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A couple of years ago, I tried to round up some Rampers to work on some Halloween songs with me. The one that Cathead put together, "A Spirited Denial," ended up on a CD of Halloween music released by a Pennsylvania label. Rick Keane and Chad Calhoun worked on different versions of "Four Houses." Rick's version (click here) requires helium, so we decided to go with Chad's version (click here) for Sergio's CD. As to Rick, he also put together what may be the very coolest kids' song anyone has made from my stuff, "Franky the Onion and Garlic the Kid," and our plan is to include it on Sergio's second CD, which will be targeted to a bit younger audience than the first.

As with most of the Sergio songs, this one is available on his CD, "Michael Closed the Bathroom Door." You can purchase the CD here.

Alex Stangl added his special touch to the arrangement on this one when he thought to include the harmony part and the organ. For both, it worked out well that I brought my keyboards on the trip. I've added sound effects, spoken vocals and extremely well-hidden harmonies (I can't sing a bit) to songs before, but this is my first admitted time playing an instrument on a song. We used one of my keyboards for the organ and the other to coach Dona-Gene on the "doo-doo-doo" harmony.

Four Houses

Music by Chad Calhoun
Words by Jeff Mondak
Produced and engineered by Alex Stangl
Performed by Sergio Wals and Alex Stangl, with a bit of help from Dona-Gene Mitchell (harmonies) and Jeff Mondak (organ).

On Halloween I got my wish—
The first house gave me licorice
As if in answer to my dreams,
The next house gave me caramel creams
Delicious candy, pure and sweet
I ate it while I crossed the street
The third house gave me bubble gum
I chewed so fast my tongue went numb
My mouth was thick with candied glop
I ate and ate, I couldn’t stop
With candy stuffed inside each cheek
I knew that I could barely speak
The fourth house was the best one yet
And so I mumbled “Thweck or Thwett!”
The lady gave me gummy snacks
That filled my mouth beyond the max
All that I could think to do
Was shovel out that candy goo
This Halloween was ending soon
So I raced home and grabbed a spoon
But when Mom saw my pantomimes
She made me brush my teeth six times
And by the time my teeth were clean
The lights went out on Halloween
A thousand neighbors, maybe more
Yet I could only get to four
But I’m not sad and I’m not blue—
My sister only got to two!
Details:
 Uploaded: Oct 1, 2008
 Genre: Kids/Family
 hifi Size: 2286 KB
 lofi Size: 714 KB

Statistics:
 Plays: 171
 Reviews: 32
 Favored: 28

Member Review
dillon
2008-10-01
What a hoot! Sergio has got a nack with his vocal deliveries!
geediane
2008-10-01
“Thweck or Thwett!” LOL!!
Aw, poor sis! Funny, sweet stuff here!
jbthegeezer
2008-10-01
I think the clarity is outstanding, this isn't a sing along song and adults can get into it. Nice job Jeff & Crew.
Jerry
Jerwolf
2008-10-01
You know a song is going to be great when it starts with "do do dooooo" :-)
loads of fun and ear tickling goodness.
RJC
2008-10-01
Ha! Fun stuff, enjoyed!
Beeswing
2008-10-01
Delightful song! ...and nice to see Alex is still around... albeit behind the scenes!
LoanShark
2008-10-01
Jeff you have a wonderful and creative imagination. This stuff is just wonderful. -Jerry
LittleHippie
2008-10-01
I remember the earlier version - awesome to hear it again! cheers, Mary
rittmo
2008-10-01
Cool Beans!!!

What a motley crew, perfect for Halloween!

rittmo'
Yodelady
2008-10-01
A hoot and a halt .. this made me laugh. I needed that. Terrific relief.. thanks
Annie
JoeWilsonKolb
2008-10-01
Hoooooooooold on! Whooo! How funny...Joe
teecee
2008-10-02
Another great kids song Jeff, and Sergio's done a great job with the performance. Fun! T
Danny2006
2008-10-02
A fun song. Very creative and very well done. Danny
keythbridge
2008-10-03
Cool number. Enjoyed.
poorandneedy
2008-10-03
LOL!! These are so wonderful!! Love the ending...Thanks--Greg
Rard
2008-10-03
I sure enjoy Sergio's voice and inflection. scary in a pure sense. strongly recomend moving to a bigger neighborhood for next years Fright Night! thanks guys, way enjoyed.
rustyblake
2008-10-03
I wondered what that title was going to lead to! Great story! Loved the vocal...everything. Good job, the whole bunch of ya'!

Rusty
JAS
2008-10-03
I bet the kids love this! I did! Candy crazed for sure! Build up was cool ~ fun song
manatthewindow
2008-10-03
Catchy song, Jeff, and it's nice to hear Keith Emerson dropping by to add some organ licks...
Good grief! It's not Keith, it's YOU!
Welcome into the keyboard players club. ;)

Ken_Damkier
2008-10-04
What spooky words Jeff!
A broad collab and a fine creation this one.
Congrats to all you folks:-)
RonnieG
2008-10-04
Yeah. Congrats to all. Great team effort.

Enjoyed
Ronnie
geo524
2008-10-05
What a cool tune. Excellent delivery and production. Perfect song for Halloween. Geo
GrumpHarmony
2008-10-05
Sergio gives me a BNL vibe in this one. Cool song Jeff. Your lyrics and imagination always please and now your playing keys too?...the sky's the limit! :-)
curtisbrand
2008-10-06
Makes me want to go out and buy a costume (but I look funny enough as it is, I guess). Fun song, brilliant execution!
RonMadore
2008-10-10
Outstanding work by all .....great tune yall got here..very creative write! .enjoyed the listen!! Ron
mlprat
2008-10-15
Sounding great guys, well done all around .. !!!

Mike
cathead77
2008-10-17
Great sounding production on this! The mix is out there, man! Fantastic job.
LJMusic
2008-10-19
Neato sweeto. I love this kind of stuff. So much fun. Wish I was a kid again! Never had this stuff 40 years ago.
lps45s8tracks
2008-10-19
I can relate to this one.Eating all that candy.Love it.Great for young and old alike.At least you beat your sister I use to beat mine too.(;AWESOME COLLAB;)Fun song.Your Songramp Bro.~(;Yrral Mallik;)
DanFalvey
2008-10-20
What a delightful song, guaranteed to bring a smile to your face. Great lyric and wonderful production.
dansantner
2008-10-29
i like the thwik or thwek part. you kind of sound like a kids elvis. fun song
PopPopRon
2008-10-29
Loved this one too, it brought back memories of running from house to house on this special night! Great song man!!! RonE.