1962 No. 1, Inspired By Boris Karloff, Was A Huge Smash 64 Years Ago Today

Amongst all the popular Halloween songs getting passed out like trick-or-treat candy this month — from "Thriller" to "I Put a Spell on You" to "This is Halloween" — one continues to reign supreme as the ultimate "graveyard smash" — it's the "Monster Mash." Every October, this track by Bobby "Boris" Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers bursts out of the tomb to become the life (undeath?) of the party. And while ghouls and goblins might argue about it being the best Halloween song of all time, there's one fact that can't be smashed like a discarded pumpkin: it's a classic, 'bone-a-fide' hit, having reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on October 20, 1962.

Perhaps that's the strangest thing about the "Monster Mash." Keep in mind, 1962 was the same year that gave us the swanky instrumental Booker T. & the M.G.'s "Green Onions," Roy Orbison's eternally cool "Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream," and Elvis Presley's "Return to Sender." Overseas, the Beatles had released their first single, "Love Me Do," hinting at how big rock and roll was about to get. A novelty track sung by a guy doing a Boris Karloff impression should have been DOA, not something that would stand the test of time.

"I had no idea it would ever get played on the radio or be a hit," said Pickett in "The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits." So, how did such a rock and roll monster get stitched together?

After serving three years in Korea as part of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, Pickett headed to Hollywood, California, to pursue acting. His friend, Leonard Capizzi, moved out west with Pickett. The two formed a singing group called the Cordials. "Our first job was singing for spaghetti dinners at an Italian restaurant on Friday nights," Pickett told the Washington Post in 1982. "On the Diamonds' hit 'Little Darlin',' I used to do the deep bass part as Boris Karloff — it really used to crack the audiences up."

Since it was the era of the dance craze song — Chubby Checker's cover of "The Twist" and Little Eva's "Loco-Motion" were both No. 1 hits — Capizzi decided to release a novelty dance song for Halloween. Pickett originally wasn't going to record it. He'd left the group, having finally secured an acting agent. "Then, he died of a heart attack about two weeks later," Pickett told the Post. "So I called [Capizzi] and said, 'Maybe we should do that novelty record you suggested.'"

It was the best decision Pickett made. Written in just three hours, the "Monster Mash" was a monster of a hit. Within two months of its release, it had sold a million copies, reaching No. 1 on Oct. 20, 1962. And yet, as any good horror hit, it spawned sequels (and we're not talking Pickett's lesser-known songs). As of 2023, the song had re-entered the Hot 100 at least six times.

Some frightfully talented superstars helped make the "Monster Mash" the graveyard smash that it is. Leon Russell, dubbed the "Ultimate Rock & Roll session man," played piano on the song, and Darlene Love, best known for "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," sang backup vocals. Like Russell, Love was an in-demand session musician; She was part of the Blossoms, a group who sang on dozens of hits in the early '60s. "We had a hard time doing it because it was totally ridiculous," Love told Billboard. "[Producer Lou Adler] told us they were getting ready to do a Halloween song. We were like, 'Oh please. A Halloween song? Who's gonna do a song about Halloween?'"

"When you do a song like that, you never think you're going to be famous or that it'll be a hit," said Love. "Over the years it became a Halloween song because they had nothing else to play."

While many have fallen for the "Monster Mash" over the past six decades — including Boris Karloff himself — the song apparently didn't win over the "King of Rock and Roll." Pickett recounted asking his friend, Melody — who happened to know Elvis Presley — what the "Heartbreak Hotel" singer thought about his hit. "'He hates your record, Bobby,'" Pickett recalled (via Billboard). "'He thinks it's the stupidest thing he ever heard.'" To which Pickett reportedly replied, "Whoever liked Elvis anyway?"