The Monster Mash

1962

Bobby Pickett

Ahh, that time of year's upon us again! Crisp Fall mornings! Frost On The Pumpkin! Pumpkins carved into delightfully frightful jack-o-lanterns. Little Ghouls and Goblins, tiny Rock and Pop singers, and Mini-Super Heroes seeking candy. Hit Halloween Songs...

Say WHAT??? You ask.. Hit Halloween songs??? Halloween carols???.

Hell Yeah,. A slew of 'em in fact...and I picked four of 'em to feature as we head for The Crypt-Keeper's favorite holiday. Ok, Only one of the four's really considered All Hallow's Eve specific and, despite this blog being mostly a Seventies music blog, only one of 'em's from The Decade Of History's Most Awesome Music...and that one, BTW's, a One Hit Wonder. But these four are just about always pulled out and played almost obsessively by Oldies stations (And often Top 40 stations) every year as October rolls around.

The first one is the song that everyone thinks of when they think of Halloween, and it's also the oldest...The Monster Mash, co-written and sung by Bobby Pickett.

Bobby Pickett wanted to be an actor, lived in the L.A. Area for just that reason, and auditioned constantly. And, as Aspiring Actors have done for centuries, he had a day job to pay the bills until fame, fortune, or at least steady work in The Industry found him. Ok, actually a night job as auditions tend to be day-shift endeavors. And that Day Job was...performing in a band.

Bobby Pickett was a member of a band called The Cordials that was pretty popular around the L. A. area. He was also a huge fan of old, classic horror movies, and an equally big fan of Boris Karloff, of Frankenstein fame. So, he came up with a monologue mimicking that legendary British Actor that he performed during the speaking part of a hit by The Diamonds called Little Darlin' when they covered it at gigs. The crowd ate it up, and good friend and fellow Cordial member Lenny Capizzi buttonholed him after one of their gigs and said 'You gotta do something with that Karloff impression...everyone loved it!

So, the two of them gathered instruments, lots of note paper and pencils, and very likely a copious quantity of Munchies and Refreshing Beverages , and set to composin', with a popular dance of the era called The Mashed Potato in mind. They finished it up, and took it to Argyles lead singer and record producer Gary Paxton...who himself had scored a novelty hit with a song called Ally Oop...to record it. Paxton looked it over and gathered a crew of session musicians, comprised of Paxton, Leon Russell, Johnny McCrae and Rickie Page. This crew, BTW, dubbed themselves The Crypt-kickers in honor of the tune's subject. My bet is they had a blast recording it.

It was a fun little tune that was actually spoken with Bobby Pickett's dead-on Boris Karl;off impression to music rather than sung, about Frankenstein (Though he's never actually ID'd by name) coming to life, realizing he's really into then-modern pop music and dances, and proceeding to invite all of The Famous Undead to one killer party at his humble castle.

They recorded it on a shoe-string budget, using jury rigged sound effects such as a nail being pulled from a 2x4 to simulate a coffin being opened and blowing through a straw into a glass of water for a a bubbling cauldron. They got it down to a sound that they were really happy with, and Garry Paxton took it around to record labels...and got turned down by every one, including some that no one even knew existed. All of them said the same thing...'That has got to be the stupidest song I've ever heard...it won't go anywhere...jeez!!'

Paxton was convinced that he had a hit, even telling Bobby Pickett just that. So he cut 1000 45's on his own label...Garpax...put them in the back seat of his ride, and drove up and down the Pacific Coast Highway, dropping them at local radio stations and asking DJs to play them. I have a feeling more than a few meals and beers were bought in exchange for air play...but it worked. By the time he got back to L.A., they had a hit on their hands

Garpax Records released it as a single on August 25^th 1962 and The Monster Mash took off and started climbing like a Top Fuel off-roader competing in a hill-climb, topping out at the coveted #1 spot on The Hot 100 on October 20 of that year...just in time for Halloween. The next thing they knew, kids were dancing a version of The Mashed Potato using the same steps paired with Frankenstein-like hand and arm gestures all over the land. The 'Crypt-Kickers' apparently had a runaway hit on their hands.

It was a run-away hit in the US anyway...it was banned in The UK because it was considered 'Too Morbid (Kinda makes me wonder if they even listened to it...especially beings it was performed in the voice of a legendary British actor.)

The Monster Mash has held on to it's popularity for over half a century now, and you will hear it in October at some point...there's no avoiding it. It's stayed so popular that it was re-released no fewer than three times in the space of a decade...December '62, August '70, and May '73, and charted all three times. Also, it was finally released in The UK in 1973, and apparently the Brits do indeed like 'Morbid' songs...it topped out at # 3 on their side of The Pond.

The song was so popular, in fact that Bobby Pickett released an album of Monster-themed tunes, entitled 'The Original Monster Mash' in late 1962...but that LP's title track was and remains the most popular track off of the album. And again, you will hear it sometime in October every year...after us Seventies Kids are all long gone and Upstairs likely discussing Seventies Music with the original artists, our kids and grands will hear Bobby P's little run-away hit Halloween song crank up when Late October rolls around.

So Enjoy! The Monster Mash by Bobby Pickett. Don't even tell me ya didn't sing along with it!

And as a Bonus...the animated music video for The Monster Mash, featuring The Groovy Ghoulies!

And as a second bonus...Bobby Pickett and the Crypt-kickers also released a Christmas-themed song, with the same cast of characters and Pickett once again narrating in his spot-on Boris Karloff imitation. The song, called Monster's Holiday, was released in December '62 and made it to #30 on The Hot 100. So take a listen to Bobby 'Boris' Pickett and The Crypt-Kickers little Christmas tune...Monster's Holiday!

And while we're at it...a few little factoids about The Monster Mash...

After The Monster Mash was released and became a hit, Bobby Paxton became Bobby 'Boris' Paxton. And while most of the US loved the song, one very notable individual most notably did not. One Elvis Aaron Presley thought it was one of the most pointless pieces of music he'd ever heard. Ahhh well...guess ya can't please everyone!

Remember the three re-releases of the Monster Mash? Well that trio of re-releases wasn't the end for the tune by far.

The song was so popular that Bobby Pickett and The Crypt-Kickers recorded and released a Christmas-themed monster-single named Monsters Holiday in December '62. That one cracked the Top 40 as well, peaking at #30

But The Monster Mash wasn't finished just yet. There was also a Rap song inspired by the tune...yep, you heard right. The Monster Rap. In this one, The Mad Scientist voices his frustration at not being able to teach the Titular monster to speak, so he teaches him to Rap instead.

Then in 1995 a Movie...a musical at that...was made based on The Monster Mash, starring none other than...Bobby Pickett. Don't think it was nominated for an Oscar, but I may just have to look it up just out of sheer curiosity. And it still keeps going an going...

In 2004, The Monster Mash was used in the 2004 Presidential campaign, retitled The Monster Slash, given new lyrics by Jerry Altman, and used by Bobby Pickett to criticize George Bush's environmental policies.

Not bad for a little novelty song that was basically written for fun over fifty years ago!