Spanky and Our Gang
| Industry | Music |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1966 |
| Headquarters | Chicago , United States |
| Products | Sunshine pop music, albums, singles |
| Website | www |
Spanky and Our Gang was a 1960s American sunshine pop ensemble fronted by Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane. The band's name paid homage to Hal Roach's Our Gang comedy series. They gained recognition for their intricate vocal harmonies and achieved significant chart success in the US and Canada between 1967 and 1968 with hits such as "Sunday Will Never Be the Same", "Lazy Day", "Sunday Mornin'", and "Like to Get to Know You."
History and work
Their initial album, Spanky and Our Gang, was released by Mercury Records on August 1, 1967. It included three singles: "Sunday Will Never Be the Same" which reached No. 9 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, "Making Every Minute Count" peaking at No. 31 in the U.S. and No. 23 in Canada, and "Lazy Day" which climbed to No. 14. Both "Sunday Will Never Be the Same" and "Lazy Day" each sold over one million copies. Written by Terry Cashman and Gene Pistilli, Cashman credited the band with adding a unique vocal hook that significantly boosted the song’s popularity.
Their follow-up album, Like to Get to Know You, arrived in April 1968 and featured singles such as "Sunday Mornin'" which reached No. 30, and the title track "Like to Get to Know You" which peaked at No. 17; its B-side "Three Ways From Tomorrow" also received radio attention. This album contained renditions of classics like "Stardust" as well as Fred Neil’s "Everybody's Talkin'", famously covered later by Harry Nilsson.
In late summer 1968, the band released the politically motivated single "Give a Damn," which attained No. 43 in the U.S. charts and No. 26 in Canada despite facing limited radio exposure due to its provocative title. The track was adopted as the anthem for the New York Urban Coalition and played a role in John Lindsay’s successful mayoral campaign, stirring controversy that included objections from CBS Standards and Practices as well as reportedly from President Richard Nixon.
On October 31, 1968, tragedy befell the group when lead guitarist Malcolm Hale passed away from bronchial pneumonia at just 27 years old. Hale had been a key figure in arranging their music and maintaining group cohesion; his death heavily influenced their decision to dissolve early in 1969. Mercury Records issued a third album titled Anything You Choose b/w Without Rhyme or Reason in January 1969, featuring tracks like "Give a Damn" and "Yesterday's Rain," which reached No. 48 in Canada. Another member, Lefty Baker, died from cirrhosis on August 11, 1971, at age 32.
The band briefly reunited in 1974 with original members McFarlane and Nigel Pickering alongside newcomers Jim Moon, Will Plummer, and Marc McClure. They produced the country-tinged album Change (1975) under Epic Records with producer Chip Young and toured Texas clubs until approximately 1980.
Following the band's final breakup, McFarlane embarked on a solo path, appearing in the film Moonrunners (1975) and touring as part of The New Mamas and the Papas, filling Cass Elliot’s role. In April 2011, she portrayed "Bloody Mary" in Ferndale Repertory Theatre’s staging of South Pacific.
Later releases
Owing to enduring fan interest, Mercury Records issued several compilation albums including Spanky's Greatest Hit(s) in 1969, a budget release titled Give a Damn in 1989, and The Best of Spanky & Our Gang: 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection in 2005. Rhino Records released The Best Of Spanky and Our Gang in 1986, while Hip-O Select offered a limited-edition box set called Spanky and Our Gang's Complete Mercury Recordings, which contained previously unreleased material along with comprehensive liner notes.
Members
| Name | Date of Birth | Place of Birth | Date of Death | Place of Death | Position in Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 (Eustace Britchforth Baker) | January 7, 1939 | Roanoke, Virginia | August 11, 1971 | California | lead guitar, banjo, vocals (1967–69) |
| Jim "Moon" Scherz | April 26, 1946 | Brooklyn, New York | drums (1975), road manager | ||
| Marc McClure | lead guitar, banjo, steel guitar, vocals (1975) | ||||
| Bill Plummer | March 27, 1938 | Boulder, Colorado | bass, vocals (1975) |
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Albums
- Spanky and Our Gang (Mercury, 1967 – peaked at No. 77)
- Like to Get to Know You (Mercury, 1968 – reached No. 56)
- Anything You Choose b/w Without Rhyme or Reason (Mercury, 1969 – attained No. 101)
- Spanky's Greatest Hit(s) (Mercury, 1969 – climbed to No. 91; Canada – No. 78) (several tracks received fresh stereo mixes; initial CD reissue excluded extra overdubs)
- Spanky & Our Gang Live (Mercury, 1970; recorded in 1967)
- Change (Epic, 1975)
- The Best of Spanky & Our Gang (Rhino, 1986)
- Greatest Hits (Mercury, 1999)
- The Best of Spanky & Our Gang: 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection (Mercury, 2005)
- The Complete Mercury Recordings (Hip-O Select, 2006) (Limited edition four-disc set of 5000 copies)
- Greatest Hits (Mercury, 2007)
- Back Home Americana (Spectra, 2010)
- The Singles and More (Crash, 2013)
- The Complete Mercury Singles (Real Gone Music, 2014) – includes the fourth disc from the Hip-O four-CD collection
Singles
| Year | Tracks (A-side, B-side) Both sides from same album unless specified |
Chart | Chart | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 | Canada | |||
| 1966 | "And Your Bird Can Sing" b/w "Sealed with a Kiss" |
– | – | Non-album singles |
| 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 | 'Echoes' is the A-side under a different title | |
| 1975 | "When I Wanna" b/w "I Won't Brand You" |
– | – | Change |
| 1976 | "L.A. Freeway" b/w "Standing Room Only" |
– | – |