{"id":9043,"date":"2017-10-18T19:55:28","date_gmt":"2017-10-18T23:55:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/millheiser.com\/hokeyblog\/?p=9043"},"modified":"2022-11-01T11:28:14","modified_gmt":"2022-11-01T15:28:14","slug":"buttkickin-halloween-songs-house-fun-madness-1982","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/millheiser.com\/hokeyblog\/2017\/10\/18\/buttkickin-halloween-songs-house-fun-madness-1982\/","title":{"rendered":"Buttkickin’ Halloween Songs: “House of Fun” — Madness (1982)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Box of balloons
\nWith the feather-light touch
\nPack of party-poppers
\nThat pop in the night
\nA toothbrush and hairspray
\nPlastic grin
\nMiss Clay on all corners
\nHas just walked in…<\/em><\/p>\n

OK yes, strictly speaking, a young boy who turns 16 and thus reaches the UK age of consent and is off to buy some prophylactics is technically not, as it stands, a reasonable basis for any worthwhile Halloween song.<\/p>\n

Or is it?<\/p>\n

All I can say is (1) have you ever been a 16-year-old boy, and (2) have you ever been a 16-year-old boy buying his first prophylactics? ABSOLUTE TERROR. Or something. That 8,000 year old lady at the counter is SO silently judging you…<\/p>\n

But never mind all that. We’re showcasing House of Fun<\/strong> as part of our Buttkickin’ Halloween Songs<\/em>, and why not? This 1982 smash UK single from legendary ska\/pop band Madness is a masterful piece of Funhouse kookiness. Scares and chills? None to be found (unless you’re reliving your 16-year-old boy memories, and that’s never pretty) but listen to that carnival-ride chorus kick the song into Halloween high-gear. You could totally picture the denizens of the underworld just bouncing along with gleeful, malevolent joy.<\/p>\n

It can’t ALL be bodies thrown down a well. Let’s bring out the goofy side of All Hallow’s Eve.<\/p>\n

Welcome to the house of fun
\nNow I’ve come of age
\nWelcome to the lion’s den
\nTemptation’s on his way
\nWelcome to the house of fun…<\/em><\/p>\n