SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
This week's Billboard Hot 100 is full of spooky Halloween hits, including a new chart peak for a pop classic. Stephen Thompson of NPR Music has the story.
STEPHEN THOMPSON, BYLINE: Ella Langley's unkillable hit "Choosin' Texas" has just extended its record run at No. 1 to 27 nonconsecutive weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100. But this week, some of her stiffest competition has come from even older songs thanks to the tail end of spooky season.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THRILLER")
MICHAEL JACKSON: (Singing) 'Cause this is thriller, thriller night. And no one's gonna save you from the beast about to strike. You know it's thriller...
THOMPSON: The No. 2 song in the country belongs to the late Michael Jackson, as "Thriller" returns to the chart's upper reaches after hitting the top 10 last Halloween. Naturally, other songs have also benefited from a Halloween bump, starting with Tame Impala's song featuring Jennie from Blackpink. This week, "Dracula" rides its seasonally appropriate title to a new chart peak at No. 3 after more than a year on the Hot 100.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DRACULA")
TAME IMPALA AND JENNIE: (Singing) So run from the sunlight, Dracula.
THOMPSON: Other Halloween-adjacent songs pile up on this week's chart as well, with hits like "Ghostbusters" and "Monster Mash" reentering the top 20. It all points to Halloween being a catalyst for major seasonal chart action, not entirely unlike what happens to the charts every December during the streaming era. After all, "Thriller" currently sits at the highest position in its nearly 44-year history. Before now, it had never climbed higher than No. 4.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THRILLER")
VINCENT PRICE: And grizzly ghouls from every tomb are closing in to seal your doom.
THOMPSON: But all this spooky music may well be overshadowed by the scariest, creepiest fact of all. We're still two weeks away from Thanksgiving and Christmas hits by Wham! and Mariah Carey are already back in the top 40.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THRILLER")
PRICE: (Laughter).
THOMPSON: Stephen Thompson, NPR Music.
(SOUNDBITE OF MICHAEL JACKSON SONG, "THRILLER") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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