Character actor Zacherle found himself in great demand on both TV and radio in the late 50s and early 60s for his jokey impersonations of horror star Boris Karloff, but here’s where the story might get confusing. Though he was doing his Karloff schtick years before Bobby “Boris” Pickett recorded the novelty hit Monster Mash, Zacherle didn’t release his version until later, but is often wrongly credited as the originator of the ditty.
Zacherle’s Monster Mash kicks off the first of two albums he recorded in the mid-60s, featuring a succession of tongein- cheek rock’n’roll in a spooky vein, such as Dinner With Drac, Limb From Limbo Rock and (oh yes) Popeye The Gravedigger. The gag wears thin very quickly, though Scary Tales offers a twist on the formula by setting Mother Goose and Hans Christian Andersen stories to music.
Kids lapped him up back in the day, with one “tweenager” fan John Sebastian, soon to become leader of The Lovin’ Spoonful, penning the respectful sleevenotes for this collection. TV host Dick Clark often featured Zacherle on American Bandstand, dubbing him “The Ghoul Of Cool”, and he still finds occasional voiceover work today, at the ripe old age of 92.
