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Ghoulardi fu, a metà anni Sessanta (1963-1966), lo strano presentatore di uno strano programma TV-horror  intitolato “Shock Theater”, su Channel 8 di Cleveland, Ohio. Ghoulardi era interpretato dal dj Ernie Anderson, appassionato di rock’n’roll, jazz e rhythm’n’blues, che successivamente divenne presentatore su ABC. In “Shock Theater” Ghoulardi presentava film di serie B, fantascienza e horror, intervallando commenti irriverenti e pose istrioniche Le sue prese in giro non risparmiavano le comunità di quartieri-dormitorio come Parma, che rappresentavano la sua audience, oltre a musicisti e personaggi televisivi . L’influenza del programma e del personaggio andò ben oltre gli anni Sessanta, fino ad influenzare lo stile di bands psychobilly come The Cramps (Stay Sick), o art-rock come i Pere Ubu di David Thomas, e altre bands di Cleveland o Akron (Electric Eels, Racket From The Tombs, fino ai Devo). David Thomas ha dichiarato che “eravamo tutti Ghoulardi kids”. E attualmente bands psychobilly o horror punk come The Creepshow, Zombie Ghost Train, Calabrese, sono ovviamente molto devote al culto di Ghoulardi…

Dall'intervista di Lux Interior (Cramps) a gravyzine

I noticed your last album was dedicated to Goulardi…He just past away, right?

Lux: Yup.

Out here Zacherly is pretty much THE Horror Host. Can you explain to our readers the difference between the two, I don’t think most people are too familiar with the horror hosts and that whole phenomenon.

Lux: They were different people, Zacharly and Goulardi. To say they were just Horror Hosts, they were much more than that, they were somewhere between a horror host and Hitler. Goulardi, he was just way out of control, always causing trouble, always in trouble but he was so powerful that he could get away with it. Kind of like Elvis Presley shaking his hips on television, he was so powerful he could get away with it, everyone was upset about it but they couldn’t do anything about it because it was bringing in too much money. When Goulardi was on TV in the 60’s crime just plummeted because no one was out, they were all watching Goulardi. He was just a totally rebellious character. A good model for young people and was one of the forerunners of what later became youth counterculture type thing.

They had a lot of audiences based on television more than let’s say the movies themselves.

Lux: Yeah,oh yeah. The movies were, of course those movies were great and everything and that’s part of it, but the part where they played music it was like a party, just the chance to go nuts, the music like Goulardi played "Poppa Ooh Mao Mao" by the Revingtons, wild great rock’n’roll records that he played during the time that he was on. He would blow up things. He was just a role model.

L'intera intervista su:   gravyzine