 | What Halloween party would be complete without at least one playing of the classic novelty song Monster Mash, first recorded in 1962 by Bobby "Boris" Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers? The song was originally banned from the BBC in the UK for being "too morbid". However it was re-released in 1973, reaching #3 in the British charts. And that's probably when I first heard it, and had the song on a Top Of The Tots compilation album. An album I still have to this day, stashed away in a box somewhere. The creepy sound effects, the catchy chorus and the voice of Bobby Pickett doing an over-the-top impersonation of Bela Lugosi's Dracula, the song is a kitsch work of mad genius. |
The song has been covered numerous times, the earliest cover version coming out the same year as the original in 1962, by "The Cool Ghoul" Zacherley who we profiled in our Horror Hosts section of the Captain's Blog. Famous B-movie horror stars have taken a stab at the song too. Boris Karloff sang a version on a 1965 episode of Shindig! And Vincent Price also recorded a version in 1977. The song has featured either in its original version of as a cover version in TV shows and movies ever since it was first released, becoming an essential part of any Halloween.
| One of the most well known cover versions is by the hardcore horror punk band The Misfits, recorded in 1997. Coinciding with a VHS release of the Halloween cult classic stop-motion animation Mad Monster Party, first released in 1967. (Monster Mash didn't feature on the original soundtrack.) The cover version was eventually released as a single in 1999. One of my favourite covers however is the 1973 Spanish version by Mexican rock and roll stars Luis Vivi Hernandez. | |
In 1995 the song inspired a movie named after it. Monster Mash: The Movie featured Pickett in the role of Dr. Frankenstein. The movie was inspired by the song and based on the 1967 musical play "I'm Sorry the Bridge Is Out, You'll Have to Spend the Night" by Pickett and Sheldon Allman. The movie has an honourable mention in Weird Retro's Top Ten: Freaky Frankenstein Movies.
Weird Retro Fact: Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow who directed Monster Mash: The Movie, were both co-writers on the Pixar classic Toy Story (1995) that came out the same year as Monster Mash.
Weird Retro Fact: Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow who directed Monster Mash: The Movie, were both co-writers on the Pixar classic Toy Story (1995) that came out the same year as Monster Mash.
