During the Christmas season a few years ago, a coworker of mine expressed her annoyance with Christmas music and that we had to listen to "the same six songs" over and over again. We both knew that there was more than six songs but she didn't think there were very many more. So we decided to write down every song that could be considered a Christmas song and we soon realized that we needed to set up some rules to guide us in what was to be classified as a genuine Christmas song. Besides both of us having to agree on each song, we also decided that only songs that had been covered by multiple performers would qualify. And they couldn't be songs that were played on the radio during other parts of the year. After a few days of listening to the radio and writing down every new song, we agreed on about 70 songs that were regularly played Christmas Songs.
Now my question is what about Halloween music? This is much tougher to classify. Sure, there are many Halloween related songs—songs about ghosts, horror, mysterious women, monsters, and even the devil. I know that I have my favorite Halloween related songs, but if you apply the same rules as outlined for the Christmas music, not much qualifies. For example I love Oingo Boingo's Dead Man's Party, but as far as I can tell it has only been released by the one band and when it was popular it was played on the radio year round. Now there are some songs that are exclusively associated with the Holiday, but many of these songs would also be disqualified if we follow the same rules. The radio stations don't help us out any by switching over completely to Halloween music as that holiday approaches and then never playing them again all year like they do with Christmas. So what constitutes a Halloween song? There are CD compilations you can buy and varying play lists people have posted on the internet. Some would include sound effects albums (like 'The Chilling Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House' put out by Disney beginning in 1964), others think horror movie soundtracks should qualify (who can forget the disturbing music to Psycho?). I am not sure what the qualifications should be but a few songs come to mind:
Thriller by Michael Jackson is still popular around Halloween and a great song (with an iconic 13 minute video from John Landis)
Monster Mash - I really hate this song, but it seems the most like a cousin to the Christmas songs in that it is only played around the holiday, there have been other versions (still nothing I like), and it seems old.
Grim Grinning Ghosts - comes from the Disneyland Haunted Mansion ride, and has been covered by various groups. It is a fun little song and gets me in the spirit of spookiness.
Dead Man's Party - As I mentioned before, I think this should be included in any list of great Halloween songs.
This is Halloween - from "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas" has also been covered by Marilyn Manson.
Time Warp - A fun song that people dance along with that comes from The Rocky Horror Picture Show starring Tim Curry (who I especially love in the movie 'Clue')
What songs would you include in a list of Halloween songs? Would you include sound effects or music from soundtracks? Why? What rules would you use to guide your choices?
