It was Beach Music and we owned it. Those of us who lived in Virginia or the Carolinas, or those who may have vacationed in those spots in the late 50’s and the 60’s, remember Beach Music. We remember beach clubs and dance halls along the oceanfront at places like Cherry Grove, Ocean Drive, North Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach in SC, or in Atlantic Beach or Carolina Beach in North Carolina and, of course, along the boardwalk at Virginia Beach. It was a time of sunburned faces, sand in your Weejuns, and 25 cent beer during Happy Hour. We remember doing the Shag, or the Carolina Shuffle as some called it, a soft jitterbug or some related version of swing dances to some of the great music of our time. It was the official State Dance for both North and South Carolina.
Most of the popular beach music songs weren’t top ten hits. They were just songs that made for easy dancing to a steady and haunting six-count, eight-step pattern danced in a slot. Beach music was designed such that a guy might be able to hold a beer in right hand and his partner’s hand in the left, do a few steps and spins and not spill a drop.
It was also a way to celebrate being at the beach, and we loved nothing better. A summer without at least one trip to the beach was like a night with no moon or stars.
This was an era when folks danced with whoever showed up. There was lots of switching with dancing partners, even among those with dates. Beach music made it easy to socialize, to meet those of the opposite sex and enjoy dancing as it was meant to be – together, not apart.
Beach music was rhythm and blues at its best.
Some of the top songs of that era were “Gimmee Little Sign” by Brenton Wood, “Sixty-Minute Man” by the Dominoes, “I’ve Been Hurt” by Bill Deal and the Rhondels, “Stay” and “May I” by Maurice Williams, “Under the Boardwalk” by The Drifters, “39-21-46” by The Showmen, and “Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy” by The Tams.
Often, we didn’t know, nor care, the names of those songs, we just loved the beat and the feeling of being young, of being at the beach, drinking a cold beer and having a great time.
