Bobby Pickett
February 11, 1938 - April 25,2007
"The old man's gone picking herbs on the mountainside, cloud-hidden, whereabouts unknown"...Alan Watts
"Bobby 'Boris' Pickett" In Memory Of........ Pt1
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It was 1962 and teen-age America still did the Twist when Bobby Pickett emerged with the Boris Karloff spoof that has since become the rock 'n' roll anthem of Halloween:He did the Mash. ("He did the Monster Mash!")
He did the Mash. ("It was a graveyard smash!")
He did the Mash. ("It came on in a flash").   For 46 years since, Pickett's goulish glee club has risen annually from the crypt of Golden Oldies with a fleeting bit of airplay for the ghosts, goblins and spirits of Allhallows Eve.    Over the years, Monster Mash has sold about 4 million copies, easily one of the most popular novelty records of all time.   His Karlovian imitation for Monster Mash was born when Pickett was 9 years old and spent time at the movie theater his father managed in Somerville, Mass. "I always did Boris," he said.    He used Karloff in his nightclub act in Hollywood in 1959 and 1960. And when he was part of the the group, the Cordials, he'd often slip in a few impersonations between songs. Boris was the crowd favorite. So one Saturday afternoon, he and friend Lenny Capizzi decided to write a song, putting the Karloff impression to music.   They took the song to Gary Paxton, the former lead singer on "Alley Oop" and Flip of Skip and Flip (Cherry Pie), who at the time was one of the hottest young record producers in Hollywood. He coined the name of Bobby Boris Pickett and The Cryptkickers for the label credit and the rest is history!  Monster Mash was released three times.    It reached No.1 on October 20, 1962. It re-entered the Hot 100 eight years later, on August 29, 1970, and peaked at 91. Almost three years after that, on May 5, 1973, it made a third re-entry, and this time went all the way to number 10.
Monster Mash has been heard on every top 40 and oldies station on the planet and such popular T.V. shows as The Simpsons, Cheers, Roseanne, Doogie Howser and CNN, not to mention its use in several movies including "Halloween III" and Must Love Dogs." Its co-creator and vocalist, Bobby "Boris"Pickett, has been hailed as the Guy Lombardo of Halloween and Monster Mash has become the national anthem of this fun holiday.
