Amityville Horror Strikes Again: The Curse Returns in 2023

In 1974, the small Long Island town of Amityville became the center of a horrifying phenomenon that would forever change its history. The DeFeo family, residing at 112 Ocean Avenue, was mysteriously murdered in their sleep by their eldest son, Ronald DeFeo Jr. This tragedy created a haunting reputation for the house, as subsequent owners reported paranormal activity and malevolent spirits. The Amityville Horror book and movie franchise fueled public fascination with the cursed property, amplifying its dark legacy. Fast forward to 2023, and the ominous curse of Amityville still lingers. The once-proud town has been plagued by a series of inexplicable events, causing its residents to question their safety and sanity.

Weezer's "Undone - The Sweater Song" was written as a sad song about depression, but listeners heard it as a funny, ironic song.

The combination of Keely, Louis and Sam Butera and the Witnesses backing them became the hit of late night Las Vegas where their Sahara Hotel shows-- dubbed the wildest -- became the basis of several albums with that name in the title. For further information on Cafe Songbook policies with regard to the above matters, see our About Cafe Songbook page link at top and bottom of every page.

The once-proud town has been plagued by a series of inexplicable events, causing its residents to question their safety and sanity. Reports of strange sounds, objects moving on their own, and unexplained sightings have become alarmingly common. Residents of Amityville live in fear, their lives overshadowed by the supernatural grip that seems to suffocate the town.

That Old Black Magic

"I played the melody for John. He went away." Mercer took seventy-two bars of music with him and when he returned, he had a song entitled "That Old Black Magic." [some accounts suggest Mercer took those seventy-two bars with him in his head only, having a fantastic retentiveness for music.]

I've always loved Porter--those early songs of his were so clever, and later on his melodies became so rich and full. Anyway that thing about voodoo must have stuck with me, because I paraphrased it in "Old Black Magic" (Wilk, p. 151, soft cover revised edition) .

After we got a script and the spots for the songs were blocked out, we'd get together for an hour or so every day. While Johnny made himself comfortable on the couch, I'd play the tunes for him. He has a wonderfully retentive memory. After I would finish playing the songs, he'd just go away without a comment. I wouldn't hear from him for a couple of weeks, then he'd come around with the completed lyrics (Furia, Skylark, p. 129) .

It sounds as if the words are . . . taking their time, and . . . the melodist is just supplying notes to accommodate Mercer's long-winded poem. But if you separate the elements, you'll see that Johnny is the one who's vamping, virtually ad-libbing extra lines, and the tunesmith is the one writing the poem and providing the continuity and momentum (Sheed, pp. 87-88, hard cover ed.) .

For you're the lover I have waited for,
The mate fate had me created for.

The exquisite multisyllabic end rhymes ("waited for / created for") reinforce the internal rhyme of "mate" and "fate" and lead to the kiss that captures the lover's heart. It is that rare song that conveys all the romantic enchantment of falling passionately in love at the same time that it hints at the tyrannical nature of Eros" (Lehman, p. 87) .

So The Kid got the best kind of coaching, and then I was brought into the studio. It took maybe an hour and a half to set up the mechanics. And there were a few decisions to be made: Put The Kid into an isolation booth. Get her away from the band. Get her a little closer. Now let's go for a take. We did it in three . . . I got seventy -five dollars a side, and no royalties. But I did get split billing with the band. Because Capitol was Johnny's company, this record came out immediately before "My Ideal" [which she had already recorded with Billy Butterfield]. I was not prepared for my reaction. The first time I heard the record was on the radio. Al Jarvis was the big disc jockey in Los Angeles at the time. I heard him talking with Artie Shaw, who was a guest on his program, about the new Arlen-Mercer song, which he proceeded to play. And then I heard my own voice, and I thought with horror, What have they done to the record? I don't sound like that. They've speeded it up. No, they've slowed it down. What is that phrasing? I never phrased that way. That's not my voice And then I thought with even more horror, Oh yes it is. That is your voice and it sounds terrible. My response was immediate. I dashed into the bathroom and threw up in the toilet. The record was over and Artie Shaw began to speak. He could be ruthless, although accurate, in his criticism. I heard him say words like "an instant standard--a great record . . ." And when I heard that, I lifted my face from the toilet bowl and thought, Well, maybe. Then the phone rang and it was Paul Weston, calling to congratulate me. "Is that how I sound?" I wailed. "I think it's terrible!" "Yes, that's how you sound," Paul said,, "and you're crazy. It's great."

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Credits

• Carmen McRae: vladimirsmartins
• Johnny Johnston: hozkarinn007
• Marilyn Monroe: graziadebora
• Louis Prima and Keely Smith: Michael Koreli
• Frank Sinatra (1943 radio): Jamesmac30
• Frank Sinatra 1961: Sinatra Fan and paraphrased text are cited. Such content is used under the rules of fair use to further the educational objectives of CafeSongbook.com. CafeSongbook.com makes no claims to rights of any kind in this content or the sources from which it comes.

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The Cafe Songbook
Record/Video Cabinet:
Selected Recordings of

"That Old Black Magic"

(All Record/Video Cabinet entries below
include a music-video
of this page's featured song.
The year given is for when the studio
track was originally laid down
or when the live performance was given.)

• Johnny Johnston (1942)*
• Margaret Whiting (1942-43)
• Glenn Miller (1942)*
• Frank Sinatra (1946*, 1961*)
• Billy Daniels (1947, 1951)*
• Marilyn Monroe (1956)
• Sarah Vaughan (1957)
• Louis Prima and Keely Smith (1958)*
• Ella Fitzgerald (1958)*
• Dave Brubeck and Tony Bennett (1962)*
• Carmen McRae (1986)*
• Nancy Lamott (1992)
• Roberta Gambarini (2009)

1942
Glenn Miller and His Orchestra
(vocal by Skip Nelson and The Modernaires)
album: Greatest Hits

same track as on album referenced above

1942
Margaret Whiting
(with the Freddie Slack Orchestra)
album: Capitol Collectors Series

same track as on album referenced above

Notes: Although the track of "That Old Black Magic" on this album was originally released in February of 1943, the recording was made on July 31, 1942. For Whiting's acount of the making of the recording and the recording itself, see below.

1946/1961
Frank Sinatra

1946
album: The Best of the Columbia Years
1943-1952

1961
album: Come Swing with Me

Notes: Sinatra recorded "That Old Black Magic" twice, the 1946 Columbia version on the first album above arranged by Axel Stordahl; and the 1961 Capitol studio recording arranged by Heinie Beau with orchestra conducted by Billy May for the 1961 album Come Swing With Me . (During this same year, Sinatra, who was enamored of the new President Kennedy, sometimes changed the lyric when singing it live to "That old Jack magic" -- but not on the album. See Will Friedwald, Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art , p. 307, hardcover Ed. ).
Video 1: Sinatra sings "That Old Black Magic" on the radio, New Years Eve 1943, the year after the song was introduced in the wartime movie Star Spangled Rhythm, but three years before he recorded "That Old Black Magic" for Columbia. This is, as he tells us, like his later Columbia recording of the song, an Axel Stordahl arrangement. It's interesting to note that his characteristic habit of crediting the songwriters and arrangers of the songs he sings dates as far back as this. (He closes his show "Songs by Sinatra" with its theme, "Put Your Dreams Away."

1947, 1951
Billy Daniels
album: Around Midnight

same track as on album referenced above

1957
Sarah Vaughan
album: Sarah Vaughan

same track as on album referenced above

1958
Louis Prima and Keely Smith
with Sam Butera (on tenor sax) and The Witnesses
album: Keely Smith
The Essential Capitol Collection

same track as on album referenced above

1958
Ella Fitzgerald
albums: Ella in Rome --
The Birthday Concert

same track as on album referenced above

1962
Dave Brubeck and Tony Bennett
album: Bennett and Brubeck The White House Sessions

same track as on album referenced above

1992
Nancy LaMott
Album: Come Rain or Come Shine

same track as on album referenced above

Notes: "As an interpreter, Nancy LaMott shunned extremes . . . . And so her tribute to lyricist Johnny Mercer typically avoids emotional extremes, exploring instead subtle in-betweens . . . . She basically engages in duets with carefully selected instruments (an acoustic guitar and a stand-up bass, respectively)" --Elisabeth Vincentelli, Amazon Editorial reviewer.

2009
Roberta Gambarini
album: So In Love

same track as on album referenced above

Notes: It seems incredible that Roberta Gambarini didn't win the Thelonious Monk Jazz Vocal Competition but she was new to the U. S., having just arrived from her native Italy. But with each new release, she has demonstrated that she is easily the most accomplished vocalist of the competitors for the prize. Pianist Hank Jones, who knows a thing or two about great singers, refers to her as the "greatest vocalist to come along in the past 60 years." On 2009's SO IN LOVE, with a rhythm section rotating among three talented up-and-coming pianists (Tamir Hendeman, Eric Gunnison, and Gerald Clayton), Gambarini works her magic with familiar standards and a few unexpected choices. She has a love of Cole Porter's songs, opening with a touching, richly textured version of the title song. She also restores the oft-omitted verse to "Get Out of Town," then delivers a driving rendition that shows off her gift for interpreting a song that has likely been recorded by all jazz vocal greats before her, accentuated this time by the soft tenor sax of James Moody. Gambarini is also comfortable looking outside of jazz for material, adapting Willie Nelson's "Crazy," with subtle trumpet added by Roy Hargrove. She has equal success with a medley of Beatles songs, including a moving "Golden Slumbers" that segues into a breezy "Here, There and Everywhere." (from CDUniverse.com Product Description)

© 2009-2018 by CafeSongbook.com -- All Rights Reserved

That Old Black Magic is a english song from the album Pure Jazz, Vol. 1.

Many attribute these occurrences to the cursed house on Ocean Avenue, believing that the evil spirits unleashed in 1974 have extended their reach beyond the confines of its walls. Local authorities struggle to explain the increasing number of hauntings and paranormal encounters. Skeptics dismiss these reports as mere superstition, while believers are convinced of the ominous curse's existence. Unfortunately, the truth remains elusive, leaving the townspeople trapped in a nightmare they cannot escape. The curse of Amityville has not only affected individuals but also the town's economy and reputation. Tourism has dwindled, as visitors fear the malevolent forces that supposedly roam the streets. Businesses have shuttered, and the once-thriving community now languishes in its own eerie ambiance. Amidst the chaos, paranormal experts and investigators descend upon Amityville, hoping to unravel the mystery and bring peace to the tormented souls trapped within its bounds. Psychic mediums, exorcists, and ghost hunters flock to the town, each claiming to hold the key to unlocking the curse's grip. Regardless of the ongoing investigations, the ominous curse of Amityville casts a long shadow over the town, leaving its inhabitants in a perpetual state of fear and unease. Whether it is an elaborate hoax, mass hysteria, or a genuine supernatural phenomenon, the haunting legacy of Amityville continues to captivate and terrify. As 2023 unfolds, the town waits with bated breath, hoping for relief from the centuries-old eerie curse that refuses to release its grip..

Reviews for "The Mysterious Curse of Amityville: Unexplained Phenomena in the New Year"

1. Linda - 2/5 stars - I was really disappointed with "The ominous curse of Amityville in 2023." The movie seemed promising with its intriguing title, but it turned out to be a predictable and cliché horror film. The scares were cheap jump scares, and the story lacked depth and originality. The acting was also subpar, and I couldn't connect with any of the characters. Overall, it felt like a waste of time and money.

2. Mark - 1/5 stars - I have never been so bored watching a horror movie. "The ominous curse of Amityville in 2023" failed to deliver on the tension and thrill that I was expecting. The plot was convoluted and confusing, leaving me feeling lost throughout the entire film. The special effects were poorly executed, making the supposedly scary scenes laughable. It felt like a movie made on a low budget with no thought put into the script or direction. I do not recommend wasting your time on this film.

3. Sarah - 2/5 stars - I was really looking forward to "The ominous curse of Amityville in 2023," but it fell flat for me. The pacing was extremely slow, and the storyline dragged on with no real direction. The characters were underdeveloped, and I couldn't invest in their stories or care about their well-being. The jump scares were predictable, and the build-up to the scares was lacking. Overall, it was a forgettable horror film that did not live up to its potential.

The Haunted History of Amityville: A Look into the Ominous Curse in the New Year