The Sounds of Christmas station switches to Halloween music in October, which is now just around the corner.
I get questions about that a lot, and I even re-posted a blog about it recently on the Sounds of Christmas website, and I’ve recorded similar podcasts episodes about it in the past, but since this is starting up next week, I thought it was time to talk about it again..
This is a tradition I started years ago, in the early days of the Sounds of Christmas station. I’m going to share this story once again, as I think it really illustrates how and why the Sounds of Halloween came to be.
Like most families, Halloween and Christmas have always been big at our house. Lisa and the kids are on the Halloween side, while I'm with Santa.
I learned long ago not to try and convert any of them. I think what happened at Disneyland once explains it best. In one of the studios at California Adventure, you can use this machine to determine which hero or villain you are.
I was Tarzan. All three of them were villains.
I get questions about that a lot, and I even re-posted a blog about it recently on the Sounds of Christmas website, and I’ve recorded similar podcasts episodes about it in the past, but since this is starting up next week, I thought it was time to talk about it again..
This is a tradition I started years ago, in the early days of the Sounds of Christmas station. I’m going to share this story once again, as I think it really illustrates how and why the Sounds of Halloween came to be.
Like most families, Halloween and Christmas have always been big at our house. Lisa and the kids are on the Halloween side, while I'm with Santa.
I learned long ago not to try and convert any of them. I think what happened at Disneyland once explains it best. In one of the studios at California Adventure, you can use this machine to determine which hero or villain you are.
I was Tarzan. All three of them were villains.
Oh, well. They love me, anyway.
So as we move toward October, I get super-busy working on the new season of the Sounds of Christmas. While the station stays on year-round, I had decided to make a change in October, turning the Sounds of Christmas into the Sounds of Halloween from October 1 through Halloween night.
I admit, mostly, this was just for my family, while I kick the tires and otherwise make sure everything is set to go for the coming season, including loading lots of new music.
But I found there are a lot of other people that love Halloween, too, so, year after year, I've expanded the playlist, finding more and more Halloween music.
With all that said, what exactly is Halloween music?
Some of it is pretty obvious. Monster Mash. Purple People Eater. Ghostbusters. Songs about things you associate with Halloween - ghosts, monsters, werewolves, vampires and witches. Some are scary stories, and some are about candy or trick-or-treating.
I also include songs from scary movies and TV shows. Some of those are pretty creepy. And some are funny. Many are in-between.
While there are some kids' songs (like The Count from Sesame Street), a few of the songs do have bad language. And some of the themes of some songs are straight out of horror movies, and those probably aren't for little kids, either. I only say that so you’ll know that, for the month of October, parental guidance is suggested.
And like the Sounds of Christmas, I add new stuff to the Sounds of Halloween every year - like Charley Crockett’s version of “Ghost Riders In The Sky” from this summer’s movie Twisters as well as a track or two from the deluxe version of Duran Duran’s album “Danse Macabre”, which was originally released last year, Miley Cyrus' new take on “Psycho Killer” and new music from Disney Plus’ series’ Agatha All Along.
On the Sounds of Christmas, I play many versions of many songs, so you won't just hear Bing Crosby's version of "White Christmas". You'll hear lots of different singers and bands, old and new, offering their takes on that classic. And l do the same thing with the Halloween tunes. For example, I have over a dozen versions of "(Don’t Fear) The Reaper" and almost three dozen different takes on “I Put A Spell On You” (though I may not get to all of them this year, as I try to separate songs and artists so you don't hear the same songs and same voices over and over).
During the Sounds of Halloween, you will hear from many of your favorite Christmas music singers and bands, including Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Mannheim Steamroller and even Bruce Springsteen!
There are songs about Killer Tomatoes, Black Magic Women and Haunted Houses. There are also songs about Alien Invasions, Invisible Men and over a dozen versions of “Monster Mash").
And I play lots of Disney songs, from movie villains and from spooky shows on Disney Plus. I also have at least half a dozen songs from Mystery Science Theater 3000.
As a further example, and to give you a better idea of what I mean by Halloween music, here are a dozen songs I randomly shuffled from the Sounds of Halloween library as I put this latest blog together and added it to the Sounds of Christmas website...
Fifth Harmony “I’m in Love With A Monster"
Joe Wallace “Leopard Man"
Seaway “Brain In A Jar"
Jeff Bridges and the Rusty Pistols “Riders In The Sky (A Cowboy Legend)"
Van Halen “Runnin’ With The Devil"
Monotones “The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow"
L.A. Guns “Cry Little Sister"
Alice Cooper “Welcome To My Nightmare"
Billy Cobb “Halloween"
Rosemary Clooney “That Old Black Magic"
Justin Hayward “Forever Autumn”
Harry Belafonte “Reincarnation"
You probably recognized some of those songs, but are either unfamiliar with the artist I mentioned, or just didn’t realize they recorded a version of it as well as the popular one. For example, I have a bunch of versions of “Cry Little Sister”, including the original by Gerald McCann from the movie The Lost Boys, and I play all of those, but the one that shuffled out this time around was from L.A. Guns. Hope that makes sense.
One thing that is different this year is that the Sounds of Halloween will run until 6am (Eastern) on November 1. That way, the West Coast of the U.S. (and even Hawaii) will get a chance to finish celebrating Halloween, before the new season of the Sounds of Christmas begins.
I hope you enjoy this upcoming celebration of Halloween throughout October! And then the new season of the Sounds of Christmas will be here, starting on November 1!
So as we move toward October, I get super-busy working on the new season of the Sounds of Christmas. While the station stays on year-round, I had decided to make a change in October, turning the Sounds of Christmas into the Sounds of Halloween from October 1 through Halloween night.
I admit, mostly, this was just for my family, while I kick the tires and otherwise make sure everything is set to go for the coming season, including loading lots of new music.
But I found there are a lot of other people that love Halloween, too, so, year after year, I've expanded the playlist, finding more and more Halloween music.
With all that said, what exactly is Halloween music?
Some of it is pretty obvious. Monster Mash. Purple People Eater. Ghostbusters. Songs about things you associate with Halloween - ghosts, monsters, werewolves, vampires and witches. Some are scary stories, and some are about candy or trick-or-treating.
I also include songs from scary movies and TV shows. Some of those are pretty creepy. And some are funny. Many are in-between.
While there are some kids' songs (like The Count from Sesame Street), a few of the songs do have bad language. And some of the themes of some songs are straight out of horror movies, and those probably aren't for little kids, either. I only say that so you’ll know that, for the month of October, parental guidance is suggested.
And like the Sounds of Christmas, I add new stuff to the Sounds of Halloween every year - like Charley Crockett’s version of “Ghost Riders In The Sky” from this summer’s movie Twisters as well as a track or two from the deluxe version of Duran Duran’s album “Danse Macabre”, which was originally released last year, Miley Cyrus' new take on “Psycho Killer” and new music from Disney Plus’ series’ Agatha All Along.
On the Sounds of Christmas, I play many versions of many songs, so you won't just hear Bing Crosby's version of "White Christmas". You'll hear lots of different singers and bands, old and new, offering their takes on that classic. And l do the same thing with the Halloween tunes. For example, I have over a dozen versions of "(Don’t Fear) The Reaper" and almost three dozen different takes on “I Put A Spell On You” (though I may not get to all of them this year, as I try to separate songs and artists so you don't hear the same songs and same voices over and over).
During the Sounds of Halloween, you will hear from many of your favorite Christmas music singers and bands, including Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Mannheim Steamroller and even Bruce Springsteen!
There are songs about Killer Tomatoes, Black Magic Women and Haunted Houses. There are also songs about Alien Invasions, Invisible Men and over a dozen versions of “Monster Mash").
And I play lots of Disney songs, from movie villains and from spooky shows on Disney Plus. I also have at least half a dozen songs from Mystery Science Theater 3000.
As a further example, and to give you a better idea of what I mean by Halloween music, here are a dozen songs I randomly shuffled from the Sounds of Halloween library as I put this latest blog together and added it to the Sounds of Christmas website...
Fifth Harmony “I’m in Love With A Monster"
Joe Wallace “Leopard Man"
Seaway “Brain In A Jar"
Jeff Bridges and the Rusty Pistols “Riders In The Sky (A Cowboy Legend)"
Van Halen “Runnin’ With The Devil"
Monotones “The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow"
L.A. Guns “Cry Little Sister"
Alice Cooper “Welcome To My Nightmare"
Billy Cobb “Halloween"
Rosemary Clooney “That Old Black Magic"
Justin Hayward “Forever Autumn”
Harry Belafonte “Reincarnation"
You probably recognized some of those songs, but are either unfamiliar with the artist I mentioned, or just didn’t realize they recorded a version of it as well as the popular one. For example, I have a bunch of versions of “Cry Little Sister”, including the original by Gerald McCann from the movie The Lost Boys, and I play all of those, but the one that shuffled out this time around was from L.A. Guns. Hope that makes sense.
One thing that is different this year is that the Sounds of Halloween will run until 6am (Eastern) on November 1. That way, the West Coast of the U.S. (and even Hawaii) will get a chance to finish celebrating Halloween, before the new season of the Sounds of Christmas begins.
I hope you enjoy this upcoming celebration of Halloween throughout October! And then the new season of the Sounds of Christmas will be here, starting on November 1!
May you always believe in Santa Claus (and also the Great Pumpkin)!
Ken
P.S. - To listen, just go to our home page (or click LISTEN NOW above) and click on the player. For some reason, the player isn't showing up on some browsers, so you can also just click on the tree which will give you a pop-up player. And you can search for us in the Google Play store and get our free app for your Android Phone and take us along with you!
Ken
P.S. - To listen, just go to our home page (or click LISTEN NOW above) and click on the player. For some reason, the player isn't showing up on some browsers, so you can also just click on the tree which will give you a pop-up player. And you can search for us in the Google Play store and get our free app for your Android Phone and take us along with you!
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