Local songwriters getting ‘batty’

‘Do the Batula’ created from desire for new Halloween song

Two local songwriters, Bill Dann and Jack Servello, composed a new Halloween song that's getting some decent airplay on some internet radio stations.

The inspiration for "Do the Batula" came from Dann's desire to have a new Halloween dance, since Bobby Pickett & the Crypt Kickers' "Monster Mash" is "really overplayed," he said.

Dann said he wrote lyrics for the song and sent them to Servello, who composed "a real fun dance number to it."

The song is about a pet bat, whose owner mimics its movements and dances as Dracula, hence the "Batula" name, Dann said.

"It's a fun, fun song. I thought we could use a little fun about this time," Dann said. "I'm kind of 'Monster Mashed' out. I know it's a classic, but it's overexposed. That's how I came up with the inspiration."

According to Dann, the song has been played on internet radio stations and WOWY Radio, a classic hits radio station serving State College and central Pennsylvania.

On Wednesday, a group of Tyrone Area High School drama students are supposed to create a dance routine that'll go along with the song, Dann said, adding he and Servello played the song Saturday in Tyrone's Halloween parade.

"We played it, and the kids seemed to be really into it," Dann said. "It's generating some interest, and I figured it would be cool to play whenever there's people handing out candy. It even mentions about being kind to those candy eaters."

Dann and Servello have a YouTube channel, Write You a Song, with videos featuring more than 70 original songs, including "Do the Batula," which has almost 150 views.

They write songs together about every two or three months, Dann said.

Servello said they've been writing songs together for about 30 years.

"He (Dann) sends me lyrics, and I pretty much put music to them," Servello said, adding Dann always comes up with something for Halloween, Christmas and Saint Patrick's Day.

"One year for Saint Patrick's Day, he had written a song, and I was writing music for it. I thought, 'Wait a minute, that sounds familiar.' I went back to the song he wrote the year before, and I was plagiarizing myself," Servello said, adding he had to start over with that song.

"It's fun, and I like being creative," Servello said of the process.

Servello said their most popular hit is "Thor, the Purple Squirrel from Jersey Shore," which was inspired by a 2012 news story about a Lycoming County couple who trapped a purple squirrel.

A "Paranormal Paparazzi" TV show producer reportedly found the song and used it in the show, Servello said. That particular video has over 26,000 views.

Anyone interested in listening to their songs can find them online, at youtube.com/@dreamsedge/videos.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.