BATTY INDUCTEE NUMBER 20

NOT MUCH IS KNOWN ABOUT THIS NEXT SONG.  It's a pretty rare one.  And it's also an instrumental.  Oh yeah, and it's apparently a tribute to a then-current horror movie.  Without any further ado, I induct the 20th song into the Batty Halloween Hall of Fame . . .

WHITE ZOMBIE by THE JOEL SHAW ORCHESTRA

Unearthed and restored for the soundtrack to the wonderful documentary "LUGOSI:  HOLLYWOOD'S DRACULA", this recording hadn't been heard for 65 years (according to the liner notes by Gary Don Rhodes).  The success of the 1932 film "WHITE ZOMBIE" prompted a little-remembered big band leader Joel Shaw to record this jazzy record in the film's honour.  There is actually another version of this song called simply "Zombie" which appears on one of my all-time favourite cd's "HALLOWEEN STOMP" from Jass Records; that version by Gene Kardos and his Orchestra is good but it cannot match the energy and driving tempo of the Joel Shaw version.  In the liner notes, Rhodes also speculates that the demonic laughter heard on Shaw's recording may well be by his then-vocalist Dick Robertson; whom you may recall did vocal duties on Harry Reser's "MYSTERIOUS MOSE" - an earlier inductee into this very Batty Hall of Fame!