Shake It Up (The Cars song)

"Shake It Up" is a song by American new wave band The Cars from their 1981 album of the same name.

The song was covered by the Chipmunks and the Chipettes in an episode of Alvin and The Chipmunks.

History

The song relies heavily on dance-pop as its main genre, with audible pop rock elements.

Drummer David Robinson has said at the outset that he did not even want to record the song, as it had been "kicking around for years. It never sounded good. We recorded it a couple of times in the studio and dumped it, and we were going to try it one more time, and I was fighting everybody . . . So we thought, let's start all over again, like we've never even heard it—completely change every part—and we did. Then, when it was through and all put back together, it was like a brand-new song."

Guitarist Elliot Easton said that he wanted his solo to sound like "two guys trading off". He first plays a Fender Telecaster in a skewed "country" style, then, mid-solo, switches to a Gibson Crank for a more rock sound.