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Posts tagged as “Halloween”

MUSIC MONDAY: “Funky Halloween Music” Playlist (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Funky Halloween Music” Playlist (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on October 2, 2023

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Happy first Monday of October, you all!

It’s Halloween time once again, and I’m back with another Funky Halloween Music playlist for this spooky season. Here is 13 hours of more Soul, Reggae, Funk, Jazz, and movie soundtracks.

[spotifyplaybutton play=”https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6Sry7T5O1DwY2mzATClKC6?si=979978a5499a44c7″]

I freely admit to casting a very wide net for this playlist, including tracks simply featured in The Blackening, Nope, Get Out, Us, The Master and others.

Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Beyoncé, Gravediggaz, The Weekend, Ella Fitzgerald, Little Simz, Exuma, King Tubby, Geto Boys, Bessie Smith, The Specials, Ray Parker Jr., and others are all present on the ever-evolving collection of Halloween music.

This music won’t scare trick-or-treaters from your porch — you can use my collections, “Blacula Strikes!: Black Horror Music” and “Phantom Of The Panther: Black Horror Scores and More” for that.

However, this collection will keep your spooky spirits up all month long.

Until next month, stay safe, sane, and kind.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
MUSIC MONDAY: Funky Halloween Playlist for 2022 (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: Funky Halloween Playlist for 2022 (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on October 10, 2022

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Happy Monday, you all. It’s Halloween time once again, and I’m here with another free-wheeling playlist for the season.

[spotifyplaybutton play=”https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6Sry7T5O1DwY2mzATClKC6?si=01663ed73c5a4b01″]

Soul, Reggae, Funk, Jazz, and movie soundtracks make up this collection. There are midcentury classics, plus brand new and previously unreleased tracks.

Michael Abels’ music from Jordan Peele’s neo-Western science fiction horror film, NOPE, serves as a through line for this mix.

It features Beyoncé, The Weekend, Ella Fitzgerald, Little Simz, Exuma, King Tubby, and long-lost collaborations with the late Ranking Roger and The Clash.

I freely admit to casting a very wide net for this playlist. It won’t scare kids off your porch on the 31st, but it might have you shaking a tail feather from now until then.

Please enjoy this collection that offers, witches, ghost, werewolves, and monsters both real and imagined.

Until next month, stay safe, sane, and kind.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
MUSIC MONDAY: “Phantom of the Panther” – Black Horror Scores and More (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Phantom of the Panther” – Black Horror Scores and More (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on October 18, 2021

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Happy Monday, good listeners!

We’re back with another seasonal playlist, this one just might scare kids off your front porch on the 31st.

“Phantom Of The Panther” is a collection of jazz, classical, and soundtrack music. It features spooky tracks from Blacula by Gene Page and the 2021 remake of Candyman by Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe. There are jazz cuts by Mulatu Astatke and Duke Ellington.

I’ve also included modern classical works by the likes of Pamela Z, Julius Eastman, and others.  And while we usually truck on the works of artists from the African diaspora here at GBN, I’ve included tracks by Phillip Glass from the OG Candyman from 1992 and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ work on HBO’s Watchmen starring Regina King.

And how you gonna not to include a track called “House OF Paincakes” by Marco Beltrami for Wesley Snipes’ Blade II?

Hope you enjoy this stroll through the dark side. Listen with the lights on. Or not.

Until next week, stay safe, sane, and kind.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
MUSIC MONDAY: “Mind Playing Tricks” – a Soulful Halloween Collection for 2021 (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Mind Playing Tricks” – a Soulful Halloween Collection for 2021 (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on October 11, 2021

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

“I walked forty-seven miles of barbed wire / I got a cobra snake for a necktie / A brand new house on the roadside / and it’s a-made out of rattlesnake hide / Got a brand new chimney put on top / and it’s a-made outta human skull / I’ve got a tombstone hand and a graveyard mind / I’m just twenty-two and I don’t mind dying.”

Just a few lyrics from Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love” that go a long way towards illustrating the nature of the Halloween collection. Of course, there’s Screamin Jay Hawkins and Lambert, Hendricks and Ross vocalizing overt spooky tales.

Though there are many tracks in this collection that simply reference dark imagery to warn of the perils of romantic love, and make social commentary.

Geto Boys, Brittany Howard, Funkadelic, and others all are here to tell of real-world horrors. While Alice Smith is present with an umpteenth version of “I Put A Spell On You,”  and sista manages to transform it into a statement all her own.

There are several versions of  St. Louis true folktale “Stagger Lee.” You can bet there are songs aplenty of about vampires, ghosts, and zombies too. More chills to come next week.

Until such time, stay safe, sane, and kind.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
MUSIC MONDAY: “Strange Things” – a Halloween Collection of Reggae (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Strange Things” – a Halloween Collection of Reggae (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on October 4, 2021

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Happy first Monday of October! It’s your friend and selector, Marlon, back with another GBN offering.

‘Tis the season again. Halloween season, that is. Here’s the first of four October offerings. “Strange Things” is a collection of reggae, ska, and calypso hand-picked for this time of year.

This ain’t the collection to scare kids off your porch with. Though it is almost certain to make you (and them) move. Here’s a casket of new and classic reggae trucking in duppies, ghosts, vampires, zombies, and other undead creatures.

It’s scary, just how many reggae tunes there are that fall into this ghoulish category once you start, wait for it… digging.

Dad jokes aside, this playlist gathers tracks dealing with monsters and devils from the earliest ‘60s rocksteady to today’s reggaeton. More Halloween season tunes to follow next week.

Until then, stay safe, sane, and kind.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
MUSIC MONDAY: An Afroclectic Halloween Playlist (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: An Afroclectic Halloween Playlist (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on October 19, 2020
by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

I know Halloween is all-but cancelled this year for so many of us. No trick or treating. No parties. No parades. Though Halloween is still a fine excuse for me to compile a free-wheeling seasonal playlist.

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Here’s a nearly 9 hour “Afroclectic” collection of music featuring chills and horrors both real (“Strange Fruit” and “Goat Head’) and imagined (“Season Of The Witch” and “Wolf Like Me”).

From Michael Abels‘ “I Got 5 On It” remix from US to Blind Willie Johnson’s “Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground” this is a wide ranging playlist of songs for this time of the year.

Blues, Soul, Jazz, Rock, Ska, Hip-Hop, and Reggae are all present here. In some cases the only thing that links some of these tracks to this spooky time of year is zombie, vampire, voodoo, monster, devil, ghost, or Dracula in the title.

Please enjoy this collection of spills and chills. Listen with the lights on. Or off, if you dare.

Stay safe, sane, and brave. And vote!

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)