This week's show was inspired by the 1980s dance movie, Shag. Set in 1963, four girls head off for a weekend of fun in Myrtle Beach and get into all sorts of trouble with boys. I hadn't seen this movie until recently; I saw Vogue's Dress the Part slideshow this past summer and was instantly enamoured (although in retrospect I disagree with their assessment of Pudge as a tomboy. She's really not). It's actually a pretty awful movie in a lot of ways, but the Pudge and Chip storyline makes it worth watching for me. They're the dancers.
Their big dance at the end of the movie--with Pudge looking so happy and so in love it just kills me--is set to a Lloyd Price song by the name of "Stagger Lee", and when I was getting music together for a Shag-themed show, I discovered that there is a whole lot of history and folklore surrounding this song, and many other songs about Stagger Lee. To begin with, there are two versions of the Lloyd Price song. One version has Stagger Lee killing Billy over a gambling dispute; in the other version, Stagger Lee and Billy argue over a girl, then sort out their differences and become friends. This non-murder version was recorded at the request of American Bandstand, who thought the murder version was not appropriate for their audience. This is the version that plays in Shag, although it's the murder version that hit #1 on the Billboard Chart.
Lloyd Price's Stagger Lees are just two versions of the story out of about 400 different interpretations; the real-life murder of Billy Lyons at the hands of "Stag" Lee Shelton has inspired many artists in the 115 years since it occurred. The Wikipedia page and associated links are pretty interesting--but certainly need to be taken with the usual grain of salt.
Having somewhat obsesssed over Shag and Stagger Lee for a week, I devoted this radio show to music either on the Shag soundtrack or from the same era (with maybe a dash of Dirty Dancing and a pinch of Joe Versus the Volcano), as well as to some of the different versions of the Stagger Lee legend (tracks #2, and #28 through #35 below).
- Jakki O--Ooo-Aah
- Lloyd Price--Stagger Lee (American Bandstand Version)
- Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs--Stay
- The Contours--Do You Love Me
- Archie Bell & the Drells--Monkey Time
- Del Vikings--Come Go With Me
- Dionne Warwick--Walk On By
- The Four Tops--It's the Same Old Song
- Martha & the Vandellas--Dancing in the Streets
- The Coasters--Young Blood
- Tennessee Ernie Ford--Sixteen Tons
- Herman's Hermits--(What a) Wonderful World
- The Dominoes--Sixty Minute Man
- Lloyd Price--Personality
- Bob & Earl--Harlem Shuffle
- The Freshmen--Go Granny Go
- The Hollywood Argyles--Alley-Oop
- The Heptones--Our Day Will Come
- Elvis Presley--Blue Hawaii
- The Animals--I'm in Love Again
- General Johnson & the Chairmen of the Board--On the Beach
- The Tams--What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am)
- The Sensations--Let Me In
- Aretha Franklin--Baby I Love You
- Brook Benton & Dinah Washington--Baby (You've Got What It Takes0
- Jackie Wilson--Baby Workout
- The Ronnettes--Be My Baby
- Lloyd Price--Stagger Lee (murder version)
- Mississippi John Hurt--Stackolee
- Ma Rainey--Stack o' Lee Blues
- Josh Ritter--Folk Bloodbath
- The Clash--Wrong 'em Boyo
- The Black Keys--Stack Shot Billy
- The Grateful Dead--Stagger Lee
- Beck--Devils Haircut
- Barry White--Oooo-Aaah
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