Line #40 Music/TheLovinSpoonful


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lovin_spoonful_1966.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:The Spoonful in 1966. From left to right: Joe Butler, John Sebastian (seated), Steve Boone, and Zal Yanovsky.]]
3
4	->''"Do you believe in magic in a young girl's heart?\
5	How the music can free her whenever it starts?\
6	And it's magic if the music is groovy\
7	It makes you feel happy like an old time movie\
8	I'll tell you 'bout the magic, and it'll free your soul\
9	But it's like tryin' to tell a stranger 'bout-a rock and roll"''
10	-->-- "'''Do You Believe in Magic?'''"
11
12	The Lovin' Spoonful were an American pop/rock band originally active from [[TheSixties 1965 to 1969]].
13
14	With a foot each in the folk-rock and pop music worlds, they were probably the era's biggest link (save for Music/TheMamasAndThePapas) between the early-'60s Greenwich Village folk revival scene and the late-decade Laurel Canyon scene. During their brief heyday, the band found success with five studio albums, numerous hit singles, and even a couple of film soundtracks, recording song scores for Creator/WoodyAllen's ''Film/WhatsUpTigerLily'' and Creator/FrancisFordCoppola's ''You're a Big Boy Now''. And their deceptively simple but layered sound was quietly influential on their peers; Music/PaulMcCartney and Music/BrianWilson have said that the Spoonful's music inspired parts of ''[[Music/RevolverBeatlesAlbum Revolver]]'' and ''Music/PetSounds''.
15
16	----
17	!!Lineup (founding members in bold):
18	* '''Steve Boone''' - bass, keyboards, vocals (1965–69)
19	* '''Joe Butler''' - drums, percussion, vocals (1965–69)
20	* '''John Sebastian''' - vocals, guitar, autoharp, harmonica, keyboards (1965–68)
21	* '''Zal Yanovsky''' - guitar, banjo, vocals (1965–67; died 2002)
22	* Jerry Yester - guitar, banjo, keyboards, vocals (1967–69)
23
24	!!Studio albums:
25	* ''Do You Believe in Magic'' (1965)
26	* ''Daydream'' (1966)
27	* ''What's Up, Tiger Lily?'' (1966)
28	* ''Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful'' (1966)
29	* ''You're a Big Boy Now'' (1967)
30	* ''Everything Playing'' (1967)
31	* ''Revelation: Revolution '69'' (1969)
32
33	!!Hot tropes, summer in the city:
34	* AccentUponTheWrongSyllable: In the chorus to "Summer in the City" the line "Despite the heat it'll be all right" is sung with the first syllable of "despite" stressed, to keep the rhythm going.
35	* AgeProgressionSong: From "Darling, Be Home Soon":
36	-->''And now, a quarter of my life is almost past''
37	* TheBandMinusTheFace: They continued on without John Sebastian, but didn't last long. Joe Butler, Steve Boone, and Jerry Yester later restarted the band in 1991, again without Sebastian.
38	* BungledSuicide: PlayedForLaughs in "Pow!":
39	-->''Well, I finally got so fed up\
40	I resolved to blow my head off\
41	With the gun inside the cashbox at the store\
42	Then I thought I'd grab a fistful\
43	Just in case I weren't successful\
44	But instead I got my tie caught in the drawer''
45	* CoverVersion: Their first album includes covers of several traditional blues and folk tunes, as well as [[Music/RonnieSpector The Ronettes]]' "You Baby" and Fred Neil's "Other Side of This Life".
46	* DoubleEntendre: The band's name. A "Lovin' Spoonful" of... what, exactly?
47	* GenreRoulette: Their music incorporates elements of {{folk\|music}}, {{country\|music}}, {{blues rock}}, {{baroque pop}}, {{psychedelic rock}}, and even old-fashioned Tin Pan Alley pop.
48	* HeavyMeta: A number of their songs revolve around music. "Do You Believe in Magic" is about the power of music in general. "Nashville Cats" is about CountryMusic. And "Jug Band Music" is about ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
49	* InTheStyleOf: "Pow!", from the ''What's Up, Tiger Lily?'' soundtrack, is a comedic story-song that's very reminiscent of country singer Roger Miller.
50	* LargeHam: Zal Yanovksy was well known for his stage antics.
51	* MoneySong: The laid back "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Money]]":
52	-->''And I gave money to Bill\
53	He pays up my bills and helps me make up my mind\
54	And I give money to Bill\
55	And he will be on my side''
56	* PianoDrop: Referenced in "Pow!"
57	-->''When they're droppin' a piano from the 47th floor\
58	I'm the guy underneath 'em lookin' up''
59	* PieInTheFace: Referenced in "Daydream":
60	-->''Tomorrow I'll pay the dues for droppin' my load\
61	A pie in the face for bein' a sleepy bull toad''
62	* PluckyComicRelief: Yanovsky was this in the band's live shows and TV appearances with his goofy mannerisms.
63	* PuttingTheBandBackTogether: The original lineup of Sebastian, Yanovsky, Boone, and Butler reunited for a one-off 1979 concert at a Catskills resort, which was subsequently incorporated into Music/PaulSimon's film ''Film/OneTrickPony''. They got together once more in 2000, for the group's induction into the UsefulNotes/RockAndRollHallOfFame.
64	** Boone, Butler, and Yester, assisted by various other musicians, toured under the Lovin' Spoonful name in the '90s.
65	* QuestioningTitle: "Do You Believe in Magic?" and "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?"
66	* RepurposedPopSong: "Do You Believe in Magic?" was often been used as a commercial jingle, most notably for UsefulNotes/McDonalds in the '90s.
67	* SomethingBlues: "Fishin' Blues", "Nite Owl Blues", "Day Blues"
68	* TitledAfterTheSong: While {{urban legend}} sometimes has it that the band's name is a [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything sly reference to either heroin or semen]], it actually derives from a lyric in the song "Coffee Blues" by Mississippi John Hurt. (That Hurt himself intended the phrase as a {{double entendre}} is, of course, not outside the realm of possibility.)
69	* UnwantedGlassesPlot: "4 Eyes" is about a kid getting picked on because of his {{nerd glasses}}.
70	* VocalTagTeam: While John Sebastian was the primary vocalist and songwriter (and consequently sang on the lion's share of the group's hit singles), all of the other members performed lead vocal duties at various times. Especially since Sebastian wasn't even on their last album.
71	* TheXOfY: Album title ''Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful''.
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Context Music / TheLovinSpoonful