''Shake Some Action'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band the

Flamin' Groovies Flamin' Groovies is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965, originally co-led by Roy Loney and Cyril Jordan. After the Groovies released three albums, on Epic (''Supersnazz'') and Kama Sutra (''Flamingo'' and '' Teenage He ...

. The album was released in June 1976 by Sire Records. The title ''Shake Some Action'' originates from a line in the 1965 film '' None but the Brave''.

Background and recording

''Shake Some Action'' was the first album by the newly reconstituted version of the Flamin' Groovies, who had returned from a five-year hiatus during which lead singer Roy Loney departed the band, leaving guitarist Cyril Jordan as its de facto leader. During that period, the Groovies had released three singles, all recorded in 1972 while the band was living in the UK, under contract to

United Artists Records United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1959, ...

, and being produced by Dave Edmunds.Jordan, Cyril. Liner notes to ''Slow Death'' (2002). Retrieved 5 December 2017. Two of the songs from those sessions (the title track and "You Tore Me Down") eventually ended up on this album. The band drastically reshaped their musical style, stripping down the blues and

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

influences of their previous work in favor of a more retro, guitar-oriented

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, and ...

style emulating that of the 1960s

British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising "counterculture" on ...

scene. The new band took to wearing velvet-collared three-piece suits and

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in an attempt to recreate the fashion sense of the era. In an interview with '' ZigZag'' magazine, Jordan stated that the band "just wanted to get back to the flash of that era, which were the best years, as far as I'm concerned."

Release and reception

In a contemporary review of ''Shake Some Action'',

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

of ''

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'' felt that the Flamin' Groovies, without Roy Loney and having remodelled themselves as "an English pop-revival band", now "get their kicks playing dumb", and that while the album contained good songs, "only cultists will ever hear them." In the United States, ''Shake Some Action'' reached number 142 on the '' Billboard'' albums chart. The album was released to a much greater reception in the United Kingdom, then in the early stages of the punk era. Newly based in England, the reformed Flamin' Groovies found itself aligned with the burgeoning punk scene, along with the likes of bands such as the

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...

and the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...

. Retrospectively, Ian S. Port of '' San Francisco Weekly'' states that ''Shake Some Action'' "influenced the rise of power pop and punk in America, and remains a vital document of that era." In a retrospective review of the album, Mark Deming of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

opined that "if ''Shake Some Action'' was the first salvo from the new and improved Flamin' Groovies, it also demonstrated that this edition of the band had as much promise as the Loney-fronted group," calling the title track "a brilliant evocation of the adventurous side of British rock circa 1966 ... hichby its lonesome served as a superb justification for The Groovies' new creative direction." Joe Tangari of ''

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'' wrote that ''Shake Some Action'' "is in every sense both a comeback and a re-invention, and it's been rightly championed by collectors and critics extolling its effortless pop perfection." In 2014, the title track was one of the ten selected by Greil Marcus for his book ''The History of Rock 'n' Roll in Ten Songs'':

Track listing

Personnel

;Flamin' Groovies * Cyril Jordan - guitar, vocals * Chris Wilson - vocals, guitar * James Ferrell - guitar * George Alexander - bass * David Wright - drums * Danny Mihm - drums on 1, 5

Cover versions

The title song was covered by

Cracker Cracker, crackers or The Crackers may refer to: Animals * ''Hamadryas'' (butterfly), or crackers, a genus of brush-footed butterflies * '' Sparodon'', a monotypic genus whose species is sometimes known as "Cracker" Arts and entertainment Films ...

for the soundtrack to the 1995 film '' Clueless''. The Newtown Neurotics live album ''Kickstarting a Backfiring Nation'' features “Shake Some Action” redone as “Take Strike Action.”.Jack Rabid, "Newtown Neurotics", Trouser Press
/ref> Yo La Tengo performed "You Tore Me Down" on their album '' Fakebook''. The Hitmen have a recorded live version of the song on their compilation album ''Dancing Time '78-'79''. The take is from Live at The Local Inn, Ryde, September 1979.

References

External links

Audio only video of the song ''Shake Some Action'' on YouTubeRemastered audio only video of said song on YouTubeOfficial site at RHINO
{{Authority control 1976 albums Flamin' Groovies albums Sire Records albums Albums recorded at Rockfield Studios Albums produced by Dave Edmunds Philips Records albums