spanky and our gang

[drewfromcc13]

How interesting it is to see remakes of songs from the 60's, 70's and 80's by modern artists. Even the tv shows are remakes or period nowadays...Hawaii Five O, Pan Am, Mad Men, etc.

[sixtiesforever1966]

@drewfromcc13 It really is a shame how bad the remakes are. They take something great and flush it down the toilet. For Instance the movie Arthur,with Dudley Moore. now it is made with that bearded fag Russel Brand. It's Really Sad!

[rayjr62]

I don't see Malcom Hale performing here. This must have been after he passed away in October, 1968.

[sterlinggreg]

This sure as hell beats lady buke,buke and the hip hop rap crap were stuck with today!!!!

[sixtiesforever1966]

@sterlinggreg Yes no one would know lady buke buke if she went by the name of Stephany Germanada would they? That's her real name.

[only1moore]

Now that was a music video!

[Chrystallaish]

Great stuff!

[911dispatcher]

That was talent?

[doowop76]

Frank Zappa was influenced from this type of music and all the doowop stuff

[jsilence418]

@doowop76 prove it!

[RussMoxham]

Anyone know whether Frank Zappa had the 'turn it down' part of this in mind when he wrote the song 'Joe's Garage' (especially the end of it)?

[jsilence418]

Did spanky from the little rascals, get a sex change? he should have stayed a guy! Jeeziz what an ugly band!

[BeetleGirl1977]

@jsilence418 Funny as hell.

[jsilence418]

@BeetleGirl1977 Yeah I thought so.

[sixtiesforever1966]

@jsilence418 Can see that you did not grow up in the 60's

Guess you'd rather see Lady GaGa in a G String come out of an EGG!

In her own words that is the only way she could get noticed even as talented a piano player she is...

[doowop76]

PURE TALENT, didn't this group tour with Chris Montez

[doowop76]

PURE TALENT

[valtojos]

william 10, I believe you will find it was SUNDAY!

[ftsjr]

One of several great folk-rock groups from the mid-late 60s.

[yellowtigerboat]

good job!!!!

[Yourmomisnthere]

This is a VERY Comedic song!

[Topicarmno]

Crazy Man ! So 1968...

[jwilliam10]

As far as Spanky & Our Gang is concerned they only had one hit for me. (Got to Get to Know You) They were advertised as a Mamas and Papas clone but as you can see why that wasn't so. Actually Spanky was a very good female vocalist and was asked to join the M&P after Cass Eliot's death. Don't know what happened though.

[moorlock2003]

as far as your knowledge goes, it doesn't go very far. Spanky and Our Gang had a string of hits, not just one. "Advertised as a Mamas and Papas clone"? By whom?

[frankty67]

@jwilliam10 Spanky and Our Gang had a string of top 10 hits in the 60s beginning in 1967 with 'Someday will never be the Same'. Look at the music charts from the late 60s. Their 1968 hit 'Lazy Day' was great.They were absolutely nothing like The mamas and papas(who were great in their own right).Spanky and our Gang were a Psychedelicly hip folk rock band who's album cuts were great too.

[jwilliam10]

This song is like a story without a plot. Not only does it hurt my ears my eyes now require corrective vision lenses. I probably saw this on the Smothers Brothers Show. We all watched that dumb program. This attempt at music depicts an inane attempt to be hip. And those Smothers, two 35 something guys who thought they were hip because they had a popular variety show. Dorks. I feel sorry for all the great 60's groups who had to subject themself to this treatment on the road to stardom.

[sunchilde68]

this video and song make me feel real good 2 b here...nostalgia, which i need 2 survive..and from a period in time which all this style was fresh and pure, mostly anyway, and my fav in the pop culture shift in history, which will always have had an influence and affect on us from then 2 now and on ...peace and love!!!

[martinjp1958]

Writers of pop music in that era [65 - 75?] seemed to have real feeling for harmonic progressions and structure [sentiment?] that didn't exist before, and very quickly became a lost art in subsequent times. It was different to jazz sophistication, and also to folk 'purity', and seemed to exist as an independent pop entity. This kind of approach only seems to flourish now in musical theatre - and only sporadically there.

[thefonz003]

@martinjp1958 I agree. Artists like The Mamas and The Papas and The Association sang chords that you don't often hear sung...there was just something different there.

[martinjp1958]

Utter pop brilliance.

[SirGeorge53]

Like the Les Paul solo and the "Ricky" Bass.

[Chthon128]

Guess what you fucking assholes? This was from an era when people had TALENT, and didn't NEED to be pretty fashion plates in order to please superficial fuckers like you who think that "beauty" = "Talent".

MTV forever destroyed pop music by making "image" ad appearance a necessary aspect of being a performer. So 20%-talent bums can now get away with being 80% "pretty" instead of actually HAVING talent.

Blame YOURSELVES and your attitudes for the death of talented radio artists and REAL MUSIC!

[publicatdamagnificen]

@Chthon128 YOU TELL 'EM Chthon!!!

[salozmen29]

@Chthon128 Very weird, but yes I do miss the time very much where music actually had talent. When artists actually sang/performed/wrote their own songs. Now everyone is just basically another Milli Vanilli. Hell Milli Vanilli had more talent then 90% of the clowns out today.

[beentheredonethatb4]

@Chthon128 Anger issues? 

[Chthon128]

@beentheredonethatb4 Nope--reality issues.

[StraightTwoDVD]

spanky looks like white trailer park trash...i hate those kind of fat mean spirited nasty ass broads...real trash and they are man eaters,....fuck spanky..pig

[moorlock2003]

how wrong you are. I met Spanky at a record show and she signed some records. She was a very nice lady, very polite. She liked my Hollies t-shirt.

[mistofoles]

What a pile of crap!

[waninghope]

LMFAO!! These negative comments I see below me are some of the funniest shit I have heard in a while. cmon people, dont take yourselves so seriously. This is not the most visually asthetic band Ive ever seen LOL!

[jokza2002]

Wowwowwowwow! I never believed that I'd see (and hear) this again some day! I love that mean guitar!

[LOOKN450]

Check them out at 0:53 . I think it's actually John C. Reilly, Rosie O'Donnell, William H. Macy, Howard Kaylan, and, I don't know, Bernard Goetz ...

[LOOKN450]

I've seen my share of 60's cornballs in hippie clothing sellout crap, but this certainly sets a new low. The Smothers Brothers may have been known for a lot of forward thinking but they were also the kings of camp ...

[RiskGraffitiTV]

spanky was my comdom

[undertkr2001]

Spanky was my lover

[beowulven]

Perhaps not the best-looking band ever...

[apotpotful]

Spankys my cousin

[kermitkid1]

spankys my aunt

[dabrod]

Further to my message below.Here's how to find the "hidden"S&OG clip.Search on Youtube by entering "Sammy Davis""Hollywood Palace" and it's the show with the date of 11-2-68.Clip 1 of 6.You'll see Elaine & John Seiter on the screen before you enter the clip.On the show they perform Give A Damn & Yesterday's Rain.

Very sad when you consider what happened,but it's great that the clip is on YT.BTW they perform about 5 minuntes into the show.Cheers !!!

[dabrod]

Hidden away on youtube is the last TV perfomance of Spanky & Our Gang with Malcolm Hale.Broadcast on 2nd November 1968.The same week in which he passed away.

[Rainymondaze]

@dabrod Could you point me in the right direction to find this clip you mention? Thanks.

[dabrod]

Rainymondaze,Yep.On the search facility at the top of this page type in "Sammy Davis Jr Hollywood Palace".Then scroll down to the show dated 11-2-68 (1 of 6),at the moment its on the second page of the Hollywood Palace shows.You'll recognise it because the screen will show a still of Elaine & John.Their performance is about eight minutes into the show.

[Rainymondaze]

@dabrod Great, thanks a lot.

[hevped]

ooh no dont do that man thats just too way out

[kevykev38]

This makes me want to take an old stereo and shove it up my ass!

[blackcladlizard]

Clearly a song to trip you out if you were high. This band is underrated.

[newsreach]

Great video. Thanks.

[Grisostomo06]

This is pretty much in keeping with The Smothers Brothers who were basically folk musicians themselves. Like the Kingston Trio, Spanky and Our Gang in their early days liked to entertain their audience by putting on musical skits satirizing current trends. A lot of folk music was satire. It didn't take itself too seriously at least not until it turned its attention to the war in Vietnam. Then it went downhill.

[kirbyks]

So...why would the neighbors be bugged if you're listening with headphones?

[dan51556]

It looks to me like they are making fun of the studeo scene to me and the era. Just good clean fun. Would I buy the single, no, but sometimes the serious world needs to be made fun of. Keeps them guessing.

[alfiesgirluk]

I loved spanky and our gang but this is really awful, thanks anyway still good of you to bother to uplaod it

[jsilence418]

There were the GOOD SIXTIES, like the Smothers brothers usually showed, and the BAD SIXTIES, like this, but you can tell a lot about an era from the crap of the time, as well as the gems! thanks for the post.

[notonecta]

This rules. Cool song, great album. Thanks Captain.

[chipchance]

Is this a joke? A skit? If so,it's lame. If it's meant to be a real song and to be taken even somewhat seriously, shame on you for pretending to be pop/rock musicians.

[storrs19]

What a shame E! doesn't show anything good like this now. All channels suck wind these days. Thanks so much for posting this Smothers Brothers Show clip. That was a great variety show from the late 1960's.

[sebringdnf]

You pseudo intellectuals make me want to puke. Put things in historical context you assholes.

[rainydaywoman1957]

i agree, they should have left this skit to the monkees. the song is good though.

[oceanbound222]

Awesome band

[sebringdnf]

Try to put everything into the context of 1968.

[wtw88]

Yeah right sebringdnf.

Hey Joe (1967); Something in The Air (1969); My Generation (1965).

Want me to go on?

I could come up with a thousand great songs.

This is wet shit.

[ToniHunterOne]

@sebringdnf I loved the Smothers Brothers and Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in. Sadly, I think its hard for the averager Youtuber to think or even imagine anything earlier than 1985. Sigh and sniff .....

[dddddddddday]

I love this band but their songs were either great or they sucked. This one... sucked!

[wtw88]

Yes it did suck.

[joss885]

I think the whole lot sucks

[Axlhedfeild]

these guys are pretty awful

[joss885]

very

[wtw88]

I wrote My Generation before I checked your channel. Want to be friends, joss885?

[jojoblow01]

my good god !  just think , good soldiers died in `Nam and some came back to have their shellshocked ears further damaged by this sort of terrible music .

mum and dad go psychedelic ! wrong wrong ! arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

[wtw88]

I was into the Beatles, The Kinks, Hendrix, The Who, Cream, Led Zep, Manfred Mann's Earth Band rather than their older stuff (which wasn't bad), Dylan, Fleetwood Mac with Greenie, Free, Canned Heat, John Mayall and friends, The Moody Blues, Muddy Waters, BB King etc, The Stones, Ry Cooder, Poco, Little Feat, Small Faces, The Animals, CSN. I kind of liked the Mamas and Papas because the harmonies were solid and the songs well structured. This mob were second class MOR pop in comparison.

[jojoblow01]

yeah , i can dig that ! think you are being kind calling them `second class ` `mor` and `pop` quite frankly! . i`ll hold my tongue i think . My humor and lighthearted opinions seem to cause the beast to rise in some peoples old `hippy values lol!..

you have good tates though . peace man !

[joss885]

good taste man. I too think this is like mum and dad dress up to show they still got it and look son i used to play the guitar.

[joss885]

sure thing

[ShockDoc]

What were they trying to prove here? That the group could be 'wacky' like the Monkees? What a waste of time for an otherwise talented group.

[dickswelzbig]

Flaming like a furnace!

[ellesstee]

I remember this show, clearly - saw it first run. I was in the 12th grade and was called a "plastic hippy" because I thought S & O G was so good. I still dig 'em though. So what happened to Malcolm? I had the hots for him -real bad. When he didn't appear on this show I fell into a big dee-pression. Flunked my physics test that week.

[witewater1951]

Malcolm Hale Died in October, 1968 as a result of Carbon Monoxide poisoning. There is an article in Wikipedia pertaining to SAOG and this is where my info comes from. SAOG's album, "Anything You Choose b/w Without Rhythm Or Reason"was dedicated to Malcolm. Leopard Skin Phones is on this album

The Smothers Brothers had some very memorable performances on their show. Check out The Who doing "My Generation"

[dabrod]

Somebody this month has posted on youtube the Give A Damn & Yesterday's Rain performances from Hollywood Palace.They were transmitted on 2nd November 1968 just days after Malcolm died.

[steadfastcoward]

I don't know who did the video mixing for this and Like To Get To Know You but they deserved a couple EMMYS. Millions of $ on SPECIAL EFFECTS WITH COMPUTERS and One Woman makes them all USELESS! HURRAH!

[tornmask]

wOw! =0O great sound & fun song too!

[trailboyus66]

We have had these kind of issues since our Church upgraded it's sound equipment.

It is still my opinion that an organ is supposed to sound like a hammond organ.

Looks like they were having a blast! The best kept secret of the 60's was Spanky and Our Gang................... They were just the best.

Oh did I say that they were better than the Association? You bet I did. and I am a big Windy fan.. How about that.

[donboles]

Does anyone have "Give A Damn" video?

[ellesstee]

Give a damn was the other song they did on this same show.  It was a good permformance.

[raukzenta]

corny!!!!!

great guitar lead sound

[ROCKSTARCRANE]

Never saw a Rick bass like that....so cool!!

[95cooks]

Watch this video and think of Queen --One of their album covers comes from the part here where they look like they're singing in a choir. And in that very same part listen to the harmonies -- Queen copied them.

[duncanstpt2]

What an embarrassing piece of crap.

[duncanstpt2]

What a bunch of dipshits.

[Cal4ripkin]

now there's a needless comment. clearly this fellow has some behaviour issues. man, when i become an old man like this dude, i hope i won't become a bitter old fart.

[rstcrecords]

You had to be there at that place in time to understand.  Lefty Baker, who wrote this and several other of the group's songs was one of my business partners shortly after the group broke up when Malcolm Hale died in 1968. So you can laugh and call them silly, but they were pretty smart people and left all of us with their 5 part harmonies that groups like N-Sync, and others have copied.

[radioman66]

Love the early Clavinet on this. It was rare to hear a Clav on a pop record at that time, the Band used one around this time with Cripple Creek but that was about it. John Sieter their drummer left them to play drums for the Turtles replacing Johnny Barbatta.

[usfcheer23]

wonderful song. dig the pants!

[rstcrecords]

Lefty loved that style of outfits.... He would wear them to our studio for work each day. Lefty would plan projects for the month for our company. Lefty, Bill Broughton, and myself owned Far West Recording Productions, Inc. across the street from Warner Bros. in Burbank, ca. Lefty was instrumental in securing work projects for our company from Kelloggs, TV and radio spots, TV shows, and Ronald Regan's Team 70 campaign when he ran for governor in Calif., and much more. He died in 1971.

[gary52car]

yes thats true a little elo sound!! thaey were great1!!!!!!!

[ktheblenderuser]

Fantastic!

[95cooks]

Whoever wrote this is very talented. Tons of chord and tempo changes.

[rstcrecords]

Lefty wrote it.... dark glasses in the back fiddling with the knobs. He was a very good friend and business partner of mine from 1969 through 1971 when he died.

[95cooks]

Rstrecords, Lefty obviously knew music -- did he study music or was he self taught? And who wrote Sundays Will Never Be the Same? When I was five my parents played WABC in our car all the time and that song just stopped me in my tracks. Do you know when it was written and anything about it?

[rstcrecords]

Lefty was pretty much self taught.... by playing with the greats of the folk era 50's and early 60's. Lefty won the #1 banjo player in the State of Virgina in early 60's. Also the East Coast for #1 fastest finger picking on guitar and banjo. The fellas that wrote SWNBTS were E. Pistilli, T. Cashman.

[steadfastcoward]

Terry Cashman! Talk about a ton of fab writing! You could be nobody and do Dylan ; )

[ZIPPTPH77]

I poop on it!

[johncarlino131]

I think this was the very first rock song I ever heard. My dad knew Malcolm in high school. He used to play this tune for me and my brothers over his vintage headphones. You would hear the bass solo on the right headset and the drums on the left headset, just like the lyrics. I used to think that was him screaming "Turn it down!!!!!" Sounds just like him!

Too bad YouTube is in mono. It doesn't do the song justice!

[wasntborntofollow]

Amazing tune...on 1:59 i heard what years later will be the sound of Electric Light Orchestra...anyone?

[MikeNelsonMST3K]

buncha shit

[artlongjr]

Wow, I love this band and I've never heard this song before...Don't recall seeing this on the Smothers Brothers either, although I might have. Psychedelically silly!

[bkhistoryguy]

I think I hear some Queen in here.

[ottoskidoo]

this song didn't quite hit the charts did it? love it tho...

[Polyphemus47]

This song is from their 'Anything You Choose/Without Rhyme or Reason' LP--one of the finest pop records of all time, and an absolute MUST in a serious pop collection. THANK YOU so much for this--I never thought I'd see this song performed!

[cruptbside]

Amazing 2 think of... How "ahead-of-their-time" this Chicago based group was. This song is both a gr8 spoof AND a show of this groups technical and music ability. I never saw this clip B4.. and I grew up on the S-Bros show. Tnks 4 posting.

[thysbes]

It's total cheese. I love it.

[kirbyks]

I love saog but this is seriously retarded!

[jpatpt]

Excellent! One of my favorite groups....never saw this before. Such beautiful harmonies!! Thanks for posting!

[elizabethroth]

This is so cool, and unbelievable to watch - I am a friend of the guy with glasses and the multicolored shirt - his name is Nigel Pickering. He is currently in his seventees and still has a huge following who come to hear him sing at Happy Hour at the Tradewinds Lounge in St. Augustine, Florida. Hoe fun to see a video of him from 1968 when I was only 4! Way to go Nigel!

Maybe I should should try to post a recent clip of him, I have filmed him a few times in the past few years...

[rstcrecords]

when you see Nigel, please extend how highly Lefty thought of both him and Malcolm. Lefty was my business partner along with Bill Broughton in a recording studio in Burbank from 1969 until the day he died in '71. Lefty liked Nigel very much and considered him a VERY good friend. Does Nigel know where Kenny is? I would like to visit with him again. you can contact me through our site on song ramp.

[scottiedogfla]

GREAT!! Always loved S&OG; one of the best things to come out of the groovy 60s!

[yokai1968]

These groovy cats had a combined age of 283 at that time.

[otter06]

Wow! Rock Follies copied this!!! "Please turn the bass up in my cans..."

[friendlier]

It's from their brilliant psych-pop classic LP "Without Rhyme or Reason." Available now only on Japanese import CD. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, though.

[dkaleita]

This album, along with all other S&OG albums were released in the USA in 2005 in a limited edition 4-CD set called "Spanky & Our Gang - The Complete Mercury Recordings". It is about $75 bucks and appears to still be available on your favorite online CD shop.

[djunius]

These guys can really cook!

But if they're wearing earphones, why are the neighbors complaining? Maybe they needed to work in Dick and Tom...

[progdave]

This is a wonderful clip of one of the most underrated bands in the US. All their albums are brilliant and 'Like to Get To Know You' is an all time classic single.

What are they doing now?

i have the ed sullivan clips but where is this clip taken from?

Progdave

[dabrod]

This is from The Smothers Brothers in December 1968

[josny1]

Need to be stoned to understand this LOL

[ffa14]

Zany!!!.Is that the Smothers Brothers introducing?.You almost expect 'The Banana Splits' to crash in.Great fun.

[dabrod]

dvjvhjjhghj

[scdevon]

Malcolm Hale must have passed away before this appearance. He's not in the video. It must be from late '68 to early '69.

[hollowmenrule]

that echo in the mid part, where the vocals trail on through the other singing part, is a trick that the millenium where doing also, far out.

[Jon70]

sounds like Lou Christie singing "turn it down"?

[LaKotaBlueSky]

most of their stuff is beautiful, and it was a treat to see this

[progdave]

couldnt agree more

[Pudsmoke]

thnks for Posting!!