Halloween, 1985. Main Street runs straight through Snellville, Georgia - two dirt lanes about to be paved.  Town population: 5,000 and change.  Everyone's white, married, and a member of either the First Baptist Church or the Methodist Church (not much different than today).

The Wofford family, members of the Methodist sect, exit the local Dairy Queen in their cheap Sunday best and pile into the 40-foot Chevy Catalina.  Arriving home one mile and six gallons of gas later, Wendy, the eldest daughter, heads straight to her room to avoid what's to come.  Wes, the middle child, rushes to gather the Fake Skin he bought at Treasury Drug yesterday with three months of saved weekly allowance.

I, the dutiful youngest, follow him and assume my position in the makeup chair. Over the next hour, as he covers my eye with gauze and sculpts the fake skin around the marble he painted last week to look like an eyeball, my mother puts it on: *THE* Halloween record...

I don't know when it was bought, by whom or for whom, but I'd heard it every year over and over again the entire month. It was the "Kenny & Dolly's Christmas" of October. The indoor equivalent of raking leaves and that world of orange. It was Bobby "Boris" Pickett and The Crypt-Kickers' 1964 album - The Monster Mash.

Everyone, of course, knows the title track. It's gone down in history as one of the most famous tracks in Halloween history (right up there with Thriller and Ghostbusters). Unfortunately, what most of the world missed was the *rest* of the album: the clever N-law commentary in "Gravy (& Some Cyanide)," the hysterical antics of "Weird Watusi" and "The Ha-Ha-Ha," etc.

Years later, I left the record in the back window of the new family boat - the Chevy Caprice Classic (this one got a whopping 6 miles a gallon). Broad sun met vinyl, and tears followed: I'd destroyed the family album, and no replacement was to be found.

Several years ago, my conscience still guilty and my nostalgic love of those sounds unrequited, I began a hunt for the album. Nothing. I couldn't even remember the name of the artist; all I knew were the photos on the sleeve - that creepy man resembling Dracula holding a rat upside down by the tail, the werewolf howling in an upper corner...

I've renewed the hunt annually to find the record. Last year, I got warmer than ever - found it on ebay from some rare record-dealer for over $100. I wanted it, but not that bad...

But yesterday I renewed the hunt again, and I FOUND IT!!! Guilt, be gone!!!

This week's Friday Music comes via the Reverend Norm Vogel, who hosts a site of old music and old movies that he's taken the time to transfer (thanks, Reverend).

To listen, you'll need Adobe Flash Player installed on your machine. If you don't have it, you can download it here.

To check out the greatest Halloween album ever, go here and listen to Tracks #7 & 8.  Here's a breakdown of the songs contained in those two tracks:

Track #7 - "Monster Mash 1 - Zacherly" - contains the 1st side of the record:

* Monster Mash (0 > 2:54)

- Hurry Bury Baby (2:54 > 5:49)

- Let's Twist Again (5:50 > 8:19)

* Gravy & Some Cyanide (8:20 > 10:37)

- Popeye, the GraveDigger (10:38 > end)

Track #8 - "Monster Mash 2 - Zacherly" - contains the 2nd side of the record:

- Limb From Limbo Rock (0 > 2:25)

* Weird Watusi (2:26 > 4:59)

- Pistol Stomp (5:00 > 7:35)

- Dinner With Drac (7:36 > 10:44)

* The Ha-Ha-Ha (10:45 > 13:27)

- The Bat (13:28 > end)

Note: I don't vouch for the other tracks; they're junk compared to The Monster Mash.

Happy Friday, and Happy Halloween!!!