The Ghastly Ones are a
surf–
garage
A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include:
*Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicl ...
band from
Van Nuys, California
Van Nuys ( ) is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Van Nuys City Hall, Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley ...
, with a late-night monster movie theme.
History
The Ghastly Ones were formed by two Special FX make up/movie monster makers, Garrett Immel aka Dr. Lehos and
Norman Cabrera aka Baron Shivers. They infused their love of Halloween records, late night monster movies and
Screaming Lord Sutch
Screaming Lord Sutch (born David Edward Sutch, 10 November 1940 – 16 June 1999) was an English musician and perennial parliamentary candidate.
He was the founder of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party and served as its leader from 1983 t ...
with inspiration from early sixties surf and hot rod acts like
The Lively Ones
The Lively Ones were an American surf music band from USA, active in Southern California in the 1960s. They played live mostly in California and Arizona. They recorded for Del-Fi records with production from Bob Keane. They recorded mostly c ...
, Avengers VI, and
The Del-Aires
The Del-Aires were a Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.[Misfits
MiSFiTS was the acronym for the ''Minnesota Society for Interest in Science Fiction and Fantasy''. This organization has now changed its name to GPS, an acronym for Geek Partnership Society. It was founded in 1999 and was the parent non-profit org ...]
shows. During their early shows, the stage was often decorated with tombstones and cobwebs to give their performances the proper atmosphere.
Their unique sound and look caught the attention of
Rob Zombie
Robert Bartleh Cummings (born January 12, 1965), known professionally as Rob Zombie, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and actor. His music and lyrics are notable for their horror and sci-fi themes, and his live show ...
, who released their first album, ''A-Haunting We Will Go-Go'' in 1998 on his label
Zombie-A-Go-Go Records, a subsidiary of
Geffen Records
Geffen Records (formerly The David Geffen Company from 1980 to 1992 and Geffen Records Inc. from 1993 to 2004) is an American record label, founded in late 1980 by David Geffen. Originally a music subsidiary of the company known as Geffen Pi ...
. Subsequent albums were released on their independent label, Ghastly Plastics Co.
In 2007, The Ghastly Ones toured the East Coast and Japan for the first time and in 2009 they played in Nottingham, England. Their music has been featured in the ''
SpongeBob SquarePants
''SpongeBob SquarePants'' is an American animated television series, animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' C ...
'' Halloween episode titled “Scaredy Pants” and the 2009 remake of ''
Night of the Demons''.
Drummer and co-founder Norman "Baron Shivers" is currently focusing on his career as a movie monster maker. Keyboardist
Dave Klein "Captain Clegg" is currently focusing on recording and production at his own studi
Dave Klein Recording Guitarist Garrett "Dr. Lehos" is currently playing in
Satan's Pilgrims and Venturesmania.
In February 2024, it was announced that the Ghastly Ones would be reuniting for the SurfoRama festival in Spain, followed by a performance during the annual Surf Guitar 101 Festival in Long Beach, California, along with an additional performance in Mexico City with Chris "Count Harlock" Barfield on bass.
Selected discography
Albums
* ''A-Haunting We Will Go-Go'' (CD, LP, 1998)
* ''All-Plastic Assembly Kit'' (CD, 2005)
* ''Target: Draculon'' (CD, 2006)
* ''Unearthed'' (CD, 2007)
* ''Unearthed'' (LP, 2022)
EPs
* ''Dare To Go-Go Ghostly With The Ghastly Ones'' (1998, 7")
* ''Gears n' Ghoulfinks'' (2006, purple vinyl 7")
Singles
* "SpongeBob ScaredyPants," from ''
SpongeBob SquarePants: Original Theme Highlights'' (2001)
* ''Flying Saucers Over Van Nuys'' (2006, green vinyl 7")
References
External links
The Ghastly Ones - Official site
{{Authority control
American surf music groups
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical groups established in 1996