The Jerk by The Larks

Album: The Jerk (1964)

Charted: 7

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The Jerk was one of many '60s dance crazes; you know it was big because James Brown name-checked it in "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" along with The Fly, The Monkey, and The Mashed Potato.

To do The Jerk, just raise your arm up to your ear and drop it down hard (in a jerking motion) on the beat. It's all upper body and gets a little tiring, which may be why it didn't last all that long.
In this song, The Larks see a girl doing a brand new dance - The Jerk - and have her show them how it's done.

The Larks were a vocal group from Los Angeles that formed in the '50s. Their leader, Don Julian, wrote this song after seeing his sister's kids dancing with their friends to "Dancing in the Street" by Martha & the Vandellas. Julian asked what dance they were doing, and they told him about The Jerk and gave him a demonstration. He put the song together and recorded it with his fellow Larks, Ted Walters and Charles Morrison. They were first to land a hit with a "jerk" song, releasing it in 1964 as the dance craze was starting to take off.
Clyde & The Blue Jays released "The Big Jerk" around the same time, but it stalled at #134. "The Jerk" by The Larks went to #7 US in January 1965, unleashing a torrent of "jerk" songs that year. Among them:

"Can You Jerk Like Me" by The Contours (#47)
"Come On Do The Jerk" by The Miracles (#50)
"Jerk And Twine" by Jackie Ross (#85)
"Jerk It" by The Gypsies (#111)

The most enduring "jerk" song, thanks to a 1982 remake by The Go-Go's, is "Cool Jerk," which hit #7 for The Capitols in the summer of 1966.

The Larks tried to follow their own trend and made #132 with "Mickey's East Coast Jerk," but that was their last chart appearance.
The Larks performed "The Jerk" on American Bandstand, October 21, 1964, with a hyped-up intro from Dick Clark. "I have a feeling you may get a little out of hand," he tells the teenagers in the audience before introducing the group. Mayhem did not ensue, but the kids all did the dance from their seats.

Comments: 1

Bob D. from Humboldt County Ca. I have a copy of this record that’s been played to death, in fact when you flip it over, you see a piece of yellowing tape where a crack has been repaired. It snaps, crackles and pops and the crack adds an extra pop to the rhythm.

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