Star Licks Resume Home

Airing on HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, and The Movie Channel, “Shock ‘Em Dead” (bad horror movie — great party flick!) was written and produced by my StarLicks colleagues back in 1990.  I agreed to score it, however, conflicts kept me from completing it.  Nonetheless, the band cues and a few of my scene scores made the final cut.

The quirky thing about this 80’s  metal/horror project was that the producers, director and myself were all unsure as to whether we were producing a movie that spoofed cheap horror flicks—i.e., “Scary Movie,” or whether we were producing a legitimate horror film out to actually frighten people.  And therein lies the recipe for an “It's so BAD, it’s GOOD” cult flick.

“This flick rules - everything a B-Film should be!”—IMDA review…

Though it’s been out of print for some time, this direct-to-video project has had some surprisingly good reviews that can still be found at IMDA’s, Shock ‘Em Dead pages.

While the majority of reviews came from admitted admires of big-hair, metal/horror exploitation films, many showed great interest in the extra ordinary guitar work of Michael Angelo Batio and how it was incorporated into the movie.

“I want to become the greatest Rock Star in the world and everything that comes with it.”  —Angel Martin, from the film…

Rock ‘Em Dead A.K.A. Shock ‘Em Dead, was produced by Noma Video Inc., which purchased Star Licks Productions in the mid-‘80’s.  Noma Video continued to finance instructional videos that we continued to produce in which Michael Angelo Batio was one of the artists.  I don’t recall if his playing inspired the writing of the script or whether it was already in the works - either way, Michael agreed to perform on the soundtrack and to stand-in as the double for the guitar playing segments.

I recorded the band tracks in my Santa Monica studio utilizing a Korg 01/W workstation, Emax 8-bit sampler, and a Roland R-8 rhythm composer – recorded on a Otari MX one-inch 16-track.

For the session, Michael showed up with a Dean, twin-necked guitar, which I plugged into a Rockman then direct into the board. Preferring a bit more distortion, I patched in a stomp box that Michael brought as well.  I don’t believe that he had heard the band tracks prior to the session – so, as a result, Michael took time to work out the main solo and harmony on a single-neck but would refer to the double-neck to verify that the two parts could be preformed in a dual-necked fashion. In our quest to get precision solos in one short studio evening, Michael performed his parts on a single-neck for instant accuracy. Overdubs were added for a fatter sound.

Loose ends…

• The band music and guitar solos were prerecorded except for the final concert scene in which Michael performed live on film.
• Supplementary solos were prerecorded and performed live on film by David Celentano.
• There is no guitar notation available for these tracks that I know of.
• The band cues (except for of course, Purple Haze) were written by Mark Freed and myself - but for the most part by Mark Freed.
• There was no backup guitar on the recorded tracks or rhythm guitarist in the film.
• The baby blue Strat was mine.
• The lead vocalist on the band tracks was Rick Livingstone.
• Read more at Metal Coven.

Click on a media player below to hear the original studio recording…  —Robert Decker

“Martin’s Metaphorphisis”
   —Scene cue

“Angel's Audition”
  —Scene cue

“I’m a Virgin Girl”
   —Concert scene #1 *Explicit lyrics

“I’m in Love with a Slut”
    —Concert scene #2 *Explicit lyrics

“Purple Haze”
    —Concert scene #3