Just in time for Hallowe'en

Forty-nine years ago today (October 17, 1962, 1962) the #1 hit on the pop charts was Monster Mash, by Bobby Pickett & the Crypt-Kickers.

The song is narrated by a mad scientist whose monster, late one evening, rises from a slab to perform a new dance. The dance becomes "the hit of the land" when the scientist throws a party for other monsters.

The producers came up with several low-budget but effective sound effects for the recording. For example, the sound of a coffin opening was imitated by a rusty nail being pulled out of a board. The sound of a cauldron bubbling was actually water being bubbled through a straw, and the chains rattling were simply chains being dropped on a tile floor. Pickett also impersonated horror film actor Bela Lugosi as Dracula with the lyric "Whatever happened to my Transylvania Twist?"

The BBC had banned the record from airplay in 1962 on the grounds that the song was "too morbid".  (What's next ?  Gonna ban Hallowe'en & trick-or-treating ?)