Georgia Satellites -Hippy Hippy Shake

I have to give Deke credit for this post. He did a review of “LIGHTNIN’ IN A BOTTLE” …a live Satellite show in 1988 that was released in 2002. This song was in a movie called Cocktail…I wasn’t a fan of the movie but it did have some good music. Deke mentioned Hippy Hippy Shake and I’ve always liked this song.

The Georgia Satellites came out of nowhere with a number 2 hit in 1986 called Keep Your Hands To Yourself. At the time of Madonna and synth-driven songs, it was great to hear this band out of Georgia that played raw roots rock and roll without the big production.

I remember being a senior in high school and watching one of my buddy’s band play in a talent show right before us. They played “Keep Your Hands To Yourself” and it sounded great. That song was made for a rock band…any rock band and I asked him if they wrote it. He said no they had an advance copy of the song or bootleg. I’ve liked this band ever since. They were a no-frills raw rock band in the middle of the sometimes overproduced 80s…a band I followed until they broke up.

I always thought their timing was a bit off. If they would have come out in the late eighties along with the Black Crowes and Guns and Roses… they could have had more staying power.

This song is a little different for them. Their lead singer Dan Baird didn’t sing it. The lead guitar player Rick Richards did the vocals on this one as well as their hit  Battleship Chains.

Chan Romero was just 17 when he wrote this song. According to his entry in the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, he was inspired by the song “Come On, Let’s Go” by Ritchie Valens. The Swinging Blues Jeans cover was a hit in 1963 when the song peaked at #2 in the UK, #2 in Canada, and #24 on the Billboard 100. The Beatles covered it on their Live At The BBC album.

The Satellites version peaked at #45 in the  Billboard 100 and #65 in Canada.

Some of the movies this has appeared in include Uncle Buck, Austin Powers International Man of Mystery, and Cocktail. 

Hippy Hippy Shake

For goodness sakes
I got the hippy hippy shakes
yeah I got the shakes
I got the hippy hippy shakes
I can’t sit still
with the hippy hippy shakes
yeah I get my fill now
with the hippy hippy shake
yeah it’s in the bag
the hippy hippy shake

well I’ve been shakin’ to the left
shakin’ to the right
you do the hippy shake shake
with all of your might
oh baby yeah come on shake
oh it’s in the bag
the hippy hippy shake

well I’ve been shakin’ to the left
shakin’ to the right
you do the hippy shake shake
with all of your might
of baby yeah come on shake
oh it’s in the bag
the hippy hippy shake
the hippy hippy shake
the hippy hippy shake

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

12 thoughts on “Georgia Satellites -Hippy Hippy Shake”

  1. Didn’t know they did this song. An ok cover, personally only lukewarm on the original so about same on this version. But I could see it having appeal to a lot of rock fans. Another band whose sound just didn’t fit with the times well. Not a knock on them, rather a knock on radio & the industry which preferred predictability & well-defined genres

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    1. This song will spark people live…its more of a live song. if they would have come along a couple of years later I think they would have lasted.

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  2. The GS version is pretty close to the SWJ version in sound, especially the vocals. The age between the two clips, and here I mean the ‘Cocktail’ one- is in the watching of the girls dancing. Some inhibitions were dropped after 1963, judging (looking, he said, salaciously) by the gyrations circa mid 80s.

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