Horror Movie (song)
"Horror Movie" was the second single from the Skyhooks album Living in the 70's and was their first number-one single in Australia, staying there for two weeks in March 1975.
| "Horror Movie" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Skyhooks | ||||
| from the album Living in the 70's | ||||
| B-side | "Carlton (Lygon Street Limbo)" | |||
| Released | 1974 | |||
| Recorded | 1974 at TCS Studios, Melbourne | |||
| Genre | Glam rock | |||
| Length | 3:47 | |||
| Label | Mushroom Records | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Greg Macainsh | |||
| Producer(s) | Ross Wilson | |||
| Skyhooks singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
The single was greatly helped along by the band's appearance on the then-new ABC pop music TV show Countdown.
At the Australian 1975 King of Pop Awards the song won Australian Record of the Year.[1]
Along with "Women in Uniform", "Horror Movie" is widely recognised as one of the Skyhooks' signature tracks. The song itself, written by bass guitarist, Greg Macainsh, is about how the world has taken a turn for the worse with all of the chaos in society, to the point where watching the nightly TV news is like watching a horror movie.
This song remains popular as a Halloween song in both the United States and Canada. It appears on the compilation album Elvira Presents Haunted Hits.
In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Horror Movie" was ranked number 47.[2]
Charts
Weekly charts
| Chart (1975) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[3] | 1 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (1975) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[4] | 5 |
Legacy
In 1998 Australia Post issued a special edition set of twelve stamps celebrating the early years of Australian rock and roll, featuring Australian hit songs of the late 1950s, the 1960s and the early 1970s.
"Each of them said something about us, and told the rest of the world this is what popular culture sounds like, and it has an Australian accent."[5]
One of the stamps featured was the "Horror Movie" stamp.
Popular references
In 2012, Australian Federal Minister for Trade Craig Emerson did an impromptu improvisation of the song [6] when answering a question about the mood in Whyalla, singing "No Whyalla wipe-out there on my TV...shocking me right out of my brain" mocking the claim by the opposition leader that Whyalla would be "wiped off the map" due to the carbon tax.[7]
The track was also used during the ending credits of the 2012 film The ABCs of Death, and was incorrectly titled, "Horror Story".
References
- "Australian Music Awards". Ron Jeff. Retrieved 16 December 2010.
- "Here Are The Songs That Made Triple M's 'Ozzest 100'". Musicfeeds. 27 January 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
- Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 427. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- "Australian Stamps : Rock Australia". Australia Post. 2001-03-20. Archived from the original on 2008-08-11. Retrieved 2008-05-21.
- HORROR SHOW: The most embarrassing thing ever?,
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 4, 2012. Retrieved July 14, 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)