Spanish Dogs or Nothing at All

Many years ago, I bought an old ’74 Plymouth Barracuda. It was troublesome, one thing after another breaking down, and I only kept it a couple of years. The most interesting part of the car was a bumper sticker that  read: Spanish Dogs or Nothing at All.

People would ask what it meant, and I would tell them I had no idea. It came with the car. I liked it, because it was a mystery. Maybe it was some kind of dog, or maybe a type of hot dog. Someone suggested it might be an insult. If the bumper sticker had simply said Spanish Dogs, then yeah, an insult. This was something different.

One day I was walking out of a grocery store and spotted another car with the identical bumper sticker parked a few spaces from my ‘Cuda. I waited around, hoping the driver would show up with some insight. But after a few minutes, I started thinking about my ice cream  melting in the hot Florida sun and left, never to find an answer. The car and the bumper sticker, I’m sure, were crushed like a squashed aluminum can long ago. But a couple of nights ago, for some reason,  that slogan came to mind.

So I Googled it, and yes…I finally found out. Amazing, after all these years, mystery solved! Spanish Dogs or Nothing at All was the name of a South Florida band that existed between 1981-1986. Here they are.

It’s not really much of a synchronicity, but it is another astonishing example of the minutia from the past that can turn up on the Internet…if you look.  Now we just need to hear from a former band member and find out one of them had owned that car. And maybe they covered a Spanish version of the Heart song,  ‘Barracuda.’ – R

If the real thing don’t do the trick
You better make up something quick
You gonna burn into the wick
Aren’t you, Barracuda? 

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17 Responses to Spanish Dogs or Nothing at All

  1. Trish and Rob MacGregor says:

    Thanks, Gwendolyn. Don't tell that to Sarah Barracuda!

  2. Gwendolyn H. Barry says:

    Well, I have to tell you, this story is SOOOO my kind of synchronicity !!! I just loved it. Barracuda, huh? I always kind of thought of them like a Russian style of sports car… LOL.

  3. Aleksandar Malecic says:

    Were they a punk rock band? Maybe they haven't covered that song, but these have: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_wsZlrvKNY

  4. Natalie says:

    Bring on the band member! 🙂

  5. maggie's garden says:

    Really cool car! Now I'm going to have that song stuck in my head the rest of the night. Oooo Barracuda!

  6. Trish and Rob MacGregor says:

    Musing – that's a good one! In some esoteric systems, orange is the color of balance. So maybe there's a meaning there, too?

  7. musingegret says:

    Re: small connections. Here's one that's had me thinking for 2-3 days. It's tiny but vivid (in color and circumstance.)

    I was channel surfing right before midnight and landed on "Seinfeld" just as he walks out on stage at a town he flew into and opens with "What's with all the orange cones on the highway into your town?" The scene cut away before any sort of punchline was delivered and I jumped over to TBS and landed on "My Name is Earl." After one minute or so, Earl was shown taking a cat to a cat show and slalom-jogging around a course of orange cones. The judge informs Earl that the cat was to jog the course, not Earl!

    The coincidence of orange cones (spoken and then seen) was so unexpected that I froze for an instant and then muted the sound to revel in the synchro. Meaningful? Who knows? But I did wake up yesterday morning to see that the County road crew had set up a big orange "Men Working" sign in our ditch for the maintainer that was mowing further down the street. First time they'd set signs up!

    wv: somsini
    wv: sawnha

  8. simply says:

    missed typed that should be from ole "home" state band, "Gaslight Anthym", high energy, good rythem,, if not totally poetic lyrics,, Question though is how come it's Bonnie again,,, that's was the name in "04" the year I visited my cousin "Bonnie" in NC whose got a son by the name of "Alex",,

  9. DJan says:

    Glad to hear it's not something to eat! I think your car looked like it use to be really cool, and now, cool again as a vintage ride.

  10. simple says:

    to Nancies comment,, we would know less and do more….

  11. simple says:

    yeah music has been a bit of the theme this week, form a ole "home" state band free in the park,, to my spanish gal friend's mentioning of a ole "bo" friend… google the name Andy Mazzilli

  12. Butternut Squash says:

    My husband and I were just talking about what you can find on the internet. It is my cookbook, my occasional nurse and vet, and part of every science project my kids are involved in.

  13. Trish and Rob MacGregor says:

    Now two listings appear when Spanish Dogs or Nothing at All is Googled.

  14. GYPSYWOMAN says:

    love love love this story of such a neat car and bumper stickers and oldies but goodies everything! and no doubt we do miss tons of little connections – all a good lesson for us to become more open and aware – and nancy is right!

    great post!

    wv=noneswit = none is with it? no one's swift?

  15. Trish and Rob MacGregor says:

    I'd go through withdrawal, Nancy!

    Mike – I'm betting we miss a ton of these small connections!

  16. Nancy says:

    Funny how the internet works to educate us in just about anything we could possibly think we might want to know! What would we do without it?

  17. 67 Not Out (Mike Perry) says:

    A member of the band would tie up your synchro nicely. I wonder how many of these small examples we fail to see.

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