It's the time of year when "Monster Mash" gets played in stores and over the radio ad nauseam – emphasis on nauseam.
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The origin of that terrible Monster Mash song
The Monster Mash song is back – thankfully, only for another day.
By Tracey Samuelson | 10.30.09
Some things are meant to stay buried. You could certainly make that case for the horrific “Monster Mash” song which escapes from the crypts of long-dead music every year at the end of October.
All you have to do is hear that “graveyard smash” once – on the Web, on TV – and you’re doomed. It’ll be stuck in your head long after you get the caramel out of your teeth.
It’s been haunting folks since 1962 when Bobby Pickett channeled Frankenstein actor Boris Karloff with an imitation that he thought, at the time, was pretty spot on.
Mr. Pickett describes the creation of his Halloween genius with friend Lenny Capizzi in his 2005 autobiography:
Lenny sat down at the piano and began futzing with various four-chord progressions and I stood next to the piano. Like me, Lenny was a major horror movie fan from childhood. He loved Bela Lugosi as Dracula. He knew I had the Boris Karloff voice pretty nailed, although in retrospect, I feel that what I actually had was a very cartoonish rendition of that wonderful actor’s voice.
In any case, we’d both seen how the audiences had loved it when I was with the group and we’d sing “Little Darlin’” and I did the monologue in the middle of the song in Boris’s voice. We agreed that the Karloff voice was the most obvious one to tell the story. And what was the story?
“Well,” Lenny suggested, “Maybe the Frankenstein monster should start a dance craze.”
“That’s it!” I said.
And just like that, Pickett earned a place in one-hit wonder history, and arguably created the most well-known Halloween song (to the dismay of fans of Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London”).
He became “Bobby ‘Boris’ Pickett” for the record’s release, which, according to his official website, was the first of three. After its 1962 premier, when it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, it was re-released in 1970 and 1973.
It’s also been covered numerous times through the years, most notably by Vincent Price and again by the Misfits.
But the award for most bizarre cover definitely goes to Bobby Brown and Mike Tyson, who preformed a fully costumed “Mash” on Jimmy Kimmel (see video below).
See also:
Top 5 scariest Halloween costumes from Wall Street
Pumpkin carving designs — the political edition
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2. Guy G. | 11.01.09
I like the “Monster Mash.” When I was in sixth grade or so, I couldn’t imagine a better song. It’s a credit to Pickett and Capizzi’s writing that the song is so memorable.
3. Robbie DV | 11.01.09
Lighten up. It’s a catchy song for children of all ages. As far as the Christmas music; it runs the gamut of meaningful to meaningless
4. The Grinch | 11.03.09
I agree with the comment about Christmas Music. It’s nauseating! Every year it’s the same cheesy songs for one whole month. Even the most meaningful ones become sickening after a couple of decades.
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1. nuts | 10.31.09
What about the month of torture we have to go through with Christmas music every year? That’s not just one song, but a legion of terrible over-played music.