AT LAST......here it is..."THE MOST ORIGINAL, AMAZING INSTRUMENTAL EVER RELEASED" according to the UK Sounds magazine. The ORIGINAL and OFFICIAL UK Sonet video release of "SPINNIN' ROCK BOOGIE", filmed in U.K. (Southend On Sea) in late '76 and broadcasted on just about every TV Station throughout Europe at the time. Even the rather strict UK Melody Maker weekly went bananas and called me (quote): "A MAD GENIUS MOVING HIS GUITAR FINGERS AT FASTER-THAN-LIGHT-SPEED"! Not to mention UK Country Music Review who came up with (quote): "ONE OF THE MOST INTRIGUING MUSICIANS IN THE WORLD TODAY"! And even the legendary SUN label in USA released it on a nation wide level on Gold vinyl (the 2nd record ever to be released in Gold after Elvis! There was, in fact, only one pressing plant in the world at the time that was able to press records in Gold and it was located in Philadelphia!). It was also inducted into the 'Guiness Book Of Records'!! And Sonet even had to use three pressing plants to keep up with the tremendous demand! And all of this caused by a track that was recorded in my parents makeshift garage using a battered old Tandberg reel-to-reel machine, a 1960 Hagström 'plank', a 1965 Supro Lapsteel and a cheap German made Lefima snare drum with an attached cymbal the size of a normal dinner plate...good grief, those surely were the days!!!! Some 'cult facts' that might interest you:
The 'scream' in the intro is aptly carried out by none other than SUN rockabilly wild man Sonny Burgess! And the short sax riff towards the middle is handled by one of Europe's most prolific jazz musicians ever, Arne Domnérus (sadly no longer with us)! And, while I'm at it...the correct wording of the short spoken line at the end is: 'Can't stop, keep rockin', CAT' and not 'KID' as some have interpreted it! In fact, you're not alone as even Sonet themselves used the wrong spelling in one of their many PR flyers! Blame it on my 'sultry' English prononciation, lol!! But the most revealing and unknown secret is possibly the creation of the title itself. I'm almost embarrased to admit this but I simply 'nicked it' from an old '50s MGM single by Mickey 'Guitar' Baker (of Mickey & Sylvia fame, plus a 1st class studio musician!). Same title, yes, but totally different approaches, so no harm done, I hope? And if so, I plead guilty of all charges involved, lol! The original full length version was cut as far back as in January '71 and 1st released on the US Seagull label out of Nashville, Tenn. the same year. 3 years later it was included as part of a 14 track LP compilation on the UK Southern Sound label titled..."SPINNIN' ROCK BOOGIE". After signing up with the Sonet label in late '74, I had to edit it down app. 1 minute, to better suite a 45 rpm format and in the progress I also totally revitalised the intro. It was this version that eventually upon its release two years later, both as a single and as part of the "Don't Mess With My Ducktail" album, would become the official Hit version, selling a staggering 8 million+ copies world wide, resulting in not only a Gold record but a PLATINUM one as well and eventually getting it leased to a myriad of different labels all over the globe, incl. Columbia (Germany), Metronome (France), Wizard (Australia) and the legendary SUN label in the USA (the only European artist that's had a release on this the Godfather of rock'n roll labels!!), to name but a very few! Not bad for a track that was cut just because I happened to have some spare tape left on a 7" spool which I didn't at first know what to do with!! Those were indeed the days of creativity and imaginative inventions!!
Happy listening (and watching!) y'all...