Halloween party playlist

My friend Laura and I are hosting a small Halloween hootenanny this Friday night, and, big surprise, I’m playing DJ (I’ll also be a Doublemint Twin, but that’s beside the point).

Ideas for the playlist have been swimming around my head for the last few weeks, but I finally nailed it down the other night.

I won’t list the entire playlist here, just because that might take up a lot of space, but here are my prized picks. Feel free to use a few for your own Halloween party playlist.

Before we jump right into the playlist, let’s talk about the basics.

First of all, I strongly believe in the line from “A Praise Chorus” by Jimmy Eat World: “Now all I need is just to hear a song I know.” There’s a kind of power behind hearing a song that’s familiar to you, even if you don’t like it.

So I loaded the playlist down with songs that, although not Halloween-themed in any way, are still good party tunes – think “Hypnotize” by Notorious B.I.G. or “Genius of Love” by the Tom Tom Club. I also included a host of new singles, like “Womanzier” by Britney Spears and “So What” by Pink.
In between those, I threw in a few lesser-known but still good party songs, like “Nighttiming” by Coconut Records, “Who’s That Girl” by Robyn and “Two Ways Out” by Darker My Love.

A lot of the other songs I chose because of their Halloween-ish theme or because their song title or band name is sort of scary – think “When Did Your Heart Go Missing?” by Rooney or “Mr. Brightside” by the Killers (get it? Missing hearts and Killers? I slay me!). At the same time, I didn’t want to overload it with nothing but Halloween-ish tunes, so there’s a little bit of everything.

Anyways..here’s a snippet of the playlist. Suggest your favorite tunes!

“Thriller,” Michael Jackson (come on, you knew it was in here somewhere)
“Getting Down,” The Kills
“Devil’s Haircut,” Beck
“I Think I’m Paranoid,” Garbage
“Mr. Brightside,” The Killers
“Somebody’s Watching Me,” Rockwell
“Intergalactic,” Beastie Boys
“Seether,” Veruca Salt
“When Did Your Heart Go Missing?” Rooney
“Pumpkin Soup,” Kate Nash
“Bleeding Love,” Leona Lewis
“Dawn of the Dead,” Does It Offend You, Yeah?
“Rebel Rebel,” David Bowie
“Disturbia,” Rihanna
“Maneater,” Nelly Furtado
“1979,” Smashing Pumpkins
“Paint it Black,” Rolling Stones
“Dragula,” Rob Zombie
“It’s Tricky,” Run-D.M.C.
“Creep,” Radiohead
“Basket Case,” Green Day
“Purple Haze,” Jimi Hendrix Experience
“Miss Murder,” AFI
“Love Will Tear Us Apart,” Joy Division
“Stiff Kittens,” Blaqk Audio
“Dead Man’s Party,” Oingo Boingo

And, just for kicks, here are a few fun music videos:

“Somebody’s Watching Me,” Rockwell:

“Miss Murder,” A.F.I.:

“Basket Case,” Green Day