Perhaps best known for its use in various films (like the Scream series) and TV ( Peaky Blinders), this Nick Cave tune evokes the spooky season better than just about anyone. 60: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Red Right Hand Though it’s a lot more jovial than the movie itself, Dee Dee’s lyric gives away some of the shivers in the plot, with a classic Ramones “I don’t wanna” in the chorus. Stephen King was a major Ramones fan and they loved him right back, name-checking him on the Pleasant Dreams album and then writing one of their last truly great songs for King’s film Pet Sematary. Looking to take a more radio-friendly direction with his fifth studio album, ELO founder and creative force Jeff Lynne pulled out all of the stops – scoring himself a Platinum album and his first major hit with “Evil Woman.” Fun fact: in his lyric “There’s a hole in my head where the rain comes in” Lynne was referencing The Beatles’ “Fixing a Hole.” 61: The Ramones: Pet Sematary
With its soaring strings, pop hooks, and disco rhythms, 1975’s “Evil Woman” is pure dark magic. Apparently, he was reading about Zelda Fitzgerald at the time he also does some vocal channeling of Stephen Stills. The Eagles’ second hit single (and first Top Ten) was about as far from “Take It Easy” as it gets there’s plenty more sexual paranoia here as Don Henley flashes back to an encounter that left his skin turning red. Click to load video 63: The Eagles: Witchy WomanĪ scary song of a different sort.
