Music from Dark Shadows: 22 Savory Soundbytes for Die-Hard Fans

During my junior high school years in the late 1960s, Dark Shadows provided an agreeable after-school and summer-vacation diversion, albeit, even at the time, it seemed pretty cheesy fare. Then again, in a pre-cable era when many American viewers still had only two or three major networks (and scarcely more channels) to choose from, there really wasn't much else worth watching in that time slot anyway.

By the time I was well into my senior year of high school, Dark Shadows was on the last legs of its successful five-year run, and I had lost all interest in following its increasingly crazy story lines. But I still appreciated Robert Cobert's consistently engaging music, and after graduation, I bought the popular Philips soundtrack album (vinyl LP) that more recently has been reissued as an 18-track CD, likewise on the Varese Sarabande label. (I'm referring to the separately available CD The Original Music From Dark Shadows.)

Although the aforementioned CD is, arguably, the first recording you should consider if you're a bona fide fan of the original TV series, this 30th Anniversary Collection CD is probably more accessible to a wider range of listeners. In fact, even if you couldn't care less about the several original "gothic" tracks here, many other numbers are surprisingly lighthearted and cheery (as I'll explain below via my "track-list comments"). For my own part, I value both albums nearly equally, but, if pressed, I'd give the nod to this 22-track edition, which simply has more music to offer and encompasses seemingly the gamut of moods, arrangements and styles.

The arrangements range from a dreamily gentle "music box concerto" (track 7) to an unexpectedly camp 1969 spoof of "Barnabas the Vampire" (track 22) that sounds a cousin to Bobby "Boris" Pickett's 1962 novelty song "Monster Mash". Between those stylistic extremes are numerous tunes arranged for smallish orchestras or modest instrumental ensembles. Only two tracks feature any singing (beyond a bit of "Muzak-like" background harmonizing), the lesser of those being the aforementioned novelty song, and the better being track 12, where David Selby ("Quentin") and Nancy Barrett ("Carolyn Stoddard Hawkes") perform a surprisingly endearing duet, backed by the Robert Cobert Orchestra. [For more details, see below.]

Track list:

1. First Episode Opening Voice-Over/Collinwood. Subtly accompanied by a bit of eerie background music (not to mention a few "locomotive-train" sound effects), Alexandra Moltke (the character "Victoria Winters") very briefly narrates the first TV episode's opening voice-over. This sort of (largely non-musical) narration, though recurrent on the CD The Original Music From Dark Shadows, only occurs twice on this disc (i.e., tracks 1 and 17).

2. Dark Shadows Theme. This (purely instrumental) track is an alternate (extremely similar) version of the original instrumental music that most readily springs to mind whenever one recalls the original TV series' "opening-theme" segment. It always strikes me as being the most eerie music ever. [I can almost surmise that Edgar Allan Poe's redoubtable Roderick Usher would have had this spine-tingling theme playing whenever unwanted visitors approached too near the murky haunts of his gradually crumbling mansion!]

3. Quentin's Theme. Another unforgettable theme from the original series! If I had to pick my favorite DS instrumental music, this might well be it. However, this lovely, gently wistful version (a violin-and-piano duet) is indeed strictly instrumental, whereas its counterpart on the aforementioned CD The Original Music From Dark Shadows noteworthily adds David Selby's ("Quentin's") effectively poetic narration of the song's lyrics, which makes that version arguably still more wistfully moving. (If you love either version, you really ought to buy both CD's!)

4. Ode To Angelique. Though I don't find this "liltingly dreamy" track quite as engagingly moving as the prior "wistful" one, it's nonetheless excellent. Its opening bars comprise a piano gently accompanied by Robert Cobert and his orchestra. As the song progresses, the interplay between solo piano and orchestra alternately waxes and wanes a bit. In sum, like many tracks on this compilation, this is a pleasingly listenable instance of (ironically tasteful and agreeable) "Dark Shadows elevator music"! ;-)

5. Missy. Still more "Dark Shadows elevator music" from Cobert and his orchestra. This song is a tad "cheerier" than the preceding track. (Thus the pattern of this CD is becoming discernible: after the first three "moody" numbers, we're serenaded by increasingly lighter and cheerier compositions and arrangements.)

6. Theme From Dark Shadows. Although the opening bars sound closely reminiscent of the original "spooky" feel of the original, better-known version (i.e., track #2 above), this arrangement quickly begins to expand and transmogrify into the sort of lush, late-sixties instrumental music that only Cobert could have conceived! His deft arrangement and conducting of his orchestra illustrate that even a supposedly spooky, eerie composition can be refashioned into something downright danceable (in a "ritzy-ballroom" sort of way).

7. Josette's Music Box. (Performed by The Charles Randolph Grean Sounde.) Suddenly the succession of "Robert Cobert-conducted" tracks is supplanted by Charles Randolph Grean's own equally capable ensemble. The opening bars feature a solo music box; thereafter, the arrangement becomes agreeably more complex and even features some subtle background vocal harmonies. This is yet another "dreamily, liltingly cheery" song that meshes perfectly well with the prior (and several later) arrangements by Cobert.

8. #1 At The Blue Whale. (The Charles Randolph Grean Sounde) This beautiful (yet again "dreamily, liltingly cheery") number sounds nothing like what you'd expect from anything having to do with "Dark Shadows". This is nearly danceable "Muzak", not quite as upbeat as the next track.

9. Back At The Blue Whale. (The Charles Randolph Grean Sounde). Whereas the prior track was "danceable" only if we're speaking of slow, close embracing, this number is danceable in nearly a "sixties-pop-rock" way. Nonetheless, it still smacks of the vintage "Muzak" feel. Although it's my least favorite track on this CD (ditto its closely similar arrangement on the The Original Music From Dark Shadows CD), it's still a keeper. (There just aren't any downright "throw-away" tracks on this surprisingly endearing disc!)

10. Quentin's Theme. (The Charles Randolph Grean Sounde). Another version of this theme, one whose arrangement begins with a harpsichord-plus-violin duet but rapidly expands as it receives a lovely chamber-orchestra-plus-vocal-harmonies treatment. This somewhat livelier arrangement is a gratifying alternative to track number three above.

11. Dark Shadows Music Cue Medley I. Suddenly we're presented with still more "conventionally gothic" spookiness from Cobert's orchestra (more in the vein of this compilation's first three tracks but more complexly orchestrated). This fleetingly "spooky-and-somber" track makes for an effective interlude between the foregoing string of increasingly lively and cheery arrangements and the next, twelfth song, which is "something else" again!

12. I Wanna Dance With You. Originally released as a single in 1969, this light-and-lovely pop song features Nancy Barrett and David Selby performing a remarkably effective duet, despite Selby's singing sounding far from overpowering. There's a natural, palpable chemistry between their two voices, and Robert Cobert's arrangement and conducting is fully up to his usual high standard. Frankly, this is my favorite track on the entire CD! We all know about "chick flicks," and I suppose this is something of a "chick song." Nonetheless, I (somewhat guiltily) have to admit I find it entrancingly charming and absolutely worthy of more than one play per listening session!

13. Pansy's Theme Medley. Actually, this "medley" comprises two instrumental versions of "I Wanna Dance With You". The first version is an eminently gratifying, slow-paced, solo-piano piece; the second, brisker version is for a chamber ensemble and features violin and piano.

14. Sarah's Theme (London Bridge). A solo flute slowly and moodily opens this brief number. Soon a second flute joins in, and the mood lightens, albeit only slightly.

15. Joanna. A grand solo piano lushly conveys this dreamily cheery--yet subtly nostalgic--piece.

16. Dark Shadows Music Cue Medley II. Abruptly, this "mostly melancholy" track seemingly transports us back to the grounds of "The Old House" of Collinwood, where, perchance, Barnabas the vampire lurks. This eight-minute track basically alternates between a few hauntingly lovely, soft melodies and longer stretches of more dramatically eerie, "gloom and doom" music. Some of the segments here were used as background music for episodes of the original DS TV series; however, still other segments were composed for, but never finally used on, the TV show. This captivating track could provide some suitably spooky ambiance for many a dimly illuminated Halloween party!

17. Last Episode Closing Voice-Over/Dark Shadows Theme. This segment, featuring the voice of DS actor Thayer David, was featured at the tail-end of the TV series' final episode (April 2, 1971). It provided a fairly satisfying conclusion to the original series, and, correspondingly, it works satisfactorily at this point in the CD's track sequence, though I feel it could have been better placed directly after the next two tracks (#18 & 19). But my point is admittedly moot. (On the whole, whoever decided the track sequence for this CD did a commendable job!)

18. Barnabas Theme From Dark Shadows - The First Theremin Era. This is surely the most eccentric (yet laudable) rearrangement of the original TV series' "opening-theme" music ever done. By the closing bars, this track verges upon the intensity--albeit not the raucousness--of rock 'n roll!

19. Quentin's Theme. Here a small ensemble--featuring a saxophone--plays an almost jazzy rendition of this previously "wistful" tune. This rather surprisingly upbeat arrangement proves yet again that even the "saddest" tune can sound cheerily danceable with some clever rearrangement and, not least, a livelier pace.

20. Dark Shadows 1969 Vampire Fan Club Greeting. - Jonathan Frid. Via the resurrection of this obscure recording we get to hear good ol' "Barnabas" behind the scenes as Frid, while addressing his (anonymous) fan-club members, subtly and tastefully makes light of his beloved character with the remark, "I sometimes wonder when it's day and when it's night, and that can be a very dangerous situation for a vampire! [one subdued chuckle ensues]."

21. Radio Spots. This track comprises two radio ads for the 1970 MGM motion picture House of Dark Shadows. The first segment features the voice of Jonathan Frid extracted from the actual movie; the second is a somewhat silly--yet undeniably amusing--clip where a hired narrator finishes with the words, "See how the vampires 'DO IT'!" ;-)

22. Barnabas The Vampire State Building. This is inarguably and unabashedly the silliest ditty on this compilation. Originally released as a radio single in 1969, this is basically a novelty/comedy number in the spirit of the much earlier novelty song "Monster Mash". Though some fussy listeners will eschew this track, I myself find it a suitably corny culmination to this compilation that never takes itself too seriously and thereby provides a wealth of listening fun not only for DS devotees but also countless other open-minded music lovers and curio collectors.

The upshot:

I genially recommend Dark Shadows: The 30th Anniversary Collection to any fan of the original TV "soap opera"; moreover, many who despised that far-fetched show per se can nonetheless enjoy the generally light, uplifting, mellifluous music on this CD. While this "collection" is something of a potpourri of more DS music than you ever knew existed--from sundry sources--it's all tastefully sequenced and, surprisingly, amounts to considerably more than the sum of its parts. Unlike the CD The Original Music from Dark Shadows, here the arrangements are less often gothically grand and more often dreamily cheery. Among its noteworthy numbers are several versions of "I Wanna Dance with You," including the popular one with David Selby and Nancy Barrett singing the most engagingly sappy romantic duet ever (if you're like me, your CD player's "repeat" button will get tapped more than once for that "guilty pleasure" alone!). Finally, for die-hard devotees, the cover art--an imperiously posed Barnabas (view it above)--makes this CD a "must have". rear cover art, which features a lovely pose of Nancy Barrett.]