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`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 - "written
in about a half-hour," said Dr. Demento.
The recording, done in a couple of hours, featured a then-unknown piano player named Leon Russell and a backing
band christened The Crypt-Kickers. It was rejected by four major labels before Gary Paxton, lead singer on the
Hollywood Argyles' novelty hit "Alley Oop," released "Monster Mash" on his own label.
The instant smash became a sort-of Christmas carol for the pumpkin and ghoul set. In a 1996 interview with People
magazine, Pickett said he never grew tired of it: "When I hear it, I hear a cash register ringing."
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.
He continued performing through his final gig in November. He remained in demand for Halloween performances, including
a memorable 1973 show where his bus broke down outside Frankenstein, Mo.
Beside his daughter and sister, Pickett is survived by two grandchildren.
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Robert George Pickett (February 11, 1938 - April 25, 2007), was a native of Somerville, Massachusetts,
who found fame as a one-hit wonder musician under the name Bobby "Boris" Pickett.
He was best know for singing and co-writing the 1962 hit novelty song, "Monster Mash". Pickett performed
the track in an impersonation of veteran horror film stars Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi (the latter as in the
line "Whatever happened to my Transylvania Twist?").
Bobby Pickett co-wrote the song along with Leonard Capizzi. It became a million seller, as well as reaching number
one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week before Halloween in 1962. The song was styled as being by "Bobby
"Boris" Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers". In Britain it took until October 1973 for the tune to
become popular, but it then pinnacled at Number 3 in the UK Singles Chart. The song re-entered the U.S. charts
twice, in August 1970, and again in May 1973, when it again reached the number one spot.
A Christmas themed follow-up, "Monster's Holiday," was also released in 1962 and reached Number 30 in
December of that year. Another of his songs, "Graduation Day," hit Number 80 in June 1963.
In October 2005, Pickett protested inaction on global warming by releasing "Climate Mash", a new version
of his hit single.
Pickett died at the age of 69 on April 25, 2007 at the West Los Angeles Veterans Hospital, due to complications
from leukemia.
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