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"'Frankenstein'" is a rock and roll instrumental by The Edgar Winter Group. The 1972 song features the first showcasing of the synthesizer as a lead instrument, on the group's album ''They Only Come out at Night''. In live performances of the song, Edgar Winter further pioneered the advancement of the synthesizer as a lead instrument by becoming the first person ever to strap a keyboard around his neck, giving him the on-stage mobility and audience interaction of guitar players. The song topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart for a week starting in May of 1973, and sold over one million copies. It was knocked out of the #1 spot by Paul McCartney's "My Love." ''Frankenstein'' reached #18 in the UK the following month.^[1]

Its name, coined by the band's drummer Chuck Ruff, is derived from the fact that the final version of the song was literally pieced together from many different sections of recording tape representing the various instrumental sections of the music, using a razor blade and splicing tape. Winter frequently refers to the appropriateness of the name also in relation to its "monster-like, lumbering beat". (One riff was first used by Winter on his jazz-oriented debut album ''Entrance'' in the song "Hung Up". He later tried a variation on it, "Martians" from the ''Standing on Rock'' album.) Winter played many of the instruments on the track, including keyboards, saxophone, and timbales. As the release's only instrumental cut, the song was not initially intended to be on the album, and was only included on a whim as a last-minute addition. It was originally released as the B-side to "Hangin' Around", but the two were soon reversed by the label when disc jockeys nationwide were inundated with phone calls and realized this was the hit. This song is rumored to be the first ever to have a double drum solo (actually Ruff on drums and Winter on percussion). In fact, the working title of the song was "The Double Drum Solo."^[2]

Contents

Trivia

Other songs with this name

Trivia

★ The original version of the song was much longer, but due to the editing of the master, this version is no longer extant; however, a live recording of the full version of the song from CalJam '74 exists which runs 8:54. Listening to this version points out where the edits were made in the hit version; this track was released on a bootleg CD entitled "Rick Derringer Owes Me Money".

★ A digitized version of the song serves as the opening to Maniac Mansion.

★ The song was played at many Phish concerts, including the ''New Year's Eve 1995 - Live at Madison Square Garden'' show.

★ The song was frequently played during the encore at many They Might Be Giants concerts in the 1990s.

★ The song can be found in Harmonix's 2005 PlayStation 2 music video game ''Guitar Hero'', and later released as a part of a 3-song pack via Xbox Live for the Xbox 360 title ''Guitar Hero II'' on April 11, 2007. Interestingly enough, the player is required to play some of the keyboard and saxaphone parts.

★ The song was featured in an episode of ''The Simpsons'' entitled "Homerpalooza" and hummed in the episode Homer Defined.

★ The song was also featured in an episode of ''The Simpsons'' entitled "Crook and Ladder"" in which Homer was acting like a zombie

★ The Song was played in an episode of the NBC show My Name Is Earl where Earl starts a band.

★ The Song was played at the beginning of the movie ''Wayne's World 2''.

★ The song was featured in the video game Forza Motorsport. Although slightly edited, it was included in the games classic rock based soundtrack created by Junkie XL.

★ This song was covered by the Brass Funk and Jazz Rock group Bonerama, from New Orleans, Louisiana.

★ The song can be heard blaring from Pauly Shore's headphones in the film Encino Man

★ Keyboardist Derek Sherinian recorded a cover of the song on his 2001 album, Inertia.

★ The band Overkill did a metal-version of the song on their album "Horrorscope".

★ To imply that something is cool, MTV's Beavis and Butthead often mouth-guitar the lead guitar hook from this song.

★ This was the entrance music used by 911 in ECW.

★ This song was covered by the Massachusetts born guitarist Gary Hoey.

★ Jazz Bassist Marcus Miller covered the song on his 2005 album Silver Rain.

★ This was the entrance music of the Heavenly Bodies tag team in Smoky Mountain Wrestling.

★ The Song in Featured in the Movie Detroit Rock City.

★ The Song is a staple of many college marching bands including USC's marching band, and the UC Davis California Aggie Marching Band-uh!.

★ This song is a staple of the Glenbrook North High School "Spartan" Pep Band, and is one of the band's favorites.

Other songs with this name

★ A 1973 song was featured on the debut album by the pioneering pre-punk band, the New York Dolls.

★ The hard rock band Clutch also has a song titled "Frankenstein" on the 2001 album ''Pure Rock Fury''.
References: 1. Rock Movers & Shakers by Dafydd Rees & Luke Crampton, 1991 Billboard Books.
2. Morse, Tim. ''Classic Rock Stories: The Stories Behind the Greatest Songs of All Time'' (c) 1998 Tim Morse.