THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT "DOUBLE TROUBLE" : SUSPENSE! HORROR! ROCK N ROLL! WITH HP LOVECRAFT AND PAUL WILLIAMS. DOUBLE DOWN!!

We offer today two examples of eerie rock music - notable records that have been inspired by horror literature, and classic suspense. H.P. Lovecraft’s folky psychedelia, and Paul Williams’ soundtrack for Phantom of the Paradise both fit the bill for spine tingling tunefulness.Rock’s dramatic possibilities seem obvious, but have rarely been successful. Theater would seem to be the ideal medium for rock music, but early attempts to mix the two were awkward because creators, trying to appease the commercial audiences of the late 1960s, were not attracting the young people — the folks who were actually listening to the cutting edge music of the time.  This, of course, changed over the years, as the young people matured into middle age, and now into late-life. Today, they flock to see shows like Dylan’s Girl From the North Country. Rock is the standard musical vehicle for storytelling. PHANTOM OF THE PARADISEPaul Williams, the diminutive maestro of pop song craftsmanship starred in, and scored, Brian De Palma’s 1974 re-imagining of Phantom of the Opera, a Faustian fever dream. The composer of “We’ve only just begun” (originally a bank commercial), and many other pop hits, put his considerable chops on the line for this cinematic effort - which flopped everywhere but Winnipeg, Canada for some reason, and the soundtrack went gold there.Williams, who started his career as a child actor, developed into a popular raconteur, a staple of late night television talk shows, and this exposure perhaps over shadowed his immense acting and musical talent. In this cut, “The Hell of It” his power is persuasive.HP LOVECRAFTGeorge Edwards, a folk singer from Chicago, teamed up with Dave Michaels, a versatile, multi-instrumentalist, to create the Psyche band, HP Lovecraft. The name was chosen by their benefactors, horror aficionados Bill Traut and George Badonsky at Dunwich Records (a label also named for one of the horror master’s stories) - and the rest is history in the annals of Buried Musical Treasure. The lifespan of the group was brief, producing only two albums, with personnel changes happening practically from the beginning, but something significant was in the offing.Spin Spin Spin, from the group’s second album is a good example of their unique mesh of folk style with classical flavors, featuring swirling harmonic pulsations - which conjure a mysterious aura. A definite time capsule from the Lava Lamp era.