"Spooky"

“Spooky” is a rarity in 1960s pop tunes, because it charted on the Billboard Hot 100 three times in a dozen years with renditions by three different groups.

The song began life as an instrumental. With Harry Middlebrooks Jr., Atlanta saxophonist Mike Sharpe (Shapiro) wrote the song and made the 1967 pop charts with it in the U.S. and Canada.

Enter The Classics IV

But the song is much better known as a vocal by The Classic IV, whose James Cobb and producer Buddy Buie added lyrics about that “spooky little girl like you.”

It was their band’s first big hit, charting in February 1968, No. 3 in the U.S. and No. 1 in Canada.

The group had begun five years earlier in Jacksonville, Fla., as a cover band, playing Ventures numbers and instrumental takes on “Misty” and “Summertime.” After a while, fans started requesting vocals.

“I can sing,” said one of the founders, drummer Dennis Yost, and that led to a whole new chapter in the group’s story.

Relocating to Atlanta in the mid-’60s, The Classics IV landed a contract with Imperial Records. A trio of hit records followed, each with one-word titles, “Spooky,” then “Stormy” and “Traces,” all of which have since become popular cover standards.

The Third Charting

“Spooky” hit the charts for the third time in 1979 when J.R. Cobb and bandmate Dean Daughtry left The Classics IV to be part of the Southern rock band Atlanta Rhythm Section.

There Cobb and Daughtry helped ARS record “Spooky,” again with production assistance by Buie. It was the second of two singles released from Underdog, the group’s 8th studio album. ARS's version of the song hit No. 17 in the US on Billboard and No. 15 on Cash Box.

Gender Bending

But a decade before the ARS recording came Dusty Springfield’s 1968 version of “Spooky.”

Released as a single worldwide except in the U.S., this gender-flipped version was featured prominently in Guy Ritchie’s 1998 film, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Springfield's take on the tune was certified gold in 2024.

There were at least two other gender-bender versions. Lydia Lunch sang of a “spooky little boy” when she included the song on her 1980 Queen of Siam album; Martha Reeves inserted a similar rendering on her In the Midnight Hour album in 1986. The latter is especially fun. In her version, Martha also swapped the line "spooky little girl like you" line with "spooky old lady like me.”

Floodifying It

This song was born at jam sessions, with an infectious rhythm and a couple of funky chords that invite all kinds of improvisation, making it a fine fit for The Flood.

It’s the latest tune that Randy Hamilton and Danny have brought to the band room, complete with those Classics IV lyrics. Here’s a take from last week’s rehearsal.