Stranger Things to Wednesday: Top 15 songs revived by film and TV [Data]

A plethora of lucky tracks have hit the jackpot decades after their debut thanks to films and TV shows, with TikTok as a powerful catalyst in propelling songs from yesteryear to unprecedented heights.

Inspired, the experts at BonusFinder examined search volumes for a series of coveted soundtracks, both a month before and after the release of the associated movie or series, to unveil the songs that enjoyed the biggest comeback, and the tunes reaping the most benefits by delving into potential royalty earnings on Spotify.

15 oldies making the BIGGEST comeback thanks to film and TV

Rank

Song

Artist

Movie/TV show

No. of TikTok videos

Global Monthly Search Volumes Before Movie/TV release

Global Monthly Search Volumes After Movie/TV release

Search increase (%)

1

Goo Goo Muck (1981)

The Cramps

Wednesday (2022)

243,042

740

15,100

1,940.54%

2

Red Right Hand (1994)

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Peaky Blinders (2013)

57,630

670

2,600

288.06%

3

Running Up That Hill (1985)

Kate Bush

Stranger Things S4 (2022)

2,760,700

24,400

51,600

111.48%

4

Material Girl (1985)

Madonna

Bridgerton (2022)

1,328,600

76,400

132,300

73.17%

5

Bloody Mary (2011)

Lady Gaga

Wednesday (2022)

74,100

1,600

2,400

50.00%

6

Straight Outta Compton (1988)

N.W.A

Straight Outta Compton (2015)

15,328

6,600

9,400

42.42%

7

Head Like a Hole (1989)

Nine Inch Nails

Black Mirror (2019)

4,446

4,500

5,700

26.67%

8

Something In The Way (1991)

Nirvana

The Batman (2022)

253,100

30,000

37,300

24.33%

9

Seven Wonders (1987)

Fleetwood Mac

American Horror Story: Coven (2014)

11,944

540

620

14.81%

10

Immigrant Song (1970)

Led Zeppelin

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

128,372

34,300

37,800

10.20%

11

Bad (1984)

U2

The 100 (2020)

871

5,600

6,100

8.93%

12

Murder On The Dancefloor (2001)

‎Sophie Ellis-Bextor

Saltburn (2023)

411,300

11,500

12,000

4.35%

13

Dream On (1973)

Aerosmith

The Boys (2020)

84,400

97,200

99,300

2.16%

14

Danger Zone (1986)

Kenny Loggins

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

387,200

49,400

50,400

2.02%

15

Crash into Me (1996)

Dave Matthews Band

Lady Bird (2017)

540

7,300

7,400

1.37%

Topping the list with a staggering 1,940% increase in searches is The Cramps’ “Goo Goo Muck” (1981), which catapulted to stardom after being used as the backdrop for a spooky dance choreography in Netflix’s 2022 smash-hit Wednesday. The ’80s tune quickly turned into a huge TikTok sensation, experiencing a meteoric rise from a mere 300 videos to an astonishing 200,000 in a single month.

In second is Nick Cave’s “Red Right Hand” (1994) which found fame as the theme song of the BBC series Peaky Blinders, receiving a 288% bump in searches a month after the programme’s premiere.

Resurrected by one of Netflix’s biggest hits, Stranger Things, the English singer-songwriter Kate Bush has been struck by luck in 2022 when her 1985 track “Running Up That Hill” took center stage in an iconic scene where Max frantically fled the Upside Down villain Vecna. The song reclimbed the charts nearly four decades after its release, successfully attracting a new generation of listeners with a 111% jump in searches, ranking third in the study.

Madonna’s “Material Girl” (1985) comes fourth with searches escalating by a notable 73% after being given a fresh orchestral twist in the second season of Netflix’s royal hit Bridgerton (2022). Meanwhile, Lady Gaga’s “Bloody Mary” rounds off the top five after a sped-up version went viral on TikTok with fans adopting Wednesday’s dance to the 2011 pop song, despite not actually being featured in the show.

Despite a modest 4.35% uptick in search volumes, Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s “Murder on the Dancefloor” (2001) surging popularity is indisputable. The song’s resurgence is evident on TikTok, with a huge spike in users recreating Barry Keoghan’s dance moves as video count soared to 411,300 on the platform, a significant leap from just 571 the day before the movie release.

Which songs rake in the most cash from Spotify?

Rank

Song

Artist

Movie/TV show

Number of Spotify plays

Estimated royalty earnings (£)

1

Bohemian Rhapsody (1975)

Queen

Bohemian Rhapsody

2,367,978,006

8,145,844

2

Running Up That Hill (1985)

Kate Bush

Stranger Things (S4)

1,138,452,361

3,916,276

3

Dream On (1973)

Aerosmith

The Boys

1,041,547,090

3,582,922

4

I Was Made For Lovin’ You (1979)

Kiss

The Umbrella Academy

890,549,654

3,063,491

5

Immigrant Song (1970)

Led Zeppelin

Thor: Ragnarok

695,752,111

2,393,387

6

Danger Zone (1986)

Kenny Loggins

Top Gun: Maverick

482,721,765

1,660,563

7

Bloody Mary (2011)

Lady Gaga

Wednesday

464,007,631

1,596,186

8

Something In The Way (1991)

Nirvana

The Batman

421,551,574

1,450,137

9

Material Girl (1985)

Madonna

Bridgerton

407,174,998

1,400,682

10

Straight Outta Compton (1988)

N.W.A

Straight Outta Compton

350,370,230

1,205,274

Featured in the musical biopic of the same name, the top-grossing old song on Spotify is “Bohemian Rhapsody” (1975), potentially bagging the British rock legends Queen a whopping £8,145,844 in royalties.

In second place is “Running Up That Hill” which has generated £3,916,276 for Kate Bush. Revived by the hit Amazon Prime show The Boys (2020), iconic power ballad “Dream On” (1973) comes third amassing over 1 billion streams so far, amounting to an estimated £3,582,922 in royalties for the American rock band Aerosmith.

Featured Photo by Alicia Quan on Unsplash.

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