Spicks and Specks (song)

"Spicks and Specks"
Single by the Bee Gees
from the album Spicks and Specks
B-side"I Am the World"
Released
  • September 22, 1966 (1966-09-22) (Australia)
  • February 1967 (UK)
RecordedJuly 1966
Genre
Length2:52
Label
Songwriter(s)Barry Gibb
Producer(s)Nat Kipner, Ossie Byrne
The Bee Gees singles chronology
"Monday's Rain"
(1966) 		"Spicks and Specks"
(1966) 		"Born a Man"
(1967)

"Spicks and Specks" is a song by the Bee Gees, written by Barry Gibb. When the song was released in September 1966, the single reached No. 4 on the Go-Set Australian National Top 40[3] (No. 1 on other Australian charts),[4][5] and when the song was released in other countries in February 1967, it reached No. 28 in Germany, No. 2 in the Netherlands and No. 1 in New Zealand.[2]

Recording

"Spicks and Specks", a ballad built around a strong piano beat, is dated to early July in the memory of Geoff Grant (Geoffrey Streeter), who played the trumpet. Grant recalls working three nights in a row on four songs: "Spicks and Specks", "I Am the World", "All by Myself", and "The Storm". There were no charts, so Barry sang what he wanted live, and Grant copied it. Some other artists whose disks came out in August recall hearing "Spicks and Specks" being worked on or completed, further confirming that early July is the approximate date of the song's recording.[5]

Release

The single entered the Sydney charts at the end of September and stayed in the top 40 for 19 weeks, peaking at number 3. It appeared on the Go-Set National Top 40 for sixteen weeks, where it reached number 4 early in November.[3]

Personnel

Charts

Chart Year Peak
position
Australia Go-Set Charts[6] 1966 4
Netherlands Dutch Top 40 Charts[7] 1967 2
Germany Media Control Charts[8] 1967 28
New Zealand Recorded Music NZ Charts[9] 1967 1
Japan Oricon Singles Chart[10] 1967 56

References

  1. ^ Davidson, Chris (2001). "Sunshine Pop". In Cooper, Kim; Smay, David (eds.). Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth. Los Angeles: Feral House. pp. 190–191.
  2. ^ a b [1] Archived 2013-10-14 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ a b Go-Set National Top 40 charting:
  4. ^ "Barry Gibb". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 2015-11-30.
  5. ^ a b Joseph Brennan. "Gibb Songs: 1966". Retrieved 2015-11-30.
  6. ^ "Go-Set Australian Charts". Go-Set: The Teen and Twenties Newspaper. 16 November 1966. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  7. ^ "Bee Gees - Spicks & Specks". Stichting Nederlandse Top 40. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  8. ^ "Bee Gees - Spicks and Specks". officialcharts.de. Retrieved 18 January 2015.[dead link‍]
  9. ^ "flavour of new zealand - NZ listener charts 1967". Flavour of New Zealand. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  10. ^ "Songs Written by the Gibb Family on the International Charts - Part 1" (PDF). brothersgibb.org. Retrieved 18 January 2015.