The Tommy Spanos Show

The Tommy Spanos Show. Ever heard of it? No? Neither did we, until we found this little gem sitting in a Chicago thrift store.

Tommy was apparently this Jimmy Osmond lookin' kid who was a whiz at the Hammond organ. (According to the liner notes, he has "been playing professionally since September of 1972.") He and his drummer, Dave Vitolka, formed a band, appeared on the "Bozo" show at some point (if the picture on the back of the album can be believed), and cut an album.

The album features Spanos' take on all the big hits. You know, "A Taste of Honey", "Ebb Tide", "Night Train"... and only a couple of songs that feature the kids singing. Those two, "Rolling on the River" and "Sunny", were featured on the Bad Music 2001 disc. As an additional treat, here are two additional instrumental tracks from the album, featuring Mr. Ernie Inucci on guitar.

"A Taste of Honey"
MP3 audio, 920 Kb

"Something"
MP3 audio, 1.78 Mb

From the liner notes of this album, we learn that Tommy "possesses the rare quality and ability of an organist twice his age -- or even three times his age. [H]e jumps, bounces, and moves from one side of the organ to the other with every beat -- smiling every second. TOMMY SPANOS is on the move in one direction --- UP!"

As for David Vitolka, "[h]is is a talent you would not believe until you see him in action. Dave has a unique quanity [sic] of unknown energy. He coaxes all the exciting sounds and beats out of the drums." (By the way, those are Ludwig drums, the same ones that Ringo used, in case you were wanting to coax all the exciting sounds and beats out of your own set of drums.)

Searching on the Web has produced no new information on Mr. Spanos or Mr. Vitolka. From this, we can safely assume that they dropped off the face of the Earth sometime between the mid-70s and today.

If you like the suave picture on the album cover, check the Gallery index page; there's a link to some desktop patterns that include the cover shot from the Tommy Spanos LP!

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