Over the past few years, it has been death that brings the spotlight back to many of the musicians “of my youth.” Some played major roles entertaining and sustaining me (e.g., Warren Zevon, Ray Charles). Others had no great significance forming my psyche, but surely did make me smile (or dance). Bobby “Boris” Pickett, who died yesterday fits into that category. (see CityNews.ca‘s article, and cbc.ca, “Bobby Pickett, voice of ‘Monster Mash,’ dies;” and hear the npr remembrance; April 26, 2007) Pickett’s performance of “Monster Mash,” which is probably the most-played oldie in the nation around Halloween, brought him fame but also the “one-hit wonder” label. Monster Mash was such a novelty smash hit that Pickett could not get out from under its spell to have a broader musical or acting career. Here’s a stanza from Monster Mash that seems fitting today:
Now everything’s cool, Drac’s a part of the band
And my monster mash, is the hit of the land,
For you the living this mash was meant too
When you get to my door tell them Boris sent you
Click for all of the lyrics (get the chords, too), and here’s a link for a free mp3 download. Pickett’s own Monster Mash website is here. There’s a lot of great Monster Mash trivia. For example:
- Boris Karoff did a version of Monster Mash.
- Leon Russell played piano for Pickett’s version, as part of the fictitious Cryptkickers Five.
- Pickett’s Monster Mash is the only record to ever reach the top of charts three separate times in three separate releases – once in 1962, again in 1970 and a final time in 1973.
- For the 2004 Presidential Campaign, the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund produced an anti-Bush spoof flash move, entitled Monster Slash. Bobby Pickett did the vocals with the revised lyrics. Click for an mp3 version of the song. See Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article (Oct. 29, 2004)
According to several sources, when Elvis Presley heard the song for the first time, he said that it was the dumbest song he had ever heard (MusicChoice Trivia; Wikipedia). Yes, it was a silly song, but it caused a lot of smiles and got a lot of stiffs up on the dance floor. Thanks, Bobby Pickett. Come back to haunt us any time.
spring rain–
a child gives a dance lesson
to the cat
the flute-playing servant
is the village headman!
butterflies dance
………………. by Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue
thin ice
we dance
indoors
…………………….. by dagosan
the widower
coaxed to the dance floor
spring equinox
………………. by Tom Painting – A New Resonance 2
palm sunday
the gospel choir
hypnotically swaying
thunder . . .
the mustang’s tail
begins to sway
cherry blossoms free fall
into the pond . . .
baby’s first steps
every
* other
* pales
*in
*its
*wake
*falling
*
*
*
*
*
*star
………………………. by Ed Markwoski
“palm sunday” – Haiku Sun (Issue X, Jan. 2004)
“thunder” – The Heron’s Nest VII: 4 (Dec. 2005)
turning off the music
a few miles before
getting there
morning fog. . .
a mash of wild apples
on the road
……… by tom clausen from being there (Swamp Press, 2005)
Speaking of monsters, we all better be on guard against the creatures lurking at websites throughout the internet. See CNETNews.com, Web threats to surpass e-mail pests, April 24, 2007 (via The TVCAlert, which warns: “By next year, internet users can expect more cyberattacks to originate from the Web than via e-mail, security firm Trend Micro predicts.”
“E-mail has traditionally been the top means of attack, with messages laden with Trojan horses and other malicious programs hitting inboxes. But the balance is about to tip as cybercrooks increasingly turn to the Web to attack PCs. . . . The reason for the flip is simple. Security tools for e-mail have become commonplace, but the same isn’t true for Web traffic. Security firms have found it tough to secure what comes into a network and computers over port 80, the network port used to browse the Web using the hypertext transfer protocol, or HTTP.”
There is even a “classic rat race between security firms and cybercooks. This has spawned an underground market for security vulnerabilities. Many of the bugs offered will let an attacker silently commandeer a PC through the Web when the unsuspecting user hits a site that packs an exploit, so-called ‘drive-by’ installations.” It appears that “Criminals are offering up to $75,000 for a Windows XP vulnerability and $50,000 for a Windows Vista vulnerability.” So, beware and be ready. According to “Web Travels Become Increasingly Dangerous,” The Virtual Chase, March 2007:
“The best defense is awareness. You should keep your anti-virus, firewall, anti-spyware, browser and operating system software up to date, and run anti-virus scans daily (assuming you connect to the Web daily). You should also be aware that none of these preventions will keep you safe 100 percent of the time.”
single again
soap bar slivers
mashed together
snow flurries
the square dancers
do-si-do
……. by w.f. owen
“snow flurries” – Hon. Men. Spiess Mem. Contest
“single again” – frogpond XXVIII: 2 (2005)