Bobby Pickett

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Bobby Pickett 2005
Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
The Original Monster Mash
  US 173 10/13/1973 (4 weeks)
Singles
Monster Mash
  UK 3 09/01/1973 (17 weeks)
  US 1Template: Infobox chart placements / maintenance / NR1 link 
gold
gold
09/08/1962 (37 weeks)
Monsters' Holiday
  US 30th December 8, 1962 (6 weeks)
Graduation Day
  US 88 06/22/1963 (2 weeks)

Bobby "Boris" Pickett (born February 11, 1938 as Robert George Pickett in Somerville , Massachusetts , † April 25, 2007 in Los Angeles ) was an American singer and actor who became world famous for his hit Monster Mash .

biography

After serving as a soldier in Korea for three years, Bobby Pickett went to Hollywood and worked as a comedian. He starred in a few films and television series before joining the band The Cordials .

Together with Leonard Capizzi, the head of the band, he wrote the song Monster Mash in 1962 and released it under the name Bobby Boris Pickett & the Crypt Kickers . It became a million seller ( USA No. 1 ). Pickett interpreted the song in the style of the horror movie stars Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi . He'd been a fan of these two since he'd devoured their films as a child in his father's cinema. The piece was produced by Gary Paxton, the singer of the Hollywood Argyles . It was also Paxton who invented the name Bobby "Boris" Pickett & the Crypt Kickers and stuck it on the album cover.

Also in 1962, the follow-up single Monster's Holiday was released as a Christmas carol, but was only a minor hit.

In 1973 Monster Mash was published again and again reached the top of the charts in the USA, but also in Great Britain , where the BBC had refused to play the title in 1962. After the publication, they looked for Bobby. Apparently he was found driving a cab in New York.

In 2005, Bobby "Boris" Pickett came back and singingly protested against global warming with the song Climate Mash - again a new version of his only successful track.

He died at the age of 69 after complications from leukemia in a hospital in West Los Angeles.

Trivia

  • It is disputed whether the song Monster Mash can be seen as the birth of shock rock - that is, horror-related songs and stage shows, the most famous representatives of which are certainly Alice Cooper , Screaming Lord Sutch or Screamin 'Jay Hawkins , later also Marilyn Manson - or horror punk . There is no question that stylistic overlaps exist.
  • In addition, a number of horror punk and death rock projects covered this piece, including Misfits (1999), Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and Bad Manners . Both the various cover versions (another can be heard in the credits of the film Return of the Living Dead Part II , 1987) and the 1962 original are very popular.
  • A German version of the song can be found on Frank Zander's 1975 album Wahnsinn .
  • Some lines of the song were used by the Canadian rock band Rush in the song Limbo on the album Test for Echo (1996).
  • Monster Mash was also covered by the Beach Boys for an early live album. In this version the text line "The Crypt Kicker Five" was changed to "The Beach Boy Five" .
  • In the episode Ralph Loves Lisa (English I Love Lisa ) of the Simpsons , the song is played at the beginning and at the end of the episode - inappropriately, since it is a Valentine's Day episode, but the song has more of a Halloween reference.
  • In the alternative TV superhero story Wild Cards , Pickett was portrayed as a zombie named "Crypt Kicker".
  • Pickett recorded a parody of Star Trek under the name Star Drek for the radio show of Dr. Demento , imitating the various voices.
  • All plates Pickett appeared on the label London Records .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Chart sources: UK US
  2. ↑ Music Sales Awards: US
  3. ↑ US Catalog number Garpax 44167; Text and music by Bobby Pickett and Leonard Capizzi; For more information on this song, see: Bronson, Fred: The Billboard Book of Number One Hits . 3rd revised and expanded edition. New York City, New York: Billboard Publications, 1992, p. 118
  4. ^ Frank Laufenbergs Hit-Lexikon des Rock und Pop, 1st edition October 2002, ISBN 3-548-36372-5

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Pickett, Bobby
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pickett, Robert George (real name); Pickett, Boris
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American singer and actor
DATE OF BIRTH February 11, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Somerville , Massachusetts , USA
DATE OF DEATH April 25, 2007
Place of death Los Angeles , California , USA