Sire Records: Shake Some Action

Formed in San Francisco in 1965, the garage band the Flamin’ Groovies had a style that could be described as “Pre-Punk.” Although they never garnered mainstream success, their 1976 recording of “Shake Some Action” tends to be one of their better known songs. It was released in Europe in 1976 as a single.

In the US, for some unknown reason, Sire Records chose not to release the song on 45 and picked “I Can’t Hide” instead – it, by the way, flopped. “Shake Some Action” was the lead track from the LP of the same name. While the album is probably the band’s best known 12-inch release, it had a dismal showing at #142 on the Top 200 album charts. With that said, it was the only one of Flamin’ Groovies’ eight albums to chart and was the first of three to be released by Sire, which was distributed by ABC at the time.

“Shake Some Action” was written by guitarist Cyril Jordan and guitarist/lead vocalist Chris Wilson. Jordan was a founding member of the band and Wilson joined the Flamin’ Groovies in 1971. The song can be loosely considered a Media Monday selection, as a cover of “Shake Some Action” by David Lowery was featured in the 1995 film “Clueless.” I, however, like the original. This is great stuff from a band that is largely unknown in the broader scheme of things.