#RMF2020: The Shoop Shoop Song

 

 

 Day 7 of #RocktoberMusicFest2020

This year for RocktoberMusicFest, I thought I would take us on a journey through Rock Music. The idea was inspired by my ThrowBack Thursday theme.

Starting with the 50’s, each week will represent a decade in Rock. As there are only 7 days in a week and there are 10 years in a decade, there will be quite a few songs overlooked. Don’t fret - I’m sure I’ll get those covered at some point in a Throwback Thursday post.

The idea behind RocktoberMusicFest is to celebrate Rock and Roll. It’s my hope that between my posts and yours that we will get to enjoy many of the different subgenres of rock.

The concept of this bloghop is to have a lot of fun and enjoy a lot of music. As rock and roll is known for breaking rules, I’ve left the rules of this hop wide open and quite simply this:  Post when you can. You can post once, or join in every day. The only hard and fast rule is that your post contains rock music. Each day you will be invited to include your link in the comments of this blog. Please take a moment to visit those that have included their links in the comments. I’ll be doing my part to combat spam by removing links that are not part of the hop.

Sound fun?  Okay - let’s get this party started!

The Song choice for today: The Shoop Shoop Song
Artist: Betty Everett
Year Representing: 1964

Wikipedia tells us this about the song:
"The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" is a song written and composed by Rudy Clark. It was first released as a single in 1963 by Merry Clayton that did not chart. The song was made a hit a year later when recorded by Betty Everett, who hit No. 1 on the Cashbox magazine R&B charts with it in 1964. Recorded by dozens of artists and groups around the world in the decades since, the song became an international hit once again when remade by Cher in 1990.

Calvin Carter, the chief A&R man for the Chicago-located Vee-Jay Records, found "It's in His Kiss" while visiting New York City in search of material for the Vee-Jay roster which included Betty Everett. After Everett had a hit with another song Calvin Carter brought back from New York City, "You're No Good", Calvin Carter suggested Everett cut "It's in His Kiss" as the follow-up single. Everett – who found the song puerile – reluctantly agreed. The accompanying vocals on Everett's recording were provided by Vee-Jay session regulars the Opals, a trio of teenage girls (Rose Addison, Myra Tillison, and Rose "Tootsie" Jackson) from East Chicago, Indiana.

Dave Marsh in his book The Heart of Rock and Soul opines that Betty Everett's version, "while [credited] as a solo performance is one of the finest girl group hits, undoubtedly the best one made outside the genre's New York City/Philadelphia/Los Angeles "axis""

Everett's version of "The Shoop Shoop Song" reached number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the spring of 1964: at the time Billboard was not publishing its R&B chart but her cover was a number 1 R&B hit according to Cash Box. In international release, Everett's "The Shoop Shoop Song" was also a hit in Australia reaching number 21 but was initially overlooked in the UK although Everett's minor 1965 U.S. hit "Getting Mighty Crowded" (number 65) would reach number 29 in the UK. In 1968, the label President Records reissued both songs on one single, with "The Shoop Shoop Song" as the A-side, that peaked at number 34.




I’d love for you to join me in celebrating Rock Music this month. All you need to do is drop the link to your current Rock Music post in the comments. Be sure to code with html so the link is clickable.  (See the announcement post for instructions on that) And then visit everyone that has left their links.

Don't forget to come back tomorrow for more #RMF2020 fun!