For those who don't know, the character looking at you is Screamin' Jay Hawkins. His music and persona would always be a perfect fit in my blog, but I have a reason to focus on him tonight. My blog buddy Julie was nice enough to finally solve a mystery for me that involves one of his songs.
If you remember, a while back I wrote a guest blog entry for GdL16. In it, I wrote about a certain X-Files episode involving a sculptor who was in his studio working while a song (that I couldn't remember) played in the background. Since I couldn't find any evidence of this episode online, I decided to focus on my favorite X-Files episode instead. Well, guess what? It turns out that the scene in my mind really did exist and also happened to be the beginning of my favorite episode!
As Julie pointed out, the song playing in this scene was "Frenzy" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins. I listened to the song online and instantly knew she was correct! It was nice to know that my memory was accurate, because my brain has continued trying to figure out where I came up with that scene!
I had a difficult time choosing photos for this blog entry, because there is a lot of great Screamin' Jay Hawkins material to choose from! He was someone who was clearly not shy about posing for photos! If you google images of him, you'll find lots of cheesy expressions, voodoo accessories, and vampire related poses.
If you'd like to listen to "Frenzy" check out the youtube clip below. You won't be watching anything, but you'll get to hear the song. I was thinking of putting up the video of him performing "Frenzy" live, but there's a lot of talking beforehand. I got a kick out of it, but I won't put you guys through it. :)
The second video is of Screamin' Jay performing the song he is probably most well known for. It will give you an idea of his performance style. I don't have any explanation for the chattering teeth, but this video is pretty old so I guess we can cut him some slack on the special effects. :)
Pretty innovative for the 1950's, hey? Just think of all the performers he's inspired!
Lol, that guy is pretty awesome. I listen to a lot of space age lounge music when I'm working on art. I love Swamp Fire by Martin Denney, it makes me think of skeletons.
ReplyDeleteYeah, he is! I just listened to Swamp Fire on YouTube and loved it! I can hear what reminds you of skeletons in the song. It makes me feel like I'm drinking a Martini after taking a trip in a time machine to the early 60s. Thanks so much for the recommendation - This is good art making music!
ReplyDeleteIt totally makes me feel like a stepped through a time portal. If you like that you might like some of Esquivel's music. I've been a long time listener of him, he's an excellent pick me up.
ReplyDeleteCool, Thanks for the suggestion! I happened to be in the middle of requesting some Martin Denny CDs from the library when I saw your note. So then I ordered some Esquivel too. I didn't bother listening to his stuff, I'm just taking your word on that. :) I found one CD that was lounge covers of 90s songs, so I asked for that too. I'm looking forward to these arriving!
ReplyDeleteJust when I thought I heard everything, I don't even scratch the surface. Amazing. Got some new downloads for my iphone. Thanks!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat! Glad you liked this. :) I felt the same way about the music that was recommended to me in the previous comments.
ReplyDeleteNice. I love me some Screamin Jay (I think 'Little Demon' is probably my favourite) always makes me smile when one of his songs pops up in a film/show. Cool post.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yeah, he's great. I wasn't familiar with 'Little Demon' so I had to listen to it online. Very fun - more of that sort of scatting/guttural noise thing he did. I'll have to listen to more of his songs - Usually only two of them are played on the radio.
ReplyDeleteoooooookeeeeyyy that was freaky! especially his facial expressions(at times kinda looked like he was high on acid or something, not saying i know from personal experience how people high on acid look like lol but yeah just saying), im definately going to add his songs to my halloween party playlist!!
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