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"Shake It Up" is a song by American New Wave band The Cars from their 1981 album of the same name. Although appearing for the first time in 1981, it was actually written years earlier by Ric Ocasek, who composed the vast majority of the band's music. As the title track of the album, "Shake It Up" combines the hard-rock feel of the band's earlier work with synthesizers and electronic drum machines to create a futuristic dance beat characteristic of later singles from their 1984 album Heartbeat City. The song would go on to become The Cars' most popular party song (peaking at #2 on the US mainstream rock charts and #4 on the US Billboard singles chart in early 1982) and a staple of dance parties even today. With its catchy beat and feel-good encouragement of listeners to "shake it up with all you've got", the song has endured past its companion tracks on the album, which are more aligned with their earlier work on the album Panorama and thus less upbeat and lighthearted. In the music video for it, some of the Cars members crossdress.
The song appears again in 1985 on The Cars' Greatest Hits album, along with two other songs from the album, Since You're Gone and I'm Not The One.
The song was covered by the Chipmunks and the Chipettes in an episode of Alvin and The Chipmunks.
[edit] External links
- [1] Album information, including details on the single
