Ah, I fear this will be our last meeting, for the fell day has arrived – Halloween, that some do call Goth Christmas…and this is our last opportunity to offer you a comfy seat… sit anywhere… why not the large, comfy, inviting chair? It’ll swallow you up, ha ha ha! And a last opportunity to take a pick from the Big Stir Records Halloween compilation “Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies” – did we mention it is available on Green Vinyl? We did. Good, good.
And today we have an offering from true legends, The Strawberry Alarm Clock. True legends, and amazingly a band who still offer almost their original line-up with Mark Stephen Weitz (keyboards), Randy Seol (drums), George Bunnell (bass), Gene Gunnels (drums/percussion), and Steve Bartek (guitar and flute), plus guitarist Howie Anderson who’s been a full member since a 1987 reunion, so hardly the “new boy” any longer.
Kicking off with guitar buzz, ‘Monsters‘ is somewhere between proto-Paisley Underground and classic Alice Cooper. Beneath the “Monsters” metaphor lies something deeper, as lyricist and collaborator since 1969, David Glück explains: “The lyrics explore the lingering impact of fear, trauma, or anxiety—both in childhood and adulthood. It begins with classic childhood fears of monsters in the dark, hinting at a deeper, perhaps metaphorical threat. Despite being told to dismiss these fears as childish, the feelings persist and evolve over time.”
And a final reading choice – well, for an alternative take on what it is to be a monster, how about Richard Matheson’s classic “I Am Legend.” Enjoy your ghostly evening, may nothing too uncanny happen to you, and we’ll see you on the other side when the world comes back to normal.
