With Halloween around the corner, the pre-Beatles pop specialists at Cherry Red's Croydon Municipal imprint have offered up a collection of spooky musical treats, Songs for Swinging Ghosts, along with a disc of more traditional fare, the girl group salute All About the Girls.

The 22 tracks on Songs for Swinging Ghosts, comprising both vocals and instrumentals, are primarily drawn from U.K. releases though a handful of American artists are on hand, too.  Compiler Bob Stanley of St. Etienne notes in the booklet that "Britain has taken to the cartoonish aspects of Halloween in the last thirty years in much the same way it took to turkey and a red-and-white Santa (nee Father Christmas) - America has subtly reinvented some of our centuries-old traditions."  These Songs are drawn primarily from British releases, but a handful of American tracks have been added for additional flavor, with ghosts and ghouls being the common thread on these eclectic tunes from the realms of rock and roll, pop, R&B and beyond.

The nominal title track, "Swinging Ghosts," bookends the set in two versions.  One, from venerable Brit big band leader Ted Heath on Decca, opens the compilation in brassy (and swinging, natch) fashion, while The Vampires' rendition for Parlophone closes it out.  (The flip of the Vampires' Parlophone single, "Clap Trap," is also here.)  Stage, screen and recording star Max Bygraves offers one of the novelty records here, a kooky and not very eerie twist on "The Twist" - the "Diabolical Twist," as a matter of fact!  Not to be outdone, Mandrake (a.k.a. guitarist Vinnie Rogers) is heard on the rather chipper "The Witch's Twist."  Other titles are similarly amusing: The Ravens' punning "The Ghoul Friend," Chris Williams and the Students' "The Monster" (an instrumental, with a shouted refrain of the title), Sharkey Todd and The Monsters' "Cool Gool" [sic], and Fraink Weir's "The Cool Spectre."  Lyn Cornell of The Vernons Girls revealed her "Demon Lover" on a sultry 1960 Decca single; crossing the Channel to France, Swinging Ghosts has Janine de Wayleyne playing her ondes martenot (a theremin-esque instrument) on the spooky "Faces in the Dark."

Besides Ted Heath, there are a number of familiar artists represented here.  Before he wrote "Downtown" and "I Know a Place," Tony Hatch composed the slinky theme to television's Ghost Squad.  The one and only Screaming Lord Sutch, who founded The Official Monster Raving Loony Party in 1983, lost a record 40 elections between 1963 and 1997.  But he had better luck with his horror-themed musical career, represented by the 1961 single "'Til the Following Night."  Over in America, the versatile Kay Starr ("Wheel of Fortune") cut the classic "Ghost Riders in the Sky" in 1959; Britain's The Scorpions recorded the same tune in 1961, and both versions are included here.  Johnny Otis, another genre-blurring American artist, is in a magical mood on the Bo Diddley-inspired "Casting My Spell."  Songs for Swinging Ghosts boasts an eight-page booklet.

Croydon's other new release casts its own spell, equal parts sass and sparkle.  All About the Girls: Lost Girl Group Gems of the 1960s is the label's tribute to the Girl Group Sound, defined by Stanley in his notes as running "roughly from the Chantels' groundbreaking 'Maybe' in 1958 to the demise of the Red Bird label in 1966."  Labels big and small are represented on this perky collection, including Capitol, Columbia, Warner Bros., Challenge, Cadence, Tri-Phi, Reprise, Ember, Bethlehem, Dunes, Ascot, Witch, and King.  (Though the cover artwork borrows elements from The Shirelles Sing to Trumpets and Strings, the girls from Passaic, New Jersey are not featured here!)

The 24 tracks on this set are primarily from lesser-known artists, but The Blossoms - led by Darlene Love, Fanita James and Jean King on the 1962 single "Big Talking Jim" - are one notable exception.  Note, though, that the female Shondells of "I Gotta Tell It" naturally have nothing to do with Tommy James' band.  Nor are The Challengers related to the surf band.  (That said, the leader of the Challengers heard here on the soulful "Every Day" and "I Hear an Echo" is the formidable Anne Bogan, who went on to replace Gladys Horton in Motown's Marvelettes.)  The Los Angeles-based Chiffons here are not the same Chiffons of New York who recorded "He's So Fine" and "One Fine Day."  Cathy Carroll's "Poor Little Puppet," written by Howard Greenfield and Jack Keller and arranged and conducted by Stan Applebaum, has the classic earmarks of a Brill Building hit despite stalling in the lower reaches of the Billboard top 100.

A few notable names crop up in the credits, too.  Dave "Baby" Cortez of "The Happy Organ" fame wrote and produced The Fashions' "I Just Got a Letter."  The Philadelphia team of Dave White and John Madara co-wrote Maureen Gray's "Dancing the Strand."  Teacho Wiltshire produced another one of the dance numbers on All About the Girls, Diane and the Darlettes' boisterous "The Wobble."  Perry Botkin, Jr. - later to be famously associated with Harry Nilsson and so many others - arranged the youthful-sounding "Bobby is My Hobby" by then-38-year old Margie Rayburn, likely the oldest artist on this collection of teen-centric pop and R&B.  10-year old Robin Clark, heard on "Daddy, Daddy (Gotta Get a Phone in My Room)" might well be among the youngest artists on the girl group spectrum!

Bob Stanley sheds light on some of the obscure cuts in his notes, offering plenty of trivia about the tracks here: "Casanova Brown" by The Young Sisters features the same girls who backed Del Shannon on such tunes as "Little Town Flirt."  The 12-page booklet also offers illustrations of many of the 45s as well as photographs of some of the artists.  No discographical annotation is included, however, on either of Croydon's releases, both of which are made possible due to current U.K. public domain laws.  (Sound quality is always listenable on these rarities, but particularly rough on a handful of tracks on Girls.)

Both Songs for Swinging Ghosts and All About the Girls are available now from Croydon Municipal and Cherry Red Records!  You can peruse the track listings and place orders below!

Various Artists, Songs for Swinging Ghosts (Croydon Municipal CR9 016, 2015) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

1. Swinging Ghosts - Ted Heath
2. Diabolical Twist - Max Bygraves
3. The Monster - Chris Williams and The Students
4. Cool Gool - Sharkey Todd and The Monsters
5. Death Valley - Charles Blackwell
6. Fallout Shelter - Mike and Bernie Winters
7. Clap Trap - The Vampires
8. Ghost Riders in the Sky - Kay Starr
9. The Witch's Twist - Mandrake
10. Casting My Spell - Johnny Otis
11. Ghost Train - Bert Weedon
12. Nightmare - Johnny Worth
13. The Creep - Ken Mackintosh
14. Demon Lover - Lyn Cornell
15. The Ghoul Friend - The Ravens
16. Faces in the Dark - Janine De Wayleyne
17. Ghost Squad - Tony Hatch
18. The Cool Spectre - Fraink Weir
19. Til the Following Night - Screaming Lord Sutch
20. Riders in the Sky - The Scorpions
21. The Horror Show - Sharkey Todd and The Monsters
22. Swinging Ghosts - The Vampires

Various Artists, All About the Girls: Lost Girl Group Gems of the 1960s (Croydon Municipal CR9 015, 2015) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

1. That's OK - The Wright Sisters
2. Daddy Daddy (Gotta Get a Phone in My Room) - Robin Clark
3. It's Murder for Roberta - Jennie Smith
4. Casanova Brown - The Young Sisters
5. Every Day - The Challengers
6. I Gotta Tell It - The Shondells
7. The Beating of My Heart - The Petites
8. I Just Got a Letter - The Fashions
9. Hard Guy to Please - The Contessas
10. Mighty Fine - O'Nita Hammond
11. Yes I Will - The Velvetones
12. Big Talking Jim - The Blossoms
13. Smart Boy - Marilyn Britton
14. Poor Little Puppet - Cathy Carroll
15. Fairy Tales - The Capri Sisters
16. The Wobble - Diane and the Darlettes
17. Dancing the Strand - Maureen Gray
18. My Dream - The Sharmettes
19. I Hear an Echo - The Challengers
20. Bobby is My Hobby - Margie Rayburn
21. Doctor of Hearts - The Chiffons
22. Puzzling Love - The Lovettes
23. Popeye Does the Mashed Potatoes - The Buttons
24. Again - The Four Cal-Quettes