Today, more people remember The Super Bowl Shuffle song and video more than anything about Super Bowl XX.
In 1985, it seemed like a pop song could change the world. At the end of 1984, England’s most well-known pop stars (Boy George, Sting, Duran Duran, etc.) released the smash Do They Know It’s Christmas to aid African famine relief. A few months later, their American counterparts (Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Bruce Springsteen, etc.) countered with their own African famine-relief song, “We Are the World,” which is chronicled in the excellent Netflix documentary, “The Greatest Night in Pop.”
Now, in The Shuffle, HBO has a new doc on another song for charity, The Super Bowl Shuffle, which was sung by (wait for it), the Chicago Bears players: Walter Payton, Jim McMahon, and William “The Refrigerator” Perry, among others. No joke, its home video sold the second most ever behind Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
As philanthropic pop songs conquered the airwaves in the mid-80s, the Chicago Bears dominated the gridiron, and the Bears players became household personalities. Hall of Fame-bound running back Payton – “Sweetness” – was the team’s undisputed leader. McMahon, their headband-wearing, brash quarterback, was known as much for his spiked hair as for his spirals. The Late Show with David Letterman would parody linebacker Mike “Samurai” Singletary’s hyper-intense demeanor. And then there was lovable defensive lineman and goal-line wrecking ball Perry, “The Fridge.” Everyone loved it when “The Fridge” ran over opponents for a touchdown.
But how did a rhythm-challenged, brawny bunch of NFL superstars cross over and create a hit song?
Well, Dick Meyer, an open-minded fragrance executive, made it happen. Meyer knew Bears wide receiver Willie Gault, who, like Meyer, had musical ambitions. Meyer broached the idea of a Bears rap song to aid Chicago’s needy to Willie, who in turn took the concept to his teammates. After Payton, McMahon, and Singletary signed on, their teammates followed suit, with the conspicuous exceptions of defensive mainstays Dan Hampton and Steve McMichael, both conservative.
On an off-day in November, each Bear participant separately visited Meyer’s personal recording studio to record their portions of The Super Bowl Shuffle, which was actually a repurposed song from a ‘50s television show, Amos’n’ Andy. As the song was polished and mixed, the Bears continued to annihilate opponents. Entering Week 13, a Monday Night showdown with the Miami Dolphins in the Orange Bowl, the Bears were undefeated, 12-0, well on their way to Super Bowl glory.
Or were they?
Against the Dolphins, the Monsters of the Midway stumbled, losing 38-24. Abruptly, the Super Bowl Shuffle music video shoot, which was scheduled for the very next day, was in jeopardy. After getting shellacked, some players had cold feet, understandably. Perhaps rapping about the Super Bowl during the regular season wasn’t the brightest idea. Some, including McMahon and Payton, were no-shows for the video shoot. In the doc, McMahon explains that he was unaware of the video when he signed on for the rap song.
But the show went on.
Singletary, who carries the doc with his fun, articulate commentary, coordinated dance moves, which in some cases were challenged. Most conspicuously, back-up quarterback Steve Fuller could barely move. He’d been on crutches the night before. But the project’s Bob Geldof, Dick Meyer, gave it his all to get a performance out of the exhausted players. He boogied in front of them, encouraging the Bears to let loose. He even enlisted his wife, Julia, to make a cameo as a referee in the video. She’s interviewed in the doc.
In the days following the shoot, Meyer chased down McMahon and Payton and convinced them to lip synch in front of a blue screen at the Bears’ practice facility. When they were done, Payton pecked McMahon on the cheek. And therein lies part of the recipe for the ’85 Bears’ success: In addition to incredible talent and great coaching, these players genuinely loved one another.
When “The Super Bowl Shuffle dropped, it was all over Chicago – and beyond. It received heavy airplay on MTV and hit 41 on the charts. It was even nominated for a Grammy. Perhaps most importantly, as Singletary points out, the music video provided the Bears with an unforgettable team-bonding moment and motivation to dominate in the playoffs and destroy the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX. They’d been bold enough to rap about the Super Bowl during the regular season. If they didn’t go out and win it all, they’d look awfully foolish.
Ultimately, forty years later – and I have no stats on this – more people remember The Super Bowl Shuffle song and video more than any play in Super Bowl XX.
Fittingly, Singletary gets The Shuffle’s last word. “We were very fortunate to pull off something that may never happen again,” he explains. “Now and then in life, there are things that come along that are unusual, never been before. That’s when those things happen, man, take advantage of them, enjoy them. Don’t try to rationalize them. Take it for what it is. Breathe it in because it’s only a moment.
That’s what ‘The Super Bowl Shuffle’ was.
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Jon Hart is the author of Unfortunately, I was available illustrated by Coverkitchen
