Spanky McFarland: "Starting Out Gang"

" In 1976 or so I did a bio for Spanky & Our Gang when they were doing country-rock on Epic. Subsequently I ran into Ellen (Spanky) at a swap meet in Topanga, and bought a short "Eisenhower jacket" from her. We shared a slight connection, also, in that my ex-gf Pam's brother had been close friends with Malcom, the guy in Our Gang who died in the late 1960s. In the 1990s I heard that she was in, and then out, of the Mamas and Papas. And I made a "little girl songs" tape for my daughter and included "Sunday Will Never Be The Same," which reminded me just how great a singer Spanky was/is.
One day in Burbank in 1995 I looked in the window of Lane Bryant womenswear shop and saw someone who looked like Spanky behind the counter. I went in and asked to use the bathroom, of which they had none, and it was her: she didn't recognize me. I didn't know what to say: "How's things going?" didn't seem right
Next trip to the mall I summoned up the nerve to say something to her, and we had a jolly reunion. A month later she made a terrific appearance on my TV show.
(She is not working there anymore. She runs a storage-management service from her home, when not singing.)" -- from Another Fein Mess, 11/1998 www.sofein.com
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Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane (born June 19, 1942) is an American singer best known for fronting the vocal group Spanky and Our Gang in the late 1960s. She was nicknamed "The Queen of Sunshine Pop" [wiki]
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[@tuskedbeast]

Such a charismatic woman! I could listen to her for hours. Thank you for this full show!

[@Jonhobbs64]

Thank you for all of the great memories Art! Its so nice to look back in time to a much better place than we are in now..

[@ApacheRCL]

I thought for several moments that Spanky McFarland and Ellen (Spanky) McFarlane were the same person. I was wrong about that. I see now that Spanky from Our Gang passed away in 1993; Rest in Peace, George. Ellen is truly an interesting woman all her own. Thanks for sharing her story.