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Obit of the Day (Historical): Bobby “Boris” Pickett (2007)

Name the greatest Halloween song of all time. Time’s up. It’s pretty much the only Halloween hit - Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s “Monster Mash” which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on October 20, 1962. (The song would crack the 100 again in 1970 and reach #3 in the United Kingdom in 1973.)

Bobby Pickett earned his nickname long before his hit, having developed an excellent Boris Karloff impression as a kid. Having tried to become an actor, Pickett found himself as a member of The Cordials, a doo-wop band. One night during a performance of “Little Darlin’” (originally sung by The Gladiolas) Pickett improvised a monologue as Boris Karloff. The audience loved it, and the band decided to put together a song specifically for Pickett.

Written by Pickett and Lenny Capizzi with the rest of the Cordials transforming into “The Crypt-Keepers.” The record was released in August of 1962 in order to build up success before Halloween.

Following up on their hit, Pickett and the group recorded “Monster’s Holiday” as a Christmas song and it reached number 30 but never had the success of the original.

Boris Pickett, who once said “I haven’t made millions. But I have been paying the rent for 36 years with this one song,” died on April 25, 2007 at the age of 69.

Additional source: Wikipedia.org

(“Monster Mash” is copyright of Decca Music Group Limited, 1991)

Note: For those keeping track, 2012 is the 50th anniversary of “Monster Mash.” Nice longevity for a one-hit wonder.

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