Come on Do the Jerk

Come on Do the Jerk (Tamla 54109) was a 1964 song recorded by R&B group the Miracles on Motown Records' Tamla label subsidiary. A single-only release, it did not appear on any original Miracles studio album, and was the group's last single release of 1964.

Co-written by Miracles members Pete Moore, Bobby Rogers, Smokey Robinson, and Ronnie White, "Come On Do The Jerk" charted at #50 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at # 22 on the Cash Box R&B chart.(Billboard had temporarily suspended its R&B chart at this time). An instructional dance number, this song was one of several songs based on the jerk, a very popular 1960s "dance craze".

Described by Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson as the intended follow-up song to the group's 1963 million-selling smash "Mickey's Monkey" the previous year, "Come On Do the Jerk" was actually recorded in a similar tempo. As the song begins, longtime Miracles drummer Donald "Spike" Whited and Miracles member, guitarist Marv Tarplin begin the song, while Smokey, as the song's narrator, offers the invitation:

The Jerk

The Jerk is a 1979 American comedy film directed by Carl Reiner and written by Steve Martin, Carl Gottlieb, and Michael Elias. This was Martin's first starring role in a feature film. The film also features Bernadette Peters, M. Emmet Walsh, and Jackie Mason.

Plot

Navin R. Johnson, a homeless man, directly addresses the camera and tells his story. He is the adopted white son of African American sharecroppers, who grows to adulthood naïvely unaware of his obvious adoption. He stands out in his family not just because of his skin color but because of his utter lack of rhythm when his adopted family plays spirited blues music. One night, he hears the staid and starchy Roger Wolfe Kahn Orchestra song called "Crazy Rhythm" on the radio and his feet spontaneously begin to move with the urge to dance; he sees this as a calling and decides to hitchhike to St. Louis, from where the song was broadcast. On the way, he stops at a motel, where a dog wakes him up by barking at his door. Navin thinks the dog is trying to warn of a fire and names the dog "Lifesaver". He wakes up the other hotel guests to rescue them, but when everyone realizes it was a false alarm, one man angrily suggests he call the dog "Shithead", which Navin takes literally.

Jerk (dance)

The jerk was a popular or fad dance in the 1960s.

Description

The jerk is similar to the monkey. The arms move and hands move as if conducting. The wrists cross in front of the chest and then sweep out in time, or at half time, with the music. The hands are up at face level. On count 1, the outward sweep, the hands are quickly pushed out, giving the jerky motion. For a little more style, the fingers may be snapped on the two outward movements—the first and third counts of the hand motion.

Songs featuring or suggesting the dance

Released as a single in 1964 on the Money record label, "The Jerk" was a hit for the Los Angeles band the Larks. In the same year, the Miracles wrote and recorded "Come on Do the Jerk". The Capitols performed a 1966 hit song called "Cool Jerk", written to capitalize on the dance's popularity. The song has been covered by several bands, including the Go-Go's. The band Rocket from the Crypt recorded the song "When in Rome, Do the Jerk" in 1998 as a homage to the dance.

The Larks

The Larks were an African American vocal group, active in the early 1950s. They were not the same group as the Los Angeles-based Larks (originally The Meadowlarks) featuring Don Julian.

Original members

Career of the group

The story of the Larks begins in the late 1920s, when singer Thermon Ruth founded the Selah Jubilee Singers in New York, later basing them in Raleigh, North Carolina where they had a radio show. They recorded for Decca Records and other smaller labels in the 1940s, and their membership overlapped with other religious vocal groups in the area, including The Southern Harmonaires. In 1945, Ruth tried to persuade Eugene Mumford of one of these groups, The Four Interns, to join the Selah Jubilee Singers, but before he could do so, Mumford was charged with the attempted rape of a white woman, convicted and imprisoned. He was innocent of the crime and later received a full pardon.

In 1946, Allen Bunn joined The Southern Harmonaires, and soon afterwards joined Thermon Ruth in the Selah Jubilee Singers as the group's guitarist and second lead singer. Three years later, Ruth and Bunn decided to leave to form a new group, The Jubilators. They linked up with Mumford, now released from prison, and with three members of The Southern Harmonaires, David McNeil, Hadie Rowe Jr., and Raymond "Pee Wee" Barnes.

Come On

Come On may refer to:

In music:

See also

Come On (Kish Mauve song)

"Come On" is a song performed by British electronic duo Kish Mauve. The song was written and produced by Mima Stilwell and Jim Eliot for their debut album Black Heart (2009). It released as a double A-side single with "Morphine" on 2 March 2009 by YNYS Recordings.

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Come On" / "Morphine".

Digital download
(Released 2 March 2009 (2009-03-02))

Will Young version

"Come On" was covered by British singer-songwriter and actor Will Young. It was released on 21 November 2011 as the second single from his fifth studio album, Echoes (2011).

Music video

A music video to accompany the release of "Come On" was first released onto YouTube on 24 October 2011 at a total length of three minutes and twenty-eight seconds.

Critical reception

Robert Copsey of Digital Spy gave the song four stars out of five and a positive review, stating:

Therefore, it comes as little surprise that his latest chart botherer - a rendition of Kish Mauve's 2009 electro-rock hit 'Come On' - is far more than a note-for-note rehash. "Walk away, that's what you do," he bawls innocently over bobbing synths courtesy of Richard X, before defiantly calling "come on, come on" to his contrary lover. In fact, even after repeated listens, Young's lounge-pop reinvention still sounds like a different number altogether.

Come On (CNBLUE song)

"Come On" is a song by the South Korean rock band CN Blue, written by Jung Yong-hwa, translated in Japanese by Kenji Tamai and composed by Lee Jong-hyun. It was released on August 1, 2012 in 3 different editions: CD+DVD, Regular edition and Lawson store limited edition. It is the third major single of the group under Warner Music Japan and their sixth overall.

Background

The single was announced by their Korean label, FNC Media, on June 12, 2012, revealing details about the single. In June 25, it was revealed that the song will be used as opening theme song of TV Asahi's "Music ru TV" during July. In July 2, all single covers, tracklist and a teaser of the music video were released. At this same day, the first major album of the group in Japan was announced to be release on August 29. The Album will include the songs from the single and the songs from previous 2 singles "Where You Are" and "In My Head".

Every edition of the single will come with a different jacket cover and different features: the CD+DVD edition will include the CD single, a special DVD featuring the music video of "Come On" and a Special feature, a 44-pages photobook, four folded mini-posters, a serial code to unlock a special bonus feature and comes in a sleeve case. The regular edition will come with the CD single and a serial code. The Lawson limited ediiton will include with the CD single, 5 calendar cards and a serial code. This version will only be sold on Lawson.