Ghosts 'n' Stuff

"Ghosts 'n' Stuff" (also "Ghosts N Stuff") is a house song produced by progressive house and electro house artist deadmau5 featuring Rob Swire from Australian drum and bass/electronic rock band Pendulum. It was released as a single from deadmau5's studio album, For Lack of a Better Name.

History

Joel Zimmerman and Rob Swire had been coincidentally meeting each other backstage at various festivals and agreed to collaborate.^[1]

The song was made specifically for Pete Tong's BBC Radio 1 Essential Selection show on October 10, 2008. deadmau5 was a guest on the show along with Steve Angello (the two, with Tong, were playing a live set in Manchester, England that night). In the week leading up to the show, Tong requested that deadmau5 create something new for his appearance. At the 81:03 mark, deadmau5 states that the song was originally titled "Hotel" because he made it for Tong's show while staying in his hotel. He also states that the song was only "just now" finished and that he is now calling it "Ghosts 'n' Stuff". "Ghosts 'n' Stuff" made number two on the best songs of 2009 list.

Reception

The song peaked at #12 in the United Kingdom on the UK Singles Chart week beginning 4 October 2009. It also placed at #96 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2009.

In the United States, Ghosts 'n' Stuff received exposure from use in TV shows such as America's Best Dance Crew and heavy radio airplay. In the May 15, 2010 issue of Billboard, the track reached number one on the magazine's Hot Dance Airplay chart after 24 weeks of charting, thus making the single the longest climb to number one ever on the chart, as well as the first single to reach the top spot after it had dropped off, then returned to, the chart.

The song has appeared in Need for Speed: Shift, Test Drive Unlimited 2 and DJ Hero 2. A deadmau5 playable avatar was available in DJ Hero 2 along with a playable mash-up of the song and Lady Gaga's "Just Dance" featuring Colby O'Donis. The song was also featured on the 2009 UK version of top chart compilation Now 74! and in the 2010 comedy Get Him to the Greek.

The song was featured during an episode of the NBC series Chuck, in the episode "Chuck Versus the First Fight" during a fight scene on an airplane.

The song was also featured on the CBS series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, in the episode "Ghost Town", near the introduction.

A remix of the song is part of the soundtrack of snowboarding documentary The Art of Flight, a film made in collaboration with the same team behind 'That's It, That's All, including John Jackson, Mark Landvik and Jeremy Jones.

During the 2011 season, New York Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher used the song as his walk-up theme.

The music video for the song was featured in an episode of the 2011 season of Beavis and Butthead and is especially notable for their commentary including a reference to Daria.

The song was used in a 2011 commercial for PlayStation Move.

Track listing

1. "Ghosts 'n' Stuff" (Radio Edit) – 3:11
2. "Ghosts 'n' Stuff" (Extended Version) – 5:27
3. "Moar Ghosts 'n' Stuff" (Original Mix) – 4:57
4. "Ghosts 'n' Stuff" (Nero Remix) – 6:55
5. "Ghosts 'n' Stuff" (Sub Focus Remix) – 4:26
6. "Ghosts 'n' Stuff" (Original Instrumental Mix) – 6:10

Music video

A music video promoting the single was released and was directed by Colin O'Toole. It was shot in Toronto, Canada.

The clip begins as Joel Zimmerman is rushed to a hospital, but dies minutes within arrival. Moments later, he is revived as a ghost (which is a comedic white sheet costume), and causes mischief around town after failing to pass through the hospital entrance walls. He gets a tattoo of a Space Invader alien, and runs into a gang of other ghosts. After an unpleasant trip to a restaurant and a laundromat, Joel attends a rave with several people also dressed in costumes. At the party, a deadmau5 cameo pulls the white sheet off as Joel comes back to life. The Space Invader tattoo which he got as a ghost remains on his neck.

This music video was shown in Beavis and Butt-Head. The song without Rob Swire's lyrics is the background music of the PlayStation Move commercial in 2011.

References