Boogie Fever

"Boogie Fever" is the title of a song recorded by Los Angeles, California-based R&B group The Sylvers, from their 1975 album Showcase. Their most lucrative single, it reached number one in the U.S. on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Soul Singles charts as well as reaching number one in Canada on the RPM national singles chart in 1976,^[1] and was their third of nine Top 20 R&B hits and first top 40 pop single.^[2]

Content

The narrator of the song notes a change that seems to have come over his girlfriend - at the drive-in movie, she turns down the speaker volume and turns up the radio to hear her favorite disco songs, and "boogies" to the disco beat while eating her meal at the pizza parlor. He concludes that his girl must have caught the "boogie fever" which seems to be "goin' around." In the final verse, he consults his doctor and realizes that he, too, has caught the "boogie fever" as a result of dancing all night "doin' the bump, bump, bump" with his girlfriend.

History

After being signed to Capitol Records in 1975, Larkin Arnold, then vice president, hired Motown Records veteran Freddie Perren to produce the group. Kenneth St. Lewis, a long-time collaborator with Arnold, suggested they write a song for them using one of the popular words of the day, "boogie." The song featured all nine Sylvers, including the youngest sisters, Angelia and Pat. Released in February 1976, it took 13 weeks to climb to number-one on the pop charts.

The bass line for the song, performed by legendary Motown bassist James Jamerson, was based upon that of "Day Tripper" by the Beatles.

In 2010, "Boogie Fever" was used prominently in the movie Despicable Me. The song was also featured in the movie Roll Bounce, and appeared in TV ads for Old Navy and Little Caesar's Pizza.

Charts

References

External links

• Song review