When Wes Craven released his horror thriller SHOCKER in 1989, I was just Thirteen Years Old. I remember the day the movie was released though like it was yesterday. It was a cold October day when the movie was released and I can remember all of the hype leading up to it’s path to the Theater. Wes Craven had done horror films before, most notably the Friday The 13th Series with Freddy Krueger. Shocker had an awesome plot as the main character Horace Pinker, a convicted felon was set to be put to death. He was sentenced to die by way of the electric chair….except for when he was going through the execution he did not die. But he came back to life as an evil spirit to torment those people good and bad in his life. Wes Craven did an awesome job producing the thriller, the movie starred Michael Murphy, Peter Berg, Cami Cooper, and Mitch Pileggi as Horace Pinker. Not only was the movie a hit, but Wes was able to assemble one of the greatest movie soundtracks ever produced.
In order for Wes to get the right balance of Sound for his movie, it was agreed that a Heavy Metal based musical soundtrack would be the best sound. Wes hired William Goldberg, famous for numerous other famous soundtracks. Upon getting the nod, William teamed up with Metal Producer Desmond Child, Rock Star Michael Anthony, and Goldberg’s brother Sheldon Goldberg. These three producers brought together some of the most influential talent of the day to make, as I said, one of the greatest soundtracks ever released.
The First Track on the album was the Title Track, “Shocker.” Shocker was written by Desmond Child, Guy-Man Dude, and Jean Beuvour. It was performed by “The Dudes of Wrath which was compromised of Paul Stanley (KISS) and Desmond Child alternating lead vocals, Guy-Man Dude and Vivian Campbell (Def Leppard) on guitars, Rudy Sarzo (Whitesnake) on Bass, and Tommy Lee (Motley Crue) on Drums. The song also had Desmond Child, Kane Roberts (Queensryche) and Michael Anthony (Van Halen) singing background vocals. Shocker is the title track of the movie and basically chronicles how Shocker is born and is “man’s creation” that we as humans by putting an innocent man to death created a “Monster.” The first line goes, “See the Shadow of a Stranger….Turn Around and your life’s in Danger…This Crazy World’s in a Grave Situation…Check the Children are they sleeping…Will they wake from the sirens screaming…Don’t blame the Heaven’s this is Man’s Creation…..Ahhhh. The tune was a huge hit and received significant radio airplay.
The second track was performed by Iggy Pop. The track was called “Love Transfusion,” and was written by Desmond Child, Alice Cooper, and Vladimir Matesek. Iggy Pop was featureed on Vocals with John McMurry and Ron Mancuso on Guitar, Guy-Man Dude on Lead Guitar (Solos), Hugh McDonald on Bass, and Bobby Chouinard on Drums. Desmond Child and Louis Merlino sang background vocals. The song was about the execution of Horace Pinker.
The Third track was the famous “No More Mister Nice Guy,” an Alice Cooper Greatest Hit. The song was performed by Megadeth with Dave Mustaine on Lead Vocals, Dave Mustaine and Marty Friedman on Guitar, David Elleffson on Bass Guitar, and Nick Menza on Drums. Desmond Child and Michael Anthony sang background vocals. The track was actually featured on a VH1 Documentary: The Decline of Western Civilization: Heavy Metal. Dave Mustaine was so high on drugs during the taping of the video, the song almost had to be left off the Soundtrack. Megadeth pulled off a great rendition at the end of the day and No More MR. Nice Guy became the theme song for Horace “Shocker”.
The Fourth Track was “Sword and Stone.” This track was written by Desmond Child and Paul Stanley (KISS), and performed by VoodooX. Claus Lessmann was on Lead Vocals, Angel Sheifer on Guitar, George Dessinger on Bass, and Edgar Patrick on Drums.
“Timeless Love” was the fifth track which was performed by Saraya. The song which was solely written by Desmond Child, and Sandi Saraya was on Lead Vocals, Steve Lukather on Guitar, Myron Ghrombacker on Bass, and John Pierce was on Drums. Saraya did an excellent job with this song, which probably was the high point for this underrated band.
“ShockDance” was written by Desmond Child, Guy-Man Dude and Vivian Campbell. The song was performed by The Dudes of Wrath with Alice Cooper rapping (Horace Pinker), Guy-Man Dude and Vivian Campbell on Guitar, Cornelius Mims and Rudy Sarzo on Bass with Paul Stanley, Desmond Child and Michael Anthony on Background Vocals and a host of other guests. This son was sung from the perspective of Horace Pinker as Shocker.
The sixth track was performed by Dangerous Toys and was called “Demon Bell” The Ballad of Horace Pinker. Pretty Boy Floyd also made a guest appearance on this track.
The final two tracks were “The Awakening,” performed by Voodoo X and “Different Breed'” performed by Dead On. As mentioned earlier…this was a forgotten movie and anyone who cares to relieve the experience should surely rent it some time. In my opinion it was a great horror flick and an even better Soundtrack. Desmond Child was brilliant and they picked a wide assortment of talent that brought the soundtrack together in an artistic way. I highly suggest the movie and soundtrack for all of those classic 80’s fans. And I Honor it’s memory on Halloween 2012, 23 Years Later!!!!!!!!
LONG LIVE METAL>>>>!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reminder National Metal Day 11/11/12*********************
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