Vale Bobby 'Boris' Pickett

Until you've experienced Michael 'Pa' Coates, from the Unwanted Men in Black and a Lady, leading a packed Port Fairy Folk Festival Shebeen Bar audience in a group sing-along to the Monster Mash, you haven't really lived life to the full.

And so it is with sadness that we learn that Bobby Pickett, the creator of the Monster Mash, has died aged 69. Pa Coates will now carry the burden of love of keeping Bobby's memory alive by always performing The Monster Mash, whenever three or more drunken people are gathered in his presence. Well, he's been doing a fine job of this for many years already, so it shouldn't be too difficult. We owe it to Bobby.

From CBC News:

Bobby Pickett, voice of Monster Mash, dies
Thursday, April 26, 2007 | 5:33 PM ET
CBC Arts

Bobby "Boris" Pickett, the singer who was a one-hit wonder with the novelty tune Monster Mash, has died at age 69.

Pickett died of leukemia Wednesday night at the West Los Angeles Veterans Hospital, according to his longtime manager, Stuart Hersh.

Pickett, a lover of horror movies whose father owned a movie theatre, learned to do an impression of Boris Karloff as a child.

His impression was often part of his act with his band the Cordials. A bandmate persuaded Pickett to do a song to showcase the Karloff voice.

Monster Mash, written in about half an hour, became an enduring hit and probably the biggest Halloween song of all time.

Pickett's voice gravely intones the chorus: "He did the monster mash … It was a graveyard smash."

Pickett also added his own sound effects, including the creaky door, —which is a nail being pulled from a piece of wood — and the boiling sound, which is Pickett blowing bubbles in a cup of water with a straw.

Monster Mash was a No. 1 hit on the Billboard chart in the week before Halloween in 1962, and again hit the charts in August 1970 and in May 1973.

In a 1996 interview with People magazine, Pickett said he never grew tired of it, although it surfaces every Halloween.

"When I hear it, I hear a cash register ringing," he said.

The recording, featuring a then-unknown piano player named Leon Russell, was rejected by four major labels before Gary Paxton, lead singer on the Hollywood Argyles' novelty hit Alley Oop, released it on his own label.

Pickett never again recorded a hit, though two other songs, Monster's Holiday and Graduation Day, did well. He continued to tour nightclubs and festivals until last November.

Pickett, who died with his daughter, Nancy, and his sister, Lynda, at his bedside. is also survived by two grandchildren.