"Sugar Shack" is a song written in 1962 by Keith McCormack. McCormack gave songwriting credit to his aunt, Beulah Faye Voss, after asking what are "those tight pants that girls wear" to which she replied "leotards". The song was recorded in 1963 by Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs at

Norman Petty Norman Petty (May 25, 1927 – August 15, 1984) was an American musician, record producer, publisher, and radio station owner. He is considered to be one of the founding fathers of early rock & roll. With Vi Ann Petty—his wife and vocalist—he ...

Studios in Clovis, New Mexico. The unusual and distinctive instrument part was played by Norman Petty on a Hammond Solovox keyboard; to be precise it is a Model L, Series A. "Sugar Shack" hit No. 1 on both the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

(where it spent five weeks from October 12 to November 9, 1963) and '' Cashbox'' singles charts (where it spent three weeks from October 19 to November 2, 1963). Its No. 1 run on the ''Billboard''

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

was cut short because ''Billboard'' did not publish an R&B chart from November 30, 1963 to January 23, 1965. In Canada the song was No. 1, also for six weeks, from October 14 to November 18. In the UK, "Sugar Shack" also reached No. 45 on the ''Record Retailer'' chart. Gilmer and The Fireballs were the last American band to chart before

Beatlemania Beatlemania was the fanaticism surrounding the English rock band the Beatles from 1963 to 1966. The group's popularity grew in the United Kingdom in late 1963, propelled by the singles " Please Please Me", "From Me to You" and " She Loves Yo ...

hit. On November 29, 1963, "Sugar Shack" received an

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

certification for selling over a million copies, earning gold record status. The song was listed at No. 40 on the Hot 100 year-end chart published by ''Billboard'' in December 1963. A later revision by ''Billboard'' of its year-end rankings for 1963 placed "Sugar Shack" at No. 1, and the magazine has subsequently recognized "Sugar Shack" as the top Hot 100 song of that year. In 2018, the song was listed at number 194 on the "All Time" ''Billboard'' Hot 100 60th Anniversary list. The song is featured in the films '' Mermaids,

Dogfight A dogfight, or dog fight, is an air combat manoeuvring, aerial battle between fighter aircraft that is conducted at close range. Modern terminology for air-to-air combat is air combat manoeuvring (ACM), which refers to tactical situations requir ...

Forrest Gump ''Forrest Gump'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis. An adaptation of the Forrest Gump (novel), 1986 novel by Winston Groom, the screenplay of the film is written by Eric Roth. It stars Tom Hanks in the title rol ...

, Congo, and Stealing Sinatra'', and in the television show ''

Supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

''. In December 1965, the song was covered by Steve Brett, a singer from the

Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefor ...

area of the UK, and was released as the B-side of his single "Chains On My Heart", on the Columbia label (catalogue number DB7794). His backing group, The Mavericks, included Noddy Holder, who eventually came to fame with

Slade Slade are a rock band formed in Wolverhampton, England in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The '' British Hit Singl ...

Certifications

References

External links

Interview with Keith McCormack in International Songwriters Association's "Songwriter Magazine"
1962 songs 1963 singles Songs written by Keith McCormack The Fireballs songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Dot Records singles {{1960s-single-stub