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Monster Mash/Scary Tales Reviewed By Dr. Wesley Britton of Bookpleasures.com
- By Dr. Wesley Britton
- Published October 7, 2012
- Music Audio CDs & DVDs
Dr. Wesley Britton
Reviewer Dr. Wesley Britton: Dr. Britton is the author of four non-fiction books on espionage in literature and the media. Starting in fall 2015, his new six-book science fiction series, The Beta-Earth Chronicles, debuted via BearManor Media.
In 2018, Britton self-published the seventh book in the Chronicles, Alpha Tales 2044, a collection of short stories, many of which first appeared at a number of online venues.
For seven years, he was co-host of online radio’s Dave White Presents where he contributed interviews with a host of entertainment insiders. Before his retirement in 2016, Dr. Britton taught English at Harrisburg Area Community College. Learn more about Dr. Britton at his WEBSITE
View all articles by Dr. Wesley Britton
Label: Real Gone Music
ASIN: B008S9CHFQ
During his heyday, John
Zacherle, or “Zacherley,” was a popular TV and radio personality
in New York and Philadelphia. He was best known for his character
“Roland” and his weekly gory gags. From 1957 through much of the
‘60s, “Roland” hosted horror movie shows dressed like an
undertaker and lived in a crypt with his wife, “My Dear” and his
lab assistant, “Gasport.”
A protégée of Dick Clark, it was Clark who dubbed Zacherle the “Cool Ghoul” and suggested he produce novelty records using his Roland personae. The first result was the Top Ten hit, “Dinner with Drac” (Parts 1 and 2) in 1958. Zacherle then recorded two full albums, Monster Mash and Scary Tales which have been re-issued before, but now have new life together in a new package from Real Gone Music.
Beyond Zacherle’s
rendition of Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s “Monster Mash,” many
of his tracks are essentially re-workings of then-popular dance hits
filled with mummies, vampires, zombies, and indeterminate monsters
who spent a lot of time in graveyards or assisting family members
into their final rest. He had fun with Chubby Checker in “Let's
Twist Again (Mummy Time Is Here)” and Dee Dee Sharps “Mashed
Potato” in “Gravy (with Some Cyanide).” Then he offers a
limbless dancer in “Limb from Limbo Rock,” the “Weird Watusi,”
and a bloody version of “The Bristol Stomp” called “Pistol
Stomp.”
Zacherle never sings, but rather recites his lines in between bouts of demonic laughter and sound effects. His audience was clearly children as demonstrated in “Popeye (The Gravedigger),” “Scary Tales (from Mother Goose),” “A-Tisket, A-Casket,” and “Hansel and Gretel.”
In our politically correct era, I’m not sure all parents would be comfortable with all the graveyard imagery, even as tongue in cheek as it obviously is. I’m not sure young people would enjoy the parodies as today’s kids are not likely to be familiar with the old songs being played with. In short, Monster Mash and Scary Tales are very much of their time and will be most entertaining for those who remember Zacherle’s TV shows. Now’s the time to dig this, as it were, before Roland gets his hands on you—