The Spotnicks 1963 .. name those amps.

[Redbrangus]

IIRC the band had a hit with Telstar. Correction: That was the Tornadoes.

Telstar was indeed a big hit for the Tornados...no 'e'. Great tune...majestic! It gets regular homage from the surf aficionados in these parts. Edit: Subsequent research reveals this was written and produced by the enigmatic Joe Meek. Cool!

I'm old enough to remember being out in the back yard on summer nights in 1962 and watching the original Telstar satellite traverse the sky...every 90 minutes or so, as I recall. Space!

 

[Redbrangus]

OK, I'm totally digging the Spotnicks. There are several vids on the YouToob thingy. They rock "Ghost Riders In The Sky" on this one...in 2004, no less.

 

[Redbrangus]

Here's the boys a couple of years later. Bo Winberg (I presume) is still rocking his home brew rig, but the rest of the band is playing new-looking Blackface Fenders. Bass player (new?) is now playing a Gibson and they've added the keyboard player who would later take over the act by this point.

Edit: BTW, all the band's amps looked to have been purchased at the same time...they all "match". And in all the various pics of this band, all of the gear is first-rate, especially for this era. I mentioned this earlier...I don't think one saw all that many Fenders and Les Pauls in Europe in those days. I'm telling you, somebody had some dollars, er...I mean Kroner to spend on this act.

 

[JW56789]

Instrumental E-Lek-Trick guitar rock and roll was a big thing in those days, and from what I'm hearing, Mr. Winberg must have listened to a lot of Hank Marvin (from The Shadows), with some Dick Dale and Duane Eddy on the side. Those plastic plexi helmets are being rushed into production again for use on the road by everybody later this year . . . . .

So for the kiddies and our other younger readers, THIS is where your vintage guitars came from :









Guys starting on guitar back then had to learn this one, or you'd get laughed out of the neighborhood:



. . . . . and what a lot of people think is the very first rock and roll record, Ike Turner's 'Rocket 88':

 

[J-Bassomatic]

Weren't these guys reincarnated as Devo?

 

[Spectrum]

View attachment 3837066

Edit: "Everyone straighten up your antennae for the pics now!"

I think the new Space Force should adopt this as the official uniform. I'd enlist to get a set of them snappy duds.

About bands sticking around for over 50 years, the Ventures are still out there last I heard. a year or two ago they came through town here I think.

And of course, the Rolling Stones are of this era and they're definitely still a thing.

 

[pfschim]

The last two guys who were doing this schtick died earlier this year. From the Wiki entry, it sounded like they milked this old beast right up until 2014, when they announced their "final tour"...I'm not sure how I could have missed what must have been a big media flurry around that news. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to see them. Or the Beatles.

Just for the record, I've worked with several acts that had a similar provenance--they HAD been a band, a million years ago, and now there's still one or two guys--the ones who own the name--who are riding the old broke-down nag some 30 or 40 years later. Or in this case, 50 years after their 'hit' era. And they maintained a loyal following in Japan; it's funny, the Texas fusion-jazz bands I worked with in the '70's have a loyal following over there, too. Their self-released LP's from the '70's sell for up to $1K, even after a German label re-released their stuff on CD. Weird.

ha, the only thing in this post that caught my eye was the mention of "Texas fusion-jazz" .....

now I know Texas has produced many great musicians, and there is the legendary North Texas State jazz program, but Texas fusion-Jazz ??

 

[Redbrangus]

but Texas fusion-Jazz ??

Well there was this one guitar player named Eric Johnson who had a band called The Electromagnets that used to play a type of fusion around these parts during that time...not real sure what's become of that guy. His bass player from that era, Kyle Brock, also did all right for his-self, if I remember correctly. Edit: I forgot to mention that Larry Coryell is from Texas, although he didn't get famous until he left.

The LP's I was referencing were from a little Austin indie label, Fable Records. The band in this link, 47 Times Its Own Weight had a fantastic bass player, Spencer Starnes. He was in his mid-twenties when this recording was made, and he remained one of the best around up until death in 2018. He also produced and engineered a couple of Grammy-winning albums in his home studio. These recordings are actually pretty lame--he had nothing to do with that part-- but the music is definitely worth hearing. I have some board tapes of this band that just RULE!

 

[pfschim]

Well there was this one guitar player named Eric Johnson who had a band called The Electromagnets that used to play a type of fusion around these parts during that time...not real sure what's become of that guy. His bass player from that era, Kyle Brock, also did all right for his-self, if I remember correctly.

The LP's I was referencing were from a little Austin indie label, Fable Records. The band in this link, 47 Times Its Own Weight had a fantastic bass player, Spencer Starnes. He was in his mid-twenties when this recording was made, and he remained one of the best around up until death in 2018. He also produced and engineered a couple of Grammy-winning albums in his home studio. These recordings are actually pretty lame, but the music is definitely worth hearing. I have some board tapes of this band that just RULE!

see, I did NOT know Eric Johnson was from Texas ... ya learn something new every day.

 

[Redbrangus]

see, I did NOT know Eric Johnson was from Texas ... ya learn something new every day.

Since the name has come up, here's Eric Johnson in a situation he had no place being...sitting in with some good ol' boys at the closest thing to a real Texas honky-tonk we still have left here in ATX. I can't for the life of me figure what he was doing there... I'm surprised he even knows where this place is.


At the end, you can hear the singer ask him "What did you say your name was?" I totally cracked up at that...I'm guessing that good ol' boy knew who he was and was just razzing him a little. Regardless, I'd ten times rather hear that guitar player, Red Volkhaert, than EJ any day. No disrespect intended to our home-boy, but he was a fish out of water in this setting.

Edit: The piano player in this video is Earl Poole Ball, another legend. He played with Johnny Cash for 20 years besides recording with Carl Perkins, Buck Owens, Gram Parsons, and many others. This was a week-night at this particular joint, which I'm sure you can see from the stage is a real dump. An actual honky-tonk...all too rare around here these days.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

What the heck did I just watch?! It's like the spaghetti western version of Cowboys vs Aliens

 

[ezstep]

Precursor to the Wall of Sound?

 

[juancaminos]

Why do I feel like they were a polka band before they got the costumes?

I was thinking (hearing) the same thing.

 

[ac100X]

The bass player isn't playing a Fender Precision, I don't know what it is, here is the head stock.
Hagstrom? It's not a VOX.

 

[2tonic]

I must say, this was a well-equipped act for the era... the Beatles were playing Hofners and Hagstroms at this exact point in time. Maybe Sweden had better distribution for Fender and Gibson instruments than the UK...or maybe they weren't as protectionist.

View attachment 3837064 View attachment 3837066
These guys clearly are well-financed--I can't imagine what that costuming cost, not to mention the price of those American guitars over in Sweden. There are some other great pics on their site...I mostly just picked this one because of... well, you know.

Edit: "Everyone straighten up your antennae for the pics now!"

Not so sure about "those American guitars"!
The bass is definitely not a P. Or a Fender.
The rhythm guitar looks more like a Hagstrom, or maybe a Gretsch.
I'll buy the Strat is genuine.

 

[Samatza]

Man look at the size of those cabs! Thank goodness we don't have to lug around speakers that size any longer, not sure my back or my station wagon could take it.

 

[lowphatbass]

Not so sure about "those American guitars"!
The bass is definitely not a P. Or a Fender.
The rhythm guitar looks more like a Hagstrom, or maybe a Gretsch.
I'll buy the Strat is genuine.

Strats bring the big coin now but weren’t they one of Fender’s cheaper guitar offerings back then?

 

[DJ Bebop]

The bass player isn't playing a Fender Precision, I don't know what it is, here is the head stock.
Hagstrom? It's not a VOX.

View attachment 3837469

Framus maybe?

 

[Redbrangus]

Strats bring the big coin now but weren’t they one of Fender’s cheaper guitar offerings back then?

Strats weren't exactly one of the cheaper guitars in the Fender line-up, but they weren't too expensive. I don't know what they cost in '63, when this video was made, but in 1972, I think you could buy a Telecaster for about $250-275 and a Stratocaster for about $100 more...as compared to a Les Paul Standard at over $600. In the US.

I'll buy that the Fender-looking bass isn't a Precision, but it certainly is 'Fender-inspired'. And I wasn't convinced that it was a Gibson the second guitar player was playing in the video, but it did look like there was an authentic Les Paul in a couple of the still pics on their site. I'll stand by my theory that these guys must have had some sort of access to capital--they appear to be much better equipped than some of their contemporaries...think about that horrific Hofner 'violin' bass that Paul played for so long.

For the folks who see the Spotnicks as a precursor to Devo, I'll point out that these guys appear to be serious and sincere, as opposed to a sort of satire like Devo. And one thing I learned during the punk era is there isn't all that much difference between a rock and roll tune and a polka.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go for a fitting for my new space-suit stage costume. Thanks for uncovering this great act for us, @dbase. I've really enjoyed getting to know The Spotnicks. And of course, in true TB fashion, we've done nothing to answer the original query...but it's been a fun distraction in these pandemic times.

 

[JimmyM]

Weren't these guys reincarnated as Devo?

HOW DARE YOU!!!



The Spotnicks were a surf band dressed as astronauts or aliens. A very good one, too. Devo was a full-on art project with a well thought-out theme of de-evolution being the driving force of mankind behind every move they made. However, at one point, 3 of the guys in Devo did a side project called The Wipeouters where they did surf music: