R.I.P. Bobby Pickett

[tugmoose]

`Monster Mash' singer Pickett dies at 69

 

NEW YORK - He does the "Monster Mash" no more.

 

Bobby "Boris" Pickett, whose dead-on Boris Karloff impression propelled the Halloween anthem to the top of the charts in 1962, making him one of pop music's most enduring one-hit wonders, has died of leukemia. He was 69.

 

Pickett, dubbed "The Guy Lombardo of Halloween," died Wednesday night at the West Los Angeles Veterans Hospital, said his longtime manager, Stuart Hersh. His daughter, Nancy, and his sister, Lynda, were at Pickett's bedside.

 

"Monster Mash" hit the Billboard chart three times: when it debuted in 1962, reaching No. 1 the week before Halloween; again in August 1970, and for a third time in May 1973. The resurrections were appropriate for a song where Pickett gravely intoned the forever-stuck-in-your-head chorus: "He did the monster mash. ... It was a graveyard smash."

 

The novelty hit's fans included

Bob Dylan, who played the single on his XM Satellite Radio program last October. "Our next artist is considered a one-hit wonder, but his one hit comes back year after year," Dylan noted.

 

The hit single ensured Pickett's place in the pantheon of pop music obscurities, said syndicated radio host Dr. Demento, whose long-running program celebrates offbeat tunes.

 

"It's certainly the biggest Halloween song of all time," said Demento. The DJ, who interviewed Pickett last year, said he maintained a sense of humor about his singular success: "As he loved to say at oldies shows, `And now I'm going to do a medley of my hit.'"

 

Pickett's impression of Karloff (who despite his name was an Englishman, born William Henry Pratt) was forged in Somerville, Mass., where the boy watched horror films in a theater managed by his father.

 

Pickett used the impersonation in a nightclub act and when performing with his band the Cordials. A bandmate convinced Pickett they needed to do a song to showcase the Karloff voice, and "Monster Mash" was born

[Sir Stewart]

While Pickett never re-created its success, his "Monster's Holiday," a Christmas follow-up, reached No. 30 in December 1962. And "Graduation Day" hit No. 80 in June 1963.

Is that a monster song, anyone know?

RIP

[Analogman]

No - it's a graduating from high school song - The Beach Boys did a version of it.

[LouieB]

The dude was young.....that was a hit a very very long time ago.

 

LouieB

[Sir Stewart]

No - it's a graduating from high school song - The Beach Boys did a version of it.

Damn - I was hoping it was a monsters graduation type thing.

[LouieB]

I have a very worn copy of the Halloween album with Monster Mash and a bunch of other wacky songs.

 

LouieB

[Oil Can Boyd]

Monster Mash was my first favorite song.

RIP

[LouieB]

Monster Mash was actually a hit song three times. That was the good old days.

 

LouieB