Craft Recordings is celebrating Andrew Gold’s cult seasonal classic, Halloween Howls: Fun & Scary Music, this spooky season. Available to stream/download is a new remix, with accompanying music video, from The Living Tombstone, reworking Gold’s song “Witches, Witches, Witches.” The new remix of the song brings in a “dark and eerie electronic soundscape.”
Additionally Craft has pressed Halloween Howls: Fun & Scary Music on limited-edition “Bone” color vinyl. Fans can also pick up a new Deluxe CD edition featuring new cover art by illustrator Jess Rotter whose ’70s-inspired psychedelic designs have appeared on releases by The Grateful Dead, Questlove, Yusuf/Cat Stevens, Harry Nilsson and more. As a special bonus, a remix of “Spooky, Scary Skeletons” is also included on all formats.
Originally released in 1996, Halloween Howls was recorded by Gold to fill a void in seasonal music. In the original liner notes of the children’s album, he wrote:
Each holiday has a mood and usually has music to go with it…However, it’s been very hard to find any tapes or CDs of Halloween music. In fact, there’s mostly just scary sound effects available and very few songs. So, I fixed that.
Recruiting several of his musician friends and collaborators to join in the fun (including Linda Ronstadt, David Cassidy and Nicolette Larson), Gold recorded a collection of both classic Halloween tunes (“The Monster Mash,” “The Addams Family” and “Ghostbusters) as well as creepy original tunes, including “It Must Be Halloween,” “In Our Haunted House,” and, of course, “Spooky, Scary Skeletons.”
“Spooky, Scary Skeletons” originally became a phenomenon in 2010, when a YouTuber paired Gold’s track with a 1929 Disney cartoon called “The Skeleton Dance.”
A prolific singer, songwriter, producer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist, Andrew Gold (1951–2011) not only enjoyed a successful solo career but also worked with some of the world’s biggest artists. Beginning with 1975’s Andrew Gold, he released more than a dozen solo albums and numerous charting singles.
HALLOWEEN HOWLS TRACK LISTING CD
1. It Must Be Halloween
2. The Monster Mash
3. Spooky, Scary Skeletons
4. Trick Or Treat
5. The Addams Family
6. Ghostbusters
7. Gimme A Smile (The Pumpkin Song)
8. Don’t Scream (It’s Only Halloween)
9. The Creature From The Tub
10. Halloween Party
11. Witches, Witches, Witches
12. In Our Haunted House
13. Spooky, Scary Skeletons (Undead Tombstone Remix)
HALLOWEEN HOWLS TRACK LISTING VINYL
Side A
1. It Must Be Halloween
2. The Monster Mash
3. Spooky, Scary Skeletons
4. Trick Or Treat
5. The Addams Family
6. Ghostbusters
7. Gimme A Smile (The Pumpkin Song)
Side B
1. Don’t Scream (It’s Only Halloween)
2. The Creature From The Tub
3. Halloween Party
4. Witches, Witches, Witches
5. In Our Haunted House
6. Spooky, Scary Skeletons (Undead Tombstone Remix)
