Spanky And Our Gang - Lazy Day (Mercury Records 1967)
"Lazy Day" is a popular song by the 1960s band Spanky and Our Gang that peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart after its 1967 release and number 1 in the Canadian RPM Magazine charts. It appeared on their album Spanky and Our Gang.
The song stayed in the Top 40 four weeks longer than their other hit song, "Sunday Will Never Be the Same", which peaked higher on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. "Lazy Day" was featured on The Ed Sullivan Show and sold over one million copies. Written by George Fischoff and Tony Powers, the song received generally positive reviews and is fondly remembered. According to AllMusic, "Lazy Day" "...is a giddy joy no matter what."[4] Despite calling the lyrics frothy, The Milwaukee Journal writer Dick Young called the melody magnetic.
Spanky and Our Gang was an American 1960s sunshine pop band led by Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane. The band derives its name from Hal Roach's popular Our Gang comedies of the 1930s (known to modern audiences as The Little Rascals), because of the similarity of her surname with that of George McFarland (Spanky). The group was known for its vocal harmonies.
The group's eponymous first album was released by Mercury Records on August 1, 1967, and included three popular songs that were released as singles. These were "Sunday Will Never Be the Same" (their biggest hit, which reached number No. 9 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in the summer of 1967), followed by "Making Every Minute Count" (reached No. 31/No. 23 in Canada) and "Lazy Day" (reached No 14). Both "Sunday Will Never Be The Same" and "Lazy Day" sold over one million copies. "Sunday Will Never Be the Same" was written by Terry Cashman and Gene Pistilli. In an interview by Cashman with the Songfacts website, he revealed that the song was originally written as a ballad, however, the group "changed it, and they added the vocal, 'Ba-da-da-da-da,' which was a great hook."
Their second album, Like to Get to Know You, was released in April 1968. Two singles were released: "Sunday Mornin'" in the winter, which reached No. 30 on February 10–17, 1968, and "Like to Get to Know You" in the spring, which reached No. 17 on June 8, 1968. The latter single's B-side, "Three Ways From Tomorrow", also received considerable airplay. The album included their rendition of "Stardust", and a version of folksinger Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talkin'", best known as a hit single for Harry Nilsson and the theme song for the movie Midnight Cowboy.
"Give a Damn" was released as a single in late Summer 1968. In spite of not receiving airplay in several markets because of the curse word in its title, as well as its use of the sound of an African American man from the ghetto saying something that was not understood, ending in his laughter before the song's fade. – and because it was a comment on racial equality that became the theme song for the New York Urban Coalition – the song became a regional hit where released and overall made No. 43. The band also performed the song live on an episode of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, resulting in CBS' Standards and Practices division receiving numerous complaints about the song's title being used during "family viewing hours". One such complaint reportedly came from President Richard Nixon. "Give a Damn" would become John Lindsay's campaign song during his successful run for mayor of New York. The song reached #26 in the Canadian RPM' magazine charts.
On October 31, 1968, the group's lead guitarist Malcolm Hale died of carbon monoxide poisoning due to a faulty heating system. (Hale's death has also been ascribed to bronchopneumonia). This was a devastating blow to the group; the multi-instrumentalist did much of the arranging and largely kept the band together. Hale's death, along with the group's satisfaction over what they had achieved already, led to the decision to disband early in 1969. Mercury released a third album, Anything You Choose b/w Without Rhyme or Reason, in January 1969. It contained two popular songs, the previous summer's hit "Give a Damn" and "Yesterday's Rain" (#48 Canada). The group briefly reformed in 1975 and recorded an album (Change) for the Epic label.
Blue sky, sunshine
What a day to take a walk in the park
Ice cream, daydream
Till the sky becomes a blanket of stars
What a day for a picnic
Daisies and lots of red balloons
And what a day for holdin' hands
And bein' with you
Lazy day just right for lovin' away
Lazy day made for a strollin' the lane
Baby you and me
(You and me)
And a honey bee
'Neath a shady tree
Lazy day, lazy day,
Lazy day for you and me
Blue sky, sunshine
Flowers bloomin', squirrels sayin' hello
Rowboats, bird notes
People smilin' everywhere that we go
What a day to be together
And what a sky of blue
And what a day for thinkin' right out loud
I love you
(Repeat chorus)