Shake It (Iain Matthews song)

Background

The song's composer Terence Boylan had introduced "Shake It" on his 1977 self-titled album on which Timothy B Schmit sang background on eight of the nine tracks including "Shake It" which track also featured guitarist Al Kooper. Not chosen for US single release, Boylan's "Shake It" was given a 4 November 1977 single release in Ian Matthews' native UK: however Matthews had been living in the US since 1973, and it was on an FM radio station in Seattle that he first heard Boylan's "Shake It". After Matthews phoned the radio station for info on the track the disc jockey sent him a copy of the Terence Boylan album from which Matthews would "cover" two songs: "Shake It" and "Don't Hang Up Your Dancing Shoes", for his album Stealin' Home, recorded in the summer of 1978. Concurrent with his Top 40 success with "Shake It", Matthews would tell Rolling Stone: "I don’t think I did anything different [to record a hit single]. I guess it's my reward. After all, I've been doing exactly what I want for 14 or 15 years." However Matthews would later acknowledge that on Stealin' Home "I tried to add just a couple of songs that had Top 40 potential, without compromising the rest of the material [and the album] did precisely what it was supposed to do: it raised my profile, without lowering my credibility."

Recorded at Chipping Norton Recording Studios in the West Oxfordshire town of Chipping Norton, Stealin' Home was the result of Matthews' first UK recording sessions since 1973 but in the opinion of Mark Deming of AMG, Matthews on Stealin' Home "dove headfirst into a polished pop sound that made the one-time British folkie sound like a member of the LA Mellow Mafia. [Though] recorded in Oxfordshire, 'Stealin' Home' re-created the meticulously crafted sound of West Coast pop with impressive accuracy." Alan Mckay of MusicRiot.co.uk concurs that "with great session players, tasteful (bordering on minimal) FM radio-friendly arrangements and lyrics dealing with American themes [plus] a singer with a plaintive high tenor voice" it's obvious that "the album was aimed squarely at the American market". McKay further opines: "The theme running through the album was the failure of the American dream...Matthews picked out songs about the party set, car fanatics and sports groupies to form the backbone of this album. It's a melancholy album because it looks back at the unfulfilled promise of American lives in the same way that Bob Seger did with songs like 'Hollywood Nights" and 'Night Moves' and Jackson Browne did with 'The Pretender'."

One of two tracks on Stealin' Home to feature Mel Collins on sax, "Shake It" was issued as the album's lead single to become Matthews' first Top 40 hit reaching a Hot 100 peak of #13 within a 19 week Hot 100 tenure. "Shake It" was especially popular in New England, reaching #2 in Springfield, Massachusetts (WAQY) and #3 in Bangor, Maine (WLBZ). The year-end tally for Hot 100 hits of 1979 would rank "Shake It" at #73. Matthews' only previous Hot 100 ranking had been a 1972 remake of "Da Doo Ron Ron" (#96) but he had become well-known as the frontman for the band Matthews Southern Comfort who in 1971 had reached #23 on the Hot 100 with their version of "Woodstock": "Shake It" would remain Matthews' only Top 40 hit as a solo act, the second single from the Stealin' Home album: the Robert Palmer composition "Give Me an Inch", peaking at #67 and proving Matthews final Hot 100 entry. (The Boylan composition "Don't Hang Up Your Dancing Shoes", the third single release off Stealin' Home afforded Matthews' his final appearance on a Billboard chart, peaking at #42 on the magazine's Easy Listening hit ranking, where "Shake It" had reached #21 and "Give Me an Inch #43).

Although "Woodstock" had afforded Matthews Southern Comfort a three week tenure at #1 in the UK in 1970 Matthews would never appear on the UK chart as a solo act despite a string of UK single releases, including "Shake It" in February 1979. "Shake It" would afford Matthews a Top Ten hit in Canada, peaking at #6: the track had been especially popular in New Brunswick, reaching #1 on CIHI in Fredericton. "Shake It" would also a Top 20 hit in New Zealand, and would chart in Australia with a #65 peak.

Use in media

"Shake It" is heard at the beginning of the 1980 movie Little Darlings: (Ian Matthews quote:) "The first I knew about the song being in the movie was when it came out and a friend called to ask if I’d heard it." The song can also be heard on the radio in the game The Warriors from Rockstar Games.