𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…
On this day (July 1) in 1987, King Diamond released his single for “The Family Ghost” via Roadracer / Roadrunner Records with distribution by Important Records.
“The Family Ghost” was the only single from King Diamond’s classic 1987 release “Abigail”, which was later released on October 21, 1987 via Roadrunner Records.
The b-side of the single was the song “Shrine”. The song was recorded during the sessions for “Abigail”, but was not included on the original album. It was later added to subsequent re-issues of “Abigail” as a bonus track.
Trivia:
The song “The Family Ghost” is “haunted” by two mysterious words; “The Family Ghost” relates how a spirit named Count LaFey appears to warn Jonathan LaFey about Abigail’s impending reincarnation and shows him where her sarcophagus has been stored in the mansion’s basement. Right before the song’s last verse, a guttural voice audibly growls what King thinks are the words “Oh, damn!” But King never sang that line, and neither did anyone else. “I have absolutely no idea how it got there,” he insists. King noticed the phantom voice while he and engineer Robert Falcao were working on the vocal tracks. They couldn’t isolate the voice, nor could they get rid of it, so King embraced it: Whenever he performs the song live, he snarls, “Oh, damn!”
King Diamond loathes the video for “The Family Ghost”;
“There’s a juggler. There’s a dancer twirling around in flowing scarves. There’s King sitting on a throne, devouring a piece of chicken and dismissing minions who are trying to entertain him. And nothing in the video reflects the song’s content whatsoever. “I absolutely hate that video,” he says. He lays the blame on giving into the demands of the record label, which hired a producer that “took it upon himself to create a little circus.” “After we came back from that, it was like, ‘OK, if we ever do a video again, next time I decide what goes in it. It has to have to do with the lyrics,’ ” says King. “Every time I see it or suddenly I walk by, my wife plays it on a computer or something — ‘Oh, turn it off!’ Man, I can’t stand it!”
The single was released on cassette and 12” vinyl by R/C (Roadracer) Records, and on 12” vinyl by Roadrunner Records.
Links to Artists, Albums, and Music Videos:
Click this link to listen to “The Family Ghost” via Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-family-ghost/1296470250?i=1296470260
Click this link to listen to “The Family Ghost” via Spotify: King Diamond • Abigail https://open.spotify.com/track/4dah6EKdUc8fun2moWjDZe
Click this link to watch the official music video for “The Family Ghost”: https://youtu.be/xGC2iP5ss6E
Click this link to follow King Diamond on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kingdiamond
Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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