This Day in History: 1950s Dance Craze Song “The Shark” Was Banned
It killed on American Bandstand.
In 1958, Checker Records released this largely forgotten hit single, which was a forerunner to dance fads like “The Swim” and “The Funky Chicken.” Young audiences everywhere were thrilled as they performed these dances just as the singers instructed them to.
“The Shark” was first played on the radio by Alan Freed on his “Rock ’n’ Roll Party” show after he received a copy personally delivered by Leonard Checker, a fact uncovered in Freed’s later payola hearings. As the song began to catch on, its 45-rpm records flew off of the shelves, and teens started to host “Shark Hops” for their friends nationwide.
Teenagers were ready for a dance song like this, which was far more physical and visceral than prior fads like “The Bunny Hop.” It tapped into the rebellious spirit of youth culture, at a time when teens were absolutely starved for art they could identify with, especially after the untimely passing of James Dean, and the enlistment of Elvis Presley in the Army.
But that rebellious spirit also brought the ire of parental groups, many of whom called the song “the devil shark’s music.” In fact, “The Shark” was presented to the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency as an example of media which corrupted American children. Senator Estes Kefauver said the song “gripped our children in the jaws of iniquity,” and it was cited as a major reason for passage of the Youth Offenses Act of 1961.
Recording artist Lemonsqueeze Fasterson, a bluesman who successfully made the transition into rock music, wrote the song after being inspired by a boating accident. When “The Shark” began to ravenously shoot up the charts, Fasterson was invited to perform it on American Bandstand, as television was the primary way teens could watch and learn the latest dance moves.
While that footage has since been lost, here are the song’s recently rediscovered lyrics:
[Rock ’n’ roll with a stompin’ backbeat]
“Come on everybody, let’s do The Shark!
Put your arms to your sides
And flap your hands like fins
Now start moving forward
That’s how The Shark begins
Keep on moving forward
So you can breathe, and not die
Swing your head side-to-side
Sense movement with your eye
Now attack! Attack!
Bite! Bite! Bite!
Eat your prey! Eat your prey!
BITE BITE BITE BITE BITE!!
[Saxophone solo during all of the biting]
What you’re moving through now
Is all the blood in the water
Let the smell of it excite you
’Cause you’re not done with the slaughter
That’s not your teenage friend beside you
It’s a sailor who won’t survive
Ignore their pleading screams and cries
The Shark don’t leave shipmates alive
Now attack! Attack!
Rip and tear!
Eat your prey! Eat your prey!
EAT BONES AND SKIN AND HAIR!!”
[Guitar outro-solo during all of the eating]
After widespread incidents of paramedics responding to sock hop frenzies, all known copies of “The Shark” were immediately and publicly burned. Bigger, stronger teenagers who attended these dances tended to remember their release of aggression fondly, but others weren’t so lucky.
For years people claimed they heard the song on pirate radio stations, but that has been dismissed as an urban myth. These lyrics are taken from the only surviving blood-spattered liner notes, courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Frank Sinatra joined the song’s critics, saying “Here’s another example of how these sideburned delinquents are ruining popular music. Sure, my younger fans would get worked up at my concerts, but nobody got disemboweled.”
Dick Clark called the song “sadly murderous, but it had a great beat. I thought Lemonsqueeze’s haunted stare meant he was passionate about his singing, but I’ve been wrong before. The kids were having fun until…well, you know. I didn’t expect to see so much bloodshed on Bandstand, but thanks to our janitors we were ready for the next show in no time.”
Lemonsqueeze Fasterson, who spent a short time in state custody, was never heard from again.
Interestingly, after the deadly “Shark Hops,” the phrase “Hop the Shark” was used in the 1950s as a way to describe something that started out well, but turned poorly. The term fell out of style, but resurfaced with the modern saying “Jump the Shark,” which is itself a reference to the, ironically enough, 1950s-set show “Happy Days.”
2 Live Crew once showed interest in covering “The Shark”, but this was quickly thwarted by the Parents Music Resource Center.
