As more networking is being done on the Internet among shag deejays and beach music fans nationwide, however, there is a growing acceptance of the regional bands by the "new shaggers".
[2] In the period from roughly the end of World War II through the mid-1950s, many white youth in the still-segregated South could not always hear the compelling music of primarily black popular recording artists in their home towns.
A major contributing influence upon this musical affinity beginning in the late 1950s was radio station WLAC in Nashville, Tennessee, which blanketed the Southeast with everything from R&B to blues and more.
Among the most popular and influential R&B artists who produced "beach records" in the 1950s and 1960s were the Dominoes, the Drifters, the Clovers, Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs, the Tams, the Tymes, the Platters, the Temptations, the Four Tops, Brenton Wood, the Capitols, the Marvelows, The Swingin' Medallions, The Reflections, Clarence Carter, the Casinos,[4] and the Chairmen of the Board.
Among the best-known examples are "It will Stand" by the Showmen,[6] "So Much in Love" by the Tymes, "One Mint Julep" by the Clovers, "My Girl" by the Temptations (1965) and "Build Me Up Buttercup" by UK pop soul group the Foundations (1968).
With this penchant for obscure R&B, especially from the 1960s, beach music has much in common with the northern soul phenomenon in the UK, and perhaps even more with the popcorn sound in Belgium.
[1] This wave of primarily white R&B artists was part of a strong but nationally short-lived musical trend known as blue-eyed soul.
In the 1980s, beach music enjoyed a major revival in the Carolinas, thanks largely to the formation of a loose-knit organization known as The Society of Stranders (SOS).
[9] Bertie Higgins recorded tropical country songs such as "Carolina Blue", "Palm Beach", and "Key Largo".
Concurrent with the new enthusiasm for the shag, and an increased emphasis on the roots of the music came a period of revival for many of the beach bands that had come to prominence in the 1960s.
On November 19, 1988, live from Reynolds Coliseum, on the campus of North Carolina State University, "The Third Annual Beach Music Awards" was videotaped by Creative Center, a Los Angeles-based TV production company.
In a related trend, since the year 2000, there has been a steady increase in the popularity of Southern Soul, led by such R&B labels as Ecko and Malaco.
In its October 15, 2010 edition, the New York Times obituary for General Johnson referred to "beach music" as an "upbeat brand of rhythm and blues".
Though it featured The Tams, and for a while they toured with him as vocalists, the CD did not yield any tunes that were big hits with beach music fans.
[15] Alan Jackson & Jimmy Buffett, and Kenny Chesney ("No Shoes, No Shirt, No problems" 2003) gained hit on Hot country chart.
Among the most notable are Rod Stewart, Delbert McClinton, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, The Eagles, Phil Collins,[17] Kelly Clarkson, Pharrell Williams, Robin Thicke, Bruno Mars, Charlie Puth, and Justin Timberlake, all of whom have had records that performed well on the regional beach music charts.
[19] Though not a wholly accurate portrayal, with the actresses' uneven attempts at Upstate Carolina accents especially notable, many viewers consider it an agreeable and entertaining "coming of age" movie, with a good soundtrack and some excellent shagging.