Electric Boogie

"Electric Boogie"
Single by Marcia Griffiths
from the album Carousel
A-side"Electric Boogie (vocal)"
B-side"Electric Boogie (dub)"
Released1983 (original release)
1989 (remix)
RecordedDecember 1982 (original recording)
GenreFreestyle, reggae
LabelIsland / Mango
Songwriter(s)Neville Livingston

"Electric Boogie" (also known as the "Electric Slide") is a dance song written by Bunny Wailer in response to his hearing the Eddy Grant song "Electric Avenue" in 1982. The song provided the basis for the success of dance fad called Electric Slide.[1][2]

According to Marcia Griffiths, "Electric Boogie" was written for her by Bunny Wailer in 1982. The song came about spontaneously after Wailer and Griffiths experimented with a rhythm box that Griffiths had purchased in Toronto earlier that year. She said the song was made out of innocent fun a shun the idea that it was related to anything sexual.[1]

[3][4][5] The song was released in December 1982 and held the Jamaican Christmas Number One spot.[6] Wailer noted that 'Electric Boogie' was inspired by "Electric Avenue" by Eddy Grant, also released in 1982.[7][8]

The song is strongly associated with the "Electric Slide" line dance and has since become a celebratory staple. The song was very popular in North America at weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs, and other special occasions in the 1990s.[9]

  1. ^ Warren, Emma (2023). Dance Your Way Home: A Journey Through the Dancefloor. Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-36605-7.
  2. ^ "Marcia Griffiths – Today's 1 Hit Wonder @ 1 [VIDEO]". Wblk.com. 2013-02-18. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  3. ^ Interview: Marcia Griffiths Reflects On 60 Years In Music, Working With Bob Marley, And More
  4. ^ Katz, David (2003). Solid Foundation: An Oral History of Reggae (1st ed.). Bloomsbury. p. 335. ISBN 978-0747564027. I got maybe about 700 dollars, and I invested in a keyboard in Canada—a rhythm box—and it was the greatest buy I've ever made, because it had every single sound on it. I took it in the studio with brother Bunny, and Bunny was fascinated with the same sound that I loved, which was the piano playing the repeater sound, "nenga-nenga-nenga-nenga," so that was what we put down first on tape, and then the rhythm, "boom, baff, boom, baff." Bunny is a talented songwriter, and one of the greatest producers I know. He took that home in the country, and the following morning he came back with the song "Electric Boogie." The song was released coming up to Christmas in 1982
  5. ^ Claudia Gardner, Marcia Griffiths Sets Record Straight About Original Version Of “Electric Boogie” Hit, Dancehallmag.com, February 26, 2021
  6. ^ Marcia Griffiths, Trojan Records
  7. ^ Kenner, Lauren (2018-11-06). "Iconic Song "The Electric Slide" Is Rumored To Be About A Vibrator [UPDATE]". EDM.com - The Latest Electronic Dance Music News, Reviews & Artists. Retrieved 2024-08-18.
  8. ^ Dan Evon, Was 'The Electric Slide' Written About Vibrators?, Snopes, June 28, 2018
  9. ^ Marcia Griffiths - Topic (2016-04-16), Electric Boogie, archived from the original on 2017-11-16, retrieved 2018-03-23