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Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of IHeart Radio.

Hi, my name is Robert Lamb, and this is The Monster Fact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind focusing on mythical creatures,

ideas, and monsters in time.

Now, I frequently do these episodes about monsters from mythology, films, and comic books,

but I figured I'd try a different medium today, music.

I previously discussed, and this was probably a couple of years ago,

Count Drugula from the song of the same title by the band Electric Wizard.

This time, we're going to be discussing the Gugu Muck.

The origin story for this monster goes back to a 1962 novelty horror rockabilly

tune by Ronnie Cook and the Gay Lads. This was, we have to remember, 62, the same year as

Boris Pickett's Monster Mash. So novelty songs about monsters were all the rage. Cook, along with Ed James, are the credited songwriters.

Most listeners, however, are going to be familiar with the grittier 1981 cover by The Cramps,

the legendary Psychobilly band founded by the late Lux Interior and Poison Ivy.

They'd already featured two monster-themed songs on their previous album.

I was a teenage werewolf and zombie dance.

There would be many more to come, so the cover here fit them like a leather glove.

As Louders, Scott Rowley discussed in a 2022 article,

cannibalism, the cramps, and that Wednesday dance scene,

the weird story of Gugu Muck,

the cramps took the track in a slightly darker direction,

...