Calling All the Monsters

"Calling All the Monsters" is a song performed by American pop recording artist China Anne McClain. It was produced by Niclas Molinder and Joacim Persson, who also co-wrote the song Johan Alkenäs, and Charlie Mason, for the soundtrack, A.N.T. Farm (2011), the soundtrack to the Disney Channel television series, A.N.T. Farm. It was released as the album's second single on September 20, 2011 through Walt Disney Records. Musically, the song is prominent electropop that runs through a club oriented beat, and the lyrics are Halloween themed, speaking of dancing with monsters.

"Calling All the Monsters"
Single by China Anne McClain
from the album A.N.T. Farm Soundtrack
ReleasedSeptember 20, 2011 (2011-09-20) (U.S. & Canada digital download)[1][2]
RecordedJuly/August 2011
GenreElectropop
Length3:26
LabelWalt Disney
Songwriter(s)Niclas Molinder, China Anne McClain, Joacim Persson, Johan Alkenäs, Charlie Mason
Producer(s)Twin
China Anne McClain singles chronology
"Dynamite"
(2011)		 "Calling All the Monsters"
(2011)		 "What's My Name"
(2017)

The song was met with generally positive reviews from critics, with the majority of them praising its playful nature and dance oriented sound. The song achieved its highest national peak in Slovakia, where it reached number one. Elsewhere, the song made the top 75 in the United Kingdom, peaking at number one. It has topped the Radio Disney Top 30 Countdown. The song earned 25,000 downloads within its first week of release.

Background

"Calling All the Monsters" is the second single released from the soundtrack A.N.T. Farm (2011), for the television series of the same name on Disney Channel. It was first heard on the series's first-season Halloween-themed episode, "mutANT farm", which premiered on October 7, 2011 in North America, more than two weeks after the single's release. The song was performed by McClain in the episode. The episode featured an alternate universe where the A.N.T.s were monsters and controlled the school over the humans. After learning of the rule against mutants attending the Halloween dance, which they helped set up, Chyna Parks (McClain), fantasized as a Medusa, concocts a potion that changes the A.N.T.s into human form. Parks later gets up on the stage and performs the song as everyone in the audience is dancing, with the newly transformed A.N.T.s reversed backed to their ghoulish form.

The song was also used in "Beam It Up", the second-season Halloween-themed episode of the Disney Channel series Shake It Up (October 9, 2011). Gabby Duran & the Unsittables' Kylie Cantrall performed the song on the Halloween-themed episode "You Decide LIVE!" of the series Just Roll with It on October 4, 2019.[3]

Composition

"Calling All the Monsters" is predominantly an electropop and dance-pop song that runs through a club beat. The song has been noted to be a modern version of Michael Jackson's 1982 song "Thriller".[4] The sound of "Calling All the Monsters" received comparisons to the musical stylings of Jackson and dance pop singer Britney Spears.[5] The theme of this song centers around magic and fantasy while the lyrics pertain to dancing with characters of a frightful nature.[4]

Reception

Jessica Dawson of Commonsensemedia, the website that rates music for parents approval for children's listening, rated the song three out of five stars, praising its club-friendly nature, further commenting that "McClain does a good job channeling the King of Pop in her own version of a dance-off with mummies and zombies, but she does it with a smile and a pink-sequined top. "Calling All the Monsters" is an upbeat, contagious club beat that will have you and your kids ready to kick it on the dance floor on Halloween night. Kids will love it for any night of the year, of course, but it's sure to be a hit when the little vampires and witches come out in October."[4]

"Calling All the Monsters" debut on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 100, moving 25,000 digital downloads during the week ending October 9, 2011.[6] The release of the soundtrack prompted a sales increase for the song, reappearing on the chart at number eighty-six. The song earned 25,000 downloads within its first week of release.[6]

Music video

The music video was released on September 21, 2011. China Anne McClain's older sisters, Lauryn Alisa McClain and Sierra Aylina McClain, guest star in the music video. The three sisters are in costume and looking for the location of a Halloween party. They are standing in front of a house where China thinks party is happening. She goes inside despite the protests of her sisters. China takes her costume hood off and sees a suit of armor covered in spider webs that comes to life and they dance. She comes to the second floor and dances with more monsters, including a mummy, a werewolf and a Frankenstein's monster. A picture of a man in a frame moves and dances. She moves to the third floor, where a bunch of monsters dance with her in a giant ballroom. In the end, she comes out with her hood, saying to her sisters that there wasn't anything in there.

The video was inspired by the music videos "Thriller" (1993), by Michael Jackson, and "Superstition" (2003), by Raven-Symoné.

Chart performance
Chart (2011) Peak
position
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[7] 89
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[8] 119
US Billboard Hot 100[9] 86
US Heatseekers Songs (Billboard)[10] 8
US Kid Digital Songs (Billboard)[11] 1

A.N.T. Farm

Later on October 11, 2011 "Calling All the Monsters" was released alongside "Dynamite" on A.N.T. Farm with new songs and other songs that were featured on the TV series.

Cover Version

Amber Pacific performed a cover for Cleopatra Records 2019 release, "Punk Rock Halloween, Vol. 2: Louder, Faster & Scarier."

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 8, 2011. Retrieved February 22, 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 19, 2014. Retrieved February 22, 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Kylie Cantrall Covers Calling All the Monsters!". Archived from the original on October 13, 2019. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  4. Dawson, Jessica. ""Calling All the Monsters" – (CD Single)". Common Sense Media, Inc. Archived from the original on November 11, 2011. Retrieved November 5, 2011.
  5. Lamb, Bill. "Top 10 New Pop Songs September 22, 2011". About.com. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012. Retrieved November 5, 2011.
  6. Trust, Gary. "Chart Moves: Nickelback's Newest Arrives on Hot 100". Billboard Magazine. Archived from the original on November 10, 2011. Retrieved November 2, 2011.
  7. The Billboard Canadian Hot 100 Archived November 24, 2018, at the Wayback Machine. Billboard biz. Retrieved February 28, 2014.
  8. CHART: CLUK Update 22.10.2011 (wk41) Archived February 12, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. zobbel.de. Retrieved February 28, 2014.
  9. The Billboard Hot 100 Archived November 24, 2018, at the Wayback Machine. Billboard biz. Retrieved February 28, 2014.
  10. Heatseekers Songs Archived November 24, 2018, at the Wayback Machine. Billboard biz. Retrieved February 28, 2014.
  11. Kid Digital Songs Archived November 26, 2018, at the Wayback Machine. Billboard biz. Retrieved February 28, 2014.
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