Spotify's Insights blog, like any site that depends on music for its readership, went with a Halloween-themed feature as October came to a close. The site tracked more than 600,000 "Halloween" playlists that were created in the lead up to this year's holiday and came up with a Top 10 list of songs featured most. It was fairly predictable, but you can check out the list below, along with the occasional note from Music Times.
01) "Thriller" by Michael Jackson...Was there any doubt that the horror-themed no. 1 single from the bestselling album of all time would make this list?
02) "Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett"...Another obvious entry. Finny to think that this was once considered a controversial single, being banned from radio play in some parts of the world.
03) "This Is Halloween" from The Nightmare Before Christmas...A no-brainer but we're surprised other tunes from this classic Tim Burton film didn't make the cut, such as "Kidnap the Sandy Claws" or "Oogie Boogie's Song." All great.
04) "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker Jr....This track was especially appropriate this year as the Ghostbusters film celebrated its 30th anniversary.
05) "Don't Fear The Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult...An interesting choice. Sure, it does mention the Grim Reaper, a popular Halloween fixture, but we feel the themes of this classic rock track go beyond a mere fear of death. If anything, Halloween partiers should have opted for the more monster-based "Godzilla" from the same band.
06) "Bark At The Moon" by Ozzy Osbourne...A werewolf track is easy pickings, but some Black Sabbath tracks (a la "Hand of Doom" and "Children of The Grave") are much creepier.
07) "Time Warp" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show...We're sure kids still love this song, but do they still understand the connotation it has with Halloween? We're not complaining, just saying.
08) "Live for The Night" by Krewella...Things take a turn for the modern with this EDM track. The group does reference the Grim Reaper although the trio may have met its untimely end earlier this year when it axed member Kris "Rain Main" Trindl.
09) "I Want Candy" by Bow Wow Wow...Surely Bow Wow Wow didn't anticipate this becoming a Halloween anthem. Most listeners aren't familiar with how sinister an act Bow Wow Wow actually was due to this smash song, but the group has taken shots for everything from cultural appropriation to sexual indecency.
10) "Bad Things" by Jace Everett...Speaking of sexual indecency...hopefully parents weren't playing this for trick-or-treaters. This country single certainly creeps along but the "bad things" he's referencing are almost assuredly not horror-related. We hope.
