Welcome to the debut of the Halloween MJM (MJM #246). @ucpete is far away (at a wedding, not Vegas - boo hoo), so @Dog_Faced_Boy has come to play. As far as we know, this edition marks the first time ever that MJM has occurred on Halloween proper. Furthermore, since this is the fifth Monday this October, and because the MJM series now gets progressively more difficult each week throughout the month, @ucpete and I thought today's holiday version should add a little trick or treat to the competition. We hope you enjoy this little musical puzzle.

To win, be the first person to identify the song and date of each of the four mystery jam clips, and answer what they share in common. Each person gets one attempt per day, with the second “day” starting after the Blog posts the hint -- each answer should contain four songs / dates, along with the commonality between them. No sharing or trading of answers is allowed. A hint will be posted on Tuesday if necessary, with the answer to follow on Wednesday. The winner will receive one MP3 code good for a free download of any show, courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net.

Note: Because this proverbial beginning to the holiday season puts me in a particularly magnimous mood, I will offer you all one helpful hint from the outset: initially, focus on the first of the four clips. If you can identify the first track, it may provide you with some clues to help determine the remaining three. Happy Halloween and have fun.

Hint: The song of which the first clip is a part was not selected by happenstance. It was chosen for a specific reason. The lyrics to this Beatles song provide information about how to find the other songs in this week's Halloween MJM, as well as clearly point to the unifying theme. This ain't rocket science, but the correct answer must state the theme as well as the song and date of the four clips.

Answer: Congratulations to @runlikecarini, who notches his second MJM victory by correctly identifying the tracks: "Birthday" from 10/31/94, "Drowned" from 12/31/95, "David Bowie" from 4/13/94, and "Wait" from 10/31/91, and the theme: songs that debuted on, Halloween, or 10/31. This holiday version sought to provide a mix of trick and treat: the clipped section of this "Bowie" sounds an awful lot to me like "Phantom of the Opera," but a Google or tease search won't help. Likewise, the guitar riff in this third version of "Wait" (the debut and second version also occurred on 10/31/91) sounds an awful lot like "It's Ice," a red herring intended to lead searchers astray to scan versions of the Rift classic. However, there were also some treats thrown in: the "Fire On The Mountain" tease from this section of the 12/31/95 "Drowned" is well-known, and a simple search of the Tease Chart would lead one to this version. Likewise, not only was an initial pre-game hint provided, but subsequently, the words debut and Halloween were italicized and placed in bold, and in combination with the selection of "Birthday," it was hoped that the power of suggestion would make the theme more obvious. We hope you enjoyed this week's contest. Congrats again to @runlikecarini, and thanks @ucpete for letting me sit in this week. Good luck next week, when the first MJM for November begins with the bar lowered a few pegs.