Today’s classic song of the day was a hit for three different artists over the course of a decade or so. The song is “Spooky,” and it was written by Mike Sharpe (under his given name, Mike Shapiro), Harry Middlebrooks Jr., James Cobb, and Buddy Buie. Sharpe and Middlebrooks wrote “Spooky” as an instrumental, and Mike Sharpe’s original recording of the tune hit #57 on the Billboard charts in 1967.
Cobb and Buie heard the instrumental version of “Spooky” and decided to add lyrics so it could be recorded by their group, the Classics IV. (Cobb was the band’s guitarist and Buie was their manager.) The Classics IV version of “Spooky,” sung by Dennis Yost, was a huge hit; released in October of 1967, it rose to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Cash Box Top 100.
Cobb and keyboardist Dean Daugherty left the Classics IV in 1970 to form the group the Atlanta Rhythm Section. (Their 1977 hit, “So In to You,” was yesterday’s classic song of the day.) In August of 1979, the band members decided to revisit their past catalog and released a cover of “Spooky.” The Atlanta Rhythm Section single, which sounded unsurprisingly similar to the Classics IV version, hit #17 on the Billboard Hot 100, #15 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #23 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart.
In between those two versions, in 1970, British songstress Dusty Springfield released her version of “Spooky,” which might be my favorite. It’s smooth and sultry as only Dusty could do it, with the lyrics gender-reversed so she sings about “a spooky little boy like you.” Dusty’s version (with a cover of the Rascals’ “How Can I Be Sure?” on the flip side) was a top forty hit worldwide (#36 in her native UK), but was not released as single in the U.S. Our loss.
So there you have it. Three (four, if you count the original instrumental) versions of a catchy little tune. Which version of “Spooky” is your favorite?
