Goblin Takes Manhattan!
We are halfway through our musical horrors tour with The Evil Dead possessing Town Hall and John Carpenter “assaulting” The Knockdown Center. Before our next event, we present you with a brief interlude, something akin to those ubiquitous bite-sized Snickers bars you might find in your trick-or-treat bag. That said, we are sticking with our musical theme by highlighting an event we are (sadly) not attending—a screening of the spectacular, genre-defining 1975 Italian Giallo Deep Red (Profondo Rosso) at City Winery, with live musical accompaniment from Goblin.
For those unfamiliar with the term, Giallo is a rough precursor to the popular slasher craze of the early 1980s. These Italian films often feature murder-mystery elements and, in many instances, a black-gloved killer whose identity and motive are not typically revealed until the end of the movie. In Italian, Giallo means “yellow,” which was the color of the paper used in printing many earlier pulp novels that inspired the films. While the subgenre dates back to the 1960s and runs into the 1980s and beyond, the peak period was the 1970s when dozens and dozens of curiously long titled Giallos were released.
As for the music, Goblin is the progressive rock band that recorded the original soundtrack for Dario Argento’s Deep Red 50 years ago. In fact, members of Goblin have composed and recorded full and partial soundtracks for many classic horror films of the 1970s, 1980s, and beyond. While musicians have come and gone over the last 50+ years, the original members included keyboardist Claudio Simonetti, Walter Martino on drums, Fabio Pigntelli on bass, and Massimo Morante on guitar. The current incarnation of the band, led by Simonetti, is performing tonight at City Winery in what looks to be a blast of a show. While we are bummed to miss it, they have appeared in NYC several times before so I am confident (more like hopeful) that I can catch them later.
In the meantime, we want to share just a bit of the wonderful, weird and atmospheric music Goblin has created not only for Deep Red but other Argento-directed films like Suspiria (1977) and Tenebrae (1982). The latter film’s soundtrack was provided by three former members of Goblin (the band was disbanded at the time): Simonetti, Pignatelli, and Morante. Simonetti also recorded several tracks for George Romero’s brilliant and much beloved Dawn of the Dead (1978) and some deliciously 80s rock pop synth tracks for Lamberto Bava’s Demons (1985).
Put simply, the soundtrack for Deep Red is a lot of things; at various times it is frantic, funky, jazzy, playful, rocking, and mysterious. The tone can shift dramatically, not only from song to song but within a particular piece. This can cause some sensory and cerebral whiplash, but it keeps you on your toes the way progressive rock does. The album’s main theme is an absolute banger evoking a sense of intrigue within the first few beats. The Suspiria soundtrack is a Halloween essential: eerie, ethereal, bombastic and intrusive, piercing, and strangely beautiful at times. In fact, I usually pop my earbuds in on a chilly fall evening and walk around listening to this score. Tenebrae, on the other hand, tends to be an underrated score with grand organ flourishes befitting Phantom of the Opera and infused with groovy beats and rock-styled riffs.
Suffice to say that whatever Goblin score you listen to expect to be hit with a wave of sound that will feature some combination of piano, guitar, organ, electric piano, bass guitar, percussion, haunting vocal chants, and LOTS of pure synthesizer joy. This is powerful attention-comanding music that will deliver the goods any Halloween season.
Main theme to Deep Red.
Main theme from Tenebrae.
Main theme for Suspiria.
Main theme from Dawn of the Dead.
The Demons theme.
