Happy Halloween!

🎃 Happy Halloween — Spike Style!

In keeping with the situation, let’s spike things up with both sides of a wonderfully ghoulish Spike Jones 45 rpm single from 1959 on Warner Bros. Records.

Side A: (I Was a) Teenage Brain Surgeon

The label credits the vocal to “Jack the Ripper” — obviously a gag — but that booming, cavernous basso profundo is unmistakably Thurl Ravenscroft.

It’s a pitch‑perfect spoof of the era’s seemingly ubiquitous “I Was a Teenage Whatever” craze, and Spike leans into the absurdity with gusto.

Side B: Monster Movie Ball

Flip the disc and you get this straight‑up rock‑and‑roll romp. The vocalist is credited as “The Fiend‑Ager” — a pun so bad it loops back around to brilliant — but the real singer, Ken Stevens, is also credited.

I’ve always thought this one was a terrific tune: all the classic movie monsters cleverly woven into the lyrics, with Peter Lorre standing out as the only actor name‑checked directly. A tiny but delightful detail.

Spike vs. Rock ’n’ Roll

I seem to recall Spike once saying rock and roll was ruining his career — something to the effect that you can’t parody something that’s already a mess. So if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em… and record a rock‑and‑roll song!

Both tracks come from Spike Jones in Stereo (1959), a concept album full of monsters, creeps, and Halloween‑friendly mayhem. The title may be generic, but the cover art gives the game away instantly!

I’ve had that album for as long as I can remember — since I Was a Teenage Record Collector — and these two cuts were always my favorites. So when I later came across the single coupling them — credited to Spike Jones and his Sickniks — I thought, “Good idea, Warners!”

🎃 Have a great Halloween!

Now I want to watch I Was a Teenage Werewolf!