It’s our second week of Halloween picks and what could be a better secret watch than my seasonal guilty pleasure: Halloween music! The 90’s were notorious for novelty pop songs, like ‘Saturday Night’, ‘The Macarena’ and ‘Tragedy’, but if a song can’t capitalise on a novelty dance sequence then it will find a theme. Halloween songs are like Christmas B-sides and while Christmas number ones are highly anticipated, a Halloween single is mostly a necessary (royalty earning) evil. Like Christmas music, Halloween hits provide instant nostalgia and have been played for decades not just in film and TV but at Halloween parties across the globe. Here are some of my favourite Halloween hits.
Monster Mash, Bobby Pickett (1962)
The quintessential classic, this is a Halloween montage staple. Featuring a drawl talky-singy voice that sounds like Vincent Price- Lite, the song tells a compelling story of what we can assume is a scientist who’s monster comes to life. But what starts as a simple intertextual reference to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein quickly descends into a Halloween hullabaloo with our favourite spooky characters: Dracula, Wolfman and Igor taking to the floor alongside the scientist and the monster. They dance the ‘monster mash’, most likely based on the popular 60’s dance, the mashed potato and by the end of the song they’re having a full-on dance party, inviting the listener to come and join them. It’s cheesy, it’s a little bit spooky and it sounds like the Halloween party of dreams!
Halloween, Aqua (2000)
Aqua are most famous for the instantly recognisable novelty hit: ‘Barbie Girl’. I love ‘Barbie Girl’; the video is human-sized, 90’s Barbie tack (on roller-skates!) and it is the perfect karaoke number too! So you can imagine my delight when I discovered Aqua’s seasonal song, helpfully titled, ‘Halloween’. The song does what it says on the tin, it is 3 minutes and 51 seconds of hammy, Halloween fun! The song starts like any good horror movie; with a phone ringing. The mysterious caller states, ‘I’m back to haunt you’, before descending into the perfect halloween cackle. The racing beat kicks in and we’re on a journey of stalking and suspense. The song borrows from it’s ‘Barbie Girl’ predecessor with a call and response bridge that is horrendously catchy and then we’re into the whining chorus. It’s trashy, cheesy pop and it needs to be added to your Halloween playlist immediately!
Ghostbusters Theme Tune, Ray Parker Jr. (1984)
I think a theme is establishing here! Whether it is just me or the nature of Halloween tunes but we’re racking up another novelty number. Technically it is a theme tune but ‘Ghostbusters’ is so iconic and has been covered by bands like WALK THE MOON and Fall Out Boy & Missy Elliott (who were mentioned in last week’s post with another Halloween cover) which definitely makes it a song in it’s own right. The Ghostbusters franchise spans over four decades and many an iconic Halloween costume (I’m thinking of you, Stay Puft Marshmallow Man). The song has a gorgeous 80’s synth refrain and it makes me want to shimmy into a silver jumpsuit, lace up some chunky vintage trainers and save the city, or at least dance down the streets of New York to Times Square like in the music video. In reality this song takes me back to playing musical chairs at every childhood Halloween party ever!
Anything Can Happy On Halloween, Tim Curry (1987)
Now I have absolutely saved the best till last. From the 1987 film, The Worst Witch we welcome back Halloween legend, Tim Curry in another leading turn. The song starts like any show stopping number with a slow, dramatic intro. It’s foreboding, Tim Curry is smouldering like his life depends on it and after several swishes and a turn where he looks like he gets a bit tangled in his giant cape, the beat kicks in and we learn about all the weird and wonderful things that can happen on Halloween. Some of these things include:
- Your dog turning into a cat (including projections of a dog and then a cat on the infamous cape).
- A toad ending up in your bass guitar. (We see a bass guitar and a toad independently, suggesting mild threat).
- Your sister turning into a bat (Again we don’t see the transformation, just the image of a girl pulling a face, while her eye becomes a moon with a bat silhouette flying across it).
- Your teacher could become a sardine. (There are no sardines in the video, and in this moment we just see the image of a whale’s tail flopping down into the ocean).
Along the way Tim Curry sings to his own reflection on a video tape, finds a tambourine and generally gives us EVERYTHING and we love him for it!
Tim Curry is officially Halloween royalty!
Midnight Culture 