Twenty Four Years of DARK RIDE. Listen...today! (October 13th, 2024)

Greetings and salutations,

TWENTY FOUR years ago Jay and I released Rain Station's DARK RIDE and after all these years I'm still as excited about this CD as I was when it was released.  Let's rewind the clock...here's the back story (for those who don't know).
Back in the Fall of 2000 (Due to my online presence on 13thTrack.com Halloween Radio) I was invited to The Universal Studios Hollywood Eyegore Awards. The Universal Studios Hollywood Eyegore Awards are presented for achievement in the horror and sci-fi genre. So, on Friday, October 13th Jay and I trekked down to LA to be there, interview some folks and get some station IDs for 13thTrack.com as well as interview some of the winners for an article that I wrote.  For some reason I still can't seem to find the article, but I'll keep digging so I can post it here.

The winners that night were:
* Joss Whedon
* Casts of Buffy and Angel
* Karen Black
* Gloria Stewart

* "The Undertaker"

I knew I was going to be meeting some people that night (Rob Zombie, Karen Black, Alyson Hannigan, Bill Moseley, Joss Whedon and more) and I figured it would be cool to record a Halloween CD to hand out to the folks we meet - you know, see if we can land that big record deal or get our music placed in a horror film, on TV...something. Rob Zombie had recently launched his Zombie A-Go-Go Record label (now inactive) and since I've always been a fan of HALLOWEEN and rockabilly (gothabilly) I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to push out another CD in 2000 (we had released "Stonedozer" earlier that year). So Jay and I put this together quick style and did what we set out to do. Funny how I remember working at the Gelb Music consignment shop and writing lyrics.  I had rough mixes on cassette and an old tape player. In between customers and phone calls I'd try and pen lyrics.  I remember being a bit frantic since I knew we had a deadline and I agreed to work extra shifts to cover a vacation. I'm a bit of a perfectionist when I record - or at least I try to be - and in this case DARK RIDE just wasn't going to get the time I would normally put into a CD.  Amazing enough the disc turned out despite lack of time. Once we got back to the Bay Area from the "gig" we decided that the CD was pretty good so we mastered the disc with George Horn (Chief Mastering Engineer) at Fantasy Records in Berkeley, CA.

It still amazes me that we recorded this entire CD in probably two or three weeks. The disc got some great reviews as well...and although I know I've blogged this far too many times, here goes again (the reviews):

Underground DJ from Haunted Attraction Magazine

Now it is time to run away and join the carnival. "Step right up and see the amazing, the unbelievable, the available for your attraction CD, DARK RIDE by Rain Station." A journey through a veritable midway of new music written for old pretzel rides. The use of sound effects is limited only to those that help create the feel of the piece. The styles of music range widely from Heavy Metal beats through old time Rock and Roll to the almost cutesy Trick Or Treatin'. This nostalgically fun selection, took me back to my early days as a young zombie, heading out on Halloween with the lust for candy in my heart. The CD would be great for line entertainment or a party, with a little bit for every taste and some of the beats are infectious.

Larry McKenzie HalloweenMagazine.com

DARK RIDE by Rain Station is one of the most unique Halloween music CDs I have ever heard. DARK RIDE has 13 music tracks. Each track is a good mixture for Halloween. A bit mysterious and dark, yet very fun. The DARK RIDE CD would be great for an adult Halloween party. If you are a Halloween enthusiast and are looking for more Halloween music for your collection, you should visit http://www.NobodyRecords.com/ and listen to the MP3 samples from the DARK RIDE CD. I am happy to have this CD as part of my Halloween music collection. I sincerely recommend visiting Nobody Records and listen to a track or two.

Underground Entertainment

(This) offering is more of a Halloween party CD, especially suited to be played in queue lines or on the midways of Scream Parks. It contains thirteen tracks of rock/alternative style music with Halloween themes. You'll find titles such as "Monster Hunter", "Haunted Man", "Black Lagoon", "Trick or Treatin'", and "Broom Hopping". This one is fun and is a CD that should be added to the collection of anyone interested in assembling a music anthology of Halloween related material.

Chaotic Order

Curious mix of Porno for Pyros and White Collar Crime with a penchant for Halloween. Best use would be on the soundtrack for the upcoming Scooby Doo movie.

Happy Halloween Magazine

Looking for a Halloween CD with an edge, this is the one to get. Available from Nobody Records, Rain Station's Dark Ride packs a gritty, heavy metal sound that conjures an auditory image of purgatory. While this is not normally the type of music I listen to, for Halloween...it works! The raspy vocals lend a dark, almost visceral feel to the accompanying music. Contains 13, new, original hits...

Jay made some "videos" for some of the tracks on DARK RIDE. Check all of them out here.
DARK RIDE is one of my all time favorite projects. Perhaps it is because we didn't over analyze it, we had a timeline and had to bang it out. Perhaps it was because we got to be completely goofy. Rain Station music can sometimes be awfully serious and this disc is nothing but pure fun. Perhaps it was the thrill of getting to give copies of our CD to folks like Rob Zombie and Karen Black. Perhaps it was the Halloween theme.
The road trip to Universal Studios with Jay is a very fond memory for me. It felt like we were on tour.

Watch DARK RIDE cartoons HERE
JackOLantern.ORG Animation from J.E.Moores on Vimeo.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY DARK RIDE!!!

Happy Haunting,

Mark Harvey

Halloween Music : TV Tunes

Television theme songs have to be included in any list of Halloween music. These songs have a way of imbedding in our brains, working into our subconscious. Theme songs set up the program, lead to commercials and leave us humming well after the show has ended. Even the youngest viewer can recite lyrics or hum the instrumental of beloved shows. Here I discuss some of my favorites and their memorable television theme songs.

The original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? was my favorite cartoon, and its theme one of my beloved songs. CBS first aired Scooby-Doo September 13, 1969. Fred Silverman, head of Children’s Programming at the time, was looking for a show to break the network’s superhero cartoon rut and move into cartoons with more comedy and adventure. He was seeking a combination of the popular 1940’s radio show I Love a Mystery and the 1959-1963 sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. Silverman and Joe Barbera, of the Hanna-Barbera team, came up with the working title "House of Mystery" and took the idea to Hanna-Barbera writers, Ken Spears and Joe Rudy. Spears and Rudy worked on characters, plots and story lines. Initially the story line involved four teenaged detectives who traveled the country in a van called the Mystery Machine solving mysteries. A Great Dane was the fifth member of the crew, but did not play a large role in these plots. Originally titled ‘Mystery’s Five’ the name was changed to ‘Who’s Scared?’ and presented to CBS management as a new Saturday morning cartoon. CBS president Frank Stanton rejected the show because he felt the artwork was too frightening for younger viewers. Still trying to salvage the idea, Silverman flew back to Los Angeles that night, and while listening to airline music on the flight back he was struck by the phrase "Scooby-dooby-doo" from Frank Sinatra’s Strangers in the Night. "We’ll call the show Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? and we’ll make the dog the star of the show," he told Hanna-Barbera. And the show as we know it was created. The theme music for the first two aired episodes was composed by legend Hoyt S. Curtin, theme composer of The Flintstones, The Jetsons and many memorable television and cartoon themes. The more notable "Scooby-Dooby-Doo" theme song, written by David Mook and Ben Raleigh and sung by Larry Marks was recorded on Wednesday and aired the following Saturday, September 27, 1969. The Scooby-Doo format changed in 1972 and Hanna-Barbera created the Scooby-Doo movies, which aired on ABC, and featured guest stars such as the Addams Family, Phyllis Diller, Jonathan Winters, Don Knotts, and Laurel and Hardy. After seven years at CBS the Scooby-Doo series moved to ABC in 1976. ABC wanted a new theme song that reflected the current music scene so Hoyt Curtin worked with Hanna-Barbera to compose the disco theme for The Scooby-Doo Show. There are many versions of the Scooby-Doo theme recorded for various shows and movies by Mathew Sweet, The B-52’s, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Billy Ray Cyrus and Third Eye Blind. But my favorite version is the Mook/Raleigh version we all have come to know as the original Scooby-Doo theme.

I love The Munsters. Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, creative forces behind The Amos & Andy Show and Leave It to Beaver, developed, wrote and produced The Munsters which debuted on CBS September 24, 1964. Jack Marshall, one of Capitol’s top producers in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s wrote the theme song, which was nominated for a Grammy, with little known lyrics by Bob Mosher. An influential Hollywood guitarist, arranger, composer and conductor, Marshall scored music for television and was an arranger for Peggy Lee and Judy Garland. There are a few versions of The Munsters theme arranged by Marshall, including the pilot theme, the first 1964 arrangement and the final 1964-1966 arrangement. Marshall’s untimely passing at age 51 prompted a scholarship fund for young guitarists to be created in his name at the University of Southern California, where he is credited with starting their guitar program. Billy Strange, Comateens and Los Straitjackets have recorded versions of this classic television theme. This theme is one of the best Halloween instrumentals of all time.

Don Kirshner was president of Columbia Pictures-Screen Gem’s (CP-SG) music division when he assigned Jack Keller and Howard Greenfield to view the pilot for Bewitched and write the theme in 1964. The pilot used Frank Sinatra’s Witchcraft but (CP-SG) didn’t want to pay Sinatra for rights to the Witchcraft recording. Keller and Greenfield needed to write something with the same vibe, and they had only a week to write the song, record the demo and get it form California to New York. The song was readily accepted and the decision was made to use an instrumental rather than vocal version to enhance the Hanna-Barbera animated main title sequence. The first instrumental version was a light orchestral arrangement by series composer Warren Barker. The xylophone signature for Samantha’s trademark nose-scrunch was Barker’s idea and was incorporated into the main title for the second season. Talk of a vocal version was squashed when the studio didn’t want to spend $2,500 to pay crooner Jerry Vale. The animation and music for Bewitched changed slightly during its 1964-1972 ABC Primetime run. Alternate versions of the Bewitched theme have been performed by Peggy Lee, Steve Lawrence, The Earl Klugh Trio and 60’s Hammond organ master Jimmy Smith, to name a few. Bewitched is always a crowd pleaser with its fun, jazzy vibe and smooth feel.

Alfred Hitchcock presents, the 30-minute television series that aired October 2, 1955 to September 6, 1965, was the brainchild of Hitchcock’s friend and ex-agent Lou Wasserman, president of MCA. Alfred Hitchcock presents was one of the longest-running shows in television history, winning two Emmys and receiving 17 Emmy nominations. Hitchcock chose the classical novelty Marche Funèbre d'une Marionnette (Funeral March of the Marionette) composed in 1873 by French composer Charles Gonoud. The song was adapted and arranged over the years by many composers starting with Stanley J.Wilson, Music Director of MCA-Revue Studios (the TV wing of MCA-Universal Studios). Stan Wilson was a key figure in Hollywood’s music industry in the 1950s and 1960s and started the careers of several young composers including Dave Grusin, Quincy Jones and Lalo Schifrin. In 1960 the theme was credited to arrangers Dave Kahn and Melvyn Lenard. Kahn became music supervisor for the Filmways TV shows and Lenard was the pseudonym of publisher David Marvin Gordon, who wanted a piece of the royalties. In the fall of 1962 episodes expanded to an hour, and the title was changed to The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. The theme was adapted and arranged by Lyn Murray (the pseudonym of Lionel Breeze). Murray had scored Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief. The Lyn Murray Orchestra played with Bing Crosby, the Dorsey Brothers and Louis Armstrong. His personal diary detailing the New York and Hollywood Film and TV social scene was published in 1987: Musician – a Hollywood Journal. Bernard Herrmann arranged and adapted the theme a fourth time in 1964 opening the second hour-long season. In Herrmann's arrangement the melody was transposed up a diatonic third. He also composed music for many of Hitchcock’s films including Psycho, Vertigo, North by Northwest, The Trouble with Harry, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Marnie and Torn Curtain. Hitchcock’s choice of theme song shows his self-amused attitude toward the joke that was his public persona. Funeral March of the Marionette will forever be linked to the fun and frolic of Halloween.

"There is nothing wrong with your television set…" those chilling words were first heard September 16, 1963. Outer Limits terrified audiences on ABC Primetime from 1963 until 1965. Leslie Stevens, president of Daystar Productions, and Joseph Stefano, scriptwriter for Hitchcock's Psycho and Marnie, developed Outer Limits in 1962 in attempt to compete with CBS’s The Twilight Zone. Composer and leading jazz accordionists Dominic Frontiere penned the first theme for the series. This was Frontiere’s first major achievement as a composer. He was also a production executive for the show. Frontiere’s main title theme and the music he wrote for the series are some of the most incredible and innovative scoring ever on television. It is also some of the creepiest. Frontiere is known for his film scores Hang ‘Em High (which Booker T & the MGs made into a top ten hit) and television scores like The Invaders. He, Stefano and Stevens left the series in 1964 after a crippling time-slot change and serious issues regarding funding. Frontiere became head of Paramount’s music department and won a Golden Globe his composition for The Stunt Man. Harry Lubin replaced Frontiere as series music director and replaced the main theme music and spooky melodies. A Lubin composition called ‘Weird’ had been used in Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond and this replaced the Outer Limits theme to save money. The track is almost unaltered from its original version used on One Step Beyond. Lubin is probably best known as composing for The Loretta Young Show and for the motion pictures Disaster, Wyoming Mail, Waterfront at Midnight, Mr. Reckless, Caged Fury and Tibet. Frontiere and Lubin’s compositions helped achieve that extra level of fright that Outer Limits enjoyed.

Whether you enjoy cartoons, sit-coms, murder mysteries or aliens and paranormal exploits, television themes are part of our musical Halloween celebration. Creating music that will be heard week after week, season after season isn’t easy. A successful theme song will outlast syndication and transcend the show it represented. A memorable theme song is a true work of art, a stroke of genius. I hope you have enjoyed learning about of these geniuses. Mark Harvey is a Halloween music enthusiast and archivist. Mark owns and operates NobodyRecords.com, HauntScapes.com, Pumpkinland Studios and 13thTrack.com Halloween Radio plus a number of Halloween and non-Halloween related websites. His own Halloween releases include the Pumpkinland Halloween ‘HauntScape’ Trilogy and Rain Station’s DARK RIDE.
Article from Happy Halloween Magazine Volume 5/Issue 2 & 3 – Autumn 2002
Visit Halloweenalliance.com for magazine information

Halloween Music : It's Not Just Monster Mash

This is a repost of an article a wrote years ago, but since it has been YEARS and I'm not sure how many folks have really dug into this blog I thought I'd repost this.

An article by Mark Harvey(Part one of three articles on Halloween music by Mark Harvey)

What classifies a song as a Halloween song? It is words. It is feel. It is unmistakable. Almost every genre of music has a Halloween representative, although I have yet to find a Gospel or Christian Halloween song in my searches. Much of this music must be sought out since it will never make it onto a Halloween compilation CD or onto commercial radio. As Halloween approaches, my never-ending search for new Halloween sounds reaches a higher level while stores stock current offerings. Each year I find something new. Each year I find more of the same old usual suspects. Let us start with the stories about the songs that you have most likely heard.

Sheb Wooley and A Thing with One Big Horn and One Big Eye

Sheb Wooley (a.k.a. Ben Colder) is known by most Halloweenites for penning The Purple People Eater, but to millions of other folks he is known for his country novelty tunes and extensive film and TV work. Wooley first got the idea for The Purple People Eater when a songwriter friend told him his son had come home from school with a joke about a "people eater." After recording what he deemed as a "bottom of the barrel song," his label decided not to release it. They thought it was something they did not want to be identified with. Somehow a copy of the song made its way to the company’s New York offices. They loved the song. The country’s fascination with UFO’s and the Sputnik phenomenon in full swing, the NY office reconsidered the release. In early 1958 The Purple People Eater became the first single ever to hit number one in its second week on the charts. The Purple People Eater catapulted to Number 1 for six weeks in 1958, sold over three million records and received a gold record within three weeks after it was released. It is the Number 24 song of the 1955-1959 rock era and has sold over one hundred million copies.

Mr. Pickett and THE song

In about an hour and a half, Lenny Capizi and Bobby Pickett worked out The Monster Mash. Halloween music was forever changed. These two members of the singing group the Cordials decided to take advantage of the novelty song craze happening in the early sixties. They brought the song to producer Gary Paxton (singer of the Hollywood Argyles hit Alley Oop). After the session, Paxton dubbed the band "Bobby ‘Boris’ Pickett and the Cryptkickers." On October 20, 1962, after eight weeks on the charts, the record hit Number 1 just in time for Halloween. It re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 on August 29, 1970 peaking at Number 91 and again on May 5, 1972 when it went all the way to Number 10. Over the years, The Monster Mash has sold over four million copies, received three gold records, and is easily one of the most popular novelty records of all time.

Jumpin’ Gene Simmons: fortunes from a Haunted House

Haunted House was first recorded in the late 1950s by Johnny Fuller (Specialty 655) but failed to chart. In 1963 Domingo Samudio (a.k.a. Sam The Sham) was performing Haunted House live clubs and on television. People went nuts when he performed the song. Jumpin’ Gene and Sam the Sham were playing clubs together in the early sixties. Gene saw how folks were reacting to that song. Ray Harris at Hi Records asked Gene to see if Sam would record Haunted House for Hi Records. Sam declined and said he wanted to cut the record on his own. Harris wanted to proceed with their recording of the song and asked Jumpin’ Gene if he would cut the record. Simmons has said the session was not like his others in that "everyone involved had fun." By August 1964, Haunted House (Hi 2076) had made it to Number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. After years of unsuccessful releases Haunted House would be Jumpin’ Gene Simmons first hit and would launch him on his first world tour.

Screaming' Jay: Original Shock-Rocker

Many years ago I was fortunate enough to catch Screamin’ Jay Hawkins at a small nightclub in San Francisco. The show was weird, excellent—but weird. I Put A Spell on You was THE signature song. Hawkins crept around the stage in a cape, brandishing the smoking skull on a stick he named ‘Henry.’ He was a crazed cannibal, a voodoo jive master. What I did not realize at that time was his immense impact on macabre music, especially on the presentation of that music. Inspired by being dumped by a girlfriend after she caught him cheating, Screamin’ Jay cut the original version of I Put A Spell On You for Grand Records in 1949, but the record failed to make an impact. Recorded with producer Arnold Maxon for Okeh (Epic) in 1956, the song soon became his signature hit. Maxon insisted that Jay’s recording needed to live up to the strange title and suggested that they turn the session into a huge party. Maxon supplied Jay and the musicians with barbecued ribs and chicken, yams and sweet potato pie, wine, beer and whiskey. After a while, he turned on the tape. A week later Screamin’ Jay was brought a copy of the recording. He was shocked and refused to believe that the recording was of him. After some Scotch and some practiced mouth contortions, he accepted it as his own. I Put A Spell on You was banned from radio airplay across the country due to his "cannibalistic" delivery. It was eventually edited for radio with moans, grunts and groans removed. I Put A Spell On You was Screamin’ Jay’s only big single, selling over a million copies, but it never made the charts. To date there are over three dozen versions by such popular artists as Credence Clearwater Revival, Nina Simone, Atlantics, Pete Townsend, The Animals (with Eric Burdon), Bryan Ferry, Manfred Mann, Robben Ford, Van Morrison, John Fogerty, Etta James, Bette Midler, Sarah Vaughan, Nick Cave, and Marilyn Manson.

Dah-dah-dah-dum! Snap! Snap!

In 1964 Vic Mizzy gave us one of the best known pieces of music, The Addams Family Theme, but this legendary theme might not have happened at all. David Levy, a close friend of Mizzy’s and an executive with Filmways Studio (NBC’s television production division) asked him to patch in some stock music for the soundtrack of a pilot for a series based on the Charles Addams cartoons in the New Yorker. Vic offered to write a score for free so long as he could keep the publishing rights. Levy agreed and Mizzy wrote the theme. Not only did he write the title theme, but he also composed themes for most of the main characters, played the harpsichord, and directed the opening sequence. Vic was the vocalist on the track and his voice was overdubbed three times. Whenever you hear Lurch playing the harpsichord, it’s actually Vic. From 1964—1966 Mizzy composed themes and weekly scores for the TV show. His 1965 Ghost and Mr. Chicken soundtrack has some of his best work. He is known best in Hollywood for being an excellent source for silly and fun music and has composed for films, radio and television.

Our "Spooky" tune

Spooky was originally an instrumental by saxophonist Mike Sharpe. A regional hit in the Atlanta, Georgia area, J.R. Cobb of The Classics IV and producer Buddy Buie decided to re-record the song with lyrics. In 1967 Spooky was released on the Imperial Label. A radio station in Louisville, Kentucky began to spin the record. By early 1968 the song’s popularity had spread nationally as it reached Number 3 and achieved a gold record. It reached Number 46 in the UK. In 1974, Cobb and Buie, along with some members from The Classics IV and Roy Orbison’s Candymen band, formed the Atlanta Rhythm Section. Their 1979 remake of the original 1967 hit reached Number 17. Though it was the bands last hit, it put the song back on the Halloween map for good.

Phil Everly wants a dance song

In the early 70s Warren Zevon played with the Everly Brothers and by 1975, he and his wife were living in Phil Everly’s guesthouse. Phil asked Warren and songwriting partner Leroy "Roy" Marinell to write a song for his upcoming solo album. He asked them to write him a dance song. "Something like ‘Werewolves Of London’" is what Phil said. Later, at Roy’s house as they began writing, guitarist Robert ‘Wadded’ Wachtel joined them to add the "Aah-Ooh Werewolves of London". According to Zevon, the first verse was written spontaneously and entirely by Waddy. The three finished the song in 20 minutes. The track was recorded with Waddy, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie (of Fleetwood Mac fame) and produced by friend Jackson Browne. Werewolves of London hit Number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Number 15 on the Cashbox charts in April 1978. The song eventually reached Number 8 and went gold. As a result, his album Excitable Boy became a Top Ten record and remains his best-selling album to date. Thanks to Phil.

I hope you have enjoyed the stories behind the songs. As familiar as many of these songs are, they still remain some of my favorite songs of all time. Sometimes hearing the story behind the song brings new life to old tracks. In the next issue of Happy Halloween Magazine I will talk about the more eclectic side of Halloween music, covering genres and rarities.

Mark Harvey is a Halloween music enthusiast and archivist. Mark owns and operates NobodyRecords.com, HauntScapes.com, Pumpkinland Studios and 13thTrack.com Halloween Radio plus a number of Halloween and non-Halloween related websites. His own Halloween releases include the Pumpkinland Halloween ‘HauntScape’ Trilogy, Rain Station’s DARK RIDE and FLESHROT: Songs from the Dead.

Article from Happy Halloween Magazine

Volume 4/Issue 4 – Winter 2002

The Convergence Polka - FREE MP3

I have a good friend named Rochelle Santopoalo. Rochelle is the founder of GLOBAL HALLOWEEN ALLIANCE which operated until 2005. Their mission was to provide a network for Halloween lovers, promote a positive view of Halloween, educate the public about celebrations of Halloween, and elevate Halloween to the status of a national holiday. Receiving her Ph.D. in Human & Organizational Systems from The Fielding Institute , her dissertation explored the story of yard haunters across America. Friends and colleagues refer to her as the Halloween Ambassador. I refer to her as our Halloween Den Mother. Rochelle also was the Publishing Editor of Happy Halloween Magazine. From her site (click here) "Halloween fans will find an amazing variety of articles on their favorite season, courtesy of Happy Halloween Magazine. Each issue is packed with interesting articles including celebrity profiles, collectibles, community celebrations, Halloween decorating and Halloween party ideas, how-to projects, and personal stories all about celebrating Halloween in the USA and the world. Happy Halloween Magazine was published from 1998 - 2002. A few select articles per issue are available online. Back issues are no longer available." I had the pleasure of writing some articles for Happy Halloween Magazine (they can be found online here).

So...here's an article that Rochelle wrote about the Global Halloween Convergence (condensed and reduced)

What is a Halloween Global Convergence? : by Rochelle Santopaolo

What is it? Why have it? Who's it for? While interviewing folks around the country for my dissertation on Halloween, I discovered that people who loved Halloween were very isolated. While they had a passion for all things related to their beloved holiday, there were few people with whom they could share ideas. Each person I interviewed was surprised to find that there were other people who were just as crazy about the holiday! At the time I thought, "Wouldn't it be great if we could all get together and have a fun time?" And the idea for the convergence was born. In contrast to the formality of a convention or trade show, a convergence is a coming together—a forum for people to gather and share information in a relaxed, fun and joyful environment. And so, the purpose of the convergence is simple - to provide an opportunity for people who love Halloween to get together. Everyone is welcome to attend. Please come with photos and stories and a desire to have a good time. No doubt you will leave with new ideas, new ghoulfriends and memories of the quintessential Halloween celebration. Just think, now we can celebrate Halloween twice a year! Rochelle Santopoalo is the Publishing Editor of Happy Halloween Magazine.

I missed the first two Global Halloween Convergence's (Salem and New Orleans), but did get to enjoy the 3rd Global Halloween Convergence in San Jose, CA and 4th Global Halloween Convergence in Sleep Hollow, NY. I DJ'd the 3rd and was a speaker and DJ at the 4th. I also created a song for the 4th Global Halloween Convergence for my friend Rochelle called "The Convergence Polka". I am offering that today as the "download of the day". This single was only available for sale at the Global Halloween Convergence in Sleepy Hollow, NY and has not been made available since - until now. This was a fairly lame attempt at a polka, but a lot of folks like it so what the heck. My sister lends her vocal skills as my back-up singer and the schmultz is laid on thick. Click here to download the FREE MP3 of "The Convergence Polka" by none other than Mark Harvey (who knew?)(link disabled)

Here's an excerpt from an article in Haunted Attraction Magazine by Pam Liebson about the San Jose convergence:

"The highpoint of the weekend and a tradition of the event was the annual Costume Party that was held on Saturday night. Mark Harvey of Pumpkinland Studios handled the DJ position, and Halloween songs filled the air while party goers watched the door in anticipation of the next incredible costume. It was hard to tell who was who under all the makeup, wigs and masks, and sometimes the only way to tell was by process of elimination. A wolf in granny clothes escorted little Red Riding Hood and a furry fully-suited werewolf hounded her also. Two doctors wheeled in their mental patient, while a mysterious sultan and his slave girl tore up the dance floor. Witches seemed to fly around the dance floor on their brooms to the music, and in keeping with the San Jose ambiance, a skeletal cowboy, his settler girlfriend, a ghostly “pro-specter” and his ghoulish saloon girl danced into the night."

Click here for the full story

Both events were incredible and I was very disappointed when I found out that Rochelle could not continue the Global Halloween Convergence. I am still friends with many of the folks I met at the two Convergence's I attended and I thank Rochelle for bringing together such a great group of folks.

More from Rochelle's site about the Global Halloween Alliance: At the Alliance, our goals are simple:

• To provide a network for Halloween lovers who are hopelessly in love with Halloween, and
• To promote a positive view of Halloween, a time when fantasy & festival come together to create the Greatest Play Day of the Year.

To help us reach these goals we:

Publish HallowZeen, the only online publication dedicated to celebrating Halloween...the greatest play day of the year!

Sponsor the Halloween Postal Stamp Campaign, initiated on August 13, 1999

Published Happy Halloween Magazine (1998-2002), designed to help Halloween fans explore the fantasy... and discover the possibilities

Sponsored the Global Halloween Convergence (like a convention but a whole lot more fun)

Hosted the Halloween Alliance, the Official Fan Club of Halloween

Someday I hope that we (Rochelle's friends and some new friends) can pull together the dream and the goals she set forth. A noble cause for our noble holiday.

Mark Harvey

Click here if you can't figure out where you're supposed to click to download the song. (link disabled)