"There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die." - Hunter S. Thompson.
Wow, can't think of a guy who fits this quote more. Seems immortal like Ozzy, high powered, a mutant, definitely not considered for mass production....
That’s a beautiful quote to use for him. I would say Zappa fits as well. We could always use a Zappa around. I would of LOVED to hear what Zappa would of said about the big controversy over “WAP” a couples years ago. I swear I can see him addressing the council to ask why wet hoohas are so bad? Lol
@@HollyAnneThePaganChaosWitch Haha! Exactly! Why does everyone want us to have dry hoohahs?? 😔 we need a Zappa and a Twisted Sister to defend our lubrication haha
Probably all that meditation, and a healthy diet to go with it. If you live a healthy life (no junk food, no beer, no smoking) most drugs have very negligible long term effects. Most people don't live like that though.
Lady Marmalade Just like the old women living in the EZ near Chernobyl have discovered the key to immortality via a combination of vodka and radiation, Arthur Brown has probably managed to find just the right combination of drugs to grant him eternal life. Oh yeah and genes. I wouldn't be surprised if that plays a part too.
@@aeneas237 Funny y'all should say that, because Lewes is also the site of the biggest firework display in Europe, so if it was renamed to Firetown it wouldn't be entirely unfitting.
Peter Gabriel in Genesis,master of ridiculous costumes. Also Parliament with George Clinton and the one and only Bernie Worrell, virtuoso king of outer space keyboards.
Not a line but I absolutely love his reaction to One Tin Soldier after building Coven up as this badass, war obsessed black metal band. Him dropping the Devil Sign in confusion and despair during the opening flute is one of the most hilarious scenes ever.
my grandfather showed me this song when i was a kid. he was like "you wanna hear some crazy music i used to listen to?" and then a few years later when he discovered youtube he hunted the video down just to show us the insanity. it's one of my favorite songs haha.
For those not aware, Arthur Brown played another important role in music history. In many of the vintage clips of the Crazy World in this video, the young man on the drums is none other than Carl Palmer-two years before he became the P in ELP.
Interestingly, he tends to do it in different ways. The well known black and white evil clown look, but he also used masks or bright colour makeup with ted and blue etc
lol wikipedia quote; Brown quickly earned a reputation for both his powerful operatic voice (which spanned four octaves) and his outlandish performances, including the use of a burning metal helmet, which led to occasional mishaps. During an early appearance at the Windsor Festival in 1967, Brown wore a colander on his head soaked in methanol. The fuel poured over his head by accident caught fire; two bystanders doused the flames by pouring beer on Brown’s head, preventing any serious injury. beer saved him for us. also... The flaming head then became an Arthur Brown signature. On occasion he also stripped naked while performing, most notably in Italy, where, after setting his hair on fire, he was arrested and deported. well done.
I have so many questions, such as "Why did he have a colander on his head?" and "How would pouring alcohol onto fire put it out? Must've been some pretty weak beer"
Joe Strummer became a vegetarian because of an incident at an Arthur Brown gig. A guy's pet chicken strayed into a giant wicker effigy that he was gonna burn on stage, the audience went crazy trying to get Arthur to notice,the chicken was rescued and returned to it's owner, who said "remember this the next time you're eating chicken", and Joe Strummer did
@@otaking3582 aside from novelty beers that have had grain alcohol added, beer contains way to little alcohol to light on fire. You generally need 30% alcohol at least for it to be flammable.
When I was a kid, every once in a while, my dad would walk up to me and scream in my face "I am the god of hellfire and I bring you! FIRE!" I'm not kidding.
@kevin willems We must not forget the latest piece of insurance advertising genius: the Liberty emu. I still haven't figured out what the commercials are about...
@TheGreaterGood80 Constipation Blues. And I don't whether it was a hit, but his version of Paul McCartney's 'Monkberry Moon Delight' is the ultimate version ruclips.net/video/bL6GJ10OBPE/видео.html
A life-long love of Alice Cooper lead me to branch out into performers who were weird before even Cooper and Zappa, so I'm always thrilled when artists like Screamin' Jay Hawkins or Arthur Brown get attention.
Yeah Screaming J Hawkins ! I knew there was a guy even before Arthur Brown who was into this weird stuff. Now who was the offfellow who gave Hawkins the idea to that put wild carnival & horror theatre thing into music ...
Alice Cooper and Arthur Brown have actually performed together, which I find very nice, considering how much inspiration there must have been there. It's a weird niche of music, but there's so much good stuff to be found
Same here. I started out on Alice, which led to a lifelong obsession with Zappa, which led to Arthur Brown, which branched out to wherever. That's how I discover new music.
Gotta agree. Gotta say, "Fire" is one of my "four favorites," and thus gets sung about three times a year at my alter ego's group's monthly karaoke night, but I have to resort to Vincent Price for my "maniacal laugh."
We can add Arthur Brown to the long list of "One hit wonders who absolutely loathe their one hit." He has gone on record saying the only reason he keeps playing Fire is because its what people expect him to play.
Hey, Zappa's got plenty of amazing hooks. He just loved to bury them under a pile of weird shit. Best exemplified by his cover album "The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life" where he takes some of the best known songs ever and encapsuletes them in so much weird shit that you almost stop understanding how they got so big in the first place.
I was watching Arthur rehearsing online the other day and he still has that voice. He's still going, still just as crazy as ever, and he actually seems like a really nice guy. I'd imagine he's probably seen this video as he's very active online.
When I lived in Austin TX playing keyboards in a band called Jimmy Carl Black and the Grandmothers (1989-93), Arthur Brown would sit in with us at a few gigs. Most of the time he would sing a lot of R&B covers, and he had a great voice years after his one hit. He only performed "Fire" once with us in September 1990 at The Wetlands in NYC (now defunct, sadly). I can tell you that if he heard you playing "Fire" like that, he'd let you know everything wrong with your performance. I know this because before that Wetlands gig, we had to rehearse all of his tunes for TWO FRIGGIN' MONTHS - especially this one! Don't get me wrong - we had a great time playing that show, and we got to do a lot of rarely-heard stuff, such as his rendition of "The Tell-Tale Heart" from Alan Parsons' Edgar Allen Poe album, as well as much of his Crazy World/Kingdom Come tunes. Say what you will about Arthur, but he had an excellent voice you wouldn't forget if you saw him live. A LITTLE TRIVIA: Back in Austin, Jimmy Carl Black and Arthur Brown put food on their respective tables by ... painting houses. Their business was known as "Black and Brown - Gentlemen of Color". The local piece of shit music rag which doesn't deserve a name check made a reference to his involvement in the business with "I am the god of one-coat latex, and I bring you ... free estimates!" Arthur wasn't very pleased with that, which makes sense - as I mentioned above, it was (and as far as I'm concerned, IS) a piece of shit music rag. It was so bad that when I used it at the bottom of a bird cage, my bird refused to crap on it, choosing to hold it in until it eventually exploded. I can't blame the bird. I wouldn't crap on it either.
And he's 81 years old now and I believe he is still touring. Amazing. Oh, and you forgot to mention King Diamond who basically took his entire act and just cranked-up the music to 11.
@@xeferial , So it's just that 2 second bit in his car as he drives by? Good catch! I mean the "fire" thing is relevant to the plot, but I wouldn't have picked up on the specific song.
whoa. My dad would always go " Fire. Duh da duh!" whenever we brought up fire or getting burned or torching someone lol....i never knew it came from a real thing. Huh, go figure. thanks for the education Todd! :)
Alan Parsons had him sing one of the songs on APP's first album, which was Poe's works put into music. Arthur Brown singing as the crazy, guilt riddled murderer in "The Tell-tale Heart," was inspired and perfect. He played it in 2016 when I saw him at a club.
I'm 68 yrs old and I remember distinctly when this came out! When I saw the title Fire - even after all these years! - I INSTANTLY knew the tune and the opening words. THAT"S how influential he was. The band had a unique sound and that electric organ was something else. I really appreciate all the research you've done on Arthur Brown - it takes some work and a lot of patience and I so appreciate your success with this. Thanks so much!
Y'know this band being a one-hit wonder reminds me of a quote by a very wise man, that is most fitting for this situation: "It's better to burn out, than to fade away!"
MTV used to play this on occasion in the early days when they didn't have a huge amount of videos. They had a kinda 'from the vault' segment where they would play this, Sabbth, Alice Cooper and other guys who had visual performances recorded.
I found out about this song from listening to Marilyn Manson who samples it in Lunchbox, and then from the cover album Ozzy released here he covers it. I think if Arthur Brown was born 10 years later and was less psychedelic and more hard rock he might have had a successful career in music.
I first heard him on Alan Parsons Project’s first album, Tales of Mystery and Imagination. No one was better equipped to sing “Tell Tale Heart.” Fucking amazing vocals. ruclips.net/video/O5NN8fK1tXo/видео.html
Holy crap that's where I know his voice from! My dad got me into Alan Parsons Project a while back, and I thought Brown's voice sounded familiar but couldn't quite place it. Thanks man for this comment.
@@buppy_gaming same. Also the Electric Hellfire Club, and a couple others around that time. It was a like a whole bunch of bands discovered this sample in the early-mid 90s.
I'm guessing he condensed information about the band to fit the format of the channel, but I agree- I would've liked to see a longer version of this video.
We were playing Axis and allies in my friends basement a few years ago, listening to classic rock radio. This song was playing and I had never heard it before. About a minute in, it was quiet, and I say to the group "Am I the only one really feeling this?" we all agreed and this song has since became our "thing".
@@dylanmcdermott1110I remember a while ago me and my father were talking about music we both like and one thing that he brought up is that the sound of a Hammond organ absolutely needs to make a comeback, which I absolutely agree with.
Check out Black Magick SS they do Psychedelic rock with black metal influence and 60s organs. Rainbow nights is very 60s 70s ish. Kinda like Black Metal Blue Oyster Cult with organs.
So glad someone else likes it. I think it's beautiful. I first heard it on a RUclips video covering the deaths of actors and actresses from the Golden Era of Hollywood, and it was so perfect I looked it up. Beautiful, introspective song.
THEY TOOK YOU NIGHT MAN AND YOU DONT BELONG TO THEM. THEY LEFT YOU IN A WORLD OF DARKNESS WITHOUT YOUR SEXY HANDS. AND I MISS YOU NIGHT MAN. SO BAAAAAAD.
How is this not a commonly known song? It's a classic! I had no idea it was from the 60s, but it's absolutely memorable. It's one of the most memorable organ riffs since Tocata and Fugue.
He must’ve inspired Ian Gillan for a start. The 2000 C4 documentary series “ Top Tens “ Prog Rock edition sites this tune as a massive influence to all the British Prog acts as much as Sgt Pepper . 👍
I actually saw Arthur Brown live last spring. The man is in his 70's, and still dances like a goddamn demon. One of the best concerts I've ever been to. This is not from that show, but basically this :D ruclips.net/video/ZEKElYD-mYM/видео.html
I know you were joking, but the Fire Poem does set up the song well. The album is really best experienced together. Lots of repeated motifs and threads that repeat and connect. I bought a used vinyl copy and love it to pieces :)
No Todd, you aren't done with Halloween specials until you've reviewed Werewolves of London. Also much as I love them, Blue Oyster Cult only had one proper mainstream hit and it's also pretty Halloweeny. That's two more years right there.
Todd mentioned that if the band was legit popular but only coincidentally had one pop hit he wouldn't cover them. I remember he specifically was talking about Yo Yo Ma and Muse(neither of them have pop hits), but I think BOC fits in that category.
Blue Oyster Cult had 2 hits. Everyone forgets "Godzilla". Probably because it wasn't featured in a famous SNL sketch. "Oh no! They say he's got to go go go Godzilla! Oh no! There goes Tokyo go go Godzilla!"
Warren Zevon, who did Werewolves of London, had two hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and four hits on the mainstream rock charts. Unfortunately he doesn't qualify for OHW :(
Arthur Brown is still going and has huge levels of energy, more than his band of circa 30 year olds. His newer material is good too. He doesn't use the fire helmet as insurance costs are too high after setting a bandmate on fire once.
I feel like ever since Ghost won a grammy, Arthur Brown, Roky Erickson, and all that kind of early psychedelic hard rock has seen something of a resurgence, at least one can hope anyway.
Todd, I enjoy your show. If you ever decide to do another "Spooktacular Edition", I have a couple of songs you might consider: The first song is 1972's "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia", sung by Vicki Lawrence (of Carol Burnett/Mama's House fame). This was a #1 hit; Vicki may even qualify as a "one-hit" wonder. The second song is 1973's "Swamp Witch" by Jim Stafford. Neither song is scary, but I think they both have a bit of a creepy vibe to them . The songs are worth a listen if you have some down time.
Fun fact: I had never heard this song before but I used to listen to the Lizzy Mercier Descloux cover Todd played at the end over and over and over again. Never knew that it was a cover, and a cover of THIS at that. Thanks Todd for teaching me the history of a song from my childhood!
Marilyn Manson & The Spooky Kids made perfect use of sampling the “I bring you!” as the intro to their song “Lunchbox” that’s the first time I heard of this song back in the 90’s.
He still returns to Austin occasionally and performs. Still great. His voice is better than ever, he's still got the moves. Doesn't set himself on fire anymore so I guess he has mellowed some.
LOL this video gets so close to being accidentally prophetic at 10:45. Turns out Tim Burton wound up making a new Addams Family because Rob Zombie is making a new The Munsters. So close.
Oh Yeah! This was huge! We played this at the High School station as late as 1970, and, today in 2019 he is still on the road at 77 years old. Just favorited this One Hit Wonderland.
Arthur Brown also contributed on the first album by The Alan Parsons Project, Tales of Mystery and Imagination, which is themed around the works of Edgar Allen Poe. He sings the lead vocals on The Tell-Tale Heart, which is rather perfect for him and his dynamic voice. Also, I highly recommend Tales of Mystery and Imagination. It's a great album to play during the month of Halloween. Pretty much anything by The Alan Person Project is worth seeking out, actually.
Dude I've been a HUGE fan of Arthur Brown for the three years since this video has come out and I couldn't thank you enough todd for introducing me. Arthur Brown is one of the greatest psychedelic musicians of all time
"There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die." - Hunter S. Thompson.
Wow, can't think of a guy who fits this quote more. Seems immortal like Ozzy, high powered, a mutant, definitely not considered for mass production....
That’s a beautiful quote to use for him. I would say Zappa fits as well. We could always use a Zappa around. I would of LOVED to hear what Zappa would of said about the big controversy over “WAP” a couples years ago. I swear I can see him addressing the council to ask why wet hoohas are so bad? Lol
@@nicole9volt lol, sounds like the kind of guy who would say "are you saying that you DON'T like a wet woman? I call bullshit".
@@HollyAnneThePaganChaosWitch Haha! Exactly! Why does everyone want us to have dry hoohahs?? 😔 we need a Zappa and a Twisted Sister to defend our lubrication haha
We should all be so lucky to age as magnificently as Mr. Brown!
For a man who is statistically 99.8% likely to have done a few bathtubs full of drugs, yes, Arthur Brown has aged spectacularly well.
Probably all that meditation, and a healthy diet to go with it. If you live a healthy life (no junk food, no beer, no smoking) most drugs have very negligible long term effects. Most people don't live like that though.
He looks like one of those scrawny, tough as old boots types with a superhuman metabolism, like Keith Richards.
Genes are the real deal bruhh
Lady Marmalade Just like the old women living in the EZ near Chernobyl have discovered the key to immortality via a combination of vodka and radiation, Arthur Brown has probably managed to find just the right combination of drugs to grant him eternal life.
Oh yeah and genes. I wouldn't be surprised if that plays a part too.
He used to do drugs. He still does drugs, but he used to, to.
Arthur Brown lives in the same town as my dad, people see him about pretty often, and he sometimes does impromptu gigs in local pubs.
That’s pretty cool
do they still live there? this is pretty cool:)
@@Jonathan_Brose As far as I know yes, but couldn't say for sure.
The name of the town should be changed to whatever Arthur Brown wants it to be
@@aeneas237 Funny y'all should say that, because Lewes is also the site of the biggest firework display in Europe, so if it was renamed to Firetown it wouldn't be entirely unfitting.
>Person singing in ridiculous costume
>Peter Gabriel was inspired by him
Yeah I can see that.
Peter Gabriel in Genesis,master of ridiculous costumes. Also Parliament with George Clinton and the one and only Bernie Worrell, virtuoso king of outer space keyboards.
*cool costume
*hot costume
realistically, It’s not too late for Arthur Brown and Coven to make the greatest collab project in history.
OHHHH fuck yeah. I think my brain just had a music orgasm thinking about that. 😭
Jinx died so not anymore.
@@timdragon22 she just posted on Instagram 3 days ago
@@harris1421 Right. Apologies, I confused her with the Divinyls' lead singer.
@@timdragon22 That's Christy Amphlett.
I adore that "Fire" and "Dayman" have essentially the exact same 'hook'
HOLY SHIT
The more I think about it, the more cursed that is
no wonder this song sounded familiar the first time i heard it
Whoever came up with Dayman definitely listened to Fire lol
Fun fact: Arthur Brown was also a master of karate.
I'm glad Todd wound up mentioning Screamin' Jay Hawkins, because man, that guy absolutely invented shock rock. On accident, while drunk. True story.
Isnt that how some of the best ideas happen though? By accident? That's how special effects for movies was invented
And considering how his song is one of the most influential songs of all time and people only know that song, he deserves a One Hit Wonderland episode
And the mountain goats took their name from a screaming Jay Hawkins song. Which is two bands you would never expect to have any overlap.
I also remember reading on Wikipedia that he's been determined to be the father for almost 100 kids
"Hey, jump out of this plane."
"Yes, sir, Mr. Hendrix!"
This is up there with "It's a death march of peace and love!" among my favorite Todd lines.
Also, cool reference to Hendrix’s time in the Air Force with the 101st Airborne (“the Screaming Eagles”).
Also: the delivery on "yes,sir Mr Hendrix!" is PERFECT! It destroys me every time.
Not a line but I absolutely love his reaction to One Tin Soldier after building Coven up as this badass, war obsessed black metal band. Him dropping the Devil Sign in confusion and despair during the opening flute is one of the most hilarious scenes ever.
@@Zhantivar said it like Hendrix was the president or some shi
"I'm gonna do the Worm...against RACISM!"
my grandfather showed me this song when i was a kid. he was like "you wanna hear some crazy music i used to listen to?" and then a few years later when he discovered youtube he hunted the video down just to show us the insanity. it's one of my favorite songs haha.
Your grandpa sounds awesome
now that's my kind of grandfather.
For those not aware, Arthur Brown played another important role in music history. In many of the vintage clips of the Crazy World in this video, the young man on the drums is none other than Carl Palmer-two years before he became the P in ELP.
rockisheaven ain't that some shit gotdamn
WOW. That's amazing.
And he's still alive! (unlike Emerson and Lake)
I thought El-P was one guy
Sudev Sen aaaaaayyy El-P and ELP are the shit!
Ahh, Arthur Brown. The progenitor of corpse paint. All black metal bands need to pay respect to him
Definably wanna see a Dark Throne cover, Fenrir probably already listens to Brown anyways.
This but unironically
@@andrewgutierrez4841 I mean, Black Messiah covered Moskau, Carpathian Forest and Behemoth covered A Forest. It's not out of the realm of possibility.
@@roughrambo1000000 Behemoth's cover is dross, Carpathian Forest's cover is pretty good
Interestingly, he tends to do it in different ways. The well known black and white evil clown look, but he also used masks or bright colour makeup with ted and blue etc
lol wikipedia quote;
Brown quickly earned a reputation for both his powerful operatic voice (which spanned four octaves) and his outlandish performances, including the use of a burning metal helmet, which led to occasional mishaps.
During an early appearance at the Windsor Festival in 1967, Brown wore a colander on his head soaked in methanol. The fuel poured over his head by accident caught fire; two bystanders doused the flames by pouring beer on Brown’s head, preventing any serious injury.
beer saved him for us.
also...
The flaming head then became an Arthur Brown signature. On occasion he also stripped naked while performing, most notably in Italy, where, after setting his hair on fire, he was arrested and deported.
well done.
I have so many questions, such as "Why did he have a colander on his head?" and "How would pouring alcohol onto fire put it out? Must've been some pretty weak beer"
Joe Strummer became a vegetarian because of an incident at an Arthur Brown gig. A guy's pet chicken strayed into a giant wicker effigy that he was gonna burn on stage, the audience went crazy trying to get Arthur to notice,the chicken was rescued and returned to it's owner, who said "remember this the next time you're eating chicken", and Joe Strummer did
@@otaking3582 aside from novelty beers that have had grain alcohol added, beer contains way to little alcohol to light on fire. You generally need 30% alcohol at least for it to be flammable.
@@Nukle0n If that's the case, why does beer taste so awful?
@@otaking3582 because it isn't the alcohol that makes beer taste bad?
When I was a kid, every once in a while, my dad would walk up to me and scream in my face "I am the god of hellfire and I bring you! FIRE!" I'm not kidding.
Your dad sounds amazing
Avocado Smash you could even say he sounds
FIRE
**gunshot**
Cool dad! Is he single?
Lololol
From now on I’ll do this to my kids. Ladies you wanna hear it? Hmu
I want to be friends with your dad.
Arthur Brown has clearly won at this life thing.
"a-one, a-two, a-" "I AM THE GOD OF HELLFIYAH! AND I BRING YOU... fire. (doo doo do) "
Arthur Brown is like the physical embodiment of fire ironically. He’s got endless energy and spread his talent across the world
I AM THE GOD OF HELLFIRE! AND I BRING YOU...remarkably affordable car insurance.
I know, surprises me too.
Well, you have a tough sell. This talking gecko just made a killer pitch to me, and you need to up your game to have me refund it.
+Azmodeus87 alright, we'll bring out the flaming headpiece. Sheesh.
@kevin willems We must not forget the latest piece of insurance advertising genius: the Liberty emu. I still haven't figured out what the commercials are about...
I AM THE GOD OF HELLFIRE! AND I BRING YOU...the affordable, portable barbecue that doubles as stylish headwear.
bloodrunsclear pls explain the subaru jokes i dont get them
Screaming Jay Hawkins needs a whole episode.
He’s not a one hit wonder.
And Screaming Lord Sutch!
@TheGreaterGood80 Constipation Blues. And I don't whether it was a hit, but his version of Paul McCartney's 'Monkberry Moon Delight' is the ultimate version ruclips.net/video/bL6GJ10OBPE/видео.html
Just imagine , a concert with Arthur Brown, and Screaming Jay.
FREEEEENZY
A life-long love of Alice Cooper lead me to branch out into performers who were weird before even Cooper and Zappa, so I'm always thrilled when artists like Screamin' Jay Hawkins or Arthur Brown get attention.
Yeah Screaming J Hawkins !
I knew there was a guy even before Arthur Brown who was into this weird stuff. Now who was the offfellow who gave Hawkins the idea to that put wild carnival & horror theatre thing into music ...
Alice Cooper and Arthur Brown have actually performed together, which I find very nice, considering how much inspiration there must have been there. It's a weird niche of music, but there's so much good stuff to be found
Same here. I started out on Alice, which led to a lifelong obsession with Zappa, which led to Arthur Brown, which branched out to wherever. That's how I discover new music.
If any of you want to know more about Screaming Jay Hawkins, my personal favorite of his is "Heartattack & Vine." Look it up on The RUclipss [sic].
Brown has/had the widest vocal range in rock history, greater even that Freddie Mercury. I saw him a few years ago, and he could still do it all.
I think Mike Patton of Mr bungle and faith no more and tomahawk has a bigger octave range at like 6. Not to take away credit from Brown.
Gotta agree. Gotta say, "Fire" is one of my "four favorites," and thus gets sung about three times a year at my alter ego's group's monthly karaoke night, but I have to resort to Vincent Price for my "maniacal laugh."
We can add Arthur Brown to the long list of "One hit wonders who absolutely loathe their one hit." He has gone on record saying the only reason he keeps playing Fire is because its what people expect him to play.
Well he DID say when he released it from his debut that it was “the worst song on the album”.
I'm honestly surprised Arthur Brown wasn't cast to play The Master in "Manos: The Hands of Fate"
Interesting Point: That movie debuted 2 years prior to this song.
PIX Promos & More I guess Arthur Brown just wasn't a big hit in the El Paso amateur theatre scene.
PIX Promos & More I'm shocked no one said this nigga is the tiki monster from Scooby dio 1969
Now I wish they would do a remake of Manos, and cast Arthur Brown in it. He's still alive and pretty spry from what I can tell. It could work.
They named a movie Hands: The Hands of Fate
I AM THE GOD OF HELLFIRE!!! AND I BRING YOU... Fire!
That is one hell of an opening.
I actually heard that intro as a sample from The Prodigy song of that same name, and that's how I was introduced to Arthur Brown.
I heard it in a Death Grips song lol
"It doesn't need a hook" - Most likely Zappa
Hey, Zappa's got plenty of amazing hooks. He just loved to bury them under a pile of weird shit. Best exemplified by his cover album "The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life" where he takes some of the best known songs ever and encapsuletes them in so much weird shit that you almost stop understanding how they got so big in the first place.
Bamboozled by love hook goes hard
Frank Zappa loved blues and doo-wop, among other genres. I don't buy it.
LORD OF THE GAME
I was three minutes too late.
nice death grips reference my dude :^)
Thx fam, stay NOIDED
LIPS OF THE DRIVER
INTO THE FLAME, INTO THE FIRE
I know this song from Hot Fuzz. It was played on Timothy Dalton's radio as he drove past the explosion crime scene. I still love it.
I'm a slasher! A SLASHER OF PRICES
I KNEW I HEARD IT SOMEWHERE
I remember it from a Musical Opening from The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
This is the only way I had heard of it.
It's a really well known song in the UK at least. I didn't have any clue that it was obscure in the US
I was watching Arthur rehearsing online the other day and he still has that voice. He's still going, still just as crazy as ever, and he actually seems like a really nice guy. I'd imagine he's probably seen this video as he's very active online.
When I lived in Austin TX playing keyboards in a band called Jimmy Carl Black and the Grandmothers (1989-93), Arthur Brown would sit in with us at a few gigs. Most of the time he would sing a lot of R&B covers, and he had a great voice years after his one hit. He only performed "Fire" once with us in September 1990 at The Wetlands in NYC (now defunct, sadly). I can tell you that if he heard you playing "Fire" like that, he'd let you know everything wrong with your performance. I know this because before that Wetlands gig, we had to rehearse all of his tunes for TWO FRIGGIN' MONTHS - especially this one!
Don't get me wrong - we had a great time playing that show, and we got to do a lot of rarely-heard stuff, such as his rendition of "The Tell-Tale Heart" from Alan Parsons' Edgar Allen Poe album, as well as much of his Crazy World/Kingdom Come tunes.
Say what you will about Arthur, but he had an excellent voice you wouldn't forget if you saw him live.
A LITTLE TRIVIA: Back in Austin, Jimmy Carl Black and Arthur Brown put food on their respective tables by ... painting houses. Their business was known as "Black and Brown - Gentlemen of Color". The local piece of shit music rag which doesn't deserve a name check made a reference to his involvement in the business with "I am the god of one-coat latex, and I bring you ... free estimates!"
Arthur wasn't very pleased with that, which makes sense - as I mentioned above, it was (and as far as I'm concerned, IS) a piece of shit music rag. It was so bad that when I used it at the bottom of a bird cage, my bird refused to crap on it, choosing to hold it in until it eventually exploded.
I can't blame the bird. I wouldn't crap on it either.
What was JCB like? He was my favorite mother… the original group was the best
RIP Halloween One Hit Wonderland episodes. It was a good run. A moment of silence please.
He could've done Dangerous Toys and their one hit is all about being Scare
I would consider Mambo no. 5 very horrific.
You think he is done, he still needs to do a full review of Screaming Jay Hawkins.
And Miss Murder by AFI
Modest Mouse situation with AFI really.
Todd referenced Captain Beefheart and King Crimson on a video about a song that Death Grips sampled.
Is he trying to summon /mu/?
Marilyn Manson sampled the intro to fire on his Portrait of an American Family album in 1996.
@@lethrbear32 So did the prodigy or the chemical brothers (too lazy to check) but yeah, this song has been sampled to death
CunninLynguists samples it too and it's goddamn awesome.
No, he's trying to summon Anthony fantano, duh!
what the fuck is a death grip?
That opening yell has been sampled by both Prodigy and Death Grips.
Im sure others have sampled it too, but those might be the biggest names.
Which prodigy song? I've only noticed it in DG
@@superstriker412 The Prodigy - Fire
And he's 81 years old now and I believe he is still touring. Amazing. Oh, and you forgot to mention King Diamond who basically took his entire act and just cranked-up the music to 11.
I first heard it in the movie, "Hot Fuzz" and I loved it instantly. It's a great song.
What?! I love Hot Fuzz and didn't realize this was in it!
@@jameswoodard4304 Right here, after the mansion gets exploded: ruclips.net/video/Gj4QvsIPqSI/видео.html
@@xeferial ,
So it's just that 2 second bit in his car as he drives by?
Good catch! I mean the "fire" thing is relevant to the plot, but I wouldn't have picked up on the specific song.
@@jameswoodard4304 yup, that's it. However that small bit was catchy enough that I had to look up the song.
It was on the soundtrack for the film, which I listened to alot
whoa. My dad would always go " Fire. Duh da duh!" whenever we brought up fire or getting burned or torching someone lol....i never knew it came from a real thing. Huh, go figure. thanks for the education Todd! :)
My dad still talks about the time he saw The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown in concert in 1969.
Would that be at the dinner table??
What a lame ass kid your dad had to put up with.
Fucking shameful....
@@eighteennakedcowboys aww, troll thinks they be trolling, arent u just adorkable. Better luck next time sweety
I'm just here like, 'How often did you discuss setting people on fire to where this became commonplace?' O.o
Alan Parsons had him sing one of the songs on APP's first album, which was Poe's works put into music. Arthur Brown singing as the crazy, guilt riddled murderer in "The Tell-tale Heart," was inspired and perfect. He played it in 2016 when I saw him at a club.
Never knew he was the vocalist for Tell-tale heart. No wonder that track is so good, with a voice like that.
Oh snap I never knew that was him
I'm 68 yrs old and I remember distinctly when this came out! When I saw the title Fire - even after all these years! - I INSTANTLY knew the tune and the opening words. THAT"S how influential he was. The band had a unique sound and that electric organ was something else. I really appreciate all the research you've done on Arthur Brown - it takes some work and a lot of patience and I so appreciate your success with this. Thanks so much!
I mentioned in my comment above, I had NO PROBLEM belting out at my computer I AM THE GOD OF HELLFIRE. I know it, man....
You should make a compilation of songs with FIRE being yelled. Just like the songs that stop at the word stop.
Hell, I wrote a song that stops at the word 'stop'.
Douglas Paulson lol STOP Ha ha, the telegraph thing STOP
I think David Bennett has a video about pop songs that stop at the word "stop"
Y'know this band being a one-hit wonder reminds me of a quote by a very wise man, that is most fitting for this situation:
"It's better to burn out, than to fade away!"
TheNN The Kurgan was, indeed, wise.
MTV used to play this on occasion in the early days when they didn't have a huge amount of videos. They had a kinda 'from the vault' segment where they would play this, Sabbth, Alice Cooper and other guys who had visual performances recorded.
i remember when they used Time Warp from RHPS just to fill air time.
Closet classics : that’s how I got into Sabbath , and the doors !
I saw this on VH1 Classics and was mesmerized.
@@pronkb000Me too. VH1 Classic and MTV2 played the way out stuff before there was RUclips.
My dad used to know Arthur Brown and worked briefly as a roadie for him when he did gigs around the UK. Apparently a lovely, but very strange, guy.
Hm, actually this song isn't that obscure. In germany it's usually included on every 60's rock compilation
We Germans have particular tastes.
God bless Germany
(the god of hellfire, obviously)
I'm also sure I've heard it on austrian radio a couple a times XD
Countries I associate with Hitler love this song... Todd loves this song... Todd is Hitler (I’m kidding...)
You Germans like all the good music
I found out about this song from listening to Marilyn Manson who samples it in Lunchbox, and then from the cover album Ozzy released here he covers it. I think if Arthur Brown was born 10 years later and was less psychedelic and more hard rock he might have had a successful career in music.
I first heard him on Alan Parsons Project’s first album, Tales of Mystery and Imagination. No one was better equipped to sing “Tell Tale Heart.” Fucking amazing vocals.
ruclips.net/video/O5NN8fK1tXo/видео.html
Holy crap that's where I know his voice from! My dad got me into Alan Parsons Project a while back, and I thought Brown's voice sounded familiar but couldn't quite place it.
Thanks man for this comment.
I found out about it when The Prodigy sampled it
@@buppy_gaming same. Also the Electric Hellfire Club, and a couple others around that time. It was a like a whole bunch of bands discovered this sample in the early-mid 90s.
Lunchbox might be why it's so familiar to me. . . maybe. I don't remember it.
I thought... this was a Doors song.
I learned something new..
I think you lit the wrong fire.
Spear Breaker Well, Jim Morrison tried to set the night on fire!!!! 😂😂😂😂😂
The erratic vocals and electric organ definitely reminds me of The Doors.
He stopped touring when "Fire" turned up on the Christchurch video.
I remember that the Prodigy had that "i am the god of hellfire" thing in one of there songs
Also Marylin Manson in the begining of "Lunchbox" song
Also, Death Grips “Lord of the Game.”
I'm correct.
Hot Fuzz anyone? It's really great
THAT'S where I know it from, thank you!
Yup. Skinner's car radio.
Hot fuzz was the first thing I thought of
I knew that I'd heard this before!
From Hot Fuzz and the The Boat that Rocked. So much good music in that movie.
why doesnt he talk about how amazing the man's vocal range alongside the theatrics and who hes influenced? Brown has an amazing voice
I'm guessing he condensed information about the band to fit the format of the channel, but I agree- I would've liked to see a longer version of this video.
So...this is the entire reason the band Ghost exists, right?
This is Ghost. There's probably some black magic and/or time travel involved, but it's them!
@@b0gster Arthur Brown is Papa Nihil
Yeah this definitely trickled into De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise,
and then boom- Kiss and Ghost
I MEAN!!!
this is basically just papa nihil before kiss the go-goat
He also sang a song based on Poe's "Tell-Tale Heart" on "Tales of Mystery and Imagination", a concept album based on some of Poe's stories.
Great album, 10/10. Would recommend to anyone.
Now I love that song even more
First Alan Parsons Project album.
Screamin Jay Hawkins is the founding father of shock Rock
Undoubtedly. Fun fact, Manson himself actually did a halfway decent cover of I Put a Spell on You.
We were playing Axis and allies in my friends basement a few years ago, listening to classic rock radio. This song was playing and I had never heard it before. About a minute in, it was quiet, and I say to the group "Am I the only one really feeling this?" we all agreed and this song has since became our "thing".
Death Grips gloriously samples the "I AM THE GOD OF HELLFIRE" line in "Fire" for their song "Lord of the Game", for your information.
THAT'S where I recognized it from, thank you!
Thank you
60s organs are the best organs 'cuz 60 organs shouldn't have stopped.
Ain't no party like a 60s organ party
Electric organs are so underrated. I feel like the death of Danny Federici was the final nail in the coffin for the instrument's popularity.
@@dylanmcdermott1110I remember a while ago me and my father were talking about music we both like and one thing that he brought up is that the sound of a Hammond organ absolutely needs to make a comeback, which I absolutely agree with.
Check out Black Magick SS they do Psychedelic rock with black metal influence and 60s organs. Rainbow nights is very 60s 70s ish. Kinda like Black Metal Blue Oyster Cult with organs.
I can't unhear the start of this song from Death Grips
noided
Was looking for this comment
Holy shit that newspaper headline at 3:06 too - 'The Devils Grip of Mr Brown'
Tim Raynor Well the more you know
Which part? Is it the riff or the melody?
Yessss I was so happy you played the Lizzy Mercier Descloux cover of Fire at the end. She’s a very interesting under the radar artist herself.
6:46 "Those Were the Days" is a banger actually, fight me Todd
So glad someone else likes it. I think it's beautiful. I first heard it on a RUclips video covering the deaths of actors and actresses from the Golden Era of Hollywood, and it was so perfect I looked it up. Beautiful, introspective song.
Fun fact: that song uses the melody of a Russian folk song. ruclips.net/video/uzXOg6iBl4U/видео.html
Beavis`s favorite song.
“YEAH YEAH FIRE FIRE!!!!” 😂😂😂😂😂
THEY TOOK YOU NIGHT MAN AND YOU DONT BELONG TO THEM.
THEY LEFT YOU IN A WORLD OF DARKNESS WITHOUT YOUR SEXY HANDS.
AND I MISS YOU NIGHT MAN. SO BAAAAAAD.
Though Arthur Brown's cover "I put a spell on you" isn't great, CCR's cover is amazing, it gives it an even more creepy bayou, voodoo vibe.
I love both artists but Arthurs blew CCRs away.
Nah I love Arthur’s version lol
Both are great. Both have amazing musicians and neither of them tried to replicate the song. But also neither them transformed it into a love song.
Ah, CCR. The greatest ever bayou band to come from California.
How is this not a commonly known song? It's a classic! I had no idea it was from the 60s, but it's absolutely memorable. It's one of the most memorable organ riffs since Tocata and Fugue.
I didn't know the Master from "Manos" had a band.
“The m-m-master would [not] approve...” - Torgo
That’s it!
That’s the difference between 1967 and 2017!
*LSD!!*
More Trivia: Carl Palmer was a drummer with "The Crazy World of Arthur Brown".
He must’ve inspired Ian Gillan for a start. The 2000 C4 documentary series “ Top Tens “ Prog Rock edition sites this tune as a massive influence to all the British Prog acts as much as Sgt Pepper . 👍
British Prog’s Baptism of Fire 🔥!
I actually saw Arthur Brown live last spring. The man is in his 70's, and still dances like a goddamn demon. One of the best concerts I've ever been to.
This is not from that show, but basically this :D
ruclips.net/video/ZEKElYD-mYM/видео.html
lol i found this song through a sample on a prodigy song when i was 12
arthur brown is still doing gigs too, my friends saw him recently
For me it was death grips, though I didn't realize it was sampled until much later, after hearing the actual song
I know you were joking, but the Fire Poem does set up the song well. The album is really best experienced together. Lots of repeated motifs and threads that repeat and connect. I bought a used vinyl copy and love it to pieces :)
Wow, you know Jimmi Hendrix is good when that 5 second clip if him used in this video ended up being what was stuck in my head afterwards.
Peter Gabriel's early live presentations have a lot of Arthur Brown on them
No Todd, you aren't done with Halloween specials until you've reviewed Werewolves of London.
Also much as I love them, Blue Oyster Cult only had one proper mainstream hit and it's also pretty Halloweeny. That's two more years right there.
OHMYFUCKINGGODYEEEESSSSSS. How. Has. He. MISSED. That. One?!
Also _fuck_ yeah Don't Fear the Reaper. Another classic, and definitely fits Halloween.
Todd mentioned that if the band was legit popular but only coincidentally had one pop hit he wouldn't cover them. I remember he specifically was talking about Yo Yo Ma and Muse(neither of them have pop hits), but I think BOC fits in that category.
Blue Oyster Cult had 2 hits. Everyone forgets "Godzilla". Probably because it wasn't featured in a famous SNL sketch.
"Oh no! They say he's got to go go go Godzilla! Oh no! There goes Tokyo go go Godzilla!"
Not sure about Blue Oyster Cult. "Godzilla" and especially "Burnin' For You" were pretty big hits other than "Don't Fear The Reaper"
Warren Zevon, who did Werewolves of London, had two hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and four hits on the mainstream rock charts.
Unfortunately he doesn't qualify for OHW :(
Arthur Brown is still going and has huge levels of energy, more than his band of circa 30 year olds. His newer material is good too. He doesn't use the fire helmet as insurance costs are too high after setting a bandmate on fire once.
I feel like ever since Ghost won a grammy, Arthur Brown, Roky Erickson, and all that kind of early psychedelic hard rock has seen something of a resurgence, at least one can hope anyway.
Todd last year you introduced me to the greatest psychedelic musician on the planet, thank you
Todd, I enjoy your show. If you ever decide to do another "Spooktacular Edition", I have a couple of songs you might consider:
The first song is 1972's "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia", sung by Vicki Lawrence (of Carol Burnett/Mama's House fame). This was a #1 hit; Vicki may even qualify as a "one-hit" wonder. The second song is 1973's "Swamp Witch" by Jim Stafford. Neither song is scary, but I think they both have a bit of a creepy vibe to them . The songs are worth a listen if you have some down time.
I love that funky rooster dance that lead singers do
"remember lads"
remember what, that white nationalists don't understand art beyond face value and thought this was a song about burning in hell?
This video was made for the greater good
THE GREATER GOOD!!!
Krom the Assasin Yay :D
Jon Sherman THE GREATER GOOD
SHUT IT!
Fun fact: I had never heard this song before but I used to listen to the Lizzy Mercier Descloux cover Todd played at the end over and over and over again. Never knew that it was a cover, and a cover of THIS at that.
Thanks Todd for teaching me the history of a song from my childhood!
Just popping in to say the Lizzy cover absolutely rips as a fantastic postpunk disco number.
Marilyn Manson & The Spooky Kids made perfect use of sampling the “I bring you!” as the intro to their song “Lunchbox” that’s the first time I heard of this song back in the 90’s.
Holy shit, I've long been a fan of both songs and somehow didn't realize this
I'm 45 years old and when VH1 first came to my local cable station one of the videos they used to play was this one.
Now THIS is the shit i sub to you for, great episode and a good lesson in music history.
Not really. Half the shit was wrong
He still returns to Austin occasionally and performs. Still great. His voice is better than ever, he's still got the moves. Doesn't set himself on fire anymore so I guess he has mellowed some.
To clarify, the Mother he started that business with was Jimmy Carl Black, "the Indian of the group."
Heard this song first on an american airlines flight in 1992 right in between "paint it black" and "angie". And i LOVED it!! 😀
The fact he put out a brand new album this year in 2022 at the age of 80 shows you really are only as old as you feel.
He put out 2
This sounds like something I'd expect to see covered on _The Muppet Show_ except it's almost too easy.
Pocket Fluff Productions There was one episode where Alice Cooper was the guest.
He appeared on the '80's music show Solid Gold, and performed "Fire". The song was also covered by Emmerson Lake & Palmer.
My father grew up in central Europe listening to this song - apparently it was a big hit ther too!
I've been waiting years for this episode, as "Fire" is my all-time favorite OHW. It does not disappoint. Well done, Todd.
Huh funny joke about Jimi Hendrix telling you to jump out of a plane, since he was in the Airborne when he was in the Army.
I feel like there's a "'Scuse me while I kiss the sky" joke he could've used there.
Explains why he got so much airtime.
Nope, not sorry in the least.
It's also pretty funny considering Jimi only had one top 40 hit during his career. Guess he was more concerned about Brown's pop appeal than his own.
thejoke.png
Ayyy, my uncle was in this band!
Shout-out Nick Greenwood
LOL this video gets so close to being accidentally prophetic at 10:45. Turns out Tim Burton wound up making a new Addams Family because Rob Zombie is making a new The Munsters. So close.
How prophetic would it be if Tim Burton happened upon this and decided to remake The Munsters
Yaeres ha XD self fuffling prophecy much?
I'm still waiting for him to do Addams Family. I'm morbidly curious what kind of mess that would make.
Rob Zombie is doing it instead.
What about Napoleon XIV's "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!"? It was a Number 3 Hit!
Mark Hughes yes, this is perfect !
They're coming to take me away haha hehe hoho, they're coming to take me awaaay
I agree. I suggested that last year
I was thinking the same year!
Oh Yeah! This was huge! We played this at the High School station as late as 1970, and, today in 2019 he is still on the road at 77 years old. Just favorited this One Hit Wonderland.
Arthur Brown also contributed on the first album by The Alan Parsons Project, Tales of Mystery and Imagination, which is themed around the works of Edgar Allen Poe. He sings the lead vocals on The Tell-Tale Heart, which is rather perfect for him and his dynamic voice. Also, I highly recommend Tales of Mystery and Imagination. It's a great album to play during the month of Halloween. Pretty much anything by The Alan Person Project is worth seeking out, actually.
It sounds like it is a direct inspiration for a bunch of Ghost songs.
Are Ghost already covered some of arthur brown songs?
I mean, in a world where Trout Mask Replica is an album that has actual fans and some critical praise, nothing is too weird.
Why do you sound so dismissive of that album? I really like that album, it's one of the most interesting and fresh sounding albums ever.
Also it's really funny at times, that slam poetry song is pretty funny.
Dude, "Wild Life" is my jam!
That's actually a pretty good album though.
I know it's basic but Ella guru is a masterpiece and you can't change my mind
That flaming head piece is insane. My local classic rock station would play this from time to time.
Dude I've been a HUGE fan of Arthur Brown for the three years since this video has come out and I couldn't thank you enough todd for introducing me. Arthur Brown is one of the greatest psychedelic musicians of all time