| Cool Jerk | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | The Capitols |
| Album: | Dance the Cool Jerk |
| B-Side: | Hello Stranger |
| Released: | 1966 |
| Genre: | Rhythm and blues[1] |
| Label: | Karen Records |
| Producer: | Ollie McLaughlin |
| Prev Title: | Dog and Cat |
| Prev Year: | 1963 |
| Next Title: | Zig Zaggin |
| Next Year: | 1966 |
"Cool Jerk" is a 1966 rhythm and blues song written by Donald Storball and originally performed by the Capitols. It became a hit song in the United States and Canada.
It was later prominently used in the 1992 Christmas-themed comedy film , which attracted attention back to both the band and the single.
Released in 1966, it reached No. 2 on the American Rhythm & Blues Singles chart, No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 9 on the Canadian Singles Chart. The session was arranged by Funk Brother Mike Terry, as the Funk Brothers, Motown's house band, played behind the Capitols on the track.[2]
Per one of the Funk Brothers, the song was originally to be called "Pimp Jerk". This was taken from watching neighborhood pimps, who would dance in the clubs but were too "cool" to do the jerk like regular folks. The producer was afraid that a song with the word pimp in the title would be banned or fail to receive much positive attention, and had the title changed to its current form.
| Chart (1966) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100[3] | 7 | |
| US Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles | 2 | |
| US Cash Box[4] | 5 | |
| US Record World[5] | 4 |
| Chart (1966) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100[6] | 36 | |
| US Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles[7] | 2 | |
| US Cash Box[8] | 23 |
The Go-Go's covered the song for their 1982 album Vacation and later re-recorded it for their 1990 album Greatest. A demo that pre-dates their Vacation recording was released on their 1994 compilation Return to the Valley of The Go-Go's.
| Cool Jerk | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | The Go-Go's |
| Album: | Vacation |
| Released: | 1991 |
| Label: | I.R.S. 75021 7439 2 |
| Producer: | David Z |
| Prev Title: | Yes or No |
| Prev Year: | 1984 |
| Next Title: | The Whole World Lost Its Head |
| Next Year: | 1994 |