Most Requested Halloween Party Songs
Top Hits Include Thriller, Disco Inferno & Black Magic Woman
Sep 17, 2008
Many blog sites list the most popular Halloween songs based on surveys, random song request samples, interviews and personal opinion comments.
This analysis ranks the most-in-demand hits for spooky night according to statistics that Pop Culture Madness publishes from their current database that tracks fan requests for all pop music songs.
Starting from 1960, the top 75 songs from each year in the Pop Culture Madness survey were carefully studied to select and rank the following most-requested Halloween party hits.
Top 10 Halloween Hit Songs
Michael Jackson’s Thriller is unique because the horror-themed Pop song is a top-requested song year-round and is featured in one of the most popular dance videos ever. Disco Inferno was a much simpler creation, inspired by a scene from the movie The Towering Inferno. And while everyone associates Black Magic Woman with Santana, Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac actually wrote the song.
- Thriller (Michael Jackson) … Number 1 most-requested song from 1984
- Disco Inferno (Trammps) … Number 5 from 1977
- Black Magic Woman (Santana) … Number 15 from 1971
- The Devil Went Down To Georgia (Charlie Daniels Band) … Number 19 from 1979
- Love Potion Number Nine (Searchers) … Number 21 from 1965
- Frankenstein (Edgar Winter Group) … Number 24 from 1973
- Riders On The Storm (Doors) … Number 30 from 1971
- I'm Your Boogie Man (KC and the Sunshine band) … Number 30 from 1977
- Don't Fear The Reaper (Blue Oyster Cult) … Number 34 from 1976
- Ghost Riders In The Sky (Ramrods) … Number 40 from 1961.
The only instrumental on the above top 10 list is Edgar Winter Group’s Frankenstein, so named because of the monstrous effort that studio editors had to put in, cutting and splicing recording tape to produce a marketable hit song.
Other Most-Requested Halloween Hit Songs
The following list identifies the next 15 most requested Halloween songs. The Zombies recorded She’s Not There in one take, which became their first and biggest hit. The B-52s’ Rock Lobster is intended to be a fun, whimsical song about encountering a rock lobster at a beach party, yet lyrics like “Here comes a string ray … There goes a manta-ray … Watch out for that piranha” plus pounding music make this a favorite at Halloween dance parties.
- She's Not There (Zombies) … Number 40 most-requested song from 1964
- Rock Lobster (B-52s) … Number 40 from 1980
- Somebody's Watching Me (Rockwell) … Number 40 from 1984
- Dead Man's Curve (Jan and Dean) … Number 43 from 1964
- People Are Strange (Doors) … Number 43 from 1967
- Spooky (Classics IV) … Number 43 from 1968
- Highway To Hell (AC/DC) … Number 44 from 1979
- Martian Hop (Ran-Dells) … Number 47 from 1963
- Ghost Riders In The Sky (The Outlaws) … Number 57 from 1981
- Werewolves Of London (Warren Zevon) … Number 59 from 1978
- Abracadabra (Steve Miller Band) … Number 67 from 1982
- I Put A Spell On You (Creedence Clearwater Revival) … Number 68 from 1968
- Psycho Killer (Talking Heads) … Number 72 from 1978
- Hell (Squirrel Nut Zippers) … Number 72 from 1997
- Witchy Woman (Eagles) … Number 74 from 1972.
Of all the song performers for the above top 25 most-requested hits, only the Doors appear in the rankings twice. In fact, Riders On The Storm was the last song that Jim Morrison recorded just weeks before his death in Paris. In the recording, lead singer and poet Morrison can be heard whispering the lyrics over his own singing. Each Halloween season, the haunting performances of Jim Morrison and the Doors no doubt hold special meaning for their fans.
Halloween Songs Meriting Honorable Mention
Some songs are popular only at Halloween. Seasonal favorites like Monster Mash from 1962 (by Bobby "Boris" Pickett and The Cryptkickers) and Ghost Busters from 1984 (by Ray Parker, Jr.) topped the charts for a time during their respective eras. These two songs appear at the top of many if not most popular Halloween party music lists. However, these songs don’t garner enough votes year round to appear on the Pop Culture Madness most-requested hit parade.
See also Most Popular Halloween Masks 2009.
Sources for this Article
This article presents independent calculations and insights based on Pop Music Charts song data presented by Pop Culture Madness and songfacts.com.
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