Retro Records: Monster Shindig (1965)

Only twenty-three days left until we all get the chance to do the Monster Shindig however we celebrate the spirit of the Season – with it being October I felt it was the right time to share this particular retro record. Obviously there are quite a few Halloween themed songs to choose from when you get down to it – however, how many of them were affiliated with Hanna-Barbera characters? This 1965 record in addition to having a “spooky” song also featured Super-Snooper and Blabber Mouse! These two characters were included in The Quick Draw McGraw Show beginning in 1959 and continues to appear until 1961. To get the gist of how an episode might play out, take a moment and watch this Boomerang bumper!

As a result of the popularity of these two anthropomorphic sleuths, they appeared in this Halloween-themed LP. While only the song is present in the video below, thanks to Greg Ehrbar’s article on Cartoon Research – we know how the rest of the record played out. Super-Snooper and Blabber Mouse receive a phone call, a noise complaint from some folks living next to The Gruesomes. Given that the Gruesomes have invited other monsters to have a party – our duo must investigate. Which is how of course they get to hear Monster Shindig and rub elbows with Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolf Man, and even the Mummy!

Obviously this is the same Gruesomes of The Flintstones fame, debuting in the fifth season entitled appropriately enough “The Gruesomes.” I couldn’t help but notice that the Monster Shindig video credits the song to none other than Danny Hutton. I couldn’t believe it when I saw this myself – it is in fact the same Danny Hutton of Three Dog Night! Of course the band’s 1970 hit song “Mama Told Me (Not To Come)” also makes a great Halloween song – if you don’t believe me you can listen to it for yourself… or take a moment and check out the Saturday Frights podcast where we tackled the made for TV horror movie The Midnight Hour because it was one of the songs featured in that excellent soundtrack!