Must be the season of the witch...

AJGPhotoEtc. is an AMAZING artist!
Happy Halloween from the Good Groupie.

Halloween is easily my favorite time of the year. For as long as I can remember, the idea of descending into a bit of darkness and of the veils between two worlds being thinned for one night has appealed to me. After all these years, I’m still not quite sure why. Maybe I just loved dressing up as a kid. Maybe it is my insane love of gutting a pumpkin. Or maybe I’m just that twisted underneath. (Even though I detest being scared in real life and have the weakest stomach of anyone you’ll ever meet.)

Whatever my reason, October is my favorite month. And for everything in a good groupie’s world, there must be a soundtrack.

But I’ve been kind of particular with building a Halloween playlist. It can’t be a tune that happens to have ‘ghost’ or ‘monster’ thrown into the title. No, it has to be truly creepy sounding or have lyrics extensively or exclusively about Halloween or Halloween-ish. It needs to have some sort of dark, haunting connotation for me.

Will you remember the times of your life?

This week, I continue my love of strange men with the one and only, Mr. Paul Anka.

Paul Anka at Jones Hall

Reasons you should know  & respect Paul Anka:

• He recorded his first single at age 14.
• He wrote the lyrics for Frank Sinatra's "signature" song, "My Way."
• He wrote Tom Jones' biggest hit, "She's a Lady."
• He wrote for one of my personal favorites, Buddy Holly (and was on tour with Holly when he tragically lost his life.) 
• He wrote the theme for the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (rewritten from a song he wrote and recorded with Annette Funicello in 1959.)
• At the time of his performance, he was the youngest entertainer to ever play the Copa Cabana.
• His 1998 album "Body of Works" included duets with Frank Sinatra, Celine Dion, Patti Labelle and Tom Jones.
• In 2004 he released "Rock Swings," an album that re-imagined rock songs like Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" as swing songs.
• He has been named to the Songwriter's Hall of Fame, received the Johnny Mercer Award and is the only artist to have a record on the Billboard charts for six consecutive decades.
• And finally...the "new" music that was discovered after Michael Jackson's death? Co-written with Paul Anka. "This is It" went on to become a posthumous no. 1 hit for MJ.

If none of that impresses you...well, then your time might be better spent reading another music fan blog.

Now then...

Feasting on Alton Brown

AB photo album

My Alton Brown collection, minus the first book which
is packed away in the garage.

My love of Conan O’Brien is only rivaled by my love of Alton Brown. (What? I enjoy a quirky sense of humor.) When it comes to either, I turn into a puddle of giddy good groupie goo. I giggle. I get butterflies in my stomach. I watch their shows religiously. And when I’m in front of them, I stumble over my words and say inane things that are completely embarrassing, yet probably make a lasting impression.

I also do whatever it takes to meet them. (Within reason, of course. Good groupies do have an unspoken code of conduct, after all.)

In the case of one, Mister Alton Brown, purveyor of good eats to the masses, conductor of “Iron Chef America” battles and feaster of asphalt, I pulled out all the stops.

My friends don’t call him my Food Network husband for nothing.