Beach Music & Shag are more than a lifestyle,
'lifestyle' refers to leisure and consumption, but in the spaces between
the notes and steps is a bigger story waiting to be heard.
Fessa' Hook has
added MORE dates to his play calendar below!
IMPORTANT: If you are
interested in a specific issue of Dancing On the Edge News below send me an e-mail, after
you subscribe, and I'll send the copy you're
after. E-mail me
at
johnhook@mindspring.com
v1 n1 Oct 5-"Mr. Smoothie" Dave Landon
v1 n2 Oct 12-New River Blues
Festival
v1 n3 Oct 19-Beach Music Radio Hall
of Fame
v1 n4 Oct 26-River City Bar and
Grill
v1 n5 Nov 2-Mt. Shag Club,
Arden, NC
v1 n6 Nov 9-Ana Popovic-Unconditional,
Hilltop Bar and Bistro, Vintage Grooves-The Enchanters, Rainbow
Lake, Exclusive Holiday Offer, Were You There?, Charts
v1 n7 Nov 23-Boppers Shag Club
Halloween Party, Vintage Grooves: Roy Brown, Annie Laurie,
Paul Gayten, Were You There, Charts, Beach Websites Top 40+
v1 n8 Nov 30-Carolina Beach Music
Awards, Another "Beach Music" Beach, Beach Music Websites Top 40
+, 'double issue.'
v1 n9 Dec 14-Shaggin' In
Anderson, Clay McClinton
v1 n10 Dec 21-the Spartanburg Six,
From the Charts, Tams Update, Beach Websites Top 40 +, Top 40 &
Roadhouse
v1 n11 Jan 4, '12-Boulevard Grill, Year End Top 40 and Roadhouse charts, DJ
Top 10s
v1 n12 Jan 18, '12-1949-50, Johnny Otis, Etta James, Jimmy Castor, DJ Throwdown,
Beach - Shag Websites Top 40+, Beach Top 40, Roadhouse Blues
& Boogie Top 40
v1 n13 Jan 25, '12-1949-50 Pt 2, Miss Peaches, more charts...
v1 n14 Feb 8, '12-1949-50 Pt
3, Prebyterian College Clinton SC, National Shag
Championships upcoming issue, more charts...
v1 n15 Feb 15, '12-National
Shag Championship Preliminaries,
Becki Sue & Her Big Rockin' Daddies
v1 n16 Feb 12, '12-National
Shag Championship Preliminaries Pt 2 -- Juniors and
Collegiates, Society of Brunswick Shaggers Reup Party Oak
Island NC, Meteor Records for Shaggers and Boppers, DJ Top
10s, Charts
v1 n17 Mar 21, '12-National
Shag Championship Preliminaries Pt 3, Fat Harolds'
Entertainment Extravaganza, The Gtownsound Rhythm & Blues
Revival and DVD Release Celebration, Gastonia, April 20th
v1 n18 April 4, '12-National
Shag Dance Championship Finals, Roy Hamilton # 1 on the
Beach Top 40, The Gtownsound Rhythm & Blues
Revival and DVD Release Celebration, Gastonia, April 20th,
Breakin' Into the Charts, Anni Piper-Roadhouse Diva
v1 n19 April 18, '12-National
Shag Dance Championship Finals-Junior Division, Danville,
Virginia 1967: The Tams, Soulmasters, and Generals;
Beach Music Top 40+ Websites, Beach Music Top 40 Chart,
Roadhouse Top 40, DJ Top 10s
v1 n20 April 25, '12-National
Shag Dance Championship Finals-Non-Pro Division, 21st Annual
DJ Throwdown, new charts
COMING!!!
--DJ Throwdown Launch night, Hall of Fame Induction, Vinyl Party
and more
Dancing On the Edge News
debuted Oct 5, 2011 with stories on Beach Music impresario Dave
Landon and the Inaugural Beach Music
Radio Hall of Fame inductions. The News is weekly, (whereas
the Dancing On the Edge Journal is published less often with more stories,
rare pics and history). Download your copy of the initial issue with
Dave Landon - click
here. For your continuing, FREE subscription,
subscribe in the box at the top of the left-hand column to
receive the News weekly.
The Beach Music & Shag All-Time Top 200--1945-2010. (Order yours
on the left
, near the top of this page...)
Click on samples below to see full-size
images of the front cover, page 27, and page 45.
The Dancing On The
Edge Journal Volume 1,
No 1 (No's 1 - 10 = 200+ pages !)
Request your
Free, Complimentary copy of Volume 1 No. 1 from johnhook@mindspring.com
See more issues of
Dancing On the Edge Journal -- click
here
It Will Stand, the first Beach Music mag available
soon via PDF!
Vol 2 #9, March 1988
Beach Fever--Chairmen of the Board
A Flush of (Shag) Clubs
The Upper Deck
The Castaways Reunion
Tiki Classes
The First Annual Foothills Winter Boogie
Charts and Record Reviews
Vol 2 # 10, April 1988
Studebakers at Myrtle Beach
Beach Fever (the Chairmen of the Board) Pt 2
Beach Music Awards III
Sand (Fleas) In My Shoes
O'Haras
Record Reviews and Charts
(Fessa' Hook & James Brown cover)
Vol 2 # 13, July 1988
The Embers
Looka' Here Safronia--the Shad and Brenda Story
News from the Atlanta Peach Beat
Mallards of Columbia SC
Beach Music News
Shag Instructors Guide
Shelby Shag Club
reviews and charts
Vol 2 # 14, August 1988
The Catalinas
Shag Hawaii '88
Shorelines with Ric Shore
Cloud Shaggin at Beech Mountain
Flamingo Joes in Atlanta
Harry Turner Presents the Originals
Charlotte Shag Club's July 4th
Salisbury Shag Club
DJ reports
reviews and charts
The National Beach Music Top 40 Singles and The
Roadhouse Blues and Boogie Top 40 --click the
Logo below
The 2012 Beach, Book & Boogie Tour
Ø
Ø May
5, 2012 Moore Area Shag Society party, Southern Pines, NC
Ø May
19, 2012 Private Wedding and Reception, Hopsewee Plantation,
Georgetown, SC
Ø September
28, 2012 Society of Brunswick Shaggers Project Uplink Party,
Oak Island, NC
Ø November
1, 2012 North Myrtle Beach Cruise In (tentative, details to
follow)
Ø
Ø
ØBOOK
SIGNINGS, INTERACTIVE AND FUN HISTORY PRESENTATIONS INCLUDING THE
REVOLUTIONARY "FIVE-MINUTES-OR-LESS SHAG" CLASS. Contact Fessa Hook. E-mail
and phone at the bottom of the page.
Dancing On the Edge--The Series:
An 8-volume series covering the complete history of the Shag, freestyle
dancing, and their visible and invisible roots. Volume 1: How
Music Freed the South is slated for 2012.
John, I was
up until TWO THIRTY this morning reading the Dancing on the Edge
Journal. LOL I could NOT put it down, I started reading
on-line but just had to have it in print, so I printed it all off. IT IS
AMAZING John, Mr Hannah's story was just awesome, along with everything
else!!!!. I am just curious as to why they both have their
wedding bands on their RIGHT hands???. [My kind of
reader, make me see details I missed!]
Or is it
my imagination???? LOL Anyway, this is going to be a real treat reading
all this info. I hope somewhere down the line, I can find the article on
Daddy-Oh the DJ on WAAA radio in Winston Salem in the 50's.
--Lynne
John Hook!
Wow! I just scrolled throughout this journal....and you say it's
WEEKLY???????????......By the way, I LOVE that song, Carina
(sp). Do you know if the guy singing it has a CD out? --Molly, Pawleys
Island
Thanks much for the enjoyable reading. Such a great history. Been
coming to Myrtle for 32 years and never get tired of it! It's ageless!!
--Dennis
John, (I) Stayed up until 1:30 AM reading the first issue. Can't wait
for the next one. --Carolyn, Murrell's Inlet
Volume 1, No. 1, the 39-page first edition:
*
The Jim Hannah story -- one of the first two pioneers to put Black music
on a jukebox in a white venue and his subsequent influence on Beach and
Shag culture.
*
Addition to the Beach Music Guide 1945-2006, the 2007 year-end Top 40.
*
Vintage Grooves: The Terry Timmons story
*
New Grooves: Reverend Bubba D. Liverance & the Cornhole Prophets
*
Beach Music Top 40 and Roadhouse Blues and Boogie Top 40 charts and
Record Reviews.
*
Shaggin' with the Stars and the National Shag Championship Preliminaries
at 2001.
*
Sand In My Shoes: letters from you.
*
From the Hardboards and Bandstands: Memories from Beach Music fans from
everywhere.
*
May 1951 R&B Chart
*
In Search Of: for the upcoming Embers' documentary and Book.
*
Off the Charts: WLOU Louisville, KY R&B chart.
*
From the Vaults: The Spontanes Solid Soul album.
*
Nabs and News: Beach Music and Shag news.
*
Scrapbook: vintage R&B photography.
Hi John, I really enjoyed
reading the first issue of the Journal, and I noticed with much
delight that "Just Another Day in the Breeze" was #10 on your chart for
the year 2007. I don't believe I was aware of that until I saw it on the
chart last
night. --Tommie, Columbia
John, Amazing work!!!!....I am highly impressed. --Pat
John, I am enjoying my DOTE newsletter good job as usual. Now I
have a ? What is the origin of our fellow DJs and the wearing of hats as
they play their gigs? Can't all be bad hair. --John,
Richmond
John, Like a fine wine you become more and more creative each day, This
Is GREAT!!!!! --Mike, Salisbury
Wow!
Again John you keep schooling me on the history of Carolina Beach Music.
I personally am proud to be a part of it. Many thanks to you!
--Odell
Beach Music and Shag evolved under different names and
styles in many places for over 60 years. Some call it good-time oldies,
Soul, and Rhythm 'n Blues. In other parts of the world the same music is
the foundation for Steppin' and Modern Soul.
This is the oldest site on the web for beach music news, beach music charts, and free Webcasts
for Beach Music from the Edge of Paradise with Fessa John Hook
(for those of you from the WBT and Beach 106 days; it was Dr. Hook at that time, but hey, I'm
evolving too!). Enjoy!
Our Mission
To provide the largest network of Beach Music and Shag
aficianados in the world with the history, past and present, of the music you
love. In addition, we provide access to beach music and shag dancing
history, including presentations from Shagging in the Carolinas, the Beach Music
Guide, even How to Shag (in one minute, rapidly becoming one of our most
popular, and effective, presentations).
Company Profile
The Endless Summer Network (currently
on hiatus) provided several
perspectives on Beach and Shag music to
listeners worldwide. #1) From the Roots in
the 40s and 50s to the Classics of the 60s, 70s and 80s, to the Great Shag hits
of the 90s and Today.
However, we know there are many of you who like yours on the
somewhat more energetic, sometimes dark, side. That's where #2 comes in--Roadhouse
Blues and Boogie: Jump Blues, Roots, and Good Time
Roadhouse music from the past and present.
We offer Specialty shows: 1 includes
Beach Music Classics, Spotlights on Artists, Special Summer Spotlights, The
great Clubs of the Past, a Special Fish Fry Show on the Weekends (which Fessa
Hook first launched over 20 years ago), Roadhouse
Retrospectives, a Roadhouse-style Fish Fry and more to come.
If you're an advertiser who wants to reach the largest
possible Beach and Shag audience, you're in the right place, with the people who
have been doing exactly that for 25 years -- ask for rates for the Countdown
shows now on 25+ stations and the massively visited cashboxmagazine.com site
Welcome to the Gateway for Beach Music and
Shag history past and present. Beach Music's 60 + year heritage is known by many names, from A to Z,
by people and fans throughout the U.S. and many parts of the world. The
All-Time Top 40 is topped by four particularly notable songs:
"Brenda" by O.C. Smith, "Lady Soul" by Temptations,
"Ms. Grace" by the Tymes and of course "Sixty Minute Man" by
the Dominoes.
Some associate Northern and Modern Soul with Beach Music
from the 60s to today. To many it is a form of Swing Music, Rhythm and Blues,
Soul music, Motown oldies, Southern Soul , Carolina Beach Music , and dances
including the Bop , the Basic , the Beach Bop , Shagging, the PC Bop , Fas Dancin , Shag ,
Soul Dancing , Shaggin or simply Diggin’ in the Sand.
Beach Music's popularity has evolved in Myrtle Beach , Charlotte ,
Raleigh , Athens , Augusta , Columbia , Florence , Sumter , Charleston ,
Savannah , Wilmington , New Bern , Chapel Hill , Goldsboro , Atlanta , Knoxville
, Johnson City , Lynchburg , Roanoke , Nashville , Jacksonville Florida , Panama
City , Danville , Richmond , Virginia Beach , Kitty Hawk , Nag’s Head , Morehead
City , Jacksonville North Carolina , Spartanburg and Greenville South Carolina ,
Rock Hill , Cheraw , Anderson , Lake Murray and hundreds of points in between.
The Beaches which cradled Beach Music and Shag , Beachdiggers , Shaggers , and Boppers include all those from the sands and
pavilions of legends like Ocean Drive , Wrightsville Beach , Carolina Beach ,
Folly Island , Tybee Beach , Atlantic Beach , Myrtle Beach , Topsail Beach ,
Minnesott Beach , Oriental Beach , Virginia Beach , Norfolk , Portsmouth ,
Mosquito Beach , Seabreeze , Shell Island , Bop City , Ocean City and more.
The Shag has been the inspiration for the South Carolina
State Dance 1984, and has spawned innumerable dance contests like the National
Shag Dance Championships , the Grand Nationals with Charlie Womble and Jackie
McGee every May in Atlanta, Georgia , S.O.S. Spring Safari and Fall Migration
and Fun Monday , the Jr Shaggers and Junior Shag Contests , Shag Instructors ,
teachers , lessons , videos , books and brochures , the Association of Beach and
Shag Club DJs, deejays, over 100 social Shag Clubs and their close cousins
the Bop Clubs , Swing Clubs , Swing Societies , Lindy Clubs and Jitterbug Clubs
throughout the U.S. and the world.
Beach Music has inspired the Cammys (the Carolina Beach
Music Awards ) , the Beach Music Awards of the 80s , the Headliners Awards , It
Will Stand Magazine , Dancing On The Edge Magazine , the Beach Music Association
International , Beach Nights Magazine , Carolina Class Magazine , The Breeze
Network , the legendary Beach 106 or WRDX , 94.9 The Surf or Beach & Boogie the
Surf , 949thesurf.com , WODR FM, the Saturday Night Beach Show with Fessa ( the former ‘ Doctor ‘ ) Hook
on WBT , Fred Fox's "Million-Dollar Oldies Weekend"
on WEWO and now on WLNC , Laurinburg, Tommy Walker's "Midnight Train" on WKDX ,
Hamlet (and later on KIX/Raleigh), Rockin' Ray Caulder on WEWO , the late Mike Shadeed of WJNC Jacksonville, N.C., Ted Ours on WFLB , Fayetteville, and Russ Spooner / WGNI , Wilmington.
Others were Bunky Odom on WLNC , or
Tommy Stanley's R & B Hour on WEWO , later on WDKD , Kingstree, WDAR ,
Darlington, WGNI , and now on WTXY Whiteville and co-host of the Sunny Beach
syndicated radio Show. And how about Dick Reus, who 'broke' "Girl Watcher" on
WLEE , Richmond and sadly passed away while still workin' the phones on Hometown
Beach ' Boogie , WTXY . Plus, the original Buddy Edwards Beach Party, on WENC
and later on WGQR . (and a guy by the name of Jim Quick started the Coastline
Band in the studios of WLNC , while he worked a weekend shift there.) John Fox,
Billy Melton, Jerry Peele, Charlie Brown, Jim Henderson, Bill Weathers, Fred
Owen, Sunny Beach..... (and more to be added).
Beach Music in one form or another has inspired Beach Music Bands galore for decades ( Embers , Fantastic Shakers , Catalinas , Tams , Coastline Band , Chairmen , Bill Deal & the Rhondels ,
Delbert McCLinton , Holiday Band , Heart and Soul , O’Kaysions , Band of Oz ,
Georgia Prophets , Billy Scott , North Tower , and more) (learn more in the Hey
Baby Days of Beach Music books by Greg Haynes ) and many other Beach Music Radio
legends like Sandy Beach , Steve Hardy , Charlie Byrd , Big John Ruth , Charlie
Brown , the Rhythm ‘n Beach Network , the Beach Music Top 40 Countdown , Rhythm
‘n Beach Classics , the Fish Fry , The Roadhouse , Luke Vail , Larry Crockett ,
Randy Rowland , Dan E. Lockemy , Billy Smith , Freakin’ Deacon , Curtiss
Carpenter , April McIntyre , the KIX Good Guys , Kebo Davis , and again dozens
more.
Beach Music 45s , cassettes , 8 tracks , LPs , albums , CDs
, even a few movies and VHS's.
This is the Gateway.
Contact Information
For questions, contributions, or alliances with
the Endless Summer Network, or if you just want to send postcards or
get our business cards which were ordered online after we figured
out our income tax refund
and personal budget, here are the pertinent connections:
