Friday Feature: “An American Werewolf in London”

In 1941, the werewolf mythology gained an iconic set of lines in the Universal horror classic The Wolf Man: “Even a man who is pure at heart/and says his prayers by night/May become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms/and the autumn moon is bright.” Forty years later, from the same studio, a less delicate line was added to the lycanthrope canon: “I will not be threatened by a walking meat loaf!”

Such is the tone of An American Werewolf in London, one of the best horror-comedies of the past few decades. It’s rare that a movie can strike such a perfect balance of laughs and screams, but AWiL has them in spades. With Halloween coming up – and the film’s 30th anniversary having occurred this past August – The Second Disc triumphantly brings back the Friday Feature for a look back at this classic film, and the interesting musical history that surrounds the film, as well.

Beware the moon after the jump!

No Kontroversy Here: Kinks Mono Box Set Coming Soon

It’s been a banner year for the Kinks.  Under the supervision of reissue producer (and Monkees guru!) Andrew Sandoval, Sanctuary and Universal U.K. have rolled out an impressive series of Deluxe Editions bringing together mono and stereo album versions, single and EP tracks and related ephemera from the Kinks’ Pye Records heyday.  Now, that campaign has gotten a bit bigger in scope, with the announcement of The Kinks in Mono.  This new box set, due in the U.K. on November 29,  follows in the footsteps of similar packages for The Beatles and Bob Dylan, and includes the band’s first seven LPs in seven individual digipaks.   But that’s not all.  An eighth disc compiles the Kinks’ original mono EPs and the ninth and tenth discs are devoted to “Mono Kollectables” rounding up the remaining mono material including unique international single versions.

The Kinks in Mono, appropriately enough, kicks off with 1964’s self-titled Kinks.  “You Really Got Me” heralded the electric birth of these British Invasion rockers, while “Stop Your Sobbing” was just one other instant classic on the set.  Like many albums of the time, Kinks combined familiar R&B covers by the likes of Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley with the band’s original material, primarily the work of one Raymond Douglas Davies.  That original voice became even more distinct with the albums that followed.  The box set continues with further excursions through R&B, pop, rock and finally Davies’ innovative concept albums: Kinda Kinks and The Kink Kontroversy (both 1965), Face To Face (1966), Something Else (1967), The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (1968), and Arthur, or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire (1969).

What’s new to this set?  Hit the jump!