At the end of each month, I've generally been hitting pause on this blog's certifiably dumb commitment to daily public posting, and instead prepping a private post for just my paid supporters. Now that I've scuttled my Patreon platform, the private posts will no longer be a thing. BUT! Because today is Halloween, I still wanna pause the usual daily shenanigans and look back at an appropriate post from 2017: a Greatest Record Ever Made! celebration of "The Transylvania Twist" by Baron Daemon and the Vampires.
(That was Boppin' [LIke The Hip Folks Do] # 700; today's post is, by official count, Boppin' # 2968. That reflects a lot of certifiably dumb commitment. But I digress.)
When I wrote this piece six years ago, I believe I had already started thinking about the possibility of doing a Greatest Record Ever Made! book, dedicated to the notion that an infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. If I did have the book idea in mind, I didn't really start pursuing it until around 2019. That book, The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), is now finished and awaiting approval from a publisher. If it becomes a book, the Baron Daemon chapter will be a part of it.
There's no shame in being a fan of your own stuff; a writer should be able to take pride in the work, and no creative effort can be accomplished without at least a little bit o' hubris. My GREM! bit on Baron Daemon is among my favorite pieces, and I'm delighted to share it with any interested parties. Especially Halloween parties.
For those who don't have the fond familiarity with the Baron that we Central New York baby boomers enjoy, here's an intro to the subject, as it will appear in the GREM! book:
VOICE-OVER: My home town of Syracuse, NY is best known for its snowfall, its college basketball, and its foolproof plan to turn the area into a tourist Mecca by building a really big shopping mall where a bunch of oil tanks used to squat. What could possibly go wrong?
But in the early 1960s, Syracuse gave the world Baron Daemon, the goofy TV vampire host of Baron Daemon's Buddies on Channel 9. Believe me, if you were a kid around here at that time, Baron Daemon was big as the Beatles to you.
In the fifties and sixties, many local markets had their own flamboyant vampire kiddie TV host. Only Syracuse had Baron Daemon. From 1962 to 1967, the Baron and his cohorts cavorted in televised escapades and performed schtick between cartoons and Flash Gordon serial adventures, live (or undead) from the Channel 9 studio in the basement of the Shoppingtown shopping center. Every kid in Syracuse was a fan of Baron Daemon.
And in 1963, Baron Daemon made a record. Now, decades later, that record's supernatural allure has drawn a unique visitor to Syracuse....
I also did a video version of my Baron Daemon rant, as seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! # 3: Baron Daemon, "The Transylvania Twist"
As I've said before, I could pass for a vampire if I could just get a little tan first.
This video was done in one take, but enthusiasm carries the day more often than mistakes ruin it. That enthusiasm is immortal, just like vampires ought to be. Especially campy, corny, schtick-loving bloodsuckers like Baron Daemon, who preyed on unsuspecting scenery with the undead passion of the broadest of broad comic performers. We loved him for it.
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| Mike Price, aka Baron Daemon |
Grab ahold of your baby and hold her tight! Here's to Baron Daemon, from one of his bloody buddies. Happy Halloween from Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do).
If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider a visit to CC's Tip Jar.
Carl's new book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is now available, courtesy of the good folks at Rare Bird Books. Gabba Gabba YAY!! https://rarebirdlit.com/gabba-gabba-hey-a-conversation-with-the-ramones-by-carl-cafarelli/
If it's true that one book leads to another, my next book will be The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). Stay tuned. Your turn is coming.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming at SPARK stream and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO. Recent shows are archived at Westcott Radio. You can read about our history here.
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