Shake Your Groove Thing – Peaches & Herb | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#5), R&B (#4) and Dance (#2); 1979
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
Herb Feemster’s big break came when he convinced a record promoter to listen to him sing. The promoter turned out to be music maven Van McCoy, who teamed Herb up with Peaches #1, Francine Hurd Barker, on Let’s Fall In Love (#11 R&B, 1967).
Peaches #2, Marlene Mack, replaced Barker in 1968. After eight Top 30 R&B charters, Herb split from Peaches and moved on to a career with the Washington D.C. Police Department.
Six years down the road Herb wanted to revive his singing career. Enter Linda Greene, Peaches #3. Reuniting with Van McCoy, the latest incarnation of Peaches & Herb got off to an inauspicious start when We’re Still Together bombed.
For the next record, Herb teamed up with old friend Freddie Perren who was now a hot hit record producer. Perren co-wrote Shake Your Grove Thing and produced it, as well.
After a chart absence of almost eight years, Herb found himself with his biggest hit to date, along with his first gold record.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Freddie Perren
Lyrics Written by:
- Dino Fekaris
- Freddie Perren
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).