Get Up Offa That Thing

"Get Up Offa That Thing" is a song written and performed by James Brown. It was released in 1976 as a two-part single (the B-side, titled "Release the Pressure", is a continuation of the same song). It reached #4 on the R&B chart, briefly returning Brown to the Top Ten after a year's absence, and #45 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[1]^[2] It was Brown's biggest hit of the late 1970s. The song's lyrics urge listeners to "Get up offa that thing / and dance 'til you feel better." Due to his troubles with the IRS for failure to pay back taxes, Brown credited authorship of the song to his wife Diedre and their daughters, Deanna and Yamma Brown.

According to Brown, the inspiration for "Get Up Offa That Thing" came to him during a club performance in Fort Lauderdale:

The audience was sitting down, trying to do a sophisticated thing, listening to funk. One of the tightest bands they'd ever heard in their lives, and they were sitting. I had worked hard and dehydrated myself and was feeling depressed. I looked out at all those people sitting there, and because I was depressed they looked depressed. I yelled, "Get up offa that thing and dance til you feel better!" I probably meant until I felt better.^[3]

Unlike most popular music of the time, which made sophisticated use of multitrack recording and other techniques, "Get Up Offa That Thing" was recorded live in the studio in only two takes.^[4]

Brown re-recorded "Get Up Offa That Thing" for the Doctor Detroit soundtrack album. He also performs the song during his guest appearance in the film. Other performances of the song appear on the albums Hot on the One, Live in New York, Live at Chastain Park, and Live at the Apollo 1995.

Personnel

James Brown - lead vocal

with The J.B.'s:

Russell Crimes - trumpet
Holly Ferris - trombone
St. Clair Pinckney - tenor saxophone
Peyton Johnson - tenor saxophone
Joe Poff Jr. - alto saxophone
Jimmy Nolen - guitar
Robert Coleman - guitar
Charles Sherrell - clavinet
Melvin Parker - drums
Will Lee - bass^[5]
Other players unknown

Appearances in other media

"Get Up Offa That Thing" was performed as a mash-up with "Dancing in the Street" by the nuns of Sister Act 2 as led by Whoopi Goldberg.
It was played during the "Soccer" episode of The Wonder Years with the beginning of the opening game.
The song is used twice in Jim Henson Pictures 1999 film Muppets from Space.
The song is featured in the 2009 British film Fish Tank.
The song is used in the closing sequence of Paramount's 1996 film Harriet the Spy and Blue Sky Studios' 2005 computer animated film Robots. In the latter film, Robin Williams' character called the song "a mixture of jazz and funk - junk."
The horn samples of this song were sampled extensively for early 1990s hip hop.
The scream in the opening of the song was sampled in Gloria Estefan's 1985 hit single "Conga".
The song is performed by Oliver James (as the character Ian Wallace) in the 2003 film What a Girl Wants.
A modified version of this song is performed alongside Dan Aykroyd in the Player's Ball sequence of the 1983 film Doctor Detroit.
The song appeared in the Volkswagen commercial for the 2012 Super Bowl "The Dog Strikes Back".
Miss America 2013 Mallory Hagan performed a tap dance to this song as her talent.^[6]
The song appeared in the documentary "Hunt vs Lauda: F1's Greatest Racing Rivals" on BBC Two.^[7]

References

↑ White, Cliff (1991). "Discography". In Star Time (pp. 54–59) [CD booklet]. New York: PolyGram Records.
↑ Leeds, Alan, and Harry Weinger (1991). "Star Time: Song by Song". In Star Time (pp. 46–53) [CD booklet]. New York: PolyGram Records.
↑ Brown, James, and Bruce Tucker (1986). James Brown: The Godfather of Soul, 245. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press.
↑ Smith, R.J. (2012). The One: The Life and Music of James Brown, 310. New York: Gotham Books.
↑ Johnson, Kevin. "Stories Behind the Songs: Will Lee". No Treble. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
↑ "Mallory Hagan, Miss New York, Wins Miss America 2013 Title (PHOTOS)". The Huffington Post. 2013-01-12. Retrieved 2013-01-13.
↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0377tb1

External links

Song Review at Allmusic
Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

James Brown singles

Billboard charting singles (R&B and Pop)

1950s

1956	"Please, Please, Please"

1958	"Try Me"

1959	"I Want You So Bad"

1960s

1960	"I'll Go Crazy" "Think" "You've Got the Power" "This Old Heart" "The Bells"

1961	"Bewildered" "I Don't Mind" "Baby, You're Right" "Just You and Me, Darling" "Lost Someone"

1962	"Night Train" "Shout and Shimmy" "Mashed Potatoes U.S.A." "Three Hearts in a Tangle" "I've Got Money"

1963	"Like a Baby" "Every Beat of My Heart" "Prisoner of Love" "These Foolish Things" "Signed, Sealed, and Delivered"

1964	"Oh Baby Don't You Weep" "Please, Please, Please" "Caldonia" "The Things That I Used to Do" "Out of Sight" "Have Mercy Baby"

1965	"Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" "Try Me" "I Got You (I Feel Good)"

1966	"Lost Someone" "I'll Go Crazy" "Ain't That a Groove" "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" "Money Won't Change You" "Don't Be a Drop-Out" "Sweet Little Baby Boy"

1967	"Bring It Up" "Kansas City" "Think" "Let Yourself Go" "Cold Sweat" "Get It Together" "I Can't Stand Myself (When You Touch Me)" "There Was a Time"

1968	"You've Got to Change Your Mind" "I Got the Feelin'" "Licking Stick – Licking Stick" "America Is My Home" "I Guess I'll Have to Cry, Cry, Cry" "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud" "Goodbye My Love" "Tit for Tat (Ain't No Taking Back)"

1969	"Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" "Soul Pride" "I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door, I'll Get It Myself)" "The Popcorn" "Mother Popcorn (You Got to Have a Mother for Me)" "Lowdown Popcorn" "World" "Let a Man Come In and Do the Popcorn" "Ain't It Funky Now"

1970s

1970	"It's a New Day" "Funky Drummer" "Brother Rapp" "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" "Super Bad" "Santa Claus Is Definitely Here to Stay" "Get Up, Get into It, Get Involved"

1971	"Spinning Wheel" "Soul Power" "I Cried" "Escape-ism" "Hot Pants" "Make It Funky" "I'm a Greedy Man"

1972	"Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing" "King Heroin" "There It Is" "Honky Tonk" "Get on the Good Foot" "I Got a Bag of My Own" "What My Baby Needs Now Is a Little More Lovin'"

1973	"I Got Ants In My Pants (And I Want to Dance)" "Down and Out in New York City" "Think" "Sexy, Sexy, Sexy" "Stoned to the Bone"

1974	"The Payback" "My Thang" "Papa Don't Take No Mess" "Funky President (People It's Bad)" "Coldblooded"

1975	"Reality" "Sex Machine" "Hustle!!! (Dead on It)" "Superbad, Superslick" "Hot (I Need To Be Loved, Loved, Loved, Loved)"

1976	"(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons" "Get Up Offa That Thing" "I Refuse to Lose" "Bodyheat"

1977	"Kiss in 77" "Give Me Some Skin" "If You Don't Give a Doggone About It"

1978	"Eyesight" "The Spank" "For Goodness Sakes, Look at Those Cakes"

1979	"It's Too Funky in Here" "Star Generation"

1980s

1980	"Regrets" "Rapp Payback (Where Iz Moses)"

1981	"Stay with Me"

1983	"The Night Time Is the Right Time (To Be With the One That You Love)"

1984	"Unity"

1985	"Living in America"

1986	"Gravity"

1987	"How Do You Stop"

1988	"I'm Real" "Static"

1989	"Gimme Your Love"

1990s

1991	"(So Tired of Standing Still We Got to) Move On"

1993	"Can't Get Any Harder"

UK-only
charting
singles

"Hey America" (1970)
"Bring It On...Bring It On" (1983)
"Froggy Mix" (1985)
"She's the One" (1988)
"The Payback Mix" (1988)
"I Got You (I Feel Good) [James Brown v. Dakeyne]" (1992)
"Funk on Ah Roll" (1999)

Notable
productions

"The Grunt" (1970)
"Gimme Some More" (1971)
"I Know You Got Soul" (1971)
"Pass the Peas" (1972)
"Think (About It)" (1972)
"Doing It to Death" (1973)
"Soul Power 74" (1973)

Other
songs

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