When ???The Basic,??? Became ???The Shag??? Tuesday, 24 February 2009 20:00 By: DAVID WADE Guest Writer, Island Gazette “O.D.,” Ocean Dr. has acclaimed their selves as “The Home of the Shag.” Carolina Beach will concede, Ocean Dr. has earned that moniker. There is absolutely no other place in the southeast where 12,000 people gather to shag and party as they do at “OD.” Now, in “our” Heydays Carolina Beach had “The Azalea Festival” (Yes, It was at “CB” originally), and we had/have The Beach Music Festival, which drew crowds well over 20,000 people,, and it was a weekend event, not to visit for just one day. The Beach Music Festival is still around and growing again. With that said, Myrtle Beach is not the birthplace of the shag or beach music. North Carolina holds that distinction with pride. For many years, individuals such as “Fessor” John Hooks, for example, have written and even printed articles and books, evading the real truth of where the birth place of the shag and beach music actually were born. For a moment let’s take a ride back in time, as far back as 1946. In 1946, places like “The Ocean Plaza” of Carolina Beach and White Lake were already having bands and artists playing the tunes or songs that eventually anchored “The Sound” that became beach music. (Russo’s) Ocean Plaza was the place to come, whether you just wanted to dance or just be seen or just listen, “The OP,” was where you had to be. The OP’s demise in 2007 marked the end of an era. Remember walking in the door after walking up a flight of steps and thought they would never end? And reading a plaque which read, “The Ocean Plaza, Birthplace of Beach Music & the Shag 1946.” My shag history had me thumbing to Carolina Beach in the mid to late sixties from High Point, NC. We had the Castaways (Bill Griffins), The Boat docks (Also Bill’s) in Greensboro as well as “The City Lake in High Point. “The Ratskeller” where you would fall over one another, trying to dance were ours, however we didn’t have “The Ocean Plaza,” The ocean out its backside, nor did we have “Chicken Hicks” or dancers like Harry Oates, Johnnie Davis, Chick Hendricks, all of who we traveled just so we might be able to emulate when we would return home. So, the trek to Carolina Beach began. I and a few others would leave High Point, immediately after school on Friday, of course, lying to our parents, saying that we were staying over at each others house for the weekend. Upon arriving at Carolina Beach, realizing getting here was a story within itself; we would immediately head to the “OP,” never worrying about where we would stay. Normally our payroll amounted to about $10.00 between us, a large sum in those days. Admission was cheap, especially when we would pick-up the beer cans and empty the barrels, whatever it took, we had to be there. The Mystic of “The OP” which drew people from all walks of life and destinations I believe was how we all got along, we talked, laughed, danced, and yes, a few hot kisses were exchanged, we were living in the moment. The artists would come to “The OP” knowing they were welcomed. Maurice Williams & The Zoonies, Joe Pope & The Tams, The Drifters, Fats Domino, The Checkmates and many more, heck, Jerry Lee Lewis dropped in one Saturday night and of course there wasn’t a piano to be found. It was the place to be, and the one thing that placed it above all the other juke joints and dance halls were that it was a floor. Nowhere else could you find a better dance floor, not even to this day? Qualifying where the Shag and Beach Music were born. First, the shag has had many names. “The Basic,” “Carolina Fast Dance,” “Carolina Free Style,” just to name a few. The inception of the shag was brought about of necessity. It became “The Shag” when its popularity blew the roofs off the clubs. The floors could not hold the capacity of the Shaggers, whom were coming out in huge numbers. With this in mind, a few people got together and established “The Slot” and incorporated the six “basic” step, which were performed in a North to South manner, creating what is now referred to as “The Shag,” born from “The Basic.” The slot allowed dancers their own space to shag, increasing the dance floors ability to serve the large number of people. The shag’s popularity is increasing to this day, unfortunately, the clubs and venues to shag have decreased. Those places like the Ocean Plaza, the Astor, Chantilly’s, Bushes, The Castaways, Hula Grille, White Lake and The City Lake have all met their demise. During The Shag’s birth, dancers like Chicken Hicks began to establish themselves as dominant Shaggers. One of “Chicken’s” favorite stories told was when he and some friends would sneak down in the woods to a place called “The Sea Breeze,” which was off limits to whites.. Only blacks were allowed. Chicken would sneak around trying to steal some of the dance steps and take them back to “The OP.” Places like, “Fats Beer Joint” at the old swing bridges in Carolina Beach was another place to go to listen and watch. Guys like Chick Hendricks who was a lifeguard at Carolina Beach, went on to develop “The Shaggers Hall of Fame,” Gary Patterson from Wilmington, was the original bass player for Maurice Williams, and the song “Stay”. Buddy Skipper, Jerry Johnson, have all played a great importance in the birth and rebirth of the shag along with all from our area. When all of this was happening at Carolina Beach, “Ocean Drive” was a one-lane dirt road with nothing resembling a Shag Club or Juke Joint. Yes, Ocean Drive can claim they are “The Home of the Shag,” however, they cannot claim to be “The birthplace of The Shag & Beach Music.” We here at Carolina Beach and those throughout Southeastern North Carolina have claim to that, we wear that distinction with pride, “1946 The Ocean Plaza..”
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