THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 20, 1994 TAG: 9411170217
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: John Harper
LENGTH: Long : 101 lines
David and Sharon Jones of Kill Devil Hills are shaggers and proud of it.
David is the president and disc jockey of the Outer Banks Shag Club. Sharon is treasurer. The Joneses formed the club, one of 98 members of the Association of Carolina Shag Clubs, in 1990. The association's twofold mission is to preserve shag and beach music and raise funds for social causes, including Dare Hospice.
Beach music and its companion dance, the shag, were born in the Carolinas. Most beach music historians agree the music and dance originated in the mid-l950s.
As the story goes, young adults and teenagers traveling to the beaches of the Carolinas - and looking for a place to dance - found jukeboxes in resort towns chock-full of records by such artists as Joe Turner, Ruth Brown and Billy Ward and the Dominoes.
Most of the music was unfamiliar to the beach-goers, who listened to the segregated world of AM radio. And when the travelers returned home, they passed the word to friends about this great ``beach music.''
This heavy-duty rhythm and blues music was sung primarily by black artists. In the '50s, many record companies had their white singers, such as Pat Boone, covering tunes of the far-superior black artists to guarantee radio-airplay. Bad move. The music lacked soul, and you couldn't dance to it.
The rhythm and blues records featured a solid bottom end, heavy on the bass and drums, and most club patrons would jitterbug to it. In Myrtle Beach, some of the dancers jitterbugged in the sand outside. The basic jitterbug steps, slowed by the thickness of the sand, became the shag.
Forty years later, the beach music movement thrives.
In addition to the Association of Shag Clubs, there is a 125-member Association of Beach and Shag Club DJs, of which David Jones is a member. Two record companies, Ripete and Surfside, deal exclusively in beach and shag music. There are newsletters and magazines covering the beach music scene. And twice a year, up to 15,000 shaggers converge on the beach music capital of the world, Myrtle Beach, for a three-day S.O.S. (Society of Stranders).
Shaggers packed with sun-tan lotion, shorts and shoes (leather-bottomed shoes are preferred) dance at Fat Harolds, Duck's, Crazy Zack's and other clubs on Ocean Drive. With all those leather-bottom Weegun loafers, it's a three-day ``Weegunstock'' for shaggers.
One interesting side-note: There is no live music during S.O.S.; disc jockeys spin shagging discs non-stop. Beach music disc jockeys make spinning discs an art form. Smooth segues are a must, as is a constant tempo.
David Jones is in command at the Sea Ranch in Kill Devil Hills, the Outer Banks Shag Club's meeting place. Jones explains that the tempo of beach music is measured in beats per minute. He uses variable-speed compact disc players to ensure that each song is up to the ``standard'' beach music tempo of 120 beats per minute.
On the Monday night I'm in the house, Jones mixes current artists such as Daryl Hall, The Band and Luther Vandross with the established beach artists such as Clyde McPhatter, B.B. King and Clarence Carter.
What makes a good beach song?
``If you can shag to it,'' Jones says, ``it's good.''
At the Sea Ranch, there's more line-dancing than in other beach music clubs. The 40 or so dancers execute the ``Tush-Push'' and the ``Electric Slide.''
``I love line-dancing,'' says Ina Phelps of Nags Head. ``Not only is it fun, but it's aerobic exercise.''
While most of the Shag Club members are Tush-Pushing, others are warming up in the bullpen area. Some of the shaggers learn new steps in the area just a few yards from the main dance floor. Sharon Jones encourages the dancers.
``Watch your partner. Mirror their steps.''
There's a real sense of support in the bullpen area. It's this feeling of camaraderie that keeps the beach movement growing.
``Everybody's here to have fun,'' says Sharon. The Shag Club makes it easier on the men; it is perfectly acceptable for women to ask them to dance.
The Outer Banks Shag Club has 148 members, about half of them from out-of-state. This club has a grandmother and granddaughter, Madge Meyle and 12-year-old Theresa Kreiger of Colington Harbor. Meyle joined the club after the death of her husband. Theresa joined to have some ``fun.''
``Women are comfortable in this setting,'' says Meyle.
Several women asked me to dance, but my Reebok tennis shoes just are not made for shagging and sliding. I found out later that it's frowned upon to turn a dancer down. I apologize. Next time, I'll bring some sand. ILLUSTRATION: WHERE & WHEN
What: Outer Banks Shag Club
Next Big Event: Annual Shaggers Harvest Ball
When: Saturday, November 26
Where: Comfort Inn, Milepost 17, Beach Road
Admission: $5 dollars and three cans of food for the Dare County
Food Pantry
For more information: Sharon Jones, 261-4105
HARPER'S INDEX
David Jones' Top 5 Shag Songs:
Baby Likes To Rock It - Tractors
Love Potion (NU)9 - Hamsel Martinez
Sham-A-Lama Ding Dong - Band of Oz
Just You and Me - Delbert McClinton
Rough Side of the Mountain - Reverend F.C. Barnes
by CNB