American Horror Story's Season 11 Soundtrack Is Full Of '80s Nostalgia

One of the essential parts of a period piece is getting the details right. That can be anything from hemlines to accessories to the aural wallpaper of a show. It’s part of what makes shows like Stranger Things or Everything I Know About Love fun: Their soundtracks bring back the bops of their time. With AHS: NYC set in the LGBTQ+ community in 1981, American Horror Story’s Season 11 soundtrack song choices are divine.

American Horror Story doesn’t always set itself in a very specific time and place, but NYC is a different kind of season than most. Ryan Murphy’s story was both directly and indirectly about the epidemic that ravaged the LGBTQ+ population beginning that year. The specter of AIDS hung over everything, as character after character succumbed.

It’s also paced differently than most, with far fewer bodies and blood on screen in the early going, only to have them all pile up at the end. With two episodes a week, this season of AHS sometimes felt more focused than others, offering more breathing room within its parameters. It also stopped the action multiple times to stare at dance floors filled with young men dancing or appreciate Patti LuPone as a bathhouse singer doing stunning covers of old hits.

That makes the music stand out even more than it might have done in other circumstances, and has fans humming tunes long after the episode is over. Here are all the songs featured in AHS: NYC.

AHS: NYC Episode 1 “Something’s Coming”

• “In The Heat of the Moment” by Willy DeVille
• “Fever” by Peggy Lee (sung by Patti Lupone)
• “Faith” by The Cure
• “Killing Me Softly With His Song” by Lori Lieberman (Piano Cover)
• “Calling You” by Jevetta Steele (sung by Patti Lupone)

AHS: NYC Episode 2 “Thank You For Your Service”

• “Call Me” by Blondie
• “You’re Not Going To Get It” by Epicycle
• “Walk The Night” by Skatt Bros

AHS: NYC Episode 3 “Smoke Signals”

• “Rapture” by Blondie
• “Keyboard Concerto No. 1 - Allegro” by Johann Sebastian Bach
• ‘Try the Fantasy” by The Escorts
• “Sixth Dimension” by Giovanni Tommaso & Stefano Torossi
• “Shadowplay” by Joy Division
• “As the Rush Comes (Gabriel & Dresden Chillout Mix) by Motorcycle

AHS: NYC Episode 4 “Black Out”

• “Anything Goes” by Cole Porter (sung by the AHS cast)
• “Anything Goes” by Red Scare

AHS: NYC Episode 5 “Bad Fortune”

• “Witchcraft” by Carolyn Leigh and Cy Coleman (sung by the AHS cast)
• “Gimme Danger” (Bowie Mix) by Iggy & The Stooges

AHS: NYC Episode 6 “The Body”

• “Beat of the Night” by Fever

AHS: NYC Episode 7 “The Sentinel”

No songs in this episode, just spooky vibes.

AHS: NYC Episode 8 “Fire Island”

• “The Boss” by Diana Ross
• “Symphony #9 ‘Choral’ 3rd Movement” by Ludwig Van Beethoven
• “Souvenirs” by Voyage
• “Underground Disco” by Alessandro Alessandroni

AHS: NYC Episode 9 “Requiem 1981/1987 Part 1”

• “Calling You” by Jevetta Steele (sung by Patti Lupone)

AHS: NYC Episode 10 “Requiem 1981/1987 Part 2”

• “Deep Grief” by Otto Sieben
• “Radioactivity” by Kraftwerk

All episodes of American Horror Story Season 11, aka AHS: NYC, are streaming on Hulu.