45 RPMs 56: Bobby (Boris) Pickett ~ Monster Mash

 

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photos by Styrous®

 

Today is the birthday of the "Monster Mash Man", Bobby (Boris) Pickett, who was an American singer, songwriter, actor and comedian known for co-writing and performing the 1962 novelty song hit, Monster Mash.     

I remember dancing to Monster Mash in my early twenties with total joyful abandon! I LOVED this song!    

Monster Mash came out in the midst of the "Mashed Potato" dance craze. The dance move and mashed potato song were first made famous by James Brown in 1959 and used in his concerts regularly. It was also danced to songs such as Mashed Potato Time by Dee Dee Sharp. The move vaguely resembles that of the twist, by Chubby Checker but is more like a slow version of The Pony, also recorded by Checker. There are videos of the dance moves on YouTube (links below). The Mashed Potato was first popularized internationally after being named in the lyrics of the first Motown mega-hit in the song Do You Love Me written by Berry Gordy, Jr. and performed by The Contours in 1962.         

Bobby (Boris) Pickett ~ Monster Mash  

45 RPM record sleeve front

 

Monster Mash is narrated by a mad scientist whose monster rises from his lab to perform a new dance, inspired by the Mashed Potato. The dance becomes "the hit of the land" when the scientist throws a party for other monsters, among them classic 1940s horror film icons such as the Wolfman, Igor, Count Dracula and his son. In addition to narrating the song in a Boris Karloff voice, Pickett also impersonated horror film actor Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula with the line, "Whatever happened to my Transylvania Twist?" The mad scientist explains that the twist has been replaced by the Monster Mash, which Dracula embraces by joining the house band, the Crypt-Kicker Five. The story closes with the mad scientist inviting "you, the living" to the party at his castle.       

 

 

Bobby (Boris) Pickett ~ Monster Mash  

45 RPM record sleeve front

 

 

In 1985, with a growing awareness of rap music, Pickett released Monster Rap, which describes the mad scientist's frustration at being unable to teach the dancing monster from Monster Mash how to talk. The problem is solved when he teaches the monster to rap.        

 

In 1964 the Beach Boys did a cover of Monster Mash; in 1980 Sha Na Na did a cover and Bad Manners did a faster version of the song. In 1997, the horror punk band, the Misfits, recorded a cover version of Monster Mash as part of a promotion. And in 2016, it was turned into a string quartet by, who else, The Midnight String Quartet.       

 

In 1977 Vincent Price covered the song and used footage from the film, The Monster Club and included dancers from Pan's People; it's a hoot to watch (link below)!      

Vincent Price & Pan's People dancers - 1977

Monster Mash video still

I came across a photo of Boris Karloff and Elsa Lanchester dancing to records on the set of the 1935 film, The Bride Of Frankenstein. They could very easily have been dancing to Monster Mash.       

Elsa Lanchester & Boris Karloff

The Bride Of Frankenstein - 1935 

photographer unknown

 

Pickett co-wrote Monster Mash with Leonard Capizzi in May 1962. The song was a spoof on the dance crazes popular at the time, including the Twist and the Mashed Potato, which inspired the title. The song featured Pickett's impersonations of veteran horror stars Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi (the latter with the line "Whatever happened to my Transylvanian Twist?"). Every major record label declined the song, but after hearing it, Gary S. Paxton agreed to produce and engineer it; among the musicians who played on it were pianist Leon Russell and The Ventures drummer Mel Taylor. Issued on Paxton's Garpax Records, the single became a million seller. It was styled as being by "Bobby 'Boris' Pickett And The Crypt-Kickers".      

The song took no time at all to create. "The song wrote itself in a half hour and it took less than a half hour to record it," Pickett told The Washington Post.       

Bobby (Boris) Pickett - October 31, 1987 

photo by Robert Gabriel/LA Times

 

Monster Mash reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two weeks before Halloween in 1962. The track re-entered the U.S. charts twice, in August 1970, and again in May 1973, when it reached the #10 spot. In Britain it took until October 1973 for the tune to become popular, peaking at number 3 in the UK Singles Chart. For the second time, the record sold over one million copies. The tune remains a Halloween perennial on radio and on iTunes. A Christmas-themed follow-up, Monster's Holiday, (b/w Monster Motion) was also released in 1962 and reached number 30 in December that year. Blood Bank Blues (b/w Me and My Mummy) did not chart. This was followed by further monster-themed recordings such as the album The Original Monster Mash and such singles as Werewolf Watusi and The Monster Swim. In 1973, Pickett rerecorded Me and My Mummy for a Metromedia 45 (it did not chart). Another of Pickett's songs, Graduation Day, made number 80 in June 1963.           
  

Pickett was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, on February 11, 1938.  His father was a theater manager and as a nine-year-old, he watched many horror films. He would later incorporate impressions of them in his Hollywood nightclub act in 1959. An aspiring actor, Pickett began his musical career as a vocalist for a local swing band, Darren Bailes and the Wolf Eaters. Pickett went to Hollywood, where he performed in a band called The Cordials and would, from time to time, break into impersonations of famous movie actors. His impersonation of Frankenstein actor Boris Karloff was reportedly a major hit with audiences—and a turning point for Pickett's career. That audience response set the events that would lead to Monster Mash in motion during the summer of 1962. Cheesy monster movies were all the rage, and bandmate Lenny Capizzi encouraged Pickett to use his Karloff voice to mock them in a new novelty song.                  

 

Originally, Pickett wasn’t keen – the goofy idea didn’t align with his ambitions to become a serious actor. A fortnight later, he reconsidered after the death of his acting agent.         

 

Pickett had small acting roles in television shows, including The Beverly Hillbillies (as a lieutenant) in 1967, Bonanza in 1969, and in a little-seen film called Deathmaster—about a vampire who lures in a devout following of hippies—in 1972.        

       
       

Deathmaster - 1972 

movie poster
 

 

On April 25, 2007, Bobby (Boris) Pickett died in Los Angeles, California, from leukemia at the age of 69. The May 13, 2007, episode of the Dr. Demento show featured a documentary retrospective of Pickett's work.        

 

 

 Bobby (Boris) Pickett ~ Monster Mash  

45 RPM record, side 1

 

 

 

  Bobby (Boris) Pickett ~ Monster Mash Party 

45 RPM record, side 2

 

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A    Monster Mash, written by B. Pickett*, L. Capizzi* - 2:57

Side 2:

B    Monsters' Mash Party, written by B. Pickett*, G. Paxton* - 2:45

Companies, etc.

    Published By – Garpax Music Co.
    Published By – Capizzi Music
    Published By – Underwood Music Co.
    Pressed By – Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Bridgeport

Credits:           

 

     Arranged By, Producer – Gary Paxton

Notes:

Label variation: Garpax is printed smaller than the other version.
This pressing shows no plant stamp in runouts.

Side A: Pub: Garpax Music Co. - Capizzi Music - BMI
Side B: Pub: Garpax Music Co. - Underwood Music Co. - BMI

Barcode and Other Identifiers        

        

    Pressing Plant ID (Etched in runout area): .
    Rights Society: BMI
    Matrix / Runout (Side A Label): GP 44167-A
    Matrix / Runout (Side B Label): GP 44167-B
    Matrix / Runout (Side A Runout, Etched (Variant 1)): GP44167A-1B
    Matrix / Runout (Side B Runout, Etched (Variant 1)): GP44167B-1A
    Matrix / Runout (A-Side Runout Etching (Variant 2)): GP44167A-1A
    Matrix / Runout (B-Side Runout Etching (Variant 2)): . GP-44167-B . '     

      

Bobby (Boris) Pickett And The Crypt-Kickers – Monster Mash
Label: Garpax Records – 45-44167
Format: Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Single, Styrene, Bridgeport Pressing
Country: US
Released: 1962
Genre: Rock, Pop
Style: Rock & Roll, Pop Rock, Novelty      

      

  

Viewfinder links:       

         

James Brown        

The Contours         

Chubby Checker        

Berry Gordy Jr.         

Boris Karloff          

Elsa Lanchester        
Bela Lugosi         

The Misfits         

Music & Mayhem        

Bobby "Boris" Pickett       

Leon Russell       

Dee Dee Sharp       

The Ventures        
     
Net links:       

         

Coming Soon ~ In Praise of 1972’s The Deathmaster       

Do You Remember ~ Monster Mash: 55 Years Later        

Mental Floss ~ Bobby Pickett, The Man Behind Monster Mash     

NME ~ The strange tale of Monster Mash        

     
YouTube links:      
         

Music:    

 

The Beach Boys ~ Monster Mash (live)           

Chubby Checker -   

        Pony Time (live)        

        The Twist (live)         

The Contours ~ Do You Love Me (live)   

Midnight String Quartet ~ Monster Mash              

The Misfits ~ Monster Mash                 
Bobby (Boris) Pickett ~  

        Me & My Mummy      

        Monster Mash         

        Monster Mash (live)      

        Monster Rap          

Vincent Price ~ Monster Mash                 

Sha Na Na ~ Monster Mash    

Dee Dee Sharp -   

       Mashed Potato Time    

       Mashed Potato Time (live)   

       
Misc.:

         

Deathmaster movie trailer       

Rue Morgue ~ The Hippies Vampires of Deathmaster (1972)        

        

        

        

        

        

        

        

        

        

Styrous® ~ Thursday, February 11, 2021

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