The Mookie Mash

The Mookie Mash, a CHUM-FM parody song from 1989 (I think!) can now be heard for the first time in 35 years.

You didn't find it on those Blue Jays song compilations for Variety Village, and thanks to an old RPM magazine from 1990 I can tell you it's because the owners of The Monster Mash refused to play ball.

He says "A lot of stations do (parody) lyrics, but they never end up on a record. If you do parody lyrics, and you put them on a record, you have to get permission from the owner of the song. In this case, what I had to do was contact every songwriter in North America who had these songs - including Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys (for Help Us Mookie (Help Me Rhonda) and I Want To Get Home (Sloop John B)) - and get permission from them to record new lyrics."

Platel says while most artists were willing to help - at full royalty rates and licencing fees - not all complied. He says the owners of The Monster Mash balked at the idea of the original lyrics being bastardized as the Mookie Mash.

The Mookie Mash was produced by Greg Johnston at Tanis Productions, and was written by Greg Johnston and Ed Roth. They used a group of handpicked studio musicians including the late great Michael Fonfara. Ed Roth was the lead vocalist.