SPY GODS

Spy Gods materialized out of Chapter 12, a Central Jersey dance band that included bassist Chris Thompson and the multi-talented Robin Reneé in supporting roles. Adding Marcello McDonnell and Bob Ramos (also of Rhythm Method, False Virgins, Loose, and the Nick Clemons Band), and putting Reneé up front, Spy Gods were a powerful live unit with a hard funk/postpunk sound. An African-American woman backed by white guys playing this kind of music would be unusual in any decade, but I never saw this angle played up, perhaps with the exception of their live cover of "Walk on the Wild Side" where Reneé got to turn the line "And all the white boys go 'doo doo-doo...'" Their "Clown Man" appeared on Martin Atkins' first Invisible Records compilation, What You Can't See Won't Hurt You. Otherwise, I know of only one Spy Gods release, the Teaching the Mudheads to Dance EP, which fortunately is in my vinyl collection. I still get their "Mr. Rabbit" track stuck in my head.

It looks like no big deal now, but this was a fairly advanced, computer graphics & paste-up flyer for 1987, which I'm sure took Chris Thompson (who like me did some time at the Rutgers Daily Targum production shop) considerably longer than the the 30 or so minutes it would take today.

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