"Jump in the Line (Shake, Señora)"
Song by Harry Belafonte
from the album Jump Up Calypso
ReleasedNovember 17, 1961
GenreCalypso
Length3:39
LabelRCA Victor
Songwriter(s)Lord Kitchener
Producer(s)Bob Bollard
Audio sample
"Jump in the Line"

"Jump in the Line (Shake, Señora)" is a calypso song composed by Lord Kitchener and best known from a version recorded by vocalist Harry Belafonte in 1961.

Other renditions

Woody Herman and his Third Herd recorded Kitchener's song in 1952 for Mars Records; Herman's band recorded it live that same year with the title "Jump in Line." Lord Invader released a cover of the song on the Folkways Label in 1955, titled "Labor Day (Jump in the Line)".[1] His rendition reached mento star Lord Flea, who in turn recorded a version based on Lord Invader's interpretation.[1] It was released on August 1, 1958, by Capitol Records.

The song was recorded by Lord Fly[2] and Joseph Spence in 1958.[3] Fly's version inspired Harry Belafonte, who released his own take on November 17, 1961 (credited to his pseudonym Raymond Bell on the disc label). It was included on the album Jump Up Calypso.

Perhaps its most memorable appearance is in the 1988 Tim Burton comedy horror film Beetlejuice, during the movie's end. This occurrence later appeared in the Broadway musical stage adaptation in 2019 as the finale.

In 1998, the song was covered by American swing band Cherry Poppin' Daddies for the soundtrack to David Zucker's comedy film BASEketball. A decade later, the song was performed by Samuel E. Wright, Kevin Michael Richardson, Rob Paulsen, Jim Cummings, Alvin Chea, Oren Waters, Rick Logan and Chris Garcia in The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning. The song was sampled by Pitbull as "Shake Señora" off the 2011 album Planet Pit. That same year, a 2004 recording of the song by Karl Zero and The Wailers (released on Zero's album, HiFi Calypso) was used in Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules.

The track appears in Just Dance 2 from its original artist. This song was also featured in Uncle Dane's return video "Impractical Engineering". This song would also appear in Paddington 2's end credits. Harry Belafonte's rendition of the song went viral on video-sharing app TikTok in August 2019.[4]

The song inspired the 1962 Gary U.S. Bonds hit single "Twist, Twist Senora".

Certifications

Certifications for "Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[5] Silver 200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ a b Santiwah (August 6, 2011). "Jump in the line (Shake Señora): Lord Kitchener". Trinizagada. Archived from the original on May 12, 2014. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
  2. ^ "'The King of Calypso' Meet Lord Fly". mentomusic.com. Retrieved August 12, 2008.
  3. ^ "Joseph Spence: The Complete Folkways Recordings". Smithsonian Global Sound. Archived from the original on September 21, 2008. Retrieved August 12, 2008.
  4. ^ Millman, Ethan (November 6, 2020). "The Biggest Old Music Hits Resurfaced by TikTok". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
  5. ^ "British single certifications – Harry Belafonte – Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
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