Shag Art - Prints of
past and present shag club dance lounges
in the South.
Beach Music Defined:
A basic definition might describe beach music
as: Rhythm and blues, soul music and disco
that is popular among baby boomer residents
of the Carolinas who want to dance, party and
re-live their happy adolescent years at the
beach.
A more accurate description would be: A
variety of musical styles, including:
post-war R&B, "group sounds" of the '50s,
soul obscurities from the '60s, one-hit
wonders from several eras, mainstream disco,
the occasional gospel cut and almost anything
by Delbert McClinton. It is virtually any
song with a relaxed 4/4 shuffle rhythm that
beach music lovers can "Shag" to. ("Shag" in
this case referring to a dance style rather
than an Austin Powers expression. Professor
John Hook describes it as "an improvisational
dance that looks like a smooth, slowed down,
elegant version of The Jitterbug.")
Beach music has been around for some 50
years, is played on countless radio stations
in the Carolinas, draws thousands to the
beach every year for conventions and yet even
in the information age, is virtually unheard
of outside of a four-state area in the
Southeast.
This is a short history, then, of a cultural
phenomenon.
Source Eason Publications, Inc. "The
Spectator Online."
