Compiled and annotated by Lucky Parker, and released in time for Halloween, Dead Good crooks a withered finger to beckon you into a graveyard-cheatin , midnight-creepin collection of crypt-kickin classics. Walking a fine line between saccharin sincerity and knowing black humour, death discs were one of Rock n Roll's more bizarre sidebars and a regular – if often frowned-upon – fixture on the US Pop charts from the late 50s until their peak in the mid-60s. Taking their lead from real-life events such as the untimely demises of Buddy Holly and Marilyn Monroe or the all-too prevalent incidence of automobile fatalities, some, denied the oxygen of airplay, fell stillborn from the presses when their content careened too far into bad taste territory. Naturally this did their appeal no harm at all and many became massive international hits despite the censor s opprobrium. With cynical 21st-century ears it s all too easy to dismiss these records as purely kitsch and whilst some were undoubtedly blatant cash-ins, most retain a wide-eyed charm and poignancy that is almost unimaginable in today s High Definition world. Moreover, the death disc was truly democratic, finding a home among Folk, Country, Pop, Easy Listening and R&B catalogues and eliciting heartfelt waxings from some of the era s biggest stars. Whatever the morbid fascination, teenage tear-jerkers and tales of ghostly goings-on struck a chord with record-buyers on both sides of the Atlantic, with British producer Joe Meek behind several of the UK s best-remembered including Johnny Remember Me. With tongue firmly in cheek and Kleenex in hand, slip a nickel in the grim reaper s jukebox to discover some of the best and worst of the bunch; from The Cheers full-throttle tale of highway terror Black Denim Trousers to the frankly absurd Transfusion by Nervous Norvus; Mark Dinning s perennial weepy Teen Angel to Cody Brennan s magnificent Tragic Honeymoon (possibly the only Pop song to date to include the word abutment ); Chase Webster s original version of Moody River to Skeeter Davis lesser-heard Tell Tommy I Miss Him.