"Spooky" was originally an instrumental song performed by saxophonist Mike Sharpe (Shapiro), written by Shapiro and Harry Middlebrooks, Jr., which first charted in 1967 hitting #57 on the US pop charts. Its best known version was created by The Classics IV

Classics IV

The Classics IV were a band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, United States, in 1965, given credit for beginning the "soft southern rock" sound...

 when guitarist James Cobb

J.R. Cobb

James Barney Cobb, Jr. is an American guitarist who has played with the Classics IV, who had a #3 US/#46 UK hit with "Spooky" in 1968. He joined the Atlanta Rhythm Section in early 1972. They had a #7 US hit with "So Into You" in 1977...

 and producer Buddy Buie

Buddy Buie

Buddy Buie is a songwriter, producer, and publisher. He is most commonly associated with Roy Orbison, The Classics IV and The Atlanta Rhythm Section.-Biography:...

 added lyrics centering on a "spooky little girl". In 1968, the vocal version of the song reached #3 in the U.S. (Billboard Hot 100) and #46 in the UK.

Cobb (along with bandmates Robert Nix and Dean Daughtry) later became part of the Atlanta Rhythm Section

Atlanta Rhythm Section

The Atlanta Rhythm Section, sometimes abbreviated ARS, is an American southern rock band. In 1970 former members of the Candymen and the Classics IV joined together and became the session band for the newly opened Studio One in Doraville, Georgia....

 and re-recorded "Spooky" in 1979. ARS's version hit #48 in the UK and #17 in the US.

"Spooky" has also been covered by a number of artists including Dusty Springfield

Dusty Springfield

Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...

 (whose version was featured prominently in the Guy Ritchie

Guy Ritchie

Guy Stuart Ritchie is an English screenwriter and film maker who directed Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Revolver, RocknRolla and Sherlock Holmes.-Early life:...

 film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is a 1998 British crime film directed and written by Guy Ritchie. The story is a heist film involving a self-confident young card sharp who loses £500,000 to a powerful crime lord in a rigged game of three card brag...

), Andy Williams

Andy Williams

Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...

, Martha and the Vandellas

Martha and the Vandellas

Martha and the Vandellas were among the most successful groups of the Motown roster during the period 1963–1967...

, Michel Pagliaro

Michel Pagliaro

Michel Pagliaro is a prolific Canadian rock singer, songwriter and guitarist. Born in Montreal, Quebec, he is also based there. He is often referred to simply as Pagliaro or Pag. Although he writes and records predominantly in French, Pagliaro has released material in English...

 (recorded song in French), Velvet Monkeys

Velvet Monkeys

Velvet Monkeys is an American rock band currently based in New York City, formed in 1980. The name "Velvet Monkeys" was a combination of The Velvet Underground and The Monkees.-Background:...

, Daniel Ash

Daniel Ash

Daniel Gaston Ash is the guitarist for Bauhaus, Tones on Tail, Love and Rockets, and solo projects.-Life and work:After going to concerts in his teenage years, Ash made a decision to be on a stage in some way...

, Lydia Lunch

Lydia Lunch

Lydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, and actress whose career was spawned by the New York No Wave scene...

, R.E.M.

R.E.M.

R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...

, The Jazz Butcher, GoldieLocks

GoldieLocks

Sarah Louise Akwisombe is an English female rapper, singer and producer better known by her stage name of GoldieLocks.-Biography:...

, Imogen Heap

Imogen Heap

Imogen Jennifer Jane Heap is a Grammy Award-winning English singer, composer and songwriter from Havering, Essex. She is known for her work as part of the musical duo Frou Frou and her solo albums, which she writes, produces, and mixes...

, Lydia Lunch

Lydia Lunch

Lydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, and actress whose career was spawned by the New York No Wave scene...

, David Sanborn

David Sanborn

David Sanborn is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school...

, The Golden Cups

The Golden Cups

were one of the top bands performing in Japan's Group Sounds scene in the late 1960s.Featuring singer Dave Hirao, guitarist Eddie Ban, and bassist Masayoshi "Mabo" Kabe, and made a number of hit singles in addition to many re-workings of international songs. A full length documentary film about the...

, The Puppini Sisters

The Puppini Sisters

The Puppini Sisters are a vocal trio. Arion Berger described them as part of "Retro's futuristic vanguard" and described their sound as "swing-punk". The group has sought to be associated with a burlesque revival....

, Atlanta Rhythm Section

Atlanta Rhythm Section

The Atlanta Rhythm Section, sometimes abbreviated ARS, is an American southern rock band. In 1970 former members of the Candymen and the Classics IV joined together and became the session band for the newly opened Studio One in Doraville, Georgia....

, Marc Antoine

Marc Antoine

Marc Antoine is a jazz fusion guitarist. Marc currently resides in Madrid, Spain. His guitar play style is based on Roma music.-Early life:...

, The Boris Gardiner Happening, Phish

Phish

Phish is an American rock band noted for its musical improvisation, extended jams, and exploration of music across genres. Formed at the University of Vermont in 1983 , the band's four members – Trey Anastasio , Mike Gordon , Jon Fishman , and Page McConnell Phish is an American rock band...

 and The Lettermen

The Lettermen

The Lettermen are an American male pop music vocal trio. The Lettermen's trademark is close-harmony pop songs with light arrangements. The group started in 1959...

.

It also appeared in the fifth episode of Eastwick

Eastwick (TV series)

Eastwick is a 2009 screwball comedy series based on John Updike's novel, The Witches of Eastwick. The series was developed by Maggie Friedman, and starred Paul Gross as the infamous Darryl Van Horne, alongside Jaime Ray Newman , Lindsay Price, and Rebecca Romijn as the eponymous...

's first season, "Mooning and Crooning", where main character Kat Gardener (portrayed by Jaime Ray Newman

Jaime Ray Newman

Jaime Ray Newman is an American actress and singer. Newman is best known for starring as Kristina Cassadine in soap opera General Hospital, as Kat Gardener in ABC's Eastwick, and as Dr. Tess Fontana in Syfy's Eureka....

) sung the song on top of a piano in the style of Michelle Pfieffer from the film The Fabulous Baker Boys

The Fabulous Baker Boys

The Fabulous Baker Boys is a 1989 American romantic drama musical film written and directed by Steve Kloves, and starring real life brothers Jeff Bridges and Beau Bridges as two brothers struggling to make a living as lounge jazz pianists in Seattle...

. The song was also featured as part of the soundtrack of the 1985 movie, 'Fandango

Fandango

Fandango is a lively couple's dance, usually in triple metre, traditionally accompanied by guitars and castanets or hand-clapping . Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is usually bipartite: it has an instrumental introduction followed by "variaciones"...

', starring Kevin Costner, Judd Nelson, and Suzy Amis and the 2008 film, 'How to Lose Friends & Alienate People', starring Simon Pegg

Simon Pegg

Simon Pegg is an English actor, comedian, writer, film producer, and director. He is best known for having co-written and stared in various Edgar Wright features, mainly Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and the comedy series Spaced.He also portrayed Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the 2009 Star Trek film...

, Kirsten Dunst

Kirsten Dunst

Kirsten Caroline Dunst is an American actress, singer and model. She made her film debut in Oedipus Wrecks, a short film directed by Woody Allen for the anthology New York Stories...

 and Megan Fox

Megan Fox

Megan Denise Fox is an American actress and model. She began her acting career in 2001 with several minor television and film roles, and played a regular role on Hope & Faith. In 2004, she launched her film career with a role in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen...

. The Classics IV's version was sampled by The Bloodhound Gang

The Bloodhound Gang

The Bloodhound Gang may be a reference to:*The Bloodhound Gang , a segment on the program 3-2-1 Contact*The Bloodhound Gang, a band that took its name from the TV show segment...

 for their song "Why's Everybody Always Pickin' On Me?

Why's Everybody Always Pickin' On Me?

"Why's Everybody Always Pickin' On Me?" is the fifth single off the Bloodhound Gang's 1996 album One Fierce Beer Coaster.-Composition and lyrics:...

"