The original blissed out with a superior Sax solo. The lyric splashed out around the wave of electrically picked guitar licks. "Spooky" is a quintessential Halloween jam. Since it's September 3rd and Halloween decorations hit the stores two weeks ago, let me take ths time to pontificate on the 2 better covers of the original song.
"In the cool of the evening' when everything is getting' kind of groovy
I call you up and ask you if you'd like to go with me and see a movie
First you say "no", you've got some plans for the night
And then you stop, and say, "all right"…
Atlantic Rhythim section took on the Spookayness in 1979.ARS did a studio version as well as a live version. Let me dicuss my thoughts on their rendition before I talk about he lovely Dusty, the Johnny Cash lass of covers. Both made this their own. Still this one was not an easy decision. Let me discuss.....
ARS isn't a band I would go out of my way to save my baby sitting money in the late 70s to go see. BUT there is something about their southern fried green tomatoes version of the illustrious song "Spooky". This song was sent into the world in 1966 which was produced to show off some serious sax prowess. According to the sort of experts at Wiki (i mean anyone can edit a page. Think about that)
This ARS version runs rich with keyboard prowess, slithering guitar sections along with a blissed out sax solo. The vocals are blessed with muted Southern twang that take a back seat to the musical arrangement. I like the live version best for it's unruly unrelated opening.
My friend Tom when asked WDIB. "I couldn't really ever find myself reaching for ARS so I just go with Dusty".
Now on to Dusty. The year was 1968 (the year of my entrance into the world) Dusty's version is seeped in sixties sultriness. Dusty (originally born Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien) was a striking presence lady rocking the 60 cat eye and swirly teased hair with a mahogany velvet voice. She made any song she chose to cover her own. She even lent her smooth vocals to another English band, The Pet Shop Boys. "What Have I Done to Deserve This".
On her version of "Spooky" she sounds like she is dangerously close to mic making this Halloween staple a sexed up come on. "Oooh spooky little boy like you." She even does a gender bender for this making it about a spooky little boy who asks her out to see a movie. She teases him then says "Al right". OH The joy of being asked out an date. You can't se me but I am rolling my eye at the state of "dating" these days Perhaps that is the line that drew me to this song. I am not much of a Halloween fan but as I age, I get more into it. I always come late to the party. I also like the retro feel of both songs. Dusty's version eschews the ARS intrigue of an intro. She jumps right in like a self confident woman who doesn't need much foreplay to um get it going.
I basically had to flip a coin on this one because both renditions have their own special sauce. I did lean toward........ARS simply for the unrelated messiness. It felt more organic. Though I did dig the tambo plus the bongo beat on the Dusty version. This is rather interesting on my part that I went with a band actually sang "Imaginary Lover". But for the queen of covers, I say "Dusty you still own Preacher Man, babe."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
live https://www.youtube.com/watch?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
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