Our Halloween set is eleven songs for the darker evenings, most with a line about the day job, because we cannot help ourselves. Spooky, not scary: nothing here should keep anyone up at night.
It plays on our Songs about power page, one track after another, just above the usual thirteen. Press play and leave it running until the 31st.
The eleven
It opens with a phone number, gets properly dark in the middle, and ends with the sun coming up.
| # | Song, the line, and one fact |
|---|---|
| 01 | GhostbustersRay Parker Jr. · 1984You know who to ring: 01200 407790.Written for the 1984 film, it topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, reached No. 2 in the UK and was nominated for an Oscar. |
| 02 | When the Lights Go OutFive · 1998The one night a power cut feels on theme. With backup fitted, a battery can keep the essentials on, which rather spoils the mood.Five's only US top ten hit, at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the UK it reached No. 4. |
| 03 | Monster MashBobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers · 1962A mad scientist’s lab: the original high-voltage installation.The BBC banned it as “too morbid”, and it didn't chart in the UK until its 1973 reissue, which reached No. 3. |
| 04 | Somebody's Watching MeRockwell · 1983Usually it’s you, checking the battery app at 3am.Michael Jackson sang uncredited guest vocals. It reached No. 6 in the UK, Rockwell's only UK top 40 hit. |
| 05 | ShiverColdplay · 2000That chill on the landing isn’t a ghost. It could well be heat slipping out through the walls.Coldplay's UK lead single from their debut album, Parachutes, released on 6 March 2000. |
| 06 | Time WarpThe Rocky Horror Picture Show cast · 1975On an off-peak tariff, charge the battery overnight and use it at teatime. Then do it again.Richard O'Brien wrote the words for his 1973 stage musical, The Rocky Horror Show, and played Riff Raff in the 1975 film. |
| 07 | Total Eclipse of the HeartBonnie Tyler · 1983A solar panel’s idea of a horror film: the sun going dark at lunchtime.Jim Steinman, who wrote and produced it, said it began as a vampire love song called Vampires in Love. |
| 08 | Werewolves of LondonWarren Zevon · 1978A nod to our London office. Full moon not required.Fleetwood Mac's Mick Fleetwood and John McVie play drums and bass, after at least seven line-ups were tried in the studio. |
| 09 | LightsEllie Goulding · 2010For anyone who sleeps with a light on. With solar panels, a battery can run it on sunshine saved from the day.Ellie Goulding wrote it about her childhood fear of the dark, when she could only fall asleep with the lights on. |
| 10 | ThrillerMichael Jackson · 1982The one track with no line about the day job. It’s Halloween. It has to be here.Its first draft was called Starlight, and horror film actor Vincent Price performs the spoken-word section. |
| 11 | Here Comes the SunThe Beatles · 1969And after the party, the panels get back to work.George Harrison wrote it in spring 1969 in Eric Clapton's garden in Surrey, after skipping a business meeting at Apple. |
In listening order, not date order.
When the lights really do go out
A home battery can keep the lights on in a power cut, but only if it has a backup function and is wired for it. Not every system does, and some back up only a few chosen circuits rather than the whole house.
If backup matters to you, say so at the survey and we will design for it. Our battery storage page explains the options.
Got one we missed?
Email hello@energygiants.co.uk with your Halloween pick, or message us on Facebook. Family friendly, please.
Play the Halloween setThe main playlist
Miles has spent two decades in retrofit and has worked at scale across the UK, with long-standing relationships with local authorities including Kirklees Council, Durham County Council and Ribble Valley Borough Council. He has project-directed programmes for housing associations and delivery partners including Aspire Housing, Sureserve, LivGreen and BroadOak, and for energy suppliers including E.ON Next, Utilita, British Gas, Octopus and UKEM.