One Track Mind: George Baker Selection, “Little Green Bag” (1970)

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Peaking at No. 21 on the national charts in the spring of 1970, “Little Green Bag” (Colassus Records) scores a bounty of brownie points for being one of the most enigmatic songs ever placed on plastic.

Driven by cheesy surf guitars, the zippy little tune sounds a bit like “She’s A Woman” by the Beatles, accompanied by a sprinkling of bossa nova styled rhythms. The vocals are rather theatric, and the hooks are jarring and jaunty. The lyrics of “Little Green Bag, which are somewhat muddled, are just as quirky as the tone and structure of the song itself. Subtle references to pot are easy to imagine, but the truth is the theme is money.

A Dutch band, George Baker Selection went several years before courting the airwaves in a serious way. Early in 1976, the catchy and danceable “Paloma Blanca” seized the Top 30. But that was that, making George Baker Selection a two-hit wonder.

Released in an era when pop music was all for taking chances and nothing seemed too odd or alien for public consumption, “Little Green Bag” still proved to be quite daring, different and downright curious at the time.

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Beverly Paterson