Singer Bobby "Boris" Pickett, whose "Monster Mash" is a perennial favorite and made him the "Guy Lombardo of Halloween," died Wednesday of leukemia at the West Los Angeles Veterans Hospital. He was 69. The one-hit wonder, composed to showcase Pickett's uncanny nightclub-act impersonation of Boris Karloff, was written in about half an hour in 1962 and recorded in two hours with Pickett's backing band, the Crypt-Kickers and an unknown piano player named Leon Russell. After being rejected by four major labels, Gary Paxton, lead singer on the Hollywood Argyles' "Alley Oop," released "Monster Mash" on his own label. The song hit #1 on the Billboard charts that year, and made the charts again in August 1970, and in May 1973. It continues to be a solid graveyard smash. Bob Dylan has played it on his satellite radio show, saying, "Our next artist is considered a one-hit wonder, but his one hit comes back year after year." Pickett's follow-up records, "Monster's Holiday" and "Graduation Day," didn't do as well, hitting 30 and 80, respectively, on the charts. When he performed in oldies shows, Pickett often said, "And now I'm going to do a medley of my hit." He never tired of it. "When I hear it," he said, "I hear a cash register ringing." (LA Daily News)
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