Spanaway, Washington

Spanaway is a census-designated place (CDP) in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The population was 27,227 at the 2010 census. Spanaway is an unincorporated area near Tacoma, and is often identified together with the more urban, less wealthy Parkland.

Spanaway's main business thoroughfare is Pacific Avenue South, which is a north-south road that coincides with State Route 7 through the Spanaway area.

The song "The Needle Has Landed" from Neko Case's CD Fox Confessor Brings the Flood mentions Spanaway in passing. Tacoma alternative pop/rock band Seaweed also released an album entitled Spanaway. Long Island, New York band The Movielife also has a song called "Spanaway".

History

Etymology: The Hudson's Bay Company, headquartered at Fort Nisqually, had control of this region until 1863. Company maps and journals show the company's subsidiary, the Pugets Sound Agricultural Company, raised cattle, grain, and sheep at "Spanueh Station" on the south and east shores of "Spanueh Lake." Spanueh is the Hudson Bay Company's spelling of the native Lushootseed spadue, which means "dug roots" referring to an area where camas and other edible roots can be found. Lushootseed underwent a loss of nasal consonants in the 1800s, so "Spanueh" simply transcribes an older pronunciation of what is now "Spadue".

Seaweed (band)

Seaweed is an American band from Tacoma, Washington who were active throughout the 1990s. Their style of music is a combination of punk rock and grunge, mostly due to its "dirty" sound.

History

In their early days, Seaweed was signed to Washington's Sub Pop, but later released albums on Hollywood Records and Merge Records. Seaweed's contemporaries during the time of their existence included Mudhoney, Samiam, Jawbreaker and tourmates Superchunk and Quicksand. Their song "Kid Candy" was featured as a music video in an episode of Beavis and Butt-head.

The band toured extensively in the United States with Green Day, Superchunk and Bad Religion as well as overseas, including shows in Brazil with Garage Fuzz. They were well known for their cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way", which appeared in the movie Clerks. In 2006, their song "Losing Skin" appeared on the soundtrack for the video game NHL 2K7.

On May 15, 2007, the band announced, via MySpace, that they had reformed and were writing a new album, tentatively titled Small Engine Repair. They also announced several live dates. They did release a 7 inch single in 2011 on the punk record label No Idea, titled "Service Deck" / "The Weight".