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Biography
Robert George Pickett (February 11, 1938 & ndash; April 25, 2007) was an United States|American singing|singer who found fame under the name Bobby "Boris" Pickett . He was known for songwriter|co-writing and performing the 1962 Chart-topper|hit novelty song , " Monster Mash ".
Biography
Early life
Pickett was born in Somerville, Massachusetts|Somerville , Massachusetts . His father was a theater manager, and as a nine-year-old he watched many horror film s. He would later incorporate impressions of them in his Hollywood, California|Hollywood , California nightclub act in 1959. Pickett was a United States Army veteran , who served in Korea .
Music career
Pickett co-wrote "Monster Mash" with Leonard Capizzi in May 1962. The song was a spoof on the dance crazes popular at the time, including the twist (dance)|Twist and the Mashed Potato , which inspired the title. The song featured Pickett's impersonation s of veteran horror stars Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi (the latter with the line "Whatever happened to my Transylvania Twist (dance)|Twist ? "). It was passed on by every major record label , but after hearing the song, Gary S. Paxton agreed to produce and engineer it; among the musicians who played on it was pianist Leon Russell . Issued on Paxton's Garpax Records , the Single (music)|single became a million seller, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two weeks before Halloween in 1962.cite book | first= Joseph | last= Murrells | year= 1978 | title= The Book of Golden Discs | edition= 2nd | publisher= Barrie and Jenkins Ltd | location= London | page= 150 | isbn= 0-214-20512-6 It was styled as being by "Bobby 'Boris' Pickett & the Crypt-Kickers". The track re-entered the U.S. charts twice, in August 1970, and again in May 1973, when it reached the #10 spot. In Great Britain|Britain it took until October 1973 for the tune to become popular, peaking at #3 in the UK Singles Chart .cite book | first= David | last= Roberts | year= 2006 | title= British Hit Singles & Albums | edition= 19th | publisher= Guinness World Records Limited | location= London | isbn= 1-904994-10-5 | page= 426 For the second time, the record sold over one million copies.cite book | first= Joseph | last= Murrells | year= 1978 | title= The Book of Golden Discs | edition= 2nd | publisher= Barrie and Jenkins Ltd | location= London | page= 333 | isbn= 0-214-20512-6 The tune remains a Halloween perennial on radio and on iTunes . A Christmas -themed follow-up, "Monster's Holiday," was also released in 1962 and reached #30 in December that year. This was followed by further monster-themed recordings such as the album The Original Monster Mash and such singles as "Werewolf Watusi" and "The Monster Swim". Another of Pickett's songs, "Graduation Day", made #80 in June 1963.
Further parodies
In 1975 Pickett recorded a novelty parody|spoof on Star Trek called "Star Drek" with Peter Ferrara , again performing some of the various human voice|voice s, which was played on Dr. Demento 's radio show for many years. He also performed a duet with Ferrara in 1976 titled "King Kong (Your Song)" spoofing the movie by the same name that was released that year.
In the early 1980s a musical "sequel" to "The Monster Mash" called "The Monster Rap," which featured Bobby teaching the creature to speak through "rapping". Though not nearly as popular as the original "Monster Mash" it once again found a reasonable following with the Dr. Demento fanbase.
In 1993 Pickett wrote and performed "It's Alive," another sequel of sorts to the original "Mash" song, but did not chart, but was played occasionally on the Demento show.
In October 2005, Pickett protested inaction on the United States government's part towards global warming by releasing "Climate Mash," a new version of his hit single.
In December 2006, Pickett covered the hit song by Yukmouth (featuring Messy Marv ) titled "Fuckin' Wit Grapes," but the recording tapes of those sessions were subsequently 'lost.'
Film and writing
In 1967, Pickett and television author Sheldon Allman wrote the musical '' I'm Sorry the Bridge Is Out, You'll Have to Spend the Night . It has been produced by local theatres around the USA. They followed it up later with another musical, Frankenstein Unbound''. In 1995 the co-writers of Disney's Toy Story , Joel Cohen (writer)|Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow , produced a movie of it, originally entitled Frankenstein Sings , but later released in the US under Monster Mash (1995 film)|Monster Mash: The Movie . Pickett starred in it with Candace Cameron , Jimmie Walker , Mink Stole , John Kassir , Sarah Douglas , Anthony Crivello , Adam Shankman and Carrie Ann Inaba . On ABC-TV, he appeared on the guest segment of "The Long Hot Summer," with Roy Thinnes and Nancy Malone, in August 1967.
In 2005 Pickett published his autobiography through Trafford Publishing . It was called Monster Mash: Half Dead in Hollywood .
Death
Pickett died at the age of 69 on April 25, 2007, in Los Angeles, California , due to complications from leukemia . His daughter Nancy Huus was at his side when he died. He left two grandchildren, Jordan Huus and Olivia Huus. The May 13, 2007 episode of the Dr. Demento show, featured a documentary retrospective of Pickett's work.
References
reflist|refs= http://www.classicbands.com/BobbyBorisPickettInterview.html Classicbands.com cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= Bobby Pickett, 69; Scored 'Monster' Hit |url= |quote=Bobby (Boris) Pickett, whose Boris Karloff impression propelled the Halloween novelty song Monster Mash to the top of the charts in 1962, making him one of pop music's most enduring one-hit wonders, died Wednesday in Los Angeles. He was 69. His longtime manager, Stuart Hersh, said the cause was leukemia. |publisher= New York Times |date=April 27, 2007 |accessdate=2007-07-21 http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,268765,00.html Fox News: 'Monster Mash' Singer Bobby 'Boris' Pickett Dies at 69 http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Music/04/26/obit.pickett.ap/index.html CNN.com: 'Monster Mash' singer dead at 69
External links
Portal|Biography
http://www.themonstermash.com/ Official site
http://www.myspace.com/therealbobbyborispickett/ Official MySpace site
http://www.newyorknighttrain.com/2007/05/01/bobby-boris-pickett-rip-mad-scientist-who-brought-the-monster-mash-to-life/ Biographical obituary discussing in-depth the life, career and importance of Pickett and his hit song from NewYorkNightTrain.com
Find a Grave|19105237|accessdate=August 12, 2010
imdb name|id=0681876|name=Bobby Pickett
http://www.classicbands.com/boris.html Classicbands.com entry on Bobby "Boris" Pickett
http://www.climatemash.org A parody of Monster Mash incorporating a Climate change|global climate change theme
http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp? id=10666 Interview with Bobby Pickett, June 18, 2003; author: Linda Alexander
Persondata|NAME= Pickett, Bobby |ALTERNATIVE NAMES= |SHORT DESCRIPTION= American musician |DATE OF BIRTH= February 11, 1938 |PLACE OF BIRTH= |DATE OF DEATH= April 25, 2007 |PLACE OF DEATH= DEFAULTSORT:Pickett, Bobby Boris Category:1938 births Category:2007 deaths Category:American male singers Category:Musicians from Massachusetts Category:RCA Victor artists Category:People from Somerville, Massachusetts Category:United States Army soldiers Category:Deaths from leukemia Category:Cancer deaths in California
