It's the dawn of a new summer and I'm thinking of Martha Reeves and her Vandella's when they sang, "Summer's here and the time is right for dancing in the street." The only thing better, of course, is dancing at the beach, or if you don't have an ocean handy, dancing to sounds you would have danced to if you did.

Beach music is around 63 years old this summer of 2008. I'm not talking about Brian Wilson, Jan and Dean, or The Ventures… that's surf music. I'm talking Carolina beach music. I'm grooving on sounds that make it in Ric Flair country, Charlotte, North Carolina… Myrtle Beach… Lexington…Greensboro and all those other surf cities just south of where I am right now on the southern most tip of Jersey.

Beach music goes all the way back to stuff played on juke boxes in beach bars and jump joints all along the east coast in the 40's.

In the 50's, lifeguards, resort workers, and the beach community grooved to it in bars with names like The Surf Club and The Sand Bar. White kids who couldn't find it in their hometowns jammed the Carolinas to hear the stuff at the pavilions and clubs along the shore.

Then from those days to the early 60's DJ's like Hot Scott Hubbs and Daddy-O in the Patio filled the airwaves with titles like "Money Honey," "Rub A Little Boogie," and "Mercy Mr. Percy." In the 70's dance floors in clubs were filled with happy people dancing to the sounds of The Dells, Spiral Staircase, and Tyrone Davis. During this period there were also dozens of live bands as well. Groups called The Embers, The Swinging Medallions, and The O'Kaysions made every night Saturday night.

R&B is the root of all great Beach music, but over its long history it has expanded to include all types of sounds. Most of it has a medium to fast 4/4 "blues shuffle" running through. Think of it as sort of a musical party gumbo. What other category of music includes Jackie Wilson, The Impressions, Delbert McClinton, Manhattan Transfer, Garnet Mimms & The Enchanters, and Rockin' Louie & The Mamajammers?

What exactly is Beach music?

It would be difficult to get a group of fans to agree on exactly what does or does not fit under the heading, but that's the beauty of it all. In Pat Conroy's novel, "Beach Music" he writes, "Carolina beach music is the holiest sound on earth."

Beach music is hard to pin down, but you know it when you hear it, and when you hear it you feel good, so good that you want to dance; specifically you want to do the shag. It's a smooth groove that moves through your soul and gets your butt moving. It is the eternal sound of summer; it is above all fun and goes great with cold beer.

There are many current artists on the scene such as Part Time Party Time Band, Curly Bridges, Calabash Blues Band, Raul Malo, and Dr. Wu and Friends, but no iPod is complete without a classic Beach music play list. I encourage you to put one together and enjoy it all summer long. To help you on your way, here are some of my all time favorites. Pick a dozen, put 'em in any order and just groove!

Check out some beach classics right here!

(YOU GOT ME) DANGLING ON A STRING
The Chairmen of the Board
This track made it into the national Top 40 in 1970. They are probably best known for their smash "Give Me Just A Little More Time." Group leader General Norman Johnson was also the leader of The Showmen for most of the 60's. That band also had Beach hits with "It Will Stand," and "39-21-46."

THE LOVE I LOST
Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes
What the Temptations were to Detroit in the 60's this group (along with The Spinners and The O'Jays) was to Philadelphia in the 70's. This is a smooth, mellow, and so, so, soulful cut that will have you dancing and feeling good. Teddy Pendergrass at his finest.

YOU'RE NO GOOD
Betty Everett
She had a great hit with the "Ice Man" Jerry Butler, "Let It Be Me," and Cher covered another of her shag hits, "Shoop Shoop Song (Its In His Kiss)," but this was the one that got to Linda Ronstadt. Linda's record was cool, but it was like Pat Boone covering Little Richard. This cut is the real thing.

BE YOUNG, BE FOOLISH, BE HAPPY
The Tams
A shag music super group with a classic. They have received the title "Beach Band of the Decade" and have been inducted into the Beach Music Hall of Fame. There is no other voice in music like that of lead singer Joseph Pope……just amazing.

DON'T LEAVE ME THIS WAY
Thelma Houston
A perfect record that sounds as good today as it did when it hit #1 in 1977. Sensational sensual vocal, great arrangement, and a bass line from heaven. Disco as Beach music? Sure, why not? Perfect!

HEY BABY
Bruce Channel
This 1962 hit features Delbert McClinton on harmonica. Over 40 years later and it still holds up as a Beach music favorite.

AND GET AWAY
The Esquires
This 1967 followup to their Top 20 hit "Get On Up," is a killer. "Girl let me help you do the pearl." No other record – none, has a line like that line! The pearl!

TOO LATE TO TURN BACK NOW
Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose
This went all the way to #2 for this family act from Florida. Great breezy strings compliment the mellowest piano.

WHEN SHE WAS MY GIRL
The Four Tops
After one of the longest runs in history with the original four members, the great Levi Stubbs, Duke Fakir, Obie Benson, and Lawrence Payton, the four topped off their career with their smoothest tune of all time on Casablanca Records. What a record!

CLUB AT THE END OF THE STREET
Elton John
He's singing about the type of club that would play this very record. EJ as a shagger, which may mean something different in Britain, but here it means that he once again "Gets it!" How could you resist a tune that has a line in it, "And the stars up above walk the heavens hand in hand?" Beautiful Beach dance music and super sax break!

THIS OLD HEART OF MINE
The Isley Brothers
Classic! Classic! Classic! And you never knew it was Beach Music did you? This legendary act grew and evolved over the years, but this disc was one of their earliest efforts is still one of their very best.

TAKE ME IN YOUR ARMS
Kim Weston
The Doobie Brothers version is cool, but it doesn't have the pure soul that this cut has…. amazing rhythm section! Listen to both and you'll understand why this one is Beach.

COME GO WITH ME 1972
The Del Vikings
A little be-bop singing opens up this dance version of their 1957 doo-wop classic…smooth. An example of how the genre can handle doo-wop or any other style including rock, R & B, and Boogie Woogie.

CLUB SAVOY
Rockin' Louie and the Mamajammers
Old school…barrelhouse piano and a wailing' sax. What else do you need to know? People were partying for decades before you were born! And what a great name!

AND THE NIGHT STOOD STILL
Dion
He's done it all from doo-wop, when he was the king of the New York streets, to the cover of Sgt. Pepper, so it only makes sense that he'd be included in a scene where good music rules. This is a fantastic sounding record.

WITH THIS RING
The Platters
Sammy Turner had replaced lead singer Tony Williams who scored with all those classic ballads in the 50's. In 1967 this hit became a Beach music staple.

TWISTIN' THE NIGHT AWAY
Rod Stewart
He offers a great tribute to his idol Sam Cooke in the rock group, drum and guitar version of this timeless tune. It's Rod in his best guise…the rocker!

HAVE MERCY BABY
Billy Ward and the Dominos
Early, early, early rock and roll….no wonder the kids were going crazy. This is as smooth as it is raw – a gem. Their "Sixty Minute Man" topped the R&B charts for over 3 months in 1951 and is many folks' #1 Beach tune as well.

5-10-15 HOURS
Ruth Brown
Another from rocks roots. Ms. Brown lays it all out and the piano and sax swing. All these years later it still holds up real fine. Truth with soul and you can dance to it.

UNDER THE BOARDWALK
The Drifters
A classic pure and simple. Best record the Drifters ever recorded and they have many great ones. Not just Beach music in theme, "You can almost taste the hot dogs and french fries they sell"….this is the apogee of the sound as well.

ZING! WENT THE STRINGS OF MY HEART
The Coasters
Best record they ever made as well. They do to this tune what the Drifters did with White Christmas. Early R&B…fabulous shag record!

SEXY WAYS
Hank Ballard and the Midnighters
People have been dancing to this record for over 50 years! "Shake baby, shake, shake, shake." Classic from a Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame member. Their "Work With Me Annie" was too hot for many radio stations so they banned it. Not for nuthin', Ballard wrote a little ditty called, "The Twist."

I LOVE BEACH MUSIC
The Embers
This is the "Sweet Soul Music," the "R.O.C.K in the U.S.A." of Shag. The group's singer, Jackie Gore, wrote it and included a list of Beach music hits and artists. It's the Beach music song about Beach music.

If that's not enough for you try these:

Going Back To Louisiana - Delbert McClinton, Cry To Me - Solomon Burke, Chicken Shack Boogie - Amos Milburn, Ocean Boulevard - Band Of Oz, Love Makes The World Go Round - Deon Jackson, Ms. Grace - Tymes, Summertime's Calling Me - Catalinas, Stay - Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs, Girl Watcher - O'Kaysions, I Do Love You - Billy Stewart, Meet Me With Your Black Drawers On - Gloria Hardiman, Shakin' The Shack - Fantastic Shakers, I Got Loaded - Peppermint Harris, Hold Back The Night - Trammps, Smoky Places - Corsairs, Myrtle Beach Days - Fantastic Shakers, You're More Than A Number In My Little Red Book - Drifters, (I'm Just Thinking About) Cooling Out - Jerry Butler, I Got The Fever - Prophets, Just A Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody - Louis Prima, and She Shot A Hole In My Soul - Clifford Curry. It's all great stuff!

For more info check out:

The surf home of Beach Music from Myrtle Beach - www.949thesurf.com
Carolina Beach Music Awards - www.cammy.org
The Rhythm 'N Beach Radio Network - www.beachshag.com
The Tams official site - www.thetams.com
The Wax Museum - Beach music's online store - www.waxmuseum.net
The Part Time Party Time Band site - www.parttimepartytimeband.com
The Heeey Baby Days Of The Beach Music Book - 552 pages with 2 CD's - www.heybabydays.com