Bobby "Boris" Pickett, the auteur behind 1962 Halloween hit "MonsterMash," succumbed to leukemia over the weekend. The world has lost theman whose career made Weird Al possible. And yet I think Pickett'slegacy is actually far more profound than it might seem at firstglance: this guy pioneered the "long tail" cultural career to whichevery YouTube lameass currently aspires. He wrote a fun song thateverybody loved, and managed to turn continous sales of it into a slow,
steady lifelong income. No, Pickett never got rich like Paul McCartneyor famous like Kurt Cobain, but he said that the song liberated himfrom ever having to work again. It was also covered by countless otherbands, including punk rockers Bad Manners and The Misfits. "I have beenpaying the rent for 36 years with this one song," Pickett told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. He may have been a goof , but he lived the dream of every DiY media maker who wants to live a modest life by having fun.
LA Times Obit for Bobby Pickett [via LA Times]
