Spooky Tooth (GB)

About

Spooky Tooth were one of those bands who somehow never cracked the mainstream despite having everything it took. Formed in 1967 from the ashes of the British act Art, the five piece brought together four English rockers and American keyboardist/vocalist Gary Wright, giving them a twin vocal, dual keyboard attack that was genuinely distinctive. Producer Jimmy Miller, the same guy behind classic Rolling Stones and Traffic records, helmed their first two albums. Spooky Two from 1969 is the fan favourite, featuring a thunderous cover of "Evil Woman" and "Better by You, Better than Me", later covered by Judas Priest. Their career kept getting derailed by lineup shuffles and a disastrous detour into experimental territory with French composer Pierre Henry on Ceremony, an album Wright himself described as the move that killed their momentum. They reformed multiple times, with Mick Jones passing through before going on to form Foreigner. Rolling Stone once called them "the right band at the wrong time", which about sums it up.