BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1985
Super Bowl Flashback!
Re-Rip Newly Remastered!
Originally I posted this one on February 5, 2011. But for those who may have missed it or if you are a new reader just discovering BTG. I decided to give this one a new rip with my newer Ortofon Super 30 stylus. This 12″ is also being posted in 24 bit flac for the very first time!
“The Super Bowl Shuffle” is a rap song performed by players of the Chicago Bears football team during 1985. It was released 3 months prior to their win in Super Bowl XX, peaking at No. 41 in February, 1986 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
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 a half-million copies and reached No. 41 on the US Billboard Hot 100, making the Chicago Bears the only American professional team of any sport with a hit single.
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. 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 backed up their musical strutting by dominating their playoff opponents and hammering the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl by a score of 46–10, the most lopsided victory in Super Bowl history at the time (the record was broken just four years later when the San Francisco 49ers beat the Denver Broncos by a score of 55–10 in Super Bowl XXIV).
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 rhythm and blues performance by a duo or group, eventually losing to “Kiss”. 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. 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.”
SIDE A:
The Super Bowl Shuffle (Vocal Mix) 5:50
SIDE B:
The Super Bowl Shuffle (Extended Vocal Mix) 6:27
The Super Bowl Shuffle (Instrumental Mix) 5:32
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Cover: Near Mint
U.S. ChART HISTORY:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | The Super Bowl Shuffle | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | #41 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Red Label (2) – V-70060
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1985
Genre: Hip Hop
Style: Pop Rap, Electro
Credits: Co-producer – F. Breitberg* , R. Milasky*
Executive Producer – R. Meyer
Producer – B. Daniels* , R. Tufo*
Written By – B. Daniels/L. Barry/R. Meyer/M. Owens
Find the 12″ on DISCOGS
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Speed Control: Pro-Ject Speed Box S
Phono Pre-amp: Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Tube: Tung-Sol 12AX7ECC803-S Gold Electron Tube
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner
SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removeal: ClickRepair (DeClick Level 3)
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
I realize this was a charity single, but the cover art borders on being about as gay as anything The VIllage People ever released!
The song was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1985 for best rhythm and blues performance by a duo or group, eventually losing to “Kiss.”
That may be the most awesome sentence on the whole entire internet!
Thanks for the wonderful rip. I have great respect for the Seahawks defense – just phenomenal. I’m a 49er fan, but watching the Super Bowl solidified just how much better the Hawks and Niners were than the rest of the playoff teams. (I like Peyton Manning, but the Hawks simply destroyed Denver.) The NFC championship game was the real Super Bowl. As a 49er fan, I have to ask – have you ever heard the song “We’re The 49ers”? It was written & produced by Narada Michael Walden in 1984, and he included 20 or so 49er players on the… Read more »
Have not heard of that one DLG thanks for letting me know about it 🙂
Jerm – There’s the periodic baseball player from the 1950s/1960s singing a terrible song, but not very much. And no team has had success with a song other than the Bears.
New Order and Ian Broudie actually wrote some good footie songs though!
Paul, I marvel over how you seem to “theme” certain records for holidays and/or special events. So great to have a re-posting of this. Was a lot of fun then as it is now. Hope your team wins Paul.
Jeff
Thank you Jeff I always like to have fun with these type of things 🙂
lol… did many football teams make hit records in the US?
In Britain you couldn’t move for them in the 80s. 😀 each and every one a complete turkey. 😀 Apart from the New Order/England World Cup Squad maybe. 😉
No Jermajesty I think this one was one of the only ones and it was also for charity.
Million thanks, I used to have this on 12″ and couldn’t find it anywhere online.
The song was HUGE for a few weeks on the Bears run. It should have peaked higher on the charts, but stations didn’t list it on their playlists because there wasn’t any kickback coming in listing this on their lists.
I thought it was top 10 in sales for one week? Could be wrong on that.
If the single stopped at No. 41, i.e. not a Top 40 hit, then it’s not really a ‘hit single’. 😛
Nice one Paul!, I’m a Seattle native, so naturally I’m for my Hawks!… Go Hawks!…nice to see other Seahawk fans here!
Awww…the Chicago Bears..Local TV stations here in Chicago were playing this to death in honor of Super Bowl Sunday! It”s actually a pretty good dance song…Kinda of a funky beat! Hoping Seattle will win as well! thanks Paul!
A rare Saturday post. I’m game (pun intended). Paul, being from OK, what is “your team”? Dallas?
Yeah the weasther is cold and dreary and it’s Super Bowl weekend so I decided to post today 🙂 My favorite team is the Seattle Seahawks hope they win!
i’m rooting for the hawks too, but think it’s going to be tough for them to score enough to keep up. we’ll see …
Glad the Seahawks won Paul. Couldn’t have been more wrong with my prediction. 😉
The Hawks chrushed them lol. Great game!
The Super Bowl, haha. Have a nice evening tomorrow, all you 100 million Americans!
And have fun with Bruno and the Peppers during the break.