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Talking Heads
Chart Beat
Talking Heads Earn First Billboard Canada Chart Entry With ‘Psycho Killer,’ Nearly 50 Years After Release
Following this year’s Halloween resurgence on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100, the critically acclaimed art-rock band makes their first appearance on the Canadian charts with their 1977 hit. Plus: the first Christmas tracks have re-emerged.
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Talking Heads are making their debut on the Billboard Canada charts.
Following the annual resurgence of Halloween-themed music on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100, the group’s 1977 hit “Psycho Killer” debuts at No. 50 on the Nov. 14-dated chart.
It’s the band’s first entry on the Canadian Hot 100, which debuted in 2007. The groovy track has become one of the band's signature hits. Though it's not strictly a Halloween song, the subject matter and title has made it an annual playlist staple, representing the dark thoughts of a serial killer: "We are vain and we are blind / I hate people when they're not polite,” frontman David Byrne sings.
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In the liner notes of the group’s 1992 greatest hits album, Once in a Lifetime: The Best of Talking Heads, Byrne wrote that he wanted to channel the spirit of movie villains like the Joker and Hannibal Lecter on the track, saying they “were much more fascinating than the good guys. Everybody sort of roots for the bad guys in movies.”
For 48 years, the track existed without an official music video, but to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the band’s first concert at the legendary New York club CBGB, they released one in 2025 starring actress Saoirse Ronan, who plays a woman suffering from a mental breakdown.
Halloween Hits Continue to Re-Enter the Charts and Reach New Peaks
It’s November, but many Halloween-themed hits have kept emerging on the Canadian Hot 100, while some tracks that re-appeared on the Nov.7-dated chart are scoring new peaks.
Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” surges from No. 23 to No. 4 on the Canadian Hot 100, reaching a new peak in the top 5. Jackson’s 1984 album of the same name jumps into the top 3 on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart, up 17 spots from No. 20. Jackson makes an uncredited appearance on Rockwell’s "Somebody’s Watching Me,” which reaches a new peak at No. 16 on the Canadian Hot 100, a major boost from last week’s No. 47 spot.
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Meanwhile, Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters” re-enters at No. 7, securing a new peak for the 1984 hit. The popularity of the spooky tune has prompted the debut on his greatest hits album, Greatest Hits, on the Canadian Albums chart at No. 96. Bobby "Boris" Pickett and The Crypt-Kickers reach the top 10 on the Canadian Hot 100 with “Monster Mash,” up from No. 39. It’s from the band’s only album, The Original Monster Mash, which re-enters at its new No. 71 peak on Canadian Albums.
The Citizens of Halloween’s “This Is Halloween,” from Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack, climbs from 48 to 18, while the full-length album re-enters the Canadian Albums chart at No. 37. Andrew Gold’s “Spooky, Scary Skeletons (Undead Tombstone Remix)” debuts at No. 22, joining Gold’s album Halloween Howls: Fun & Scary Music, which re-enters at its new No. 58 peak.
One track that isn’t always attached to Halloween — but its chart re-emergence says otherwise — is “Disturbia,” Rihanna’s beloved 2008 hit. It re-enters at No. 34 and previously peaked at No. 2.
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Christmas Has Arrived on the Canadian Hot 100
While Halloween is still taking over the Canadian Hot 100, Christmas tunes have started to infiltrate the chart.
“Last Christmas,” a classic holiday track by Wham! re-enters the chart at No. 41, but previously peaked at No. 2 in 2024. Then, there’s Mariah Carey’s monster hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which re-enters at No. 43. Throughout the course of the Canadian Hot 100’s nearly 20-year run, Carey’s festive track has spent 16 weeks at No. 1, first reaching the top in 2019.
In the U.S., Carey’s hit was dethroned as the longest-running No. 1 song in the country after Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” hit 23 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, passing Carey’s 22 weeks.
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In Canada, Langley's country hit is two weeks away from tying with Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” which spent 25 weeks atop the Canadian Hot 100, becoming the longest-running No. 1 song in Canada.
Find all of Billboard Canada's charts here.
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