It’s not just Christmas that brings seasonal songs to the charts. That’s very evident this week as an old favorite Halloween anthem has crept out of its crypt again. Many spooky Halloween songs get a boost from playlists during October. One graveyard smash is leading the way though.
Yes, excuse the puns and hints there. It’s the classic Halloween tune “Monster Mash” by Bobby Pickett and the Crypt Kickers. The song from the early 1960s is now back in the US iTunes top 20. So if you or your kids are heading for any Halloween parties, expect to hear it blaring out.
First time round it was released quite early, late August 1962 in fact. Pickett was playing around on stage with a cover version of the Diamonds song “Little Darlin.” He did have something different in mind, trying out a monologue in the style of Boris Karloff. It’s hard to imagine what sparked his connection with a horror film star and that tune.
Classic Halloween anthem comes back to life
But it went down well with the audience and sparked ideas about how the Karloff impression could be developed further. Pickett and Lenny Capizzi, one of his band, The Cordials worked it up further.
The pair recorded the song and laid out the story of a mad scientist, a monster awakening and a crazy dance.
Throw in a madcap Halloween style party in the storyline and you pretty much have it. The basis wasn't that original, but it seemed to have some appeal.
That is until they tried to get the song released. It’s another example of proving record companies wrong. Their producer Gary Paxton hawker it around a load of labels, but none wanted to touch it. But before he stuck it back in a crypt, Paxton decided to take a last chance to get it heard.
He had 500 copies pressed, took them around California radio stations and gave them to DJs. They picked up on the freebie and gave the song some airtime. Before long Paxton was getting calls asking about the song and was able to convince London Records to let the monster out.
That's been justified a few times over. It made it to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 back in 1962. And has made several chart appearances over the many years since. Including this year with its latest iTunes chart listing. The world of streaming and downloading music has a lot to answer for. But it does give fresh life to old favorites like this from time to time, that's no bad thing.