This is a great power pop record. This band had different phases, blues rock, and then power pop after co-founder Roy Loney left. Over the decades, Shake Some Action has aged better than nearly anything else from its era. It doesn’t belong to 1976, not really, it belongs to the die-hard power pop fans that followed.
The Flamin’ Groovies first recorded this song in 1972, but the song was not released until their 1976 album of the same name, which was produced by Dave Edmunds, who sped up the tempo of the track and pushed the vocals. According to lead guitarist Cyril Jordan, the descending phrase he played on lead guitar was overdubbed about six times. Edmunds would also put remote microphones around the studio to fatten up certain passages.
The band started in 1965 with Roy Loney and Cyril Jordan. By the end of the sixties, they clashed over where to go. Loney was more Stones, and Jordon leaned toward the Beatles. Loney left in 1971, and they got an 18-year-old lead singer named Chris Wilson. They moved to London and started to work with Dave Edmunds. With Chris, they did more power pop, and that is when Shake Some Action came about, with Wilson and Jordon writing it.
They would go on to be a great power pop band and also be known as an early proto-punk band…they pretty much covered the gamut. This anti-drug song was written by Jordon and Loney before he left…Chris Wilson is singing it.
Wilson left in the early eighties, but the band continued until around 1994. They regrouped in 2012, including Chris Wilson. The Flamin’ Groovies have released 9 studio albums and one as late as 2017.
Shake Some Action
I will find a way
To get to you some day.
Oh, but I, babe, I’m so afraid I’ll fall, yeah.
Now can’t you hear me call?
Shake some action’s what I need
To let me bust out at full speed.
I’m sure that’s all you need
To make it all right.
It’s taken me so long
To get where I belong
Oh, but, oh, please don’t send me back that way, yeah.
For I will make you pay.
Shake some action’s what I need
To let me bust out at full speed.
I’m sure that’s all you need
To make it all right.
If you don’t dig what I say
Then I will go away.
And I won’t come back this again. No.
‘Cause I don’t need a friend.
Shake some action’s what I need
To let me bust out at full speed.
I’m sure that’s all you need
To make it all right.
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I really like the opening in this song. Yes, the Power Pop vibes are strong with this one. I can hear a bit of ‘Badfinger’ in it as well. Good song Max.
Thanks for listening Matt!
Oh! it’s so good to hear this track again. Perfect power pop
Yes it is! I’m glad you know it Glyn…
Wot! That’s a spot o’ flamin’ groovy that is! Sounds like an old Beatles song played by a band with 1985 era Peter Buck on Rickenbacker. Not a perfect power pop song, but a good one
It is ranked near the top of power pop songs…it has a huge cult following…to me what is weird…they sounded like The Stones 4 years before lol.
Great tune!
Got this on a greatest hits album. Dont pull it out enough but when I do it does the trick.
I do like this band on a lot of cuts. They are all over the place.
easy to like. I know Fox is a big fan.
Thats right…he reccomended a covers album they did.
Yeah…you turned me onto this band a few years ago. I really like them. Cool tune.
Thanks for listening Pam!
Power Pop. Gimmie some jangle! There’s a lot to like here.
Yea it’s on a power pop top ten in a lot of lists.
I love it, Max, and definitely want to spend more time with this album. I previously covered their 1969 album “Supersnazz,” but that dates back a number of years. That one’s great as well!
Dude…you werent’ supposed to comment tonight!
The nerd in me just couldn’t resist!😂
LOL…I love this band as well…very under rated.
Crazy they have been going in name since 65. They are neck in neck with Grumpy Rog and Angry Pete in the time frame of being in a band. We all know the Who never broke up in 82…they took a break for a few years haha…
Oh yea…Townshend became an editor and that was it…they regrouped in the late 80s as we know…
They did Live Aid right?
Oh yes! With Kenney on the drums…I forgot about that…that was a surprise to all of them.
Great and very influential record. Got to see them play in London in 2019. Unfortunatley, Cyril got ill and didn’t make the trip overseas and wasn’t with them.
They changed so much…from a Stones sounding blues sound and then headfirst into power pop.
Very nice. Have heard the name before (probably here), but don’t know a lot about them. Some of the chords at the beginning remind me of “Driver’s Seat”, but that was years later.
Listen to Whiskey Woman and Slow Death…they don’t sound like the same band. Earlier in the 70s they were more like early 70s Stones…then boom…power pop…and very good power pop…. Drivers Seat does sound related to this.
Max, you must never sleep. How do you find these off-the-wall bands? The name alone drew me in. I’ve never heard of these guys, but then, I’m an old musician and haven’t listened to anything past 1970.
These bands just find me…I go look for the history of one band and I find another and it’s a chain. I like new/old music rather than new music…so it fits what I like.
Haven’t heard this for ages. Sounds like the dB’s were taking notes.
I thought of that band as well. On a side note speaking of the dB’s…I might be seeing The Big Star Quintet next week if they don’t sell out. Jody Stephens, Mike Mills (R.E.M.), Jon Auer (The Posies), Pat Sansone (Wilco), and Chris Stamey (The dB’s).
Sounds awesome – love all five of those bands.