It's Spooky is a collaboration album by musicians Daniel Johnston

Daniel Johnston

Daniel Dale Johnston is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and artist. Johnston was the subject of the 2006 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. He currently lives in Waller, Texas....

 and Jad Fair

Jad Fair

Jad Fair is an American singer, guitarist and graphic artist, most famous for being a founding member of lo-fi alternative rock group Half Japanese.-Biography:In 1974, with his brother David, Jad Fair founded the lo-fi group Half Japanese...

, of the band Half Japanese

Half Japanese

Half Japanese is a punk rock band formed by brothers Jad and David Fair in their Coldwater, Michigan bedroom around 1975. Their original instrumentation included a small drum set, which they took turns playing; vocals; and an out of tune guitar...

. It was first released in 1989 on 50 Skidillion Watts Records, under the title Jad Fair and Daniel Johnston. It was re-issued on CD in 1993 on Paperhouse

Paperhouse (record label)

Paperhouse Records was a British independent record label which operated from 1990 to 1993.The label was a short-lived joint venture by Glass Records owner David E. Barker and Fire Records owner Clive Solomon...

 (PAPCD 019). The album originally featured 25 songs (in its cassette version--fewer songs on the simultaneous LP), and a further six tracks were added for a re-release in 2001. The 2001 re-issue also features, as an enhanced CD bonus, video footage of Daniel Johnston performing a version of his song "Don't Play Cards with Satan."

Although receiving praise from critics and fans alike, the record was commercially overlooked. Both Johnston and Fair play the majority of instruments, including vocals, guitars, piano, keyboards and drums.

Track listing

All songs written by Jad Fair and Daniel Johnston, except where noted.

1. "It's Spooky" (Johnston)
2. "Summertime"
3. "I Met Rocky Erikson" (Johnston)
4. "Happy Talk
   Happy Talk (song)
   In June 1982, The Damned's guitarist Captain Sensible scored an unlikely #1 single on the UK singles chart for two weeks with his version of the song, featuring backing vocals by the band Dolly Mixture.-Cover Version:...
   
   " (Oscar Hammerstein II
   Oscar Hammerstein II
   Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
   
   , Richard Rodgers
   Richard Rodgers
   Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
   
   )
5. "McDonalds on the Brain" (Johnston)
6. "I Did Acid With Caroline" (Johnston)
7. "If I'd Only Know" (Fair)
8. "Tongues Wag in This Town"
9. "Tomorrow Never Knows
   Tomorrow Never Knows
   "Tomorrow Never Knows" is the final track of The Beatles' 1966 studio album Revolver but the first to be recorded. Credited as a Lennon–McCartney song, it was written primarily by John Lennon...
   
   " (John Lennon
   John Lennon
   John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
   
   , Paul McCartney
   Paul McCartney
   Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
   
   )
10. "Oh Honey" (Johnston)
11. "A Vow of Love"
12. "When Love Calls"
13. "Frankenstein vs. The World"
14. "Hands of Love"
15. "Kicking the Dog" (Brian Beattie, Dave Cameron, Sheri Lane, Kathy McCarty)
16. "What I've Seen" (Johnston)
17. "Something's Got a Hold on Me" (Johnston)
18. "Villain"
19. "Chords of Fame
    Chords of Fame
    Chords Of Fame was a 2-LP compilation of folksinger Phil Ochs' career, compiled by his brother shortly after Ochs' death in 1976. Released on A&M Records, it compiled tracks Ochs had recorded for both that label and Elektra Records...
    
    " (Phil Ochs
    Phil Ochs
    Philip David Ochs was an American protest singer and songwriter who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, earnest humanism, political activism, insightful and alliterative lyrics, and haunting voice...
    
    )
20. "Ostrich"
21. "Casper the Friendly Ghost" (Johnston)
22. "First Day at Work" (Johnston)
23. "Fan and Games"
24. "Nothing Left"
25. "Memphis Tennessee" (Johnston)
26. "Comes Back" ^† (Beattie, Cameron, Lane, McCarty)
27. "Tears Stupid Tears" ^† (Johnston)
28. "The Making of the Album" ^†
29. "Get Yourself Together" ^† (Johnston)
30. "What the World Needs Now
    What the World Needs Now Is Love
    "What the World Needs Now Is Love" is a 1965 popular song with lyrics by Hal David and music composed by Burt Bacharach. First recorded and made popular by Jackie DeShannon, it was released on April 15, 1965, on the Imperial label after a release on sister label Liberty records the previous month...
    
    " ^† (Burt Bacharach
    Burt Bacharach
    Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
    
    , Hal David
    Hal David
    Harold Lane "Hal" David is an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. David is best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach.-Career:...
    
    )
31. "Sweet Loafed
    Locust Abortion Technician
    Locust Abortion Technician is the third full-length studio album by American experimental punk band the Butthole Surfers, released in March 1987...
    
    " ^† (Butthole Surfers
    Butthole Surfers
    Butthole Surfers is an American alternative rock band formed by Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary in San Antonio, Texas in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been consistent since 1983. Teresa Nervosa served as second...
    
    )

• † Denotes bonus tracks featured on the 2001 re-release.

Musical style

The album features both artists' typically idiosyncratic approach to songwriting, clever vocal wordplay, simple instrumentation, and wild imaginations for song themes and concepts. Seven of the songs are covers; artists covered include Burt Bacharach

Burt Bacharach

Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...

, the Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

 and Phil Ochs

Phil Ochs

Philip David Ochs was an American protest singer and songwriter who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, earnest humanism, political activism, insightful and alliterative lyrics, and haunting voice...

. The structures of many of the songs are akin to Johnston's previous music; some of the songs, such as "Get Yourself Together" and "Casper The Friendly Ghost", had previously featured on Johnston's Hi, How Are You

Hi, How Are You

Hi, How Are You: The Unfinished Album is the sixth self-released music cassette album by singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston, recorded in September 1983. It is arguably his most popular album. Johnston claims he almost had a nervous breakdown recording it and calls this his "unfinished album."The...

 and Continued Story with Texas Instruments records of 1983 and 1985, respectively.