How celebrated screen villain Vincent Price wound up doing Hilarious House of Frightenstein in Hamilton isn't really a mystery.
By the end of the 60s, Vincent Price found his phone ringing less frequently with big screen offers. The calls for the veteran actor to play the lead villain – even for no-budget drive-in chillers – had all but dried up for the St. Louis-born thespian with his 60th birthday looming.
It probably had less to do with age than his frequent television appearances. At the time doing series television was still considered taboo by many in the film business – an open admission that you were past your sell-by date in Hollywood. It didn't appear to be any concern to Vincent. He was grateful for the work and seemed to delight in applying his skills to unexpected situations for whatever comic or dramatic role came his way.
For all his macabre on-screen menace, Price had a highly evolved sense of humour and never took himself too seriously. Whether it was spoofing his charming psychopath persona for laughs on the comedy/variety shows of Jack Benny, Danny Kaye, Jimmy Stewart, Red Skelton and Lucille Ball or popping up in guest spots on F-Troop, Daniel Boone, Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea, The Man From Uncle, Mod Squad, Love American Style and famously as the clever "Egghead" matching wits with the caped crusader on Batman. He was down for whatever.
So when Hamilton, Ontario's CHCH-TV came looking for someone to recite a few lines of creepy poetry and help set the proper tone for a kooky kids show called The Hilarious House of Frighenstein, Vincent Price knew he was right man for the job. He'd made a career out of finding the perfect balance between horror and humour. And being a lifelong Edgar Alan Poe devotee, the opportunity to bring to life the mystery and menace inherent in Poe's timeless verse like "The Raven" for a youthful audience in Canada was too perfect for Price to pass up.
Of course, he nailed the shows intro and outro sequences as well as the segment links with a mischievous grin as only Price could. According to those present, Price was the consummate team player, ready and willing to do whatever was required for the shot. He shared some stories and fellow actors and had some laughs with CHCH-TV's impressive crew and happily posed for photos with anyone who wanted a memento.
As the shoot was wrapping, there came news of an imminent snow storm. In a flash, Price vanished leaving everyone to think he'd raced to the airport to get catch the first flight home. Instead, our man returned an hour later carrying a two-four from the nearby Brewer's Retail and proceeded to hand out stubbies to get the party started in proper Canuck fashion.
What many people didn't know at the time was that Price had a long history with Canadians, particularly those from Southern Ontario. As a child, the St. Louis, Missouri-born aspiring thespian had spent his summers in the Windsor-Essex town of Amerhurstburg, Ontario where his maternal grandmother owned a two-story house on the banks of the Detroit River. And part of the reason for taking the job in Hamilton was that it provided a rare chance to return the site of his beloved VinMar Lodge, the place of some of his most-cherished childhood memories.
Perhaps Vincent's daughter Victoria Price will be able to shed some light on what VinMar Lodge and Amhurstburg, Ontario meant to her father and family at tonight's screening of the documentary Vincent Price: What Keeps Us Alive at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema. She'll be in attendance for the post-screening Q&A. Find out more about the film on The Perlich Post right here.
Watch a short documentary about Hilarious House of Frightenstein followed by a discussion of the Price family's time in Amerhurstburg below.
Just having wowed the crowd at Ireland’s premier music industry showcase and UK’s Strada Music signing, London, Ontario's Celtic roots ensemble Maggie’s Wake are back on home soil with a much anticipated CD Release of Lifelines at Toronto’s premier folk/roots destination Hugh’s Room on Sunday, October 25 at 8:00pm.
The forthcoming album is a perfect blend of Canadian folk and Celtic tradition with roots swagger – expect heartfelt story-songs, driving jigs ‘n’ reels, bold whistles, double fiddle, flashes of country twang and global twists, not to mention soaring harmonies that are pure joy, start to finish.
The acclaimed quartet came together in late 2022 and quickly took their home province of Ontario by storm — selling out dates on their very first "Spirit of the Season" holiday tour. Since then, they've showcased at major music conferences across Canada, the US and UK, have whirlwind 2026 & 2027 tours on the books, won the 2025 CFMA for 'New Artist of the Year' for their debut, self-titled CD, launched a Holiday EP, were just signed by UK’s Strada Music International, and of course, are launching Lifelines here at Hugh’s Room … not bad for a band just a few years in!
Their work is 100% original, penned by Tara Dunphy and Lindsay Schindler, backed by powerhouses Andrew Kosty on bass and Kenneth Palmer on guitar.
Their first single, Bridget O’Brien, won the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) Songwriting Award. After their NERFA showcase, they were told that if Maggie’s Wake was a soup, it would be a hearty bowl of everyone’s favourite folk styles finished with a dash of Loretta Lynn and a pinch of Nick Lowe. Doesn’t that sound delicious?!
About “Lifelines”
During a visit to a Portland gallery, a painting of a hand with deeply etched lifelines in the palm stopped the band in its tracks. The defining image endured and sparked an album celebrating the constellation of lifelines – from the emotional, creative, to the physical – that shape, connect, and sustain us.
Across 14 original, new songs, Lifelines brings together some of this country’s finest folk musicians and production talent, creating a recording that honours Maggie’s Wake’s traditional Celtic and Canadian roots while pushing their sound and musical storytelling ever forward. Joining the band are celebrated singer-songwriter and multiple JUNO Award winner David Francey, renowned percussionist Cheryl Prashker, and guests Blair Heddle, Dean Harrison, and Larry Smith. Legendary Canadian producer, engineer, and musician Paul Mills returns to the studio to produce and mix the recording alongside engineer/mixer Adam Plant.
The album represents an exciting next chapter for Maggie’s Wake, building on the band’s multiple award-winning debut and expanding their musical footprint and evolving sound. Check out "Last First Kiss" below.
Recent Highlights:
• 2026 Your Roots Are Showing Official Showcase Artists – Belfast Ireland
• 2025 Canadian Folk Music Award - New Artist of the Year
• 2025 Forest City London Music Award - World Music Group of the Year
• 2025 Folk Music Ontario Official Showcase Artists (Ottawa ON)
• 2025 Folk Alliance Region Midwest - Official Showcase Artists (Lisle IL)
• 2024 Official Showcase Artists - Folk Alliance International conference (Kansas City MO)
• 2024 Official Showcase Artists - North Eastern Regional Folk Alliance conference (Portland ME)
• 2024 North Eastern Regional Folk Alliance Songwriting Award
• 2023 Forest City London Music Award - Folk/Roots Group of the Year
Teodros Makonnen's rare 80s Ethiopian release Teodros Makonnen with His Organ taps the potential of synths and drum machines.
Here's the scoop...
Ethiopian music company Muzikawi presents the first reissue of Teodros Makonnen’s Teodros Makonnen With His Organ (ቴዎድሮስ መኮንን ከኦርጋኑ ጋር).
Originally released on cassette only, this recording exudes a mystique that surpasses even some of the most obscure Ethiopian recordings of the day. Teodros was one of the first musicians in Ethiopia to explore the possibilities that the advancement of drum machines, synthesizers and electric organs in the 1980s would open up.
A pioneering single-take home recording in Ethiopia, it recasts traditional songs in a wholly electronic and dreamlike style. A true cornerstone in the early digital sound of Ethiopian music. Order now on vinyl 2LP in gatefold sleeve from Mr. Bongo right here.
Teodros Makkonen with His Organ
Some recordings herald the future in ways that are impossible to see in real time. Teodros Makonnen With His Organ (ቴዎድሮስ መኮንን ከኦርጋኑ ጋር), by the artist Teodros Makonnen, also known as Teddy Mak, is one of those. Today, electronic sounds, synthesizers, and digital production are taken for granted in Ethiopian music, but in the early 1980s, they were novelties that polarized opinion. Even to this day, the story of Teodros Makonnen’s legacy has never been properly told. He played a decisive role in defining the sound of the digital era of Ethiopian music that emerged in the 1980s and beyond, both as a keyboard player and as a producer, songwriter, performer, and sound designer.
Ethiopian music was at a crossroads in the early 1980s. Much like music in the rest of the world, technology and automation heralded either a quantum leap in musical development or the annihilation of musicianship, depending on who you’d ask. The changes were incremental nonetheless, but with the benefit of hindsight one can clearly see that the changes meant different things in different contexts. Drum machines and electric organs came to replace many hotel bands because, all of a sudden, one musician could control drums, melody, and accompaniment. Teodros was one of the first musicians in Ethiopia to explore the possibilities this opened up.
Teodros’ father, Captain Makonnen Beri, was a chief pilot at Ethiopian Airlines and a music enthusiast at that. This would prove important to his development, as Makonnen brought back a piano from Germany, which would lead to the first steps in Teodros’ long musical career. Captain Makonnen’s work as Head of Flight Operations and as a pilot exposed him to the wider world that was far from commonplace for most Ethiopians. In a house where music captivated the whole family, the piano gave Teodros’ talent an outlet. Not only was a piano at home rare in Ethiopian households, his father also brought an Indian teacher to their home to teach Teodros and his brother, Captain Samuel Makonnen, music theory (solfeggio or ear training) and piano. Teodros and his youngest brother, the late great Dereje, a member of both the legendary Ibex Band and the Ethiopian reggae group Dallol, took up music from that point onward, with Teodros beginning to develop his proficiency at the age of eight. His father encouraged him to practice tirelessly at home, and Teodros later received musical schooling at the German School in Addis Ababa.
His obvious talent led to studies and formal education at the Yared School of Music, followed by continued studies in American jazz at Northern Virginia Community College in Virginia. Teodros cut his teeth professionally in his mid-teens, not only as a keyboardist, but also as an arranger for the Wabi Shebelle and Dahlak bands in the 1970s. He mastered electronic sequencing early, rising to prominence through the midnight recording sessions held during the military curfew. The pressures imposed by the curfew required precise and disciplined recordings, and Teodros delivered just that. This, in turn, led to collaborations with iconic artists such as Mulatu Astatke, Aster Aweke, Menelik Wossenachew, Tilahun Gessesse, Mahmoud Ahmed, and Alemayehu Eshete.
In those days, he sat in as a keyboardist with the Dahlak Band when Dawit Yifru took a hiatus to study in Russia, and also with the Ethiostar Band. He secured a residency at the Wabi Shebelle Hotel with the Shebele Band, together with Zelalem Tadese (drums), later succeeded by Elias Bekele, Mulugeta Hailu (bass), Teferi ‘Bibisha’ Mengesha (guitar), Kumelachew G/Selassie (trumpet), and Teshome Deneke (saxophone). A friendly competition developed between the bands associated with the Ras Hotel (the Ibex Band), Ghion Hotel (the Dahlak Band), and Wabi Shebelle Hotel (the Shebele Band). The music scene at Wabi Shebelle saw teenagers commanding the spotlight in an industry otherwise dominated by musicians of an older generation.
At the Wabi Shebelle Hotel, Teodros met a diplomat from Saudi Arabia and later visited him at his home in Addis Ababa, a meeting that had unexpected musical consequences. The man owned a Yamaha double-deck keyboard. That evening, they recorded Teodros Makonnen With His Organ (ቴዎድሮስ መኮንን ከኦርጋኑ ጋር) in one take. This recording, a cornerstone in the early digital sound of Ethiopian music, came about almost by chance, simply because Teodros got the opportunity. Traditional Ethiopian songs were cast in a wholly electronic style.
Once freed from backing duties, Teodros’ keyboards could explore dreamlike soundscapes that took Ethiopian music in new directions. Even though the cassette contained well-known Ethiopian songs, they were given highly original arrangements, performed on an electric organ with drum machine backing and rhythm patterns that left the listener with suggestive, lingering sounds. “Libesh Kabashen” (also known as “Anchi Bale Game”) and “Odu Gol Golesa” wrap you in the very stuff that dreams are made of.
Originally released on cassette only, this recording exudes a mystique that surpasses even some of the most obscure Ethiopian recordings of the day. It remained more or less unknown outside of Ethiopia until now. Some of the tracks, like “Addis Fikir,” are permeated with an almost naive buoyancy, free-floating sounds that lost contact with the ground the moment they were conceived. Others, like “Meche New Hageren Yemayew” and “Lelitu Alnega Alegn,” carry a moodier, quirkier timbre, with pulsating rhythms in the background. Yet even the darker pieces contain an unmistakable wave, something essentially Ethiopian. If most recordings of Teodros’s contemporaries at the time were teeming with atmosphere, his songs seem instead at home in the stratosphere, almost ethereal. Some of the music here could be filed under “lullabies,” were it not for the recurring, almost brooding feeling that engulfs the listener on the aforementioned tracks. You could easily be forgiven for drifting into a blissful haze as the music washes over you.
Up to the advent of electronic music production, Ethiopia was totally dominated by big bands on the one hand, and small groups on the other. The former were tied to large institutions such as the military, the latter emerged from the entertainment industry, in hotel bars and nightclubs. These groups were commercially driven, and bands ultimately had to foster a mercenary approach to employment, albeit not to the passion for music. In the light of this, Teodros’ musical legacy can be seen in two ways. On the one hand, he is a key player in Ethiopian music from the 1970s onwards, leaving an indelible mark through hundreds of compositions and arrangements, including soundtracks for numerous documentary films and advertisements for different companies. On the other hand, the way he and others employed electronics brought Ethiopian music onto a fork in the road.
The replacement of traditional instruments with electronic equipment was seen as impending doom by some. Others, like Teodros, saw new avenues for performance, production, and creativity. Just as later producers like Abegasu Shiota of Admas, Teodros was a trailblazer who opened paths that it took Ethiopian music as a whole more than a decade to rush into. The hotel scene had already been pushed toward electronic music by financial necessity and cost-cutting. Today’s revived global interest in Ethiopian music from the seventies and eighties, alongside a broader resurgence, has changed the reasons for using digital means of music production. They have become tools for musical dreaming. This is where the dreaming began.
Listen to "Odu Gol Golesa" ("ኦዱ ጎል ጎሌሳ") and "Libesh Kabashen" ("ልበሽ ካባሽን") below.
Austin-based journalist/musician Tim "Napalm" Stegall just put out a massive 500+ page book about his 145 fave punk records.
Here's the scoop...
The veteran punk journalist and resident Austin chronicler Tim Stegall returns to the Lydian Spin with a new book in tow. Anarchy in the Studio: Punk Music 1970-1979 (Ruffian Books) is a, five-hundred-page love letter to the genre's formative decade, told twelve inches at a time. Tim, who has been documenting punk and the underground since 1985, moves beyond the usual CBGB and Sex Pistols myth making to map the sweeping, messy cross-pollination of the era through more than a hundred and forty essential records. Lydia aptly notes that Tim is both a “master archivist” and a “fanboy fanatic.”
Listen to Episode 360 of The Lydian Spin with guest Tim Stegall here.
Check out Tim "Napalm" Stegall's substack right here.
