The Super Bowl Shuffle

The 1985 rap hit recorded by the players of the Chicago Bears known as the “Super Bowl Shuffle” instantly became a mainstream phenomenon. The single sold more than 500,000 copies and reached No. 41 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[4]

The Bears finished with a 15–1 record for the 1985 season. Randy Weigand, a die-hard Bears fan and music lover, had the idea to write, produce, and choreograph a rap song for the Chicago Bears. Weigand's girlfriend, cheerleader Courtney Larson, introduced them to Willie Gault who put them in touch with other Bears players and the “Super Bowl Shuffle” was born.[5] The lyrics related to each player and his craft on the field, and fame in the community.

“The Super Bowl Shuffle” fell in line with the Bears' high-media attention as they completed their one-loss regular season. The Bears dominated their postseason opponents including the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, 46–10.

The 1985 Chicago Bears were the first sports team to have their own rap video. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1985 for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group, eventually losing to "Kiss" by Prince.[4] The 20th Anniversary DVD was released in 2004, including the making of the video, outtakes, and the music video itself. Julia Meyer has kept the copyright to the video. Over $300,000 in profits from the song and music video was donated to the Chicago Community Trust to help needy families in Chicago with clothing, shelter, and food.[1] This was consistent with Walter Payton's rap lyrics in the song: "Now we're not doing this because we're greedy, the Bears are doing it to feed the needy." In 2014, six of the performers: Richard Dent, Jim McMahon, Otis Wilson, Willie Gault, Mike Richardson and Steve Fuller, sued Julia Meyer and Renaissance Marketing Corporation, who licenses the song, stating the proceeds from the song should benefit charities; the six players' attorney stated, "Among other things, the plaintiffs seek that a constructive trust be established for charitable purposes that they select in order to continue the Super Bowl Shuffle’s charitable objective."[6]

The lyrics were written by Richard E. Meyer and Melvin Owens. The music was composed by Bobby Daniels and Lloyd Barry.

The "Referee" in the video was portrayed by Julia Kallish.

Bears defensive end Dan Hampton declined involvement with the Shuffle, thinking it may have been too arrogant.[7]

Other personnel

• Executive Producers: Richard E. Meyer, William D. Neal, James J. Hurley III, Barbara Supeter
• Director: Dave Thompson
• Associate Producer: Richard A. Tufo
• Technical Director: Darryl Crawl
• Editor: John Anderson
• Coordinating Producer: Kim Alan Bigelow
• Technical Coordinator: Dave Sorensen
• Lighting Designer: Hugh Gallagher
• Assistant Director: Johanna K. Hull
• Sound Engineer: Fred Breitberg
• Cameras: Bill DeMarco, Eric Chelstorp, Dennis Jackson, Jon Vandruska
• Assistant Cameras: Wendy Zauss, Tom Kruc
• Video: Mike Fayette, Steve Cardwell, Jim Keen, Jerry Wehland
• Location and Editing Facilities: Post Effects
• Park West Crew: Gregg Kincaid, Charles Mack, James Nudd, Dan Narducy, Michael Reed
• Make Up: Venus Vargas

The 1985 Bears were not the first pro football team with a group song.

• The Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first professional baseball team (1869–1870), sang a song to the spectators prior to some of their games: "We are a band of baseball players / From Cincinnati city..." -But no recording was ever made or distributed by a record label.
• Since the 1970s, some English soccer teams had celebrated qualifying for the FA Cup Final each year by recording a song for the occasion. The 'cup final record' as it was known, became a tradition with many of the songs being top ten successes in the UK music charts. The songs were occasionally original recordings but more often reworkings of recent chart successes with lyrics edited for the occasion. They often included the original artist singing along, especially when they are a fan of the team involved.
• The 1977 Denver Broncos running back, Jon Keyworth sang "Make Those Miracles Happen" by L. Meeks and M. Weyand. However, the Broncos did not win the 1978 Super Bowl.[8]
• In 1981, after the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series, four members of the team - Jerry Reuss, Jay Johnstone, Rick Monday, and Steve Yeager - recorded a cover of Queen's "We Are the Champions". They were backed by Leland Sklar on bass and Jeff Porcaro of Toto on drums. The short-lived group performed their song on the TV show Solid Gold.[9]
• The 1984 San Francisco 49ers put out a record during that season, one in which they also went on to become Super Bowl champs. The song, "We Are the 49ers," was in the vein of post-disco/80's dance-pop music.[10] Later in the 1980s, the 49ers would put out another team song titled "49ers Rap." Neither of these songs, however, became a hit on the scale of the "Super Bowl Shuffle".

No professional sports team has released a song that was an American hit on the scale of "The Super Bowl Shuffle". The success of "The Super Bowl Shuffle" initiated the following imitations:

• In 1985, the Kansas Wesleyan football team won a conference title in the NAIA. They made the "KCAC shuffle" and showed it on the local access channel for Salina, Kansas, Channel 6.
• During the 1985–86 season, the Boston College men's ice hockey team recorded the "Beanpot Trot" prior to their participation in the famed Beanpot Tournament. The Eagles placed second, losing 4–1 to rival school Boston University in the championship game on February 10, 1986.
• On February 27, 1986, the Memphis Tigers Pom Squad performed the "Pom-Pom Shuffle" in their last home game of the season against New Orleans.
• The Houston Rockets, with the aid of Dynomite III, had a rap song in 1986 titled "Rocket Strut". They made it all the way to the NBA Finals that year, but lost to Boston in 6 games.
• The eventual 1987 World Champion Minnesota Twins released a video called "The Berenguer Boogie", gently teasing the relief pitcher they nicknamed "El Gasolino" for his victory celebration after striking out opposing batters.
• Soon after the 1986–87 NHL season, the Calgary Flames recorded a music video for the original song "Red Hot" for charity, which featured Flames players pretending to play instruments and lip-syncing to the song.
• Prior to the 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season, the preseason No. 1 Florida State Seminoles made a video known as the "Seminole Rap," promising the school's first national championship would result from the season.[11] They lost their first game to the rival Miami Hurricanes (the defending National Champions) 31–0.[12] The Noles would finish the season 11–1 and ranked No. 3 in the nation, behind No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 2 Miami.
• Verne Gagne and his American Wrestling Association promoted a major event with a song known as "The WrestleRock Rumble" that featured the geriatric Gagne rapping.[13]
• Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling had a "Super Bowl Shuffle"-like song as part of its weekly program. Each wrestler's recorded part preceded the match that she was involved in. Even the referees were part of the tune.
• On the 3rd Season premiere of the FX television show The League, one of the main characters did a parody of this with Maurice Jones-Drew, Brent Grimes and Sidney Rice entitled "The Shiva Bowl Shuffle" as a reference to their fantasy league's Super Bowl.[14]
• Key & Peele did a sketch called the "East/West Bowl Rap".
• Saturday Night Live did a sketch called the "Establishment Shuffle", using the Shuffle style to parody the GOP and the 2015–16 Republican presidential primary season.
• Scott Gairdner created a viral spoof entitled the "Sex Offender Shuffle", which parodies "The Super Bowl Shuffle" music video with actors portraying sex offenders who rap about the crimes they committed and how they've changed their ways in a "Super Bowl Shuffle"-styled song. To date, the video has received over 42 million views.[15]

Seven of the surviving 1985 Bears (Walter Payton had died in 1999 of liver cancer[28]) were reunited to film an updated version as a 30-second commercial promoting Boost Mobile, which was aired during Super Bowl XLIV.[29] The seven players featured were quarterback Jim McMahon, backup quarterback Steve Fuller, receiver Willie Gault, linebackers Mike Singletary and Otis Wilson, defensive lineman Richard Dent, and punter Maury Buford. All of the featured players wore #50 jerseys as part of the company's $50 deal.[4]

On January 21, 2014, Misfire Records released a cover version[30] of the song featuring acclaimed musicians (Jim James of My Morning Jacket, John Roderick of The Long Winters, and Tim Harrington of Les Savy Fav), comedians (Tom Scharpling of The Best Show on WFMU, Scott Aukerman of Comedy Bang! Bang!, David Wain of The State and Stella, Kyle Kinane, and Dave Hill), and other notables (wrestler Colt Cabana and internet cat celebrity Lil Bub). Organized by radio host Sean Cannon with production from musician Alexander Smith, all proceeds from sales were to be donated to Reading Is Fundamental.[31]

• 1985 Chicago Bears season

• ESPN's Lyrics and Commentary
• An Oral History of ‘The Super Bowl Shuffle’