My My Girl – Tracers – 1979 Vinyl Single
Greg McWhorter
Michael convinced Spider to get into the new punk scene by joining one of the new bands in 1979. Michael says; “Spider joined The Tracers in 1979 as a second guitar player. The band was located out of Pasadena. I would go to the band rehearsals and dance while they practiced, and the singer (Lynn) liked the way I moved. She asked me to join the band as a backup singer. Note that Spider and I had been a couple for nearly a decade before The Tracers, and Spider was the musician in the family while I sat on the sidelines. I never dreamed that we would be in a band together. Our first show in The Tracers was at a club called The Rock Corporation. I was so nervous being on stage for the first time that I don’t remember any of it!”
The Tracers had already been an active band for over a year before the two joined, and had already released one single: “Red, Black, and Blue” b/w “Cigarette Dance” (Seltone, 1978). Michael and Spider were asked to record on the band’s second single “My My Girl” b/w “Itchy Bugs” (Seltone, 1979) before they ever played live with the band.
Michael says of the experience, “I’d never sung before, never been on a stage, and suddenly we were going into a studio to record a record! You have to understand how nervous I was in those days. I had no band experience whatsoever. Not only did Spider play guitar on that single, he also incorporated an electric drill and an electric razor into the mix. It was very clever on his part. ” Spider recalls, “For someone who had no experience, Michael nailed those backup vocals. We only played with the Tracers for a handful of gigs, and I guess Michael and I had some kind of stage presence with each other because, from the very beginning people were urging us to leave The Tracers and start our own band.”
“My My Girl” / “Itchy Bugs” is a rare and difficult-to-find single from the first band Spider and Michael ever played together. Spider played back-up guitar and Michael was the back-up singer. Had it not been for Lynn (the lead singer) asking Michael to join the band, he says he probably never would have become a singer in his own right. He feels he owes everything to her. Michael and Spider left The Tracers after increasing tensions between Michael and Lynn. The two decided that the time was right to start their own band. This time, Michael would take his place as lead vocalist, while Spider continued with guitar duties.
