Spanky And Our Gang: Spanky And Our Gang/Like To Get To Know You/Anything You Choose/Live

DETAILS ALBUM

TRACKLIST

Disc One:
SPANKY AND OUR GANG

1. Lazy Day
2. (It Ain’t Necessarily) Byrd Avenue
3. Ya Got Trouble
4. Sunday Will Never Be The Same
5. Commercial
6. If You Could Only Be Me
7. Making Every Minute Count
8. 5 Definitions Of Love
9. Brother Can You Spare A Dime
10. Distance
11. Leaving On A Jet Plane
12. Come And Open Your Eyes

LIKE TO GET TO KNOW YOU

1. The Swingin’ Gate
2. Prescription For The Blues
3. Three Ways From Tomorrow
4. My Bill
5. Sunday Mornin’
6. Echoes (Everybody’s Talkin’)
7. Suzanne
8. Stuperflabbergasted
9. Like To Get To Know You
10. Chick-A-Ding-Ding •
11. Stardust/Coda (Like To Get To Know You)

Disc Two:
ANYTHING YOU CHOOSE

1. Anything You Choose
2. And She’s Mine
3. Yesterday’s Rain
4. Hong Kong Blues
5. Nowhere To Go
6. Give A Damn
7. Leopard Skin Phones
8. But Back Then
9. Mecca Flat Blues
10. Without Rhyme Or Reason
11. 1-3-5-8
12. Jane
13. Since You’ve Gone

LIVE

1. Nagasaki
2. Amelia Earhart’s Last Flight
3. Waltzing Matilda •
4. Brother, Can You Spare A Dime
5. Steel Rail Blues
6. Oh Daddy
7. Dirty Old Man
8. The Klan
9. That’s What You Get For Lovin’ Me
10. Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me
11. Wasn’t It You
12. You Got Trouble

De Amerikaanse groep Spanky And Our Gang bracht vier langspelers uit in vier opeenvolgende jaren [1967-1970], haalde in eigen land drie keer de Top 20 [‘Lazy Day’, ‘Like To Get To Know You’, ‘Sunday Will Never Be The Same’] en verdween dan van het toneel. Nochtans vormden Spanky en haar Bende één van de meest originele popgroepen. Daarvoor zorgde de volumineuze stem van Spanky - die meteen aan die Mama Cass doet denken – maar ook de prachtige harmonieën, de afwisselende muziek [ballades, blues, jazz, folk, rock…], de heerlijke humor [een ‘commercial’ voor cannabis!] en de onmiskenbare kritiek op het conservatieve Amerika, zoals de gevaren van seksen en biljarten in ‘Trouble’.  Hun schitterendste muzikale prestatie is ongetwijfeld de overtuigende manier waarop ze het woordenboek zingen in ‘5 Definitions of Love’ en een factuur in ‘My Bill’. Kortom, een waar teken des tijds met duidelijke peace and love-inslag.
BGO Records heeft de vier langspelers die oorspronkelijk op Mercury verschenen, nu op twee compact discs gezet, re-mastered uiteraard, en daar een mooi boekje aan toegevoegd.
U kan twee selecties beluisteen op Radio 68 op dinsdag 27 en woensdag 28 augustus van 12 tot 24 uur.

Eddy Bonte

Spanky and Our Gang were among the most original American bands to emerge in the second half of the sixties, releasing four albums in four years’ time [1967-1970) and scoring three Top 20 hits at home – only to quickly disappear soon afterwards. And that’s a real shame.  They mixed folk, rock, ballads, jazz and blues to great effect, making the most of Spanky’s formidable voice – think Mama Cass – and sublime group harmonies. Their songs are full of humour, with the laid-back ‘Commercial’ telling the tale of a garbage man being saved from boredom thanks to a daily joint! Spanky and her Gang were a true sign of the times, with lots of peace and love mixed with critical comment on the conservative christian society, such as the ‘moral threat’ posed by sexuality and pool-tables in ‘Trouble’. When I first heard ‘5 Definitions of Love’, I couldn’t believe they were actually singing the definition of ‘love’ as listed in Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. But they did! I know no other band like them. Thanks are due to BGO Records for re-releasing the band’s four Mercury albums on two compact discs – re-mastered of course – augmented with a nice booklet.
Radio 68 will play two different selections on Tuesday 27 and Wednesday 28 August from 11 a.m. till 11 p.m. GMT.