Spooky

March 27, 2025 7:36 AM

Spooky the OG. Spooky is originally an instrumental song performed by saxophonist Mike Sharpe (Shapiro), written by Shapiro and Harry Middlebrooks Jr, which first charted in 1967 hitting No. 57 on the US pop charts and No. 55 on the Canadian charts. Its best-known version was created by James Cobb and producer Buddy Buie for the group Classics IV when they added lyrics about a "spooky little girl".

Spooky Classics IV, the one that became a big hit. This version has the same saxophone player from the original.

Spooky, Dusty Springfield’s approach is sexy and perhaps my favourite.

Spooky, Atlanta Rhythm Section. Today I learned two musicians from Classics IV helped form ARS along with three of the musicians who were part of Roy Orbison’s band The Candymen. Further, The producer Classic’s IV Buddy Buie ended up being the ARS manager and producer.

Spooky, a different Atlanta Rhythm Section version

Spooky, Lydia Lunch says that she was stoned and watching a lot of cartoons when she decided to record the song.

Spooky Martha Reeves, “love is kinda crazy with a spooky old lady like me”.

Spooky Classics IV, the extended mix is 17 minutes (?!)

Spooky, it’s live Phish so the song is embedded in a song called Ghost that morphs into Spooky at around the 8:10 mark.

posted by ashbury (12 comments total)

Nice collation of all the iconic versions. The Classics IV version is certainly the one I was most familiar with, though I remember the Dusty Springfield one as well.
posted by drossdragon at 9:12 AM on March 27

Spooky, Imogen Heap

(I don't know how to paste in that little play icon)

(Trey's Ghost/Spooky mashed potatoes lyrics are pretty fun in that Phish link)
posted by vverse23 at 9:13 AM on March 27

A version by Gary Walker and the Rain yielded the central sample for Barry Adamson's "Something Wicked This Way Comes," the trip hop number that tees up That Scene in Lost Highway.
posted by Iridic at 10:40 AM on March 27

Doo-wop greats The Nylons!

Love Potion #9 / Spooky
posted by vverse23 at 11:40 AM on March 27

I’m mostly familiar with Dusty’s version but these are all great!

But - what does “spooky” mean in this context? Kind of feels like it might be 60s slang, but - what?
posted by Jon Mitchell at 12:18 PM on March 27

Going by the rest of the lyrics, it seems that it means the girl's intentions are hard to read--she's kind of mysterious.
posted by polecat at 12:47 PM on March 27

Yeah, “mysterious” or “inexplicable” does fit, which I suppose is one of the regular senses of “spooky”, like “spooky action at a distance”
posted by Jon Mitchell at 3:16 PM on March 27

I love this -- deep dive to a song that has become a standard, checking out the 'diaspora' of cover versions. And, most importantly -- hat tip ashbury! -- proper acknowledgement to the original composers.

From the post I learned a about a new wave and Phish cover of Spooky. Googling pointed me to another version from REM, which musically was a solid 'meh' given the links here, but it did point me to the Cobweb Hotel, so that's a plus.

But one version of Spooky has always stood head and shoulders above the rest for me. If not Mt. Rushmore, on my Top 10 all time of soul/jazz/funk tracks: Spooky by saxophonist Stanley Turrentine.

Horns to your chest? Check. Tight snare work and deep drum fills? Check. Elastic bass? Check. Bluesy, earthy sax work from Turrentine? Check. Overall crescendo effect? Check and log off Theo, time to open a can of beer and turn on the Hi-Fi.
posted by Theophrastus Johnson at 4:44 PM on March 27 [1 favorite]

I think using 'spooky' as an adjective is more kind of Maynard G. Krebs kind of thing, sort of 1960s beatnik/hipster jive.

I met Buddy Buie a few times through some mutual friends who played with Orbison's band The Candymen. There was a good bit of cross-pollination between them, the Atlanta Rhythm Section, Classics 4, and a couple of others, such as Beaverteeth. Although nominally based in Atlanta (duh!), several of those guys grew up in south Alabama and were a part of the local musician's circle here. In fact, Buie's family ran a popular restaurant here for many years. Sadly, Buddy Buie passed away from ALS a while back.
posted by TwoToneRow at 5:01 PM on March 27 [3 favorites]

Here is a clip of Buddy Buie and J.R.Cobb talking about Spooky at a songwriter's roundtable from a few years ago. Clearly, Buie was wise to choose producer as a career path instead of singer :) From the same night here is original (and current) ARS vocalist Rodney Justo performing the Classics 4 tune Traces. (Sorry about the crappy audio on these.)

Full disclosure, I'm on stage here but only visible for a couple of seconds, so hopefully not a self-link issue.
posted by TwoToneRow at 5:38 PM on March 27 [1 favorite]

Theophrastus Johnson, that Cobweb Hotel is nutty! Animators sure are a trippy bunch and it seems that the farther back you go the odder they are. Stanley is the man, good find on that one.

TwoToneRow, it’s always interesting when somebody was actually there, thank you for the personal knowledge about ARS. And no, not the best voice, at least for that song, lol.
posted by ashbury at 5:58 PM on March 27

Maynard G. Krebs kind of thing

I’d never heard or seen this character but looking at the cast photos it was immediately obvious where the inspiration for Scooby-Doo came from! At least they were honest about it.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 7:02 PM on March 27 [1 favorite]