Counter Culture Songs Of The 60s And 70s, Possible Themes For Writing Modern Horror Movies

This guy is a real killer musician!

Rather or not you are a writer, have you ever listened to a song that inspires you to write script of some sort? Rather it be a movie script or a manuscript (book)?  If so, you rock!

Being a professional writer for more then a few years now, I have found inspiration in all sorts and kind of ways! Some times when it comes to something as simple as thinking up a fun title, and then crafting a story around it! But there is a way to do so that just dawned on me recently... That being using songs to write movies! Or, well in the context of this blog, using music to inspire one to write a horror movie!

An unfortunate, yet valid example of this is, 'Charles Manson'... Ok so maybe Charles Manson never got published... He may not have ever even written anything (I suspect that if he has written a biography, that it was probably actually ghost written...) But the reason why I use this as an example is because unfortunately he found inspiration from The Beatles song, 'Helter Skelter', and where as I do find all of that to be absolutely disgusting... A great song, I think can truly inspire some one to write a great movie!

The right song can inspire some one to write a great horror movie!

In my opinion, a great place to start would be to listen to some of the awesome counter-culture music of the 60s and 70s, such bands as: Iron Butterfly, or Led Zepplin, or Black Sabbath, and that is just to name a few!

I mean have you ever sat and watched one of the older horror movies, (like, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974),) and just thought that this movie thematically seems kind of similar to say: 'The psychedelic nature of Iron Butterfly's (In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida)', or say: 'Black Sabbath's (Iron Man) or maybe it is just something as simple as wondering if perhaps this movie was inspired by a particular song...

If you haven't thought with that concept in mind, check out one of these older horror movies and really look at it from the musical concept, I think you will find it to be most illuminating, and may actually be a source of inspiration for your next project!

5 Classic Rock 'N Roll Album Covers From The 1960s

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="301"] The album cover from, 'The Beatles' 1967 classic, 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'![/caption]

You know, working on twitter a lot, you find that people generally tend to post a lot of top 10 lists, and well, one of them that I have noticed that generally tends to be thrown around a lot is, 'Book Cover Illustrations', and, 'Album Covers'... And well I never thought to much about them until recently! You see, I am guilty of this, posting these top 10 lists, and well I had done one for foreign pop rock covers from the 1960s, and some one on Twitter had commented on it... And well since I so enjoy thinking outside of the box on these types of things, I thought that it might be kind of fun to do my own unique brand of this with, '5 Classic Rock 'n Roll Album Covers From The 1960s'

At number 5: Elvis Presley.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] From an EP that Elvis did in 1964![/caption]

At number 4: Santana.

[caption id="attachment_2902" align="aligncenter" width="348"] From a self titled album that Santana did in 1969![/caption]

At number 3: The Beatles.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="452"] The cover for the 1969 Beatles album, 'Abbey Road'![/caption]

At number 2: Jimi Hendrix.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="452"] This album is one that Jimi Hendrix did in 1969![/caption]

At number 1: Iron Butterfly's.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="449"] The LP for, 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida' an album that was released by Iron Butterfly in 1968![/caption]

5 Awesome Bands That Still Rock And That If You Can, You Should See Live

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="552"] AC/DC... An amazing band that i do feel would be great on stage![/caption]

Believe it or not folks, I have been a metal head for all of my adult life, and for a decent sized portion of when I was a teenager... I have listened to a lot of truly spectacular music, have owned some awesome mementos from some amazing moments for some of whom I would consider to be some of the best bands head banging rock bands ever,  and have even owned more then a few concert DVD's for some of these groups... But the one thing that I have never done is see any of them live!

Believe it or not, I have only ever actually been to one concert in my life! (A situation where in the first chance I get, I absolutely intend to rectify it!)

So I was thinking recently, about who would be my top 5 bands... A real dream team that if I had the opportunity to see would be absolutely fantastic... So I thought that I would share with you guys, '5 Awesome Bands That Still Rock And That If You Could, You Should See Live'.

At number 5: Anthrax.

[caption id="attachment_2141" align="aligncenter" width="450"] A great band that would be absolutely incredible to see on stage![/caption]

The truth is, is more or less Anthrax is a relatively recent band that I have just gotten in to, and the truth is, is that they have some truly awesome songs, and I feel like they would be an absolute blast, but when it comes down to it... All of their good songs are really good, and all of their bad songs are absolutely atrocious... But they really do deserve one of the top 5 spots, because their good songs are freaking awesome!

At number 4: KISS.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="584"] The, 'KISS Army' doing what they do best![/caption]

Now I am aware that for what ever reason, that KISS has become a modern day joke to a lot of people, but they rocked back in the 70s when they first came to prominence, and they rock just as much now!

At number 3: Iron Butterfly.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="474"] A prolific era defining band that still to this day kick ass![/caption]

Unfortunately due to their age, I hate to be morbid about this, but I can't imagine there will be to many more opportunities to see these guys in action due to the fact that they have been going on strong for literally decades... But the truth is, is their music, and especially one of the songs that they are most recognized for, 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida'  does not just still kick major ass, but was  culturally defining for the 1960s in regards to it's type of music... So you know I had to put them in there!

At number 2: Alice Cooper.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="497"] Alice Cooper by himself still rules and is one that all fans should go see at some point![/caption]

He may not be exactly a band... But he is Alice freaking Cooper... You know I had to put him in there!

At number 1: Metallica.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="485"] Metallica kicking ass on stage... Definitely if you are a fan of their type of music then it is a must![/caption]

I will be honest with you guys and say that this choice maybe partly a personal preference (but that is because they are still my favorite band of all time.), also if you are a metal head like me, then it is well worth seeing them in person (I know I would love to!)

In the end, there are a lot of great bands, but for my money, I would say that these guys rock, and would be my dream team if I only had 5 bands that I could see!

http://youtu.be/zlLn0UicWrM

http://youtu.be/_PiVTOLFdBA

http://youtu.be/UIVe-rZBcm4

http://youtu.be/NO2cHJmDkBg

http://youtu.be/yTM0UxeyTJU

Iron Butterfly: In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (1968) - Song Review

[caption id="attachment_325" align="alignright" width="263"] Official Score = 3 Devils[/caption]

I will be honest and say that despite the fact that I consider myself to be definitely an aficionado of music... And to be honest I would say that I like just about all types of music (except for most forms of country, and opera)...  Now that is not to say that I am huge fan of all songs that are out there from the genres that I didn't just mention that I find to be utterly repugnant!

But regardless the one area of music that I have not heard to much of is, 'long songs'...

What I mean by long songs are songs that go longer then I would say about 6 minutes... Now that is not to say that I haven't heard any, as a matter of fact I would go on to say that I have heard more then a few!

With that in mind though there is one song that I found to be really pretty much a kick ass good time, and it was a song that from what I have seen movies and TV shows, seems to be what defined the drug craze of the 60s and the counter-culture movement that was going on in those turbulent times... This song of course I am talking about is, 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida' by Iron Butterfly (1968)!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="460"] Iron Butterfly in 1969: from left to right Doug Ingle (organ, vocals), Ron Bushy (drums, percussion), Lee Dorman (bass, vocals), Erik Braunn (guitars, vocals). The legends who made one of the most famous counter-culture drug songs of all times![/caption]

Now of course the 60s are dead, and so the song has lost a little bit of its luster as a cultural icon for the dissatisfied masses, but the truth is, is this song is still extremely relevant as not only an Icon representative of that time, that works out great for movies and TV series, but it is also still a truly amazing song... And I will be honest and say that it is one of the longest songs that I have ever heard!

What makes this song so great? Well I want to say that the lyrics were pretty amazing for this song... (They were fun, but not very present), no what made this song so awesome was the instrumental solo that goes on through most of this song! I mean I hate to say it (being as I am not a fan of drugs in any capacity), but I can definitely see how people could enjoy getting high from the Psychedelic tones inherent in this song!

For me personally besides the fact that even after over 40 years, the instrumental solo in this song is still truly amazing, these instrumentals are historically speaking a representation of the music of the 1960s!

In the end this song still kicks ass in a major way, and is absolutely worth the time to listen to it, and if you get a chance, I think you might really enjoy it! I know I did!

http://youtu.be/UIVe-rZBcm4