Sha Na Na was an American rock and roll and doo-wop revival group formed in 1969. The group performed a song-and-dance repertoire based on 1950s hit songs that both revived and parodied the music and the New York City street culture of the 1950s. After gaining initial fame for their performance at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, made possible with help from their friend Jimi Hendrix, the group hosted Sha Na Na, a syndicated variety series that ran from 1977 to 1981.
Billing themselves as "from the Streets of New York", members were frequently outfitted in gold lamé or leather jackets and sported pompadour or ducktail hairdos. The group's name was taken from a series of nonsense syllables ("sha na na na, sha na na na na") in the song "Get a Job", originally recorded by the Silhouettes.
The final lineup featured original members Donny York and Jocko Marcellino, and longtime member Screamin' Scott Simon, who joined in 1970. Everyone else from the original band and TV show had since departed. Final band members included bassist Tim Butler, guitarist Randy Hill, drummer Ty Cox, and saxophone player Michael Brown.
Sha Na Na released their last regular album in 2006, although they subsequently released compilation albums. As of December 5, 2022, they announced that they would no longer tour.
Links to Peel[]
Peel seemed to have been keen on the band in the early 70's and would play some of their songs on his shows. He saw the group perform at the "Great Western Express" festival in May 1972 in Yorkshire and described their performance in Disc & Music Echo, published on 10th June 1972 as great to watch. However, by the mid-70's, he seemed to have lost interest in the band especially when he rated the group's single, Hot Sox, as zero stars in Singles Reviews, published in Sounds on 25th January 1975.
Shows Played[]
- 10 January 1970: At The Hop (v/a album - Woodstock - Music From The Original Soundtrack And More) Atlantic
- 1972
- 04 July 1972: You Can Bet They Do (LP – The Night Is Still Young) Kama Sutra