Peaches & Herb, Shake Your Groove Thing | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 105^th edition of Throwback Vibez (2023), we recollect and reflect on “Shake Your Groove Thing” by Peaches & Herb. 

“Feel that beat, never stop / Oh, hold me tight, spin me like a top.” WOO! The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 105^th  edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2023), we recollect and reflect on 🎵 “Shake Your Groove Thing”, performed by 🎙 Peaches & Herb..

“Shake your groove thing / Shake your groove thing / Yeah, yeah / Show ‘em how we do it now.” Ooh wee! 🎙 Peaches & Herb experienced their most pop success with their 1978 album, 💿 2 Hot!.  Notably, with the duo, Herb was actually Herb (🎙 Herb Fame), while Peaches was various people 🤯. On 2 Hot!, which yielded both 🎵 “Reunited” and the song at hand, 🎵 “Shake Your Groove Thing”, 🎙 Linda Greene was Peaches. “Shake Your Groove Thing,” the second track from the album, was written by 🎼 ✍ Dino Fekaris and Freddie Perren. In addition to his writing credit, Perren serves as the producer.  Ultimately, with the writing of Fekaris and Perren, and the incredible chemistry and voices of Fame and Greene, “Shake Your Groove Thing” would peak at no. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, second only to hitting no. 1 with 🎵 “Reunited”.

The production work on “Shake Your Groove Thing” is bright and exuberant. The percussive groove is epic, instantly making your body move.  Specifically, the keyboard work is awesome, while the orchestration is marvelous – those strings and winds!  Of course, when it comes to the writing and most memorable moment, it’s none other than the infectious chorus, excerpted above in its simplistic glory. The verses are fun too, also maintaining a sense of simplicity – not doing too much or going too deep. “Let’s show the world we can dance / Bad enough to strut our stuff,” the duo sings, continuing, “The music gives us a chance / We do more out on the floor.” Word! Of course, other fun lyrical moments include “Funky sounds / Wall to wall / We’re bumping booties / Having us a ball, y’all,” and, of course, the aforementioned “Feel that beat, never stop / Oh, hold me tight, spin me like a top.” To reiterate, the vocal chemistry allows this joint to be hella successful, making “Shake Your Groove Thing” one of those timeless, feel good soul classics.  All told, 🎵 “Shake Your Groove Thing” is an incredibly fun six minutes of 70s disco/funk/soul.

🎙 Peaches & Herb • 💿 2 Hot! • 🏷 UMG Recordings, Inc. • 🗓 1978

Peaches & Herb, Shake Your Groove Thing: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 105 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; UMG Recordings, Inc.; John Alan Sperry, PIRO via  Pixabay]