The Spinners, The Rubberband Man | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 209th edition of Throwback Vibez (2024), we recollect and reflect on “The Rubberband Man” by The Spinners. 

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 209^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2024), we recollect and reflect on “The Rubberband Man” performed by The Spinners.

“You and me, we’re goin’ out / To catch the latest sound / Guaranteed to blow your mind / So high you won’t come down.” Grammy-nominated R&B collective The Spinners struck gold (literally) with their single, “The Rubberband Man”. “The Rubberband Man” is the fourth track on the iconic soul group’s 1976 album, Happiness Is Being With The Spinners.  This version of the song runs nearly seven-and-a-half minutes.  The popular single edit runs just over three-and-a-half minutes.  Dynamic duo Linda Creed and Thom Bell composed this soul juggernaut.  Bell also produced it.  “The Rubberband Man” was one of The Spinners’ seven top 10 hits on the pop charts.  The beloved track just missed the top spot, reaching no. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Boy, that Rubberband man’s a doozy / Move so quick, uh, he make me woozy.” Ooh-wee! A distinct, rhythmic riff at the beginning sets the tone. Thom Bell ‘put his foot’ into the musical arrangement and production.  MFSB provides the instrumentation, including the killer, funky bass line. Beyond a lit rhythm section are sickening brass and strings, which exemplify the lush, rich Philly soul sound. Philippé Wynne ‘tears it up’ on lead vocals, backed sensationally by the rest of The Spinners and some additional background vocalists. For most of his performance, Wynne sings.  He shapes the tuneful melodies in the verses and especially in the chorus.  “When I saw this short, fat guy / Stretch a band between his toes,” Wynne sings in the second verse, concluding, “Hey, I laughed so hard / ‘Cause the man got down / When it finally reached his nose.” Oh, snap! Who is this Rubberband Man? Thom Bell’s son, Mark, a big kid nicknamed “The Fat Man” by his classmates.  The song, originally called “The Fat Man,” is about a large man who can really move.  It was intended to change the perception and stereotypes of larger people. The chorus is the crowning achievement:

“Hey, y’all, prepare yourself for the rubberband man

You’ve never heard a sound

Like the rubberband man

You’re bound to lose control

When the rubberband starts to jam.”

Ultimately, “The Rubberband Man” is one of the most entertaining songs in the soul catalog.  The Spinners delivered a surefire gem – a bop for the ages!

The Spinners // Happiness Is Being With The Spinners // Atlantic Recording Corp. // 1976

The Spinners, The Rubberband Man: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 209 (2024) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Atlantic Recording Corp.; OpenClipart-Vectors, Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Speedy McVroom from Pixabay]