The Clinger Sisters
Click to viewHere's a gem I found last night on YouTube. It's the Clinger Sisters from the Danny Kaye show sometime in the late '60s. I find it absolutely horrifying. And totally hypnotic. I've watched it at least five times now. Wait a minute... that chick in pink.... the one who thinks she's Janis Joplin... OMIGOD! It's Superchick from Kaptain Kool and the Kongs! My mind is totally blown. Good god, she's awful.
Of course, I'm a huge fan of Kaptain Kool and the Kongs. As an entertainment entity that is. I never really thought of them as a "band." All the publicity from the time tries SO hard to convince us that yes, they REALLY were a band. But I never believed it. Sure, Michael Lembeck and Bert Sommer were both competent guitarists. And Mickey McMeel... heck, he played drums for Three Dog Night. But I was always totally annoyed by the conspicuous lack of a bass player. What are these people, the Bugaloos? Anyway, there's another clip of the Clingers on YouTube where they actually play instruments. Or hold them, at any rate. And what is it that little Debbie has in her hot little hands? A bass guitar (a really groovy looking Hofner, actually). I guess the world of pre-teens wasn't ready for a female bass player in 1976. At any rate, Sid and Marty Krofft weren't. So she got to bang a tambourine, a la Betty Cooper. Hmmm.. come to think of it, the Kongs duplicated the lineup of the Archies exactly. Some people have argued that Reggie was the bass player for the band. If so, he's playing a six string bass. NOT.
Articles from the 70's about the Kongs also always trumpet that Debbie was one of the CLINGER SISTERS!!!! As if we should know who that is. As it turns out, they WERE mildly famous, back in the day. They were a group of Mormon siblings from Utah who started out singing on the Andy Williams show as small children, and then tried to make the switch to Pop when they got older. I kid you not. Yes, they were the Osmonds in dresses. At least the Osmonds knew how to make the cheese work for them. These girls are just tacky. And I can't stop watching them....