Two weeks ago, a pair of YouTube posters from England – collectively known as “potluk” – uploaded a treasure for R&B and pop fans: a live performance of “Rubberband Man” by the Spinners.
I do mean live... no lip-syncing! To watch the late, great Philippe Wynne in his prime is a beautiful thing. The wit of his improvisations, the gospel flavorings, the way his voice moves in and around the groove... God bless that man. We need another one just like him.
My big sis took me to see the Spinners and Nancy Wilson when I was a youngster, and I remember them breaking out the big-ass rubber bands. This is feel-good music, plain and simple.
And those of us who grew up with it are the luckiest people in the world.
(Special thanks to potluk for allowing this embed!)
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16 comments:
Ha-ha! I remember them breakin' out the rubberbands on either Soul Train or American Bandstand.
"Mighty Love" is my favorite Spinners joint. (Whenever, I think of it I can't help thinking about Ten City's "That's the Way Love Is."
Didn't Wynne join Parliament Funkadelic?
i miss live music! and sometimes the suits and choreographed dance moves :)
justjudith: If some young'uns would come out with the suits and the choreographed moves, they would blow minds!
Jena6: Philippe did indeed join "Uncle Jam's Army" for a hot minute. His vocal runs on "Knee Deep" were fantastic.
Yes! "Knee Deep"! You are spot on about Wynne's vocals on that joint, UBM. I have PF's greatest hits on my mp3 player, but I haven't listened to it in ages. Methinks I need to give that song a listen!
Thanks Dave! Needed that after that Zawinul news.
That band was tight - especially the horns and drums.
The Spinners take me back to my childhood in a good way because their music always had such an uplifting sound.
And Phillipe Wynne - what can you say.
Jena6 - it was American Bandstand! Back in about '95 they were playing old re-runs of AB on cable and I caught the Spinners doing Rubberband Man with the big rubberbands and I think they were also wearing knickers and suspenders.
I loved it. I taped it. I have to go find that tape.
Thanks for this Dave. The Spinners still make me smile.
I loved it. I taped it. I have to go find that tape.
And post it on youtube, right? :P
That greatest hits comp doesn't include "Knee Deep". Dayum?
jena6,
"Mighty Love" is also my favorite Spinners joint, just for the closing stretch where Philippe Wynne just takes over the song with those ad-libs and runs. I get so upset when the radio cuts that part short...
Awesome. Thank you, UBM.
Mark
Downloaded the 15-minute version of "(Not Just) Knee Deep". I usually prefer the shorter, radio-edits of songs, but this one rocks from start to finish. Wynne even scats a little.
^ In D.C., that 15-minute version used to get played on the radio! I've witnessed that song creating havoc on dance floors 10 years after the fact.
That song is one of the touchstones of my life. (Hence the name of my production company, Knee Deep Productions.)
I hated those big assed rubber bands. I appreciated the live music, but dang, the cheesiness!
L
Lola, Lola... is your heart made of stone? ;^D
Hey how are you doing? I see the video is going down well and you checked out the 3 tenors of soul well done and keep it up from all of us over the pond in the UK
potluk
^ Thanks so much again, potluk, for making that video available!
And I cannot believe how good Russell Thompkins sounds with the 3 Tenors.
Cheers.
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