GROOVIE GOOLIES
Generally speaking, spinoffs are usually inferior to the shows off
which they're spinning. The list of spinoff TV shows, for example, is littered
with 'jump the shark' embarrassments like Joanie
Loves Chachi, The Brady Brides, and the Misadventures
of Sheriff Lobo, to name just a few. But sometimes, believe it or
not, the spinoff series can actually be better than the original. For example,
Buddy Ebsen's Barnaby Jones was infinitely cooler than William
Conrad's Cannon, and Bindi the Jungle Girl has
a certain twisted train-wreck of watchability that The Crocodile Hunter
never had. The Jeffersons are far hipper and sassier
than All in the Family ever was – heck, even Archie
Bunker's Place had the added bonus of Danielle Brisbois' prematurely
ample chest. And as much
as I love the Archies and their double-entendre-laced bubblegum
pop, I have no doubt the Groovie Goolies would blow their
Riverdale a**es right off the stage at the Fillmore West in a battle of
the animated bands.
It's true, just compare their albums. When was the last time you heard
Archie let loose with a fuzz pedal? Never. But Drac gets off such
a ripping fuzz solo in the middle of "Cling Clang," you'd swear Davie
Allen had died and come back to life, then started hunting for virgin blood
by night. And do you really think there was a place in India for Jughead
when Ravi Shankar was teaching the sitar? Hardly. But Frankie and Wolfie
both took night courses, and the sitar-like bassline that anchors "Bumble
Goolie" not only adds a layer of hipness the Archies only dreamed of, it
also makes the song sound like a Saturday morning version of "Green Tambourine."
And okay, sure, Betty & Veronica were pretty hot babes, but I'd put
my hard-earned money on Hagatha in a mudwrestling match. I really need to
get out more often.
There's a lot more surprises on the Groovie Goolies album, and if
you passed this up before because you thought it was more lightweight Bugaloos/Banana
Splits bubblegum pop, it's time to reassess. The beautiful soft pop "We
Go So Good Together" is certainly strong enough to be featured on a sofy-psych
'Fading Yellow' type compilation, with its smooth, breathy, stoned harmonies,
more of that groovy vampire fuzz and quivery shiver guitar licks. The Turtles'
"You Showed Me" is remarkably similar, and that became a big hit single.
So where's the love for the cartoon undead?
While I'd never accuse the Groovie Goolies of even approaching the acid-damaged
studio freakouts of the early Pink Floyd, there are some pretty messed up
moments in "Frankie" that make you wonder if the big green guy didn't have
access to Syd Barrett's worktapes. Those off-kilter minor keys are a little
too strange for most Syd & Marty Krofft-bred bubblegum pop fans, and
those freakish sped-up background vocals sound like someone here's breeding
an army of Chipmunk corpses. When Syd Barrett later sang "scream thy last
scream, old woman with a casket," was he was actually, in fact, referring
to Hagatha from the Groovie Goolies? I don't recall him ever singing about
the Archies…unless, of course, you count "Jughead Blues."
Laugh if you like, but even the lyricists behind the Groovie Goolies' songs
seemed to insinuate that the army of undead animated monsters weren't exactly
naïve to the ways of the loco weed. Take these lyrics for example from the
song "Goolie Garden":
They aren't exactly farmin' in the Goolie Garden Oh, I think we already know, thank you - now just give us directions to
the farm. And I just hope that when I get to the Goolie Mansion, the band
will be downstairs ripping through some fuzz-filled fuel-injected garage
punk tune like "Spend Some Time Together," the monster band version of vintage
1967 Paul Revere & The Raiders nugget. In fact, the only difference
between the Groovie Goolies and the Paul Revere & The Raiders' version
is that one group is dressed in crazy outfits from a post-Halloween fire
sale at a costume store. And the other one is a cartoon.
So you can see, when the Groovie Goolies spun off from the
Archies, they really spun off. If the Archies
emulated the catchy co-ed pop music of the Mamas & Papas and the Fifth
Dimension, then the Groovie Goolies must have hanging out with The Morticians
and the Zombies! Like the Rolling Stones and The Beatles, the Groovie Goolies
were the dirty, unkempt, maggot-infested friends of the clean-cut Archie
gang, and their music reflected that. These are the dudes who ate Bugaloos
for lunch. I'd sure hate to see what they woulda done with Danielle Brisbois.
This is an Original 1970 pressing on RCA (LSP-4420), produced by Richard
Delvy for Rick Sheldon Productions, a division of Richard Delvy Enterprises,
Inc. Recorded in Torrence, California with Don Sciarrotta at the control
board. Backing vocals by Bob Markland; & Dave Mani, along with musical arrangers
Ed Fournier & Dick Monda. Jacket is still in the shrinkwrap, but with a
small saw-mark to the upper left edge, so it is overall near MINT! Vinyl
appears beautiful MINT!
What do they grow?
Wouldn't you like to know!
