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Spanky And Our Gang
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Membership:

  • Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane (b.June 19, 1942, Peoria, IL) - vocals

  • Nigel Pickering (b.June 15, 1929, Pontiac, MI) - rhythm guitar, vocals

  • Paul "Oz" Bach (b.June 24, 1939 d.September 21, 1998, Asheville, NC) - bass, vocals (1966-67)

  • Malcolm Hale (b.May 17, 1941, Butte, MT d.October 30, 1968, Chicago, IL) - lead guitar, trombone, vocals (died of pneumonia)

  • John "The Chief" Seiter (b.August 17, 1944, St. Louis, MO) - drums, vocals (1967-69)

  • Kenny Hodges (b.August 3, 1936, Jacksonville, FL) - bass, vocals (1968-69)

  • Lefty Baker (b.January 7, 1939, Roanoke, VA - d.August 11, 1971, CA) - lead guitar, banjo, vocals (1968-69)


The Group's first album was released August 1, 1967, entitled "Spanky and Our Gang", and included three popular songs that were released as 45 singles - Sunday Will Never Be The Same, their biggest hit, which reached number #9 on Billboard in the summer of 1967, and Making
Every Minute Count and Lazy Day, both of which made the Top 30 in the fall of 1967.

Their second album, Like to Get To Know You, was released in April of 1968. Two singles were released: Sunday Mornin' in the spring, which reached #30, and Like to Get To Know You, which reached #17 in the summer of 1968. The album version of Like To Get To Know You begins with a humorous conversation. An album cut, Three Ways From Tomorrow, was never released as a single, but received considerable airplay. The album also included their rendition of the classic Stardust.

The group suffered a tragedy when their lead guitarist Malcolm Hale suddenly died at age 27 of pneumonia in October 1968, and the group disbanded shortly after that. Mercury released a third album, Anything You Choose, in January 1969. The album contained two popular songs, 'Give A Damn' and 'Yesterday's Rain'.

'Give A Damn' was released as a single in the Summer of 1968, where in spite of being banned in several states because of the profanity in its title - and in some cases due to the fact that the song was a stirring comment on racial equality and became the theme song for the New York Urban Coalition - the song became a regional hit where released and overall made #43. It was also performed live on an episode of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, which resulted in CBS Standards and Practices divsion receiving numerous complaints about the song's title being used during so-called 'family viewing hours', one of which was reportedly from Richard Milhouse Nixon (Tom Smothers, 'Geraldo' Interview, 1987).

Because of their continued popularity, Mercury has released album collections of their greatest hits in 1988 (Spanky's Greatest Hits), 1994 (Give A Damn), and 2005 (Spanky and Our Gang).