I’ve seen this video circulating on Facebook recently and it got me thinking about my love of Beach Music, a term that is mostly known in the southeastern part of the USA. Ocean breeze, salty air, sun, sand …..this is what comes to mind when I listen to Beach Music. Many people often wonder “just what is Beach Music?” The term came to be during the 1940’s and 50s, when college kids in the southeastern U.S. would flock to the beach and listen to Rhythm & Blues being played on the jukeboxes. Thus the term “Beach Music” was born.
The name caught on and now there is a genre dedicated to the Carolina Beach Music and “shag dance” phenomenon. The dance has a 1-2-3 shuffle to it, similar to the Jitterbug, and is very popular among the Carolina beach clubs. Being a “Carolina Girl” at heart, this is the music that I grew up listening to. I remember as a kid, driving to the beach with my family and sitting in the backseat singing along to artists like the Embers, the Tams, the Platters, Chairmen of the Board, and many more… It’s the dance that started right here in the Carolinas, and it’s South Carolina’s official state dance!
You’ve heard about it, you’ve wondered about it, now see these little whipper snappers dancing it… watch the entire video because the moves just keep coming! Mercy!
Karsyn Folds and Ethan Alban at the 2012 Shag Nationals “Mercy” by Duffy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kpOncrs6O4
One of the most well-known Beach Music songs “39-21-46” written by the late General Johnson while he was in Junior High and with the group The Showmen:
Another Beach Music classic, I think we could all do some “Cooling Out” – thank you Jerry Butler:
– Submitted by Meg Kimmel, Music Design