(Jumpin') Gene Simmons - Haunted House

With an assist from fellow Tupelo, Mississippian, Elvis Presley, Gene got an audition with Sun Records in Memphis and a recording contract. Unfortunately, Sam Phillips, the head of Sun, didn't promote Gene in the fashion he wished so Gene moved to another recording company called "Hi Records" where he cut this song which had been part of his live performances for some time. Known as "Jumpin" Gene Simmons for his antics on stage, the rockabilly artist took "Haunted House" all the way to #11 in the nation in August, 1964 right in the middle of the British invasion of American pop charts.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Gene Simmons
• Rock
• Pop
• Haunted House

[MrSteve132003]

I got this on a Tape of superhits 1982 I believe. I played it last night.

[Nocaro]

@MrSteve132003 Actually "Haunted House" was released in 1964.

[fumetti]

I heard Gene Simmons of KISS got his name from this performer. Any truth to this rumor?

[Nocaro]

@fumetti Strangely enough, this is true...Nocaro

[ftjax]

was this popular in 1964 ?

[Nocaro]

@ftjax Oh, yeah...very popular...it went to #11 in August of that year and stayed on the charts all the way through Halloween....Nocaro

[shibainuwalker]

Gene Simmons of Kiss fame named himself after this Gene Simmons. Believe it or not? I learned about it on Wikipedia. Believe it......

[zDiiLLdoNG7]

This is my uncle! My dad just told me about him and I couldn't believe it! Ha

[Ghostbusterjay1]

this should be the poltergiest 2 theme

[sauquoit13456]

JUST MISSED!!! As stated above "Haunted House" just missed making the Billboard's Hot Top 10 chart; it peaked at No. 11 and spent a total of 11 weeks in the Hot Top 100 in 1964!!!

[dowagiac57]

Gene was a hoot! He wrote indian outlaw at my dads piano. Talented man!

[nuts4clara]

@Austiere Oh, that's too bad. Thank you for the update.

[Austiere]

@nuts4clara No. He died August of 2006.

[Grizzly0679]

@jedi8246 don't pat yourself on the back too early, with no way of being able to hear your intonation, it's difficult to discern a joke from a serious comment. That is of course unless the person is good at writing jokes... What's so funny about people analyzing songs anyway? Curious and intelligent minds are always looking for answers.

[jedi8246]

@Grizzly0679 This is a message to all of those who commented on my comment.

IT WAS A BLOODY JOKE!

Lol. I wrote that entire analysis in the sarcastic voice to make fun of how people overanalyze songs and literature. It's amusing how many of you took it seriously.

[Grizzly0679]

@jedi8246 considering this song was written long before crack entered the drug market, I sincerely doubt it.

I interpret this song to be about standing your ground in life and not giving up, even when faced with something frightening, personified in this case by the monsters.

But that's the cool thing about art and music, you can [theoretically] interpret a piece any which way you like. So long as the song gives you meaning to relate to something, the song did its job.

[Grizzly0679]

I was born in the wrong era :(

[nuts4clara]

@zDiiLLdoNG7 COOL!!!!! Is this guy still alive?