1985 Lost New Wave Song from Day of the Dead | Choke On ’Em

Описание: In late June 1985, following a closed critics’ screening of Day of the Dead, the film’s American distributor, United Film Distribution Company, rushed to commission a contemporary tie-in single intended for radio play. The decision was made abruptly and without long-term planning, driven almost entirely by concern over the reaction of one critic in attendance: Roger Ebert.

Ebert had publicly praised George A. Romero’s previous Dead films, and within the distribution company his approval was viewed as essential. A thumbs-down from Ebert, particularly one framed as disappointment rather than dismissal, was widely considered the kiss of death. Executives feared such a review would severely limit the film’s already fragile commercial prospects.

Although no formal review had yet been written, Ebert’s behavior during the screening caused visible concern. He reportedly stood several times to pace near the emergency exit and at one point left for a snack refill, muttering, “Why do they have to yell?”
Distribution executive Teddy Gorp, scrambling for a solution, believed he had found one. Through a personal connection to Ebert’s tennis coach, Gorp claimed to have it on good authority that Ebert was deeply enthusiastic about contemporary New Wave music.

The window was narrow. Ebert was scheduled to record his television segment and publish his review within five days. Budget constraints ruled out established artists, leaving little room for deliberation. Gorp turned instead to The Our Fathers, a one-hit New Wave band whose commercial peak had passed but who retained credibility within college radio and alternative music circles. They were affordable, available, and capable of delivering a finished track quickly.

The result was “CHOKE ON ’EM.”

The song bore no resemblance to traditional horror scoring. It was fast, upbeat, and confrontational, built around tension and irony rather than atmosphere. Despite its origins, it was notably catchy.

The single was never released.

Accounts differ as to why the project was abandoned. Some involved later claimed that Ebert’s interests had shifted by the time the song neared completion, rendering the effort irrelevant. Others maintained that the distributor simply lacked the resources to finish mastering and promotion once release deadlines tightened. What is clear is that enthusiasm evaporated as suddenly as it had appeared.

No commercial pressing was made. No radio servicing occurred. No soundtrack release was announced. By the time Day of the Dead opened nationally in July 1985, “CHOKE ON ’EM” had been quietly shelved.

Ebert reviewed Day of the Dead without reference to any tie-in music. The review was not favorable.
For decades, the song went entirely unmentioned in discographies, trade listings, or archival records. It was not categorized as unreleased. It was simply forgotten.

It was thought lost in the caves with defense department budgets, negatives for all our favorite movies, and immigration records, census reports, and the accounts of all the wars and plane crashes and volcano eruptions and earthquakes and fires and floods and all the other disasters that interrupted the flow of things in the good ole U.S. of A…

Until today.

#DayOfTheDead
#LostMedia
#NewWave
#UnreleasedMusic
#80smusic
#80snostalgia
#HorrorSoundtrack
#GeorgeARomero
#CultHorror
#LostSong
#ForgottenMusic
#PhantomFilmTracks
#aimusic
#romero