‘Dance to the old shag music hits…’

“Beach music puts a swing in your step.” 

This cleverly worded two-line headline topped an article appearing on the LiveAbout.com website in 2018.

The late Robert Fontenot, a veteran entertainment journalist from Lake Charles, La., told his readers: 

“The Carolina Shag is a dance thought to have originated in the 1940s at the clubs dotting the strands along the beaches of North and South Carolina. While it’s impossible to tease out which came first, the shag or the particular style of music to which it is danced…the two went hand in hand.” 

“The dance itself is a six-count, eight-step pattern, similar to swing, that is performed with a partner to what is now known as ‘beach music,’ which combines elements of R&B, blues and rock’n’roll,” Fontenot wrote. 

Keep it simple. But bear in mind, he was trying to explain things to an audience made up largely of folks from above the Mason-Dixon line. (LiveAbout.com is part of the Dotdash digital media empire, based in New York City.) 

Fontenot continued: “A variety of songs and artists are a part of the shag music genre, but two bands, in particular, stand out: General Johnson and the Chairmen of the Board and The Tams. You may know the first band from its 1970 hit, ‘Give Me Just a Little More Time,’ and the latter from its 1962 hit, ‘What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am).’” 

Fontenot was right on the mark. The Tams formed in Atlanta and had a string of hits, including “You Lied To Your Daddy,” “Hey Girl,” “I’ve Been Hurt” and “Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy.” 

General Norman Johnson of Norfolk, Va., was simply the best there ever was. After his death in 2010 at age 67, the Charlotte Observer dubbed General Johnson as the true “King of Carolina Beach Music.” 

In a listing of “All-Time Beach Music Top 40 Songs (The Classics),” Radio 94.9 – The Surf, based in North Myrtle Beach, S.C., General Johnson dominates. His bands claim nine of those 40 slots. 

He is mentioned seven times with Chairmen of the Board songs and twice as the lead singer with his former band, The Showmen. 

In 1961, the Showmen recorded General Johnson’s classic song “It Will Stand.” The band played and sang: 

Hear those sax blowin’

Sharp as lightnin’

Hear those drums beatin’

Loud as thunder….

That was the winning formula, which has been carried on by North Carolina-based beach music groups that are continuing to perform and tour, such as The Catalinas from Charlotte, Band of Oz from Grifton and The Embers from Raleigh. 

All have rotated members in and out for the past 50-60 years, but the infusion of horns and percussion has become a trademark of contemporary beach music. 

The Embers band formed in 1958, but its biggest hit came in 1979, with “I Love Beach Music,” a song written by Jackie Gore, one of the original band members.

 The Embers

The lyrics pay tribute to legendary beach music groups, including Billy Ward and The Dominos, The Drifters, The Catalinas, The Tymes, The Showmen, The Tams, The Clovers and Willie Tee. 

The song tells us that Carolina girls and boys are born with “beach music in their bones.” 

The rest of us can learn “to shag on the beach,” with the salt in the air and the sand at our feet. 

The words to the songs go like this: “Shama-lama, baby, ding-dong…ooooh-mau-mau” or “Oogum oogum boogum boogum.” 

Name those tunes!