On this date in 1962, Britain's BBC banned the single MONSTER MASH by BOBBY 'BORIS' PICKETT. Although the song was neither obscene nor controversial (it's about a horror movie party), it was banned under a catch-all regulation prohibiting the broadcast of anything deemed "offensive"! (Oct 9, 1966)
The video here is Bobby's appearance on the Dick Clark hosted American Bandstand on October 13th 1964. I've upscaled and colourised the original black and white film.
Pickett was a nightclub entertainer who performed with a group called The Cordials. He wrote "Monster Mash" with his friend Lenny Capizzi. They were both big horror movie fans, and Pickett would do an impression of the actor Boris Karloff (known for playing the monster in many Frankenstein movies) during the speaking part of "Little Darlin'" that went over well in his act.
As Capizzi played the piano, he and Pickett put together this song with his Karloff impression in mind. They came up with the plot about Frankenstein's monster starting a dance craze.
Pickett and Lenny Capizzi wrote this song in about two hours. They recorded a demo to tape and brought it to Gary Paxton, lead singer of The Hollywood Argyles ("Alley Oop").
They recorded the song with Paxton and studio musicians Leon Russell, Johnny McCrae and Rickie Page, who were credited as "The Cryptkickers."
Paxton, who is credited as the song's producer, also added the sound effects.
This is a dance song based on the "Mashed Potato" dance craze, which is where The "Mash" in the title comes in.. Pickett is imitating Boris Karloff, but is narrating the story as Dr. Frankenstein, not the monster that Karloff famously portrayed.
Paxton put the song out on his Garpax label and distributed it to radio stations around southern California.
Response was overwhelming, as the stations saw their phone banks lighting up with requests for the song. A deal was struck with London Records, who distributed the song worldwide.
The original title was "Monster Twist" in an attempt to jump on the Twist craze, but that fad was fading so they tried calling it "Monster Mashed Potato," then settled on "Monster Mash."
This is arguably the most successful novelty song of all time. Bobby Pickett accomplished the rare feat of reaching the top 100 music chart three times with the same song. On October 20, 1962, the original release hit #1 in the US. The song re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 on August 29, 1970 peaking at #91, and then again on May 5, 1972 when it went all the way to #10. The song has sold over four million copies and continues to be a Halloween favorite.
The song made little impact in the UK until it was re-released there in 1973 and reached #3 on the Singles chart. By this time Boris Pickett was a 32-year-old part time New York cab driver.
Pickett quickly followed up this song with "Monsters' Holiday," where the monsters throw a mischievous Christmas party.
The following year, he reached #88 with "Graduation Day," his first entry that wasn't a novelty song. "The Monster Swim" reached #135 in 1964, which was his last chart appearance until the "Monster Mash" re-issues.
On this date in 1962, Britain's BBC banned the single MONSTER MASH by BOBBY 'BORIS' PICKETT. Although the song was neither obscene nor controversial (it's about a horror movie party), it was banned under a catch-all regulation prohibiting the broadcast of anything deemed "offensive"! (Oct 9, 1966)
The video here is Bobby's appearance on the Dick Clark hosted American Bandstand on October 13th 1964. I've upscaled and colourised the original black and white film.
Pickett was a nightclub entertainer who performed with a group called The Cordials. He wrote "Monster Mash" with his friend Lenny Capizzi. They were both big horror movie fans, and Pickett would do an impression of the actor Boris Karloff (known for playing the monster in many Frankenstein movies) during the speaking part of "Little Darlin'" that went over well in his act.
As Capizzi played the piano, he and Pickett put together this song with his Karloff impression in mind. They came up with the plot about Frankenstein's monster starting a dance craze.
Pickett and Lenny Capizzi wrote this song in about two hours. They recorded a demo to tape and brought it to Gary Paxton, lead singer of The Hollywood Argyles ("Alley Oop").
They recorded the song with Paxton and studio musicians Leon Russell, Johnny McCrae and Rickie Page, who were credited as "The Cryptkickers."
Paxton, who is credited as the song's producer, also added the sound effects.
This is a dance song based on the "Mashed Potato" dance craze, which is where The "Mash" in the title comes in.. Pickett is imitating Boris Karloff, but is narrating the story as Dr. Frankenstein, not the monster that Karloff famously portrayed.
Paxton put the song out on his Garpax label and distributed it to radio stations around southern California.
Response was overwhelming, as the stations saw their phone banks lighting up with requests for the song. A deal was struck with London Records, who distributed the song worldwide.
The original title was "Monster Twist" in an attempt to jump on the Twist craze, but that fad was fading so they tried calling it "Monster Mashed Potato," then settled on "Monster Mash."
This is arguably the most successful novelty song of all time. Bobby Pickett accomplished the rare feat of reaching the top 100 music chart three times with the same song. On October 20, 1962, the original release hit #1 in the US. The song re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 on August 29, 1970 peaking at #91, and then again on May 5, 1972 when it went all the way to #10. The song has sold over four million copies and continues to be a Halloween favorite.
The song made little impact in the UK until it was re-released there in 1973 and reached #3 on the Singles chart. By this time Boris Pickett was a 32-year-old part time New York cab driver.
Pickett quickly followed up this song with "Monsters' Holiday," where the monsters throw a mischievous Christmas party.
The following year, he reached #88 with "Graduation Day," his first entry that wasn't a novelty song. "The Monster Swim" reached #135 in 1964, which was his last chart appearance until the "Monster Mash" re-issues.
Alan Farwell
On this date in 1962, Britain's BBC banned the single MONSTER MASH by BOBBY 'BORIS' PICKETT. Although the song was neither obscene nor controversial (it's about a horror movie party), it was banned under a catch-all regulation prohibiting the broadcast of anything deemed "offensive"! (Oct 9, 1966)
The video here is Bobby's appearance on the Dick Clark hosted American Bandstand on October 13th 1964. I've upscaled and colourised the original black and white film.
Pickett was a nightclub entertainer who performed with a group called The Cordials. He wrote "Monster Mash" with his friend Lenny Capizzi. They were both big horror movie fans, and Pickett would do an impression of the actor Boris Karloff (known for playing the monster in many Frankenstein movies) during the speaking part of "Little Darlin'" that went over well in his act.
As Capizzi played the piano, he and Pickett put together this song with his Karloff impression in mind. They came up with the plot about Frankenstein's monster starting a dance craze.
Pickett and Lenny Capizzi wrote this song in about two hours. They recorded a demo to tape and brought it to Gary Paxton, lead singer of The Hollywood Argyles ("Alley Oop").
They recorded the song with Paxton and studio musicians Leon Russell, Johnny McCrae and Rickie Page, who were credited as "The Cryptkickers."
Paxton, who is credited as the song's producer, also added the sound effects.
This is a dance song based on the "Mashed Potato" dance craze, which is where The "Mash" in the title comes in.. Pickett is imitating Boris Karloff, but is narrating the story as Dr. Frankenstein, not the monster that Karloff famously portrayed.
Paxton put the song out on his Garpax label and distributed it to radio stations around southern California.
Response was overwhelming, as the stations saw their phone banks lighting up with requests for the song. A deal was struck with London Records, who distributed the song worldwide.
The original title was "Monster Twist" in an attempt to jump on the Twist craze, but that fad was fading so they tried calling it "Monster Mashed Potato," then settled on "Monster Mash."
This is arguably the most successful novelty song of all time. Bobby Pickett accomplished the rare feat of reaching the top 100 music chart three times with the same song. On October 20, 1962, the original release hit #1 in the US. The song re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 on August 29, 1970 peaking at #91, and then again on May 5, 1972 when it went all the way to #10. The song has sold over four million copies and continues to be a Halloween favorite.
The song made little impact in the UK until it was re-released there in 1973 and reached #3 on the Singles chart. By this time Boris Pickett was a 32-year-old part time New York cab driver.
Pickett quickly followed up this song with "Monsters' Holiday," where the monsters throw a mischievous Christmas party.
The following year, he reached #88 with "Graduation Day," his first entry that wasn't a novelty song. "The Monster Swim" reached #135 in 1964, which was his last chart appearance until the "Monster Mash" re-issues.
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Alan Farwell
On this date in 1962, Britain's BBC banned the single MONSTER MASH by BOBBY 'BORIS' PICKETT. Although the song was neither obscene nor controversial (it's about a horror movie party), it was banned under a catch-all regulation prohibiting the broadcast of anything deemed "offensive"! (Oct 9, 1966)
The video here is Bobby's appearance on the Dick Clark hosted American Bandstand on October 13th 1964. I've upscaled and colourised the original black and white film.
Pickett was a nightclub entertainer who performed with a group called The Cordials. He wrote "Monster Mash" with his friend Lenny Capizzi. They were both big horror movie fans, and Pickett would do an impression of the actor Boris Karloff (known for playing the monster in many Frankenstein movies) during the speaking part of "Little Darlin'" that went over well in his act.
As Capizzi played the piano, he and Pickett put together this song with his Karloff impression in mind. They came up with the plot about Frankenstein's monster starting a dance craze.
Pickett and Lenny Capizzi wrote this song in about two hours. They recorded a demo to tape and brought it to Gary Paxton, lead singer of The Hollywood Argyles ("Alley Oop").
They recorded the song with Paxton and studio musicians Leon Russell, Johnny McCrae and Rickie Page, who were credited as "The Cryptkickers."
Paxton, who is credited as the song's producer, also added the sound effects.
This is a dance song based on the "Mashed Potato" dance craze, which is where The "Mash" in the title comes in.. Pickett is imitating Boris Karloff, but is narrating the story as Dr. Frankenstein, not the monster that Karloff famously portrayed.
Paxton put the song out on his Garpax label and distributed it to radio stations around southern California.
Response was overwhelming, as the stations saw their phone banks lighting up with requests for the song. A deal was struck with London Records, who distributed the song worldwide.
The original title was "Monster Twist" in an attempt to jump on the Twist craze, but that fad was fading so they tried calling it "Monster Mashed Potato," then settled on "Monster Mash."
This is arguably the most successful novelty song of all time. Bobby Pickett accomplished the rare feat of reaching the top 100 music chart three times with the same song. On October 20, 1962, the original release hit #1 in the US. The song re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 on August 29, 1970 peaking at #91, and then again on May 5, 1972 when it went all the way to #10. The song has sold over four million copies and continues to be a Halloween favorite.
The song made little impact in the UK until it was re-released there in 1973 and reached #3 on the Singles chart. By this time Boris Pickett was a 32-year-old part time New York cab driver.
Pickett quickly followed up this song with "Monsters' Holiday," where the monsters throw a mischievous Christmas party.
The following year, he reached #88 with "Graduation Day," his first entry that wasn't a novelty song. "The Monster Swim" reached #135 in 1964, which was his last chart appearance until the "Monster Mash" re-issues.
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