But this scene is not unique to the Chairman of the Board.
Other beach music bands like Band of Oz, which also worked
with General Johnson, include songs in their set list that are targeted
to attract new generations of beach music fans.
“You will be shocked to see how many high school and
young college age kids are out there shagging and just like the
beach music,” says David Hicks, the drummer for Band of Oz,
“but we also want to give them a little bit of dynamite and
throw that mix in.”
In addition to the band’s classic originals like “Shaggin’” and
“Ocean Boulevard,” Hicks says that Band of Oz will infuse songs
that are currently topping the pop charts to keep its act up-todate.
It appears to work. After nearly 35 years of performing as the
Band of Oz, the band continues
to perform five nights
a week and bring in new fans.
Freddy Tripp, who has played
the keyboard and sung with The Fantastic
Shakers since 1986, says that during the course of 36
years, the band’s fan base has come to include the original fans’
children and grandchildren. Maybe it is in the way that the music
has remained the same that has retained loyal fans and invited new
listeners.
“I think every genre of music has progressed in a way that it
has lost its original flavor,” says Quick. “I think everything does
that from relationships to countries, but there is something about
Bo Schronce of The Fantastic
Shakers serenades a
Wrightsville Beach crowd at
the East Coast Shag Classic.
Photography by Emily Errante
32
WBM april 2012