Myths and Near Myths
Beach music will be 60 years old in 2005
by John Hook,
www.beachshag.com
Submitted by Cal Shaw, Tampa Bay Beach Boppers
with permission by John Hook
Chapter 4
The Fifth Wave was a time when the Disco songs which were overlooked in the 70s and 80s came to the forefront along with dozens of R&B and jump blues tunes lost or forgotten in the 50s and 60s.
New Jump Blues swept across the dance floors of S.O.S. and eventually over 100 Shag and Bop clubs in the Southeast.
The Memphis Boppers showed up to one of the S.O.S.s in the late 80s and went back home to herald a NEW direction in R&B Dance and Good Times, “S.O.S.ers”,they said, “danced to much more than Oldies, they were dancing to New and Newly-Discovered R&B tunes."
Piedmont North Carolina saw the emergence of a theretofore unknown FM in 1986. Newly-boosted to 100,000 watts, WRDX went through several plateaus of growth, beginning with a sold-out Beach show on Saturdays with Then-Dr. (now 'Fessa) John Hook to a full-time format as Beach 106. Under the umbrella of its far-reaching signal, Shag clubs sprang up like mushrooms (23 member clubs in the Association of Carolina Shag Clubs of which 70% didn't exist when WRDX made its debut). (The Beach and Shag era of WRDX lasted from October 1986 — May 1995).
WRDX unveiled history's second Beach and Shag magazine, Carolina Class, in June 1987.
Also in this era, Big John Ruth rose to prominence in the Raleigh area, Charlie Byrd pumped 100,000 watts of Beach Blast out of Washington, NC; Steve Hardy appeared with his Original Beach Party on stations in Greenville, Raleigh and Washington, NC, Luke Vail developed a huge following on WNCT out of Greenville, Tommy T-Bird had a TV show and radio show in the New Bern / Morehead City / Jacksonville areas, Steve Leonard on WMXB was (and is) the King of Richmond for over two decades, Johnny Miller took care of mideastern NC on WFJA in Sanford, and Dan Lockemy wowed 'em on WJMX in Florence, SC.
Fessa John Hook published the one-and-only issue of Dancing On The Edge in September, 1989.
The Shag News Network (Will and Tommy Espin and Fessa Hook) produced several 30-minute feature shows on Piedmont cable stations from 1990-1991.
The Raven (Hecky Stallings) was heard on B-100 out of Burgaw, NC on a unique program which included the original music library of WGIV in Charlotte.
Charlie Womble and Jackie McGhee, nine time champs of the Myrtle Beach Shag Nationals produced their first Shag instructional video in 1985 with Al Munn, former O.D. lifeguard in the 40s and 50s and Oldies/Beach station owner in the 70s.
Al also produced Shaggin' On The Strand, a one-hour dance documentary, in 1985.
The South Carolina Educational Television Network produced Shag; It's Controlled Wildness in 1986.
Charlie and Jackie followed up with two more videos, one in 1987 and another in 1993.
Sonny and Judy Carver bowed a series of Shag instructional videos beginning in 1991. Eventually producing eight videos including Shag and Line Dance and three with Sy Creed and Dana Brown; 1991 Shag National Champions. The Association of Beach and Shag Club DJs was born in the Spring of 1991. Now counting over 200 members, they supply the music for Shag clubs, S.O.S. and other Beach/Shag/Bop events in the region.
The Fall 1994 advent of The Breeze (WWBZ) as the flagship station of the Beach, Boogie and Blues Network out of Charleston marked the beginning of a new era. Woody and Leo Windham sit at the helm of the morning show in partnership with owner Frank Baker. Their sister station, WHBZ, signed on the air in mid-June from Port Royal, pumping the Beach, Boogie and Blues from Wilmington, NC to Jacksonville, Florida. (The Breeze Network eventually encompassed four stations: Charleston & Columbia, SC, Port Royal/Hilton Head/Brunswick, GA and one in Wilmington, NC. The network lost three of the stations in 1998 & 1999. The Breeze went off the air in September, 2000).
Simultaneously, Dan Greenfield on Beach 106.3 in Wilmington, John Moore and Al Cannon with WRQR in Farmville/Greenville, Marty Hampton and Ashley Moseley with WELS in Kinston, and Lee Hauser and Al Radlein with WGQR in Elizabethtown each added considerable current Beach and Shag music to their regular formats.
In May, the Association of Carolina Shag Clubs, in partnership with Charlie Womble and Jackie McGee, put on the Grand Nationals in Atlanta, inviting the Swing, Push, Bop, Jitterbug and Whip clubs from all over the nation; thereby moving the Beach / Shag culture into a new position in the national eye
Numerous stars in Southeastern movie productions have fallen in love with the Shag: Kevin Costner reportedly wanted 60 Minute Man in the Bull Durham soundtrack, Robert Duvall took Shag lessons from the late super-stepper Shad Alberty while filming Days of Thunder, Jamie Gertz demonstrated the Shag to her boyfriend in Please Don't Tell Them My Name. (On national news a shuttle astronaut said he wanted a tape of South Carolina Beach Music to take on his flight.)
Pat Conroy's new book, Beach Music, bowed June 14, 1995. Hopefully it and the follow-up movie will be to Beach Music what Urban Cowboy was to Country music.
THE SIXTH WAVE: 1995 — TOMORROW:
(imagine....)
School kids throughout the Southeast evinced an interest in the music and dance heritage unique to their region. Radio stations responded with Shag and karaoke contests for them, their parents and their grandparents.
People who stood on the sidelines from the 40s — 90s, wishing they were dancing, showed new interest in Shag lessons offered by YMCAs and Community Colleges.
Adults in Europe, Australia, the Far East, and South America bought instructional videos to learn more about this dance tantalizingly similar to the jitterbug and bop they grew up on, yet somehow more sensuous, leisurely, and carefree, suiting their desire to dance without overextending muscles away from the gridiron, basketball and volleyball courts for decades.
It could happen...........
Editor’s note: This is the last installment of a very worthwhile article. Thanks go out to Cal Shaw from the Tampa Bay Beach Boppers for arranging to have this article in the“ABA news”.
Reprinted through the kind permission of the Author John Hook, www.beachshag.com where you can also listen to the Best in Beach Music on the Endless Summer Network, 24/7 free of charge.
© 1995 John Hook. All rights reserved. This is an unpublished work of authorship protected by the copyright laws of the USA. It may not be reproduced, copied, published, or loaned to other parties without the express written consent of the author.