During the mid-60s, from one end of the Mediterrenean sea to the other, night-clubs swinged to the frenzied sounds of the Shake. The sounds emerging from the guitars, organs and saxophones, electrified the atmosphere in the clubs of Rome, Athens, Alexandria, the Rivieras, Tangier and Barcelona. The groups were going from club to club, running from city to city and flying from country to country, as the news that they roused the dance floors hit all the artist agencies in Europe. Thus, Italian groups were playing in Greek clubs, Lebanese singers were appearing in Monaco, Greek groups in Tangier and afroamerican in Rome. This artistic orgasm favoured the music interflow and created a common culture in entertainment in all latitudes of the Mediterranean. Naturally the same happened all over Europe and in all the world, but in the Mediterranean countries this interaction created a special sound that flourished in the night-clubs and was impressed on the soundtracks of these countries’ 60s films. Shake was for Greece and Italy what garage was for America, mod r&b for England and beat/punk for the northern european countries. Examples of this sound can be found in any scene of the world, just like pure garage punkers can be found in Greece, mod r&b in Australia and beat/punk in Japan. However, the epicentre of this gerne is to be found in the deep blue coastline of the Mediterranean where it flourished. The musicians that excelled in the Shake, created the standards for the staccato rhythm of the electric guitar, the prevailing role of the organ and the essential presence of the saxophone. The Shake numbers could infiltrate elements of r&b, soul, surf, freakbeat, garage as well as of any other 60s genre that could be adapted to the needs of the dance floor and the requirements of the night-club crowd. The Shake was identified with the night-clubs in the Mediterranean countries and the night-clubs were identified with the Shake. In such a degree indeed, that in the films shot in Greece, Italy, Spain or Morocco during that era, it was almost always essential to have a scene in a club and a band that Shaked the dance floor! These films have pictured astonishing scenes and fantastic Shakes with glamourous groups that set the dance floors on fire with their frenzied sounds. They constitute a testimony of an era that ceased to exist 40 years ago but remains alive in the souls of a certain few that believe that the calendar never stopped to indicate 1966!
Athens, autumn 2007. Five musicians get together and create the first pure night-club combo with a repertory consisted exclusively of 60s Shake.
Their name: The Gold Spiders!
Their repertory includes instrumental and vocal Shake numbers as well as night-club Soul. In the style that was developed in the Mediterranean night-clubs during the 1964-67 period and was vividly impressed in Greek films of that era such as: Teddy Boy, My Love (1965), Wedding Night (1967), My Son, My Son (1965), Illegal Desires (1966), and hundreds others. A few numbers from their repertory are: Teddy Boy Shake, Spiders Shake, Sha La La La La, Non Et Non, The Lonely one, Can’t Ask No More, My Baby Likes to Boogaloo and Sunshine Of Your Dreams.
The Gold Spiders use exclusively vintage 60s gear. Their amplifiers consist of a 1966 Binson Hi-Fi 40, a 1965 Schaller KV-50 and a 1965 Dynacord ECHO-KING. Their PA sytem consists of a 1967 Kustom 745 and a 1965 WEM HR-30. Their electric guitars include a 1963 Diamond Ranger, a 1964 Hofner 176 and a 1964 12-string WEM Sapphire. The bass guitar they use is a 1965 VOX Violin. Their organ is a 1963 Philicorda and their microphones are Meazzi and AKG D-12. The effects units in use are a 1964 Fuzz-Tone, a 1966 Fuzz-Face, a 1962 Schaller Echo-Unit, as well as the 1964 Grampian Reverberation Unit 636.
The Gold Spiders Show however, is not only about strong play-lists and competent equipment. Their aim is to offer a spectacular show that will make a splash and will drive the crowd to the dance floor until they drop. Their stage act will take the crowd to a trip at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go, the Igloo or the Pussycat night-clubs while their instruments will discharge melodies and rhythms that will rouse the dance floor. Mark my words: when the Gold Spiders play, everybody dances!
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