GHOSTBUSTERS
Columbia/courtesy Everett Collection
From Alice Cooper’s “He’s Back” (Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives) and Goo Goo Dolls’ “I’m Awake Now” (Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare) to Ramones’ “Pet Sematary” (Pet Sematary) and AC/DC’s “Who Made Who” (Maximum Overdrive), the horror genre has spawned some of the most memorable (and certainly some of the most unashamedly cheesy) original movie songs. But only a select few have made the leap from the silver screen to the Billboard Hot 100.
None of the aforementioned classics achieved the feat. And neither did Dokken’s “Dream Warriors” (A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors), The Cramps’ “Surfin’ Dead” (The Return of the Living Dead) or Megadeth’s cover of Cooper’s Hot 100 hit “No More Mr. Nice Guy” (Shocker). It’s the same story with 21st century offerings such as Panic! At the Disco’s “New Perspective” (Jennifer’s Body), Demi Lovato’s “Still Alive” (Scream VI) and Charli XCX’s “Hot Girl” (Bodies Bodies Bodies).
Many of the horror movie tie-ins that did make the Hot 100 weren’t recorded specifically for their respective films, either. Mike Oldfield’s truly chilling “Tubular Bells” (No. 7, 1974), for example, appeared on his first studio album several months before ramping up scares in The Exorcist. And while the likes of Billy Idol’s “Eyes Without A Face” and Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer” reference spookfests from yesteryear, they were only inspired by them.
Here is a look at 11 horror movie hits which defeated the baddie and staked their claim as the Hot 100’s final girls.
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The Five Blobs, “The Blob” (No. 33, 1958)
The 1958 cornball monster movie The Blob didn’t exactly suggest that its first-time leading man Steve McQueen would become Hollywood’s King of Cool. But the story of a globular alien consuming small-town Pennsylvania did become a major hit at the box office while also spawning a hit on the Hot 100. Assembled specifically for the sci-fi horror by musician Bernie Knee, short-lived group The Five Blobs reached No. 33 with a camp lounge pop number which doubled up as a warning to more squeamish cinemagoers: “Beware of the blob, it creeps/And leaps and glides and slides.” Interestingly, it was co-written by a then-unknown Burt Bacharach.
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Garry Mills, “Look for a Star” (No. 26, 1960)
“Look for a Star” reached the Hot 100 in four different incarnations during the early 1960s thanks to swift covers from Billy Vaughn and His Orchestra, Deane Hawley and Garry Miles. The latter was the pseudonym adopted by Buzz Cason, a somewhat opportunist choice considering the original hitmaker was named Garry Mills. The deliberately confusing tactic worked when Miles’ version outpaced Mills’ by 10 places. Still, at least Mills was the first to chart with the ballad originally recorded for Circus of Horrors, a surprise transatlantic success about a demented plastic surgeon one snooty critic claimed would only satisfy those who “find imaginary mutilation entertaining.”
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Michael Jackson, “Ben” (No. 1, 1972)
It’s common knowledge Michael Jackson’s first solo Hot 100-topper was dedicated to a rat. But did you know said rat was the subject of a sequel to a Hitchcockian horror flick? Yes, Oscar-nominated ballad “Ben” was recorded for the same-named follow-up to Willard, the desperately sad tale of a loner who goes on the warpath when one of his beloved pet rodents is brutally murdered. Luckily, Ben survives both the original and (just about) the sequel, leaving barely a dry eye in the house as a young MJ delivers his emotive tribute over the closing credits (“Ben, the two of us need look no more/We both found what we were looking for”).
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John Williams, “Main Title (Theme from Jaws)” (No. 32, 1975)
John Williams’ iconic theme to the shark tale that pioneered the summer blockbuster doesn’t need any words to send shivers down the spine. With a song that’s a little over two minutes and fixates on two notes, the legendary composer scared a generation of kids away from ever stepping foot in the sea again. Director Steven Spielberg reportedly laughed on first hearing the simplistic yet incredibly suspenseful piece that played every time Jaws’ fins entered the frame. “The sophisticated approach you would like me to take isn’t the approach you took with the film I just experienced,” Williams fired back, suggesting he’s just as masterful at throwing shade.
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Barbra Streisand, “Prisoner (Love Theme from Eyes of Laura Mars)” (No. 21, 1978)
Barbra Streisand turned down the titular role in Eyes of Laura Mars, whose screenplay producer boyfriend Jon Peters bought specifically with her in mind. Judging by the mixed reviews, the legend dodged a bullet. However, she did agree to contribute musically to the supernatural neo-noir about a clairvoyant able to witness murders from the killer’s POV. Torch song “Prisoner” didn’t quite scale the heights of previous movie tie-in “Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born),” but it proved that Babs could adapt her trademark torch song style to any genre.
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David Bowie, “Cat People (Putting Out Fire)” (No. 67, 1982)
Critics and fans alike felt David Bowie had struck gold when he teamed up with Giorgio Moroder for the title track to Cat People. Recorded for Paul Schrader’s erotically-charged remake of the 1942 supernatural horror – which as its title suggests is about a woman who discovers her family tree has feline roots – its gothic new wave sound topped several charts across the globe and is widely considered one of the Thin White Duke’s finest songs of the ‘80s. Bowie, himself, however wasn’t so keen, which explains why he asked another ‘70s disco pioneer, Chic’s Nile Rodgers, to beef up its production for its inclusion on his blockbuster Let’s Dance album.
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Ray Parker Jr., “Ghostbusters” (No. 1, 1984)
The true champion of the horror movie hit, Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters” spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100, picked up a best original song Oscar nomination and is still guaranteed to get audiences old and young shouting “Who ya gonna call?!” Inspired by a late-night TV commercial (and allegedly Huey Lewis and the News’ similar-sounding “I Want a New Drug”), the theme to Ivan Reitman’s much-loved comedy horror has since been covered by everyone from Run-D.M.C. and Fall Out Boy to animated amphibian Mickael Turtle. But it’s the original which remains a guaranteed Halloween party-starter.
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The J. Geils Band, “Fright Night” (No. 91, 1985)
The J. Geils Band scored the 17th and final Hot 100 hit of their career when they recorded the titular song for Fright Night, the cult classic in which a teen discovers that his next-door neighbor is a vampire. In fact, the veteran rockers disbanded shortly after hamming it up for its accompanying tie-in promo. Some longtime fans may have wished they’d done so earlier, as its haunted house synths, glossy new wave beats and sing-along chants were a far cry from the swaggering blues rock of their beginnings. But it’s a fun novelty firmly in keeping with a horror film that never takes itself too seriously.
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INXS and Jimmy Barnes, “Good Times” (No. 47, 1987)
Gerard McMahon’s “Cry Little Sister” and Echo and the Bunnymen’s “People Are Strange,” the two songs most intrinsically linked to teen vampire favorite The Lost Boys, didn’t chart on the Hot 100. INXS and Jimmy Barnes’ cover version of countrymen The Easybeats’ “Good Times,” however, made it all the way to No. 47. Played during the boardwalk montage in which Dwayne suffers “death by stereo,” the Aussie rock classic does indeed sound designed to be blasted out of a deadly speaker. Not that its two vocalists would have remembered much about it at the time: in his memoir, Barnes admitted that he and Michael Hutchence spent its two-day studio session fully inebriated.
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Bobby Brown, “On Our Own” (No. 2, 1989)
Bobby Brown came within a whisker of replicating Parker Jr.’s chart-topping success with his theme to the most anticipated sequel of 1989, Ghostbusters II — only another cinematic tie-in, Prince’s “Batdance,” kept “On Our Own” off the No. 1 spot. The R&B bad boy was obviously a fan of everyone’s favorite ghost-busting goofballs. Not only did he contribute a second piece of infectious new jack swing to its official soundtrack (“We’re Back”), he demanded a cameo in the film in return. (That’s Brown playing the doorman who asks the gang if they have a spare proton pack for his little brother.)
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Guns N’ Roses, “Sympathy for the Devil” (No. 55, 1994)
The Oscar-nominated soundtrack for the star-studded adaptation of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire was steeped in gothic classical. But its finale was reserved for the hell-raising metal of a band who, like Tom Cruise’s Lestat and Brad Pitt’s Louis, only ever seemed to surface at night. An aptly-themed cover of The Rolling Stones’ classic ode to madness, “Sympathy for the Devil” gave Guns N’ Roses a Hot 100 hit on its 1994 release. But its success came at a cost — namely the departure of their iconic axeman Slash, who later described its fraught recording as “the sound of the band breaking up.”