- Included among the Record Descriptions of Favorite Albums (Part 1).
- Frankenstein and Other Rock Monsters is a collection of rock hits and has more variety and a longer timeline than most such albums.
Frankenstein and Other Rock Monsters (Various Artists) (1984): Frankenstein and Other Rock Monsters is a collection of rock hits and has more variety and a longer timeline than most such albums. The reference in the title is to one of the biggest rock instrumental hits of the last 50 years, “Frankenstein” by Edgar Winter Group (from 1972), which opens the album. “Frankenstein” actually made the top of the Billboard singles charts for one week, and this in a time period when rock instrumentals had virtually disappeared from the radio. The closing number, and probably the reason that I snagged the album in the first place, is the “Animals Medley” by David Johansen, a faithful medley of three hit songs by the Animals, one of the best British Invasion bands. Johansen was the former lead singer for the New York Dolls and later reinvented himself as the stoked-up lounge singer Buster Poindexter. Other treats include Ozzy Osbourne’s solo version of “Paranoid”, one of Black Sabbath’s biggest hits (Ozzy formerly served as their lead singer). What might be the original version of Rick Derringer’s hit song “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo” by Johnny Winter And is also provided. (Johnny Winter is Edgar Winter’s brother and a renowned blues guitarist; both were born with albinism traits). None of the copyright dates on the record label are as early as 1970, however, when that recording was made; so this might be another version instead. The Rick Derringer hit version of “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo” came out in 1973, and Johnny Winter and Rick Derringer have made many records together over the years. Side 2 opens with the theme song of the film Rocky III, “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor; and a prominent early hit by the Romantics, “What I Like About You”, though it barely made the Top 50 in its original release.