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.
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 The mad scientist explains that the twist has been
replaced by the Monster Mash, which Dracula embraces by joining the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.
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)!
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.
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.
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.
45 RPM record, side 1
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.
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
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 . '
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
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:
Do You Remember ~ Monster Mash: 55 Years Later
Mental Floss ~ Bobby Pickett, The Man Behind 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
Monster Mash (live)
Vincent Price ~ Monster Mash
Sha Na Na ~ Monster Mash
Dee Dee Sharp -
Mashed Potato Time (live)
Misc.:
Rue Morgue ~ The Hippies Vampires of Deathmaster (1972)
Styrous® ~ Thursday, February 11, 2021
