Track of the Day: 'Werewolf Bar Mitzvah'

Halloween-appropriate pop songs are few and far between. 1962 brought us "The Monster Mash," and more than a decade passed before "Werewolves of London" came out in 1978. Michael Jackson's "Thriller" from 1982 is a Halloween party staple, but the song is such a classic it transcends the holiday.

Leave it to 30 Rock to offer the 21st century's first addition to the spooky novelty song canon. "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah" started out as a throw-away joke in an episode from the NBC comedy's second season: the character Tracy Jordan is packing up his possessions after he and his wife decide to separate, and he pauses to look fondly at the gold record he earned for "that novelty party song." The scene is then momentarily taken over by a clip from a music video, featuring Tracy in a shaggy wig and fake teeth, singing about "boys becoming men, men becoming wolves" as the lyrics flash on the screen. But as soon as the audience registers the hilarity of the concept (a song about Halloween and the Jewish coming-of-age ceremony with a video that looks like an homage to "Thriller"!?), the scene reverts back to Tracy packing. We get another taste of the track a few episodes later, during a flashback to a sparsely attended Halloween party hosted by Kenneth the Page, but it's still just a snippet.

Thankfully, the 30 Rock people had the good sense to record a full-length version of the song and post it on the NBC website, so Halloween party-goers will have more to sing along to than "The Monster Mash."