Long Lost Daughters, Beach Boys, and Disco Toilets: The True Story Behind "Monster Mash"

Noisey ^ | October 27, 2014 | Drew Millard

[Squawk 8888]

With all due respect to The Misfits’ “Halloween” and “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah,” the song most closely associated with October 31st is “Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett. In its own way, the track is one of a kind. It is certainly the only Halloween-themed song that enjoys the cultural ubiquity of popular Christmas carols, and it’s one of the few novelty songs that have managed to worm its way into the public consciousness, remaining there long after the trends it parodied have faded away. Its opening lines ("I was working in my lab late one night / When my eyes beheld an eerie sight...") are indelibly marked into our psyches as children, as is its melody, cribbed from Dee Dee Sharp's "Mashed Potato Time."

The track was a smash upon its August 1962 release, and charted again in 1970, and 1972. “Monster Mash” is a popular cover song among punk bands, its pre-Beatles grooves and campy horror movie-inspired lyrics hitting the same sweet spots that bands such as Misfits and The Ramones took dead aim at. Meanwhile, it enjoys a perennial presence in film and television, having shown up in the likes of The Simpsons (twice!), Happy Days, True Blood, Cheers, and the films Halloween III and Must Love Dogs. Every October, the song sees a spike in iTunes sales—it reached number 25 on the iTunes sales charts in 2012, and currently sits at #49 on Billboard’s Digital Charts.

[Squawk 8888]

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[raccoonradio]

“The Guy Lombardo of Halloween”—John Waters

I saw him in the 80s in a comedy revue in Boston’s Theatre District called Don’t Touch That Dial; he did such characters as Archie Bunker in a spoof of TV

Britain’s Bonzo Dog Band performing it in the late 60s show Do Not Adjust Your Set (which feat. future members of Monty Python)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa1i375FuGw

[ZirconEncrustedTweezers]

Hmmm.... nothing about The Toyes' "Monster Hash"?

The Toyes - Monster Hash (NSFW - minor language/drug references)

[golux]

Cool! Please put me on the ping list!
golux

[VanDeKoik]

My class had to sing it for our Halloween program in elementary. We botched it so bad, I still cringe when I hear this song almost 30 years later.

[ZirconEncrustedTweezers]

This one contains a few snippets from the original...

Rush - Limbo

[Nifster]

I have always loved The Monster Mash....good beat, fun lyrics, decent music. So Dick over all I think it is going to be a hit

[relictele]

In keeping with the Halloween theme, a novelty song must be a bit of a curse even for a non-musician. It’s claimed Pickett was happy to sing it for 40 years solid but even the most patient and dedicated individual would get fed up.

“So in 1993, Hersh and Pickett recorded a perfect copy of the original “Monster Mash.”

I doubt it. Even amateurs’ ears become attuned to the vagaries of original recordings despite many of those vagaries being the result of archaic recording gear, certain instruments and amplifiers used, reverb treatment, etc. Numerous bands have tried this tactic in order to wrest control of their licensing from record companies or squatters but the re-recorded versions are usually a disaster in their own right: sterile-sounding, too note-perfect (due to the musicians’ own improved chops or the use of studio pros) and lacking the intangible vibe that marked the original. Of course, we’re not talking about a re-recorded version of Sgt Pepper but the difference remain even for a tongue-in-cheek hit.

[Resolute Conservative]

Egad, Halloween. I need to remember to stay home from work Friday.

[bgill]

Love that song. Had it on one of my earliest cassette tapes.

[a fool in paradise]

Pickett and Hersh were always looking for other, different ways to keep the song relevant. In 2004, Pickett re-recorded “Monster Mash” as “Monster Slash,” to protest President George W. Bush’s environmental policies.

Meh.

[a fool in paradise]

two can play at this game

Boris Karloff recites the Peppermint Twist....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYXpad9X4eg

[a fool in paradise]

Zacherley (the Cool Ghoul from 1958) is 96 years old these days and still going.

Here’s Dinner With Drac

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muUscfbvwQY

[GeronL]

“Meh” is a common reaction I bet

[DPMD]

It’s on the iPod, in a place of honor among the 1100 oldies.

[discostu]

I like Monster Mash when I was a kid, but I left novelty music behind. The song of Halloween to me a small little piano number by John Carpenter.

[To Hell With Poverty]

For me, it’s either this:
Ministry - Everyday is Halloween: http://youtu.be/DXtX9u7_6F8

Or this:
Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi’s Dead (Original): http://youtu.be/OKRJfIPiJGY