Eternal Youth
Oh baby, won’t you save the last dance for me? Shaggers never grow old because beach music’s in their soul. Beach music and shagging created a lifestyle of eternal youth, a time of perpetual summer, and certain words serve symbolize those glorious days of misspent youth. If you have to ask why these words matter, well, you missed out big time.
Beach bums, beach music, drapes, jukebox, magnolias & peaches, OD, pavilion, PBR, PJ, R&B, race music, the Basic, on the beach, the scent of popcorn, French fries, and cotton candy, the metallic pop of a cold beer opening, the rhythmic fall of surf ... These words and images do more than create a list for members of the shag cult. They resurrect shag’s golden days at Ocean Drive, the land of taboo music where the dancing changed.
Behind The Photo Of the Week
Robert Clark and Tom Poland document the natural beauty, culture, and history of the American South. Their work blends rich narrative storytelling with vivid photography.
Tom Poland is a Southern author, journalist, and columnist. For his extensive work preserving regional heritage, he received the Order of the Palmetto, South Carolina’s highest civilian honor.
Robert Clark, a master photographer, has seen his work featured in prominent outlets such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, and Newsweek.
Clark and Poland travel the back avenues of the South to record disappearing landmarks, nature, ruins, and whatever catches their eye, as this series reveals.
This series records vanishing landmarks, nature, ways of life, and other facets of a vanishing American South.
Reluctant observer, yet it looked like so much fun and my memories as a spectator linger in my heart and come alive again in my mind's eyes when I hear those beach music vibes. Thanks for sharing this pavilion photo.
The shag is definitely the most joyful and relaxing dance of them all, thanks to its association with the beach.