Tuesday Top Ten: Halloween Costumes (2024 Edition)

Now that Halloween has passed and we're now dealing with the terrifying anxiety of Election Night, it's time for my annual homage to the best Halloween costumes I saw this year.

On Halloween proper, we had relatively decent weather -- 50s and not raining.  Compared to snow last year, I'll take that any year we can get it.  The only downside is that we were way low on trick-or-treaters, and I have no reason to believe it had anything to do with my costume.

But the Saturday before that, we had our annual Halloween party.  This year's theme was our great city:  Chicago.  Attendees were encouraged to wear costumes that had anything to do with Chicago, be it landmarks, TV characters, movie characters, musicians, historic events, and the like.  And I'll tell you, people killed it.

I didn't get pictures of everyone, so pardon me if I missed something, but here are is what we had (and, as usual, I'm not limiting this to ten, nor am I ranking anything):

Roxy Hart from the movie Chicago, as well as a gangster and flapper

Chicago Bears mascot Staley and Walter Payton

The beloved Tamale Guy and a Tamale Girl. And staying true to their costume, they actually brought a cooler full of tamales!

Local roller derby stalwarts the Windy City Rollers

Billy Goat Tavern workers, as made famous in the iconic '70s SNL sketch

The Chicago Fire, Mrs. O'Leary's cow, and Mr. O'Leary

Chicago's long list of criminally indicted/imprisoned elected officials and a bag of Garrett's Popcorn

Dibs. For those of you unfamiliar with what that means, in the winter, people in our fair city shovel out street parking spaces for their cars.  When they leave for work or to go to the store or dispensary, they often put chairs, cones, or other things down in the parking spot to call "dibs." The implication is that if you park in someone else's shoveled-out spot, your car will be vandalized.  Not pictured: the sign on the back of his chair that said "I will key your car."

Dave Matthews Band shit victim. As you may be aware, in 2004, the Dave Matthews Band tour bus was driving through the Loop, across a bridge over the Chicago River.  It was at that moment that the bus driver decided to unload the tour bus's commode reservoir.  On a passing architectural river tour boat full of tourists.  Yet another reason to hate DMB.

The Wet Bandits and Marley.  Not pictured: the Wet Bandits' other son who went as Kevin and looked exactly like him.

Peg Bundy and The Walking Man.  You all know who Peg Bundy is, but The Walking Man was a homeless man who was a staple in the Loop for years -- always walking, and nearly always wearing a sport coat or suit.

Peter Ceteradactyl. Yes, I know last year's Halloween party was puns and word play, but puns and word play are always welcome when it comes to Halloween costumes.  What I was shocked to find out was how few people know who Peter Cetera is or that he was (a) from Chicago and (b) the co-founder and longtime bassist and vocalist for the band Chicago.  But as I learned at another Chicago institution, Second City, never write down to your audience.

The Rat Hole.  For years, there was a rat-shaped hole on a sidewalk in the Roscoe Village neighborhood, but last year, Instagrammers discovered it, and suddenly it became a local tourist destination.  People would take photos, leave money, and I think some idiots actually got married at The Rat Hole.

Bill Swersky and Steve Bartman. I didn't get any individual or smaller group shots of these guys, but you can see Bill Swersky (of SNL Superfans sketch fame) on the right behind Peg Bundy, and you can see Steve Bartman right above Peter Ceteradactyl.

Hair Band Friday - 11/1/24

1.  "Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake

2.  "Ashes to Ashes" by Vinnie Vincent Invasion

3.  "Tormentor" by W.A.S.P.

4.  "Rockin' On Heaven's Door" by Black 'N Blue

5.  "The Needle Lies" by Queensrÿche

6.  "Bed of Nails" by Alice Cooper

7.  "Hold On" by Slaughter

8.  "Here I Am" by Skid Row

9.  "Electric Gypsy" by L.A. Guns

10.  "Night People" by Dio

Rocktober First Tracks Song #14: "Relentless" by Pentagram

Well folks, we've reached the end of another Rocktober.  Make sure to tune in tomorrow for Phởvember, a daily look at the best versions of Vietnam's most popular noodle soup. Yeah yeah, I know it's pronounced "fuh."  For Christ's sake, let me have this one.

But before then, we have one last dark song in this Rocktober's look at first tracks off of debut albums, courtesy of doom metal pioneers Pentagram.  Despite the fact that they have formed in the early '70s and made music during that decade, they didn't release their first album until 1985.  On a side note, the compilation of their early music, First Daze Here, is phenomenal.  Also, I highly recommend the 2011 documentary about the band and lead singer Bobby Liebling, Last Days Here.

Their self-released, self-titled debut album (which was retitled Relentless when it was reissued on CD by Peaceville Records in 1993) is a masterpiece in doom metal, with plodding, down-tuned, fuzzed-out guitars, dark lyrics, and a generally brooding attitude.  Lead singer Bobby Liebling's voice is a perfect combination of rock and creepy.  I have no idea how I heard about Pentagram, but I've had their first album for a while now.  It's a damn good metal album –- the kind of music you'd expect to hear in a room with only black walls.  If you want some good music to play while you're handing out candy on Halloween, definitely check the album out –- assuming, of course, you're like me and you want to keep the neighborhood children and parents guessing about whether you drink goat's blood on a regular basis.

"Relentless" is the first track off of the album.  It starts off with a gut-punch riff, and the energy never fades.  Behind a backdrop of fuzzy guitars, the lyrics tell a "sinister tale[]" from the point of view of what one can only assume is the devil himself. 

Rocktober First Tracks Song #13: "Dead & Bloated" by Stone Temple Pilots

Our penultimate song in this year's Rocktober look at first tracks from debut albums comes from one of my favorite albums from the '90s, Stone Temple Pilots' 1992 debut album Core.

It was one of the first CDs I ever owned, after my begrudging, but overdue, transition from cassette tapes.  From top to bottom, it's a great album, featuring some of the band's signature songs, like "Core" (my favorite song from the '90s), "Wicked Garden," "Creep," and "Sex Type Thing."  

But the very first song on the album fits with the macabre theme of Halloween week Rocktober songs.  "Dead & Bloated" has one of the most memorable opening lines to a debut album, or maybe any album, for that matter.  Singing a cappella through some mic that makes it sounds like an old timey radio show, Scott Weiland belts out "I am smelling like the rose that somebody gave me on my birthday deathbed / I am smelling like a rose that somebody gave me 'cause I'm dead and bloated," with the drums kicking in on "bloated."  32 years later, I'm still not sure what it means, and having read some more about the song, I don't feel bad about that.  Weiland said the lyrics to the song don't really mean anything in particular, but were more of a stream of consciousness stringing together of words.  Very James Joyce. But behind the strange and apparently meaningless lyrics is a plodding, brooding grunge song that immediately transports me back to my freshman year of high school, for better or worse.

Rocktober First Tracks Song #12: "Prowler" by Iron Maiden

Last week, original Iron Maiden lead singer Paul Di'Anno passed away at the age of 66.  His health had declined over the last several years, and we was confined to performing a wheelchair.  But a mere four and a half decades ago, he fronted what would become one of the most influential bands in metal history -- well, until they decided to go with someone else after two albums.

Iron Maiden released their eponymous debut album in April of 1980.  By all accounts, it was a pretty big success, reaching #4 on the UK album charts, eventually going platinum in the UK.  It was ranked #13 on Rolling Stone's 2017 list of the 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.  Di'Anno's raspy vocals, combined with the twin guitar attack of Dave Murray and Dennis Stratton (who would leave the band six months after the release of the album), the phenomenal bass playing of Steve Harris (also the band's main songwriter), and the pounding drums of Clive Burr, provided the world with the beginning of a new genre, one that combined the speed and energy of punk with the technical proficiency of metal:  the New Wave of British Heavy Metal.  And, of course, the album's cover would also introduce the world to heavy metal's most enduring mascot, Eddie.

The first track on Iron Maiden (the album) is "Prowler."  This is a perfect introduction to Iron Maiden (the band).  A little rat-at-tat guitar starts the song off, just before that snarling riff kicks in, giving us a frenetic song about some creep who walks around stalking women.  There's some wicked guitar solos and the great bass lines and fills that we would come to know and love from Harris.  Di'Anno would sing on the band's next album, the masterpiece Killers, before the band kicked him out (thanks in large part to his excessive drug use) and replaced him with Samson lead singer Bruce Dickinson, who took the band into the metal stratosphere, where they remain today.

Rocktober First Tracks Song #11: "Runnin' With the Devil" by Van Halen

Many apologies for the hiatus.  I unexpectedly had to go out of town to deal with a family medical issue for nearly a week, and then was catching up on work and other stuff last week.  But rest assured, Rocktober is still in full effect.

We've reached Halloweek, which means all the songs from here on out will have some sort of dark, macabre, Halloween, or devilish theme.  Today's first track from a debut album is "Runnin' With the Devil," from Van Halen's magnificent self-titled 1978 debut album.

The song starts with a chorus of horns, and until today, I didn't realize how that sound had been achieved.  The horns were car horns from the band members' cars, mounted in a box and controlled with a foot switch.  The album's producer, Ted Templeman, then slowed the horns down, giving them that air raid siren effect.  Then Michael Anthony's pounding bass comes in for a few beats before Eddie and Alex drop in with the riff and the drum beat.  And then Diamond Dave brings us home, announcing to the world the arrival of the next great American rock band with his signature howl.

Though it only reached #84 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song has become a classic.  Among other accolades has been ranked #9 on VH1's list of the Greatest Hard Rock Songs of All-Time and #68 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Songs of All Time.

Hair Band Friday - 10/25/24

1.  "Fatal Passion" by Lita Ford

2.  "'Til My Heart Beats Down Your Door" by Europe

3.  "Hina" by David Lee Roth

4.  "Little Dove" by Faster Pussycat

5.  "Chainsaw Charlie (Murders in the New Morgue)" by W.A.S.P.

6.  "Red, White & Blue" by Judas Priest

7.  "Operation: Mindcrime" by Queensrÿche

8.  "Toke About It" by Tesla

9.  "King of the Fools" by Twisted Sister

10.  "Naughty Naughty" by Vinnie Vincent Invasion

Rocktober First Tracks Song #10: "Cherry Bomb" by The Runaways

Back in the '70s, rock producer Kim Fowley noticed there was a dearth of all-female rock groups.  He decided to assemble a group of young women who could rock, and so The Runaways were born.  Through auditions and happenstance, and after a few lineup shifts, the "classic" lineup of Cherie Currie on lead vocals, Joan Jett on rhythm guitar, Sandy West on drums, Lita Ford on lead guitar, and Jackie Fox on bass came together.  Not a single one of them was yet 18 when they released their self-titled debut album in March 1976, and it didn't exactly set the world on fire, only reaching #194 on the Billboard album chart.

The song "Cherry Bomb" was the band's first single, and it was quickly written by Jett and Fowley for Currie's audition for the band when the band couldn't play the song that Currie had chosen for the audition.  The song is a short but powerful hard rock song with a driving beat and street smart lyrics, punctuated by Currie's husky vocals during the verses that unleashes in the choruses. 

Though the song didn't crack the Billboard Hot 100, it was highly influential and regarded, landing at #52 on VH1 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs list.  And for many of us younger Gen Xers, we may have heard it for the first time while watching Dazed and Confused.  The Runaways only put out a couple more albums before officially breaking up in early 1979.  Of course, Jett went on to a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame career as a solo artist and leader of The Blackhearts.  Ford went on to a successful solo career.  West formed her own band and became a drum teacher before succumbing to lung cancer in 2006 at the age of 47.  Currie and her twin sister Marie formed a band and had a minor hit before becoming a drug counselor, dabbling in acting, marrying (and divorcing) Airplane star Robert Hays, and eventually becoming a chainsaw wood carving artist.  Fox earned a BA with honors from UCLA and her JD from Harvard (where Barack Obama was one of her classmates), becoming an entertainment lawyer.

The Runaways' influence can't be understated, as they paved the way for pretty much every all-female rock band that followed them, from The Bangles (whose bassist Michael Steele, then known as Micki Steele, was The Runaways' original bassist) to The Go-Go's to Vixen to L7 to The Donnas to many more.

Rocktober First Tracks Song #9: "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses

With our second Hair Band Friday of this Rocktober, the choice was pretty simple.  It would be a sin if a Rocktober dedicated to first tracks off of debut albums didn't include the first track off of the best-selling debut album of all-time.

I'm not going to delve into what a phenomenal album Appetite for Destruction by Guns N' Roses is, but if you were to argue that this is the best album released in my lifetime, I don't know that I would dispute that.  Top to bottom, it's one of the best rock and roll records ever made.

"Welcome to the Jungle" has become ubiquitous over the years, but try to remember a time when it wasn't, when you were hearing it for the first time with a fresh, innocent pair of ears and blown away.  Written about the harsh realities of small-town kids (like Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin) coming to the big city (LA), it's like a dinner bell that summons you to the table for the 12 tracks that make up Appetite -- only the meal is cocaine, heroin, Night Train, and sex.  Gritty and brash, the song opens up with Slash's echoey, crunchy guitar riff, then Axl howls in the background as the song kicks into the main riff and you're taken to the streets of Hollywood in the mid '80s.  Needless to say, it's a classic, and it's pretty amazing how tight the song and whole album were for a band making their first record.

Hair Band Friday - 10/11/24

1.  "I'm On To You" by Hurricane

2.  "Dancing with Desire" by King Kobra

3.  "Sleepless Night" by Dokken

4.  "You Keep Breaking My Heart" by Rough Cutt

5.  "You're Gonna Break My Heart Again" by Whitesnake

6.  "I'll Keep On Believin' (Do You Know)" by Y&T

7.  "You Give Me All I Need" by Scorpions

8.  "The Bottom Line" by David Lee Roth

9.  "Panama" (live) by Van Halen

10.  "Home Sweet Home" (instrumental) by Mötley Crüe