Namesakes #161: Halloween

It's that time of year again! The time when I listen to some of the scariest bands on the planet and invite you to do the same.

This year, they're all named after the 31st of October. Put on your William Shatner masks and let's go!

HALLOWEEN #1

We start in 1979, the year after Michael Myers came home, with this disco funk combo from somewhere in America (Haddonfield?). 

Halloween - Lady Midnight

HALLOWEEN #2

Then we have a New Wave band from Belgium circa 1982... though they appear to have returned with a second single in 1991.

Halloween - B. Town Beauty / Ghetto

HALLOWEEN #3

Our next Halloween came from Detroit in the early 80s, originally boasting the rather less radio-friendly name of Bitch. On October 31st, 1983, they changed their name to Halloween and began promoting themselves as "Detroit's Heavy Metal Horror Show", stealing a trick or two from Kiss, Alice Cooper and Twisted Sister along the way. 

Here's their most appropriate tune, with a suitably 80s video.

Halloween - Trick Or Treat

HALLOWEEN #4

Some Italian glam/metal band from 1985...

Halloween - Samhain / The Night

HALLOWEEN #5

More of the same (unsurprising, given the name) from Santa Clara in 1986. They would go on to become The Rockdolls.

Halloween - In For The Kill

HALLOWEEN #6

French prog rockers who fiddled their way onto the scene in 1988 and appear to be still going strong...

Halloween - Outsider

HALLOWE'EN #7

New Zealand-based noise-pop band from the decade we now have to call "The Tens".

Hallowe'en - Bart Simpson

HALLOWEEN #8

Florida surf-rock / rockabilly dudes from 2012...

Halloween - Monster On Campus

HALLOWEENS #9

Plural-tastic Vaccines spin-off band from 2021...

Halloweens - Maserati Anxiety Designed

HALLOWEEN #10

Gothy alt-rock band from Philadelphia, starting in 2023. Their album Shadow house is “a conceptual record about the compartmentalization of the Sub-conscience. The record as a whole is a cerebral experience that focuses on the hidden side of the mind."

Halloween - Poison Well

HALLOWE'EN #11

Jangly indie band from That London, doing their thing right now on the camp of bands...

Hallowe'en - To Tire Of Love

HELLOWEEN #12

I left these guys till last even though they've been around since 1984. From Hamburg, Helloween are considered "one of the pioneering power metal bands", and their latest video is below. They impressed me as a bunch of middle-aged men still intent on ROCKING OUT, and they clearly have a sense of humour too. By far the most successful of our Halloween bands, even if they changed the spelling slightly...

Helloween - A Little Is A Little Too Much

Trick... or Treat?