Six scary songs to play as we creep into Halloween
Posted On: 10/25/13
Written By: Nate Brunet
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As you travel through Ocean City this week, you might notice things are getting a bit…spookier. While restaurants, bars and the like have been putting their Halloween decorations up, the town of Ocean City is preparing several family-friendly activities taking place over the weekend. Whether you’re putting the finishing touches on your Freddy Krueger costume, or looking for a Hulk mask that isn’t as tall as your two-year-old, there are lots of reasons to bring out your Proton pack and start busting ghouls and ghosts this Halloween weekend. Without further ado, here are six of my favorite songs that feature creatures, ghosts, creepers and anything we can relate to Halloween.
“Ghostbusters”
By: Ray Parker Jr.
Off the album: Ghostbusters: Original Soundtrack Album (1984)
When the film’s producers approached Parker to write a theme song to the movie, he had only a few days to write one. Because of the time constraint, he thought only an instrumental track could be made until he was watching TV late one night. An infomercial came on reminding him of the Ghostbusters’ own commercial they made for the movie. He then wrote lyrics as if the song was an advertisement jingle for the Ghostbusters. Parker may have had another inspiration that allowed him to write the song in such a short time span. Certain musical notes in the song sounded a little too much like Huey Lewis and the News’ “I Want a New Drug,” which was a top-ten hit earlier in the year. A lawsuit was filed claiming copyright infringement, and the two parties settled out of court.
By: Ray Parker Jr.
Off the album: Ghostbusters: Original Soundtrack Album (1984)
When the film’s producers approached Parker to write a theme song to the movie, he had only a few days to write one. Because of the time constraint, he thought only an instrumental track could be made until he was watching TV late one night. An infomercial came on reminding him of the Ghostbusters’ own commercial they made for the movie. He then wrote lyrics as if the song was an advertisement jingle for the Ghostbusters. Parker may have had another inspiration that allowed him to write the song in such a short time span. Certain musical notes in the song sounded a little too much like Huey Lewis and the News’ “I Want a New Drug,” which was a top-ten hit earlier in the year. A lawsuit was filed claiming copyright infringement, and the two parties settled out of court.
“Somebody’s Watching Me”
By: Rockwell
Off the album: Somebody’s Watching Me (1984)
Most of you music fans are going to groan here, but it surprises me how many people don’t know this…so I just have to put it out there. This was the debut single of Rockwell, not one of Michael Jackson’s eighty billion hits…the King of Pop only sang the chorus as a guest appearance. What is less known, however, is that there are two members of The Jackson 5 in this song, as Jermaine Jackson also provided background vocals. There are an almost endless amount of covers and samples of this song, and some have drastically changed the song’s meaning. For example, instead of being about a person paranoid that somebody is stalking him, Christian hip hop artist Andy Mineo altered the original song to make the point that God is always watching. That’s definitely a different tone from the original.
By: Rockwell
Off the album: Somebody’s Watching Me (1984)
Most of you music fans are going to groan here, but it surprises me how many people don’t know this…so I just have to put it out there. This was the debut single of Rockwell, not one of Michael Jackson’s eighty billion hits…the King of Pop only sang the chorus as a guest appearance. What is less known, however, is that there are two members of The Jackson 5 in this song, as Jermaine Jackson also provided background vocals. There are an almost endless amount of covers and samples of this song, and some have drastically changed the song’s meaning. For example, instead of being about a person paranoid that somebody is stalking him, Christian hip hop artist Andy Mineo altered the original song to make the point that God is always watching. That’s definitely a different tone from the original.
“Runnin’ with the Devil”
By: Van Halen
Off the album: Van Halen (1978)
Van Halen’s debut album included a lot of songs that would later be recognized as some of the band’s signature songs. “Eruption,” “You Really Got Me,” and “Ain’t Talkin ‘bout Love” join “Runnin with the Devil” to create one of the best debut albums of all time, in my opinion. But when it was released, this music wasn’t nearly as lauded as it is now. Many critics initially slammed the album because they didn’t know how to process this new sound (similar to how Led Zeppelin was originally negatively received). Famous music critic Robert Christgau wrote, “the term [‘bar band’] becomes honorific when the music belongs in a bar. This music belongs on an aircraft carrier.” In hindsight, I think that comment gives this album much more praise than he intended. Van Halen playing in an aircraft carrier would be the best concert ever.
By: Van Halen
Off the album: Van Halen (1978)
Van Halen’s debut album included a lot of songs that would later be recognized as some of the band’s signature songs. “Eruption,” “You Really Got Me,” and “Ain’t Talkin ‘bout Love” join “Runnin with the Devil” to create one of the best debut albums of all time, in my opinion. But when it was released, this music wasn’t nearly as lauded as it is now. Many critics initially slammed the album because they didn’t know how to process this new sound (similar to how Led Zeppelin was originally negatively received). Famous music critic Robert Christgau wrote, “the term [‘bar band’] becomes honorific when the music belongs in a bar. This music belongs on an aircraft carrier.” In hindsight, I think that comment gives this album much more praise than he intended. Van Halen playing in an aircraft carrier would be the best concert ever.
“Werewolves of London”
By: Warren Zevon
Off the album: Excitable Boy (1978)
When listening to Kid Rock’s 2008 hit “All Summer Long,” you can thank Mr. Zevon for pretty much half of that success (and Lynyrd Skynyrd for the other half…can you tell I’m not a Kid Rock fan?) Anyway, we’re lucky to have heard “Werewolves of London,” as it originally didn’t make the cut for Zevon’s previous album, Warren Zevon, for which it was written. Instead of just dropping the song entirely, it was simply placed on Zevon’s next record. This song also features a couple of special guest appearances from drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie. If you don’t recognize those names, put their last names next to each other and hopefully you’ll get it!
“(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”
By: Blue Öyster Cult
Off the album: Agents of Fortune (1976)
Put down your cowbells everyone, I’m not even going there. OK, I’ll go there. The cowbell wasn’t even used in the original recording until producer David Lucas came up with the idea. Different accounts attribute to a different person playing the cowbell, but what is known is that the instrument was added into the song in post-production. All we needed was a classic Will Farrell performance a couple of decades later to immortalize the hit. The song, written by guitarist Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser,” is about facing death and eternal love, as Roeser imagined himself being fated to an early death. The dude (no, not that dude) is still kicking at 65.
By: Warren Zevon
Off the album: Excitable Boy (1978)
When listening to Kid Rock’s 2008 hit “All Summer Long,” you can thank Mr. Zevon for pretty much half of that success (and Lynyrd Skynyrd for the other half…can you tell I’m not a Kid Rock fan?) Anyway, we’re lucky to have heard “Werewolves of London,” as it originally didn’t make the cut for Zevon’s previous album, Warren Zevon, for which it was written. Instead of just dropping the song entirely, it was simply placed on Zevon’s next record. This song also features a couple of special guest appearances from drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie. If you don’t recognize those names, put their last names next to each other and hopefully you’ll get it!
“(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”
By: Blue Öyster Cult
Off the album: Agents of Fortune (1976)
Put down your cowbells everyone, I’m not even going there. OK, I’ll go there. The cowbell wasn’t even used in the original recording until producer David Lucas came up with the idea. Different accounts attribute to a different person playing the cowbell, but what is known is that the instrument was added into the song in post-production. All we needed was a classic Will Farrell performance a couple of decades later to immortalize the hit. The song, written by guitarist Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser,” is about facing death and eternal love, as Roeser imagined himself being fated to an early death. The dude (no, not that dude) is still kicking at 65.
“Thriller”
By: Michael Jackvason
Off the album: Thriller (1982)
Alright, we finally made it! This song is the epitome of mainstream Halloween songs, complete with sound effects like creaking doors, thunder, strong winds and howling dogs. The music video of the infamous song was directed and written (with the help of Jackson) by John Landis of “National Lampoon’s Animal House,: “The Blues Brothers” and “An American Werewolf in London” fame. The 13-minute flick became arguably the greatest music video of all time, not only by fans and critics, but by the government, too. As a tribute to Jackson after his death in 2009, it was the first music video to be selected by the National Film Registry to be preserved in the Library of Congress.
«Go back to the previous page.By: Michael Jackvason
Off the album: Thriller (1982)
Alright, we finally made it! This song is the epitome of mainstream Halloween songs, complete with sound effects like creaking doors, thunder, strong winds and howling dogs. The music video of the infamous song was directed and written (with the help of Jackson) by John Landis of “National Lampoon’s Animal House,: “The Blues Brothers” and “An American Werewolf in London” fame. The 13-minute flick became arguably the greatest music video of all time, not only by fans and critics, but by the government, too. As a tribute to Jackson after his death in 2009, it was the first music video to be selected by the National Film Registry to be preserved in the Library of Congress.