At #10 on the latest Billboard Hot 100 chart is a song that first entered the chart 42 years earlier: Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller.’
This is an example of one of the exceptions to Billboard’s new Hot 100 rules, which allow a perennially popular track to return to the chart due to seasonal popularity. ‘Thriller’ has become a Halloween staple, popping onto the chart on an annual basis during spooky season.
This year’s peak at #10 is the highest re-entry for ‘Thriller’ since it first charted in 1983. Its placement made Michael Jackson the first artist in history to have a top ten hit in six consecutive decades.
Mariah Carey, Snoop Dogg, Jay Z, and Britney Spears each have top ten hits in the most recent four decades, meaning they’ll have to repeat the feat in the 30s and 40s to catch Jackson (assuming Michael doesn’t extend his streak to seven or eight over that span — which he probably will).
It’s close to midnight
And something evil’s lurking in the dark
Under the moonlight
You see a sight that almost stops your heart
You try to scream
But terror takes the sound before you make it
You start to freeze
As horror looks you right between the eyes
You’re paralyzed
[Chorus]
‘Cause this is thriller, thriller night
And no one’s gonna save you
From the beast about to strike
You know it’s thriller, thriller night
You’re fighting for your life inside a killer
Thriller tonight, yeah
Ooh
[Verse 2]
You hear the door slam
And realize there’s nowhere left to run
You feel the cold hand
And wonder if you’ll ever see the sun
You close your eyes
And hope that this is just imagination (Girl)
But all the while
You hear a creature creepin’ up behind
You’re out of time
[Chorus]
‘Cause this is thriller, thriller night
There ain’t no second chance
Against the thing with forty eyes, girl
Thriller (Ooh), thriller night
You’re fighting for your life
Inside a killer, thriller tonight
[Bridge]
Night creatures call
And the dead start to walk in their masquerade
There’s no escaping the jaws of the alien this time
(They’re open wide)
This is the end of your life, ooh
[Verse 3]
They’re out to get you
There’s demons closing in on every side (Ooh)
They will possess you
Unless you change that number on your dial
Now is the time
For you and I to cuddle close together, yeah
All through the night
I’ll save you from the terror on the screen
I’ll make you see
[Chorus]
That this is thriller, thriller night
‘Cause I can thrill you more
Than any ghoul would ever dare try
Thriller (Ooh), thriller night
So let me hold you tight
And share a killer, thriller, chiller
Thriller, here tonight
‘Cause this is thriller, thriller night
Girl, I can thrill you more
Than any ghoul would ever dare try
Thriller (Ooh), thriller night
So let me hold you tight
And share a killer, thriller (Ow)
[Outro]
I’m gonna thrill you tonight
Darkness falls across the land
The midnight hour is close at hand
Creatures crawl in search of blood
To terrorize y’all’s neighborhood (I’m gonna thrill you tonight)
And whosoever shall be found
Without the soul for getting down
Must stand and face the hounds of hell
And rot inside a corpse’s shell
I’m gonna thrill you tonight
Thriller, ooh, babe (Thriller)
I’m gonna thrill you tonight (Thriller night)
Thriller, oh, darling (Oh, baby)
I’m gonna thrill you tonight (Thriller)
Ooh, babe (Thriller night)
I’m gonna thrill you tonight (Thriller)
Oh, darling (Oh, baby)
Thriller night, babe (Thriller night, babe)
Ooh
The foulest stench is in the air
The funk of forty thousand years (Thriller night, thriller)
And grisly ghouls from every tomb
Are closing in to seal your doom
And though you fight to stay alive
Your body starts to shiver (I’m gonna thrill you tonight)
For no mere mortal can resist
The evil of the thriller
Meet Me In Montauk 
The ranking of these seasonal songs by Billboard is an odd phenomenon, but I guess if it’s what people are listening to….
what a great treat to hear this today 🥰