Obituary: Bobby 'Boris' Pickett, performer of 'Monster Mash'

SOURCE: Courier News Online, New Jersey, USA

Link: http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070426/FRONT01/70426019

NEW YORK (AP) … He does the "Mash" no more.

Bobby "Boris" Pickett, whose dead-on Boris Karloff impression propelled the Halloween anthem "Monster Mash" to the top of the charts while cementing his place as one of pop music's most enduring one-hit wonders, has died of leukaemia. He was 69.

Pickett, dubbed "The Guy Lombardo of Halloween" for his impossibly catchy No. 1 song, passed away 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.

Pickett's multimillion selling single hit the charts three separate times: when it debuted in 1962, 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 sang Pickett's praises before playing the single on his XM Satellite Radio program last October.

The hit single insured Pickett's place in the pantheon of pop music obscurities, said syndicated radio host Dr. Demento, whose long-running program celebrates offbeat tunes.

Pickett's Karloff impression was forged in Somerville, Mass., where 9-year-old Bobby watched horror films in a theater managed by his father. When Pickett launched a Hollywood nightclub act in 1959, it inevitably featured his Karloff impersonation.

Pickett also did the voice when performing with his band the Cordials, particularly during the spoken part of the '50s hit by the Diamonds, "Little Darling." Bandmate Lenny Capizzi convinced Pickett they needed to do a song featuring his impression of the horror impresario, and "Monster Mash" was born.

The song was recorded in another two hours, featuring 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' hit "Alley Oop," released "Monster Mash" on his own.

from the Courier News website www.c-n.com