THE JOKERS "Spider-8"1976 later pressing on the Belgian DISCO label, STEREO (100 pressed in "Femme Fatale" sleeve)Both sleeves and pressing are completely different !!The original 1971 LP was on the Belgian REWARD label, STEREO (400 pressed in "Spider" sleeve)First pressing is 4 times on PopsikeSecond pressing isn't on PopsikeGot 6 times the "Spider" sleeve in 25 years and ONLY 1 time the "Femme Fatale" sleeveSpider 8 is probably one of the rarest of the so-called“exploito” albums of the late 60’s/early 70’s – exemplified by theCrown label here in the US and the Saga label in the UK. It’s also one of the most fun, if not completely inexplicable !!! These give guys were busy exploring. The four of them played, one recording they cut into tapes, were drinking like apes and got up with headaches next morning. If any of that makes sense to you, either you’re from Antwerp, or you’re one of the original five Jokers who recorded Spider 8 on that drunken night in Belgium back in 1971 when these sessions were laid down. The Jokers were a prominent instrumental guitar rock band from Belgium who started in the early 60’s – kinda like the Shadows or the Spotnicks even – and by the time the Sixties had morphed unkindly into the more frightening Seventies, they apparently had resorted to drinking heavily, cutting up tapes recorded during sessions they forgot the next day, and carving up the English language into non-sensical things like “Dunch, Dunch and Dunch,” “Andromachae” and “Dieyng Manta,” all song titles on Spider 8. Even the title Spider 8 doesn’t make sense. Sounds cool, though, but makes no sense. But what do you expect from a group who thank “Big Mama Jeanne” for “drinks and drinks…and more drinks” on the back cover, then claim their engineer Jerry Clauwers has “a short leg.” They do like their ale over there.Despite the Charlie Sheen-like stupor they claim to have recorded this under, you gotta give the Jokers credit for being the first band to cover the M*A*S*H staple “Suicide Is Painless,” just one year after the film came out. And four years before whats-his-name had a bit hit with it in the US. And two decades before Marilyn Manson put it to rest for good. They also do a nice job with Rare Bird’s spooky “Sympathy,” dragging out the sinister fuzz guitar for one last go-round. Elsewhere, they cover “California Dreaming” and “Sunny.” That’s Bobby Hebb, Rare Bird, the Mamas and the Papas and M*A*S*H all on one album – sweet baby Jesus, this record’s more scattershot than one of those old K-Tel compilations!The Jokers are best, however, when they’re pumping out their own creations, almost always with nonsensical broken English titles. “Dieying Manta” is probably a typo, although I can’t for the life of me figure out what this groovy upbeat go-go beat number with distorted organ has to do with a stingray in its death throes if it is. A super-fun dancefloor groove with fuzz and wah wah overload is called “Gauchos,” but don’t expect to hear anything even slightly related to Spanish cowboys. The one song that sounds vaguely country/western, an ambling bit of jangly guitar prairie pickin’, is, for reasons beyond my sober comprehension, called “Dunch, Dunch & Dunch,” like some bad Belgian law firm. And a nifty little organ instrumental that sounds like an outtake from the first Procol Harum album is called “The Pulsor,” which makes me wonder if Gary Brooker didn’t do side work for Star Trek at one time during the late 60’s. And I don’t even know what an “Andromachae” is. But I’d probably use “the pulsor” on it if I ever met one.Spider 8 is probably one of the rarest of the so-called “exploito” albums of the late 60’s/early 70’s – exemplified by the Crown label here in the US and the Saga label in the UK. It’s also one of the most fun, if not completely inexplicable. I have no doubt that what they say on the back cover is true. It really does sound like five guys drinking like apes, cutting up tapes, and engineering the whole thing with a short leg while Big Mama Jeanne keeps the Duvel flowing. Listening to it forty years on, I can safely say this. It makes me wanna dunch, dunch and dunch some more.