unknown label with only one known release! The flip appeared on the obscure early 80s “Houston Shuffle” compilation where they were only able to find out he was from Galveston and recorded this in Houston in 1965. A wild dance!


17) JOHNNY CALE “SHOCK HOP” (MERCURY, 1958)
Really cool Munsters-y horror instro chock full o’ maniacal laughter breaks waxed by a teenage J.J. Cale – presumably the legendary singer/songwriter’s first record!


18) LORD MELODY “CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON” (COOK, 1958)
One of the holy trinity of calypsonians turning out one of many great horror-themed Caribbean jams where he finds out second hand that he’s ugly and “The Creature From The Black Lagoon” is father! This one obtained courtesy of NYC’s legendary Record Grouch Doug Pressman!


19) JUNIOR WELLS “HOODOO MAN BLUES” (DELMARK UK, 1965)
The title track from one of my favorite blues LPs ever – with killer tremolo-ed out Buddy Guy guitar, a stone groove, and of course Jr Wells’ singular harp blowing! Somebody just hoodoo-ed the hoodoo man! Another all-time classic!


20) THE DYNAMICS “UNCLE WILLIE” (SAA-CE, ?)
Another one that’s the only known record by an artist as the only known release on the label! No info but what a cool vocal group rhythm and blues with a flute and the entire cast of monsters dancing with Uncle Willy!


21) DEBORAH WALLEY “SOMETIMES IN MY DARKEST HOUR” (DEE GEE, 1965)
Beach party movie actress (“Gidget Goes Hawaiin,” etc) made a record and this melancholy creeper is the B-side!


22)MOE KOFFMAN QUINTET “THE COOL GHOUL” (PALLETTE, 1963)
Canadian wind and reed jazz player, composer, arranger, and band leader Moe Koffman out Weatherman’s Will Ferrell’s flute solos on this dynamic spooky swinger! And check that killer diller organ solo!


23) BILL ANSON “LEECHES” (AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL, 1959)
Our apocalyptic farewell track is the better part of the theme to Roger Corman’s 1959 horror beatnik flick “Bucket of Blood”…

Jonathan Toubin / New York Night Train · JONATHAN TOUBIN'S ANNUAL HALLOWEEN MIXES