Vamps on TV: Eddie Money Music Video from 1982

The great Eddie Money sounds as love-struck as Spike in this atmospheric video from 1982 for "I Think I'm in Love.

In-Depth Interview with James Marsters (Spike)

A.V. Club has a wonderful in-depth interview with James Marsters talking about his Buffy days with great thoughts on fandom and his days filming the show.

Here he talks about his favorite episodes which are also fan favorites: "The Body," "Tabula Rasa," and "Beneath You." I especially enjoyed this insight into "Beneath You," the scene of Spike on the cross in the church and how hard it was to get the right amount of "shame" into that scene because Spike had earned back his soul:

What is your personal favorite—and least favorite—Buffy episode?

JM: Oh, I’ve got so many favorites. One of them is “The Body,” because: Wow. So different than other episodes. Really proving that the show can be just a very serious drama occasionally. And I had a week off, which, when you’re doing 12 to 20 hours of 22 episodes—I’m not joking—having the week off is life-saving. “Tabula Rasa.” That’s just an awesome show. Loved that one. I have very fond memories of the first one I was in. That was just such an intense experience. I think the director committed career suicide. He got so excited by what was happening in the episode, and birthing this character with me, that he started adding shots. And he was blowing budget, and Gareth Davies came down and told him, “If you don’t rein it in, you are never coming back on this show.” And he came to me and he said, “Look, they just told me I’m never going to be on this show if I don’t rein it in. I’m not reining it in. I don’t care. This episode is going to be amazing. And I’m going to get so much work off it in other places. But I’m going to make this really cool.” And he really did. I think part of the reason the character broke out quickly is because that first episode was so tight, as far as how many shots he got.

Slayer Soundtrack Sunday: "Early One Morning"

The English folk song "Early One Morning" plays an important role in Spike's character development, which is ironic given the title and the fact that he is a vampire who sleeps or hides from the rising sun.

Early one morning, just as the sun was rising
I heard a maid sing in the valley below
"Oh don't deceive me, Oh never leave me,
How could you use, a poor maiden so?"

Remember the vows that you made to me truly
Remember how tenderly you nestled close to me
Gay is the garland, fresh are the roses
I've culled from the garden to bind over thee.

Here I now wander alone as I wonder
Why did you leave me to sigh and complain
I ask of the roses, why should I be forsaken,
Why must I here in sorrow remain?



From Songfacts:

This folk song is particularly notable for its use in a number of well known arrangements. In the UK its usage in the opening bars of the "BBC Radio 4 UK Theme" by Fritz Spiegl, which until April 2006 was played every morning at 5.30 am is the best known.
The song has been used in a number of television programs. It was sung by Samantha in the TV series Bewitched, by Pernell Roberts (Adam Cartwright) in "The wooing of Abigail Jones" episode of the TV series Bonanza and was used as a trigger for the Vampire Spike in the seventh season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was also the theme song for the children's CBC TV show The Friendly Giant, which run from 1958 to 1985. In the UK, it was Frank Spencer's choice of song in the BBC sitcom Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em.
The song has also featured several times in the movies. In Monty Python and the Holy Grail, "Early One Morning" is played in the background at the beginning of the tale of Sir Launcelot, just before his assistant is 'mortally wounded' with an arrow. Also Hayley Mills and Nancy Olson sung this song in the 1960 Disney film Pollyanna.

In "Lies My Parents Told Me" (season 7) Buffy and Giles learn that the song has become a "trigger" put there by the First Evil which makes Spike kill people even though he now has a soul. Through the use of a magical stone, Spike remembers that his beloved mother once sang the song to him when he was a still a rather hapless and poetic mortal named William. When Spike is turned into a vampire by Drusilla he returns to his family home and bites his ailing mother to make her immortal like himself. However things do not turn out the way he expected. Spike forgot that his mother would become half evil demon as a vampire, and when she proceeds to take delight in describing their mother-son relationship as twisted and unnatural, Spike is shocked and realizes he has to kill her. At the last moment his mother returns to her original loving form.


Principal Robin Wood is wrestling with his own mother issues. We learn that he is the son of Nikki Wood, the New York Vampire Slayer whom Spike admits to killing in Fool For Love. In "Lies" Robin Wood and Giles conspire to put a stake in Spike against Buffy's wishes. Giles is thinking of the safety of the potential slayers, while Robin just wants revenge for his mother's death. As a result of their deception, Wood and Giles lose Buffy's trust, and she defends Spike as "the strongest warrior we have." This is foreshadowing for the final episode when Spike becomes Buffy's Champion and he saves the world.



Buffy echoes Nikki Woods advice to her son "The Mission is what Matters." Spoken like the true Slayers they are!

Best Quotes From "Pangs" - A Buffy Thanksgiving

"Pangs" is one of my favorite episodes. The writers and actors had a great time exploring all the various pros and cons of celebrating Thanksgiving Day, and we get to see Buffy showing that she can also Slay the Culinary Arts in the kitchen. Angel makes a cameo, unbeknownst to Buffy, and Spike has to be tied to a chair in order to behave, but gets to eat some gravy as a reward. Xander contracts syphilis as Native American revenge, but then finds a cure. There's a LOT to be thankful for!

Read the complete script Here on Buffyworld

Some of the best quotes:

BUFFY: You know what I should do? I should have my own Thanksgiving.Invite all you guys, cook the whole meal just ike Mom always does. It'll be great!
WILLOW: Buffy, earlier you agreed with me about Thanksgiving. It's a sham! It's all about death!
BUFFY: It's a sham, but it's a sham with yams. A yam sham.
WILLOW: You're not going to jokey-rhyme your way out of this one.

GILES: Tell me again why we're not doing this at your house.
BUFFY: Giles, if you want to get by in American society you have to learn our traditions. You're the patriarch. You have to host the festivities or it's all meaningless.
GILES: And this is in no way an elaborate scheme to stick me with the clean up.

Spike peers through a dusty window into a dilapidated building. Inside, in a pool of golden lamp-light, a small nest of vampires is settling down with a dazed human victim. An older vampire is about to bite. Then he pauses and holds the whimpering victim out to a younger vampire. A heart-warming domestic scene. Spike watches, his breath frosting the window, a picture of misery and longing.

RILEY (Talking about his home in Iowa) ... After dinner, we all go for a walk down by the river with the dogs. And there's... trees, and I know what you're thinking, it's like I grew up in a Grant Wood painting.
BUFFY Exactly. If I knew who that was.
RILEY Just a guy who painted stuff that looked like what I grew up in.
BUFFY: Ah. Well, have fun at the homestead.
RILEY: Always do. What's the line -- "Home's the place that, when you have to go there --"
BUFFY: "-- they have to take you in." That's what they say.

BUFFY: We don't say Indian.
GILES: Yes! Right. Always behind on the terms. Still trying not to refer to you lot as 'bloody colonials'.
BUFFY: The thing is, I like my evil like my men: evil. You know, straight up, black hat, tie you to the railroad tracks, soon my electroray will destroy metropolis BAD. Not all mixed up with guilt and the destruction of an indigenous culture.

BUFFY: What happened to the Chumash?
WILLOW: How about imprisonment? Forced labor? Herded like animals into a mission full of bad European diseases?
BUFFY: Boy, the Cultural Partnership center really didn't stress any of that stuff.

XANDER: Can we come rocketing back to the part about me and my new syphilis?
ANYA: Oh, that'll make you blind and insane, but it won't kill you. The smallpox will.
XANDER: Sweetie... not helping.

GILES: Buffy, Xander is in real danger. Are you sure the solution is pie?
BUFFY: Over bickering and confusion? I'll take pie.

GILES: We will find a solution --
BUFFY: And we will have a nice dinner. Okay? Both. End of story. I'm having a Thanksgiving. It's going to be perfect.

SPIKE: Help me...
Buffy slams a palm to his chest, sends him flying back on his ass. He scrambles out of the direct sunlight, his blanket beginning to smoke.
SPIKE: What part of "help me" did you not understand?
BUFFY: The part where I help you.
SPIKE: Come on! I'm parboiling out here!

SPIKE: I'm saying Spike had a little trip to the vet and now he doesn't chase the other puppies anymore. I can't bite anything. I can't even hit people.

Spike is being tied to a chair. Buffy finishes the last knot as he complains:
SPIKE: Bloody hell, woman! You're cutting off my circulation.
BUFFY: You don't have any circulation.
SPIKE: Well it pinches.

SPIKE: Oh, someone put a stake in me!
XANDER: You got a lot of volunteers in here...

SPIKE: I just can't take this mamby-pamby boo-hooing over the bloody Indians!
WILLOW: The preferred term is --
SPIKE: You won! All right? You came in and you killed them and you took their land. That's what conquering nations do! That's what Caesar did, he's not going around saying "I came, I conquered, I felt really bad about it"! The history of the world is not people making friends. You had better weapons, you massacred them, end of story!

XANDER: Maybe it's the syphilis talking, but some of that made sense.

SPIKE: Do you know what happens to a vampire that doesn't get to feed?
GILES: Actually, I've always wondered.
SPIKE: Living skeletons, mate. Like famine pictures from those dusty countries, only not half as funny.

BUFFY: You can have gravy. Gravy has blood in it, right?
SPIKE: You know what else has blood in it? Blood!

(After the Chumash Warrior turns into a bear)
SPIKE: You made a bear!
BUFFY: I didn't mean to!
SPIKE: Undo it! Undo it!

XANDER: Hey! Gentle Ben! Over here!
Not getting a reaction, Xander grabs a bag of raw, unpeeled potatoes. He starts lobbing them at the bear.
XANDER: (to the bear)That's for giving me syphilis!

WILLOW: ... did you see me? Two seconds of conflict with an indigenous person and I turn into General Custer.

BUFFY: It wasn't exactly a perfect Thanksgiving.
XANDER: I don't know. It kinda seemed right to me. A bunch of anticipation, a big fight and now we're all sleepy.

Slayer Soundtrack Sunday ~ Bif Naked

Bif Naked's name is a play on her name Beth and the phrase "buff naked," which fits right into Buffy the Vampire Slayer canon. She is a Canadian/American singer with a soulful voice and an interesting goth background. Her videos remind me of Pink's later work - clearly an influence!

Via Canadian Expat on Wordpress:

For anyone who doesn’t know Bif she was born in New Delhi, India to two teenage Americans attending a private school there which resulted in her being adopted by missionaries and being brought back to the US. From elementary age on she lived in The Pas, Dauphin, and finally Winnipeg, Manitoba. She has a bit of a gothic look, lots of tattoos and an amazing voice. She’s been called Gwen Stefani’s evil twin which I’m sure she hates because she’s unique in her own right, and well, much more awesome.
Since I heard her last she’s released 2 more albums, acted in various shows and movies, continued to write poetry, and has done motivational speaking.

From Huffington Post

...Bif Naked has made a career out of being a badass chick. Initially, it was by way of the late-'90s CanRock boys club, prowling Edgefest stages, infiltrating rock radio and even performing at the Hellmouth-adjacent all-ages club on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
More recently, the heavily tattooed singer has become known as a badass chick in another venue -- the B.C. Cancer Agency's Vancouver Centre, where she successfully beat breast cancer with a lumpectomy and chemo back in 2008-2009. She now returns regularly, boldly confronting her own fragile mortality to encourage those women still fighting for their lives.

Lucky:



Moment of Weakness:



Bif Naked's songs appear in the fourth season of Buffy, episode 3 "The Harsh Light of Day," all from the album with a great title "I Bificus" - a reference to "I Spartacus," from the Kirk Douglas movie. The three songs are "Lucky," "Moment of Weakness," and "Anything" (which unfortunately has no video I can find). The song "Lucky" is included on "Buffy: The Album."




In this episode, Spike uses the fabled Gem of Amarra ring to make himself invincible to sunlight. Eventually Buffy defeats him and decides to give the ring to Angel in Los Angeles. This is the reverse of what happens at the end of the series, when Buffy rejects Angel and gives the "champion" medallion to Spike, who by that time has proven his love and loyalty, and won back his soul. And of course, in the "harsh light" of that rare gem he fries himself to kill the demons underground and save the world.



This is considered a "cross-over" episode because action continues on the show "Angel," episode "In the Dark," when Spike goes to LA to get the Gem of Amarra back from Angel, torturing him with exposure to light. Nice contrast with the episode titles - "Harsh Light" versus "In the Dark."



The title also refers to disillusionment with relationships, as Buffy wakes up to regrets for sleeping with Parker (see this previous post about "Beer Bad"), and Anya strips down to throw herself at Xander, with unsatisfactory results. Another disillusioned woman is the vampiress Harmony, who realizes that Spike doesn't love her but merely uses her for sex. The point of all three stories is that it's easy to confuse sex with love, and that feelings often aren't mutual.

Slayer Soundtrack Sunday ~ Trespasser's William

Where did the California band Trespasser's William get their name? From Winnie-the-Pooh of course.

CHAPTER III

IN WHICH POOH AND PIGLET GO HUNTING AND NEARLY CATCH A WOOZLE

THE Piglet lived in a very grand house in the middle of a beech-tree, and the beech-tree was in the middle of the forest, and the Piglet lived in the middle of the house. Next to his house was a piece of broken board which had: "TRESPASSERS W" on it.



When Christopher Robin asked the Piglet what it meant, he said it was his grandfather's name, and had been in the family for a long time. Christopher Robin said you couldn't be called Trespassers W, and Piglet said yes, you could, because his grandfather was, and it was short for Trespassers Will, which was short for Trespassers William. And his grandfather had had two names in case he lost one--Trespassers after an uncle, and William after Trespassers.

"I've got two names," said Christopher Robin carelessly.

"Well, there you are, that proves it," said Piglet.

Piglet and Christopher Robin are too innocent to understand that the entire sign should read "Trespassers Will Be Shot." So there's a hint of danger in this name.

And that fits well with the Buffy theme of various characters named "William." Spike's human name was "William Pratt" - known as "William the Bloody" to others in upper class circles thanks to his "bloody awful poetry." Angel was also originally named "Liam" which is the Irish equivalent of William. Then there are many characters named "Billy" or "Will" in the Buffy series, as listed by SlayerWorld.net

• Billy Fordham: (Buffy’s friend from LA who sold her out to Spike)
• Billy Palmer: (the little boy in the coma who caused nightmares to come to life)
• Billy Crandal: (chained himself to a snack machine in I Only Have Eyes For You)
• Billy (an unclassified demon in Angel, who brought out the worst in men with a touch)
• Willy the Snitch (demon bar tender)
• Wil or Will: the name sometimes given to Willow (yeah, this was a bit of a stretch)

Trespasser's William had two songs in Season Six of Buffy. "I Know" is from the episode "Gone," and "Washes Away" is from "As You Were."

Slayer Soundtrack Sunday ~ Heather Nova in "Touched"

Heather Nova is a singer-songwriter born in Bermuda and raised in New England.
More background on Nova Here



The song "It's Only Love" is in Episode 20 of Season Seven, as Buffy loses leadership of the Potential Slayers to Faith and leaves the house feeling betrayed, even by the Scooby Gang and Giles. Thinking no one will stand by her, a defeated Buffy has to be convinced to come home by her most loyal and true friend, Spike. I get a little sappy and sentimental over this song! Maybe because Spike gives such a great homage to Buffy out of his love and respect for her - they went so far as a couple before the end of the series! *wipes away tear*

Spike - "You listen to me. I've been alive a bit longer than you, and dead a lot longer than that. I've seen things you couldn't imagine, and done things I'd prefer you didn't. Don't exactly have a reputation for being a thinker. I follow my blood, which doesn't exactly rush in the direction of my brain. I've made a lot of mistakes. A lot of wrong bloody calls. A hundred plus years, and there's only one thing I've ever been sure of: you ... Here, look at me. I'm not asking you for anything. When I say "I love you", it's not because I want you, or because I can't have you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are. What you do, how you try. I've seen your kindness and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you. And I understand, with perfect clarity, exactly what you are. You're a hell of a woman. You're the One, Buffy."

Slayer Sountrack Sunday ~ "The Sun Keeps Shining" By Fonda

Fonda appeared in the Buffy episode "All the Way" from Season 6. The title is an obvious reference to teen sexual activity, and Dawn thinks she is ready for that . . . until her date turns out to be a vampire! And Dawn gets her first kiss on Halloween, which seems totally appropriate for a rather supernatural girl.

Also in this episode, Tara is getting fed up with Willow's magicks, and Xander announces his engagement to Anya while wearing a pirate costume and eye-patch - foreshadowing his "accident" in Season 7.

Although the action takes place on Halloween night, this is actually a breezy summer song.



From YouTube

Los Angeles based indie-pop band, Fonda perform "The Sun Keeps Shining On Me" live. The song was originally released on Fonda's 2001 CD, "The Strange and the Familiar" and is now available on the original motion picture soundtrack for "Remember Me."

Slayer Soundtrack Sunday ~ Aberdeen

The California "Twee" group Aberdeen had two songs in Episode 13 of Season 7 "The Killer in Me."

From their Biography on LTM Recordings

Californian indiepopsters Aberdeen featured John Girgus (also of Languis) and Beth Arzy (also of Trembling Blue Stars), and released five sparky singles on Sarah Records and The Tremelo Arm User's Club between 1994 and 2004. Their album Homesick & Happy To Be Here appeared in 2002.

. . . Twee is really just a label the music press began slapping on bands like Belle and Sebastian in order to describe, in one word, a band who makes jangly, pastoral, pretty (and mostly UK) pop music. Yet, like with most labels, the term twee is a little unfair to the bands. Obviously there is more going on in Belle and Sebastian's music than hippies cavorting around in the Scottish heather. The same goes for the music of Aberdeen. Yes, it's poppy, fun, and innocent but it's also dark, foreboding, and to a degree... violent.

Slayer Soundtrack Sunday ~ Nickel on "School Hard"

Nickel plays two songs at the Bronze in the Season Two episode "School Hard," which introduces Spike and Drusilla as new villains who come to town to get rid of Buffy, and meet up again with their old pal Angel.



The title refers to the fact that Spike attacks Sunnydale High on parent-teacher night after a long week for Buffy in which the Principal gives her a hard time. Ironically, the way Buffy saves lives during the ordeal impresses her mother more than any school work could have.




"1000 Nights"



"Stupid Thing"

All-In-One Vampire Identification Chart

From "True Blood" to Ann Rice, from Buffy to Sesame Street, here's one graphic for all your vampire needs.
Via UrlyBits.com Pinterest

Slayer Soundtrack Sunday ~ Laika's "Black Cat Bone"

"Laika" is the name of the first dog the Russians put into orbit around the earth, but ironically the band with that name may be best known for a song "Black Cat Bone" which is played in Season six, the episode called "Wrecked."

The song is included on Laika's album Good Looking Blues as well as the extended UK version of Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Radio Sunnydale Click links or pics to buy the albums.







Willow is going through a crisis due to magic, with the analogy to drug addiction - the meaning of the title. She follows her old pal Amy the ex-rat (Elizabeth Anne Allen) to a private "magicks den" where she trades some of her power to a sort of guru/junkie called "Rack" (Jeff Kober) for a psychedelic mystical experience.

The song "Black Cat Bone" by Laika plays during Willow's mind-trip, and captures the sinister illogic of it.

We know her experience isn't entirely pleasant because Willow has to take a shower afterwards to "sober up."


But Willow hasn't had enough, so she returns to Rack's house - rhymes with crackhouse - dragging along Buffy's teenage sister Dawn, who is creeped out but who can't leave. When Willow realizes she has accidentally conjured a demon during her bad trip, they have to steal a car to get away, ending in an accident which injures Dawn.

Buffy is ticked-off to say the least. But Willow is forgiven because Buffy isn't acting responsibly either, finally consumating her flirtation with Spike during which they literally "bring the house down" on themselves - another meaning of the title "Wrecked." At the end of the show, a contrite and sober Willow is alone and so is Buffy, surrounded by cloves of garlic to keep out the amorous Spike.

Slayer Soundtrack Sunday ~ Lover's Walk

In this episode, the featured song is "My Way," the Frank Sinatra hit. Spike is shown singing it to himself after he returns to Sunnydale looking for his lost love Drusilla.

At the end of the episode after he captures her again, he drives away from Sunnydale singing along with the version of "My Way" sung by actor Gary Oldman in the movie "Sid and Nancy" about the life of Punk Rocker Sid Vicious and his girlfriend. They are clearly somewhat of an inspiration for the "Punkish" Spike and the totally whacked-out insane Drusilla.




Another thing fans love about this episode is the way Spike goes on and on about his love for Drusilla, even crying on the shoulders of both Joyce, Buffy's mother, and Willow when he takes her hostage so she will make a love potion for him.


He's totally obsessed by love and only love. This places him the "Byronic Hero" category which certainly becomes evident later in the series when his devotion to Buffy is tested again and again until he becomes the true champion.

Spike: What do you know? It's your fault, the both of you! She belongs with me. I'm nothing without her.
Buffy: That I'll have to agree with. You're pathetic, you know that? You're not even a loser anymore, you're a shell of a loser.
Spike: Yeah. You're one to talk.
Buffy: Meaning?
Spike: The last time I looked in on you two, you were fighting to the death. Now you're back making googly-eyes at each other like nothing happened. Makes me want to heave.
Buffy: I don't know what you're talking about.
Spike: Oh, yeah. You're just friends.
Angel: That's right.
Spike: You're not friends. You'll never be friends. You'll be in love till it kills you both. You'll fight, and you'll shag, and you'll hate each other till it makes you quiver, but you'll never be friends. Love isn't brains, children, it's blood...blood screaming inside you to work its will. I may be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it.

In fact, the title "Lover's Walk" is ironic because Spike is the ONLY character who ends up with his true love.

Buffy and Angel finally go their separate ways so each can concentrate on the greater good.

Angel: Hey. I was wondering when you were coming.
Buffy: I'm not coming back. We're not friends. We never were. And I can fool Giles, and I can fool my friends, but I can't fool myself. Or Spike, for some reason. What I want from you I can never have. You don't need me to take care of you anymore. So I'm gonna go.
Angel: I don't accept that.
Buffy: You have to.
Angel: How can...There's gotta be some way we can still see each other.
Buffy: There is: tell me that you don't love me.

Buffy is unaware that she would be taking many a "Lover's Walk" with Spike in future episodes.

Things end much more unhappily for Cordelia and Oz, who are shocked when they catch Xander and Willow embracing and finally sharing an innocent and tragic kiss at just the wrong moment. Cordelia runs away and is impaled on a large metal spike, which is symbolic on so many levels - love, vampires, Spike himself who is the reason the gang is in the old warehouse looking for Willow - but this definitely ends her relationship with Xander. She is next seen in "The Wish" making a deal with Anya the Vengeance Demon who nearly destroys Sunnydale by fulfilling Cordelia's wish that Buffy had never come there. Also ironic because Cordelia has to leave the show to make a place for Anya, who also falls in love with Xander and nearly marries him.

But Willow's romantic interest in Xander is also over. She and Oz continue to date into their college days until Oz suddenly has to leave town to find himself because actor Seth Green was leaving the show.

There is one more piece of music in this episode, which is the meloncholy guitar instrumental "Loneliness of Six" written by Christopher Beck, who composed the scores of many of the later episodes. The "Six" referred to in the song are Buffy, Angel, Xander, Cordelia, Willow and Oz. Spike would make a magical 7th, except he is not lonely anymore.

Slayer Soundtrack Sunday ~ The Triangle

"The Triangle" is an episode from Season 5 in which a Troll who was once involved with Anya appears to wreak havoc on Sunnydale. The title of the episode applies not just to Xander-Anya and the Troll, but to Buffy mourning the absence of Riley while Spike is falling in love with her.

The Troll is mostly a humorous charactor, but the giant Troll Hammer which he leaves behind plays an important part later when Buffy fights the goddess Glory at the end of Season 5.

There are two songs played in this episode.

The first is "There's no Other Way" by Blur which plays at the Bronze. The song is included on the album Independent Stuff (CD Compilation, 20 Tracks, Various, Diverse Artists)




The second is The Dandy Warhols "Bohemian Like You" from their album Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia.
It's included on both the American and UK versions of Radio Sunnydale. Click the pictures to buy either album.

Slayer Soundtrack Sunday ~ Rasputina

Rasputina is an American band influenced by the Victorian Era and the Steampunk movement.

From their official website:

The Rasputina group has existed for more than 20(0) years. Melora Creager founded it to meet like-minded young women (excellent cellists that wanted to play rock music and wear historical costumery). Although often mistakenly lumped into passing fancies, Rasputina manages to survive and defy categorization by maintaining a child-like delight in music-making alongside a clear & true integrity.

The song "Transylvanian Concubine" is included on their album Thanks For The Ether. It was also included on Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Album (1999 Television Series)


The song plays in Episode 13 of Season 2 - "Surprise" - in which Buffy is having a rather dark 17th birthday haunted by bad dreams about the vampire Drusilla killing Angel. Meanwhile, in an ironic parallel, Drusilla and Spike are planning a party with "presents" arriving in the form of body parts from which they hope to construct an invincible demon to defeat the Slayer.

Transylvanian Concubine is really the perfect song for Drusilla and plays toward the end of the episode when she demands "more music" and unveils the demon.

In another ironic twist, it is Buffy who becomes the vampire's "concubine" when Angel gives her an Irish Claddagh ring to seal their love, and she sleeps with him. The moment of bliss created with Buffy lifts the gypsy curse from Angel, who suddenly loses his soul and goes back to being an ordinary evil vampire whom Buffy eventually has to kill in a following episode. So . . . happy birthday, Buffy! Not!






And alternate version of the song called "Manson Mix" (as in Marilyn Manson) is below. I prefer the original.