Album Review: Return of Halloween Nuggets
Way back in 2014, Rock Beat Records put together a three-CD set called Halloween Nuggets: Monster Sixties a Go-go. Of a piece with some other fine compilations from the same folks (2012’s Surf Age Nuggets, 2013’s Los Nuggetz: ‘60s Garage & Psych from Lain America), this st brought together a bunch of rare and/or obscure sides that listeners would be unlikely to find elsewhere. The surf and Latin comps featured lavish packaging and detailed liner notes, but – one presumes – by the time of Halloween Nuggets, the budget had been somewhat exhausted; it featured no liner notes and extremely hard-to-read track listings. But hey, it was undeniably fun.
Fast forward a decade. The Halloween Nuggets box set is long out of print, but its nearly 100 tracks – mostly songs, but also scattered movie trailers that fit in nicely – are now being meted out on single-disc sets. Return of Halloween Nuggets is the third in the series, following on the heels of (you guessed it) single-disc sets called Halloween Nuggets and More Halloween Nuggets. Limiting each disc to about 20 tracks means that listeners who missed out on the box set can look forward to two more in the series.
Yes, it’s all the same material, re-sequenced in seemingly random fashion. But that scattershot approach takes away not one bit from the quirky appeal of the set. Most of these tracks date (one presumes) from the pre-Beatles era, though there are some garage-y cuts to be found. The styles are delightfully all over the map: the girl group (with marimba) stylings of “Devil’s Gotten Into My Baby” is undeniably fun. “The Chiller” is a surf’n’drag instro with Batman styled fuzz guitar, maniacal laughs and screams.
If you’ve heard of more than one of the artists on this set (a film trailer featuring Vincent Price, decades before his work with noted vocalist Michael Jackson), then give yourself a gold star. These cuts were likely one-offs by studio cats, or by acts who had one or two tunes in ‘em. Kinda like the artists on the other comps, which is all fair and good.
Uniformly wacky, Return of Halloween Nuggets is a fun listen any time of year, but if you live in a neighborhood where kids still go door to door on All Hallows’ Eve, slap this disc on the hi fi and hip the kiddos to some vintage sounds.
About the Author
Bill Kopp
With a background in marketing and advertising, Bill Kopp got his professional start writing for Trouser Press. After a stint as Editor-in-chief for a national music magazine, Bill launched Musoscribe in 2009, and has published new content every business day since then (and every single day for several years). The more than 5000 interviews, essays, and reviews on Musoscribe reflect Bill's keen interest in American musical forms, most notably rock, jazz, and soul. His work features a special emphasis on reissues and vinyl. Bill's work also appears in many other outlets both online and in print. He regularly hosts lecture/discussions on artists and albums of historical importance (including monthly events Music to Your Ears and Music Movie Mondays), and is a frequent guest on music-focused radio programs and podcasts. In Spring 2023 he taught a history of Rock 'n' Roll at UNC Asheville's College for Seniors. He also researches and authors liner notes for album reissues -- some 40 to date -- and co-produced a reissue of jazz legend Julian "Cannonball" Adderley's final album. His first book, Reinventing Pink Floyd: From Syd Barrett to The Dark Side of the Moon was published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2018, and in paperback in 2019. His second book, Disturbing the Peace: 415 Records and the Rise of New Wave, was published in 2021 by HoZac Books. His third book, What's the Big Idea: 30 Great Concept Albums is available now. Read even more about him here.