The Ghoulardi Show!
(Originally broadcast on 8 October 2011 on KPSU, re-aired in 2015, and as “#19.2” in 2016.)

I have to admit, I am not cool enough to have known about Ghoulardi until only a few years ago.  As a Cramps fan, this may seem unusual, but with so much on my radar when I first discovered The Cramps, it just wasn’t possible to keep abreast of all the ins and outs of where they came from.  (My introduction to The Mad Daddy is even more recent than that.)  However, when I discovered who this amazing personality was, I instantly became obsessed.  I’ve been wanting to do a Ghoulardi show every since, but other projects and things got in the way.  This is the result of that obsession.

The show is culled from three primary sources: a recreation of the Shock Theater episode, The Hypnotic Eye, done by the good people at The Weirdness Really Bad Movie.  This recreation uses all the existing footage of Ghoulardi in action, mixed with an audio recording made from when he hosted The Hypnotic Eye.  Computer animation, and authentic commercials from the period, help sell this recreation, and it really works.  Watching it is as close to what it must have been like to watch Shock Theater in the late ’50’s and early ’60’s, and while the film is a bomb, the few gems you get from holding on for the Ghoulardi clips are totally worth it.  For those of you familiar with watching Horror Hosts, you’ll know exactly what I mean.

The second source for this episode is the great compilation called Ghoulardi Music, which was assembled ages ago by Kogar The Swingin’ Ape!  (Also responsible for the Lux & Ivy comps.)  I’ve been sitting on this one for a while, and a song or two has appeared on previous shows for a variety of reasons.  But all the music from this show is either from that comp, or were songs I tracked down that should have been on this comp.  Ghoulardi was a very unique Horror Host, in that he used a lot of music in his clips on the show.  There are a number of listings of “songs from Ghoulardi’s show” on the Inter-Web-A-Tron, and they vary from site to site.  As very few clips of Ghoulardi exist to compare, these lists are as good as they get.  Still, the tracks are all great, and this gives you a feel for what Ghoulardi’s record collection must have been like.

We have more Halloween Spook-tacular’s on the way this month, continuing next week with another legend from the past, Spike Jones!  We are your source for Halloween Musical Shenanigans, and we now have a special Halloween Podcast that you can subscribe to, featuring our classic Halloween Shows.  Just paste into your listening device of choice, and you can enjoy a number of Spooky Shows, all free.  That’s how we like to celebrate the season.

See you in Seven!

The Ghoulardi Show!

01.) Light Up An Old Ghould * Ghoulardi * Shock Theater: The Hypnotic Eye * http://reallybadmovie.weebly.com/
02.) Pygmy * Baby Sticks and The Kingtones * Ghoulardi Music * http://kogarsjunglejuice.blogspot.com/
03.) Goulardi Is Sick Tonight * Ghoulardi * Shock Theater: The Hypnotic Eye
04.) Space Rock Part One * The Baskerville Hounds * Ghoulardi Music
05.) A Ghoulardi Doll * Ghoulardi * Shock Theater: The Hypnotic Eye
06.) Birth of The Beat * Sandy Nelson * Ghoulardi Music
07.) Saturday Letters * Ghoulardi * Shock Theater: The Hypnotic Eye
08.) Blues Theme * Davie Allan and The Arrows * Ghoulardi Music
09.) Eddie’s Blues * Eddie Cochran * Ghoulardi Music
10.) My Ghoul-friend * Ghoulardi * Shock Theater: The Hypnotic Eye
11.) Time Bomb * Johnny and The Hurricanes * Ghoulardi Music
12.) Real Close * Ghoulardi * Shock Theater: The Hypnotic Eye
13.) The Swingin’ Shepherd Blues * Moe Koffman Quartette * Ghoulardi Music
14.) Poker * Ghoulardi * Shock Theater: The Hypnotic Eye
15.) Little Eefin Annie * Joe Perkins * Ghoulardi Music
16.) Stay Wood, Kid * Ghoulardi * Shock Theater: The Hypnotic Eye
17.) Wiggle Wobble * Les Cooper and The Soul Rockers * Ghoulardi Music
18.) Rumble * Link Wray * Ghoulardi Music
19.) Shocker Box * Ghoulardi * Shock Theater: The Hypnotic Eye
20.) Little Boxes * Pete Seegar * Ghoulardi Music
21.) Beat Poem * King of the Beatniks * Shock Theater: The Hypnotic Eye
22.) The Rat * The Ventures * Ghoulardi Music
23.) More Ghoul-friend * Ghoulardi * Shock Theater: The Hypnotic Eye
24.) Surfin’ Bird * The Trashmen * Ghoulardi Music
25.) Cool It With The Boom Booms * Ghoulardi * Ghoulardi Music
26.) Wham! * Lonnie Mack * Ghoulardi Music
27.) Ghoulardi Is A Coward * Ghoulardi * Shock Theater: The Hypnotic Eye
28.) Stronger Than Dirt * Tom King and The Starfighters * Ghoulardi Music
29.) Pedal Pusher * The Ventures * Ghoulardi Music
30.) Ghoulardi’s Life Story * Ghoulardi * Shock Theater: The Hypnotic Eye
31.) Papa Oo Mow Mow * The Rivingtons * Ghoulardi Music
32.) Cake * Ghoulardi * Shock Theater: The Hypnotic Eye
33.) Bird Dance Beat * The Trashmen * Ghoulardi Music
34.) Next Week’s Movie * Ghoulardi * Shock Theater: The Hypnotic Eye
35.) Dartell Stomp * The Mustangs * Ghoulardi Music
36.) Hey Group! * Ghoulardi * Shock Theater: The Hypnotic Eye
37.) The Desert Rat * Duane Eddy * Ghoulardi Music
38.) Green Onions * Booker T. and The MG’s * Ghoulardi Music
39.) Stay Sick * Ghoulardi * Shock Theater: The Hypnotic Eye
40.) Sugar Shack * Jimmy Gilmer * Ghoulardi Music
41.) You’re A Lot of Fun To Be With * Ghoulardi * Shock Theater: The Hypnotic Eye
42.) Constipation Blues * Screaming Jay Hawkins * Ghoulardi Music
43.) Wake Up * Ghoulardi * Shock Theater: The Hypnotic Eye
44.) Mumbles * The Oscar Peterson Trio * Ghoulardi Music
45.) Written By The Adults * Ghoulardi * Shock Theater: The Hypnotic Eye
46.) Buzzsaw * The Turtles * Ghoulardi Music
47.) Beachcomber * Bobby Darin * Ghoulardi Music
48.) Less Obtrusive * Ghoulardi * Shock Theater: The Hypnotic Eye
49.) Turn Blue * Jimmy McGriff * Ghoulardi Music
50.) The Laugh * Ghoulardi * Shock Theater: The Hypnotic Eye
51.) Bolo Blues * Jimmy Forrest * Ghoulardi Music
52.) Oxnard * Ghoulardi * Shock Theater: The Hypnotic Eye
53.) Mama Oo Mow Mow * The Rivingtons * Ghoulardi Music
54.) You Can’t See This When You’re Way Out There * Ghoulardi * Shock Theater: The Hypnotic Eye
55.) Space Rock Part Two * The Baskerville Hounds * Ghoulardi Music
56.) Hypnosis Word Of Warning * Narrator * Shock Theater: The Hypnotic Eye
57.) Peach Fuzz * The Ventures * Ghoulardi Music
58.) Stay Sick * Ghoulardi * Shock Theater: The Hypnotic Eye
59.) CBS Logo * CBS Studios * Shock Theater: The Hypnotic Eye