Real Gone has already announced one title for October: an expanded edition of Carol Burnett Sings. Now they are going in a completely different direction with titles to get listeners in the Halloween spirit, due on October 6.

 

Things kick off with a limited vinyl reissue of the soundtrack to 1985’s The Return of the Living Dead. Return‘s history and legacy is a little complicated. George A. Romero and John Russo wrote 1968’s classic Night of the Living Dead.  After its release, the two parted ways, with Russo retaining the rights to use the title “Living Dead.”  Romero, meanwhile, began a series of sequels beginning with Dawn of the Dead in 1978 (four more films through 2009’s Survival of the Dead would follow). Russo wrote a novel entitled The Return of The Living Dead and then wrote and produced a film of the same name in 1985 (the same year as Romero’s second sequel, Day of the Dead). Return is a quasi-sequel to Night, but has many more comedic elements and exists in a continuity wholly separate from the Romero films and introduced the concept of zombies wanting to eat brains to the lore. Return itself would spawn four sequels through 2005’s Return of the Living Dead: Rave To The Grave. Return‘s soundtrack featured many popular punk bands from around 1985 including 45 Grave, The Cramps, The Damned, T.S.O.L., The Flesh Eaters and The Jet Black Berries. Real Gone released several limited edition colored vinyl versions of this for last Halloween. This year, they are doing a black and brown “Tarman” colored vinyl limited to 1000 copies.  It features the original cover and label art.

Another horror film getting a limited vinyl soundtrack reissue from Real Gone is the score to Cujo. The 1983 film telling the tale of a rabid dog who terrorizes a family was based on the 1981 novel by Stephen King. It was directed by Lewis Teague and features a score by Charles Bernstein. Coming off his score to 1982’s The Entity and before 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, Bernstein’s music for Cujo goes from tender for the country scenes to suspenseful, employing harsh synthesizers and dissonant orchestral layers. The music was cut up for the film and the score never received a commercial release until last year, when Intrada presented the music as recorded by Bernstein for a CD reissue. The tracklisting for Real Gone’s edition presents the complete film score as presented by Intrada, dropping the five alternate cues which were also included. The new vinyl reissue is limited 1000 copies and comes in “Saint-Bernard” Black & Brown. The LP also features new cover art.

Real Gone’s final Halloween item for October is a limited vinyl reissue of 1963’s Zacherle’s Monster Gallery. John Zacherle, “The Cool Ghoul,” had a long career as a radio and television host, most notably introducing horror films in the 1950s and 1960s.  He also dabbled in recording and in 1958 scored a Top 10 hit with the comedic “Dinner with Drac.” In 1960, he recorded an album for Elektra entitled Spook Along with Zacherley, featuring comedy songs with spoken parts. Elektra’s budget imprint Crestview Records reissued the LP in 1963, giving it a new title and new cover art. This new art was provided by legendary MAD Magazine artist Jack Davis. While the original 1960 version has been released on CD (in 2001, by Collector’s Choice), the 1963 version with the alternate art has never been reissued. Real Gone’s new vinyl edition comes in green and orange “Pumpkin” color and is limited to 1000 copies. This new edition is a tribute to Zacherle and Davis, who both passed away last year.

Finally, just in time for Halloween is a CD and vinyl reissue of Sleep In Safety, the first album from the deathrock/goth band 45 Grave. The group was formed in 1979 in California and initially consisted of Paul B. Cutler (guitar), Dinah Cancer (vocals), Rob Grave (bass) and Dan Bolles (drums). Their style was rooted in punk rock but contained elements of horror movies and, alongside Christian Death, the group is considered one of the first Gothic rock bands. 45 Grave’s first recording came in 1980: a cover of the 1964 novelty song “Riboflavin Flavored, Non-Carbonated, Poly-Unsaturated Blood” for a compilation. After releasing a couple of singles, Sleep In Safety arrived on Enigma Records in 1983. The group would also appear on MTV and in the film Blade Runner.  The group broke up in 1985, but Cancer reformed them with all-new members in 2004 and recorded a new album in 2012.

Real Gone’s CD edition, available October 27, mirrors the tracklisting of the 1993 reissue on Restless Records, adding “Riboflavin” to the LP’s tracks and including the single version of “Partytime” and its b-side: a cover of Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out.” The CD booklet features notes by Chris Morris, who has newly interviewed Cutler for this project. The vinyl version, available November 24, is limited to 1000 copies and comes in “Ghastly Green.”  It replicates the original LP’s double gatefold with lyrics and adds a custom sleeve incorporating the band’s very rare “A Tale of Strange Phenomena” press release. The CD booklet also contains the lyrics and portions of the “Phenomena” press release.

If you would like to get into the Halloween spirit with any of these titles, we’ve got the pre-order links below.

OCTOBER 6, 2017 RELEASES FROM REAL GONE MUSIC

Various Artists, The Return of the Living Dead: Original Soundtrack Album (Limited Black and Brown “Tarman” Vinyl Edition) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Charles Bernstein, Cujo: Original Soundtrack Album (Limited Black and Brown “St. Bernard” Vinyl Edition) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

John Zacherle, Zacherle’s Monster Gallery (Limited Green and Orange “Pumpkin” Vinyl Edition) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Carol Burnett, Carol Burnett Sings: Expanded Edition (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)