Spanky and Our Gang | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Origin | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
Genres | Sunshine pop [1] |
Years active | 1966–1969, 1975 |
Labels | Mercury Records, Epic Records, Spectra Records |
Past members |
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Spanky and Our Gang was an American 1960s sunshine pop band led by Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane. The band derives its name from Hal Roach's Our Gang comedies of the 1930s (known to modern audiences as The Little Rascals), because of the similarity of McFarlane's surname with that of George McFarland (Spanky). The group was known for its vocal harmonies and had major hits in the US and Canada in 1967–1968 with "Sunday Will Never Be the Same," "Lazy Day," "Sunday Mornin'," and "Like to Get to Know You."
The group's first album was released by Mercury Records on August 1, 1967, with three popular songs that were released as singles. These were "Sunday Will Never Be the Same" (their biggest hit, which reached No. 9 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in the summer of 1967), followed by "Making Every Minute Count" (reached No. 31/No. 23 in Canada) and "Lazy Day" (reached No. 14). [2] Both "Sunday Will Never Be The Same" and "Lazy Day" sold over one million copies. [3] "Sunday Will Never Be the Same" was written by Terry Cashman and Gene Pistilli. [2] In an interview of Cashman on the Songfacts website, he revealed that the song was written as a ballad; however, the group "changed it, and they added the vocal, 'Ba-da-da-da-da,' which was a great hook." [4]
Their second album, Like to Get to Know You , was released in April 1968. Two singles were released: "Sunday Mornin' " in the winter which reached No. 30 on February 10–17, 1968, and "Like to Get to Know You" in the spring which reached No. 17 on June 8, 1968. The latter single's B-side, "Three Ways From Tomorrow" also received considerable airplay. The album included their rendition of "Stardust", and a version of folksinger Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talkin'," subsequently a hit single for Harry Nilsson and the theme song for the movie Midnight Cowboy .
"Give a Damn" was released as a single in late summer 1968. Although not receiving airplay in several markets because of the curse word – and because it was a comment on racial equality that became the theme song for the New York Urban Coalition – the song became a regional hit and reached No. 43. The song reached #26 in the Canadian RPM magazine charts.
The band also performed the song on a November 1968 episode of ABC's The Hollywood Palace , as well as on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour that resulted in CBS' Standards and Practices division receiving numerous complaints about the song's title being used during "family viewing hours". [5] One such complaint reportedly came from President Richard Nixon. [5] [6] "Give a Damn" would become John Lindsay's campaign song during his successful run for mayor of New York. [7]
On October 31, 1968, the group's lead guitarist Malcolm Hale was found dead in his Chicago home, and the coroner attributed the death to bronchial pneumonia. [8] [9] A 2007 book stated that Hale "died on a Sunday at age twenty-seven from carbon monoxide poisoning due to a bad heating system." [5] [10] Hale's death was a devastating blow to the group; the multi-instrumentalist did much of the arranging and largely kept the band together. [11] Hale's death, along with the group's satisfaction over what they had achieved already, led to the decision to disband early in 1969. [9] Mercury released a third album, Anything You Choose b/w Without Rhyme or Reason, in January 1969. It contained two popular songs, the previous summer's hit "Give a Damn" and "Yesterday's Rain" (#48 Canada). On August 11, 1971, Lefty Baker died of cirrhosis of the liver, about a year after he left the band. He was 32. The group briefly reformed in 1975 and recorded an album (Change) for the Epic label. [9]
After the band dissolved, McFarlane had some success as a solo artist. In 1975, she briefly appeared in the film Moonrunners as a rough-and-tumble bartender. She toured with The New Mamas and the Papas, singing the parts which had been performed by Cass Elliot. She portrayed "Bloody Mary" in April 2011 on stage in Ferndale Repertory Theatre's production of South Pacific . [12]
Because of the band's continued popularity, Mercury released album collections of their greatest hits: 1969's Spanky's Greatest Hit(s), 1989's budget Give a Damn and 2005's The Best of Spanky & Our Gang: 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection. In addition, Rhino issued the 1986 The Best Of Spanky and Our Gang and Hip-O Select issued a limited-edition anthology of Spanky and Our Gang's Complete Mercury Recordings that includes never-before-released recordings and extensive liner notes. [13]
Name | Birth Date | Birth Place | Death Date | Death Place | Role in Band |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane | June 19, 1942 | Peoria, Illinois | vocals | ||
Nigel Pickering | June 15, 1929 | Pontiac, Missouri | May 5, 2011 | St. Augustine, Florida | rhythm guitar, vocals |
Paul "Oz" Bach | June 24, 1939 | Paw Paw, West Virginia | September 21, 1998 | Asheville, North Carolina | bass guitar, vocals (1966–67) |
Malcolm Hale | May 17, 1941 | Butte, Montana | October 30, 1968 | Chicago, Illinois | lead guitar, trombone, vocals |
John "The Chief" Seiter | August 17, 1944 | St. Louis, Missouri | drums, vocals (1967–69) | ||
Geoffrey Myers | bass, vocals (1967) | ||||
Kenny Hodges | August 3, 1936 | Jacksonville, Florida | January 29, 2013 | Papillion, Nebraska | bass, vocals (1967–69) |
Lefty Baker (real name Eustace Britchforth Baker) | January 7, 1939 | Roanoke, Virginia | August 11, 1971 | California | lead guitar, banjo, vocals (1967–69) |
Jim "Moon" Scherz | April 26, 1946 | Levittown, New York | drums (1975) and road manager |
Year | Songs (A-side, B-side) Both sides from same album except where indicated | Chart | Chart | Album |
---|---|---|---|---|
US [15] | Canada | |||
1966 | "And Your Bird Can Sing" b/w "Sealed with a Kiss" | – | – | Non-album tracks |
1967 | "Sunday Will Never Be the Same" b/w "Distance" | 9 | 7 | Spanky and Our Gang |
"Making Every Minute Count" b/w "If You Could Only Be Me" | 31 | 23 | ||
"Lazy Day" b/w "(It Ain't Necessarily) Byrd Avenue" | 14 | 1 | ||
1968 | "Sunday Mornin'" b/w "Echoes" | 30 | 23 | Like to Get to Know You |
"Like to Get to Know You" b/w "Three Ways from Tomorrow" | 17 | 5 | ||
"Give a Damn" b/w "The Swingin' Gate" | 43 | 26 | Anything You Choose b/w Without Rhyme or Reason | |
"Yesterday's Rain" b/w "Without Rhyme or Reason" | 94 | 48 | ||
1969 | "Anything You Choose" b/w "Mecca Flat Blues" | 86 | 79 | |
"And She's Mine" b/w "Leopard Skin Phones" | 97 | 92 | ||
"Everybody's Talkin'" b/w "It Ain't Necessarily Bird Avenue" (from Spanky and Our Gang) | 126 (cashbox) | 88 | A-side is the same song as "Echoes" | |
1975 | "When I Wanna" b/w "I Won't Brand You" | – | – | Change |
1976 | "L.A. Freeway" b/w "Standing Room Only" | – | – |
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The Association is an American sunshine pop band from Los Angeles, California. During the late 1960s, the band had numerous hits at or near the top of the Billboard charts and were the lead-off band at 1967's Monterey Pop Festival. Generally consisting of six to eight members, they are known for intricate vocal harmonies by the band's multiple singers.
Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane is an American singer best known for fronting the vocal group Spanky and Our Gang in the late 1960s. She was nicknamed "The Queen of Sunshine Pop".
John Seiter is an American musician. He is best known for his work as a drummer for Spanky and Our Gang and The Turtles.
Bobbie Gentry and Glen Campbell is a studio album by American singer-songwriters Bobbie Gentry and Glen Campbell. It was released on September 16, 1968, by Capitol Records.
Margo Guryan was an American singer-songwriter. As a songwriter, her work was first recorded in 1958, although it was for her 1960s song "Sunday Mornin'", a hit for both Spanky and Our Gang and Oliver, that she is perhaps best known. Her songs have also been recorded by Cass Elliot, Glen Campbell and Astrud Gilberto, among others.
Stuart Martin Scharf was an American composer, guitarist, and record producer.
"Lazy Sunday" is a song by the English band Small Faces, which reached number two on the UK Singles Chart in 1968. It was written by the Small Faces songwriting duo Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane, and appeared on the band's 1968 concept album Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake. Against the band's wishes, it preceded the album as a single release.
Spanky and Our Gang is the debut album by Spanky and Our Gang, released on August 1, 1967. The album was released by Mercury Records and included three songs that were released as singles. These were "Sunday Will Never Be the Same", their biggest hit, which reached number Number 9 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in the summer of 1967, "Making Every Minute Count", which reached Number 31, and "Lazy Day", reaching Number 14.
Spanky & Our Gang Live is the fifth album by American 1960s folk-rock band Spanky and Our Gang.
Like to Get to Know You is the second studio album by Spanky and Our Gang, released in 1968. It is the first of their albums to exhibit their signature sound, partially owing to it being produced by two different people than their debut album.
"Lazy Day" is a song written by Tony Powers (lyrics) and George Fischoff (music), and recorded by the 1960s band Spanky and Our Gang. It appeared on their album Spanky and Our Gang.
Nigel Pickering was an American folk rock musician, who co-founded and was a songwriter for Spanky And Our Gang.
"Sunday Mornin'" is a song written by Margo Guryan. It was recorded as "Sunday Morning" and appeared on her 1968 album Take a Picture as well as on the B-side to her single "Spanky and Our Gang."
"Sunday Will Never Be the Same" is a 1967 song by the American band Spanky and Our Gang from their self-titled debut album. The single peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #7 in the Canadian RPM Magazine charts. The song was written by Terry Cashman and Gene Pistilli and borrows an interlude from the French carol “Les Anges Dans Nos Campagnes”. The arrangement is by Jimmy Wisner.
Paul Michael "Oz" Bach was an American folk musician and bassist for the 1960s group Spanky and Our Gang.
Psychedelic rock is a thriving music genre in Australia and New Zealand.
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