Song:Shake Your Groove Thing
Album:20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: The Best Of Peaches & Herb
The R & B duo Peaches & Herb had some success in the 60s. Herb Fame quit the music business but returned in the 70s and had success with songs like Shake Your Groove Thing and Reunited. He brought a new Peaches with him. Fame was born Herbert Feemster Oct. 1, 1942 in Washington, DC and he grew up singing in church. He worked at a local record store. Feemster met producer Van McCoy in 1965 and Mccoy signed him to the Columbia label Date Records. A girl group called The Sweet Things were also on Date. They were led by Francine "Peaches" Hurd Barker. McCoy put them together as Peaches & Herb. They had a top ten hit with Close Your Eyes in 1967. So they were doing okay but Francine tired of touring and quit. Attempts to replace her didn't work out and Herb quit the music business in 1970 to work for the Washington Police Department. In 1976, Herb returned to the music business and asked McCoy to find a new Peaches. That was Linda Greene. The new Peaches & Herb recorded one album for MCA Records in 1976. It was unsuccessful so they moved to Polydor and worked with producer Freddie Perren. Herb and Perren were old pals. Perren produced The Jackson 5, Tavares and The Sylvers. He wrote and produced Shake Your Groove Thing and it reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1977. It was a big song in dance clubs. The ballad Reunited was even bigger and was the only #1 pop hit for Peaches & Herb. You can get all their Polydor hits on this budget comp. This Peaches & Herb recorded seven albums and retired in 1983. Herb Feemster worked for the US Marshals Service. Linda Greene recorded a couple of gospel albums and then retired. They had to sue Freddie Perren for residuals. Feemster still leads a version of Peaches & Herb today. He recorded a CD in 2009 with the latest Peaches Merixtell Negre and they tour. Here are Peaches & Herb performing Shake Your Groove Thing on Soul Train 1977.
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