SirGravesGhastly.com | Media Crypt

Media Crypt: Music

From the inimitable Spike Jones and Tom Lehrer, to the pseudo-psychotic operatic stylings of Florence Foster Jenkins and old Halloween records, music and song were an integral part of the magic of a Sir Graves show. This page chronicles all the great songs, singers, and music behind the show (and lip-synching) that lent Sir Graves Presents! its special sound. It is not as exhaustive (yet) as I want it to be, but it's a start. Note: you can use the button to the right to pause the background sound of this page.

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The Voices Behind the Songs
Click the LP's for RealAudio samples!

	Spike Jones (Sir Graves, Cool Ghoul, various) Probably the greatest and most influential musical satirists of the 20th Century, the inimitable, Spike Jones, amassed a huge body of insane and hilarious comedy songs throughout his career in the '30s, '40s, and '50s. Along with his band and fellow comedic performers, The City Slickers, Jones and his wack-pack musicians delighted fans and audiences the world-over with their unique and hilariously entertaining "silly songs", almost single-handedly inventing the genre! And song-for-song, Spike Jones material was probably about the most used musical source on Sir Graves Presents!, both for lip-synching songs (Sir Graves and Cool Ghoul used a lot of it) and for general musical accompaniment during various other bits and gags. A heavily-used album on Sir Graves was Spike Jones in Stereo (A Spooktacular in Screaming Sound!). Favorite Sir Graves show songs were: "I Only Have Eyes For You" (sung by The Skull and Tilly), "My Old Flame" (Cool Ghoul), "Tammy, Clammy's In Love" (The Skull and Tilly), "None But The Lonely Heart" (played during the Art Ghoullery), and "Three Little Fishies" (a recurring Walter favorite). More: Amazon's list (off-site)
	Tom Lehrer (Sir Graves, Walter, various) Born in 1928, comedic song-writer/performer Tom Lehrer, was a respected, well-educated Harvard mathematics professor by day, and at the same time, also ranked among the foremost song satirists of the postwar era. A very private man, Mr. Lehrer shunned the spotlight, hardly ever toured, and was quite an enigma, even to his most ardent fans, but that didn't stop his genius and hilarious songs, early records, and infamous [few] live performances from making him a huge song parody star in the '50s and '60s (much like the Weird Al Yankovic of his day--only with a lot less hair). Many Tom Lehrer songs were used on the Graves show (Sir Graves and Walter both were especially fond of lip-synching to his records). Among the more popular songs used were: "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park" (one of Walter's standards), "I Hold Your Hand in Mine" (classic Sir Graves bit), and "Fight Fiercely Harvard" (again sung by Walter). More: Wikipedia bio (off-site)
	Gene Moss (The Glob) Gene Moss, co-writer For most people (if they knew who he was) cartoon & comedy writer, Gene Moss, would be best remembered as the voice of Smokey the Bear, which he performed in radio and television ads for ten years, beginning in 1979, or for writing the '60s syndicated cartoon, "Roger Ramjet". And if you grew up in California in the mid '60s, you might remember him as the host of the popular L.A. kids show, "Shrimpenstein" (which he also wrote). However, to metro Detroiters and anyone else who grew up with Sir Graves Ghastly, Mr. Moss would be more recognized as the voice of The Glob, as many of the The Glob's famous songs were actually Gene Moss tracks, mostly from his classic '60s Halloween LP, "Dracula's Greatest Hits"! Glob songs like, "I Want To Bite Your Hand", "The King Kong Stomp", "Frankenstein", and "Ghoul Days", were all taken from this one album! They were used over and over on the Sir Graves show through the years. More: TVparty article (off-site)
	Mrs. Miller (Tilly Trollhouse) Similar in many ways to her predecessor below, Mrs. Miller (Elva Connes Miller), a 59 year-old grandmother when she first burst onto the musical scene in 1966, was known for her hilariously off-pitch, off-tempo operatic singing style (she was often considered the worst pop star of all time)! But instead of opera and classical music, Mrs. Miller (as she was known on stage) applied her dubious vocal talents to modern-day pop and rock music--with unforgettably silly (and toe-curling) results! Songs like; "Hard Days Night", "Downtown", and "These Boots are Made for Walkin'", were amongst her repertoire, as was the Sir Graves show Tilly favorite, "Second-Hand Rose", among others. More: Fan page (off-site)
	Florence Foster Jenkins (Tilly Trollhouse) Some of the amazingly silly and bizarre songs Tilly made Sir Graves (and us!) suffer through, were actually taken from old Florence Foster Jenkins classical recordings of the '40s. Madame Jenkins was born around 1868 and became famous for her insanely off-beat, off-tune operatic performances and recordings. The mystery has always been whether or not she actually knew she was a terrible singer, or if she, as she always maintained in public, thought herself truly competent and accomplished. No one was ever really sure. But indeed, her outward sincerity in both performance (atrocious as her vocal talents were) and costuming (she always made numerous outrageously flamboyant costume changes per show), only added to her appeal to music lovers with a sense of humor and a taste for the absurd! Her recordings are shrill enough to break glass, and were the perfect fodder for Tilly Trollhouse, who lip-synched to some of those terrible recordings. More: Articles (off-site)
	Jo Stafford & Paul Weston (Tilly Trollhouse) Popular WWII-era singer, Jo Stafford, teamed up with her husband/pianist/arranger/conductor, Paul Weston, in the '50s and '60s for a series of comedy albums under the names of Jonathan and Darlene Edwards. The Jonathan and Darlene recordings were intentional parodies of a stereotypically bad lounge act. Weston, as pianist Jonathan, played arrangements in 7/4 time, tripped over chords and speeded up suddenly on one bar, only to slow down again on the next. Stafford, as singer Darlene, would stumble over words, miss her cues, sing terribly off-key and throw in unusual vocal sounds. Lawson Deming has said it was actually these "Edwards" recordings that originally inspired the Tilly Trollhouse character. While listening to an album one day he thought, "I gotta do something with this!". More: Article (off-site)

Sound Effects

Disney's "Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House"
The trademark background sound effects for the show were mostly culled from this classic Disney Halloween children's album, and remained in use on the program throughout its entire run. There never really was a Sir Graves show "theme song", per se (unlike most other horror host programs of the day), but the sound effects contained on this album pretty much served that purpose, and instantly remind most die-hard fans of Sir Graves and that fantastic fog-shrouded graveyard set! This spooky-sounding LP had it all; piercing cat screeches, ghostly moans and wails, rusted gates slowly opening, tree branches creaking, and raging wind, rain and thunder storm sounds. It really helped to set the mood for the show! If you were a monster fan as a kid in the '60s or '70s, you just gotta remember this great 1964 Disney record. Click the album cover to the left to hear the classic opening narration that launched a thousand spooky afternoon listenings for many kids growing up in the '60s and '70s! "You decide to investigate. And you never return..." More: Story behind the LP! (off-site)

Complete Song & Music Playlist
Master list of all the songs and music used on the show over the years. This info is compiled from numerous sources; Video and audio recordings here at the site, statements made by Lawson Deming in interviews and articles, and also direct from fan memories. I will continually add to the list as new information is unearthed!

"Toccata & Fugue In D Minor" (Bach) - Sir Graves' assistant in the later years of the show, Digger Deeper, liked to play the organ on occasion, and this was one of his favorite spooky tunes!
"Danse Macabre" (Camille Saint-Saens) - This is the tune that Bones Jangles and his fellow skeleton friends danced to in a popular bit.
"Three Little Fishies" (Spike Jones) - Walter would sing to this one quite often. As he did, the screen would appear to fill up with water and swimming fish! I'm not sure it was the Spike Jones version Lawson used on the show, but I believe it was (most likely).
"My Old Flame" (Spike Jones) - Peter Lorre-sounding take on the old classic standard. Cool Ghoul liked singing to this one.
"I Only Have Eyes For You" (Spike Jones) - I'm not positive, but I seem to recall hearing this song on the show. Pretty sure it was used.
"Tammy" (Spike Jones) - Tilly and the Skull did this as a sweet duet.
"None But The Lonely Heart (A Soaperetta)" (Spike Jones) - Video on this site proves this was used for the Art Ghoullery once.
"Spooky, Spooky, Lend Me Your Tomb" (Spike Jones) - I have memories of this song on the show (I think the Skull and Tilly sang it). Anyone else remember?
"Poisoning Pigeons In The Park" (Tom Lehrer) - Another Lehrer song, and one of Walter's favorites to sing!
"I Hold Your Hand In Mine" (Tom Lehrer) - Sir Graves serenaded himself with this mournful tune.
"Fight Fiercely Harvard" (Tom Lehrer) - Walter sang this song when he was in the school spirit.
"I Want To Bite Your Hand" (Gene Moss) - The Glob sang this number periodically and it's warmly remembered by many fans who've written me about it.
"The King Kong Stomp" (Gene Moss) - One of The Glob's most popular songs!
"Frankenstein" (Gene Moss) - The Glob sang this song, especially when FRANKENSTEIN was the day's movie!
"Ghoul Days" (Gene Moss) - Another Glob song. He sang this in the Fall when all us kiddies were heading back to school (wonder if he ever did "School's Out" by Alice Cooper when summer rolled around?). Sample coming soon!
"Second-Hand Rose" (Mrs. Miller) - A Vintage Tilly number!
"I Put A Spell On You" (Screaming Jay Hawkins) - Used in the Art Ghoullery, and possibly elsewhere over the years (I'd bet someone on the show had to have lip-synched to it at one time or another). Watch the volume knob on this clip! Heh.
"Rubber Ducky" (Bert & Ernie, Sesame Street) - Several fans have reported seeing The Glob sing this song. Sorta' hard to picture that one, isn't it? But fans say they definitely saw it.
"Mumbles" (Oscar Peterson) - This song was used during a "now you see him, now you don't" Sir Graves coffin comedy bit.
"Monster Mash" (Bobby "Boris" Pickett & the Crypt-Kickers) - OK, I can't positively say that I remember this myself, but you can't tell me Sir Graves never used this song on the show (probably for Globby)! I'm gonna assume he had to have at some point. Maybe someone out there can corroborate this?
"My Funny Valentine" (Kim Novak) - Tilly sang this, especially around Valentine's Day. The version used on the show is sung by Kim Novak and is from the "Pal Joey" motion picture soundtrack (1957).
"I'm Past My Prime" (Stubby Kaye & Edie Adams) - From the "Li'l Abner" Broadway cast recording (1956), this song was used for the "Past Your Prime Club" segment on the Graves show, which was an alternative birthday announcements segment for the grownups who watched the show. (Thanks to Peter Kenter for reminding me of this one again!)
"Them Hillbillies Are Mountain Willies Now!" (Hoosier Hot Shots) - The hillbilly Mountain Men (McCoys) sang and danced on the show to this old song by the Hoosier Hot Shots.
"Shriek Of Agony" (unknown) - Walter did this one (a parody of "Shiek of Araby") on the show. I'm still trying to id the singer.

More songs as I unearth them!
Feel free to let me know if you remember tunes not yet on this list. I'd like to chronicle them all!

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