Robert George Pickett (February 11, 1938 – April 25, 2007), better known as Bobby " Boris " Pickett , was an American singer-songwriter and comedian . He is best known for co-writing and performing the 1962 smash hit novelty song " Monster Mash ".
43-460: Unholy Passion is the first EP and second overall release by American deathrock band Samhain , Glenn Danzig 's band after the disbanding of the Misfits . According to bassist Eerie Von in his photographic book Misery Obscura, the album was "a departure from our first release: more underground, more tribal. A step back further into the darkness". The song "All Hell" is a re-recorded version of
86-460: A Metromedia 45, but it did not chart. Another of Pickett's songs, "Graduation Day", made number 80 in June 1963. In 1975, Pickett recorded a novelty spoof on Star Trek called "Star Drek" with Peter Ferrara, again performing some of the various voices, 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
129-525: A change which Williams attributed to the influence of the Sisters of Mercy. As a result, the term "deathrock" was seldom used except in retrospective reference to the Los Angeles bands 45 Grave and Christian Death. The mid-1990s marked a third wave of gothic rock, as the music drifted its furthest from the original punk and post-punk sound by incorporating many elements of the industrial music scene at
172-405: A few years later, headed by acts such as Sex Gang Children and Southern Death Cult , along with Brigandage, Blood and Roses, and Ritual . Many of those bands featured tribal drumming, high-pitched vocals, scratchy guitar, and bass guitar as melodic lead instrument and a visual look blending glam with Native American-influenced warpaint and spiky haircuts. During 1982, the scene was brewing at
215-591: A guest star, narrator, actor, and disc jockey. He released Monster Mash: Half Dead in Hollywood , an autobiography, in 2005. Pickett died of leukemia on April 25, 2007, at age 69. Robert George Pickett was born in Somerville, Massachusetts , on February 11, 1938. His family lived in the Winter Hill neighborhood, and he attended Somerville High School. Through his father's movie theater business, Pickett
258-578: A monologue in the style of Boris Karloff , an impression he would use later in his career. Pickett co-wrote " Monster Mash " with Leonard Capizzi in May 1962. The song is a spoof on the dance crazes popular at the time, including the Twist and the Mashed Potato , which inspired the title. The song features Pickett's impersonations of veteran horror stars Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi (the latter with
301-483: A notable Los Angeles precursor. The Flesh Eaters too took a macabre take on early LA punk, by merging the sound with lyrics influenced by Edgar Allan Poe , the Beat Generation and Catholicism . Furthermore, T.S.O.L. were a defining group in the scene who briefly embraced gothic and deathrock elements. At the beginning of the 1980s, an offshoot of those interested in darker horror themes emerged from
344-658: A partner and professional manager in Buck Owens' Bluebook Music Publishing co. They had acquired an instrumental from the Daco label which was to be their first release. The instrumental was by The Revels of " Church Key " and "Six Pak" fame. 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 theaters around
387-530: A result of his father's position as a local movie theater manager. He started improvising impressions of Hollywood film stars at a young age. At a turning point in his career, Pickett was a vocalist for a local swing band called Darren Bailes and the Wolf Eaters. He would later serve in the United States Army . He co-wrote his signature song, "Monster Mash", with Leonard Capizzi in May 1962 as
430-400: A result, Williams, the band's deceased lead singer (also known for Shadow Project and Premature Ejaculation ), was considered one of the most influential artists in the goth and deathrock scene. Other influential male deathrockers included Patrick Mata of Kommunity FK and Larry Rainwater of Ex-VoTo. Dinah Cancer has been referred to as the "Queen of Deathrock", the "Goddess of Deathrock" and
473-551: A segment of The Long Hot Summer , with Roy Thinnes and Nancy Malone , on January 26, 1966. In 1962 or 1963, Pickett also hosted a weekly disc jockey show on KRLA in Los Angeles . In 1965, he appeared in several episodes of the sitcom Petticoat Junction as either Walter Thorp or Stonewall Jackson. Pickett appeared in films in several classic genres: beach movie, It's a Bikini World (1967); biker, Chrome and Hot Leather (1971); horror, Deathmaster (1972) and
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#1732791599044516-639: A spoof of popular contemporary dance crazes. Pickett's performances include impersonations of Boris Karloff ( The Mummy (1932)) and Bela Lugosi ( Dracula (1931)), and although many major labels declined to distribute the song, Gary S. Paxton agreed to release it in the United States. "Monster Mash" was met with instant success and peaked at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in October 1962, including Halloween. The song
559-484: The King Kong remake released that year. In October 1984, Easy Street Records released "Monster Rap", which lyrically continues the story of "Monster Mash" and features vocals by Bobby Payne as a monster who speaks in rap form and Pickett reprising his roles as the mad scientist and Dracula. In 1993, Pickett wrote and performed "It's Alive", another sequel of sorts to the original "Mash" song. It did not chart but
602-495: The Boss CE-2 pedal, are commonly used by deathrock guitarists to create a wider and more haunting tone. The use of lyrics can vary, but are typically introspective and surreal , and deal with the dark themes of isolation , gloom , disillusionment, loss, life, death, etc.; as can the style, varying from harsh and dark to upbeat, melodic, and tongue-in-cheek. Deathrock lyrics and other musical stylistic elements often incorporate
645-575: The West Coast of the United States in the early 1980s and overlaps with the gothic rock and horror punk genres. Notable deathrock acts include Christian Death , Kommunity FK , 45 Grave , and Super Heroines . Deathrock songs usually incorporate a driving, repetitive rhythm section; the drums and bass guitar laying the foundation within a 4 time signature while the guitars either play simple chords or effects-driven leads to create atmosphere. Chorus effects, such as those produced by
688-452: The "High Priestess of Deathrock" for her role as the frontwoman for 45 Grave during a time when female lead singers were still considered somewhat of a rarity. Other influential female deathrockers included Eva O and Voodoo Church's Tina Winter. Many artists in the United States released EPs and LPs prior to 1982 which would now be considered deathrock, such as Theatre of Ice and Mighty Sphincter. British bands also made major contributions to
731-613: The Anti-Club, a club night in Hollywood that would change venues every few weeks; the O.N. Klub, located in Silver Lake , also frequently hosted deathrock acts throughout the genre's inceptual period. Outside of this scene, Theatre of Ice from Fallon, Nevada independently created a sound which some sources have considered as pioneering deathrock. Before deathrock was emerging as a distinctively darker subgenre of punk rock in
774-625: The B side) was also released in 1962 and reached number 30 in December that year. "Blood Bank Blues" (with "Me and My Mummy" on the B side) did not chart. 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", the latter of which made it to No. 135 on the Bubbling Under chart and was credited under "Bobby Pickett and The Rolling Bones". In 1973, Pickett rerecorded "Me and My Mummy" for
817-644: The Children's Zoo (1986), the Plague (1987) and the Ochrana (1987). The mid-1980s marked the second wave of gothic rock, when the sound began to shift away from its punk and post-punk roots and towards the more serious, rock-oriented approach. Bauhaus broke up, Williams left Christian Death, and the Sisters of Mercy became the dominant and most influential gothic act. The term "gothic rock" became preferred over "deathrock" (previously, they had been used interchangeably),
860-568: The European gothic rock scene and the American deathrock scene. By 1984, California deathrock band Kommunity FK toured with UK gothic rock band Sex Gang Children (and the following year with Alien Sex Fiend) which continued the trend in which American and British movements intermixed. Influenced more by the British scene and less by California, deathrock bands began to form in other parts of
903-731: The London gothic rock club Batcave . Initially envisioned as a venue specializing in glam rock and new wave musical acts, the two main bands which debuted and performed frequently at the Batcave, Specimen and Alien Sex Fiend , developed their own different sounds strongly influenced by horror in British pop culture , which set them apart from the rest of the glam and post-punk scenes in Britain. In 1983, Gun Club toured in Europe as did Christian Death in 1984, leading to cross-pollination between
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#1732791599044946-417: The Los Angeles punk rock scene. According to a 2006 article by Stylus Magazine , one popular theory as to the reason for this split was the 1980 suicide of Germs vocalist Darby Crash . According to this interpretation, Crash's death led to a period of mourning amongst many of those in the scene and eventually to a fascination with the macabre . Nonetheless, amongst this splinter bands began to form merging
989-478: The Misfits' "All Hell Breaks Loose". The original 12" vinyl EP was pressed twice: once on black vinyl and the classic tan cover, and then again in 1986, on both red and black vinyl (with a maroon sleeve) and white vinyl (with tan cover). In 1987, Danzig re-recorded the guitar and some vocal tracks for the songs, removing the original work done by Pete "Damien" Marshall. The recordings were given new mixes and, with
1032-506: The Phantom Limbs and Black Ice began to merge deathrock with elements of no wave and synthpunk . Many groups from this period, most notably Tragic Black , began to make use of an aesthetic heavily inspired by Batcave fashion. Only Theatre of Pain , Christian Death's 1982 debut album, is cited as the first American gothic album and cannot be easily classified as either a darker flavor of punk, horror punk or gothic rock. As
1075-612: The United States, other subgenres of punk and post-punk were developing independently in the UK. By 1980, a wave of post-punk bands such as Joy Division , Siouxsie and the Banshees , Bauhaus , and The Cure abandoned the intensity of punk music in favor of a more elaborate style characterized by moody guitars and dark droning bass guitar patterns combined with romantic and morbid themes. This style of rock became known as "gothic rock" or "positive punk". A second wave of bands had coalesced
1118-722: The United States, such as Samhain (1983) in Lodi, New Jersey ; Holy Cow (1984) in Boston, Massachusetts (and later Providence, Rhode Island ); Gargoyle Sox (1985) in Detroit, Michigan ; and Shadow of Fear (1985) in Cleveland, Ohio . The fertile New York scene featured Scarecrow (1983), Of a Mesh (1983), Chop Shop (1984), Fahrenheit 451 (1984), The Naked and the Dead (1985), Brain Eaters (1986),
1161-602: The United States. They followed it with another musical, Frankenstein Unbound . In 1995, the co-writers of Pixar's Toy Story , Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow , produced a movie of it, originally titled Frankenstein Sings , but later released in the United States as 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
1204-494: The addition of "Misery Tomb", were released as part of Final Descent in 1990. The remixed versions were released as a standalone CD for the first time as part of the Samhain box set in 1999 and as an individual CD in 2000. All tracks are written by Glenn Danzig Deathrock Deathrock (or death rock ) is a rock music subgenre incorporating horror elements and gothic theatrics. It emerged from punk rock on
1247-425: The careers of deathrock bands like Mephisto Walz . The success of the club caused many other deathrock club nights to be established in the following years. This, along with the rise of online music piracy led to the increased popularity of older deathrock bands and establishment of new, international deathrock groups, like Bloody Dead and Sexy , commencing the first deathrock revival. During this period groups like
1290-642: The deathrock sound by adding a strong post-punk influence, including Joy Division, Bauhaus and Siouxsie and the Banshees. Other bands from around the world added their own unique contribution to deathrock, including Xmal Deutschland in Germany, Virgin Prunes from Ireland, and the Birthday Party in Australia. Bobby Pickett Born in Somerville, Massachusetts , Pickett watched many horror films as
1333-502: The founding member of Christian Death , to describe the sound of his band; the music press, reusing the 1950s term to describe an emerging subgenre of punk; and/or Nick Zedd 's 1979 film They Eat Scum , which featured a fictitious cannibalistic "deathrock" punk band called "Suzy Putrid and the Mental Deficients." The earliest influences for some deathrock acts can be traced to the horror-themed novelty rock and roll acts of
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1376-689: The late 1950s and early 1960s such as Bobby "Boris" Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers and Zacherle with " Monster Mash "; Screamin' Jay Hawkins with " I Put a Spell on You "; Screaming Lord Sutch & the Savages with "Murder in the Graveyard"; and Don Hinson and the Rigormorticians with "Riboflavin-Flavored Non-Carbonated Poly-Unsaturated Blood". Contemporarily, the 1979 single " Bela Lugosi's Dead " by British post-punk group Bauhaus
1419-525: The line "Whatever happened to my Transylvania Twist?"). Every major record label declined the song, but after hearing it, Gary S. Paxton agreed to produce and engineer it. Among the musicians who contributed to the song are pianist Leon Russell and The Ventures drummer Mel Taylor . Issued on Paxton's Garpax Records , the single became a million-seller, reaching number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two weeks before Halloween in 1962. It
1462-746: The sci-fi comedy film, Lobster Man from Mars (1989). Pickett appeared in such roles as Archie Bunker as part of a stage comedy revue about television, presented in Boston, titled Don't Touch That Dial . In 1991, he appeared as a guest on the television show Beyond Vaudeville . In 2004, Pickett served as the narrator of the children's film Spookley the Square Pumpkin . In 2005, Pickett published his autobiography through Trafford Publishing , titled Monster Mash: Half Dead in Hollywood . For many years, Pickett performed for Barry Scott's radio show The Lost 45s during its annual Halloween show in
1505-474: The sounds of Los Angeles punk rock with these darker elements to create deathrock. The most prominent of these groups were Christian Death , 45 Grave , Super Heroines and Kommunity FK . Tracks by several of these acts were featured on 1981's Hell Comes to Your House compilation LP, which represented an early attempt to collect and promote local artists on the cutting edge of this new, darker version of L.A. punk. The bands generally performed and congregated at
1548-410: The themes of campy horror and sci-fi films. Despite the similar-sounding name, deathrock has no connection to death metal , which is a subgenre of heavy metal . The term "deathrock" was first used in the 1950s to describe a thematically related genre of rock and roll , which began in 1958 with Jody Reynolds ' " Endless Sleep " and ended in 1964 with J. Frank Wilson 's " Last Kiss ". The term
1591-658: The time (which itself had moved away from experimental noise and into a more dance-rock oriented sound) and the more repetitive and electronic sounds of EBM . Some clubs even completely dropped deathrock and first generation gothic rock from their setlists to appeal to a crossover crowd. Halloween 1998 saw the launch of Release the Bats, a monthly goth and deathrock club night in Long Beach, California . During its run time it became southern California's most frequented goth night and Long Beach's longest running club night, launching
1634-530: Was certified gold by the RIAA on August 28, 1973. The song has since re-charted five more times—in 1970, 1973 (when it reached the Top Ten), 2021, 2022, and 2023. Though Pickett never achieved the same success as he did with "Monster Mash" on charts, he continued to lend his voice to further parodies and other songs throughout the rest of his life. Pickett also made appearances on television, film, and radio as
1677-554: Was also applied to the Shangri-Las ' " Leader of the Pack ". These songs about dead teenagers were noted for their morbid yet romantic view of death, spoken word bridges, and sound effects. In 1974, the term "deathrock" was used by Gene Grier to describe the same phenomenon in rock music. The term later re-emerged to describe the sound of various West Coast punk bands. It most likely came from one of three sources: Rozz Williams ,
1720-453: Was introduced to horror films such as Dracula and Frankenstein , both from 1931. Pickett served in the United States Army from March 9, 1956, to March 13, 1959, and was stationed in Korea for an unknown period of time. An aspiring actor, Pickett began his music career as a vocalist for a local swing band, Darren Bailes and the Wolf Eaters. During one performance, Pickett delivered
1763-776: Was one of the major influences amongst the early deathrock scene. Other influences included the Doors , David Bowie , Alice Cooper , the Cramps , Black Sabbath and the Damned . The Los Angeles punk rock scene began in the mid to late 1970s, with groups like the Runaways , the Weirdos and the Germs . Within this scene the Gun Club 's grim take on heavily blues indebted punk was
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1806-598: Was played occasionally on the Demento show. In 2004 and 2005, Pickett provided vocals for two Flash cartoons, "Monster Slash" and "Climate Mash", featuring new versions of his hit single. The cartoons protested inaction on the United States government's part towards deforestation and global warming . In 1962, it was reported in the December 1 issue of Cashbox that Pickett along with Ned Ormand and R.B. Chris Christensen had formed Nico Records. Christensen had been
1849-634: Was styled as being by "Bobby (Boris) Pickett and 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 Britain it took until October 1973 for the tune to become popular, peaking at number 3 in the UK Singles Chart . For the second time, the record sold over one million copies. The tune remains a Halloween perennial on radio and on iTunes . A Christmas -themed follow-up, "Monster's Holiday", (with "Monster Motion" on
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