Spooky Tooth

Spooky Tooth was a hard, bluesy and at times psychedelic English rock band whose main run was from 1967 to 1974, though they re-formed several times in later years.

Their name is very unusual but - spoiler alert - I have no origin story for it. Unless there is some hidden meaning, the most I could find was that it can refer to a literal tooth - one that is visibly dead or discolored, particularly when seen on an otherwise attractive woman or man.

Why a band would want to use that meaning as their name is inexplicable.

The band prior to this name had been called Art. They had one album, "Supernatural Fairy Tales." It was produced by Guy Stevens and released in 1967. Their final line-up was guitarist Luther Grosvenor, vocalist Mike Harrison, drummer Mike Kellie, and bassist Greg Ridley. When American Gary Wright joined the band on keyboards, Art became Spooky Tooth.

The Rolling Stone Record Guide in 1979, describes the band this way: "If ever there was a heavy band, Spooky Tooth had to be it. Featuring two vocalists prone to blues-wrenching extremes, and an instrumental attack comprising awesomely loud keyboards and guitars, Spooky Tooth came on like an overwhelming vat of premedicated goo." 

But the band never achieved real commercial success.

1969 photo by Magnussen CC BY-SA 3.0 de, Link

Their debut album, It's All About, was released in June 1968 on Island Records. It was produced by Jimmy Miller, who had worked with Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, the Rolling Stones and Blind Faith. Their sound was somewhat unique as it utilized both an organ and a piano player.

Despite talented musicians and a good production team, the album did not sell well. That was also true of their follow-up, Spooky Two (1969). The albums and band performances were generally favorably reviewed but without good sales two would be the final release by the original lineup.

Two songs from that second LP received significant airplay -  "Evil Woman" and "Better by You, Better than Me."

Ridley left to join Humble Pie replaced by Andy Leigh for the experimental electronic music album Ceremony. It was a disaster and Wright left the band following the release of the album. Harrison, Grosvenor and Kellie remained and recorded The Last Puff in 1970 aided by members of Joe Cocker's Grease Band (guitarist Henry McCullough, keyboardist Chris Stainton and bassist Alan Spenner).

After this, the band goes through a number of lineup changes and disbanded in 1971 only to reform in 1972 with Harrison and Wright and released You Broke My Heart So I Busted Your Jaw in 1973. 

More band member changes and several albums happened but still without any major success. 

Grosvenor joined Mott the Hoople (using the name Ariel Bender) replacing Mick Ralphs who left to form Bad Company. Mick Jones went on to form Foreigner in 1976.

Wright began to develop an international solo career in the 1970s and had a big hit with "Dream Weaver."

Harrison, Grosvenor, Ridley and Kellie reunited as Spooky Tooth at points in 1997 and 1998, which resulted in an album, Cross Purpose.  Spooky Tooth with original members Mike Harrison and Gary Wright and new musicians reformed and toured in 2009.

Kellie died in 2017 and Harrison died in 2018. 

     

Idioms, phrases, expressions and sayings

I use the category label of "idioms and phrases" on this site, but I sometimes rather cavalierly call multiple-word phrases "sayings," "expressions," or just plain old "terms." Are they truly interchangeable? I decided to investigate this confusion. 

An IDIOM is defined as a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words. "Raining cats and dogs" and "see the light" are examples. 

A PHRASE is defined as a group of words that works together in a sentence but does not contain a subject or a verb. Often phrases are used to describe people, things, or events. The English teacher in me notes that I used to have to teach these phrases in grammar units: Noun Phrase; Friday became a cool, wet afternoon. Verb Phrase; Mary might have been waiting outside for you. Gerund Phrase; Eating ice cream on a hot day can be a good way to cool off. Infinitive Phrase; She helped to build the roof. Prepositional Phrase; In the kitchen, you will find my mom.

But when I label something as a phrase on this website I don't mean those things. I am more likely talking about simple expressions, idiomatic expressions, and the "turn of phrase." Still, I find other websites that also lump idioms and phrases together.

There are plenty of these that don't need an explanation or origin story from me: "A hard nut to crack" meaning a person who is very difficult to deal with is obvious.

What label would you put on "A picture is worth a thousand words" or "Better late than never" or "Born with a silver spoon in mouth"? 

I can say that idiom comes from late 16th-century French idiome, or via late Latin from Greek idiōma oddly meaning "private property" from idiousthai  "to make one's own" which in turn comes from idios meaning own or private. Is suppose the idea was that these phrases began as some personal expression and then some became more widely used.

Okay, I suppose I keep using the idioms and phrases" category and also use the other terms.

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin was an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They were known for their heavy, guitar-driven sound. They are often cited as one of the progenitors of hard rock and heavy metal, although their style drew from a variety of influences, including blues and folk music. 

Cover of their first album with an image of
probably the most famous zeppelin, the ill-fated Hindenberg.

When The Who’s drummer Keith Moon heard that London studio legends, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, were forming a new band with Robert Plant and John Bonham, he mockingly predicted that the project would go down “like a lead balloon.”The Who's bassist, John Entwistle, took it one step further, calling it a “lead zeppelin.” 

When those comments got to Jimmy Page and manager Peter Grant, they adopted the name. They had been considering calling the band The New Yardbirds. The Yardbirds was a popular 1960s British band that included a number of lineups during its time. When Eric Clapton left to join John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, he recommended Jimmy Page who was known as a prominent young session guitarist, to replace him. But Page was happy with his sessions work and recommended his friend Jeff Beck.

In 1966. Jimmy Page filled in on bass until rhythm guitarist Dreja could rehearse on the instrument and they toured with Page on bass, and Beck and Dreja on guitars. When Beck fell ill on tour, Page took over as lead guitarist and Dreja switched to bass. The Beck–Page lead guitar tandem created the avant-garde psychedelic rock single "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" which also has John Paul Jones on bass instead of Dreja.

The Yardbirds, 1966. From left: Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page,
Chris Dreja, Keith Relf and Jim McCarty    Link

After The Yardbirds disbanded, the first gigs by Page's new band included some Yardbirds' material such as "Train Kept a-Rollin'", "Dazed and Confused" and "For Your Love" and even some of Back's material such as "Shapes of Things." 

The Led Zeppelin spelling was done to push the correct pronunciation. 

Plant and Page performing in Chicago Stadium. 1977, during their last
North American tour          Photo: Jim Summaria, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

Led Zeppelin is one of the best-selling music artists of all time; their total record sales are estimated to be between 200 to 300 million units worldwide. They achieved eight consecutive UK number-one albums and six number-one albums on the US Billboard 200, with five of their albums certified Diamond in the US. 

Rolling Stone magazine described them as "the heaviest band of all time", "the biggest band of the Seventies", and "unquestionably one of the most enduring bands in rock history". They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995; the museum's biography of the band states that they were "as influential" during the 1970s as the Beatles were during the 1960s.